What does Mark 15:6-15 mean?

⁶ Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. ⁷ And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. ⁸ And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them. ⁹ But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. ¹¹ But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. ¹² And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? ¹³ And they cried out again, Crucify him. ¹⁴ Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. ¹⁵ And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. (Mark 15:6-15 KJV)

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

Pilate proposed releasing Jesus to the people, since it was customary at the feast to release one prisoner. The crowd expected and demanded the same privilege (Mark 15:8). Pilate realized that the chief priests had handed Jesus over out of envy, because his popularity had outshone theirs (Mark 15:10). It was clear from the weak evidence and the priests’ zeal that Jesus was being accused not for wrongdoing, but for his excellence. Seeing how beloved Jesus was by the people, Pilate thought he could appeal to them to rescue Jesus by calling for his release. He offered them a way to demand Jesus’s release without causing a riot—he would set Jesus free and silence the priests by pointing to public support. There was another prisoner, Barabbas, who had some backing, but Pilate assumed Jesus would easily get more support.

To Pilate’s surprise, the people, influenced by the priests, unanimously shouted for Jesus’s death, specifically for crucifixion (Mark 15:11). Pilate pushed back: “What do you want me to do with the one you call the King of the Jews?” (Mark 15:12). But they answered, “Crucify him!” The priests had primed the crowd, and they were determined. When Pilate asked, “Why, what crime has he committed?”—a vital question—they gave no answer but shouted all the more, “Crucify him!” (Mark 15:14). The priests had spread themselves among the crowd and stirred them up, expecting two results.

First, it might convince Pilate that Jesus was guilty, since so many were shouting against him. “Surely,” Pilate might think, “he must be a terrible man for the whole crowd to reject him.” Pilate may have doubted what he had heard about Jesus’s popularity. The priests had rushed the case through so quickly that Jesus’s friends probably didn’t even know it was happening. Satan often tries to ruin Christ’s name and reputation to discredit him and his cause. When a faith is falsely spoken against everywhere, that often becomes enough to condemn it in people’s minds. But we should judge people and ideas by their truth and by God’s Word, not by public opinion.

Second, Pilate might condemn Jesus to please the people, or out of fear of offending them. He wasn’t so foolish as to believe their opinion, but he was corrupt enough to be swayed by their fury. Though he believed Jesus was innocent, he gave in, pressured by political reasons and worldly logic. Jesus, who died as a sacrifice for the sins of many, fell as a victim to the rage of many.

Pilate, to gratify the Jews’ malice, delivered Christ to be crucified (Mark 15:15). Wanting to satisfy the people and keep them quiet, he released Barabbas to them, who was the disgrace of their nation, and delivered Jesus to be crucified, who was the glory and blessing of their nation. Though he had scourged him before, hoping that would satisfy them, he still went on to crucify him. It’s no surprise that someone who could justify punishing an innocent person (Luke 23:16) could gradually justify crucifying him.

Christ was crucified, for that was,

1. A bloody death, and without blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22). The blood is the life (Genesis 9:4); it carries the life force that connects the soul and body, so shedding blood is giving up life. Christ was to lay down his life for us, and therefore shed his blood. Blood made atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11), and in every atoning sacrifice, the blood was poured out and sprinkled before the Lord. Christ fulfilled these types by shedding his blood.
2. A painful death; the suffering was intense, for death attacked the inner life through the outer body, which is most sensitive. Christ died in such a way that he felt himself die, because he was both the priest and the sacrifice. He was active in dying, offering his soul for sin. Crucifixion was a most terrible punishment: Christ met death in its most terrifying form, and conquered it.
3. A shameful death, the death of slaves and the worst criminals, as it was viewed among the Romans. The cross and shame go together. Since God’s honor was offended by human sin, Christ satisfied divine justice by submitting not only to the temporary loss of his divine honor but to the greatest disgrace and humiliation a human could endure.
4. A cursed death; the Jewish law said, “He who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deuteronomy 21:23). Saul’s sons were hanged to atone for their father’s guilt (2 Samuel 21:6), and Haman and his sons were hanged (Esther 7:10; 9:13). We don’t read of any Old Testament prophet being hanged, but now that Christ submitted to be hanged on a tree, the shame and curse of that death are removed. It should not disturb the comfort of those who die innocently or repentantly, nor lessen but rather increase the honor of martyrs who die as he did—on a tree.