Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion (March 25, 2018)
Gospel (Mar 15:1-39)
Jesus Before Pilate
1 Early in the morning the chief priests with the elders and scribes and the whole Sanhedrin, immediately held a consultation; and binding Jesus, they led him away and delivered him to Pilate.
2 Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
And he answered him, “It is as you say.”
3 The chief priests began to accuse him harshly.
4 Then Pilate asked him again, saying, “Do you not answer? See how many charges they bring against you.”
5 But Jesus made no further answer; so Pilate was amazed.
6 Now at the festival he used to release for them any one prisoner whom they requested.
7 A man called Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.
8 The crowd came up and began asking him to do as he had been accustomed to do for them.
9 Pilate asked them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?”
10 For he was aware that the chief priests had handed him over because of envy.
Gen 4:4-6
4 And Abel also brought—he, too—of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord turned to Abel and to his offering [fire descended (from heaven) and consumed his offering],
Rashi’s Commentary
And . . . turned—Fire descended from heaven and consumed his offering.
5 but for Cain and for his offering he had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?”
11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to ask him to release Barabbas for them instead.
12 Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with him whom you call the king of the Jews?”
13 They shouted back , “Crucify him!”
14 But Pilate said to them, “Why? What crime has he committed?”
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
15 Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them, and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
16 The soldiers led him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the whole Roman cohort.
17 They dressed him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they set it on him.
18 And they began to acclaim him, “Hail, king of the Jews!”
Gen 37:20
Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we will say, “A ferocious animal devoured him.” Then [the Holy Spirit thus saying] we will see what will become of his dreams [i.e., whether your words will be fulfilled or mine].
Rashi’s Commentary
Then we will see what will become of his dreams—R. Isaac said, this verse calls for a homiletic explanation. The Holy Spirit said this latter part of the text. They say “let us kill him,” and Scripture (i.e. the Holy Spirit) breaks in upon their words concluding them by saying, “then we will see what will become of his dreams.” Let us see whose words will be fulfilled—yours or mine. For it is impossible that they should have said, “then we will see what will become of his dreams,” for as soon as they would kill him his dreams would be of no effect (Tanchuma Yashan 1:9:13).
19 They kept beating his head with a staff, and spitting on him, and kneeling and bowing before him.
Gen 24:52
When Abraham’s servant heard their words, he bowed to the ground before the Lord [acknowledging good tidings].
Rashi’s Commentary
He bowed to the ground—From this we may learn that we should thank God for good news (Genesis Rabbah 60:6).
20 After they had mocked him, they took the purple robe off him and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
21 They forced into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to carry his cross.
22 Then they brought him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, “Place of the Skull.”
23 They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.
24 And they crucified him, and divided up his clothes among themselves, casting lots for them to see what each man would get.
Deu 21:23
you must not leave his body overnight on the tree, but you shall bury it that same day, for the demeaning of God is [his remaining] hanging [man being God’s image, and the children of Israel, his sons], and you must not desecrate your land, which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Vol VI, Chapter 14 A $25,000,000 Funeral 19
The nature of a person’s obligation to defray his own burial expenses, and hence of the lien it generates against his estate, is somewhat unclear. A person cannot have an obligation to pay for his burial based upon his own obligation to fulfill the commandment “and you shall bury it on that same day” (Deu 21:23), and certainly not one that survives his demise, for the obvious reason that “once a person dies he is free of the Law and commandments” (Shabbat 30a, Shabbat 151b and Niddah 61b).
Mishneh Torah, Mourning 12:1
Funeral rites are held in honor of the deceased. Accordingly, the heirs are compelled to pay a fee to wailing men and women who eulogize the dead. But if the deceased charged in his will not to eulogize him, he should not be eulogized. If, however, he charged in his will not to bury him, his wish is not heeded, because burying the dead is a religious duty, as it is written: “You shall bury it” (Deu 21:23).
Mishneh Torah, Negative Mitzvot 66
Not to suffer the body of one hanged to remain suspended on the tree over night (Deu 21:23).
Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot 231
To bury one who was put to death, on the same day (Deu 21:23).
Sanhedrin 46a:14
The dead man hangs there for only a very short
Life in Bible times: Funerals and Tombs by David Padfield/Free Bible Images is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
time, and then they immediately untie him. And if he was left hanging overnight, a prohibition is transgressed, as it is stated: “You must not leave his body overnight on the tree, but you shall bury it that same day, for the demeaning of God is he that is hung” (Deu 21:23). That is to say: Were the corpse left hanging on the tree overnight, people would ask: For what reason was this one hung after he was put to death? They would be answered: Because he blessed God, a euphemism for blasphemy. And therefore the name of Heaven would be desecrated were the dead man’s corpse to remain hanging, reminding everybody of his transgression.
Sanhedrin 46b:8
The mishna teaches that everyone, not only an executed transgressor, must be buried on the day of his death, if that is at all possible. Rabbi Yoḥanan says in the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yoḥai: From where is it derived that one who leaves his deceased relative overnight without burying him transgresses a prohibition? The verse states: “But you shall bury it” (Deu 21:23), doubling the verb for emphasis. From here it is derived that one who leaves his deceased relative overnight without burying him transgresses a prohibition.
Sanhedrin 47a:5
The Gemara asks: But can it be that due to the honor of the living, they allow the deceased to remain unburied overnight? The Gemara answers: Yes, as when the Merciful One states: “You must not leave his body overnight on the tree, but you shall bury it that same day” (Deu 21:23), it teaches that the prohibition applies only to cases similar to that of a person whose body is hung after his death, who suffers degradation when his corpse is left hanging overnight. But here, since the deceased does not suffer degradation when the funeral is delayed, as the delay is in order that the burial will be performed with greater dignity, there is no violation of the prohibition, and he may be left unburied overnight.
Sefer HaChinukh 536:1
Not to leave one that is hung overnight: Not to leave the one who is hung overnight on the pole, as it is stated (Deu 21:23), “You must not leave his carcass overnight on the pole.” This is a negative commandment. The entire matter of the commandment is written in its corresponding positive commandment in this Order (Sefer HaChinukh 537), and we shall not be lengthy about what there is no need. And there it is written that even someone who leaves his relative’s dead body overnight, not for his the dead person’s, honor transgresses a negative commandment.
Sefer HaChinukh 537:1
To bury him on the same day, and so too all the dead: To bury the one that was hung on that same day, as it is stated (Deu 21:23), “rather you shall bury it on that same day, etc.” And the language of Sifrei here is “ ‘Rather you shall bury it on that same day’ is a positive commandment.”
25 It was the third hour when they crucified him.
26 The inscription of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left.
28 [And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And he was numbered with transgressors.”]
29 Those passing by were hurling abuse at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days,
Gen 37:20
Now then, come and let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns, and we will say, “A ferocious animal devoured him.” Then [the Holy Spirit thus saying] we will see what will become of his dreams [i.e., whether your words will be fulfilled or mine].
Rashi’s Commentary
Jesus dies by the LumoProject
Then we will see what will become of his dreams—R. Isaac said, this verse calls for a homiletic explanation. The Holy Spirit said this latter part of the text. They say “let us kill him,” and Scripture (i.e. the Holy Spirit) breaks in upon their words concluding them by saying, “then we will see what will become of his dreams.” Let us see whose words will be fulfilled—yours or mine. For it is impossible that they should have said, “then we will see what will become of his dreams,” for as soon as they would kill him his dreams would be of no effect (Tanchuma Yashan 1:9:13).
30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
31 In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself!
32 Let this Messiah, the king of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him were also insulting him.
The Death of Jesus
33 When the sixth hour came, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which is translated, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
35 When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, he is calling for Elijah.”
36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a staff, and gave him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.”
37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last.
38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
Exo 26:31
“And you shall make a dividing curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and twisted fine linen; the work of a master weaver he shall make it, in a woven cherubim design.
Rashi’s Commentary
A dividing curtain—Heb. פָּרֹכֶת. This is a term denoting a dividing curtain; in the language of the Sages (in Rabbinical Hebrew) פַּרְגוֹד is something which separates the king from the people (Berakhot 18b).
39 When the centurion, who was standing right in front of him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Jesus Dies by the LumoProject
Luk 23:1, 18
Then the whole body of them rose and led him before Pilate.
But they cried out all together, saying, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas!”
Act 2:23
This man, handed over by the deliberate plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of wicked men and put him to death.
Act 3:14
But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be released to you.
Act 4:27
For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
7 And they shall take some of the blood [in the basin] and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they shall eat it [but not on non-dwellings].
Rashi’s Commentary
The . . . doorposts—These are the upright posts, one on this side of the entrance and one on that side.
On . . . the houses where they shall eat it—And not upon the lintel and the doorposts which are in the place used for storing straw or in the stalls of oxen, in which people do not live and eat (cf. Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 12:7:2).
Eph 1:7
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins, according to the riches of his grace
Heb 9:13-14, 22
For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our conscience from dead acts to serve the living God?
And according to the law, one may almost say, everything is cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
This work is a derivative of "The Rashi Chumash" and "The Rashi Ketuvim" by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein used under CC BY 3.0