Gospel of St. John

Jesus Condemned – 19:12-24

“And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him:  but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend;  whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.  When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.  And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour:  and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!”  Pilate was not in an enviable situation.  He knew that Christ was innocent and possibly more than a man.  On the other hand, he was threatened by the Sanhedrin with exposure before Caesar.  The charges were such that he could not ignore them.  He knew how easy it was to obtain false witnesses to support the accusation.  Pilate’s last appeal to the Jews was not detailed by St. John.  All we know is that he created a great stir among them and they threatened to tell Caesar if he let Jesus go.  He then brought Jesus out so they could see how much punishment he had already endured.  He expressed contempt for the Jews by saying, “Behold your king!”

“But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him.  Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King?  The chief priest answered We have no king but Caesar.  Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified.  And they took Jesus, and led him away.  And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha:  Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.”  It is significant that the chief priest declared, “We have no king but Caesar.”  The Jews rejected God’s reign over them when they insisted on a king in the days of Samuel.  Now they proclaim only allegiance to Caesar.  They stand convicted of their own words.  They not only rejected Jesus as the Christ, they again rejected the leadership of God.  The other gospels tell the story of the process and the crucifixion.  John provides minimal details.

Three predictions were fulfilled in this one verse.

Ø      Psalm 22:16 says, “They pierced my hands and my feet.”

Ø      Isaiah 53:12 declared, “He was numbered with the transgressors.”

Ø      Isaiah 53:9 wrote, “He will be with the wicked at his death.”

“And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross.  And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.  This title then read many of the Jews;  for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.  Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews;  but that he said, I am King of the Jews.  Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.”  Pilate may have been forced to order Jesus’ crucifixion but he got the last word on the subject in the title he had placed on Jesus’ cross.  Over the objections of the Jews, Pilate wrote the truth in three languages so all could see what was happening.

“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part;  and also his coat:  now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.  They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it but cast lots for it, whose it shall be;  that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots.  These things therefore the soldiers did.”  In many countries, the clothes of a person put to death are at the disposal of the executioner.  Thus they divided his garments according to prophecy.  Garments in Scripture, are considered a display of character.  It is significant that the robe was so unified it had no seams.  It was of too great a value to be split evenly among the soldiers.  The sinful first Adam was clothed by God;  the sinless last Adam was unclothed by wicked men.

Jesus Crucified – 19:25-42

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!  Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!  And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”  The synoptic gospels portray Christ in human relationships.  John portrays him as the Son of God.  The cross is making an end of all his human ties.  He is no longer the son of Mary.  He thus commends each to the other.

“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.  Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar:  and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.  When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished:  and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.”  God does not thirst.  Jesus was full human and fully divine.  He tired, he hungered, he slept, he wept, he rejoiced and finally, he thirsted.  After the vinegar, Jesus said, “It is finished.”  This is not a cry of despair, that no help is left.  It is making an end of the task given him by God.  He had accomplished all God sent him to do.  He bowed his head and “gave up” the ghost.  He laid down his life.

“The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.  Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:  But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.  And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true:  and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.  For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.  And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.”  The Jews were preparing for the Passover and did not want the bodies on the cross on the Sabbath day.  The Greek word for break indicates “shiver to pieces.  The shock in addition to the suffering on the cross insured they would die more quickly.  The penitent thief had to suffer this before he could be with Christ in paradise that very day.  Otherwise, they might have suffered two to three days.  Roman soldiers do not lightly disobey their orders.  They were told to break the legs and their failure to do so is amazing.  They saw he was dead and could have broken his legs as ordered.  Instead, they pierced his side to prove he was dead.  The blood and the water are God’s witness to His Son, and to the life that sinners may find in Him.  Blood stands for remission of sins, water for regeneration;  blood for atonement, water for purification.  Two more scriptures were fulfilled in this highly unusual event.  A bone of him shall not be broken.  And “They shall look on him whom they pierced.”

“And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus:  and Pilate gave him leave.  He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.  And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.  Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.  Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden;  and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.  There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day;  for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.”  Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Christ, though he kept it secret for fear of the Jews.  He was fearful when Christ was alive but bold after his death.  Nicodemus was also a secret disciple.  It appears he was the only one willing to help Joseph in the holy work of burying the Lord.  It was quite a change from when he came to Jesus under the cover of darkness.  The value of his gift testifies to the greatness of his love.  One of these two secret disciples is likely the disciple who accompanied Christ into the High Priest’s court.  It was someone known to the High Priest and yet unknown as one of the disciples.  Joseph and Nicodemus followed the Jewish tradition in preparing Jesus for burial.  He was placed in the unused sepulchre because of its proximity to Golgatha.  Everything had to be finished before the Sabbath started at the twelfth hour.  The man born of a virgin was laid in a virgin grave for three days.