Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.57LIKELY
Disgust
0.17UNLIKELY
Fear
0.14UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.6LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.51LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.13UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.88LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.72LIKELY
Extraversion
0.06UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.74LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.72LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Mark 15:15-25
Intro: The scene has been set.
All the actors are in their places.
Everyone knows their lines even though they have never rehearsed their parts.
The greatest act in human history is about to be played out.
These verses talk about the aftermath of our Lord’s trial before the Jews and then Pilate.
Both the Jewish leaders and the Roman governor have condemned Jesus and declared Him to be worthy of death.
The Jews did it because they hated Him.
They hated Jesus because He claimed to be their Messiah.
He was not the kind of Messiah they were expecting, so they rejected Him and sent Him away to His death.
Pilate condemned Jesus to death to save his position with Rome.
Pilate violated every conviction he held.
He convicted a Man against Whom no one had been able to lodge a valid charge.
Pilate sinned against truth, conscience, integrity and principle in condemning Jesus.
He allowed an innocent man to be crucified to ensure earthly security.
In so doing, Pilate condemned his eternal soul to Hell!
Today, we will follow Jesus Christ from Pilate’s judgment hall to Mount Calvary, where He will die for the sins of His people.
As Jesus makes His way from Pilate’s hall to Golgotha, several scenes are played out in the tragedy of His death.
I want to look at those scenes today.
I want you to witness Jesus And The Soldiers; Jesus And Simon; and Jesus and The Skull.
I want to take these scenes from our Lord’s final hours and preach about the Scenes On The Path To Calvary.
I. THE CRUELTY OF THE SOLDIERS-VS.
15-20
(Ill.
The Jewish leaders had rendered their verdict, v. 64.
The people had rendered their verdict, v. 12-14.
Pilate had rendered his verdict, v. 15.
In an effort to transfer the blame for his decision to the Jews, Pilate made a symbolic show of washing his hands of the whole matter, Matt.
27:24.
The Jews accepted the blame for the death of Christ and pronounced a curse upon themselves and their children, Matt.
27:25.
Then, Pilate released Jesus into the custody of his soldiers for them to carry out the order for His death.)
A. v. 15 The Scourging – When the soldiers got their hands on Jesus, they began to abuse Him.
The first thing they did to Him was to “scourge” Him.
The Bible passes over this event so quickly, the casual reader might think there is nothing much to be said.
But, it needs to be said that “scourging” was one of the most feared punishments meted out by the Roman government.
The victim was stripped naked and forced to bend over a low pole, so that the skin of the back was stretched very tight.
His hands and feet were tied and he was whipped with a device the Romans called the “flagellum”.
This instrument of cruel torture was nicknamed “The Scorpion”.
It has also been called “The Cat Of Nine Tails”.
The flagellum consisted of a wooden handle from which extended several strips of leather.
On the ends of the leather strips were either pieces of bone or metal.
This whip was used to beat the prisoner.
As he was beaten, the bone and metal in the whip would gouge out large chunks of flesh.
Veins and sometimes arteries were severed.
On occasion internal organs were exposed and eyes were put out.
Many men died from the beating alone.
(Ill.
I cannot possibly describe a scourging like it really was.
I do not have the vocabulary to do so.
I want you to remember why Jesus Christ allowed that horrible scourging to take place.
He did it because He loved you!
That was your whipping He took that day.
He did it so that He could save your soul.
He also did it to fulfill divine prophecy, Isa.
50:6.)
B. v. 16-20 The Scoffing – After the soldiers finished scourging Jesus, they took him back into the fort.
They called “the whole band” the Bible says.
This refers to a Roman “cohort”, or about 600 men.
All of the soldiers were not on duty came together to have their fun with another condemned prisoner.
This was a routine thing for the soldiers to do.
As long as they did not kill the condemned prisoner before He suffered the prescribed for of execution, they were free to do with Him as they please.
These men were heartless and utterly devoid of compassion for the Lord Jesus.
Imagine the scene.
Jesus stands there before them.
His body is weary from a long night without any sleep.
His face is swollen from the abuse He suffered at the hands of the High Priest and the Temple police, 14:65.
He is bloody from the scourging.
His flesh hangs in ribbons from His back.
His blood pools at His feet.
You would think that seeing Jesus in that condition cause the soldiers to back off.
But, they do not!
Instead, they play a cruel game with the Lord Jesus Christ.
They draped a purple cloth around His shoulders.
They made a crown of thorns and placed it upon His head.
They put a reed in His hand.
They had heard the accusations that Jesus was the King of the Jews, and they dress Him up like a king and they mock Him.
They bend their knees to Him, and they salute Him as a King.
A tragic scene of mockery.
(Ill.
Is this not what our world still does to Jesus?
The world still pays Him lip service and bows a mocking knee before Him, but they do not love Him.
They do not respect Him.
They have no desire to live for Him.
They do not care about His Word, His will or His ways.
The world pays Jesus lip services, but there is no love for Him in their hearts.
It is sad, but this also happens in the church.
There are people who claim to know Him by the words they say, but they deny Him by the lives they live.
People can profess anything they please, but a person’s life speaks louder than their profession!
As someone once said, “What you do speaks so loud that I can’t hear what you say.”
When we claim to love Jesus but refuse to serve Him, we are no better than the soldiers who mocked the King the day they crucified Him.)
C. v. 19 The Smiting– These men were not content to whip Jesus with the flagellum.
They were not content to mock Him and ridicule Him.
According to verse 17, they had placed a crown made of thorns on His head.
And, in a final act of cruelty, they took the reed they had placed in His hands and they beat Him with that stick and they spit in His face.
Then, they took their purple garment off Him, reopening wounds that had begun to dry, and led the bleeding, broken, humiliated Christ away to put Him to death.
(Ill.
I mention this because it is a picture of God’s grace in action.
Just so you remember, this is God they are beating.
This is God they are mocking.
This is God’s face they spit upon.
This is God they are abusing!
He created these very men.
He possessed the power to destroy them by merely thinking about it.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9