Mark 15

1 Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders, scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, bound Jesus, carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate.

2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered, “So you say.”

3 The chief priests accused him of many things.

4 Pilate again asked him, “Have you no answer? See how many things they testify against you!”

5 But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate marveled.

6 Now at the feast he used to release to them one prisoner, whomever they asked of him.

7 There was one called Barabbas, bound with his fellow insurgents, men who in the insurrection had committed murder.

8 The multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do as he always did for them.

9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

10 For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up.

11 But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should release Barabbas to them instead.

12 Pilate again asked them, “What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews?”

13 They cried out again, “Crucify him!”

14 Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they cried out exceedingly, “Crucify him!”

15 Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them, and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified.

16 The soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the whole cohort.

17 They clothed him with purple; and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him.

18 They began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

19 They struck his head with a reed and spat on him, and bowing their knees, did homage to him.

20 When they had mocked him, they took the purple cloak off him, and put his own garments on him. They led him out to crucify him.

21 They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them that he might bear his cross.

22 They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, “The place of a skull.”

23 They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn’t take it.

24 Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take.

25 It was the third hour when they crucified him.

26 The superscription of his accusation was written over him: “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

27 With him they crucified two robbers, one on his right hand, and one on his left.

28 The Scripture was fulfilled which says, “He was counted with transgressors.”

29 Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying, “Ha! You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,

30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!”

31 Likewise, also the chief priests mocking among themselves with the scribes said, “He saved others. He can’t save himself.

32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe him.” Those who were crucified with him also insulted him.

33 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.

34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is, being interpreted, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.”

36 One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down.”

37 Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit.

38 The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom.

39 When the centurion, who stood by opposite him, saw that he cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

40 There were also women watching from afar, among whom were both Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

41 who, when he was in Galilee, followed him and served him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

42 When evening had now come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,

43 Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for God’s Kingdom, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body.

44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead long.

45 When he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

46 He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid.

Around Mark 15

Book context

MarkEditorial draft

Mark opens with “The beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1) and moves quickly from scene to scene, starting with Jesus announcing that God’s Kingdom is at hand (1:14 to 15). It explains Jewish terms such as “Corban” for its readers (7:11), which suggests an audience not all familiar with Jewish practice. A central saying is that the Son of Man came “to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (10:45). The text does not name its author; early tradition links it to John Mark and the preaching of Peter, and Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) places it in Rome around AD 63. Many scholars today regard Mark as the earliest Gospel.

Why we say this

HisFullGlory editorial · common interpretation · not yet reviewed by a theological reader

From the text itself

Sources

Notes summarise their sources in our own words. Where Christians or scholars disagree, the note says so. Notes are not original-language evidence and do not replace the text.

AI explanation

Mark 15 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

It is morning, and Jesus has been bound and handed over to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate asks, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus says only, “So you say.” The chief priests accuse him of many things, and he gives no further answer, so that Pilate marvels.

At the feast Pilate used to release one prisoner. Stirred up by the chief priests, the crowd asks for Barabbas, a man jailed for murder in an uprising. Pilate asks what he should do with the King of the Jews, and they cry out, “Crucify him!” He has Jesus flogged and handed over.

Soldiers dress him in purple and press a crown of thorns on his head. Simon of Cyrene is made to carry his cross. At Golgotha Jesus is crucified between two robbers, with the charge written above him. Passersby and the chief priests mock him. At the ninth hour he cries out to God and dies, and the temple curtain tears in two. A centurion says this man was the Son of God. Women watch from afar, and Joseph of Arimathea lays the body in a rock tomb.

Background

Crucifixion was a Roman punishment used on slaves and rebels, and the charge posted above Jesus was political. Pontius Pilate governed Judea in the 20s of the first century. This chapter has sometimes been used to blame the Jewish people as a whole, and that reading is a serious misuse. The text names the temple leaders, a crowd, and the Roman authorities who carried out the sentence. Jesus’s cry on the cross quotes Psalm 22:1. Christians read the torn curtain in several ways, often as a sign of access to God or of judgment on the temple.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 27 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

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World English Bible. Public-domain source and edition notes