John 19
-Pilate took
Jesus after the events detailed in the previous chapter and scourged Him. This
was a relentless beating from barbarians that killed many who were not strong.
Jesus was tough, and endured this torture. The soldiers mocked Him, the King of
the Universe, by weaving a crown of thorns and putting it on His Head. They also
arrayed Him in a purple robe and came ridiculing Him in His desecrated state, “Hail,
King of the Jews!” At the same time, they gave Him blows to His Face. The very
hands He created were beating Him mercilessly. Soon, Pilate came back out to
the Jews and said, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know
that I find no guilt in Him.” Then, Jesus came out before them wearing His
crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate spoke, “Behold, the Man!” When the
chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate
told them they could go and kill Him by crucifixion themselves since he found
no guilt in Him. The Jews weren’t through however. They answered, “We have a
law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.” Upon hearing this
statement, the author tells us that Pilate grew even more afraid. He entered
the Praetorium again, and said to the Lord, “Where are You from?” But, Jesus gave
him no response. Pilate became somewhat indignant, “You do not speak to me? Do
You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to
crucify You?” Jesus once again overcame in the moment with total self-control
in answering, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you
from above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.” This comment prompted
Pilate to make even more efforts to release the Christ, but the Jews were
having none of this. They completely denied their covenant God by stating, “If
you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself
out to be a king opposes Caesar.” Jesus
was brought out and sat down on the judgment seat at the place called “the Pavement,”
in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.” It was the day of preparation for the Passover, about
the sixth hour (around 6am Roman time), when Pilate shouted out, “Behold, your
King!” The riled-up throng cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him,
crucify Him!” Pilate said, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests, the
ones ordained to keep the Law of the LORD including the one about having no
other gods but Yahweh, made their answer, “We have no king but Caesar (John
19:1-15).”
-At this point, Pilate gave up the Messiah to the Jews to be
crucified for the sins of all mankind. They took Jesus, and He went out
carrying His cross to the place called “the Place of a Skull,” in Hebrew, “Golgotha.”
There is where He was crucified, along with two other men on either side of
Him. Pilate wrote an inscription and put it on the cross for all who passed by
to see. It read in three languages (Hebrew, Latin, and Greek), “Jesus the
Nazarene, the King of the Jews.” The chief priests of the Jews were ticked off
about this inscription. They wanted it to read “He said, ‘I am the King of the
Jews.’” But, Pilate was immovable on this, “What I have written I have written.”
The soldiers who crucified the Lord took His outer garments as a commodity and
made four parts, a part for every soldier. But, when it came to His tunic (the
garment worn next to the skin), it had only one woven piece with no seams. Not
wanting to rip this piece up, they decided to cast lots for it to find a winner
for the prize. They didn’t know it, but they were fulfilling Messianic
prophecy, “They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they
cast lots (Psalm 22:18).” Now, standing by the cross where Jesus died were His mother,
Mary, and His aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, along with Mary Magdalene, whom He
had cast out seven demons (Luke 8:2). When Jesus saw His mother and near by a
man whom most scholars believe to be the author, John, called here “the
disciple whom He loved,” He exclaimed, “Woman, behold, your Son!” Then He said
to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, this disciple took Mary
into his own household for well-being and care. With this final task now
completed of taking precaution for the sustenance of His earthly mother, Jesus
spoke on His own behalf, “I am thirsty.” Beside the cross was a jar full of
sour wine. So, they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop
(a purifying symbolism here, see Exodus 12:22, Leviticus 14:4-6, 49-52, Psalm 51:7,
Hebrews 9:19) and brought it up to His mouth. When Jesus received the sour wine,
He said, “It is finished!” He bowed His Head and gave up His Spirit (John
19:16-30).
-Now, the text examines the care of the Lord’s Body post
death. The Jews, realizing it was the day of preparation for a high-holy day,
did not want bodies to remain on the cursed crosses for the Sabbath. They asked
Pilate that their legs might be broken to speed up the process of death by asphyxiation,
a most gruesome way to die (the process of dying by crucifixion has been known
to last days, read Psalm 22 for basically a medical journal on the throes of
this type of death). They wanted to take the bodies away before sundown, which
would be the start of the holy day. The soldiers broke the legs of the two men
on opposite sides of Jesus, but coming upon the Messiah, they saw that He was
already dead (proof of His bodily cessation). This also fulfilled prophetic
Scripture. They had no need to break His legs, but one of the soldiers pierced
His side with a spear producing a flow of blood and water from His Being. John,
who bore witness to these things, truthfully relates this for the purpose of
faith citing the prophetic texts (Psalm 34:20, Zechariah 12:10). After these
things happened, Joseph of Arimathea, whom John describes as being a disciple
of Jesus in secret for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate for permission to take
away the body of Christ, which was granted. Nicodemus also reappears in the
narrative offering us hope that he had become a believer according to the
witness Christ had presented back in John 3. He brought a mixture of myrrh and
aloes of about 100 pounds in weight. They took the Body of Jesus and bound it linen
wrappings with the spices, as was the burial custom of the Jews. In the place
where He was crucified there was a garden; and Joseph of Arimathea happened to
own a new tomb there (Matthew 27:60). No one had ever been laid in this tomb
hewn out of the rock in what was probably a quarry from Herod’s Temple area
building project. They laid Jesus here on account of the Jewish day of
preparation and its proximity to the area where Jesus had been slain (John
19:31-42).
-*Application*- This
passage is a stark reminder of the pain and suffering that obedience requires when
breaking the curses of this wicked world. This passage today calls us to
meditate on the love of Jesus Christ even in our fallen condition. God didn’t
just curse the world and go on His way. He sent His only begotten and beloved
Son to come and pay the price for our redemption, and this was a terrible price
to pay. The agony of which, we have a hard time even fathoming. If He loves us
that much, shouldn’t we extend that love to others, even when they persecuted
us? Don’t retaliate, embrace. Don’t get vengeance, seek restoration. This is
the mind of Christ. Finish the course (John 19:30, 2 Timothy 4:7).
Verse to Memorize:
John 19:30
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