Mark 15:1-39 The King of the Jews
All through this passage which contains Jesus’ examination before Pilate and then His crucifixion, the phrase “King of the Jews” comes up time and again. It is not a title that Jesus had embraced at any time during His earthly ministry. What is going on here?
2 Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?”
Pilate himself asks this question. It is translated as a question. In the Greek text, questions have to be interpreted - they are printed in the text as a statement: “You are the King of the Jews.” And I think the translators got it right. Pilate was asking a question. Jesus’ response is very brief. “You say.” That’s the most literal translation. NASB, usually very literal, runs ahead and translates, “It is as you say.” I don’t think Jesus said that. What if Jesus’ statement is actually a question: “Are you saying?” Jesus didn’t say it. Jesus didn’t embrace it. Is that your idea; your words?
9 Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”
It is a little surprising that Pilate uses this title for Jesus as he speaks to the crowd of Jewish leaders and people, who have asked for the customary release of a prisoner. It’s as though, at this point, Pilate is setting them up to say “No,” though he may be surprised that they actually opt for Barabbas, a troublemaker who has been a problem for the Romans, and most likely a problem for the Jews as well. Perhaps Pilate’s disdain for the Jews is showing through here, and he actually works against himself by way of his sarcasm. He could have said, “Do you want me to release for you this Jewish rabbi in whom I find no fault worthy of death?”
They reject this offer from Pilate, and so he says, again, it seems, baiting them:
12 Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?”
This is a dramatic moment, because the Jewish people respond, concerning “the King of the Jews,” “Crucify him.” They want the one who is now termed “King of the Jews” to be cruelly killed as a criminal.
17 They *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
The Roman soldiers are at liberty to now use this term in their abuse of Jesus. What fun to mock and torment an enemy king! And that is what they do.
It was common to list the crime on some kind of sign posted at the top of the cross. Most of these signs would have had terms such as “thief” or “robber” or “anarchist” or “traitor.” But this sign is different:
26 The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
We don’t know of another case in which someone was crucified for being a king outside of Jerusalem.
32 “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!”
On the cross, Jesus is mocked by the Jewish leaders. They are linking the idea of “messiah” and “king” in their statement. They believe that there will be such a figure, sometime. They are stating clearly that they reject Jesus as being the messianic king of Israel.
39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
In the end, the final statement refuses to repeat “King of the Jews” in favor of a statement that is of another order: “Son of God.” It comes from the lips of a Roman centurion who has simply overseen the operations of this day from a distance.
Kings come and go. Yes, it is true that Jesus is a king. But it is because He is the Son of God that we must admit that He is not just another king. Rather, He is King of kings, and Lord of lords.
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