Question 1

Why did the crowd choose Barabbas instead of Jesus?

Accepted Answer

Pilate had a custom of releasing one prisoner during the feast. He offered the crowd a choice between Jesus, who was innocent, and Barabbas, who had taken part in an uprising and committed murder. The chief priests stirred up the people to ask for Barabbas. This shows how envy and pressure can twist justice, and how people can prefer a violent rebel over a righteous man. It also pictures how the guilty one goes free while the innocent one is condemned, pointing to Jesus suffering in the place of sinners.

Question 2

Why did Jesus stay mostly silent before Pilate and His accusers?

Accepted Answer

When the chief priests brought many charges, Jesus did not argue back. He answered only briefly when Pilate asked if He was the King of the Jews. His silence was not weakness, but willing submission. He was like a lamb being led to sacrifice, choosing to endure false words rather than escape the cross. Pilate was amazed, because most prisoners beg and defend themselves. Jesus’ quiet acceptance shows His obedience to His Father’s plan and His readiness to suffer for others’ sins.

Question 3

What is the meaning of the crown of thorns and the soldiers’ mockery?

Accepted Answer

The soldiers dressed Jesus in a purple robe, put a crown of thorns on His head, and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews.” They hit Him, spat on Him, and bowed in fake worship. They meant it as cruel humor, treating His kingship as a joke. Yet even in their scorn, they spoke the truth without knowing it. The thorns picture the pain and curse He bore. The scene shows how the world rejects God’s true King, while God uses this shame to bring salvation through His suffering.

Question 4

Why did Jesus refuse the wine mixed with myrrh on the way to the cross?

Accepted Answer

At Golgotha, they offered Jesus wine mixed with myrrh, which likely would dull some pain. He refused to drink it. This shows He chose to face the suffering of the cross with a clear mind, not softened by drink. He took the full weight of pain, shame, and God’s judgment on sin without easing it. His refusal fits with the whole passage: He does not run from the cost of saving others, but drinks the bitter cup of suffering that His Father has given Him, all the way to the end.

Question 5

What does “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” mean here?

Accepted Answer

As darkness covered the land, Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He was using the words of an old psalm, speaking from real anguish. Here we see how deeply He entered into the judgment sin deserves. Though He had done no wrong, He felt the horror of being left under God’s curse in the place of sinners. This does not mean the Father stopped loving Him, but that Jesus bore the full weight of wrath against sin, so that those who trust Him would not be forsaken.

Question 6

Why was there darkness over the land during the crucifixion?

Accepted Answer

From the sixth hour to the ninth hour, there was darkness over the land in the middle of the day. This was not normal. It was a sign from God that something very serious was happening as His Son hung on the cross. The darkness pointed to God’s anger against sin, which Jesus was carrying as a substitute. While the world went on in daylight elsewhere, this place of greatest evil, where the innocent Savior was killed, was covered in gloom, showing God’s judgment and the weight of that moment.

Question 7

What is the significance of the veil of the temple being torn in two?

Accepted Answer

When Jesus cried out with a loud voice and died, the veil in the temple was torn from top to bottom. This thick curtain had separated the most holy place from the rest, showing that sinful people could not freely enter God’s presence. Its tearing from above shows God’s own act. It points to the way now opened through Jesus’ death for sinners to come to God. What once was closed and fearful is now open because the true sacrifice has been offered, and access to God no longer depends on that barrier.

Question 8

Why did the centurion say, “Truly this man was the Son of God”?

Accepted Answer

The centurion was a Roman officer who stood near the cross. He watched how Jesus suffered, how He cried out, and how He died. Seeing this, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” This is striking, because he was not a Jew, yet he recognized something divine in Jesus. His words stand in contrast to the mockery of the crowd and leaders. While many around the cross insulted Jesus, this hardened soldier saw His innocence, His manner of dying, and confessed His true identity.

Question 9

Who was Joseph of Arimathea, and why was his role important?

Accepted Answer

Joseph of Arimathea was a respected council member who was waiting for God’s kingdom. Though it was risky, he went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. After getting permission, he wrapped Jesus in fine linen and laid Him in a tomb cut out of rock, then rolled a stone over the entrance. His act mattered because it honored Jesus after such a shameful death, showed his hope in God’s promises, and placed Jesus in a known tomb. Women watched where He was laid, which prepared the way for the story of His rising.

Question 10

How should believers today respond to Jesus’ suffering in this passage?

Accepted Answer

This passage shows Jesus falsely accused, mocked, nailed to a cross, feeling forsaken, and then buried. Believers are called to see their own sin in this scene and to see His love. Instead of siding with the crowd or living for human praise like Pilate, we are invited to trust the King who wore a crown of thorns. Remembering His silence, patience, and obedience helps us face unfair treatment without hatred, and His death for sinners moves us to turn from sin, seek forgiveness in Him, and live in hope of His kingdom.

Mark 15:1

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

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

Pilate Delivers Up Jesus

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion

The Death of Jesus

The Burial of Jesus

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

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Mark 15:1

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

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Jesus Delivered to Pilate

The Crowd Chooses Barabbas

Pilate Delivers Up Jesus

The Soldiers Mock Jesus

The Crucifixion

The Crucifixion

The Death of Jesus

The Burial of Jesus

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

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