GOSPEL OF MARK SERIES.
During 2019, each week, I will write
a weekly post about the Gospel of Mark, as I review and explore each of
the 16 chapters and how it may be applied in our daily lives. If you are following
this series for the first time, you will find this series under Scripture- New
Testament- Gospel of Mark.
Click here to read the first post in the series. I have written this series
in different years (2012, 2015, 2018) with some irregularity, but am determined
to complete this series this year since I am more than half way through this
Gospel.
My goal is to understand and pray the
Gospel of Mark. I hope you will join me on this journey as we travel
through the liturgical season. In today's post we explore chapter 15:1 -15
which is called Jesus is handed over for execution.
JESUS IS HANDED OVER FOR EXECUTION.
Now we come to the day of Jesus’ death.
Early in the morning, the Jewish leaders hand Jesus over to Pilate who is named
without any introduction. Mark presues his readers know who he is.
For the first time the binding of Jesus
is mentioned and Jesus is also called a
king which is a political title. This
title is used of Jesus for others six times during the last day of his life, yet
nowhere else does it appear in Mark’s Gospel.
Mark seems to suggest the king of king Jesus really is.
One senses that in reality Jesus is not
on trial, but the others-Pilate, the priests, the crowds and Barabbas. The silence
of Jesus and his short, probing reply to Pilate show him more as a judge than a
defendant. The priests appear to act out
of envy towards Jesus.
Pilate, although eh recognises that
Jesus is not politically dangerous, acts for shallow reasons of political expediency
to placate the crowd. The crowed chooses
Barabbas, literally ‘son of the father, ‘one who destroys life in others, as
the one they want to have among them.
The true Son of God, who brings the gospel, they reject and want
crucified.
Pilate orders Jesus to be scourged, a
usual punishment before crucifixion. It
was generally done with leather whips loaded with bone or metal, and the person
was sometimes tied to pillar, perhaps bent over a low pillar.
Then Pilate hands Jesus over to be
crucified. This is the tenth time that
the phrase has been used by Mark in story of the Passion.
For Christian faith, this can imply a
deeper mysterious handing over of Jesus
by God to the world, no matter what the cost, to bring into the world god’s
power to free from evil an bring life to all.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS.
.
In our journal and/or our discussion
group we may wish to reflect on this passage as follows:
- Name the key points that you
have learnt about the person of Jesus in this passage of scripture?
- Imagine that you are Pilate.
What do you see and hear and feel?
What can I learn from this?
- Are there any present-day
situations which have all the hallmarks of a similar execution (e.g. the
assault on the beliefs of the Church and its constant persecution by the media
or when Judges do not speak up for the right outcome out of fear of the
crowd?
- Imagine being the one of the chief
priests and scribes. What questions do I want to bring to Jesus?
- Imagine being one of the people
scourging Jesus. What would they want to say to Him when they realise who it
was they scourged?
- In what ways do we
scourge Jesus in our lives?
- What is reading the Gospel passage with
the eyes and ears of disciple mean to me?
- How does Jesus make clear His teaching to me
in this passage?
- Consider a situation in your life today where the teaching of Jesus needs to be applied.
- Consider how much my faith
means to me and what does my faithfulness/unfaithfulness to my
church/parish mean to me and others?
- What are the areas in my
life I need to bring to Jesus in the light of this teaching?
- Am I willing to look into
myself with honesty and ask how much do I grasp what it means to be a true
disciple of Jesus in the light of this teaching?
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