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       John chapter 19, beginning in verse 1: “Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands” (ESV).

       The whole process of the torture for the Lord Jesus Christ is set before us today, that which he understood was coming, and that of which, as Matthew tells us, he would have rather avoided. Yet, at the same time, we know and believe that he was accomplishing this misery out of love—for God so loved the world, and so did the Lord Jesus Christ. To provide a way for all humans, born at any time, to be able to come into personal relationship with him—is what God desired. Of course, the only way that was possible was for a person to have forgiveness for all their sins. In its totality, what Jesus was about to accomplish would make that possible. Thus, today, in the beginning of John 19, the torture starts before our eyes. It appears that actually, this initial act by Pilate, in sort of prolonging the time and delaying the execution of Jesus, was an attempt at trying to get the crowd to think otherwise. An underlying hope seems to be present that by having Jesus flogged, the crowd seeing him afterward would have pity on him and let him go instead of Barabbas. One thing we can deduct from this is that Jesus must have been in good physical shape if Pilate believed he could survive the flogging. It’s best to assume that not everyone did, as it was a severe beating and perhaps whipping with a cord by Roman soldiers. Of course, these soldiers are Gentiles, and aren’t part of the Jewish nation. For them, Jesus is just a man apparently trying to lead a revolt, a person trying to hold his own power. In that light, it’s easy to see why they would treat him the way they did.

       Remember, the soldiers knew of Jesus’ supposed claim to be king of the Jews. And as such, in order to mock him since he apparently wasn’t having much success with that at this point, they create a crown made from some kind of thorn-bush. Undoubtedly, it would have been painful when they pushed this on top of his head. From somewhere they came up with a robe, purple in color, to throw around him also to mock him. Of course, we know the color purple represents royalty and power. After this action, the soldiers proceed to give out further blows, bringing down the worst they have. Yet unlike the Israelites themselves, the mocking and torture of the solders wasn’t personal, for they didn’t even know who Jesus was. They were Gentiles. That doesn’t excuse what they did, but it was the Israelites who had handed him the personal rejection.

       Verse 4: “Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid” (ESV).

       From the bringing of Jesus out to the crowd, and the way Pilate speaks, it is clear that Pilate does not think Jesus is guilty of anything worthy of death, and that he does not want him to be executed. In fact, Pilate tells them that they should do that themselves. Howbeit, the Jews, ever so careful to follow their law to the ’t,’ won’t do it because it would be a violation of it. Legalism reaches its height, wherein they are willing to have someone else do their dirty work, more concerned about violating the Law in putting someone to death themselves but not concerned about the fact they are going to be counted as guilty regardless for having someone do it for them. It’s the heart that matters, not the legal action. God always looks at the heart. It’s not about whether the Law is obeyed to the fine-point. What is interesting is, in response to Pilate, the crowd reveals to him that there is the belief that he has called himself the Son of God. Apparently, at some point in the past, Pilate had heard that there would be a born king of Israel, one who would in fact be the Son of God, who would rule and reign as King for the Jews. And he apparently believed in this superstition to him, and became very concerned when he heard that Jesus had said that, or thought he had. Perhaps Pilate had past run-ins with the Jewish God, and he knew that the Jewish God was one you didn’t mess with, one that you didn’t play around with. He understood that that God had power. That explains why Pilate “was even more afraid.”

       Verse 9: “He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin” (ESV).

       It would appear that Pilate was aware of the story that the King of the Jews was to be born in Bethlehem, like the Jewish leaders long ago had said. That’s why he inquires of Jesus as to where he is from. He wants to learn if in fact Jesus is from Bethlehem, which would fulfill what he had learned from the Jewish leaders probably long ago. Despite that, Jesus gives no response. He could have said he was from Bethlehem, but he doesn’t. And then, then Pilate points to the fact the he is the one who has authority of Jesus’ future, and that he better listen to him. Yet, Jesus, in point of fact, says to him that it was actually God who originally gave him his authority. Notice he’s not saying that it’s God who controls Pilate’s authority, for then that would defeat the whole purpose of Pilate having any authority to begin with. But Jesus relays that Pilate’s authority had actually been given to him in the past by God. Again, it’s not that God is controlling Pilate’s every move, for if he were, Pilate could commit no sin in this situation. It would be ultimately impossible because Pilate would be doing exactly what God wants him to do. It is true in a sense that God wants Jesus to die for the sins of the whole world, and that Jesus wants to willingly lay down his life for the people’s sins. But it’s also true that God doesn’t want Pilate to sin; he doesn’t want Pilate to sin against his Son. And Jesus doesn’t want Pilate to sin against him, and to act unjustly. Jesus notes that the Jews have born the ultimate sin since they delivered him to Pilate. That points out to us that Pilate has already sinned as he had an innocent man flogged. Pilate highly suspected that Jesus was innocent, but he had him flogged anyway.

       Verse 12: “From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

       The crowds basic threat to Pilate likely originated from the Jewish leaders, for they were egging on the crowd in grossly negative ways (see Matthew 27:20). Some theologians have noted that the Jews were basically threatening Pilate with a revolt if in fact he didn’t do what they said. This revolt would have then brought about the criticism of Caesar in Rome. With that in mind, it is conceivable that Pilate’s power would have been threatened at that point. Thus, it became a political complication for him. Do the right thing and it could now have severe consequences. Thus, under the great pressure, Pilate moves to rule on the matter, and takes his seat at what was called The Stone Pavement, which was apparently where Pilate would make his rulings as a judge. There is some debate at which time this judgment from Pilate actually took place, and the ESV note on “the sixth hour” says it would have been around noon. The Jewish crowd continues to desire for Jesus to be crucified, and Pilate tries to persuade them otherwise. But really, in reality, he has already gone too far with the whole thing, letting it get to this point. As Jesus had said, he had been given power from above, and thus he could have ruled for Jesus to be let go despite the crowd. And the warning on the matter from Pilate’s wife isn’t recorded by John (see Matthew 27 again). Softly, Pilate tried to get them to change their mind, but when they wouldn’t budge, he choose to save his own power and ordered Jesus to be crucified.

       Verse 16 continued: “So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written” (ESV).

       First and foremost, and as we’ve probably figured out by this point and as we’ve discussed in the past, the Apostle John is giving more of a quicker recounting of the events which took place. His tempo is a bit faster than say that of Luke. Now John records that Jesus actually carried his own cross, which again shows the physical strength he had, but also added to the labor-some torture of the whole thing. He wasn’t some kind of lanky or unbuilt fellow. He had some muscle on him. Anyhow, the group arrives at the common place where the Romans would execute people in Jerusalem, which John notes as called The Place of the Skull. Of course, we are all familiar with the fact that death by crucification was particularly abhorrent, and certainly doesn’t compare to a firing squad, a hanging, or even the electric chair. It is a slow, long drawn out death. Large nails were driven through his hands or wrists, and then also through his feet. And the weight of his own body pulled him down as he hung on the cross. The whole purpose of this form of execution was to have it last as long as possible before the person died. It is understood that in some cases it could take a particularly long time for a person to die, perhaps even longer than a single day. Obviously, we know with Jesus, that’s not going to be the case. Yet the psychological part of it was supposed to be just as abhorrent as the physical part of it.

       Pilate, by what he has written on the placard, appears to be suggesting that he believed what Jesus had said regarding himself. He seems to write that Jesus was King of the Jews as a way of sort of mocking the Jewish leaders in their jealousy. That’s only as far as he would go though. He had not done the right thing in saving Jesus, a righteous man, from dying. He had stopped short of doing what was right.

       Verse 23: “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things” (ESV).

       The fact that Jesus’ garments were divided into four likely shows that it was four Roman soldiers who had been responsible for carrying out the order. This tells us that Jesus hung without clothes on the cross. This whole account fulfilled an Old Testament Scripture which had been written by David, namely Psalm 22:18. As a matter of fact, if we go back to Psalm 22, we read staring in verse 16: “For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots” (ESV). That adds a little more detail to the scene. Once again we see some of the psychological aspect to the torment, in how they derided him as they were doing what they were doing.

       Verse 25: “but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home” (ESV).

       Besides himself, John makes no mention of any of the other Eleven disciples being present at the crucifixion. He does mention notable women being present, and theologians differ as to whether the passage points out three women or four women. If it’s four, it would be Mary, Jesus’ mother, then his mother’s sister, who is likely Salome, who would be James and John’s mother, next it would be Mary the wife of Clopas who was the mother the other disciple named James in the Eleven, and finally Mary Magdalene, who of course we know he cast out demons from her, and she was therefore an adamant follower and friend of his. We see as Jesus’ final act, before he dies, that he cares for his mother. This again goes to show the great love he had for his mother, and the fact the God himself cares about human needs. It’s not that we are in this above state where we aren’t supposed to care as pertains to the things of the earth any longer. Jesus cared about the future well-being of his mother, and he requests of John that he would take care of her from this point. Notice he doesn’t request it of any of his half-brothers, who likely weren’t even present. But he requests it of a true believer, a true friend. And one has to wonder what was going through Mary’s mind during all of this, the horror of it, and yet we have to also understand that she had her faith in God, somehow and someway. She was there when the whole process started, when the angel Gabriel had appeared to her and asked her if she would be willing to bear the child. It all started with her, and now she witnesses the death of her firstborn son, the One whom she knew everything about, more than anyone else on the earth.

       Verse 28: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (ESV).

       This event becomes one of the most pivotal in human history. If we consider the initial creation, and then the sinning of Adam and Eve, next the destruction of the original world by Noah’s Flood, and then this event, up and to this point, would have been one of the most important. Indeed, we know there are still outstanding events yet to come, which haven’t occurred yet, like the capturing of the Antichrist, Christ taking his seat as King of the World, and then the total destruction of the world. What is interesting as pertains to this, however, is that this event was not, unlike the creation or the end of things, a world-wide event, or one of which would have probably made much press outside of Israel. It’s a much more humble event, if you will, which clearly differentiates it in appearance. The Apostle Paul touched on this, when he said the following to the Corinthian church: “but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:23-25, ESV). That really encapsulates the whole thing, doesn’t it? It means different things to the two main groups of people—to the Jews and to the Gentiles. Jews didn’t like it because Jesus wasn’t who they thought he should be, and the Gentiles don’t like it because it’s not sophisticated enough for them, which really, is similar to the Jew’s issues with it.

       The whole premise behind this event was so that God could provide a way for he and humans to no longer be separated from one another, that separation which had occurred way back in Genesis chapter 3, when Eve had sinned and then Adam. Some 4,000 years or so before the cross. Now God was fixing that problem, at least, to a degree. The sin-nature in people would remain in the physical realm, but for those who believe in Christ’s sacrifice being made for them, the spiritual problem would be corrected. And John doesn’t record every detail here, like when the Father and the Son became separated, when the Father turned his back on the Son to judge sin, when the separation caused the Sun in outer-space to lose its flame. That which gives life, in the physical sense, could no longer give it. Anyhow, for the Jews God was fulfilling that which he promised them in providing a way to reconcile all of them to himself. For the Gentiles, who had strayed in many different ways through various beliefs and religions, he was giving a second chance to choose the right way now. They no longer had to walk in darkness, not following the correct pathway. They would be able to choose to follow after Jesus instead.

       When it comes to what actually happens on the cross, from a spiritual sense, there are two commonly held views. For the Evangelicals, it might be said that Jesus asks for a drink because death is close at hand and he hasn’t fulfilled the wrath of God entirely. He needs to prolong the agony a little bit more so that he can accomplish that. Once he receives that final drink, the wrath of God has been fulfilled. On the other hand, for the Eastern Orthodox and some Anabaptist believers, Jesus on the cross is more of a ransom, if you will, toward the power of Satan and his forces. This ransom frees people from the power of the devil. In other words, Satan thought that killing Jesus would permanently take away Jesus’ power, and that he would have the ultimate power instead (see the Christus Victor view of atonement for further research). Therefore, both of these options lead to the statement by Jesus that "It is finished." For the Evangelicals, this denotes that the whole entirety of the wrath of God has been satisfied, and full payment has been made to satisfy God for all sins of all time. For the Eastern Orthodox and some Anabaptist, this denotes that Christ has gained victory over the powers of evil and has set us free from those powers, which includes sin. Anyhow, Jesus, knowing that he has accomplished the feat, willingly gives up his spirit. It’s not that John likely says the phrase he “gave up his spirit” to simply show he died. Rather, it’s that Jesus gave it up of his own accord, like he said he would. Of course, at this point, Jesus would have descended to the waiting area, which is where Abraham and the Old Testament saints were, and thus not going yet to Heaven itself.

       Verse 31: “Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced” (ESV).

       The Jews believed from Deuteronomy 21 that bodies of executed persons should not remain hanging through the night. That’s why the soldiers ended up going around and making sure everyone was dead by breaking their legs. Again, the great care is present among the Jews on keeping the small parts of the Law, but when it came to the more important things, there was total neglect. Anyway, one of the solders in realizing that Jesus had already died, instead of breaking his legs (for the Scripture said he wouldn’t have any broken bones) rather pierced his side (also fulfilling Scripture), and John bore witness to this event, for he hadn’t left the scene yet, and it was probably getting dark when it happened. Nevertheless, the fact that no bones were broken in Jesus’ body parallels with the Old Testament sacrifice of a lamb wherein no bones of the lamb were allowed to be broken (see Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12). It is important that this eyewitness account was added since it goes to show that Jesus was in fact dead. No if, ands, or buts about it. No one could survive a piercing like that, even if someone tried to claim he didn’t die on the cross, which actually some people do claim that to this day.

       It is interesting how the Apostle John saw all of these things to their end, and then was also the disciple of the Eleven who would end up living the longest, and even writing The Book of the Revelation where it all ultimately ends. It would appear, in looking at this, that John had some kind of hope within throughout the whole thing, some kind of hope that the other disciples apparently didn’t have. He stayed with Jesus’ body all the way to the end. He was close to the Lord, and demonstrated that by his actions. In fact, we remember that he was one of Jesus’ closest disciples, for he was in the inner-circle with Peter and James. And as we’ve surely noticed by this point, John’s Gospel has a different ring to it, a different tone, when comparing it to the other three Gospels. John’s had an undertone of love within the whole thing. It seems only fitting that John would end up writing the last book of the New Testament, which really, if you stop and consider it, shows the ultimate demonstration of God’s love. It shows what God is going to do, how he’s ultimately going to fulfill that promise to the Israelites of an earthly kingdom with the Messiah reigning, how he’s ultimately going to have the Eleven with him, and he eventually he will create a whole new world for all his disciples, those who have loved him because he loved them first.

- Daniel Litton