Mark 15:20

Mar_15:20

And led Him out to crucify Him.

Preparations for crucifixion

The case was shut and the last chance was gone, and Pilate uttered the terrible formula, Go, soldier; get the cross ready! The cross, perhaps, was found on a pile of grim lumber in some prison yard not far off. Perhaps it was a bole of some common tree, with the boughs lopped off and the bark left on. This log and its transverse beam had to be roughly knocked together at the place of crucifixion-not before. Some officer would say to the man and his mates who went for it: You may as well bring two other crosses, for there are two other men to be crucified, and we may as well put them all three to death together, and so save trouble. Meanwhile, there stands Jesus meekly waiting, still thorn-crowned-for, when the soldiers took away the fantastic robe they did not take away (according to any evidence that we have) the crown of thorns. Then the two convicts are fetched out, and yonder they slouch. Ah! I can almost see the two horrors-two hard, white-grey cruel faces, two pairs of eyes that shift and shine under two shocks of rough wild hair. Now all is ready. The three are formed into a line, each one carrying a part of his cross, and each one has slung before him, from his neck, a board whitened with gypsum, on which you see his name and crime scored in great red letters. A centurion, on horseback, goes first; and then comes the Holy One, sinking under the shaft of His cross. The crier walks by His side, shouting, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews! Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews! The second man comes after Him, and the third man after him, attended in like manner. As they stagger slowly along, all the reeking, ragged lazzaroni swarm out in larger numbers from the slums of outcast Jerusalem, leaping, laughing, swearing, and playing off practical jokes upon one another. (Charles Stanford, D. D.)

The way to the cross

The procession formed, and started on its way. First went a trumpeter to call attention and clear the road. This was usual both among the Romans and the Jews. Among the latter a herald led the way, crying out, So-and-so, the son of So-and-so, is being led forth to execution. The witnesses against Him are so and so. If anyone knows any reason why the sentence be remitted or deferred, let him now declare it. Also, when a criminal had been sentenced, two members of the council accompanied him to execution. We may be sure it was so on this occasion, Jesus had been condemned to death by the Sanhedrim, and members of it would be likely to attend and see that Christ was really slain; we find also that when He hung upon the cross some of these were present, who mocked, and these were probably the two members delegated to assist at the execution, according to law. A centurion also attended the procession, mounted on horseback. He represented the governor, and his function was to see that the execution was properly and fully carried out, and that the person executed died on his cross. We see in the presence of the centurion under the cross, when Christ died, as well as in that of the chief priests deriding Jesus as He hung, one of those many little touches of truth, those undesigned coincidences, which serve to show the fidelity of the record to the facts of the case. A considerable detachment of soldiers was also in attendance, and accompanied the Lord on His way to death. There were fears of a riot, and possibly of an attempt to release the two thieves. If these were, as we may suppose, of the band of Barabbas, they were not only found guilty because they were robbers, but also because they were political offenders. The mob had demanded and obtained the release of Barabbas; it was not unlikely they might make an attempt to free the two other conspirators. Now try to picture the train as it moved. The streets of Jerusalem were narrow, and though the road chosen was one of the principal streets, yet that street was by no means broad. It was part of the custom to convey criminals to death through the most frequented portions of the city. Quinctilian says, As often as we crucify criminals, the most populous streets are traversed, so that the crowd may see and be filled with fear. Another ancient writer gives a description of the cross bearing of a slave, which is interesting, as it shows what the usage then was, and helps us to realize the scene when Christ went through the streets of Jerusalem to His passion. He says that a noble Roman had delivered over one of his slaves to death, and he bade the fellow slaves convey this man about Rome, and make his death as conspicuous and notorious as possible. He had been first scourged in the Forum, and then dragged about to all the most frequented parts of the city. He was made to carry his cross, his hands were bound to the arms of the cross, and the full weight of the rough cross was laid on his back and shoulders, bleeding and raw from the scourging he had received. The streets were not only narrow, but they were winding. The way led to the gate Gennath, or the Garden Gate, which was in the corner between the old wall of Zion and the wall of the lower town, and belonged to the latter. It was so called, because, outside the city, to the north of the Pool of Hezekiah, lay gardens belonging to citizens, one of which, as we learn later, belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. The procession moves on, in the full glare of day, with the hot Syrian sun streaming down on the train. Above, the sky is blue, the street, though narrow, is full of light, for the walls reflect the glare of the sun. (S. Baring Gould, M. A.)

The scene at Calvary

1. What was crucifixion? To the devout Christian every item of information he can gain concerning that dread scene at Calvary is of the utmost value.

1. It was foreign in every sense in its infliction upon our Lord. This kind of capital punishment was Roman, and not Jewish.

2. It was excessively cruel in its details. The word which it has given to our English language indicates its severity. To be excruciated simply means to be in suffering like that of crucifixion; it signifies the extreme anguish to which human sensibility can go.

3. It was long and lingering in its operation. Severe as these wounds were, they could never be very dangerous. Hardly more than a few drops of blood fell from them. It would have been too much of a merciful indulgence for this mode of execution to make any of its agonizing strokes immediately fatal. Death did not ensue sometimes until after several days of torture. Even then it was brought on by weakness and starvation, coupled with the low fever which the inflammation from the wounds sooner or later produced. The great suffering was caused by the constrained posture on the cross, the soreness of the members from the nails, and of the back from the welts raised by the whips in the scourging. Every motion brought with it only anguish without relief. Thus the poor body was permitted to hang with no respite and no hope, through the night and through the day, in the chillness of the evening, in the heat of the noon, until death lint an end to consciousness add to life.

4. Such a punishment powerfully arrested the popular imagination as a spectacle. Sometimes the military men put on guard were compelled to accelerate the final agony by brutally beating the legs of the victims with bludgeons till the bones were crushed and the sudden shocks produced collapse. No wonder people called this the most cruel, the worst possible fate. It is on record that a soldier once said that, of all the awful sounds human ears could be forced to listen to, the most terrible out of hell were those pitiable cries, in the solemn silence of the midnight, from the lonely hill where crucified men were hanging in agonies out of which they could not even die while a breath to suffer with remained.

5. So we see whence came the suggestion of a crucifix as a symbol of faith and penitence. It is not likely that the physical pains of our Lord were the severest He had to bear; but they certainly have availed from the earliest time to move the hearts of the simpleminded common people. Nor is this all: there are moments of deep spiritual feeling when even the most cultivated penitent will find an argument in the agony and bloody sweat as well as in the cross and passion of the Divine Redeemer. The popular mind is moved by such a picture; but the mistake might easily be made of trusting a crucifix in an impulse of superstition, instead of Christ on a principle of faith.

II. So much, then, as to the manner of our Lords crucifixion; now comes up for our study a far more interesting question concerning its meaning.

1. Considered merely as a matter of historic incident, the death of Jesus Christ is of little, if any, spiritual value. Doubtless there were other executions at Golgotha before and after this one, equally painful and equally iniquitous-for the Roman government in Palestine was never free from charges of injustice. We do not care, however, to remember the sufferers names. And Christs crucifixion is but one more wail of abused humanity, if we contemplate it alone.

2. We must consider this event as a matter of theological doctrine. When history is so momentous and so mysterious as this, we are compelled to read below the surface and between the lines. He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God in order that He should suffer precisely as He did (Act_2:23). Men wreaked their violent passions upon Him, and it was by wicked and responsible hands He was crucified and slain. Messiah was cut off, but not for Himself (Dan_9:26). The wisdom of God overruled the wrath of His murderers to the Divine glory and the salvation of men. One of the ancient commentators springs up almost out of sober exposition into the realm of song, as he exclaims; In their frantic anger they pluck to pieces the Rose of Sharon; but by so doing they only display the brilliance of every petal. In their fury they break a diamond into fragments; by which they only cause it to show its genuineness by its sparkling splinters. They are anxious to tear from Immanuels head the last remnant of a crown; but they only lift the veil from the forehead of His majesty!

3. More than anything else we must also consider the crucifixion of Jesus as a matter of vicarious atonement. There is something very fine in the quiet simplicity with which one of the apostles explains this entire scene at Calvary: All have sinned. Christ died to be a propitiation through faith in His blood (Rom_3:23-26). Pilate wrote an inscription to be put over the head of the Saviour; according to a Roman custom, this was designed to explain the transaction to all who stood by. The true inscription on the cross would be Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. These are the words which would give to the scene at Calvary its eternal interpretation before the Church and the ages. The very voice of Immanuel Himself as He seems to speak out of the midst of His suffering, is: See! I have taken away the handwriting that was against you, and have nailed it to My cross (Col_2:13-14). The one word which describes the whole gospel plan of salvation is substitution. Christ was sinless, yet He suffered: we are sinful, yet we go free (2Co_5:21).

4. This will lead at last to our consideration of the crucifixion as a matter of personal experience. Believers all glory in the cross. Many a death bed has been illumined by its light. Many a sorrowful and lonely heart has been encouraged by the remembrance of it. There have been old men, just trembling on the verge of the tomb, whose eyes filled with the tears of grateful gladness as they died thinking of it. There have arisen voices from around the stake in the midst of the martyrs flames, singing praise to Him who hung upon it. Many a bowed sinner has come forth into freedom as he laid his burden at the foot of the cross. This personal experience begins with self-renunciation. Every other reliance must absolutely be surrendered, and each soul must become content to owe its salvation to Jesus Christs merits, not to its own. So this personal experience continues to the end with a deep solicitude against lapsing into sin again. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Mar 15:20-21. And when they had mocked him, &c. — These verses are explained in the note on Mat 27:31-32.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CHAPTER 27.

JESUS LED TO CALVARY

Mat 27:31-34; Mar 15:20-23; Luk 23:26-33; Joh 19:16-17. “And they took Jesus, and led Him away, carrying His cross.” Mark: “And when they mocked Him, they divested Him of His purple robe, and put on Him His own raiment, and led Him away, that they may crucify Him.” You see the crown of thorns was not taken off but remained on His brow throughout His crucifixion. “They compel Simon, a certain Cyrenian along with them, having come from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, that he may bear His cross.” As the city of Cyrene stood on the northern shore of Africa, there is at least a probability that this was a stout, muscular colored man, who enjoyed the honor of carrying the cross, which proved too much for the fainting Jesus after a night of sleepless harassment and terrible suffering, attended by the loss of much blood.

Luk 23:27-32. “And a great crowd of people followed Him, and of women, who continued to weep and bewail Him. And Jesus, turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not over Me, but weep for yourselves, and your children. For, behold, the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs which did not bring forth, and the breasts which did not nurse. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.” These words of our Savior describe the horrific sufferings which came on those people forty years from that date, the Roman wars lasting five years, and resulting in the destruction of Jerusalem, the death of a million, the slavery of another million, the exile of the little remnant, and the annihilation of the Jewish polity. All this He saw in vivid panorama before His eyes — mountains of the dead, rivers of blood, and the desolation of the city and the land.

“Because if they do these things in the green tree, what may be done in the dry?” This statement is metaphoric; e. g., If, while Mercy’s door is wide open, the Holy Ghost wooing, Jesus and His apostles and evangelists preaching, and everything prosperous and auspicious, they reject and crucify Him who came from heaven to save them, killing their own Christ for whom they had waited two thousand years, what will they do when the Holy Ghost has retreated away, and God has turned them over to hardness of heart and reprobacy of mind, to believe lies and be condemned? Thus the green tree emblematizes the mercy and grace abounding in the days of Jesus; and the dry, the horrific spiritual dearth coming on the land because they insulted God, slew His Son, and outraged the Holy Ghost.

“And there were also two others, malefactors, being led, along with Him to be put to death.” Mat 27:33-34 : “And having come into the place called Golgotha, which is denominated the place of a skull, they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink; and tasting it, He did not wish to drink.” This was a soporific potion, conducive to the lulling of the nerves to insensibility and the obtundification of the feeling, so as to mitigate the awful severity of the pain, somewhat corresponding with the modern chloroform. You see that Jesus declined to drink it, preferring to enjoy the clear and unclouded exercise of His intellect and the full acumen of His nerves. So when physicians want you to take chloroform, or some kind of a nervous sedative, which might probably render you unconscious of your suffering, you have the example of Jesus declining all artificial relief when passing through the terrible ordeal of crucifixion, enjoying the normal exercise of nerves and brain. Calvary is not far from Pilate’s judgment-hall, the ascension beginning in the city about one square from the hall, and continuing really to the summit of Calvary, passing northward through the Damascus Gate, then turning somewhat eastward, the mountain being one of the peaks of Bezetha, and within the angle formed by the road to Jericho, leading east, and the way to Damascus leading north, as the Romans were in the habit of crucifying their criminals in the most public and conspicuous places, so as to present the greatest possible terror to evildoers. Heb 13:12, locates it “without the gate.” Calvary is Greek, and means “skull,” because the hill has the shape of a human skull. When I first came to Jerusalem, with nothing but the Scripture for my guide, I recognized Calvary before any one pointed it out to me.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. τὰ ἱμάτια αὐγοῦ ([3422][3423][3424][3425]) rather than τ. ἱμ. τὰ ἴδια ([3426][3427][3428][3429][3430]).

[3422] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[3423] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[3424] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

[3425] Codex Athous Laurae. 8th cent. Like N and Σ, it is written in silver letters on purple vellum. Contains Mar 9:5 to Mar 16:20, and, as in L, the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9. As in Δ, the text of Mark is specially good.

[3426] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[3427] Codex Guelpherbytanus. 6th cent. Contains Mar 1:2-11; Mar 3:5-17; Mar 14:13-24; Mar 14:48-61; Mar 15:12-37.

[3428] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mar 6:47 to Mar 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[3429] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[3430] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

σταυρώσωσιν ([3431][3432][3433][3434][3435]) rather than σταυρώσουσιν ([3436][3437][3438][3439][3440][3441]).

[3431] Codex Sinaiticus. 4th cent. Discovered by Tischendorf in 1859 at the Monastery of St Katharine on Mount Sinai. Now at St Petersburg. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1911.

[3432] Codex Vaticanus. 4th cent., but perhaps a little later than א. In the Vatican Library almost since its foundation by Pope Nicolas V., and one of its greatest treasures. The whole Gospel, ending at Mar 16:8. Photographic facsimile, 1889.

[3433] Codex Monacensis. 10th cent. Contains Mar 6:47 to Mar 16:20. Many verses in 14, 15, 16 are defective.

[3434] Codex Oxoniensis. 9th cent. Contains Mark, except Mar 3:35 to Mar 6:20.

[3435] Codex Petropolitanus. 9th cent. Gospels almost complete. Mar 16:18-20 is in a later hand.

[3436] Codex Alexandrinus. 5th cent. Brought by Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, from Alexandria, and afterwards presented by him to King Charles I. in 1628. In the British Museum. The whole Gospel. Photographic facsimile, 1879.

[3437] Codex Ephraemi. 5th cent. A palimpsest: the original writing has been partially rubbed out, and the works of Ephraem the Syrian have been written over it; but a great deal of the original writing has been recovered; of Mark we have Mar 1:17 to Mar 6:31, Mar 8:5 to Mar 12:29, Mar 13:19 to Mar 16:20. In the National Library at Paris.

[3438] Codex Bezae. 6th cent. Has a Latin translation (d) side by side with the Greek text, and the two do not quite always agree. Presented by Beza to the University Library of Cambridge in 1581. Remarkable for its frequent divergences from other texts. Contains Mark, except Mar 16:15-20, which has been added by a later hand. Photographic facsimile, 1899.

[3439] Codex Regius. 8th cent. An important witness. At Paris. Contains Mar 1:1 to Mar 10:15; Mar 10:30 to Mar 15:1; Mar 15:20 to Mar 16:20, but the shorter ending is inserted between Mar 16:8 and Mar 16:9, showing that the scribe preferred it to the longer one.

[3440] Codex Purpureus. 6th cent. Full text in Texts and Studies v. No. 4, 1899. Contains Mar 5:20 to Mar 7:4; Mar 7:20 to Mar 8:32; Mar 9:1 to Mar 10:43; Mar 11:7 to Mar 12:19; Mar 14:25 to Mar 15:23; Mar 15:33-42. See below on Ψ.

[3441] Codex Sangallensis. 9th or 10th cent. Contains the Gospels nearly complete, with an interlinear Latin translation. The text of Mark is specially good, agreeing often with CL. At St Gall.

20. ἐξέδυσαν αὐτὸν τὴν πορφύραν. The double acc. is classical. The change from the imperfects in Mar 15:19 to the aorists in Mar 15:20 has point. Nothing is said about the crown of thorns, but it was probably taken off when other signs of mock royalty were removed. The centurion would not have allowed the mockery to continue when the march to the place of execution began. Pictures are misleading in this respect, as in various details of the crucifixion. In the most ancient representations of the crucifixion the Saviour does not wear a crown of thorns. The verse should have ended at τὰ ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ.

20 b–22. THE ROAD TO CALVARY

Mat 27:31 b–33. Luk 23:26-33 a. Joh 19:16-17

καὶ ἐξάγουσιν. The change of tense and of behaviour point to a change of nominative. The soldiers off duty are left behind, while the centurion and his assistants take charge of the Prisoner and add neither insult nor brutality to what they are bound to do in their treatment of Him. At first, according to custom, Jesus bore the cross, or at any rate the cross-beam, Himself (Joh 19:17). The soldiers seeing that it was more than He could carry transferred the burden to Simon. Place a colon after σταυρώσωσιν αὐτόν.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. and led him out] The place of execution was without the gates of the city.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And they bring him unto the place, Golgotha,.... A famous, or rather an infamous one, well known, and much noted for the many executions there:

which is, being interpreted, the place of a skull; because the skulls of men that had been executed and buried there, being dug up again, lay scattered about; See Gill on Mat 27:33.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the purple, and put on him his garments. The silence of our blessed Lord during these wanton and aggravated insults is very remarkable, and also the total absence of any legal grounds for his condemnation. And they lead him out to crucify him. Assuming the palace of Pilate to have been near the gate of Jaffa, north-west of Mount Zion, and the place of crucifixion that now assigned to it, within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the distance would be about one-third of a mile.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Matt. xxvii, 31; John xix, 16.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Christ led to His crucifixion:

v. 20. And when they had mocked Him, they took off the purple from Him, and put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.

v. 21. And they compel one Simon, a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear His cross.

v. 22. And they bring Him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The Place of a Skull.

v. 23. And they gave Him to drink wine mingled with myrrh; but He received it not.

v. 24. And when they had crucified Him, they parted His garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.

v. 25. And it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.

The soldiers soon grew tired of their sport; their victim did not react properly. He bore everything with sublime, majestic fortitude and patience, instead of crying out in pain and anger, as they had anticipated. They therefore took the mantle of mockery off Him and put His own clothes back on Him. The last act of the greatest drama in the world was about to begin; they led Him out from the palace of the governor and the city to crucify Him, to carry out the unjust decree of an unjust judge. Now Jesus had been under terrific physical, mental, and spiritual strain during the last days, and especially during the past twelve hours. The agony of Gethsemane, the capture, the trial in the palace of the high priest with the mockery heaped upon Him, the lack of rest during the night, the bloody scourging which He had just been compelled to endure, all this now combined to sap His strength. And so the soldiers, as the procession had reached the open space before the gates, made use of a right which they possessed, namely, to impress into service any man who happened to meet them. It so chanced that Simon, a Cyrenian, was coming in from the country. He may have been a belated pilgrim, or he may have gone out early on this morning, since the day was in some respects not held quite so strictly as the Sabbath. The evangelist remarks that this Simon was the father of two men that seem to have been well known to his readers, Alexander and Rufus, Rom 16:13; Act 19:33. So Simon, drafted into service, here had what he probably later considered the great honor of bearing the cross of Jesus for Him: But the physical weakness of Jesus was becoming greater continually. It was now necessary for the soldiers to support Him and probably to carry Him the last part of the way, to the place known as Golgotha, explained by the evangelist as meaning the place of a skull, on account of the peculiar shape of the hill, which resembled the upper part of a human skull. It was the custom to give to the condemned some potion which would tend to deaden the sensibilities, a mixture of wine, or vinegar, with myrrh or gall. But Jesus refused this drink; He wanted to endure His sufferings with full consciousness. And so they fastened him to the cross; they carried out the governor’s sentence. The crucified criminal was divested of his clothing, with the probable exception of a loin-cloth, and therefore the soldiers took the garments of Jesus, putting up the various pieces into four heaps or parts, and then gambled for the several heaps, the highest number taking the best clothes. The coat was, according to the account of Joh 19:24, made a separate stake, since it could not be divided. Mark notes the hour of the crucifixion, the third hour of the day, nine o’clock in the morning. Thus did the crucifixion of the Lord of heaven and earth take place. The princes of this world crucified the Lord of glory, 1Co 2:8. Christ suffered the punishment of a criminal, 1Pe 2:24. The chastisement of our peace lay upon Him, Isa 53:5. He endured the shame and disgrace of this form of punishment, Heb 12:2. With His free will and consent He was hanged to the tree of cursing, Gal 3:13. His entire Passion was for our benefit, for the blessing of the whole world.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXXXIII. A. On the Way to the Cross].

CXXXIII. THE CRUCIFIXION. Subdivision A. ON THE WAY TO THE CROSS. (Within and without Jerusalem. Friday morning.) aMATT. XXVII. 31-34; bMARK XV. 20-23; cLUKE XXIII. 26-33; dJOHN XIX. 17.

a31 And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the bpurple, arobe, and put on him his garments [This ended the mockery, which seems to have been begun in a state of levity, but which ended in gross indecency and violence. When we think of him who endured it all, we can not contemplate the scene without a shudder. Who can measure the grace of God or the depravity of man?], d17 They took Jesus therefore: bAnd they lead him out to crucify him. aand led [722] him away to crucify him. dand he went out, bearing the cross for himself, a32 And as they came out, cwhen they led him away, athey found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: bone passing by, coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, ahim they claid hold upon bcompel acompelled to go with them, that he might bear his cross. cand laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus. [Cyrene was a flourishing city in the north of Africa, having in it a large Jewish population, and Simon shows by his name that he was a Jew. The Cyreneans had one or more synagogues in Jerusalem ( Act_2:10, Act_6:9, Act_11:20). There were many Cyreneans afterwards engaged in spreading the gospel ( Act_13:1), and since the sons of this man are spoken of as well known to Mark's readers it is altogether likely that Simon was one of them. This Rufus may be the one mentioned by Paul ( Rom_16:13). The Roman soldiers found Simon entering the city, and because he was a stranger and they needed a man just then, they impressed him after the manner mentioned on Luk_19:43, Mat_24:15), Jesus refers to the sorrows which the Romans were to bring upon the Jews, and the meaning may be, If the fiery persecution of Rome is so consuming that my innocence, though again and again pronounced by the governor himself, is no protection against it, what will that fire do when it envelopes the dry, guilty, rebellious city of Jerusalem? Or we may make the present and the future grief of the women the point of comparison, and interpret thus: If they cause such sorrow to the women while the city is like a green tree, how much more when, like a dry, dead tree, it is about to fall.] 32 And there were also two others, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. b22 And they bring him unto the place dwhich is called in Hebrew, Golgotha: bwhich is, being interpreted, athat is to say, The place of a skull [Where this place was, or why it was so called, are matters of conjecture. All that we know certainly is that it was outside of, yet near, the city-- Heb_13:12, Joh_19:20], c33 And when they came unto the place which is called The skull, a34 they gave boffered him wine ato drink mingled with gall: bmyrrh: but aand when he had tasted it, he would not drink. bhe received it not. [This mixture of sour wine mingled with gall and myrrh was intended to dull the sense of pain of those being crucified or otherwise severely punished. The custom is said to have originated with the Jews and not with the Romans. Jesus declined it because it was the Father's will that he should suffer. He would not go upon the cross in a drugged, semi-conscious condition.] [724]

[FFG 722-724]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

[20. Καὶ ἐξάγουσιν, αὐτὸν, and lead Him out) What is the mystery which lies hid under the fact, that our gracious Saviour was led out of the city, no mortal man, we may suppose, would have been likely to have discovered, not to say, would have been able to have persuaded others, had not the wisdom of the apostle instructed us on the subject, Heb 13:11-14.—Harm., p. 559.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20-23.] He is led to crucifixion. Mat 27:31-34.Luk 23:26-33Luk 23:26-33. Joh 19:16, 17. See notes on these.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Καὶ ὅτε ἐνέπαιξαν αὐτῷ—And when they had mocked him.5 τὰ (ἴδια) ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ—his (own) garments.

αὐτοῦ, instead of τὰ ἴδια, WH. RV. BC Δ. τὰ ἴδια ἱμάτια αὐτοῦ, Tisch. א (282, without αὐτοῦ). σταυρώσουσιν, instead of -σωσιν, Tisch. Treg. ACDLNP Δ 33, 69, 245, 252 Omit αὐτόν, Tisch. א D 122 ** two mss. Lat. Vet.

ἀγγαρεύουσι—they impress.6 Κυρηναῖον—Cyrene is the city in the north of Africa, opposite Greece, on the Mediterranean. There was a numerous colony of Jews there, and the name Simon shows this man to have been a Jew. It adds nothing to our knowledge of him to call him the father of Alexander and Rufus, except to indicate that these were names known to the early church. It is the height of foolish conjecture to identify this Rufus with the one in Rom 16:13, and especially to take Paul’s τὴν μητέρα αὐτοῦ κ. ἐμοῦ as literal, and so make him the brother of Paul. The criminal carried his own cross to the place of execution, but in this case, Jesus was probably so weakened already by his sufferings, as to be unable to carry it himself.

THE CRUCIFIXION

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.