JOHN CHAPTER 19

Jesus is condemned to crucifixion

Pilate hopes to satisfy the mob by having Jesus whipped and mocked

Pilate declares Jesus innocent but is becoming “uptight” over the whole issue. Power in the hands of a little man is a dangerous thing.

1) Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2) The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3) and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face.

4) Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him."

It was a gross injustice to scourge a man declared not guilty, but Pilate hopes (vainly) to satisfy a blood thirsty mob.

Scourging was also used to obtain confessions, but Jesus had no wrong to confess, therefore the blows never lessened.

Pilate repeats his former finding in verse 4: not guilty.

“Scourged”: Scourged without cause (an illegal act before sentencing). He intended to chastise and then release Him (Luke 23:16). The scourging was more severe than any of us realize. Jew’s limit: 39 lashes. Romans had no such limit. They often used rods. A hint at the severity: He couldn’t bear the cross (Luke 23:26). He was unrecognizable as a human Isaiah 52:13ff).

The scourging which took place was painful beyond our understanding. Prophesied by Isaiah in Chapter 53, to the thinking student of Scripture, the question becomes, `If the crucifixion of Christ provided for our redemption and salvation, what was the purpose of the scourging?' Peter tells us in his epistle that by His stripes we are healed (I Peter 2:24). Thus, while the Crucifixion provides for our redemption, presently and eternally — it is the stripes Jesus bore and absorbed which actually release the grace of healing for our bodies physically.

Behold the Man', or literally, `Here is a man.' After having endured the bursting of blood vessels as He prayed in the Garden, the beating in the courtyards of the high priest and Pontius Pilate, and the brutal blows of the flagellum, Jesus, as Isaiah prophesied, was marred beyond recognition (52:14).

We have heard this account so often and we know it so well that it loses its punch oftentimes. We know Jesus was beaten. We know He was marred more than any man and eventually nailed to a tree. But it would do us well I think to sometimes take a long walk in the evening or get up early in the morning and consider what Jesus really went through step by step with you on His mind, with you in His heart — not just the victim of a farm accident, but willingly walking in to the butchery that bruised and beat Him more than any other man — all for you. He really did it for me. I was on His mind. I was in His heart when He took those blows, when He felt that pain, when he endured that horrible suffering. It was all for me. It was all for you.

Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd

5) When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!"

6) As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!"

But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him."

Pilate's word's behold the man were filled with pity for Jesus, contempt for the mob, with fear and panic over his own role in this worsening situation.

As the world has accepted Pilate's invitation, it has seen the Man of men; the Perfect man; the unattainable Ideal of all humanity.

The reaction of the crowd exemplifies the hatred of God in unregenerate man, though that hatred may be veiled in indifference.

The Jews reveal the true nature of their charge against Jesus

7) The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God."

8) When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9) and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10) "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?"

11) Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin."

The fact that Pilate feels terror rather than scorn proves the stature and dignity with which Jesus held Himself.

Jesus sees through the mob mentality and the political maneuvering to see the hand of God in these circumstances.

Pilate gives into pressure and sentences Jesus to death

12) From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar."

13) When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14) It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

"Here is your king," Pilate said to the Jews.

15) But they shouted, "Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"

"Shall I crucify your king?" Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.

16) Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

He fully knew what was right and just, but he chose wrong so that he might keep his job and manner of life.

"You may do today exactly what Pilate did. He is simply an example of a man who lacks decision of character, who does not possess the courage of his convictions, who tries to compromise with wrong, who disobeys conscience through fear of personal loss".

The Jews commit great blasphemy by their rejection of God as their sovereign King.

Order of Events:

·        Carrying His cross John 19:17

·        Simon substituted Luke 23:26

·        Offer of stupefying drink Matthew 27:34

·        Nailed between two thieves John 19:18-24

·        "Father, forgive them” [City of Refuge...] Luke 23:34

·        Jews mock Jesus Matthew 27:39-43

·        One thief rails at Jesus; the other receives salvation Luke 23:39-43

·        “Today shalt thou be with me” Luke 23:43

·        “Woman, Behold thy son” John 19:26, 27

·        Darkness Matthew 27:45

·        “My God...” Matthew 27:46

·        “I Thirst” John 19:28

·        “It is finished” John 19:30

·        “Father, into thy hands...” Luke 23:46

·        Our Lord dismisses His spirit John 19:30

·        Jesus' death

·        Jesus is crucified

17) So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18) Here they crucified him, and with him two others--one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

In 1968, scientists for the first time discovered the remains of a man crucified in Jesus' era. The victim was nailed to the cross in a sitting position, both legs over sideways, with the nail penetrating the sides of both feet just below the heel. The arms were stretched out, each stabbed by a nail in the forearm. Dr. Nico Hass, Hebrew University anatomy professor says that this was "a compulsive position, a difficult and unnatural posture," evidently to increase the agony of the sufferer. This corrects the traditional envisioning of the crucifixion, with both palms nailed to the cross, and the legs stretching straight down with a nail piercing the feet frontally.

"The (victim of the) cross represented miserable humanity reduced to the last degree of impotence, suffering and degradation. The penalty of crucifixion combined all that the most ardent tormentor could desire: torture, exposure, degradation, and certain death, distilled drop by drop. It was an ideal form of torture."

John spares the gore, only mentioning the fact of Jesus' crucifixion, because the true ordeal of the cross was more spiritual than physical. Christ was made . . . sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and the wrath of God we deserved was poured out upon Him: incomprehensible suffering!

Between two thieves is a fitting place for our Lord to be positioned because He is the Ultimate Thief. He's stolen my heart, and He wants to steal yours.

Pilate writes an inscription meant to gall the Jews, but was true beyond his knowing

19) Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read:JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20) Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21) The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."

22) Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

Now, he stands up to the Jewish rulers; but on a relatively unimportant issue.

Soldiers divide Jesus' clothing in fulfillment of prophecy

23) When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

24) "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said,

   "They divided my garments among them

       and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.

The point is clear: God is in control.

Jesus' seamless tunic reminds us of His role as our great High Priest (Exodus 28:31-32: the High Priest wears a seamless garment).

Jesus entrusts His mother into John's care

25) Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26) When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son," 27) and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Even to the end, Jesus is thinking and caring for others.

Law required the firstborn to provide for parents; transferred to John.

Even in His agony we see His shepherd’s heart.

“Behold your son”: Jesus was her “Son” no longer. Mary is not mentioned in connection with Christ’s resurrection. Mary did have other children: Matthew 13:55, 56; Psalms 69:8.

Jesus' great proclamation and death

28) Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." 29) A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. 30) When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Jesus didn't accept a pain-numbing drink at the beginning of His ordeal (Mark 15:23), but now He accepts a taste of greatly diluted wine, to wet parched lips and a dry throat so He can make one final announcement to the world with a "great cry".

Jesus' final word it is finished! (tetelestai) is the cry of a winner; Jesus had finished the eternal purpose of the cross. It stands today as a finished work, the foundation of all Christian peace and faith.

Bowing His head refers to a peaceful act, like lying down on a pillow to sleep; not hanging of the head in defeat.

Jesus gave up His spirit: no one takes His life from Him; He lays it down, and will take it up again.

“...that the Scripture might be fulfilled”: Fulfills Psalms 69:21.

“I thirst”: He balanced the clouds, and fills the mighty deep. He who guided every river in its course, waters the fields... He that caused water to flow from the smitten rock in the wilderness... who turned water into wine... and said to the Woman of Samaria: “Give me to drink.”

The King of Kings and Lord of Lords, before whom hell trembles and the earth is filled with dismay; Matchless condescension from the infinity of God to the weakness of a thirsting, dying man!

Roman soldiers confirm Jesus' death

31) Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32) The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33) But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34) Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35) The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36) These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken," 37) and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."

They forego all custom, and unknowingly fulfill prophecy. This again is complete assurance that God is in control.

Blood and water (theologically, agents of cleansing) pour forth from the crucified Christ. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee Let the water and the blood, from Thy riven side which flowed

Be of sin the double cure; cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Jesus' burial

38) Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39) He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40) Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41) At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42) Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Jesus is lovingly buried by two hesitant disciples.

Joseph and Nicodemus served Christ too late. Not too late to fulfill prophecy, not too late to be of tender service to Christ. But too late to satisfy their own timid hearts; too late to escape the painful regret of what they might have been and what they might have done for Christ.

May we never wait to give ourselves fully to Christ!