What does Mark 15:31 mean?
The irony of the priests' and scribes' words can't be overstated. "Save" comes from the Greek root word sozo. Primarily, it means to keep safe from harm, disease, or death, but it also means to save from God's judgment. Jesus is the only man on earth who should be safe from God's judgment.The chief priests and scribes should know this. Both groups claim to be experts of the Mosaic law and the Jewish Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament. They have all the information they need to recognize the coming of the Messiah, whom God promised to save Israel (John 5:39–40). Through either negligence, self-delusion, or extreme reluctance to surrender their worldly status, they refuse to accept Jesus is the Messiah. This is why Jesus tells Pilate, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin" (John 19:11).
Jesus came to earth specifically to be bear God's judgment so that people like these chief priests and scribes can be safe. During Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, He bears the judgment of the sin of mankind. He is not on the cross because He cannot save Himself. He is there voluntarily, to save others. And Only when He is finished will He save Himself (John 10:17–18).
Mark 15:21–32 describes the crucifixion of Jesus. The Romans refined crucifixion to be the most painful and humiliating death imaginable. Victims were usually stripped naked, then tied or nailed to a cross. Executioners were adept at driving nails between bones and arteries, but directly through nerves, extending the victim's agony. Hanging in this position, the condemned could only breathe if they lifted their weight on impaled feet or wrists. Exhaustion would soon lead to suffocation—typically taking a victim two or three days to die. Bodies were usually left to rot in public unless a family member was given special permission to remove them. More painful for Jesus, however, is the total separation from His heavenly Father. Still, though He suffers alone, He suffers with hope (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus' crucifixion is also detailed in Matthew 27:32–44, Luke 23:26–43, and John 19:16–27.
After sham trials, Jesus is taken to the local Roman governor, Pilate. This is the only person in Jerusalem with the legal authority to have Jesus executed. Pilate is not fooled, and he attempts to arrange for Jesus' release. But the ruler's ploys fail, in part because Jesus will not defend Himself, and partly because the mob is intent on His death. Pilate offers a prisoner exchange in Barabbas, and even has Jesus brutally beaten in order to pacify the crowd. Eventually, he caves in and Jesus is crucified. Thanks to His prior abuse, Jesus survives only a few hours on the cross before dying. Jesus is then buried in a tomb belonging to a secret follower among the Jerusalem council.
