JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED AS KING OF THE JEWS

Mark 15:16-32 (K. V.: 15:26)

“The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.”

1. After being condemned and flogged, where was Jesus led and how does Mark describe the scene (16)? How did the soldiers mock Jesus and why (17-20)? What meaning can we find in Jesus submitting to such abuse (Mk 10:34; 1Pe 2:19-25)?

2. How might being forced to carry Jesus’ cross have changed Simon and his family (21; Ro 16:13)? What does this tell us about Jesus’ physical condition?

3. What is the significance of Jesus being led to Golgotha, the public place of execution (22; Gal 3:13; Heb 13:13)? Why did Jesus refuse the mixed drink (23)? What was crucifixion (24a)? Why is it stated so simply? How did the soldiers respond (24b)?

4. What time was Jesus crucified (25)? Read verse 26. For what charge was Jesus executed (15:2)? What does the “King of the Jews” mean (14:61-62; Jn 4:42b)? Why was Jesus crucified as the “King of the Jews” (8:31; Isa 53:10)? 

5. What was their purpose in crucifying him between two robbers (27)? Who taunted Jesus and why (29-32; 1Co 1:22-24)? Why did Jesus not save himself? What can we learn from him?

JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED AS KING OF THE JEWS

Mark 15:16-32 (K. V.: 15:26)

“The written notice of the charge against him read: the king of the jews.”

We all experience death one way or another: a loved one passing away with an acute illness (like COVID) or someone you care about perishing in a tragic car accident. Many innocent people die in a war like in Ukraine. However, the death that saddens us most and defies our commonest sense but still gives us the greatest relief is Jesus’ death. Last week, through Sh. Rob, we learned how our Lord Jesus was unjustly tried, falsely accused, and outrageously condemned in place of us. He did not say anything in the court except this one thing: the King of the Jews. As such, he would die as King of the Jews in today’s passage. The king of the Jews did not save himself to save us but endured the cross to the end to obey God’s will! That is the way of salvation! On this month of March, where we have the Easter Retreat, may God move our heart to newly accept this crucified Jesus so as to renew our faith and have deep understanding of the gospel.

1. Jesus Abused; Simon’s Family Saved (16-21)

Look at verse 16. Right before this verse, we see Pilate having Jesus flogged. How was Jesus flogged? In those days, flogging was very severe. Some even died during their flogging. After being flogged, Jesus was led away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) along with the whole company of soldiers. Why the Praetorium? Why that many soldiers? The Praetorium is a King’s residence, like “Executive Residence” of the White House. The company was a military unit, about 200-600. Maybe, it was their intention to mock him even more at the king’s residence, in front of hundreds of soldiers. There, the soldiers began to abuse Jesus. They gave him a purple robe, which symbolized royalty, and a crown of thorns, a mockery for his kingship. They began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again, they struck him on the head where his crown was with a staff, and spit on him. Jesus was already bloodied and disfigured and yet they still paid homage to him to mock him one last time. Those acts of abuse show us how low we could go in terms of depravity. In our Friday meeting, Msn. Mary Kim pointed out that that was the exact portrait of human depravity. In fact, it is our own portrait. We think we are better than those brutal soldiers, but we are just like them in our sins and iniquities, abusing and hurting Jesus, physically and mentally. Apostle Peter explained to us why Christ suffered such unjust suffering. It was to leave us an example to follow his steps. There is one more meaning to his suffering. 1Pe 2:24 reads. “‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’” Many K-pop stars committed suicide after going through a series of online abuses. Their mental and emotional wounds would never and could never be healed. However, when we see and accept Jesus’ wounds, we are healed just like Apostle Peter said. During the staff conference where many programs were magnificent, we received all sorts of grace. There were pre- and post-conference tours and visits. There was a mountain-moving message by P. Ron Ward. Graceful special lectures by guest speakers and eye-opening, ground-breaking workshops truly reshaped us. The one thing I received grace the most was the testimony sharing time. In our group, one missionary shared how much he received Jesus’ healing, when one of his sons, a prodigal son, impregnated his girlfriend and had a baby, whose father was in jail and herself, a high-school drop-out. The most troublesome thing to him was that the girl was not a believer. The missionary was crying and crying on the phone with P. Ron Ward regarding this matter and P. Ron directed him to marry them, but he agonized over it. Then, Lord Jesus spoke to him through one verse in Mk 9:42: if he would cause the little girl to stumble, he would be better with a millstone around his neck and drown. He was reminded of how much Jesus suffered and died for him, a little one, and for this young lady, another little one, and how reluctant he was to accept her and heal the relationship. With that, he could not but repent. After he repented of his hardened heart, the beautiful healing grace was upon his family. He married them, his son was a changed man, and the girl shared her life testimony in front of the church congregation, promising to try to be a believer in God’s time. Jesus’ healing triumphs over anything and everything in our families and ministries! 

Look at verse 21. Jesus’ suffering brought another family to a drastic change. A Cyrene man, Simon, along with his two sons, Alex and Rufus, was passing by to observe the Passover celebration in Jerusalem. Cyrene was in modern-day Libya, a day’s drive from Jerusalem, that is, 1100 miles, probably about a month to walk there. We can see how devoted, God-fearing family he and his sons were, who did not mind traveling hundreds of miles just to worship God. By God’s divine providence and intervention, Simon was forced to carry Jesus’ cross, because Jesus was too exhausted to carry his own. That incident changed not only Simon but also his two sons. Later, in Romans, we witness how one of Simon’s sons, Rufus, became a great man of God. In Ro 16:13, Paul called Rufus’ mother his own, literally, claiming Rufus was like his brother. According to Polycarp’s epistle, Apostle John’s direct disciple, Rufus died as a martyr and Cyrene was already evangelized before other apostles tried to do so all because of Simon’s and Rufus’ faith. When we carry the cross with Jesus, our life can be changed, becoming brothers and sisters in him. May God strengthen us to participate in carrying the cross together with Jesus and with each other so as to experience a great change! 

2. Jesus Crucified (22-32)

Look at verse 22. Here we see Jesus being led to Golgotha, namely, “the place of the skull.” It was immediately outside Jerusalem, possibly shaped like a skull, and a place of public executions. A skull is a symbol of death and Jesus confronted and defeated death at Golgotha. Before the execution, they offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh, which was like a painkiller or a numbing medication, but he refused to take it so as to experience full pain of the cross. Look at verse 24a. “And they crucified him….” Only three words? Why is the crucifixion stated so simply? Surely, it was the crux of the gospel, and we feel like being robbed of the details of this important event. In our Friday meeting, one man of God aptly pointed out that it was possibly to reduce the dramatic effect of the event and thus to make us focus on how Jesus sacrificed himself as the ransom for many. Another person pointed out that crucifixion was so cruel and a well-known punishment that the author Mark did not need to describe it. Briefly, the crucifixion is a slow-torture punishment with three nails fixed on the two hands and the folded feet. The condemned would die out of thirst and short of breath. What else can we observe in Jesus’ crucifixion? Verse 24b describes how the depraved soldiers were playing some gambling game to get a little bit of financial gain. In doing so, however, they were fulfilling Ps 22:18, which reads, “They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” Note Jesus was crucified nine in the morning. This fact would be very significant in the later part of Ch. 15. Look at verse 26. “The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.” This is our key verse, which gives us a tremendous insight. It was customary that those executed would have the written notice on top of their crosses so that the same kinds of crimes might be prevented by looking at what happened to them. Some of the notices were possibly, “murder,” “insurrection,” or “blasphemy.” But since Jesus was innocent that they could not write anything other than “the king of the Jews.” According to other gospel accounts, this notice was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek (which are like English, Spanish, and Korean in our international conferences). This shows the king of the Jews means the king of the whole world and the spiritual king, not the earthly one. Jesus’ death as king of the Jews also means that this king offered himself as ransom on behalf of his subjects, which was unthinkable at that time. No king would die for his people. Instead, he would demand his people’s death for him. This truly comforts us as we witness so many bad leaders like Putin or Kim Jeong-un demand his people’s sacrifice. We have such a loving and sacrificial king with us!

Look at verse 27. Here we see Jesus being crucified between two rebels or two robbers, which signifies his being considered the worst or the chief criminal. This actually fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah when he said the Messiah would pour out his life unto death would be numbered with the transgressors. In verses 29-32, we see numerous people including the crucified robbers taunted Jesus with many different taunting expressions. But note beneath their taunting, there was Satan’s desperate attempt to tempt Jesus so that he might not take the cross to the end. All those taunting ended with the phrase, “save yourself.” Some even included the gospel terms, like “Messiah” and “believe.” How did Jesus react to this taunting? He was not fooled by the hidden temptation. Rather, he obeyed God’s will to the end. God’s will for him was that he would not save himself to save others. That is the way of salvation, and we are deeply grateful to Jesus who did not come down from the cross. 

In conclusion, we learned how Jesus’ wounds could heal us. Anything even the relationship issue could be healed in Jesus’ healing touch. We also learn how carrying the cross of Jesus could change us, including our family members. Jesus’ dying as king of the Jews means he is the king of the whole world and the spiritual king. He did not save himself to save others and obey God’s will to the end. May God help us to accept this crucified king Jesus newly in this Easter month!