John 19
DODDJohn 19:1-16
Parallels: Luke 23; Mark 15; Matthew 27
Pilate, having again and again renewed his efforts to persuade the Jews to consent that Jesus should be released, at length yields to their importunity, and delivers him up to be crucified. Mat. XXVII. 19, 24—31. Mark XV. 15—20. Luke XXIII. 24, 25. John XIX. 1—16.—
JOHN XIX. 1. THEN Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
JOHN XIX. 1.
THEN, as the priests and people of the Jews continued their clamorous demand that Jesus should be crucified, Pilate thought it most advisable to seem at least to consent to it, and therefore took Jesus and scourged him; hoping that, after he had been severely scourged, the rage of the populace would be something abated, and they might at last be prevailed upon to consent that he should be dismissed.
clxxxviii. John xix. 1
MAT. XXVII. 27. Then the soldiers of the governor took
Then the soldiers of the governor, knowing that it was the Roman custom to scourge pris-
Mat. xxvii. 27
Then the soldiers, &c] The evangelist John so plainly speaks of their crowning our Lord with thorns, and these other indignities, as previous to Pilate’s last attempt to save him, that I think it proper to transpose those verses in Matthew and Mark, which mention these circumstances as after his condemnation, and immediately preceding the execution. Some of them might probably be repeated after Pilate had delivered him to be crucified, while the instruments of death were preparing; and therefore Matthew and Mark mention
the whole series of these cruelties together: or the word role, then (which is used by Matthew), may only signify that it was done about that time, not determining the order of each particular so absolutely as to be inconsistent with the most accurate and distinct account which John gives of the whole process of this affair. Many instances of the indeterminate use of that particle occur in the evangelists. See Mat. ix. 14; xxiv. 40; Mark xiii. 14, 26; Luke xxi. 10, 21; and John xix. 16.
He is crowned with thorns, mocked, and sm
oners just before they were put to death, interpreted Pilate’s order on this head as a declaration that he was immediately to be crucified: and therefore they took Jesus [and] led him away into the common hall in Pilate’s palace, which was called the prætorium (as being the place where the prætor, a Roman magistrate, used to keep his court); and there they gathered to him the whole band, or cohort, to insult and torment him, not being concerned to keep any measures with a person whom they looked upon as entirely abandoned to their will. And having stripped him of that splendid garment in which Herod had contemptuously dressed him, in order to vary the mockery and affront, they wantonly clothed him in a vest of imperial purple, [and] put on him a scarlet robe over it, that in this gaudy dress he might have something of a mock resemblance to a prince: And, farther to ridicule his pretentions to royalty, which they considered as an affront to their nation and emperor, the soldiers having maliciously platted a crown of thorns, put it upon his head, and put a large reed, or cane, into his righthand, to represent a sceptre: and then they began in a ludicrous manner to pay their homage and salutations to him, as to a new created prince on his coronation day; [and] bowing the knee before him, they did him reverence in a scoffing way, and mocked him, saying, All hail, thou most magnificent king of the Jews! Hail mighty Monarch! we give thee joy on thine accession to the crown! and then approaching him as if they would have offered him some present, as is usual on such occasions, they smote him with their hands; And proceeded so far as to spit upon him, even in his very face; and at last took the reed, or cane, out of his hand, and bar.
Having platted a crown of thorns, &c.] It is certain they intended hereby to expose his pretended royalty to ridicule and contempt; but had that been all, a crown of straws might have served as well. They undoubtedly meant to add cruelty to their scorn, which especially appeared in their striking him on the head when this crown was put on. If the best descriptions of
the eastern thorns are to be credited, they are much larger than any commonly known in these parts.
Took the reed, or cane, out of his hand.] The word κελεμθ does indeed sometimes signify a slender reed (Mat. xi. 7; xii. 20; and 3 John, ver. 13); but it includes all kinds of canes; and it is most probable this was a walking staff,
te’s wife sends to him to let Jesus alone.
barously struck him with it on the head; and so, as it were, nailed down the thorns into his forehead and temples, and occasioned thereby exquisite pain, as well as a great effusion of blood: all which this holy Sufferer bore with the utmost meekness and composure, neither reviling nor threatening them, but silently committing himself to the righteous invisible Judge. (1 Pet. ii. 23.)
In the mean time Pilate was taken up with trying and condemning some other prisoners who were to be executed that day; and while he thus was sitting on the tribunal he had erected, his wife, having by this time been informed that Jesus had been brought before him, and was going to be given up to death, sent a very importunate message to him, saying, I beseech thee see to it, that thou have nothing to do with the blood of that righteous One, against whom the Jews are now demanding judgment; for I have suffered many things today on his account in a dream, and have had such terrible views represented to my imagination in my sleep this very morning, that I cannot but look upon it as something Divine; and conclude that if thou doest upon any terms consent to his death, it will be attended with dreadful consequences to thyself and thy family.
Pilate therefore, alarmed by such a message as this, went into the common hall himself to see what they were doing with the prisoner; and when he beheld with strong emotion all
which they put into his hand as a sceptre, for a blow with a slight reed would scarce have been felt, or have deserved a mention in a detail of such dreadful sufferings.
His wife sent to him] While Rome was governed by a commonwealth it was unusual for the governors of provinces to take their wives with them; but afterwards it grew customary, and the motion made against it in the fourth year of Tiberius was rejected with some indignation. See Tacit. Annal. lib. iii. cap. 33, 34.
I have suffered many things today on his account in a dream] Perhaps the word σκαμων, today, may imply, that she had dreams these things that morning, since Pilate rose; and as the Heathens imagined those dreams most significant which came
about break of day, she might on that account lay the greater stress upon them. Jansenius thinks she had now a representation of those calamities which afterwards befel Pilate and his family. (See note in the improvement.) But it is an unaccountable thought of Mr. Fleming, that the devil might be the author of this dream, by which he might endeavour to prevent the death of Christ according to the prophecies. His two arguments, from her calling Christ a man (which is merely taken from our version, for in the original it is only πω δίκαιω ικωω, that righteous One), and from the disquiet which this dream gave her, are too inconsiderable to need a particular reply. See Flem. Christol. Vol. II. p. 325.
VOL. 2.
Pilate again declares he found no fault in his
those indignities and torments which Jesus had borne, and saw how severely the soldiers had scourged him, thinking that the sight of him in so bad a condition might move the Jews to compassion, he determined to make one trial more. And accordingly he came out again to the public tribunal where the Jews were assembled, and having ordered Jesus to be led thither, he said to them, just before he appeared, Behold I am bringing him out to you again, that ye may know and observe it, that I can find no fault in him, though the tortures he has now undergone are such as must surely have brought him to confession, if he were indeed guilty.
Then, as he spake these words, Jesus came out of the prætorium wearing the thorny crown, and the purple robe, now also died in his own blood, which streamed forth from all parts of his body: and [Pilate] said to them, Behold the man! view him attentively; and when you see what dreadful things the poor unhappy creature has suffered, let that content you; for surely, considering his innocence, he has suffered already much more than enough.
When therefore the chief priests and [their] attending officers saw him, fearing lest the people should relent, they presently renewed their exclamations, and eagerly cried out as before, saying, We know the man sufficiently: away with him to the cross; crucify [him], crucify [him]; and immediately order the wretch to be executed.
Pilate on this said to them, If ye are thus resolute and inexorable, I leave him in your hands, to dispose of him as you think fit: take ye him therefore, if it must be so, and crucify [him] yourselves; but I desire to discharge myself from having any thing to do in it, either by myself, or by my Roman guards; for, as I have told you again and again, I find no fault in him worthy of any such punishment.
The Jews then answered him, There is no room to represent him as a faultless person, nor any reason to be backward to condemn him; but these objections you have made oblige us to mention one circumstance which, for the horror of it we would willfully have
ilate is afraid, and examines him again.
concealed: we have a Divine law which we received from heaven, by which blasphemy is forbidden on the highest penalties; and by this our law he ought to die, though he were not chargeable with sedition and treason, because he has made himself the Son of the most high God, in such a sense as no creature can be; and this he declared but this morning in open court. (Compare Mat. xxvi. 63, 64; Mark xiv. 62; and Luke xxii. 70, p. 507.)
When Pilate therefore heard this expression, he was still more afraid than before; for the Romans believed many poetical stories of men begotten by their deities, and thought them a kind of demigods, who could not be injured without engaging their divine parents in the quarrel. And therefore apprehending that his wife’s dream might also take its rise from such a cause, he entered again into the palace, and taking him aside, he said to Jesus, Tell me plainly from whence thou camest, and from whom art thou descended? and what is this Divine original which thou art charged with claiming? But Jesus, knowing that his innocence was already apparent, even to the conviction of Pilate’s conscience, gave him no answer to that question.
Then Pilate in surprise said to him, What, dost thou make me no reply, and not so much as speak to me in such a circumstance as this, in which thy life is so evidently concerned? Dost thou not know that I have power and
He was still more afraid than before.] Though I think, with Mr Cradock, and several others, the interpretation given in the paraphrase the most natural; yet I cannot forbear mentioning that of Dr. Lardner, who thinks he was afraid of a sedition among the Jews, from his knowledge of their great obstinacy in any thing in which religion might seem to be concerned: and he adds, he might be the more reasonably alarmed on this head, as since the beginning of his government he had met with two remarkable instances of their stiffness; one in an attempt he made to bring the image of Cesar into Jerusalem; the other in a design he had formed of supplying the city with water at the expense of the sacred treasury of the temple. See Lard. Credib. part i. Vol. I. p. 330-338.
Whence art thou?] It is strange Mr. Locke should think (as he does in his Reasonableness of Christianity, Vol. I p. 133) that Christ declined giving him an answer, lest, when he heard he was born at Bethlehem, he should have any such apprehensions as Herod had entertained. Pilate probably knew nothing at all of that prophecy, as Herod himself indeed did not, till he had learnt it from the Jewish scribes whom he consulted on Christ’s birth. (Mat. ii. 4, 5, 6, Vol. I. p. 81) The answer which our Lord had made to his former inquiries shewed how far he was from declining any danger; and the true reason of his present silence was that Pilate’s unsteady conduct rendered him unworthy of any farther information.
Pilate, convinced of his innocence, sought to re
authority to crucify thee, and have power to release thee, if I please, notwithstanding all the clamorous demands of thine enemies.ᵇ
Jesus calmly replied, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above, from the God of heaven, whose providence I acknowledge in all these events:¹ therefore he who has delivered me to thee, even the Jewish high priest with his council, having far greater opportunities of knowing him and his law, hath the greater and more aggravated sin; yet thou thyself canst not but know that on the principles of natural equity an innocent person ought not to be given up to popular fury.
And from this time Pilate was so far satisfied of the injustice of the prosecution, and of the innocence of Jesus, that he endeavoured the more earnestly to release him. But the Jews still insisted on his passing sentence on him to be crucified; and apprehensive of the governor’s design, that they effectually might put a
ᵇ Dost thou not know that I have power to crucify thee? &c.] Even they who maintain that the Jews had a power of executing capital sentences in Christ’s time, acknowledge that power to have been under the control of the Roman governor; and that it was in fact so often controlled, that at last the Jewish sanhedrin removed from the chamber in which alone they could regularly pass them, that they might not have the mortification of seeing continually how little their decisions availed, when the most notorious criminal, if he had but money, could buy a pardon from their common masters. So that the dispute, after all the noise it has made in the learned world, seems at last to terminate in this nicety, “whether the consent of the Roman governor were expressly asked before the Jews proceeded to an execution, or were taken for granted if the contrary did not appear?” Or, in other words, “Whether the efficacy of a sentence passed by the Jews were owing to the express consent or the connivance of the Romans?” The conduct of the Jews in this case seems to prove the former of these to have been the true state of the affair; and vindicates not only the substance of what Dr. Lardner has maintained, but the particular manner in which he expresses it. See note 6 on Mat. xxvii. 2, p. 511.
¹ Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.] Some have thought that the word ἀγώγῳ, from above, refers to the situation of the temple, which stood much higher than the prætorium; and that it is as if Jesus had said, “I know that whatever thou dost against me is only in consequence of the sentence passed in yonder court held above; so that their guilt is greater than thine.” But though this would very well account for the connection of the latter part of the verse, I cannot think it altogether just; for had Providence permitte Pilate to seize Christ as one dangerous to Cesar’s dignity, he would have had much power of putting him to death as he now had. It is therefore much more reasonable to suppose it refers to the permission of God’s providence. No thought was more proper to the occasion; and I think the interpretation I have given to the latter clause in this view is natural, though not very common. But if any are not satisfied with it, they may consider whether δία τις may not be connected with the beginning of the verse, so that it might be translated, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, unless it were given thee from above for this purpose. (Compare note 6 on John vii. 21, sect. xcix.)
top to his intention of discharging him, they agerly cried out, saying, If thou let this man go ff with his life, thou art not Cesar’s friend, hough thou bearest his commission, and repesentest his person; for every one that makes himself a king of Judea speaks against Cesar our mperor, and in effect arraigns the legality of is government here. When Pilate therefore heard that speech, he was very much alarmed, as he well knew how suspicious a prince Tiberius was, and how many spies he kept on all his officers, that nothing might be done or permitted by them in any of the provinces, which could at all interfere with his authority: k and, that he might not then be charged with any want of zeal for Cesar’s interest, he brought Jesus out of the palace again, and once more sat down on the tribunal, which was then erected (as was said before, p. 512) without the palace, in a place called in Greek, Lithostraton, or the Pavement, on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work with which the floor was adorned: but in Hebrew it was called Gabbatha, or the High place, because it stood on an eminence, so that the judge, being seated there on his tribunal, might be heard and seen by a considerable number of people.1 And it was then the preparation of the passover, or the sixth day of the week, and consequently the day which fell before the paschal sabbath, which was observed with some peculiar solemnity; (see John xix. 31, sect. cxcii.) and the morning was so far advanced, that it [was] drawing on apace towards the sixth hour, and was now about the third hour, or nine in the morning, m which obliged them to dispatch, new how suspicious a governor might place himself on , &c.] Every body acter of Tiberius, esd by Suetonius in his ill see how naturally whensive on this head. atha.] There are vanis word. I think the which derives it from it intimates its being as, perhaps, a kind of the midst of a spacious palace, in which the
But they cried out, Away with him, Crucif
that they might have execution done, as usual, before noon. And Pilate, finding he must, after all, yield to the people, and consent to the death of Jesus, lest his former struggle should be misrepresented at Rome, was resolved to manage this incident so as to procure from the Jews a public acknowledgment of Cesar’s authority: and therefore, pointing to Jesus, as he now appeared in this mock pomp of royalty, he says to the Jews, who were present in vast numbers, Behold your king, if you think fit to own him, as it is said many of you have done. But they again cried out with indignation and disdain, Away with [him], away with [him]; we are so far from owning him, that we desire thee to crucify him. Pilate says to them, What, shall I crucify your king? How strange, and how extravagant a demand is this! And the chief priests answered, in the name of all the people, We have
*the morning, or according to the Jewish computation, twelve at noon. The best commentators I know (and among the rest of late Dr. Guyse) think the whole difficulty of reconciling these words of John with Mark, who tells us (chap xv. 25, sect. clxxxix.) that Christ was crucified at the third hour; and with Matthew and Luke, who exactly agree with him in fixing the time of that darkness which happened while Christ hung upon the cross; (compare Mat xxvii. 45; Luke xxiii. 44; and Mark xv. 33, sect. exci.) is easily solved by understanding it, according to the Roman account, of six in the morning. But as John was a Jew, and elsewhere seems to use the Jewish account (John i. 39, iv. 6, 52), that very supposition is in general improbable. Or if, out of regard to the considerations which the learned, but here dubious and perplexed, Zeltnerus has urged, (see Zeltner. Hor. Pilat. p. 14, & seq.) we were to grant in general a supposable case, very strong objections will lie against supposing it here. For though we should, with many critics, take it for granted that the passover here fell late in April (which was the latest it could fall), the sun would not rise at Jerusalem till near five o’clock, and one cannot suppose the sanhedrin assembled till about break of day. How then is it possible that their condemnation of Christ, his arraignment and examination, first before Pilate, then before Herod, together with Pilate’s repeated examinations
ations of him, and conferences with the Jews about him, as also the change of dress, scourging, crowning with thorns, &c. should be dispatched by six? The very contents of the preceding sections seem to demonstrate the contrary. On the other hand, it could not now be twelve at noon, since Mark assures us to the contrary, and his account is confirmed both by Matthew and Luke. (See the places just now quoted, and note 4 on Mark xv. 25, sect. clxxxix.) I cannot therefore but conclude with Columelus (Observ. p. 77), Beza, and Erasmus, that instead of the sixth we should read the third hour, that is, nine in the morning. For this we have the authority of the Cambridge manuscript, and of Peter of Alexandria, who expressly asserts it was april, the third, in the original copy, which he says continued till his time; and though, as Dr. Mill abundantly shews in his Annotation on this place, all the best manuscripts and ancient versions are on the other side, I am obliged here to follow the superior authority of common sense; however, in submission to the greatest number of copies, I have still retained the common reading in the version, and have only given what I apprehend to be the true reading in the paraphrase. Some other unsatisfactory hypothesis will be touched on in the note last referred to. See a large and accurate view of them in Wolf. Cur. Phil. Vol. I. page 969-976.
hing his hands, they wish his blood on themse ves.
no king but the emperor Tiberius Cesar, whose royal authority we all of us acknowledge, and will always maintain.
And Pilate, seeing that it signified nothing, any longer to oppose the popular torrent, but that they rather grew more tumultuous by the delay, was determined however to do all he could to make his own conscience easy in complying with this their unjust request; and therefore he took water, and washed his hands in the presence of the multitude, saying, I call heaven and earth to witness that I am innocent of the blood of this righteous [man]; look you [to] the consequences of shedding [it], and remember you are answerable for them, whatever they may prove. And all the people answered, saying, We will venture those consequences: may his blood, if innocent, be on us, and on our children! and may the curse of shedding it lie upon us throughout all generations!
He took water, and washed his hands, &c.] It is well known that the Jews in some cases were appointed to wash their hands as a solemn token that they were not themselves concerned in the murder committed by some unknown person (see Deut. xxi. 6—9): but, as this was also a rite that was frequently used by the Gentiles in token of innocence, it is more probable that Pilate, who was a Gentile, did it in conformity to them. See Grotius, in loc. and Elsner, Observ. Vol. I. p. 122, 123.
May his blood be on us, and on our children!] As this terrible imprecation was dreadfully answered in the ruin so quickly brought on the Jewish nation, and the calamities which have since pursued that wretched people, in almost all ages and countries; so it was peculiarly illustrated in the severity with which Titus, merciful as he naturally was, treated the Jews whom he took during the siege of Jerusalem; of whom Josephus himself writes (Bell. Jud. lib. v. cap. 11 (al. vi. 12), § 1), that μαζιζωμιοι αγαναυγιό, having been scourged and tortured in a very terrible manner, they were crucified, in the view, and near the walls of this city; perhaps, among other places, on mount Calvary: and it is very probable this might be the fate of some of those very persons, who now joined in this cry, as
it undoubtedly was of many of their children. For Josephus, who was an eyewitness, expressly declares, “that the number of those thus crucified was so great, that there was not room for the crosses to stand by each other; and that at last they had not wood enough to make crosses of.” A passage which, especially when compared with the verse before us, impresses and astonishes me beyond any other which I recollect in the whole story. If this were not the very finger of God, pointing out their crime in crucifying his Son, it is hard to say what could deserve to be called so. Elsner has abundantly shewn, that among the Greeks, the persons on whose testimony others were put to death used, by a very solemn execration, to devote themselves to the Divine vengeance, if the person so condemned were not really guilty. (Elsner, Observ. Vol. I. p. 123—125.) We are told by Grotius (de Jure Bell. & Pac. lib. iii. cap. 4. § 9, N°. 2) that Titus commanded the women and children of the Jews to be exposed in theatres, and there to be devoured by wild beasts: a fact which I should have thought it extremely proper to mention here, if any authority were produced to support it. But as I cannot meet with any such account in Josephus, I am ready to ascribe what Grotius says of
Pilate condemns him, and delivers him to be cru.
And when they had said this, Pilate, who now was something easier in his own mind, and was desirous to satisfy the people,ᵖ since he perceived it could be done no other way, pronounced sentence, that what they demanded should be done, and that Jesus should be put to death.
And, in pursuance of that sentence, he released to them Barabbas, who (as was said before) was thrown into prison for sedition and murder; but whom, aggravated as his crimes were, they had importunately desired in preference to Christ: and having (as we related above, John xix. 1, p. 525) already scourged Jesus, he did not renew that torture;q however, he delivered him to their will to be crucified, with such circumstances as they thought proper; and they soon shewed that their tender mercies were cruel.
And when the Jewish mob had thus prevailed, after they had mocked and insulted him for a while, just as the Roman soldiers had before done in the prætorium, deriding his pretences to a kingdom, and abusing him like the vilest slave, they took the purple robe off from him,ʳ and having dressed him again in his own garments,
it to a slip of memory in that great critic; especially considering how improbable it was that so humane a prince as Titus should be guilty of such almost unexampled cruelty. On the contrary, in the only passage I recollect, where Josephus speaks of exposing the Jewish captives to wild beasts (Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 9. [al. vii. 16], § 2), it is expressly said that Titus sold all who were under seventeen years old.
ᵖ Desirous to satisfy the people: το ικανόν σουσάι. As his former administration had given them a great deal of disgust, he might very probably think it absolutely necessary thus to appease them: yet they afterwards followed him with their accusations to his ruin; and thus, by the righteous judgment of God, he lost all the advantage which he hoped to gain by this base compliance, as Felix did when he afterwards injured Paul on the same unworthy principles. Acts xxiv. 27.
q Having already scourged Jesus: φραγος σουσάι. Many critics, and among the rest Elsner (Observ. Vol. I. p. 125), have shewn that scourging used to precede crucifixion;
but as John, who is most exact in his account of this part of the story, mentions his having been scourged before, and says nothing of the repetition of it (which, considering Pilate’s conviction of his innocence, he would probably spare), I choose to interpret the word in this manner, which the original will very well bear.
ʳ They took the purple robe off from him. It is observable, as we have seen above, p. 526, that Matthew (chap. xxvii. 28) mentions a scarlet robe, κοκκινή χλαμυδά and Mark (chap. xv. 17, as well as here) purple garment, την ποφφυράν. I take not upon me to determine whether either of these words be used for the other, waving, as in some other cases, the most exact signification; or whether there were two garment used, a purple vest, and over that a scarlet robe. However, it is probable, whatever they were, Pilate, or any of his chief officers, would not cover his bleeding body with any thing better than an old, and perhaps tattered habit, which answered their contemptuous purpose much better than the best which the governor’s wardrobe could have afforded.
Reflections on the condemnation of Christ.
and led him away to thev led him away to be crucified, in the manner crucify him. [MARK which we shall presently relate. XV. 20.]
clxxxviii.
IMPROVEMENT.
LET us now, by a lively act of faith, bring forth the blessed Jesus to our imagination, as Pilate brought him forth to the people. Let us with affectionate sympathy survey the indignities which were offered him, when he gave his back to the smitters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; and hid not his face from shame and spitting. (Isa. i. 6.) Behold the man, wearing his purple robe and thorny crown, and bearing the reed which smote him in his right hand for a sceptre! Behold, not merely the man, but the Son of God, thus vilely degraded, thus infamously abused! Shall we, as it were, increase his sufferings, and, while we condemn the fury and cruelty of the Jews, shall we crucify him to ourselves afresh, and put him to an open shame? (Heb. vi. 6.) Or shall we overlook him with slight and contempt, and hide our faces from him, who for our sake thus exposed his own? (Isa. liii. 3.)
John xix. 13
verse 1
Mat. xxvii. 29
John xix. 5
Let the caution even of this heathen judge, who feared, when he heard he so much as pretended to be the Son of God, engage us to reverence him, especially considering in how powerful a manner he has since been declared to be so. (Rom. i. 4.) Let us in this sense have nothing to do with the blood of this just Person. Let his example teach us patiently to submit to those sufferings which God shall appoint for us, remembering that no enemies, and no calamities we meet with, could have any power against us, except it were given them from above.
Mat. xxvi. 10
How wisely was it ordered by Divine Providence that Pilate should be obliged thus to acquit Christ, even while he condemned him; and to speak of him as a righteous person, in the same breath with which he doomed him to the death of the most flagitious malefactor! And how lamentably does the power of worldly interest over conscience appear, when, after all the convictions of his own mind, as well as the admonitions of his wife, he yet gave him up to popular fury. O Pilate, how gloriously hadst thou fallen in the defence of the Son of God! and how justly did God afterwards leave thee to perish by the resentment of that people whom thou wast now so studious to oblige!⁶
John xix. 11 Mat. xxvii. 24, 26
⁶ Leave thee to perish, &c.] Josephus (Antiq. lib. xviii. cap. 4 [al. 5], § 1, 2) expressly assures us that Pilate, having slain a considerable number of seditious Samaritans, was deposed from his government by Vitellius, and sent to Tiberius at Rome, who died before he arrived there. And
Eusebius tells us (Hist. Eccles. lib. ii. cap. 7), that quickly after (having, as others say, been banished to Vienne in Gaul) he laid violent hands upon himself, falling on his own sword. Agrippa, who was an eye-witness to many of his enormities, speaks of him in his oration to Caius Cesar as one
VOL. 2.
Jesus is taken to be crucified with two malefactors;
clxxxviii.
Mat. xxvii. 25
Who can without trembling read that dreadful imprecation, May his blood be on us, and on our children! Words which, even to this day, have their remarkable and terrible accomplishment in that curse, which has pursued the Jews through seventeen hundred years. Lord, may it at length be averted, and even turned into a blessing! May they look on him whom they have pierced, and mourn, till all the obstinacy of their hearts be subdued: till they bow down in glad submission to that King whom God has set on his holy hill, and thus are brought themselves to reign with him in everlasting honour and joy!
John 19:16
Parallels: Luke 23; Mark 15; Matthew 27
Jesus, being delivered up by Pilate to the rage of the people, bears his cross to Calvary, and is there nailed to it. Mat. XXVII. 32—34, 38. Mark XV. 21—23, 25, 27, 28. Luke XXIII. 26—34.— John XIX.—16—18.
JOHN XIX.—16.
John xix. 16
NOW after Pilate had passed sentence upon Jesus, to satisfy the restless clamour of the Jews, and had delivered him to the soldiers to be crucified, his prosecutors, having gained their point, hastened his execution; and having insulted and abused him (as was said before), they took Jesus and led him away to that terrible punishment.ᵃ
JOHN XIX.—16. AND they took Jesus, and led him away.
Luke xxiii. 32
And, to expose him to the greater ignominy and reproach, and to prejudice the people more strongly against him, there were also two other [men, who were] condemned to die upon the cross for a robbery, and were well known to be great malefactors, that were led out of Jerusalem
LUKE XXIII. 32. And there were also two other malefac-
who had been a man of a most infamous character (Philo. Jud. in Leg. p. 1034); and by that manner of speaking, as Valesius well observes, it is plainly intimated he was then dead. Probably the accusations of other Jews following him, had before that proved his destruction.
ᵃ They took Jesus and led him away.] It is evident this text is parallel to Mat. xxvii.—31, and Mark xv.—20. But I have here, as in some other instances of two or more parallel passages, put one at the conclusion of a former section, and the other at the beginning of the next, for a better connection. I may also add that this seems to me
the exact place of Mat. xxvii. 3—10, in which the evangelist relates the tragical end of Judas; but I hope I shall be indulged in transposing it, partly that I may preserve a better proportion in the length of the sections, and chiefly that I may not interrupt the important story of Christ’s passion: and I more easily allow myself to do it, because probably the very same consideration engaged Matthew a little to anticipate it. Let it only here be observed, that the death of this traitor seems to have happened before that of his Master: so speedily did the Divine vengeance pursue his aggravated crime.
ring his cross, is ed away to Golgotha.
with him, to be executed at the same time; that in such company he might be thought to suffer or the worst of crimes.
And Jesus, thus attended as a criminal, was ed through the city, carrying a heavy part of is cross on his shoulders, according to the cusom of those who were to be crucified: and in this manner he went out of the city to a place which lay on the western side of Jerusalem, but a little without the boundaries of it, which was called in the Hebrew language Golgotha, [or] the place of a scull; because the bodies of many criminals, having been executed on that little eminence, were buried there.
And as they led him on, Jesus was now so faint with the loss of blood, so very sore with the lashes and bruises he had received, and so fatigued with the load of such a large piece of timber, that he was not able to proceed so fast as they desired, especially considering how little time they had before them to finish their work. And as he was advancing slowly to the place of execution, they met on the road a poor African, who was a native of Cyrene, named Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, who afterwards became Christians, and were of some note in the church: this Simon at that time was passing by, as he came out of the country to Jerusalem; [and] they immediately laid hold on [him] as one fit for their purpose, finding him a strong man, and it may be suspecting that he was a favourer of Jesus; [and] pretending that the authority of the Roman governor impowered them to press any they met for this service, they compelled him to carry at least one end of his cross; and accordingly on him they laid the cross, that he might carry it after Jesus.
And a great multitude of people crowded after him to see the crucifixion; and particularly
b Carrying a heavy part of his cross, p. 354, 355.) What our Lord carried, was went out of the city, [or] Dr. Lardner not the whole cross, but only that transverse has abundantly proved, from many quotations, that it was customary not only for the Jews (Numb. xv. 35; 1 Kings xxi. 13; Acts vii. 58), but also for the Sicilians, Ephesians, and Romans, to execute their malefactors without the gates of their cities. (See his Credibility, part i. Vol. I. Bishop Pearson on the Creed, p. 203, 204.
The women weeping for him, are bid to weep for themselves.
a considerable number of women, who had attended his ministry with great delight, followed him on this sad occasion; who were so tenderly affected with the moving sight, that they not only pitied him in their hearts, but also vented their concern in tears, and bewailed and lamented him in a very affectionate manner. But Jesus turning to them, said, Alas, ye daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, who am willing to submit to all the sufferings appointed for me, as what I know will issue in the salvation of my people, and in my exaltations to the highest glory; but rather weep for yourselves, and for your children, in consideration of the dreadful judgments that these crimes will quickly bring upon this wretched people, whose calamities will be of much longer duration than mine. For, let it be remembered by you as my dying words, behold the days are surely and quickly coming, and some of you may live to see them, in which the innocent blood which this people have imprecated upon themselves shall come down upon their heads in so terrible a manner, that they shall have reason to say, Happy [are] the barren women, and the wombs which never bare children, and the breasts that never suckled them: for as relations are multiplied, sorrows shall be multiplied with them, and parents shall see their children subject to all the miseries which famine, and pestilence, and sword, and captivity can bring upon them. Then shall they who are now triumphing in my death be trembling with horror, in expectation of their own; and, considering present calamities as the forerunners of future, yet more intolerable miseries, shall begin, in despair of the Divine mercy, to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us, from the more dreadful pressure of God’s wrath, which is kindled against us. For if they do these things in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry? If such agonies as these fall upon me, who am not only an innocent person, but God’s own Son, when I put myself in the stead of sinners, what will become of those wretches who can feel none of my supports and consolations, and whose personal guilt makes them as
They gave him vinegar to drink ming ed wit ga.
proper fuel for the Divine vengeance, as dry wood is to the consuming fire?
At length they arrived at the place of execution: and when they were come thither, even to the place which (we before observed) was called in Hebrew Golgotha, that is to say, the place of a scull, a little without the city [on] mount Calvary (which was the usual place for executing criminals, and seemed a proper spot of ground for the purpose, as on account of its eminence the malefactors crucified there might be seen at a considerable distance, and by a great number of spectators); They proceeded to the fatal purpose for which they came: and as it was customary to give to dying criminals a potion of strong wine mingled with spices, to cheer their spirits, and render them less sensible of their sufferings, the soldiers who attended him gave him nothing better to drink than vinegar mingled with gall, by that odious mixture farther expressing their cruelty and contempt: and when he had tasted [of it], that he might submit to every distasteful circumstance which Providence allotted to him, he would not drink any large draught of it, as knowing it would answer no valuable end to do it. And, as some of his friends had on that occasion provided a cordial cup, they gave him [also] a draught of generous wine to drink, mingled with myrrh and other spices, which they thought proper on that sad occasion; but he did not receive [it], determining to bear the full force of his pains, unal-layed by any such preparation, and to maintain his thoughts in the most vigorous exercise.
And it was now the third hour of the day, or nine o’clock in the morning, when they thus brought him to mount Calvary; and there, when
They gave him also wine to drink, mingled with myrrh.] Some think this was sour wine, called vinegar by Matthew; but I apprehend the reasons which Dr. Edwards has produced (Exercit. part. ii. No. 2, p. 178-188) sufficiently prove that this wine mingled with myrrh was a different mixture from the vinegar and gall, which he received so far as to taste it. Probably those pious women, some of them (as the story shews) persons in plentiful circumstances, whose zeal engaged them to fol-
low him to Calvary, and afterwards so liberally to prepare unguents and aromatic drugs for his embalming, had provided on this sad occasion some rich wine tempered with choice spices, which with perfect propriety he refused to taste, lest malice should insinuate he intended thereby to render himself insensible of the terrors of death.
It was now the third hour of the day, or nine o’clock in the morning.] I can by no means agree with Vossius, and some other
He prays on the cross for his enemies
all things were made ready, they nailed his hands and his feet to the cross, and crucified him. And they also crucified with him the two malefactors, [or] robbers, that were mentioned before, the one on his righthand, and the other on the left; and they placed Jesus in the midst, as a mark of the greatest indignity, to prejudice the multitude the more against him, and to induce them to regard him as the most infamous criminal of the three. And thus the scripture was remarkably fulfilled (Isa. liii. 12), in which the prophet Isaiah, speaking with an amazing plainness of the sufferings of the Messiah, saith, “And he was numbered with the transgressors.”
And Jesus made no manner of resistance to this cruel violence, nor did he revile them even when they were distorting his limbs as on a rack, and nailing his hands and his feet on the full stretch to the accursed tree; but, in the midst of his anguish, he breathed out his soul in a compassionate prayer for his murderers; and pleading the only excuse which the most extensive charity could suggest, he said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing:
critics, to read it here the sixth hour; for their ought to be very cogent reasons for departing from the authority of all the best copies and ancient versions. (See Dr. Mills, in loc.) Nor can I think, with Heinsius, that these words in Mark refer, not to the hour of the day in which Christ was crucified, but to the length of time he had been upon the cross when his garments were divided, which Mark had spoken of just before in ver. 24. For as Mark mentions the sixth and the ninth hour (ver. 33), this interpretation would oblige us to conclude, either that Mark used two very different ways of computation within the compass of a few verses, or else that Christ did not expire till he had been nine hours on the cross. And as these objections equally lie against Godwyn’s Hypothesis, (Moses and Aaron, book iii. chap. i.) that we are here to distinguish between the four larger and twelve smaller hours into which the day was divided, I do not think it necessary more particularly to consider it, though the learned Gerhardus in his Harmony prefers it to all others. Compare note m on John xix. 14, sect. clxxxviii.
And he was numbered with the transgressors.] I choose, in quotations from the Old Testament, to keep as close to our English version of the passage quoted as the Greek will allow me, that the memory of the hearer may assist him in distinguishing the text; else I should have rendered ἀγορών, criminals, as the word ἀγορών, which Isaiah uses, seems also to signify. The least offence is a transgression of the law of God, or a stepping over the boundaries he has prescribed; but this imports much more.
Father, forgive them, &c.] This is one of the most striking passages in the world. While they are actually nailing him to the cross, he seems to feel the injury these poor creatures did to their own souls, more than the wounds they gave him; and as it were to forget his own anguish, in a concern for their salvation. I render ἀγορών, what they are doing, as thinking that version most expressive of the present circumstance; and indeed it is the exact import of what grammarians call the present tense.
Reflections on the crucifixion of Christ.
The Roman soldiers, who were the immediate instruments of his death, having indeed but little knowledge of him; and the Jews, who were the authors of it, through their obstinate prejudices not apprehending who he was; “for if they had known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (1 Cor. ii. 8.)
IMPROVEMENT.
HERE let us pause a while, and make a few serious reflections on this amazing story, which the evangelists relate with so much simplicity. Behold the Son of God bearing his cross, fainting under the load of it, and at length extended upon it, and nailed to it. Him they took, and with wicked hands crucified and slew him (Acts ii. 23). Blessed Jesus, was it for this that thou didst honour our nature by a union to thine own, and come from thy throne of glory to visit these abodes of misery and guilt! Was it for this that so many gracious discourses were delivered, and so many works of love and power performed! for this, that thou mightest be treated as the worst of criminals, and suspended on a cross in the air, as if unworthy of a place on earth even to die upon! Amazing and lamentable sight! Justly, O sun, mightest thou blush to see it: justly, O earth, mightest thou tremble to support it!
Lord, like these pious women, who had the zeal and fortitude to attend thee, when thine own apostles forsook thee and fled, we would follow thee weeping: yet not for thee, but for ourselves; that our guilt had brought us under a condemnation, from which we could be redeemed by nothing less than the precious blood of the Son of God: that Lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Pet. i. 19). We would behold herein the goodness and the severity of God (Rom. xi. 22): for while the riches of his goodness are displayed in his providing a ransom for the redemption of lost sinners, an awful proof is given of the severity of his justice, in his not sparing his own Son, nor exempting him from the sorrows and sufferings due to sin, when he came to put himself in the stead of sinners: and may we not in such a view tremble for fear of him, and be afraid of his judgments? (Psal. cxix. 120.) Who can support the weight of his indignation, especially when it shall come aggravated by the abuse of so much love! If these things be done in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry? And if such sufferings be inflicted, where there was not any personal guilt to kindle the flame, on one who only answered for the sins of others; what then will be the end
Reflections on Christ’s prayer for his enemies.
of those who, by their own iniquities, are become as fuel prepared clxxxix. for the fire, and are as vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?
ver. 33 How shocking is it to behold the vile indignities that were put upon a suffering Jesus, and to reflect upon the cruel treatment that he met with from his insulting enemies! Yet have not we been verily guilty concerning this matter? (Gen. xlii. 21.) Are we not chargeable with despising Christ? and have we not crucified the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame? (Heb. 34—vi. 6.) Oh may that apology be heard in our favour! Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do! For surely sinners do not know what they do, when they pierce Christ by their sins, and turn away their faces from him. But under all his sufferings, how amazing was his meekness! and how compassionate the concern which he expressed for his most cruel persecutors! May we learn patience, and love to our enemies, from so bright an example of it! May we, like him, bless them that curse us, and pray for them that despitefully use us, and persecute us! (Mat. v. 44.) Instead of being ingenious to aggravate their faults, and to paint them in the most shocking colours, let us rather seek for the best excuses, which even the worst of causes will fairly bear; influenced by that charity which unconstrained believes no evil, and hopeth all things even against hope. (1 Cor. xiii. 5, 7.)
ibid. Gracious Saviour! thy dying prayer, and thy dying blood, were not like water spilt upon the ground: they came up in remembrance before God, when thy gospel began to be preached at Jerusalem: and multitudes, who were now consenting to thy death, gladly received thy word, and were baptized (Acts ii. 41): and they are now in glory, celebrating that grace which has taken out the scarlet and crimson dye of their sins, and turned that blood which they so impiously shed into the balm of their wounds, and the life of their souls.
John 19:25-30
Parallels: Luke 23; Mark 15; Matthew 27
Jesus, having recommended his mother to the care of John, and suffered many agonies and indignities on the cross, expires; amazing prodigies attending his death, and alarming the consciences of the spectators. Mat. XXVII. 45—54. Mark XV. 33—39. Luke XXIII. 41—48. John XIX. 25—30.
JOHN XIX. 25. NOW there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother’s sister. Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. AND while he suffered all these insults and sorrows, there stood near the cross of Jesus, Mary his mother, and his mother’s sister (whose name was also Mary), who was [the wife] of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene; and with them SECT. xci. John xix. 25
a His mother.] Neither her own danger, nor the sadness of the spectacle, nor the reproaches and insults of the people, could restrain her from performing the last office of duty and tenderness to her Divine Son on the cross. Grotius justly observes that it was a noble instance of fortitude and zeal. Now a sword (according to Simeon’s prophecy, Luke ii. 35) struck through her tender heart, and pierced her very soul; and perhaps the extremity of her sorrows might so overwhelm her spirits, as to render her incapable of attending the sepulchre, which we do not find that she did; nor do we indeed meet with any thing after this concerning her in the sacred story, or in early antiquity; except that she continued among the disciples after our Lord’s ascension, which Luke observes, Acts i. 14.
Andreas Cretensis, a writer of the seventh century, does indeed tell us she died with John at Ephesus, many years after this, in an extreme old age; and it appears, from a letter of the council of Ephesus in the fifth century, that it was then believed she was buried there. But they pretend to shew her sepulchre at Jerusalem, and many ridiculous tales are forged concerning her death, and assumption, or being taken up into heaven, of which the best Popish authors themselves appear heartily ashamed. See Calmet’s Dictionary, Vol. II. p 141.
b His mother’s sister, Mary [the wife] of Cleopas.] It is not determined in the original whether she was the wife, or mother, or daughter of Cleopas; but critics generally suppose she was his wife; and that he
he recommends his mother to the care of Jo
also John, his intimate friend, the relater of this story.
Jesus therefore seeing his mother, and John the disciple whom he peculiarly loved, standing near, his affectionate care and regard to both so wrought in his heart in the midst of all his agonies, that he said to his mother, Woman, behold thy son; consider that dear friend of mine as thy own child, and treat him with the same affection and care which thou wouldest shew to me under that near relation. And then he said to that disciple, Behold thy mother, and entertain towards her that reverence and love which a child owes to a worthy parent; for I now solemnly with my dying breath bequeath her to thy care. And from that hour that disciple took her home to his own [house], and maintained her most cheerfully and respectfully, as if she had indeed been his own mother.
And Jesus having hung upon the cross about three hours, it was now near noon, or, according to the Jewish manner of expressing the time, it was about the sixth hour; and from the sixth hour, there was an amazing and supernatural darkness over the whole land of Judea till the ninth hour, or till three o’clock in the after-
was also called Alpheus, and was the father, as this Mary was the mother, of James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas, who are therefore called our Lord’s brethren or kinsmen. (Mat. xiii. 55) See note on John xiv. 22, p. 441. Grotius indeed thinks that Cleopas was her father, and Alpheus her husband. After all, we cannot certainly determine it; but, like most other undeterminable points, it is a matter of no great importance. I know none who has set it in a plainer and juster light than Dr. Edwards, Exercit. part ii. No. 1, p. 163, & seq.
Said to his mother, Woman.] We have observed elsewhere that Joseph probably was dead some time before (compare note on John ii. 1, Vol. I. p. 136, and note on John vi. 42, Vol. I. p. 450); and as Jesus now shewed the tender concern he had for his mother in committing her to the care of John, so this concern that he expressed for her support must have affected her no less than if he had called her mother; which some have thought he might not
choose to do, to avoid exposing her to the abuses of the populace, by a discovery of her near relation to him. But woman was a title he before had used in speaking to his mother where no such caution was necessary; and it was frequently applied in ancient times, even to persons that were the most respected. See note on John ii. 4, Vol. I. p. 137.
Behold thy son.] Some have explained these words as if they only signified, “Behold a person who will carry it to thee as thy son, and will take care of thee.” But as the tenderness of Jesus for his mother is expressed in the next verse, in the direction that he gives to John to treat her as his mother, it seems more natural to understand this former exhortation as expressive of his kindness for John, and so take it as a direction given to his mother to regard him as her son with all the affection of a tender parent.
There was darkness over the whole land.] There are so many places in which an si ifes a particular country, and not
sus cries out of God’s forsaking him.
noon; during which time it was as dark as if there had been a total eclipse of the sun, though in a natural way it was impossible, as it was now full moon. And this darkness, with which the face of nature seemed overspread, was a lively emblem of the darkness and distress of spirit with which the Lord of nature was then overwhelmed, and with which he struggled in the solemn silence, and unutterable bitterness of his soul. But about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying in the Hebrew, or rather in the Syriac language, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? that is, being interpreted into other words, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? which was as if he had said, O my heavenly Father, wherefore dost thou add to all my other sufferings those which arise from the want of a comfortable sense of thy presence? Wherefore dost thou thus leave me alone in the combat, destitute of those sacred consolations, which thou couldest easily shed abroad upon my soul, and which
the whole earth, that I have chosen here to follow our translation; and the rather, because the farther we suppose this darkness to extend, the more unaccountable it is, that no Heathen writers should have mentioned it except Phlegon; if he is indeed to be excepted. A darkness over the whole earth at once must have been preternatural at any time; and it is morally impossible, that a multitude of accounts of it should not, even by a tradition of many hundred years, have been transmitted to posterity. What is said of the Chinese chronicles mentioning it, must be very uncertain; and as for Josephus, his omission of it, I think Dr. More with reason accounts for it, by his unwillingness to mention a fact which had so favourable an aspect on Christianity: and the Jews would, no doubt, disguise it as much as they could, and perhaps might persuade him, and others, who heard the report of it at some distance of time or place, that it was only a dark cloud, or a thick mist, which the followers of Jesus had exaggerated, because it happened when their Master died. Such representations are exceeding natural to hearts corrupted by infidelity.
As it was now full moon.] Mr. Shuckford, in his preface to the third volume of his excellent Connection of the Sacred and
Profane History of the World, has advanced some important considerations to prove, that it is at least very uncertain whether the Jewish months, according to the Mosaic institution, began with a new moon, and consequently whether their passover, which was fixed to the fourteenth day of the first month, must always happen at full moon. But he allows that, towards the decline of their state, it did. And indeed Josephus, who, being a Jewish priest, is an unexceptionable witness in this case, seems to put it beyond all possibility of doubt; expressly asserting, that the day of expiation, and consequently their other feasts, were reckoned by the age of the moon. (Joseph. Antiq. lib iii. cap. 10, § 3. Διεχθα πμ μην σελην.
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?] It is evident these are Syro Chaldaic, and no properly Hebrew words; for in the original of Psal. xxii. I, it is not, as here, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לחי, לח
VOL. 2.
The Jews pretend that he was calling for
thou knowest I have done nothing to forfeit?h
Jesus by the use of these words, borrowed from the beginning of the twenty second psalm, gave the spectators a useful hint that the whole of it referred to him; and it might well have led them to observe how many passages of it had then a literal accomplishment in him: but if this was any part of the design, it was not apprehended by them; for the Jews took them in a different sense, and some of them that stood by there, hearing [that] sound of Eli, said in a scornful and insulting manner, Behold, this [man], who has been used to talk as if he had earth and heaven at command, resolves to keep up the air of the Messiah to the last, and therefore calls for Elijah his forerunner, as if he had any authority to bring that great prophet down from paradise to his assistance.i
Immediately after this doleful cry, Jesus knowing that all the grievous and terrible things he had to suffer in the way to death, were now upon the point of being perfectly accomplished, and finding himself parched with a violent
h Why hast thou forsaken me?] The pious and judicious Lord Chief Justice Hale has a strange reflection on these words; “We may (says he) with reverence conceive, that at the time of this bitter cup, the soul of our blessed Redeemer was for the present overshadowed with so much astonishment and sorrow, as to overpower and cover the distinct sense of the reason of his sufferings, at least in some measure and degree.” (Hale’s Contemplations, Vol. I. p. 72.) But the sense given in the paraphrase is much more natural. Thus in a most humble and affectionate manner he reminds his heavenly Father, that he was only by imputation a sinner, and had himself done nothing to incur his displeasure. I choose not, with Dr. More (in his Theological Works, p. 292), to render it How far, or to what degree, hast thou forsaken me! because though this would be a just version of the Greek word ἰνάτι, which answers to it in Matthew, is not liable to such ambiguity. I conclude with adding, that this interruption of a joyful sense of his Father’s presence (though there was, and could not but be, a rational apprehension of
his constant favour, and high approbation of what he was now doing), was as necessary as it was that Christ should suffer at all. For had God communicated to his Son on the cross those strong consolations which he has given to some of the martyrs in their tortures, all sense of pain, and consequently all real pain, would have been swallowed up; and the violence done to his body, not affecting the soul, could not properly have been called suffering.
i And some of them that stood by, &c] Whether this was, as Dr. Edwards (Exercis. p. 196-203), and Mr. Cradock (Harm. part ii. p. 256), suppose the mistake of some Hellenist Jews, who did not understand the Syro Chaldale language; or whether it proceeded from his being raised so high, that, amidst the rude noise around him, they did not distinctly hear; I do not pretend to say. Perhaps the malice of those who did hear what he said, might misrepresent his words, to prevent any serious reflections on the psalm from which they were taken, and to expose him to farther contempt.
his thirst, they give him vinegar to drink.
drought, as the consequence of what he had so long endured both in mind and body, that the scripture might be fulfilled (Psal. xxii. 15, and lxix. 21), where the Messiah is described as crying out, “My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink,” to shew that he endured all that had been foretold concerning him, said, I thirst.
Now there was set, as usual on such occasions, a vessel full of vinegar near the cross ;ᵏ and immediately upon his mentioning his thirst, one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled [it] with this vinegar ; and putting it round [a stalk of] hyssop, which they had fastened on the top of a kind of cane, or large reed, they put it up to his mouth, and in a contemptuous manner gave it him to drink. But the rest of them that stood by, said, Let [him] alone, and let us see whether Elijah, whom he has just been calling upon, will come and save him from the cross ; [and] indeed he must take him down quickly, if at all. So little were their hearts affected with this preternatural darkness, which had continued now three hours ; and thus cruelly did they insult him, even in his expiring moments, which had been most inhuman, though he had really been the vilest malefactor.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, and thus had perfectly fulfilled the prophecies : relating to his sufferings, he said, It is finished ; the important work, for which I came into the world, is now completed, the demands of the law are satisfied, the justice of God is atoned, and my sufferings are now at an end. And crying out again with a great and strong voice, which plainly shewed that much of the strength of nature was yet in him ; he said, with a lively faith and holy joy, Father, for so I will still call thee, though that claim is thus derided by mine enemies, I am now coming to thee, and into thy hands I commit my departing Spirit, depositing it with thee as a sacred trust, which I
ᵏ A vessel full of vinegar.] It is well known that vinegar and water (which mixture was called posca) was the common drink of the Roman soldiers ; perhaps therefore this vinegar was set here for their use, or for that of the crucified persons, whose torture would naturally make them thirsty.
Jesus dismisses his spirit, and the earth tro
am confident thou wilt receive and keep. *And when he had said thus, declining his head, he voluntarily dismissed or delivered up his Spirit, and expired.*¹
*And behold, God by a very awful and miraculous interposition, avowed the relation which his Son claimed, and evidently appeared to take the charge of that dear and excellent Spirit which Jesus so solemnly recommended to him: for immediately upon his death, [while] the sun was still darkened, as was observed before (ver. 45), the veil of the temple, which separated between the holy and the most holy place, though made of the richest and strongest tapestry, was miraculously rent in two in the midst, from the top to the very bottom; so that while the priest was ministering at the golden altar, it being the time of evening sacrifice, the sacred oracle was laid open to full view:*ᵐ God thereby declaring, as it were, the abolition of the whole Mosaic ritual, which depended on a distinction between those two parts of the temple; and intimating that a passage was opened into the most holy
¹ He dismissed or delivered up his Spirit, and expired.] The evangelists use different words in expressing our Lord’s death, which I a little wonder that our translators render in the same manner, he yielded, or gave up the ghost. Mark and Luke say ἐξῆναις he expired; John, ἀρχίσακ το στίγμα, he yielded up his Spirit; but Matthew’s language is yet more singular, ἀφικα το στίγμα, he dismissed his Spirit (as the same word ἀφικα is used, Mat. xiii. 36; Mark iv. 36; xi. 6, and elsewhere). Now this expression seems admirably to suit our Lord’s words, John x. 18. No man taketh my life from me, but I lay it down of myself, &c. (see the paraphrase and note there, p. 209), shewing, as the strong cry which so much impressed the centurion did, that he died by the voluntary act of his own mind, according to the power received from the Father, and in a way peculiar to himself, by which he alone of all men that ever existed, could have continued alive even in the greatest tortures, as long as he pleased, or have retired from the body whenever he thought it. Which view of the case, by the way, suggests an illustration of the love of Christ manifested in his death, beyond what is
commonly observed; inasmuch as he did not use this power to quit his body, as soon as ever it was fastened to the cross, leaving only an insensible corpse to the cruelty of his murderers, but continued his abode in it, with a steady resolution, as long as it was proper; and then retired from it with a majesty and dignity never known, or to be known, in any other death; dying, if I may so express it, like the Prince of life.
ᵐ While the priest was ministering at the golden altar, &c.] This being so high a day, it is probable that Caiaphas himself might now be performing the solemn act of burning incense just before the veil; which if he did, it is inexpressibly astonishing that his obdurate heart should not be impressed with so awful and significant a phenomenon. There is no room to doubt, but many of the other priests, who had a hand in Christ’s death, saw the pieces of the veil; which, considering its texture, and the other circumstances, must as fully convince them of the reality of this extraordinary fact as if they had actually been present when it was rent.
aves open, and many bodies of saints arise.
place by the blood of Jesus, which was now poured out on Mount Calvary. And at the same time, to increase the terror, the earth trembled even to the very spot of ground on which the temple stood, and several of the rocks in the neighbouring parts were torn asunder:ᵃ And some of the tombs there were opened by the earthquake: and, which was much more astonishing, a little while after, while the monuments continued unclosed, many bodies of those holy men who were sleeping there were raised from the dust of death,ᵇ And came out of the tombs after the resurrection of [Jesus], and entered into Jerusalem, the holy city, and appeared unto many;ᶜ attesting the truth of that important fact, and declaring their own rescue from the grave, as a kind of first fruits
ᵃ The rocks were torn asunder.] Mr. Fleming tells us (in his Chrystology, Vol. II. p. 97, 98), that a deist lately travelling through Palestine was converted, by viewing one of these rocks, which still remains torn asunder, not in the weakest place, but cross the veins: a plain proof that it was done in a supernatural manner. Sandys, in his excellent Travels, p. 164, has given an accurate description and delineation of this fissure; and Mr. Maundrel in his Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem, p. 73, 74, tells us, that it is about a span wide at the upper part, and two spans deep; after which it closes, but opens again below (as may be seen in another chapel below contiguous to the side of Calvary), and runs down to an unknown depth in the earth. He adds, that every man’s sense and reason must convince him that it is a natural and genuine breach.
ᵇ Many bodies of holy men were raised.] That ingenious writer Mr. Fleming, who abounds with a vast number of peculiar conjectures, thinks that these were some of the most eminent saints mentioned in the Old Testament; and that they appeared in some extraordinary splendour, and were known by revelation, as Eve’s original and relation was to Adam, or Moses and Elijah to the disciples at the transfiguration. He ventures particularly to conjecture who they were; but does not mention David among them. (Fleming of the First Resurrection, p. 29—38.) But Mr. Pierce (on Colos. p. 68) maintains, that it is very improbable that, had other saints of
former ages risen, David should have been excluded; and since Acts ii. 34, proves that he did not now rise, he concludes, that the saints who rose were some who died but a little before, perhaps such as had believed in Christ, and were well known to surviving disciples. It was to be sure a most surprising event, and Dr. Whitby supposes, John v. 25, was a prophecy relating to it.
ᶜ And came out of the tombs after the resurrection of Jesus, &c.] Consequently it seems that the tombs stood open all the sabbath, when the law would not allow any attempt to close them. What an astonishing spectacle! especially if their resurrection was not instantaneously accomplished, but by such slow degrees, as that represented in Ezekiel’s vision. (Ezek. xxxvii.) Yet I do not take upon me to say that it was so; for it is unprofitable too particularly to conjecture on such circumstances which are not recorded. For this reason also I pretend not to say what became of these persons; though, as one can hardly imagine they either immediately returned to their graves, or that they continued to live on earth (because it is only said, they appeared to many), it seems most natural to imagine they ascended into heaven with, or after, our Lord; perhaps from some solitude, to which they might be directed to retire during the intermediate days, and to wait in devout exercises for their change, for surely, had they ascended in the view of others, the memory of such a fact could not have been lost.
The terrified spectators are convinced he is the!
of his power over death, which should at length accomplish a general resurrection.
And when the Roman centurion, who stood over against him, and guarded the execution, saw that he so cried out with such strength of voice, and such firm confidence in God, even at the moment when he expired; [and] also saw what was [then] done in so miraculous a manner, in those amazing prodigies that attended his death; he glorified God by a free confession of his persuasion of the innocence of Jesus, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man; [yea,] notwithstanding all the vile reproaches which have been cast upon him, truly this man was what he declared himself to be, even the Son of God himself.⁴ And the soldiers also that attended the centurion, even they that were with him guarding Jesus on the cross, seeing the earthquake, and those other things which were now done, feared greatly, and said in like manner, Truly this Jesus of Nazareth, whom we have been thus insulting and murdering, was the Son of God; and his heavenly Father will certainly avenge his quarrel very terribly on us, and on the whole nation of the Jews, who have delivered him to us.
And all the multitude⁵ that were come together, on this remarkable occasion, to see this doleful
⁴ Certainly this was a righteous man, &c.] The most learned Mr. Wasse of Avnho (whose death since the publication of my first volume is an irreparable loss to the commonwealth of letters) has a dissertation on these words of the centurion, in the first number of the Bibliotheca Literaria, to which I am indebted for several hints in the paraphrase on these verses; but I have ventured to depart from him, in not entirely incorporating Mat. xxvii. 54, with Mark xv. 39, and Luke xxiii. 47, as the two latter only mention the effect of this surprising sight on the centurion, while Matthew gives us also an account of the effect it had upon the soldiers, who very probably might repeat the words their officer had spoke but just before, in expressing their sentiments on this occasion. I shall only add, that Elsner, in a very learned note on this place, has shewn that some of the Heathens had a notion among them, that prodigies, espe-
cially storms and earthquakes, sometime attended the death of extraordinary persons, peculiarly dear to the gods; and, among other passages, mentions that of Plutarch, in which he tells us, that when Ptolemy had crucified Cleomenes, while the body hung dead on the cross, a large serpent wound itself round his face, and defended it from birds of prey; from whence the Egyptians concluded he was a hero more than mortal, and a son of the gods. See Elsa. Observ. Vol I p. 126, 127.
⁵ All the multitude.] That is, great multitudes; for it is no way necessary to suppose that every individual person present was thus impressed. The conviction produced by these prodigies undoubtedly made way for the conversion of such a multitude by the preaching of the apostles, on the descent of the Spirit, which was but seven weeks after, when these things were fresh in their memories. Acts ii. 41.
Reflections on the circumstances of the death of Christ.
to that sight, beholding the things which were done, smote their breasts, and returned.
spectacle, even some of those who but a little before had been insulting him in his dying agonies, when they saw the things which were done, returned, beating their breasts for sorrow and remorse; in terrible expectation that some sad calamity would speedily befall them and their country, for the indignities and cruelties they had offered to a person for whom God had expressed so high a regard, even in his greatest distress.
sec. exci. Luke xxiii. 48
IMPROVEMENT.
AND surely we, when we return from such a view of it as this, have reason to smite upon our breasts too, and to be most deeply affected with what we have heard and seen in this lively description. Let us set ourselves as with the mother of Jesus, and the beloved disciple, at the foot of the cross; and see whether there be any sorrow like unto his sorrow, wherewith the Lord afflicted him in the day of his fierce anger (Lam. i. 12). Well might the sun grow pale at the sight; well might the earth tremble to support it! How obdurate must the hearts of those sinners be who could make a mock of all his anguish, and sport themselves with his dying groans! But surely the blessed angels who were now, though in an invisible crowd, surrounding the accursed tree, beheld him with other sentiments; admiring and adoring the various virtues which he expressed in every circumstance of his behaviour; and which, while this sun of righteousness was setting, gilded and adorned all the horizon. Let us likewise pay our homage to them, and observe with admiration his tenderness to his surviving parent; his meekness under all these injuries and provocations; his steady faith in God in an hour of the utmost distress; and his concern to accomplish all the purposes of his life, before he yielded to the stroke of death.
John xix. 26, 27 28-30
Yet with what amazement must the holy angels hear that cry from the Son of God, from the darling of heaven, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me! Let not any of the children of God wonder if their heavenly Father sometimes withdraw from them the sensible and supporting manifestations of his presence, when Christ himself was thus exercised; and let them remember that faith never appears with greater glory than when, in language like this, it bursts through a thick cloud, and owns, the God of Israel, and the Saviour, even while he is a God that hideth himself from us (Isa. xlv. 15.) May we, in our approaching combat with the king of terrors, find him enervated by the death of our dear Lord, who thus conquered even when he fell! May we thus breathe out our willing and composed spirits into our
Many pious women stand and behold him on the cross.
Father’s hands, with a language and faith like his, as knowing whom we believed, and being persuaded that he is able to keep what we commit to him until that day! (2 Tim. i. 12.)
Mat. With pleasure may we survey the awful tokens by which God owned his dying Son, and wiped away the infamy of his cross. The veil is now rent by the death of Jesus; let us be encouraged to come boldly to the throne of grace, and to draw near to the holiest of all, into which he has entered with his own blood (Heb. iv. 16; ix. 12). May God render the knowledge of the cross of Christ the blessed means of shaking the consciences of men with powerful convictions, and of raising them from the death of sin to a life of happiness! And may we be so planted together in the likeness of his death, that we may at length also be planted in the likeness of his resurrection! (Rom. vi. 5.)