I will attempt to write a narrative analysis and critique comparing where Pilate delivers Jesus to be crucified in Mark 15:15 and John 19:16 of the passion narratives. I will discuss what is different between the two passages and how the differences are uniquely Mark or John. I will then discuss what issues are raised by my narrative analysis of the passages in Mark and John. .
The most striking difference between the two gospel passages is the fact that in Mark's passage Pilate was "wishing to satisfy the crowd- whereas in John's version there is no such mention that Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd. This is an interesting point because, at that point in time, what Roman authority would be willing to show such indecision as to compromise his power? In John's text, Pilate has simply made a decision to hand over Jesus to them to be crucified. In context this would seem to mean "handed him over to the chief priests."" Luke 23:25 has a similar ambiguity. There is a polemic tendency in the gospels to place the guilt of the crucifixion on the Jewish authorities and to exonerate the Romans from blame. But John later mentions the Roman soldiers, and it was to these soldiers that Pilate handed Jesus over. .
Another conspicuous difference between the two passages of Mark and John is that at the end of Mark 15:15 Pilate "scourged Jesus-. Scourging was an integral part of the crucifixion penalty. Luke places the mockery of Jesus at the midpoint in the trial when Jesus was sent to Herod. Matthew and Mark place the scourging and mockery at the end of the trial after the sentence of death and John puts the scourging right in the middle. I also find it quite interesting that in Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ- the scourging is dragged out for seemingly an eternity whereas in each gospel the scourging is only mentioned in one line. It is possible that Mel Gibson wanted to show everybody what Jesus went through, while the gospels just left it up to the reader's imagination.