The Crucifixion, Burial and Empty Tomb

Mark 15:21–47 describes Jesus’ crucifixion and burial following Pilate’s decision to have him executed. Crucifixion was a cruel Roman punishment, particularly associated with rebellion: a person was fixed to a cross and left to die. Its public nature warned others against challenging Roman authority.

Simon of Cyrene, identified as the father of Alexander and Rufus, was compelled to carry Jesus’ cross. Jesus was taken to Golgotha, meaning ‘place of a skull’. He was offered wine mixed with myrrh, understood as a drink intended to dull pain, but refused it. The soldiers crucified him and cast lots to divide his clothes.

Mark places the crucifixion at nine in the morning. The charge displayed against Jesus read ‘The King of the Jews’. This presented his kingship as a political threat, although Christians understand Jesus’ kingship differently from ordinary political power. Two bandits were crucified alongside him, one on either side.

Passers-by mocked Jesus’ claim about destroying and rebuilding the Temple and demanded that he save himself. The chief priests and scribes said, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself’. Those crucified with him also taunted him. Mark presents an important contrast: the mockers would recognise a Messiah who escaped suffering, whereas Christians understand Jesus’ willingness to suffer as central to his saving mission.

Jesus’ death and the signs surrounding it

Darkness covered the land from noon until three in the afternoon. Within Mark’s account, this gives Jesus’ death a significance beyond an ordinary execution and conveys tragedy.

At three, Jesus cried, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mark 15:34). These words come from Psalm 22. They express the depth of his suffering and sense of abandonment. For Christians, they show that Jesus genuinely experienced human anguish; his suffering was not simply an appearance. Some bystanders misunderstood his words as a call to Elijah. Someone offered him sour wine on a sponge attached to a stick, while waiting to see whether Elijah would rescue him. Jesus then gave a loud cry and died.

At that moment, the Temple curtain tore from top to bottom. The curtain separated the Holy of Holies, associated with God’s presence and accessible only to the high priest, from the rest of the Temple. Christians interpret its tearing as a sign that the barrier between humanity and God has been removed through Jesus’ death. The direction of the tear can suggest that God, rather than human beings, brings about this change.

The centurion facing Jesus declared, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’ (Mark 15:39). A Roman outsider recognises Jesus’ identity at the very moment when Jesus appears defeated. This contrasts with the religious leaders’ mockery and shows that recognition of Jesus is not restricted to his own community.

Women watched from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses, and Salome. They had followed Jesus and supported him in Galilee. Their presence connects the account of his death with the later accounts of his burial and the empty tomb.

Why Christians see the cross as more than defeat

Christians understand Jesus’ death as part of God’s plan for salvation, not merely the tragic end of a teacher’s life. Through atonement, Jesus restores the relationship between humanity and God that sin has damaged. One way Christians explain this is that Jesus paid the price for human sin so that people could be forgiven. The torn curtain gives a concrete expression of this belief: access to God is opened.

The cross also provides an example of self-sacrificing love. Jesus does not answer violence with violence or escape suffering to satisfy his mockers. For early Christians facing persecution, this could provide reassurance that suffering did not mean God had abandoned them. For Christians today, it can encourage perseverance, compassion and service even when these are costly.

A non-religious reader need not accept atonement or Jesus’ divine identity to find the account morally significant. An atheist or humanist may value courage, care for others and resistance to cruelty while interpreting the crucifixion as a human tragedy rather than a saving act of God. The ethical value of Jesus’ example and the religious meaning of his death are therefore distinct questions.

Burial: confirming death and identifying the tomb

Jesus died on the day of Preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea boldly asked Pilate for Jesus’ body. Joseph was a respected member of the council who was waiting for the kingdom of God. His action mattered because publicly associating himself with an executed man required courage.

Pilate was surprised that Jesus had already died. He questioned the centurion and released the body only after receiving confirmation of Jesus’ death. Joseph bought a linen cloth, wrapped the body and laid it in a tomb cut out of rock. He rolled a stone against its entrance. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where Jesus was laid.

These details do more than describe burial customs. Within Mark’s narrative, the centurion’s confirmation establishes that Jesus was dead, while the women’s observation identifies the place of burial. Both become important when evaluating explanations of the empty tomb.

The empty tomb: Mark 16:1–8

After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices to anoint Jesus’ body. Their intention shows that they expected to find a dead body, not a risen Jesus. Very early on the first day of the week, Sunday, they went to the tomb and wondered who would move the large entrance stone.

They found that it had already been rolled back. Inside, a young man dressed in white sat on the right. The women were alarmed, but he told them that Jesus of Nazareth, who had been crucified, ‘has been raised; he is not here’ (Mark 16:6). Christians commonly understand this figure as an angel, or messenger of God.

He instructed them to tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus was going ahead of them to Galilee, where they would see him, just as he had told them. The explicit inclusion of Peter offers hope that his earlier failure has not excluded him from Jesus’ followers.

The women fled in terror and amazement and said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. The prescribed passage ends with fear and an announcement: it does not describe the women or disciples actually seeing the risen Jesus.

Evaluating the resurrection claim

Christians who accept a bodily resurrection regard the empty tomb and the messenger’s announcement as evidence that God raised Jesus. The message also agrees with Jesus’ earlier prediction. Those who regard the Gospel as inspired by God give its testimony religious authority. They understand resurrection as a miracle, so its unusual nature is not, for them, a reason to rule it out.

Other readers argue that an absent body does not by itself establish resurrection. Several alternative explanations can be tested against Mark’s account:

• The women went to the wrong tomb. This could explain finding no body, but Mark records that women had watched where Jesus was buried, weakening this explanation within the narrative.
• Jesus survived and recovered in the tomb. This would explain his being alive without resurrection, but Pilate obtained the centurion’s confirmation of death before releasing the body.
• The body was removed. Critics suggest that the disciples or authorities moved it. Christians respond that the disciples’ fear makes deliberate deception less plausible, and that authorities seeking to stop resurrection claims could have produced the body. These are arguments about plausibility, not events narrated in the set passage.
• The experience was imagined or the story invented. Distress might affect perception, and a religious community might shape an account to express its beliefs. Christians point to the presence of three women rather than one witness. A sceptic can reply that several reported witnesses do not independently verify the account if all are known through the same text.

Some atheists reject resurrection because they do not accept a supernatural explanation and see no scientific verification of this event. Others read the story primarily as a statement of faith rather than a demonstrable historical event. They may still value Jesus’ teaching without accepting that he rose from death.

A justified judgement must weigh both the details and their limits. For example, Mark’s confirmation of death and identification of the tomb weaken two natural explanations, but the empty tomb alone does not logically prove resurrection. A Christian may find the whole account convincing when combined with trust in God and scripture; a sceptic may require independent evidence. Explaining why particular evidence carries authority is stronger than simply asserting belief or disbelief.

Resurrection and Christian hope

For Christians, resurrection completes the meaning of the crucifixion: apparent defeat becomes victory over sin, evil and death. It confirms Jesus’ identity and the trustworthiness of his promise. Christians believe that Jesus is alive and present with them, and that death need not end their relationship with God.

This hope helped early believers endure suffering. In contemporary Britain, it continues to shape Christian worship, attitudes towards death and confidence in forgiveness. Easter celebrates Jesus’ resurrection and is the central Christian festival. Different readings of the Gospel affect whether people understand this hope as a bodily victory over death or primarily as a religious message; the distinction matters when explaining both Christian faith and non-religious responses.