Mark 14:43-52 tells us how the Lord Jesus was arrested. In verse 49 He said to those who came to seize Him, “Daily I was with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me—but that the Scriptures may be fulfilled.” The God-forsaking and God-offending opposers, afraid of the people who had warmly welcomed the Slave-Savior (11:7-11) and who were gladdened by His speaking (12:37), dared not arrest Him in the daytime or in a public place like the temple. Instead, these opposers arrested Him subtly in the deep night (14:1), as though arresting a robber (14:48).
Mark 14:53—15:15 describes how the Slave-Savior was judged. First He was judged by the Jewish leaders representing the Jews (14:53-64). Then He was judged by the Roman government representing the Gentiles (15:1-15).
Mark 14:53 says, “And they led Jesus away to the high priest, and all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes come together.” The Slave-Savior was arrested as a robber (v. 48) and brought to the slaughter as a lamb (Isa. 53:7).
In 14:55-60 we see that the Lord Jesus said nothing in answer to those who were falsely testifying against Him. “He was silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest questioned Him and said to Him, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (v. 61). The befuddled high priest of the traditional, God-forsaking and God-forsaken religion called God “the Blessed” in order to show how much he revered and honored God. Although concerning His behavior the Slave-Savior would not answer His faultfinders’ false accusation, yet concerning His divine Person, His deity, He was not silent. Rather, in verse 62 He answered strongly and definitely, affirming His deity in His humanity by stating that as the Son of Man He will sit at the right hand of God.
Verses 63 and 64 say, “And the high priest, having torn his garments, says, What further need do we have of witnesses? You heard the blasphemy! How does it appear to you? And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death.” The blind opposers condemned the Slave-Savior for being blasphemous in affirming His deity, not realizing that they themselves were blaspheming God, who was right then the very One whom they were slandering and mocking.
Verse 65 says, “And some began to spit at Him, and to cover His face, and to beat Him with their fists, and to say to Him, Prophesy! And the deputies, slapping Him, took Him.” This was the Jews’ despising and rejecting of the Slave-Savior to the uttermost, as prophesied in Isaiah 53:3.
Mark 15:1 goes on to say, “And immediately in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, and having bound Jesus, they led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate.” Under God’s sovereignty, the Slave-Savior was judged not only by the Jewish leaders as a sheep before the shearer (Isa. 53:7) in 14:53-65, but also by the Roman governor, as a criminal before the accusers (14:64) in 15:1-15. He was judged both by the Jewish leaders and by the Roman governor so that He might die to serve sinners with His life as a ransom (10:45), not only for the Jews, represented by the Jewish leaders, but also for the Gentiles, represented by the Roman governor.
Mark 15:15 tells us that Pilate, seeking to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and delivered up Jesus to be crucified. This exposed the darkness and injustice of man’s politics to the uttermost. It was a fulfillment of the prophecy concerning the Slave-Savior’s suffering in Isaiah 53:5 and 8.
The Jewish death penalty was by stoning (Lev. 20:2, 27; 24:14; Deut. 13:10; 17:5). Crucifixion was a heathen practice (Ezra 6:11), adopted by the Romans for the execution of slaves and heinous criminals only. To crucify the Lord Jesus was not only a fulfillment of the Old Testament (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13; Num. 21:8-9), but also a fulfillment of the Lord’s own word concerning the mode of His death (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32), which could not have been fulfilled by stoning.
In 14:43—15:15 we have a record of the experience both of the Lord Jesus and of Peter. These experiences were taking place at the same time. While the Lord Jesus was being judged, Peter also was judged. The fact that the Lord was judged by the Jewish leaders and the Roman governor is a strong sign that He was tested by the entire world. He was judged by the Jews according to their law and by the Gentiles according to Roman law.
With the Lord Jesus, of course, there was nothing deserving judgment. Peter, on the contrary, was exposed as being fully wrong. The account in the Gospel of Mark merges the judgment of the Lord Jesus by the Jews and the Gentiles with the exposure and judgment of Peter.
We need to see that both Peter and the Lord Jesus were crucified. We may say that Peter was ordained and appointed to be our representative.
Everything that happened related to the crucifixion of Jesus was a fulfillment of either the types or the prophecies in the Old Testament. We have pointed out that, as a fulfillment of the type of the Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus was crucified on the day of the Passover. He was arrested during the night. According to the Jewish calendar, a day begins not in the morning but in the evening. The Lord Jesus partook of the Passover feast in the evening of the day of Passover. This means that He ate the Passover at the beginning of the day of the Passover. Then He instituted His supper and went to Gethsemane to pray.
Late in the night the Lord was arrested, brought to the court of the high priest, and judged. Then in the morning He was brought to Pilate. It was early in the morning that the Lord Jesus was sentenced to death. Immediately after He was sentenced, He was taken to Golgotha, and beginning at nine o’clock in the morning, He was crucified.
The Lord’s opposers did not give the people an opportunity to do anything against them. The opposers arrested the Lord Jesus secretly, and the Lord cooperated with them. The Lord purposely went to Gethsemane, and Judas knew that He would be there. Hence, late at night, while the people were sleeping, Judas led a company to Gethsemane to arrest the Lord Jesus. In a quick way, without the people knowing anything, the Lord was judged by the Jewish leaders. Then He was judged by Pilate and sentenced to death. In order to satisfy the crowd, Pilate made a quick decision to crucify the Lord Jesus.