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.”
Mark 15:24-28
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.”
Mark 15 [29.] Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
Meaning:
Jesus has refused the drugged wine at Golgotha (Mark 15:22-23). Mark now describes the crucifixion itself with remarkable restraint. He does not dwell on the nails or the pain. Instead he records four details: the dividing of the clothes, the hour, the notice above the cross and the two men crucified with Jesus. Each one carries meaning, and the passage ends with a word of fulfilled Scripture.
- “Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them”
The clothes of an executed man were the perks of the execution squad. John says there were four soldiers, and they cast lots for the seamless coat (John 19:23-24). Without knowing it, they fulfilled Psalm 22: “They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing” (Psalm 22:18). Jesus was stripped of everything; he died with nothing he could call his own.
- “It was the third hour, and they crucified him”
The third hour was about nine o’clock in the morning, as the PIB footnote notes. Mark marks the day in three-hour stages: the morning council (Mark 15:1-2), the crucifixion at the third hour, darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, and Jesus’ death at the ninth (Mark 15:33-39). The careful timing reminds us that these events unfolded according to God’s plan, not by chance.
- “The superscription of his accusation was written over him, ‘THE KING OF THE JEWS’”
It was the Roman custom to display the charge against a condemned man. Pilate’s notice was meant as a warning, and perhaps as an insult to the Jewish leaders. John records its full wording, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” (John 19:19). Yet the notice told the truth. The one who hung there was indeed the King, and he was reigning in the most unexpected way, by giving his life.
- “With him they crucified two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left”
These men were probably insurgents like Barabbas, the word “robbers” often being used for rebels. Earlier James and John had asked, “Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory” (Mark 10:37). Jesus told them they did not know what they were asking. Now the places at his right and left are taken by two condemned criminals, because his glory is revealed on the cross. Luke tells how one of them turned to him and asked, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42).
- “He was numbered with transgressors”
This line quotes Isaiah 53:12, where the Servant “poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). The PIB footnote notes that some ancient manuscripts (the NU text) do not include verse 28, but the same prophecy stands behind the scene: the sinless one was counted among criminals. On the night of his arrest Jesus had said, “But this is so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled” (Mark 14:49).
The Significance of Mark 15:24-28
- Scripture fulfilled in detail
The garments, the lots and the criminals all fulfil what was written centuries before. God’s word is trustworthy, and the cross was no accident but the centre of his saving purpose.
- The King who reigns from a cross
The title meant to mock Jesus proclaimed his true identity. He is King not by force but by self-giving love. “Being found in human form, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, yes, the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
- Counted with sinners for sinners
Jesus was placed between two criminals because he came to save sinners. Isaiah adds that “he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). No one is too far gone to call on him, as the dying thief discovered.
Cross-References:
Psalm 22:18: "They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing." The prophecy of the divided garments.
John 19:19: "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS." The full wording of the notice.
Isaiah 53:12: "because he poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors;" The Scripture quoted in verse 28.
Luke 23:42: "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom." One of the criminals turned to Jesus.
Conclusion: At the third hour the soldiers crucified Jesus, divided his garments by lot and set over him the charge, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Two robbers were crucified on his right and left, fulfilling the Scripture that he would be numbered with transgressors. Each detail shows God’s word being fulfilled and reveals Jesus as the true King, who took his place among sinners in order to bear their sin and open the way to his Kingdom.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible