John 19

John 19:1

G. Pilate’s Verdict: Innocent but Condemned (19:1-16) 19:1 It was most unjust for Pilate to scourge an innocent Person. Perhaps he hoped that this punishment would satisfy the Jews and that they would not demand the death of Jesus. Scourging was a Roman form of punishment. The prisoner was beaten with a whip or a rod. The whip had pieces of metal or bone in it, and these cut deep gashes in the flesh. 19:2, 3 The soldiers mocked Jesus’ claim to be King. A crown for the King! But it was a crown of thorns. This would have caused extreme pain as it was pressed onto His brow. Thorns are a symbol of the curse which sin brought to mankind. Here we have a picture of the Lord Jesus bearing the curse of our sins, so that we might wear a crown of glory. The purple robe was also used in mockery. Purple was the color of royalty. But again it reminds us of how our sins were placed on Jesus in order that we might be clothed with the robe of God’s righteousness. How solemn it is to think of the eternal Son of God being slapped by the hands of His creatures! Mouths which He formed are now being used to mock Him! 19:4 Pilate then went out again to the mob and announced that he was about to bring Jesus out to them, but that He was innocent. Thus Pilate condemned himself by his own words. He found no fault in Christ; yet he would not let Him go. 19:5 As Jesus came out with the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate announced Him as the Man. It is difficult to know whether he said this in mockery, in sympathy, or without any particular emotion. 19:6 The chief priests noticed that Pilate was wavering, so they cried out fiercely that Jesus should be crucified. It was religious men who were leaders in the death of the Savior. Often, down through the centuries, it has been church officials who have persecuted true believers most bitterly. Pilate seemed to be disgusted with them and with their unreasonable hatred of Jesus. He said, in effect: If that is the way you feel, why don’t you take Him and crucify Him? As far as I am concerned, He is innocent. Yet Pilate knew that the Jews could not put Him to death because that power could only be exercised by the Romans at that time. 19:7 When they saw that they had failed to prove that Jesus was a threat to Caesar’s government, they brought forth their religious charge against Him. Christ claimed equality with God by saying that He was the Son of God. To the Jews, this was blasphemy and should be punished by death. 19:8, 9 The possibility of Jesus’ being the Son of God troubled Pilate. He was already uneasy about the whole affair, but this made him more afraid. Pilate took Jesus into the Praetorium or judgment hall and asked Him where He came from. In all of this, Pilate presented a most tragic figure. He confessed with his own lips that Jesus had done no wrong; yet he did not have the moral courage to let Him go because he feared the Jews. Why did Jesus give him no answer? Probably because He knew that Pilate was unwilling to act in accordance with the light he had. Pilate had sinned away his day of opportunity. He would not be given more light when he had not responded to the light he had. 19:10 Pilate tried to force the Lord to answer by threatening Him. He reminded Jesus that, as Roman governor, he had power or authority to release Him or to crucify Him. 19:11 The self-control of the Lord Jesus was remarkable. He was more calm than Pilate. He answered quietly that whatever power Pilate possessed had been given to him by God. All governments are ordained by God, and all authority, whether civil or spiritual, is from God. The one who delivered Me to you may refer to: (1) Caiaphas, the high priest; (2) Judas, the betrayer; or (3) the Jewish people in general. The thought is that these Jews should have known better. They had the Scriptures which predicted the coming of the Messiah. They should have recognized Him when He came. But they rejected Him and were even now crying out for His life. This verse teaches us that there are degrees of guilt. Pilate was guilty, but Caiaphas, and Judas, and all the wicked Jews were more guilty. 19:12 Just as Pilate became determined to release Jesus, the Jews used their last and most telling argument. If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. (Caesar was the official title of the Roman Emperor.) As if they cared for Caesar! They hated him. They would like to destroy him, and free themselves from his control. Yet here they were pretending to protect Caesar’s empire from the threat of this Jesus who claimed to be a king! They reaped the punishment of this terrible hypocrisy when the Romans marched into Jerusalem in a.d. 70 and utterly destroyed the city and slaughtered its inhabitants. 19:13 Pilate could not afford to have the Jews accuse him of disloyalty to Caesar, and so he weakly submitted to the mob. He now brought Jesus out to a public area called the Pavement, where such matters were often handled. 19:14 Actually, the Passover feast had been held on the previous evening. The Preparation Day of the Passover means the preparation for the feast that followed it. About the sixth hour was probably 6 a.m. but there are unresolved problems concerning the methods of reckoning time in the Gospels. Behold your King! Almost certainly, Pilate said this to annoy and provoke the Jews. He doubtless blamed them for trapping him into condemning Jesus. 19:15 The Jews were insistent that Jesus must be crucified. Pilate taunted them with the question, You mean you want to crucify your own King? Then the Jews stooped very low by saying, We have no king but Caesar! Faithless nation! Refusing your God for a wicked, heathen monarch. 19:16 Pilate was willing to please the Jews, and so he turned Jesus over to the soldiers to be crucified. He loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

John 19:17

H. The Crucifixion (19:17-24) 19:17 The word translated cross may refer to a single piece of wood (a stake), or it may have been two cross pieces. At any rate, it was of such size that a man could normally carry it. Jesus carried His cross for some distance. Then, according to the other Gospels, it was given to a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry. The Place of a Skull may have received this name in one of two ways: (1) The land itself may have resembled a skull, especially if it was a hill with caves in the side of it. Such a site is Gordon’s Calvary in Israel today. (2) It was the place where criminals were executed; perhaps skulls and bones were found in the area, though in light of the Mosaic Law on burial this is most unlikely. 19:18 The Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross, hands and feet. The cross was then lifted up and dropped into a hole in the ground. The only perfect Man who ever lived, and this was the reception He received from His own! If you have never before trusted Him as your Lord and Savior, will you not do it now, as you read this simple account of how He died for you? Two thieves were crucified with Him, one on either side. This was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isa_53:12 : He was numbered with the transgressors.19:19 It was the custom to put a title above the head of the crucified, and to indicate the crime. Pilate ordered that the title JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS, should be placed on the center cross. 19:20 Alexander expresses it eloquently: In Hebrew, the sacred tongue of patriarchs and seers. In Greek, the musical and golden tongue which gave a soul to the objects of sense and a body to the abstractions of philosophy. In Latin, the dialect of a people originally the strongest of all the sons of men. The three languages represent the three races and their ideasrevelation, art, literature; progress, war, and jurisprudence. Wherever these three desires of the human race exist, wherever annunciation can be made in human language, wherever there is a heart to sin, a tongue to speak, an eye to read, the Cross has a message. The place … was near the city. The Lord Jesus was crucified outside the city limits. The exact location is no longer known for certain. 19:21 The chief priests did not like the wording. They wanted it to read as a claim made by Jesus, but not as a fact (which it was). 19:22 Pilate would not change the writing. He had become impatient with the Jews and would not give in to them any more. But he should have shown this determination sooner! 19:23 At such executions, the soldiers were allowed to share the personal effects of those who died. Here we find them dividing Christ’s garments among themselves. Apparently there were five pieces altogether. They divided four, but there was still the tunic, which was without seam and could not be cut up without making it worthless. 19:24 They cast lots for the tunic, and it was handed over to the unnamed winner. Little did they know that in doing this, they were fulfilling a remarkable prophecy written a thousand years previously (Psa_22:18)! These fulfilled prophecies remind us afresh that this Book is the inspired Word of God, and that Jesus Christ is indeed the promised Messiah.

John 19:25

I. Jesus Commends His Mother to John (19:25-27) 19:25 Many Bible students think that there are four women named in this verse, as follows: (1) Mary, the mother of Jesus; (2) Mary’s sister, Salome, the mother of John; (3) Mary, the wife of Clopas; (4) Mary Magdalene. 19:26, 27 In spite of His own suffering, the Lord had tender regard for others. Seeing His mother, and John, the disciple, He introduced John to her as the one who would hereafter take the place of son to her. In calling His mother Woman, the Lord did not show any lack of respect. But it is noticeable that He did not call her Mother. Does this have any lesson for those who might be tempted to exalt Mary to the place where she is adored? Jesus here instructed John to care for Mary as if she were his own mother. John obeyed and took Mary to his own home.

John 19:28

J. The Work of Christ Finished (19:28-30) 19:28 Between verse 27 and 28, we have, no doubt, the three hours of darknessfrom noon to 3:00 p.m. It was during this time that Jesus was forsaken by God as He suffered the penalty of our sins. His cry, I thirst! indicated real, physical thirst, which was intensified by crucifixion. But it also reminds us that, greater than His physical thirst was His spiritual thirst for the salvation of the souls of men. 19:29 The soldiers gave Him sour wine to drink. They probably tied a sponge to the end of a rod with hyssop and pressed it to His lips. (Hyssop is a plant, also used at the PassoverExo_12:22.) This is not to be confused with the vinegar mixed with gall, which had been offered to Him earlier (Mat_27:34). He did not drink that because it would have acted as a pain reliever. He must bear our sins in full consciousness. 19:30 It is finished! The work His Father had given him to do! The pouring out of His soul as an offering for sin! The work of redemption and of atonement! It is true that He had not yet died, but His death, burial, and ascension were as certain as if already accomplished. So the Lord Jesus could announce that the way had been provided whereby sinners could be saved. Thank God today for the finished work of the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary! Some Bible scholars tells us that bowing His head may mean that He leaned His head backward. Vine says, Not the helpless dropping of the head after death, but the deliberate putting of His head into a position of rest.That He gave up His spirit emphasizes the fact that His death was voluntary. He determined the time of His death. In full control of His faculties, He dismissed His spiritan act no mere man could accomplish.

John 19:31

K. Piercing of the Savior’s Side (19:31-37) 19:31 Again we see how careful these religious Jews were about de tails when they were committing cold-blooded murder. They strained out a gnat and swallowed a camel. They thought it would not be proper to allow the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (Saturday). There would be a religious feast in the city. So they requested Pilate to have the legs of the three broken to hasten death. 19:32 The Scripture does not describe how the legs were broken. However, they must have been broken in many different places, since a single break would not bring on death. 19:33 These soldiers were well experienced in such matters. They knew that Jesus … was already dead. There was no possibility of His being in a faint or swoon. They did not break His legs.19:34 We are not told why one of the soldiers pierced His side. Perhaps it was a final outburst of the wickedness of his heart. It was the sullen shot of the defeated foe after the battle, telling out the deep-seated hatred in man’s heart toward God and His Christ.

There is no agreement on the significance of the blood and water. Some take it as an indication that Jesus died of a ruptured heartbut we have already read that His death was a voluntary act. Others think it speaks of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but this seems farfetched. Blood speaks of cleansing from the guilt of sin; whereas water typifies cleansing from the defilement of sin through the Word. This is expressed in the verse: Let the water and the blood, From Thy riven side which flowed Be of sin the double cure, Save me from its guilt and power.Augustus Toplady 19:35 Verse 35 may refer to the fact that Jesus’ legs were not broken, the piercing of Jesus’ side, or to the entire crucifixion scene. He who has seen undoubtedly refers to John, who wrote the account. 19:36 This verse obviously looks back to verse 33 as a fulfillment of Exo_12:46 : Nor shall you break one of its bones. That verse refers to the Passover lamb. God’s decree was that the bones were to be maintained unbroken. Christ is the true Passover Lamb, fulfilling the type with great exactness. 19:37 Verse 37 looks back to verse 34. Although the soldier did not realize it, his action was another wonderful fulfillment of Scripture (Zec_12:10). Man has his wickedness, but God has His way. Zechariah’s prophecy refers to a future day when believing Jews will see the Lord coming back to the earth. They will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son.

John 19:38

L. The Burial in Joseph’s Tomb (19:38-42) 19:38 This begins the account of the burial of Jesus. Up to now, Joseph of Arimathea had been a secret believer. Fear of the Jews had kept him from confessing Christ openly. Now he boldly stepped forward to claim the body of Jesus for burial. In doing this, he exposed himself to excommunication, persecution, and violence. It is only regrettable that he was not willing to take his stand for a rejected Master while Jesus was still ministering to the masses. 19:39, 40 John’s readers are by now familiar with Nicodemus, having met him previously when he came to Jesus by night (chap. 3) and when he urged that Jesus be given a fair hearing before the Sanhedrin (Joh_7:50-51). He now joins Joseph, bringing with him a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes. These spices were probably in powdered form and were spread on the body. Then the body was bound with strips of linen.19:41 Almost every detail in this passage was a fulfillment of prophecy. Isaiah had predicted that men would plan to bury the Messiah with the wicked but that He would be with the rich in His death (Isa_53:9). A new tomb in a garden would obviously belong to a rich man. In Matthew we learn that it belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. 19:42 The body of Jesus was put in the tomb. The Jews were anxious to have the body out of the way because of their feast that began at sunset. But it was all a part of God’s determination that the body should be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. In that connection, it should be noted that in Jewish reckoning, any part of a day was counted as a day. So the fact that the Lord was in the tomb for a part of three days was still a fulfillment of His prediction in Mat_12:40.