The origins of anti-Semitism in this first gospel
These 47 verses of chapter 15 should be read carefully, with curiosity fully engaged. How did the author of Mark’s gospel know—how did he find out about—any of what he depicts here? There is wide consensus among scholars that this gospel was written anonymously after the devastating war in Palestine that included the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 CE. The label Mark was attached to the gospel later, and there has been much discussion of the geographical errors the author made: it would seem he was far removed from scene of his story.
There are many quotes in this chapter, e.g., Pilate, what the crowds had to say, the soldiers mocking Jesus, Jesus himself on the cross, the centurion at the base of the cross, passersby who taunted Jesus. Curious readers would want to know: was someone there taking notes? Did these notes end up in an archive that an author could access decades later—after the massively destructive war? Some of the devout may resort to the common faith-claim that this gospel was divinely inspired. But other religions make the same claim. Do Christians believe Muslim or Mormon bragging that their scriptures were divinely inspired? So many conflicting religions want their faithful followers to accept that their holy ideas come directly from the gods they worship.
The best practice is to acknowledge that everything this author wrote was grounded in his desire to promote the cult of his holy hero. Since the soon-to-arrive kingdom of god was the primary message of this gospel, we can be sure that he could not have imagined the harmful impact his story would have hundreds of years later.
In verses 6-15, we read about Barabbas, an insurrectionist that Pilate released, yielding to the clamoring crowd. Given what historians know about Pilate, this is very hard to believe; his role was to protect Roman authority, and releasing an insurrectionist would be the last thing he would do. But in vv. 9-14 we read that Pilate…
“…answered them, ‘Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?’ For he realized that it was out of jealousy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead. Pilate spoke to them again, ‘Then what do you wish me to do with the man you call King of the Jews?’ They shouted back, ‘Crucify him!’ Pilate asked them, ‘Why, what evil has he done?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’”
In vv. 29-32 we read that Jesus was ridiculed as he suffered on the cross:
“Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, ‘Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!’ In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.’ Those who were crucified with him also taunted him.”
According to these texts, it was devout Jews who played a role in having Jesus executed, and who then mocked him. This attitude reached yet another level of evil when the author of John’s gospel included this Jesus-script, as he argues with Jewish officials, 8:43-44:
“Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires.”
Thus the foundation was established for the violent anti-Semitism that would plague the world for centuries. This is not hard to see when the Bible is read with eyes wide open—and the claim that it is The Good Book can no longer be taken seriously.
When Christian crusaders headed from Europe to the holy lands, they murdered Jews along the way. It’s hard to believe that Martin Luther’s horrible anti-Semitism was not fueled by these texts; his severity in turn played a role in boosting ferocious Nazi hatred and mass murder.
The Holocaust is one of the most thoroughly documented crimes in human history. The Nazis themselves kept detailed records of their crimes, since they were sure they were rendering a service to humanity by eliminating Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals. Moreover, the literature on the Holocaust is vast, including memoirs written by survivors. One of which is titled, Little Edna’s War (recently published, 355 pages on Kindle, including brief descriptions of 107 other Holocaust memoirs), about the endurance of two young Jewish sisters whose family was almost wiped out after Germany invaded Poland. A decree was issued by the invaders that all Jews had to wear the Star of David, and there were no consequences when German soldiers shot people at random, on the least provocation. Eventually the infamous Warsaw ghetto was created, and the Jewish armed resistance was eventually crushed, there was mass murder and deportation, then the ghetto itself was destroyed.
It's crucial for understanding this madness that people study, follow the trail, from Martin Luther’s hatred—all the way back to the Bible texts that ridiculed and vilified the Jews.
It should dawn on folks, especially the devout, that the gospels should not be trusted. Their authors had one motive: to promote the Jesus cult, and they didn’t hesitate to create Jesus-script and episodes that suited their agendas.
I recommend two items of homework:
1. Compare Mark’s account in chapter 15 with how Matthew (chapter 27), Luke (chapter 23), and John (chapters 18-19) told the tale. They changed the wording, added and subtracted details.
2. Check out Richard Carrier’s article titled, All the Fantastical Things in the Gospel of Mark. Take a look at his analysis of Mark 15, in which he identifies nine fantastical things. There can be no doubt after reading/studying this article that Mark wasn’t even trying to write history.
Given the foundations of anti-Semitism we find here, we can be relieved that it’s not history.
David Madison was a pastor in the Methodist Church for nine years, and has a PhD in Biblical Studies from Boston University. He is the author of Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief: a Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You Should Ditch the Faith, now being reissued in several volumes:
· Guessing About God (2023)
· Ten Things Christians Wish Jesus Hadn’t Taught: And Other Reasons to Question His Words (2021). The Spanish translation of this book is also available.
· Everything You Need to Know About Prayer But May Not Want to Admit (2025)
His YouTube channel is here. At the invitation of John Loftus, he has written for the Debunking Christianity Blog since 2016.
The Cure-for-Christianity Library©, now with more than 500 titles, is here. A brief video explanation of the Library is here.
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