Who Killed Jesus — According to The Gospel of Mark

Cheryl Mason © March, 2016

Gospel of Mark: Chapter 14

Verse 1   — It’s two days before the Feast of Passover

The Chief Priests and Scribes are seeking to put Jesus to death, and plotting to kill Him

Verse 3   — Jesus is anointed for burial (with expensive ointment)

Verse 10 — Judas Iscariot went to the Chief Priests in order to betray Jesus

Verse 12 — First day of Unleavened bread, Jesus sought a room to eat the Passover meal

Verse 18 — Jesus ate Passover meal with the disciples

Verse 26 — Jesus and the disciples retreated to the Mount of Olives

Verse 32 — Jesus and the disciples are in the Garden of Gethsemane

Verse 36 — Jesus is troubled “Take this cup from me … but not my will but your will be done”

Verse 43 — Judas arrives with a crowd … among them, Chief Priests, Scribes and Elders. Judas kisses Jesus. Jesus is taken into custody

The Chief Priests paid Judas 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus (a parody to Joseph who was sold by his brothers).

Verse 49 — Jesus says to the Chief Priests and Scribes “I was daily with you in the Temple”

Verse 53 — Jesus is in the Courtyard of the High Priest (Caiaphas) Chief Priests, Scribes and Elders

Verse 55 — The Priests sought a testimony (two witnesses, under Jewish Law) The witnesses, did not agree with each other. They go ahead and charge Jesus anyway

Verse 58 — First charge – We heard Him say, “I will destroy this Temple (Herod’s Temple) and in three days I will build another made without hands”

Verse 61 — High Priest (Caiaphas) asks Jesus – “Are you the Christ? (Messiah)”

Verse 62 — Jesus, replied “I AM – And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of Heaven” (Messianic Expectation – Daniel 7:13)

Verse 63 — The High Priest, tore his clothes, there’s was no need for further witnesses, because of Jesus’s own confession

Verse 64 — Second charge – Charge of Blasphemy – punishable by death (Stoning/Hanging) Rebellious son – Deuteronomy 21:20-23

The Babylonian Talmud Tractate Sanhedrin: 43 a says:

Jesus was hanged on Passover Eve. Forty days previously the herald had cried, “He is being led out for stoning, because he has practiced sorcery and led Israel astray and enticed them into apostasy. Whosoever has anything to say in his defense, let him come and declare it.” As nothing was brought forward in his defense, he was hanged on Passover Eve.

I have much to say on ‘hanging’ but this is not the place for it. But I will say this … Hanging is Crucifixion – Acts 5:30 “Whom you murdered, by hanging Him on a tree.”

Please read my comments below about scourging, scourging replaced stoning in this instance because scourging allowed for re-entry into the Judaic fold whereas stoning didn’t. Also, stoning would require a public spectacle, something the Jews nor the Romans could risk as they knew that Jesus had a following.

Talmudic Jews will have us believe that the Jesus of the Talmud is not Jesus of Nazareth, but some other person, who just happened to be called Jesus who was also hanged on Passover Eve. Odd coincidence if that’s the case, but this man is the real Jesus. They also deny hanging anyone and yet it’s right there in black and white in The Talmud, that they not only stoned people but hung them as well, as Deuteronomy 21:20-25 states.

Verse 65 — Jesus’s punishment begins in Caiaphas’s Court, He is blindfolded, spat upon, told to prophesy! And struck with their hands

Outside of the Court— Peter is having his own ordeal, Peter denies Jesus three times.

Gospel of Mark: Chapter 15

The Next Morning: The day before Passover

Verse 1 — Chief Priests, Elders, Scribes bind Jesus and deliver Him to Pontius Pilate Governor of the Province of Judea

Verse 2 — Pilate, asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Answer: “It is as you say”, there was no turning back now, no matter what Jesus said to Pilate, it would not have made any difference, He already received His death sentence.

Jesus was condemned to death under Judaic Religious Law and therefore He would be stoned to death and hanged according to Deuteronomy 21:20-23.

Verse 6 — Passover Prisoner Amnesty –  the releasing of one prisoner

Verse 9 — Pilate – “Do you want me to release the King of the Jews?” meaning Jesus

Verse 10 — For Pilate knew they had handed Him over because of Envy (to understand Envy you have to understand the Ancient Near East mindset of Envy) It was the same word used with Joseph and his brothers

Verse 11 — The Chief Priests stir up the crowd, to release Barabbas

Verse 12 — Pilate, “What do you want me to do with Him?”

Verse 13 — Crowd cries out – “Crucify Him”

Verse 14 — Pilate says to the crowd, “Why, what evil has He done?”

Verse 15 — Pilate releases Barabbas, then releases Jesus to be crucified after scourging.

A lot of people comment that Jesus died quite quickly, it’s mentioned in John’s Gospel for example; that Jesus died before the soldiers could break His legs (John 19:33) a common practice to ensure the that even if the person was revived, it would be of no use.

Jesus died quickly because:

1. He was beaten in Caiaphas’s Court, and then …
2. Scourged in Pilate’s Court (The Apostle Paul tells us quite clearly that the Jewish authorities used scourging. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11:25, Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes.

Paul preached Salvation through Christ and not The Law. And, therefore he was guilty of blasphemy. Thirty-nine and not forty lashes because the fortieth lash killed a man, but at thirty-nine his soul was restored to him and he could re-enter the Judaic fold again (Talmud, Makkot 3:15), Josephus tells us this was the utmost form of public humiliation.

The actual term used in Talmud, Tractate Makkot means making insertions into the flesh and breaking up muscle and tissue, even organs in some instances. Makkot means stripes.

3. The Roman soldiers take over, Jesus again gets spat upon, mocked and beaten some more
4. Finally, He was made to carry His cross from the Praetorium to Golgotha

Verse 16 — Jesus was led by the soldiers (Roman soldiers take over) into the Praetorium before the whole garrison

Verse 17 — Jesus is clothed in purple, and crowned with twisted thorns

Verse 19 — Jesus gets struck again, spat on, mocked, and begins his journey with a cross

Verse 22 — Jesus carries His cross to The Place of the Skull (Golgotha)

Verse 23 — Jesus was given wine mixed with myrrh, he refused it, I believe He refused it at first but then partook of it to initiate the full curse of the Law of Sin and Death. Hyssop was and could still be used as part of Jewish cleansing ritual to prepare a person for death.

Verse 29 — Jesus continued to be mocked, He said, “He will destroy the temple and build it again in three days”

Verse 31 — The Chief Priests are still there mocking Him

Verse 34 — Jesus cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Verse 37 — Jesus breathes His last breath and dies on the cross

Verse 43 — Joseph of Arimathea a prominent council member gets permission from Pilate to remove the body of Jesus and lay it in his own new tomb. Jesus was buried before Passover in accordance with Judaic Law. Jews removed the body and buried it before sunset. Roman Law decreed that crucified bodies remained on the cross as a deterrent to would-be offenders. Eventually carrion eating animals and birds consumed the bodies.

This is not where this story ends, but in this instance it will end here, because I’ve provided you with a breakdown verse by verse of the important events in the trial and subsequent crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, according to the Gospel of Mark.

If you get nothing else out of this, please understand that this man suffered the full force of Judaic and Roman Law, something that was unheard of even at a time when these cultures were steeped in cruelty.

In the words of the Apostle Paul … “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). Jesus Christ of Nazareth, could never be a curse for us if He didn’t take on every aspect of the Curse of Judaic Law. If He was crucified and died only under Roman Law, then we would have a Roman deity, and a Roman deity becoming a curse for us is irrelevant and carries no spiritual benefit to us.

The End:

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