John 19
John 19:1 So then
Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.
Pilate
found himself in a difficult political situation. Even though he knew Jesus was
innocent, he allowed the Jewish people to influence him, which is why he
ordered Jesus to be scourged. Scourging was normally done before a person was
crucified, but Pilate was hoping the Jews would be satisfied with the scourging
alone (Lk. 23:22). Scourging is one the most brutal punishments that has ever
been invented.
Mr.
Hester writes:
The scourge
was a whip with several thongs, each loaded with acorn-shaped balls of lead,
with sharp pieces of bone or spikes.
Stripped of His clothes, His hands tied by a lictor, who plied these
instruments of torture with severity almost to the point of the death of the
prisoner. Each stroke cut into the quivering flesh, until the veins and
sometimes the entrails were laid bare.
Often the scourge struck the face and knocked out the eyes and
teeth. Scourging almost always ended in
fainting and sometimes even in death (H. I. Hester, The Heart of the New
Testament (
Mr.
Lipscomb writes:
The scourge was made of rods or throngs with pieces
of bone or lead fastened to one end. The condemned person received the blows
while fastened to a post so as to have the back bent and the skin stretched.
With the blows the back became raw and the blood spurted out. The punishment
was so cruel that the condemned person very often succumbed to it immediately. (David
Lipscomb, A Commentary on the Gospel by John (
It
was not uncommon for people to die from being scourged, which explains why
Jesus could not carry His own cross. Thinking about Jesus having to endure such
a brutal beating makes me cringe and breaks my heart especially knowing He was
innocent and endured it for us. Isaiah prophesied about this moment when he
wrote, “But He was wounded for
our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement
for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed” (Isa.
53:5).
John 19:2 And the
soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put
on Him a purple robe. 3 Then
they said, "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their
hands.
We
are given more details about this event in Matthew 27:27-31 and Mark 15:16-20.
All of this was done to mock Jesus and to humiliate Him. We do not know for
sure what kind of thorns was used because there were many varieties available. It
could have been a prickly plant, or one with bigger thorns. The main purpose for
all of this was to give Him a crown, a robe, and a reed for His right hand so
they could mock Him for being a king. They bowed down and worshipped Him and
gave Him praises as a king, and they spat on Him, hit Him with their hands, and
beat Him on the head with the reed. All this happened after He endured His
scourging.
John 19:4 Pilate
then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to
you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him." 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the
crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them,
"Behold the Man!"
Once again, Pilate faces these blood thirty Jews who wanted Jesus dead. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent, and he was hoping if he presented Him before them scourged and dressed in this ridiculous attire that it would suffice. Pilate wanted them to see that Jesus has no power and that He had suffered enough.
John 19:6
Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying,
"Crucify Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them,
"You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in
Him." 7 The Jews
answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die,
because He made Himself the Son of God."
Pilate’s plan did not
work. These Jews had no compassion, and they would not be satisfied until Jesus
was dead. They shouted “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Even though Jesus knew He would have to
endure all this, it had to be difficult hearing these Jews hatred toward Him.
While He was suffering from is scourging, beatings, and the hatred of these
Jews, He still loved them and was willing to die for them.
These
Jews made several accusations about Jesus and why He should die, but the real
reason came out. They wanted Him dead because “He made Himself the Son of God”
(Mk. 14:62; Jn. 5:18; 10:30-33). If Jesus’ claim was false, the Law of Moses states
that He should be put to death:
Leviticus 24:16 'And whoever blasphemes the name of
the LORD shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly
stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he
blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.
Notice, the death was to be done by the Jews with stones, but Jesus was not guilty of this because He is the Son of God, and He had proven it over and over again.
John 19:8
Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the
Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave
him no answer. 10 Then Pilate
said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have
power to crucify You, and power to release You?" 11 Jesus answered, "You could
have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above.
Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."
Pilate was supposed to be
in control, but He was starting to feel powerless, and he was afraid. If a riot
broke out, he would have some explaining to do to Caesar, and if he went
against the Jews, his new friendship with Herod would be in jeopardy. He also
had the warning from his wife about Jesus to think about as well (Mt. 27:19).
Once more, he goes into
the Praetorium to question Jesus, but this time Jesus is silent as Isaiah
prophesied He would be at times (Isa. 53:7). Jesus already told Pilate
everything he needed to know, and it would be pointless for Him to say anything
else. But Pilate is surprised by Jesus’ silence. Apparently Pilate thought
Jesus would do whatever He could to talk him out of putting Him to death. It is
possible he was hoping Jesus might give him a valid reason not to succumb to
this angry mob.
Pilate pronounces his
authority over Jesus’ life or death. Jesus tells Pilate the only reason he has
any authority is because God had allowed him to have it. This same principle is
taught throughout the Bible (Job 12:23; Dan. 5:17-28; Rom. 13:1).
Who delivered Jesus to
Pilate? Was it Judas, Caiaphas, or the Jewish nation? Judas certainly had his
part in handing Jesus over to Pilate, and so did Annas because he sent Jesus to
Caiaphas who was the high priest that represented the Sanhedrin council.
Caiaphas’ decision made him guilty of this sin as well, but the chief priests
and elders were also responsible for handing Him over (Mt. 27:1). So, I believe
all of these people involved were guilty of a greater sin especially Caiaphas because
he knew the Law of Moses and should have known that Jesus was the Messiah.
While sin in general will
separate us from God and should be avoided, Jesus implies there are different
levels of sin. We are not given many details about this, but Jesus also implies
various degrees of punishment in hell:
The greater the sin, the
greater the punishment will be. While we do not know the specifics, one thing
we do know is that sin separates us from God whether it is small or big.
John 19:12 From
then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If
you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king
speaks against Caesar." 13
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in
the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew,
Gabbatha.
No one every found Jesus
guilty of deserving death, and Pilate tried to find a way to release Him.
Earlier, Pilate proclaimed Jesus’ innocence before them all.
Matthew 27:24 When
Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult
was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude,
saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to
it."
These
opposing Jews knew exactly how to back Pilate into a corner because they knew
it was against Roman law for anyone to proclaim themselves a king. If someone
did this, it was punishable by death. If Caesar found out that Pilate let a
self-proclaimed king go, it would be the end of his career. So, Pilate sat in
his official judgment seat and pronounced Jesus’ death by crucifixion. Even
though Pilate proclaimed His innocence and the Jews said let Jesus’ blood be on
us and our children (Mt. 27:25), Pilate was still guilty of allowing this
innocent man to be murdered.
John 19:14 Now it
was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said
to the Jews, "Behold your King!"
15 But 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!" 16 Then he
delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.
Once again, we have a
reference of the Passover being on that Friday and being the Preparation Day.
Some might think this refers to preparing for the Passover meal, but as we
examined John 18, the Passover can refer to lamb, the meal, or the feast of
unleavened bread.
The Passover meal
preparation took place the day before on Thursday, and at twilight (between the
two evenings) the Pascal lamb would have been killed. That night, which would
be the next day according to Jewish time, is when the Passover meal was eaten
(Ex. 12). So, Friday was not the preparation for the Passover meal, it was the
preparation for the feast of the unleavened bread in which all leaven had to be
removed from their homes (Ex. 12).
Guy N. Woods explains:
The
`preparation day' was the day preceding the beginning of the seven days' feast
of unleavened bread Friday. `Passover' signifies the entire period of the
feast, the first day of which was the sabbath (John 19:31,42; Mark 15:42; Matt.
27:62; Luke 23:54). The `sixth hour' was
6 a.m., according to Roman reckoning which John followed, and is in complete
harmony with Mark's statement (Mark 15:25), that Jesus was crucified at the
third hour, by Jewish computation (which Mark followed), was 9 a.m. Under Roman law, sentence could not be
pronounced earlier than 6 a.m.; it is probable than an hour or so elapsed
before the court proceedings were completed and Jesus was delivered up to be
crucified. The painful trip to
In
verses 14 and 15 Pilate seems to be taunting these Jews by saying Jesus is
their king and asking them if they are sure they want him to crucify their king.
They did not like these comments at all, so they said crucify Him. They even called
Caesar their king. It is amazing how people will change their loyalties to
bring about their own desires.
John 19:17 And He,
bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull,
which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18
where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and
Jesus in the center.
John focuses on what
Jesus did during this time, but the other accounts give us more information of
what happened as Jesus made His was to
Luke 23:27 And a
great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and
lamented Him. 28 But Jesus,
turning to them, said, "Daughters of
A great number of people
were following Jesus as He made His way outside the city. The women that
followed were beating their chest in grief and wailing for Jesus. Even though
He was not strong enough to carry His cross, He managed to speak to these women
and tell them not weep for Him. Instead, He wants them to weep for themselves
and their children and even states that those who are barren and have no
children will be blessed. The reason He is saying this is because
Of course His prediction
came true because starting around A.D. 66, the Romans began to attack the Jews,
and in A.D. 70, they surrounded the city of
Verse 31 is a proverbial
saying, and I believe Mr. Coffman explains it best:
This proverbial expression has been
variously interpreted; but it would appear that Farrar's explanation is
correct: "If they act thus to me, the Innocent and the Holy, what shall be
the fate of these, the guilty and the false?" There is here a dramatic
prophecy of the destruction of
The green tree represents the innocent and holy Saviour in the spirituality and vigor of his life; the dry tree represents the morally dead and sapless people, typified by the fig tree, blasted by his word, four days earlier.
Thus, by this prophecy, as Jesus left
the city for the last time, he prophesied its doom no less than he did upon
entering it (Luke 19:41f). Not even the prospect of immediate death took the
Saviour's mind away from the awful penalties that would fall upon
Jesus is taken to
Before He
was crucified, He was offered sour wine mingled with gall (Mt. 27:34). Gall is
“a bitter substance made from wormwood, a plant yielding a bitter-tasting
dark-green oil that is alcoholic in its effect” (Friberg Lexicon). Mark’s account says it was mingled with myrrh
(Mk. 15:23), which was “a transparent, brown, brittle, odorous substance, with
bitter taste” (Fausset’s Bible dictionary). Some believe that both of these accounts are
talking about the same substance while others believe both gall and myrrh were
mixed with the sour wine. One thing we know for sure is this drink was designed
to help sedate a person so he would have some relief from the pain, but when
Jesus tasted it, He refused to drink it. He would endure all the pain of His
crucifixion with a clear mind.
Jesus was not alone that
day because two unnamed thieves called evildoers by Luke (Lk. 23:32) were being
crucified as well. These two thieves deserved the punishment they received, but
Jesus was innocent. Isaiah prophesied that He would be “numbered with the
transgressors” (Isa. 53:12). At 9 A.M.,
they crucified Him (Mk. 15:25).
The Romans were experts
at crucifixion, and they executed in different ways using different crosses.
According to Nelson’s Bible Dictionary there were four different types of
crosses used:
(Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary p. 315)
It is believed that Jesus
was crucified with either the Latin cross or
When
the Romans conquered
The first thing they
would do to Jesus was throw Him down on His back and stretch His arms out on
the cross beam. While this was happening dirt would be getting into open wounds
on His back making his back hurt even more. Based on a crucified body dating
around the first century that was found in an ossuary near Jerusalem, the nails
that were used were about 5 to 7 inches long, and they were tapered iron spikes
with a square shaft about 3/8 inch across (On the Physical Death of
Jesus Christ – William D. Edwards, MD).
They would drive these tapered spikes through
hands of Jesus. While we do not know if they ran the spike through His palm or
His wrist, both were considered part of the hand. Based on the evidence we have
today, the spike was probably driven through the wrist because the ligaments
are strong enough to hold the weight of a person, but a spike through the palm
would almost always tear through the hand.
A spike driven through
the wrist would cause even more intense pain to the victim. According to a
physician:
Furthermore,
the driven nail would crush or server the rather large sensorimotor median
nerve. The stimulated nerve would produce excruciating bolts of fiery pain in
both arms. Although the severed median nerve would result in paralysis of a
portion of the hand, ischemic contractures and impalement of various ligaments
by the iron spike might produce a claw like grasp (On the Physical Death of
Jesus Christ – William D. Edwards, MD).
Next, Jesus would have
been hoisted up on the cross and His feet would be nailed to the cross. There
are different opinions on how His feet were nailed. Some believe His feet were
nailed to the sides of the cross, while others believe they were nailed
together on the front of the cross with one nail. There are also two
possibilities of how they could have nailed the two feet together. The legs
could have been together with the knees bent to one side, or the legs could
have been in an open position with the legs spread out with the knees bent.
The only archeological
evidence we have of a first century man being crucified was discovered by
Vassilios Tzaferis in 1968. Kyle Butt writes:
In 1968, Vassilios Tzaferis found the
first indisputable remains of a crucifixion victim. The victim’s skeleton had
been placed in an ossuary that “was typical of those used by Jews in the Holy
Land between the end of the second century B.C. and the fall of Jerusalem in
A.D. 70” (McRay, 1991, p. 204). From an analysis of the skeletal remains of the
victim, osteologists and other medical professionals from the
There should be no doubt that people were crucified with nails during the first century. Once He was crucified, He would experience excruciating pain no matter what position He was in.
Dr. C. Truman Davis notes:
As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists excruciating pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain -- the nails in the writs are putting pressure on the median nerves. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet.
At this point, as the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen. It was undoubtedly during these periods that He uttered the seven short sentences recorded (A Physician Testifies About the Crucifixion - The Review of the NEWS, April 14, 1976).
If the blood loss from the scourging did not ultimately kill the victim, he would either die from suffocation, exhaustion or even heart failure. I also want to point out that Psalm 22 prophecies around 20 different things that happened to Jesus during this time. Now that we know more about the physical details of our Lord’s death, let’s continue examining our text.
19
Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF
Pilate had this
inscription written as the crime Jesus was being punished for. When we examine
all four Gospels, we discover the title read, “THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE
KING OF THE JEWS.” This is another instance where we have to look at all four
Gospels to get the complete story because they each tell it from a different
perspective. Most likely, Pilate came up with this title to chide these Jews,
but these words were true.
According to verse 20,
Hebrew
(or Aramaic) was the vernacular of the Palestinian Jews; Latin was the official
language of the Roman army; Greek was the common medium of culture and
conversation in the eastern providences of the
The chief priests were
not happy with this title, and they wanted Pilate to change it to Jesus
claiming to be the king of the Jews, but Pilate would not change it.
John 19:23 Then
the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four
parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without
seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24
They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots
for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which
says: "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast
lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.
When a person was
crucified, his clothes became the soldiers property, so they took Jesus outer
and inner garment. The outer garment was divided among them, but His inner
garment was seamless, which indicates that it was an expensive garment. If they
had torn it would lose it value, so they cast lots for it. Unaware to the
soldiers, they were fulfilling prophecy (Ps. 22:18).
Before we examine our next verses, which records one of Jesus’ saying from the
cross, I want to summarize the events that take place on the cross up to Jesus’
last saying:
John 19:25 Now
there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the
wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom
He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your
son!" 27 Then He said to
the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple
took her to his own home.
Only John mentions Jesus’ mother being at the
cross. Jesus’ acquaintances and the women who followed Him from
Jn. 19:25 |
Sister of Jesus’ mother |
Mary the wife of Clopas |
Mary Magdalene |
Mk. 15:40 |
Salome |
Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses |
Mary Magdalene |
Mt. 27:56 |
Mother of Zebedee’s sons |
Mary the mother of James and Joses |
Mary Magdalene |
Mk. 16:1 |
Salome |
Mary the mother of James |
Mary Magdalene |
Based on our chart it easy to see that Mary
Magdalene, whom Jesus cast out seven demons (Mk. 16:9), was one of the women
there, and we know that Jesus’ mother was there.
In the middle of our chart John talks about Mary
the wife of Clopas. “According to tradition, Clopas was the same person as
Alphaeus, the father of James the Less and of Joses (Matt. 10:3; Mark 15:40)”
(Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, p. 284). So, I believe a strong
case can be made that John is talking
about Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses.
Now we are left with the sister of Jesus’ mother.
When we compare Mk. 15:40 to Mt. 27:56, we can make a strong case that Salome
is the mother of Zebedee’s sons James and John. If John is staying consistent
with these other accounts, then Salome is the sister of Jesus’ mother, which
means James and John are Jesus’ first cousins. Since we have no hard evidence
that John’s account is only mentioning the same women as the other accounts I
cannot be dogmatic about this. More women were there than these four, so it is
possible the sister of Mary was some other woman than Salome, but it is also
possible that she is her sister.
Next, Jesus says His 3rd saying from
the cross, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your
mother!” When Jesus called His mother woman it was not done in a disrespectful
way, it was simply how He addressed her (Jn. 2:4). Please notice that Jesus did
not call her mother of God or make her the mother of all Christians as the
Catholic Church has done.
Jesus committed the care of His mother to John
when He said, “Behold your mother!” If Salome was Mary’s sister, then Jesus has
asked His cousin to take care of her. What about Jesus’ brothers? How come they
were not asked to take care of their mother? We can only speculate because the
Bible does not tell us. Since His brothers did not believe in Him, perhaps
Jesus wanted to leave His mother in the care of someone that did. Whatever the
reason, John accepted this responsibility.
John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all
things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said,
"I thirst!" 29
Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with
sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.
Jesus is getting closer to having relief from the
severe pain He was enduring. Since death was close, He knew He had accomplished
God’s will. At this point in the crucifixion, He would have been suffering from
high fever and would be extremely thirsty, so He says, “I thirst!” Once again,
Jesus was fulfilling Scripture (Ps. 22:15; Ps. 69:21).
This vessel of sour wine, which was a common drink
among the Roman soldiers, was probably there for the soldiers to drink as they
watched these men suffer. Based on the original Greek language this was either
sour wine or vinegar and water mixed together. Someone ran up to the vessel and
filled a sponge and put it on the end of a hyssop.
Hyssop is a species of marjoram and a
member of the mint family. Hyssop was an aromatic shrub under one meter (three
feet) tall with clusters of yellow flowers. It grew in rocky crevices and was
cultivated on terraced walls. … (1 Kin.4:33). Bunches of hyssop were used to
sprinkle blood on the doorposts in
Since the Hyssop grows less than three feet high
it gives us an idea of how high Jesus was on the cross. His mouth could not be
reached without the aid of a stick. Both Matthew and Mark call it a reed (Mt.
27:48; Mk. 15:36), but John tells us what kind of reed it was.
John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour
wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His
spirit.
Jesus receives the sour wine and says, “It is
finished!” From the time Jesus was born in
Luke 24:44
"These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with
you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses
and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their
understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them,
"Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer
and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name to all nations, beginning at
Jesus’ perfect obedience
to God’s will caused Him to accomplish everything He was supposed to do, and we
benefit from His perfection because His sacrifice made it possible for us to
receive the forgiveness of sin. Before Jesus died, He also said with a loud
voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit. Having said this, He
breathed His last” (Lk. 23:46).
In this final saying, we
can see that Jesus was in control of His life. As He said in:
John 10:17
"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take
it again. 18 "No one
takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My
Father."
Jesus did not have to
have to die. If He wanted to, He could have called on all the angels of heaven
to come and rescue Him, but He did not because He wanted to die for us. He even
knew when He would die because as soon as He made this last statement, His
spirit left His body, and He put His faith in the Father to take care of His
spirit. When our spirit leaves our body and returns back to the Lord, we become
physically dead (Ecc. 12:7). When Jesus breathed His last breath, He bowed His
Head.
Matthew’s account gives
us more details of what happened next:
Matthew 27:51 Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to
bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split, 52 and the graves were opened; and
many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; 53 and coming out of the graves
after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many. 54 So when the centurion and those
with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had
happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of
God!"
Try to imagine what these
people saw that day. It had been dark outside since 12 P.M., and now an
earthquake happens and the rocks are split open. In the temple, the veil that
separates the holy place from holy of holies, which is where the Ark of the
Covenant used to be, was torn from top to bottom (Ex. 26:31-33). If man had
torn it, it would have been torn from the bottom to the top. The tearing of
this veil symbolized that God had made Himself available to all, and that the
old covenant was nailed to the cross (Col. 2:14; Eph 2:14-15). All of these
events proved that Jesus death on the cross was not an ordinary one, and it
even caused the centurion and his soldiers to agree that He truly was the Son
of God. In Luke’s account the centurion also said, “Certainly this was a
righteous man!” (Lk. 23:47).
Matthew also mentions how
the graves of the saints were opened by the earthquake that day and how they
were raised from the dead. However, they did not come out of their graves until
after Jesus’ resurrection, and they went into the city and appeared to many.
John 19:31
Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should
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. 32 Then the
soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was
crucified with Him. 33 But
when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break
His legs. 34 But one of the
soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came
out. 35 And he who has seen
has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the
truth, so that you may believe. 36
For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one
of His bones shall be broken." 37
And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they
pierced."
As I have already shown in this study, the
Preparation Day was not the Preparation Day for the Passover, but for the feast
of the unleavened bread. Since the feast of unleavened bread would begin on the
Sabbath and it included a holy convocation (sacred gathering) (Ex. 12:16), it
was considered a high or an important day. While the Jews had no problem
breaking the Law of Moses to put Jesus to death, they still wanted to keep part
of it because it was against the Law of Moses to keep a person on the cross
overnight (Deut. 21:23).
When a person’s legs were broken, they could no
longer push themselves up to get air, so it would not take long for them to die
by suffocation. Pilate sent some soldiers to break their legs. They broke the
two thieves’ legs first, but when they got to Jesus, He was already dead, so
they did not break His legs. Just as the Passover lamb’s bones were not to be
broken (Num. 9:12), neither was Jesus’ bones broken because He is our Passover
(1 Cor. 5:7). Once again, this fulfilled a prophecy about Jesus (Ps. 34:20).
One of the soldiers wanted to make sure that Jesus
was dead, so he pierced Him in the side and out came water and blood. This
event is only recorded by John, and it also fulfills a prophecy about Jesus (Zech.
12:10). Now we cannot say dogmatically what internal organs the soldier pierced
or which side he pierced Him in. However, there are two possibilities that
could produce what looked like water and blood.
1. It is possible they pierced His bladder, which
would cause urine and blood to flow out. While this would produce the effect of
water and blood it seems unlikely he pierced His bladder since he would have to
pierce Him with a downward motion, which would have been difficult with Jesus
being elevated on the cross.
2. Others believe he pierced Him through the ribs
and broke the lining around the wall of the heart.
Mr. Halley notes:
Some medical authorities have said
that in the case of heart rupture, and in that case only, the blood collects in
the pericardium, the lining around the wall of the heart, and divides into a
sort of bloody clot and a watery serum.
If this is a fact, then the actual immediate physical cause of Jesus'
death was heart rupture. Under intense
pain, and the pressure of his wildly raging blood, his heart burst open (Halley's
Bible Handbook, p.549).
This watery fluid that would have come out of the
wound first could have been a combination of serous pleural which is found in
the membrane around the lungs, and pericardial fluid, which is secreted by the serous membrane on the
pericardious sac on the outside of the heart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericardial_fluid).
This second possibility is the more logical
to me because it seems natural that the soldier would thrust upwards into Jesus
side. These two possibilities give us a medical explanation of how the flow of
blood and water from Jesus’ wound could happen. No matter where the soldier
pierced Jesus’ side it proves the Jesus was dead. When Pilate found out that Jesus was already
dead is surprised him (Mk. 15:44). John served as an eyewitness for all of
this.
John 19:38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea,
being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate
that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission.
So he came and took the body of Jesus.
We can learn more details about this event by examining
the four Gospels (Mt. 27:57ff; Mk. 15:42ff; Lk. 23:50ff; Jn. 19:38ff). They
teach that Joseph was a rich man, a prominent member of Sanhedrin council, and
was considered a good and just man. He secretly became a disciple of Jesus, and
he was waiting for the
Joseph was scared, but he found the courage to go
before Pilate to request Jesus’ body. At first, Pilate was surprised that Jesus
was already dead, so he asked a centurion if it was true. Once it was confirmed
that Jesus was dead, Pilate gave Joseph permission to take the body. The
synoptic Gospels only mention Joseph taking the body from the cross and
wrapping the body in a clean fine linen cloth, which was an expensive cloth,
but John’s account gives more detail.
39 And
Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture
of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips
of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews
who had went to Jesus during the night wanting to know more about Him (Jn. 3).
We find him defending Jesus in John 7:50-51, and now he is helping to bury Him.
Since he bought almost a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, it indicates that
he was a wealthy man as well. Jesus burial with all these spices was similar to
that of a king (2 Chr. 16:14). Let’s take a closer look at Myrrh:
Myrrh – An extract from a
stiff-branched tree with white flowers and plum-like fruit. After myrrh was
extracted from the wood, it soon hardened and was valued as an article of
trade. It was used … in anointing oil (Ex. 30:23), and was used as perfume (Ps.
45:8; Prov. 7:17; Song 3:6), in purification rites for women (Esth. 2:12), as a
gift for the infant Jesus (Matt. 2:11), and in embalming (John 19:39).
According to the Gospel of Mark (15:23), the drink offered to Jesus before His
crucifixion was “wine mingled with myrrh.” (Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible
Dictionary, p. 2006).
The other accounts say that Jesus was wrapped in
fine linen
Mr. Gower states:
Exceptionally, a body was covered in
spices and in paste, and these were tied to the body by layers of white “roller
bandage.” The paste hardened and impregnated the bandages until a hard
preservative mound or cocoon was formed about the body (The New Manners &
Customs of Bible Times, p.73).
After the body was wrapped up, they would cover
the face with a cloth handkerchief. Lazarus was buried in a similar way (Jn.
11:44). If the original linen cloth that wrapped Jesus’ body was not torn into
strips, then it was probably discarded, but what happened to it is unknown. If
it was used as an additional covering over the strips of linen, the Bible does
not mention it. It only mentions the strips of linen othonion and the cloth handkerchief being His grave clothes (Lk.
24:12; Jn. 20:5-7).
41 Now in
the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new
tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42
So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for the
tomb was nearby.
They did not have much time to prepare and bury
Jesus because the Sabbath was about to start around 6 P.M. So, they took Jesus
to a garden that was close by where Joseph had a new tomb (Mt. 27:59). This
event fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, “And they made His grave with the
wicked -- But with the rich at His death” (Isa. 53:9).
If Joseph had not requested the body of Jesus, He
would have been buried with the two thieves, which is what is meant by “they
made His grave with the wicked.” It was unusual that Pilate let someone other
than a family member take Jesus’ body, but he did, and in doing so, the second
part of Isaiah’s prophecy came to pass “But with the rich at His death.”
Since they were rushed with the preparation of
Jesus’ body, we learn that the women who followed Him from
Matthew 27:59 When Joseph had taken the body, he
wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, 60
and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a
large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed. 61 And Mary Magdalene was there,
and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.
While there were other women there (Lk. 23:55),
including a woman named Joanna (Lk. 24:10), Matthew only mentions two women
named Mary. Not only did they see where the tomb was, they saw how Jesus’ body
was laid (Mk. 15:47; Lk. 23:55). Our verse says that Joseph rolled the stone
over the entrance of the tomb. Since Nicodemus was with him, it is possible
that he helped him with the stone because these stones were heavy and hard to
move. The stone itself was usually round and it would be pushed into a dug out
slot in front of the tomb. Once it was in place it would be even more difficult
to move, which is why the women wondered who would roll the very large stone
out of the way for them on Sunday morning (Mk. 16:1-4).
Matthew 27:62 On the next day, which followed the
Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to
Pilate, 63 saying, "Sir,
we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three
days I will rise.' 64
"Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest
His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people,
'He has risen from the dead.' So the last deception will be worse than the
first." 65 Pilate said
to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you
know how." 66 So they
went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.
We are not told when on the next day they made
their request to Pilate, but it was probably early because they would not want
Jesus’ disciples to have a chance to steal His body and fool the people, so
Pilate granted them a guard. A guard was a group of Roman soldiers, and they secured
the tomb and sealed it.
Mr. Leeper
writes:
The sealing would have been
accomplished by placing a large piece of clay at the joint of the stone and the
wall. An official insignia of some type
would have been pressed into the soft clay leaving an imprint which could not
be duplicated. The clay would then have
hardened, providing a seal that would be broken if the stone were moved.
Sealing the tomb would serve a three
fold purpose. First, there would be
evidence if anyone moved the stone. This
would prevent someone from removing the body and then claiming he had been
raised. Second, it would provide a guard
of Roman soldiers to ensure no one could tamper with the tomb. Third, because it was a criminal offense to
break a Roman seal, it would serve as an effective deterrent to anyone inclined
to steal the body. Getting caught in the attempt would mean time in prison if
not worse (Wayne D. Leeper, Prelude to Glory, p. 171).
Even though these were trained Roman soldiers that knew they would be severely punished or put to death if they failed their post, but they would not be able to stop Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.