Introduction In this essay I attempt to present the writers intentions of the crucifixion account found in Marks gospel, how the other gospel accounts reflect many of the same intentions and some of the historical evidence that supports the account in Marks Gospel. Marks Crucifixion Text The text of Jesus crucifixion found in the book of Mark is a fulfilment of Hebrew messianic scriptures. When we combine the text of Jesus crucifixion with Isaiah 53 and psalms 22 we can see the intention of the author is to lay claim to certain prophecies they see as messianic prophecies. Mark writes, "and the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. And Pilate asked him again, saying, you answer with nothing? Behold how many things they witness against thee. But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled." Mark is claiming a fulfilled prophecy from Isaiah 53:7 "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" Mark Wrote "And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take" Isaiah 53 continues to explain that the suffering servant is a sin substitute for sinful men, it says that he was "wounded for our transgression" and "bruised for our iniquities" and "that by his stripes we are healed". The sacrifice of Jesus was first vividly pictured when Abraham was asked to sacrifice his son to God. God never intended for Abraham to offer his son but was communicating to Abraham what it cost for God the Father to offer his son as a sacrifice. God provided a lamb for Abraham and the sin substitute of Jesus Christ was first pictured in the Hebrew Scriptures. Another great picture of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was the Jewish Passover. The first time the Passover was celebrated every first-born son in Egypt was killed by the angel of death and the only reason the Jewish first-born son’s were spared was because of the blood of the lamb they had spread upon their doorposts. The next day the Hebrew’s were delivered from Egypt, which typifies deliverance from sin. The amount of clarification the Hebrew Scriptures can bring on this text is unbelievable, they even sheds light on the deity and Kingship of Jesus Christ. Comparing with other Gospel accounts When we compare the text with the Gospel of Matthew we see some editions to the story. One such edition is that Pilate is said to wash his hands of the crucifixion, while the Jews said, "let his blood be on us". It may be that Matthew was emphasizing that Jewish people would bear some special responsibility in the future that Jewish suffering would follow for many generations. We also see another edition to the story, when many dead saints were brought back to life and came out of the graves. The fact that the term saints was used could mean that they were people who had believed in Jesus and died during Jesus lifetime, a picture of what was to come on the final day of Jesus return. The Gospel of Luke also had some editions one edition was that Jesus was sent to King Herod. Herod mocked him and placed a robe and crown of thorns on him, one could say that the lamb caught in the thorn bush that Abraham sacrificed in the Genesis passage previously mentioned foreshadowed the crown of thorns. In the Gospel of John it is revealed that there was a custom that a prisoner should be released at the Passover. John shows us that a sinner was to be released and the innocent was to be condemned, this is a clear picture of what Jesus did for sinners and what the Passover was all about. Pilate declared Jesus to be the King of Israel and the Jews claimed they had no King but Caesar, thus they rejected their shepherd and embraced the ruler that would one day be their destroyer. The Hebrew Scriptures taught that the reason why they were occupied by a foreign power was because of their sin. It may be John was portraying that the Jews had embraced sinfulness rather than Gods Word and so he was saying destruction was to follow the rejection of Jesus. I would interpret the crucifixion of Jesus found in Mark’s Gospel to be laying claim to Hebrew prophecies of the Messiah and the fulfilment of the Hebrew sacrificial system. When examining the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures and the other gospels I see the text has deep meaning behind it and it radically addresses the issues that the Hebrew prophets wrote about. History of the Crucifixion The text reveals the factual history of Jesus crucifixion recorded by some of the most renowned historians. Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus (ca. AD 55-120) wrote about him in his works titled Annals, written about AD 115 "Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind" Julius Africanus, who wrote about AD 221 made reference to the writings of Thallus who, wrote a history of the Eastern Mediterranean world from the Trojan War to his own time (AD 52). Africanus asserts: "On the whole world there pressed a most fearful darkness; and the rocks were rent by an earthquake, and many places in Judea and other districts were thrown down. This darkness Thallus, in the third book of his Conclusion There are 60 major messianic prophecies and 270 ramifications, the probability that one man could have fulfilled all these is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000 and the Gospel writers claim Jesus fulfilled all these prophecies. The crucifixion account of the Gospel of Mark accurately reflects the historical evidence of Jesus Crucifixion.
Mark is claiming this fulfilled prophecy from Psalms 22:16-18 "For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked has enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture"