Mark 15

Jesus stood silent in front of Pilate because He was not afraid of Him. Jesus was at the point where anyone else would be pleading their case and begging for their life, and Jesus stood there silent - knowing that His mission was being fulfilled.

Pilate himself tried to find a way to spare Jesus because he knew that Jesus was innocent, but the chief priests chose to save one of their own instead - a murderer.

The chief priests were in a frenzy. On the day they were supposed to be remembering that God set them free from Egypt, they were clamoring to have an innocent man put to death.

Jesus was beaten, mocked, and killed just as Isaiah prophecied in Isaiah 53. Throughout this whole record in Mark Jesus is utterly silent, and all we hear are the voices of the people accusing and mocking Him. And finally, on the cross, Jesus cried out to God, "why have you forsaken me." I think that is the moment when He actually took on the punishment for our sins and experienced what it was like to be cast out of God's presence. And then He died.

His death was the sacrifice that God counted worthy of the atonement for our sins, and the veil in the temple - the veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest - the veil that you could not pass through if you were unclean or you would die - was torn open so that all of us could now approach the Holy presence of God through Jesus Christ.

And Jesus was buried in a rich man's tomb, just as Isaiah 53:9 prophecied.