John Chapter 19

                            (John: 19)

To grasp the full picture of Jesus’s crucifixion, Read John's perspective along with the other three accounts in Matthew 27,mark 15, and Luke 23. Each writer adds meaningful details, but each has the same message-Jesus died on the cross, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, so that we could be saved from our sins and be given eternal life.

Flogging could have killed Jesus. The usual procedure was to bear the upper half of the victim's body and tie their hands to a pillar before whipping them with a three-pronged whip that had pieces of lead in the prongs. The number of lashes was determined by the severity of the crime; up to 40 were permitted under Jewish law. After being flogged, Jesus also endured other agonies recorded here and in the other gospels.

(Deut:25v3) says But the judge must not impose more than fortylashes. If the guilty party is flawed more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.

The resulting vicious beatings ripped the skin from the victim's body. The soldiers then mocked Christ's claim to be a king by putting a crown of thorns on his head dressing him up in a purple robe, and shouting, hail, king of the Jews! Then they slapped him in the face. Though Pilate and the soldiers no doubt thought they were merely exercising the might of Rome over a simple Jew, they were actually fulfilling biblical prophecy about the Messiah in detail.

(Isa:50v6) I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.) (Isa:53v5) But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Pilot then put Jesus on display for the Jews to see. He had found no grounds for charging him. Nevertheless, he had thoroughly humiliated him and inflicted great pain on him. Here is the man,he said. Pilate surely thought they would be satisfied with the brutality and humiliation that Jesus had experienced. But only one thing would satisfy them.  the chief priests and the temple servants called out, crucify! Crucify!

Jesus had done more than claim to be a mere human Messiah.He had made claims that only God could make. The Jews therefore accused him of blasphemy, saying,-you being a man-make yourself God. They demanded death and gave their reasoning: he ought to die, because he made himself the son of God.

The truth finally came out-the religious leaders had brought Jesus to Pilate not because he was causing rebellion against Rome but because they thought he had broken their religious laws. Blasphemy, one of the most serious crimes in the Jewish law, deserves the death penalty. Accusing Jesus of blasphemy would give credibility to their case in the eyes of Jews; accusing Jesus of treason would give credibility to their case in the eyes of the Romans. They didn't care which accusation pilot listened to, as long as he would cooperate with them in killing Jesus.

Hearing this, pilot was more afraid than ever. What would make Pilate fearful? Jesus had told Pilate that he ruled a Kingdom that was “not of this world. Now the Jews were telling Pilate that Jesus claimed to be the son of God. In Matthew:27v19) we learned that Pilate’s wife told him she had dreamed about this“righteous man” and that he should have nothing to do with him.Pilate was a brutal ruler, but he was probably also a superstitious Pagan who feared the gods. He was perhaps thinking, who is this guy standing before me? Pilate asked Jesus, where are you from? Now clearly Pilate knew the answer to that question;Jesus was “from Galilee”. But, given pilots rising fear, he was essentially saying, “Where are you from really?

(Luke:23v5-7) says But they insisted, he stirs up the people all over Judea by his teaching. He started in Galilee and has come all the way here. On hearing this, Pilate asked if the man was a Galilean. When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’sjurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.

However, Jesus refused to answer, fulfilling scripture yet again.

(Isaiah:53v7) You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill;there you went up to offer your sacrifices.

Pilate, probably with a mixture of anger and dread, demanded that Jesus say something: don't you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you? But when someone insists on shouting, don't you know that I am in charge here? It usually means he’s uncertain himself.

Finally, Jesus spoke. Pilot had no authority except what had been given to him from above. God grants authority and takes it away. Two important truths are wrapped up in Jesus statement. First, if a person exercises any authority on earth, ultimately that authority has been granted by God. So, will that authority bewielded for his kingdom purposes or not? How you answer that question has serious consequences because you will one day be called to give an account for your own use of authority. Second,remember to maintain a heavenly perspective. God is your ultimate authority. Anyone who seeks to rule over you illegitimately will not have the final say. He may be a boss, but he isn't the boss.

The one who handed me over to you has the greater sin. God would hold Pilate accountable for his gross violation of justice.Like a coward, he delivered Jesus over to be crucified. But at least pilot acknowledged that Jesus wasn't guilty. But Caiaphasand the other religious leaders were guilty of a greater sin because they had premeditated Jesus murder. The sin of the Jewish high priest was much worse since he had the scriptures available to him and was aware of Jesus teachings and miraclesyet closed his eyes to the truth.

Throughout the trial we see that Jesus was in control, not pilot or the religious leaders. Pilot Was unsure of what to do, the Jewish leaders reacted out of hatred and anger, but Jesus remained composed. He knew the truth, he knew God's plan, and he knew the reason for his trial. The Jewish leaders were so desperate to get rid of Jesus that, despite their intense hatred for Rome, they shouted, we have no king but Caesar. Despite the pressure and persecution, Jesus remained unmoved. In reality, pilate and the religious leaders were on trial, not Jesus. When you are questioned or ridiculed because of your faith, remember that while you may be on trial before your accusers, they are on trial before God.

This veiled threat by the Jewish leaders pressured Pilate into allowing Jesus to be crucified. As Roman governor of the area,pilate was expected to keep the peace. But the Jews wouldn’t let him off the hook; if you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.With that statement, the Jewish leaders had won because they had pitied Pilate against the Roman emperor. Caesar didn't mind religion as long as it didn't compete with his absolute authority.

So pilots sat down on the judgment seat to proclaim his verdict.One day every Christian will stand before the judgment seat of Christ so that he may render a verdict, not regarding salvation,but regarding each person's service and faithfulness to him.What will he say to you?

It was the preparation day for the Passover when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, God had commanded them to slaughter a lamb and place its blood on the doorposts of their homes. Then,when he struck down the first born of Egypt, he “passed over”the homes with a blood covering. By means of this, God rescued his people from slavery.

(Exod:12v1-28) you can read on your own.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was taken away the sin of the world was about to shed his blood so that all those who believe in him would be saved from slavery to sin. His death at this particular moment wasn't due to change, then, but due to the sovereign timing of God.

Though the Jewish leaders had gotten their way, pilot got in one last dig at them: here is your king! But they wanted nothing to do with Jesus: take him away! Crucify him! Again pilate referred to Jesus as their king. But they rejected any such notion:we have no king but Caesar. Notice that they didn't say, we have no king but God. Their hatred of Jesus was so great that they were willing to discard their divine ruler and align themselves with a Pagan king. Placing human government above God never ends well.

Pilot handed him over to be crucified. Crucifixion was a horrific form of execution that the Romans had perfected. It was typical for the condemned to carry the crossbar for his own cross, as Jesus was made to do. The place of crucifixion was called place of the skull, which meant Golgotha in Aramaic. The Latin translation is calvaria, from which we get the English rendering Calvary. There they crucified him between two others, criminals according to .

(Luke:23v33) They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.There they found the eleven and those with them, assembled together,

Pilate had a sign hung on Jesus’s cross that said, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. It was written in Aramaic, Latin,and Greek. So that everyone could read it. The sign displayed the charge for which he was put to death. But it made the chief priest furious. Pilot had made the sign read as a title, a fact. The Jewish leaders wanted it to clearly indicate that this was merely Jesus’ claim. But Pilate rebuffed them, saying, what I have written, I have written. He meant for the sign to sting the Jews.But, in his sovereignty, God meant it to declare to the world the truth about his son.

As Jesus withered in agony above them, the soldiers Pitilesslydivided his clothes among them and gambled to see which of them would get to keep his tunic. John tells us that this too fulfilled scripture, quoting.

(Psalms:22v18) They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.

standing by the cross were four women who had followed Jesus,including his mother Mary. Jesus saw the disciples he loved that is, John the son of Zebedee, the author of the gospels and told his mother that John was now her son, and he told John that Mary was now his mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. Even as he hung dying on the cross, then,Jesus fulfilled his obligation to care for his widowed mother.Jesus entrusted the well-being of his mother to John rather than to one of her biological sons because they had not yet believed in him. Spiritual relationships are to take precedence over biological and physical relationships.

(Matt:12v46-50) While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him.Someone told him, your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you. He replied to him, who is my mother, and who are my brothers? Pointing to his disciples, he said, here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

When Jesus knew that his mission was complete, that everything was now finished that the scripture might be fulfilled, that he had endured the wrath of God and fully atoned for the sins of the world, he said, I'm thirsty. So they put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth. Hyssop was the very plant used to brush lamb's blood on the doorposts during the Passover.

(Exod:12v21-23) If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals from the herds and flocks the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want. Eat them as you would gazelle or deer. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat. But be sure you do not eat the blood, because the blood is the life,and you must not eat the life with the meat.

as the apostle Paul says, Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Then Jesus declared, it is finished. His work of atonement for sin was done. The debt for sin had been paid in full.

Jesus had proclaimed, no one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down on my own. Here the truth of that claim was verified:bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. Jesus was not robbed of his life; he voluntarily laid it down. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friend.

It sometimes took crucifixion victims days to die. Normally,then, the Romans would have left the men on the crosses. But since it was the preparation day for the Passover, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath.Moreover, for a cursed man to remain hanging on a tree overnight would defile the land.

(Duet: 21v22-23) If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it the same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

so they requested that Pilate have the men's legs broken so that they would die and could be buried. Victims hanging on a cross had to put weight on their legs in order to lift themselves to breathe. Without the use of their legs, they would die of asphyxiation.

When the soldiers arrived to break Jesus legs, they found him already dead. Therefore, a soldier pierced his side with a spear,and blood and water flowed out. This indicated that his heart was no longer beating.

In the early years of the church, a heresy arose claiming that Jesus was totally divine and only pretended to be human.

But John wants his readers to know that such talk is a complete lie. As sure as Jesus was fully God, he was fully human: he bled and died on a Roman cross. In fact, John himself was an eyewitness to this, and his testimony is true. All that happenedJohn tells us, was fulfillment of biblical prophecy. He quotes from

(psalm: 34v20) He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.

And

(Zach: 12v10) And I will pour out on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one morens for and only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a first born son.

providing it was no accident that Jesus was pierced rather than having his legs broken. Our sovereign God was fulfilling his word.

Joseph of Arimathea Was a secret disciple of Jesus because he feared the Jews. The other gospels inform us that he was wealthy and a prominent member of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

(Matt: 27v 57) says As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, Named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.

(mark: 15v 43) says Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent Member of the council, who was himself waiting for the Kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body.

In spite of his fears, he boldly went forward to ask Pilate if he could bury Jesus body. Joining Joseph was Nicodemus, Another secret disciple who had previously spoken with Jesus at night.He also came into the light to assist Joseph with his task.

They prepared the body and laid it in a new tomb in a garden near the place of his crucifixion. No one had yet been placed in the tomb. This is a very significant detail because later, when Jesus body was gone, no one was able to point to any bones in the tomb to claim them as Jesus’s remains. He was the first corpse to lie there.