Jesus’ crucifixion, the burial and the resurrection (John 19:1-37) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Jesus’ crucifixion, the burial and the resurrection (John 19:1-37)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music; pastoral ministry & counseling

 

 

Ø  Jesus was arrest yet, Pilate fined no basis for a charge against him (John19:1-16)

 

 Three times Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” (John18:38; 19:4, 6).  

 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him fluffed. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and they struck him in the face.(John19:2-3). Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “ Here is the man!” As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” (19:1-6).

The Jews insisted, “ We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me? Pilate said. “ Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “ You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is gquilty of a greater sin. (19:7-11)

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no fiend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.” When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha) it was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take away! Crucify him!” “Should I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered. Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. (John19:12-16).

 

Verse 7 Jews said, “ According to the law he must die.” A reference to Jesus’ alleged blasphemy because He claimed to be God. Pilate , even more afraid, perhaps of several things: of possible violence; of loss of favor in Rome for his inability to control the turbulent Jews (v.15); of some sense of Jesus’ true nature (This may be indicated by the question in v.9). Verse 11 the one who handed me over to you . evidently a reference to Caiaphas (18:28).

Verse 12 The Jewish authorities reverted to the political charge against Jesus, suggesting a potent threat to a provincial governor who served at the whim of the emperor (Tiberius). The Jews had already protested to Rome Pilate’s actions in other matters where he was insensitive to their customs.

Verse 13 Stone Pavement. Almost certainly the large paved area that was part of the Castle of Antonia at the NW corner of the Temple area beneath Ecce Homo Arch. A Aramaic term from Hebrew, meaning a raised place. This must have been an elevated place. Like a reaised platform, paved with beautiful stones, as indicated by the Greek word for pavement, mentioned earlier in the verse.

Verse 14-15 Pilate’s sarcasm was directed to the chief priests (whom he hated and mistrusted) and to their clique. He drew from them the response “ We have no king but Caesar,” a blasphemous denial of the kingship of God over their nation . Day of Preparation. Friday of Passover week. In v.31 Preparation refers to Friday as the day of Preparation for the Sabbath.

Verse 16 this unjust joint sentence exposed the blindness of religion and the darkness of politics.

Ø  Jesus’ Crucifixion scriptures reading John19: 17-37

 

 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. Here they crucified him, and with him two others –one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “ Do not write ‘ The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” (John19:17-22)

 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decided by lot who will get it.”  This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” So this is what the soldiers did.  (vv.23-24).

 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to this mother, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (vv.25-27)

Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “ I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “ It is finished.” With that he bowed his head and gave up his sprit. (vv.28-30)

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (vv.31-34)

The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of His bones will be broken.” And as another scripture says, “ They will look on the one they have pierced.” (vv.35-37)

Verse 20 Hebrew here represents the Hebrew religion, Latin represents Roman politics, and Greek represents Greek culture. These three together represent the entire world, all of mankind. This signifies that the Lord Jesus as the Lamb of God was killed by and for all mankind. Verse 22 What Pilate wrote was not of himself but of God’s sovereignty. Verse 23 in His crucifixion, the Lord’s right to be clothed (vv.23-24) and to drink (vv.28-30) was stripped from Him, along with His life. Verse 24 this was not of the soldiers but of God’s sovereignty. Verse 25 Salome (Mark15:40), the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John (Matt.27:56)

Verse 26 In Luke 23:43 the Lord said to one of the two thieves crucified with Him, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” That word was in regard to salvation, since Luke’s Gospel proves that the Lord is the sinner’s Savior. Here, in vv.26-27, the Lord said to His mother, “Behold, your son, “and to the disciple whom He loved, “Behold, your mother.” These words indicate a life union, since this Gospel testifies that the Lord is life imparted into His believers. It is by this life that His beloved disciple could be one with Him and become the son of His mother, and that she could become the mother of His beloved disciple.

Verse 30 In Matt.27:34 and Mark 15:23, wine mingled with gall and myrrh was offered to the Lord as a stupefying drink before His crucifixion, but he would not drink it. In this verse vinegar was offered to Him in a mocking way at the end of His crucifixion (Luke23:36). In His crucifixion the Lord was still working, and through His crucifixion He finished the work of His all-inclusive death, by which He accomplished redemption, terminated the old creation, and released His resurrection life to bring forth the new creation to fulfill God’s purpose. In the process of death He proved that He was life. The dreadful environment of death did not frighten Him in the least; it provided a contrast that proved strongly that He, as life, was versus death and could not be affected by death in any way.

Verse 34 Two substances came out of the Lord’s pierced side: blood and water. Blood is for redemption, to deal with sins (1:29;Heb.9:22) for the purchasing of the church (Acts20:28). Water is for imparting life, to dead with death (12:24;3:14-15) for the producing of the church (Eph.5:29-30). The Lord’s death, on the negative side, takes away our sins, and on the positive side, imparts life into us. Hence, it has two aspects: the redemptive aspect and the life-imparting aspect. The redemptive aspect is for the life-imparting aspect. The record of the other three Gospels portrays only the redemptive aspect of the Lord’s death; John’s record portrays not only the redemptive aspect but also the life-imparting aspect. The words spoken by the Lord on the cross in Luke 23:34, “Father forgive them,” and in Matt.27:46, “ My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (because He bore our sin at that time)., also depict the redemptive aspect of His death. But the flowing water and the unbroken bone mentioned by John in vv.34 and 36 are signs that related to the life-imparting aspect of the Lord’s death. This death that imparts life released the Lord’s divine life from within Him for the producing of the church, which is composed of all His believers, into whom His divine life has been imparted. This life-imparting death of the Lord’s is typified by Adam’s sleep, out from which Eve was produced (Gen.2:21-23), and is signified by the death of the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground for the bringing forth of many grains (12:24) to make the one bread-the Body of Christ (1Cor.10:17). Therefore, it is also the life-propagating and reproducing death.   

Verse 36 The Lord’s pierced side was prefigured by Adam’s opened side, out from which Eve was produced (Geb.2:21-23). The Blood was typified by the blood of the Passover lamb (Exo.12:7,22; Rev.12:11) and the water was typified by the water that flowed out of the smitten rock (Exo.17:6, 1Cor.10:4). The blood formed a fountain for the washing away of sin (Zech.13:1) and the water became the fountain of life. (Psa36.9;Rev.21:6).

It was absolutely of God’s sovereignty that these things happened in such a meaningful and wonderful way. This is further proof that the Lord’s death was not accidental but had been planned by God before the foundation of the world (1Pet.1:19-20).

In the Scripture the first mention of a bone is in Gen.2:21-23; there it was a rib taken out of Adam for the producing and building of Eve as a match for Adam. Eve was a type of the Church, which is produced and built with the Lord’s resurrection life released out of Him. Hence, the bone is a symbol, a figure, of the Lord’s resurrection life, which nothing can break. The Lord’s side was pierced, but not one of His bones was broken. This signifies that although the Lord’s physical life was terminated, His resurrection life, the very divine life, could not be hurt or damaged by anything. This is the life with which the church is produced and built; it is also the eternal life, which we have obtained by believeing into Him. (3:36).

Bibliography,

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.