Pilate,
wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them, and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified.
Mark 15:15
Mark 15 [14.] Pilate said to them, “Why, what evil has he done?”
Mark 15 [15.] Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them, and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified. The soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the whole cohort. They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him. They began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They struck his head with a reed, and spat on him, and bowing their knees, did homage to him. When they had mocked him, they took the purple off of him, and put his own garments on him. They led him out to crucify him. 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. They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, “The place of a skull.” They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn’t take it.
Mark 15 [24.] Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take. It was the third hour, and they crucified him. The superscription of his accusation was written over him, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” With him they crucified two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left. The Scripture was fulfilled, which says, “He was numbered with transgressors.”
Meaning:
Pilate has asked, “Why, what evil has he done?” but the crowd has only shouted louder (Mark 15:14). In this verse the trial ends. The judge who knew Jesus was innocent releases a murderer, has Jesus flogged and hands him over to be crucified. Mark explains the reason in a few words: Pilate wanted to please the crowd.
- “Pilate, wishing to please the multitude”
Pilate’s position was insecure. A riot at Passover could be reported to Rome and cost him his office. John records the threat that finally moved him: “If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend!” (John 19:12). Matthew describes how he washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it” (Matthew 27:24). But washing his hands could not remove his responsibility. He chose his own safety and the approval of the crowd over justice.
- “released Barabbas to them”
The guilty man walked free. Barabbas had been imprisoned for insurrection and murder (Mark 15:6-10), yet he left the prison while Jesus took the path to the cross. Barabbas is the first person in the Gospel story who could say, quite literally, that Jesus died in his place. In that sense he stands for every sinner who is set free because Christ was condemned.
- “and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified”
Roman flogging was carried out with a whip of leather thongs weighted with pieces of metal or bone. It tore the skin and muscles of the back, and some prisoners died from it. It was the usual preparation for crucifixion, and it left Jesus so weakened that soldiers later forced Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross (Mark 15:21).
Jesus had foretold every part of this: “They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him” (Mark 10:34). The words “handed over” complete a chain that runs through the passion story: Judas handed him to the priests, the priests handed him to Pilate, and now Pilate hands him to the soldiers. Behind them all stood the purpose of God, for he was “delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23).
The Significance of Mark 15:15
- The snare of pleasing people
Pilate is a warning to anyone in authority. “The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe” (Proverbs 29:25). When the desire for approval outweighs the desire to do right, injustice follows. Believers are called to please God first, even when it costs them popularity.
- By his wounds we are healed
The flogging of Jesus was not meaningless cruelty. Isaiah wrote of the Servant, “The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The stripes on his back became the means of our healing and peace with God.
- The great exchange
Barabbas went free and Jesus was condemned. This is the pattern of salvation: “For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Cross-References:
Matthew 27:24: "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous person. You see to it." Pilate tried to wash his hands of the matter.
Isaiah 53:5: "The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed." The meaning of the flogging.
Proverbs 29:25: "The fear of man proves to be a snare, but whoever puts his trust in Yahweh is kept safe." The danger that overcame Pilate.
John 19:12: "If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend!" The pressure on Pilate.
Conclusion: Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas, had Jesus flogged and handed him over to be crucified. The verse exposes the danger of pleasing people rather than God, and it shows the great exchange at the center of the gospel: the guilty set free, the innocent condemned. The wounds Jesus received in that flogging are the wounds by which, as Isaiah said, we are healed.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible