John 19
John 19 Focus: It’s Good Friday: Jesus is crucified. He cries out: “It is finished” (“Tetelestai”).
JOHN 19: Insights, Highlights and Points to Ponder:
We marvel that almost 800 years before Christ’s crucifixion, Isaiah painted a graphic prophetic picture of the Passion of our Savior Jesus. Isaiah 53 says:
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
“Stricken Smitten and Afflicted” is an emotional Lenten/Holy Week hymn which provides a powerful poetic portrayal of Christ’s Passion. As we read John 19 and gaze again in faith on the Cross of Calvary, let’s ponder and say or sing the first two verses of Lutheran Service Book (LSB) #451:
1 Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ, by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, 'tis He, 'tis He!
'Tis the long-expected Prophet,
David's Son, yet David's Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
'Tis the true and faithful Word.
2 Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting His distress;
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that Justice gave.
We now read: John 19 (interspersed with commentary and insights)
Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified
19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 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.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
6 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.” 7 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.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 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?” 11 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.”
NOTE: Jesus informs Pilate (and us) that no earthly governmental power(s) exist or have any authority unless God permits it. Period. This may be mind-boggling for us as we strive to be good citizens while living in this messed up sinful earthly reality. Time and time again throughout history (and yet today) God even uses corrupt governments or pagan politicians and/or evil earthly rulers (such as King Herod, Pilate, pagan Roman Emperors, etc.) as part of His unfolding Divine plans and purposes.
Paul exhorts Christians to pray for and strive to obey earthly authorities (Romans 13, I Timothy 2). We also realize we may indeed face opposition and even persecution for being faithful to Christ and Holy Scripture. Ultimately, as we strive to respect earthly authorities, we must never violate God’s Truth as we obey God rather than humans (SEE Acts 5:29). This is the tension in which we live as Christians who are simultaneously earthly citizens and citizens of Heaven.
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.” 13 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.
14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 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 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
NOTE: The sign above the statue of our Sanctuary altar crucifix says: I. N. R. I. = which is the LATIN abbreviation for “Jesus Nazareth King Jews”.
Interesting Fact: Calvary is another familiar name for where Jesus was crucified. Similar to “Golgotha,” the meaning of the Latin name Calvary is also “skull.” There is a rock formation in Jerusalem a person can still visit today near a site known as “The Garden Tomb” which many think may have been the site of Calvary/Golgotha. This rock formation on the side of a hill had the creepy appearance of a human skull with what looked like eye sockets in the stone. Sadly, part of this rock formation collapsed in recent years.
20 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. 21 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.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
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, 24 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.”
MULTIPLE Old Testament Prophecies are Fulfilled by Christ’s Crucifixion:
Exodus 12:46 says concerning the Passover lamb: 46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.
Numbers 9:12 - They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it.
Psalm 34:20 - He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
(written by King David c. 1,000 B.C.!)
Zechariah 12:10 - “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”
Psalm 22 - (This Psalm is often read at the end of the Maundy Thursday service as the chancel and altar are stripped of everything as we prepare for Good Friday. Multiple verses from Psalm 22 directly describe details of Christ’s crucifixion about 1,000 years before it happened!)
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
The Death of Jesus
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 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. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
NOTE: The 3 Words of Jesus translated “It is finished” are actually just ONE Word in Greek: “Tetelestai.”
Jesus' Side Is Pierced
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. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been 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 at once there came out blood and water.
Archaeological Discoveries Reinforce the Biblical Record: Modern Biblical archeology is a relatively new endeavor and area of study (basically over the past 150 or so years). As people of Faith, we do NOT need archaeology or history to PROVE God’s Word is Inspired, accurate and Divine Truth. Yet is it worth noting that countless discoveries made in the Holy Land are in total harmony with what God says to us in His Holy Word (as we would expect). Many more discoveries have yet to be made, because most ancient Biblical sites have NOT been studied fully or at all with methods of modern archaeology.
Here are a few fascinating examples of archaeological discoveries made in the Holy Land which connect with the Passion Story and events of Holy Week.
An ornate burial bone box (known as an ossuary) was discovered in 1990 at a burial site south of the Temple in old Jerusalem with the inscription of Joseph ben Caiaphas (thus the remains of the very Jewish High Priest before whom Jesus stood!). (Lutheran Bible Companion, CPH: Vol. 2, p. 810).
In 1968 a team discovered 36 bone boxes (ossuaries) in NE Jerusalem. One of them had the name “Yehohanan ben Hagkol” inscribed on it. Researchers identified the bones as those of a man in his 20s with and an actual SPIKE still in his heel bone. He had been crucified! You can see this actual bone and spike yet today in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. (LBC. CPH: Vol. 2, p. 810)
The remains of King Herod’s palace still stand in Jerusalem today. This is the very place Jesus stood during His trial before Herod! (Paul Maier, Lutheran Witness,October 1999, p. 20)
35 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. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
NOTE: John, the author of this Gospel, affirms that he is an eyewitness of all these events and everything that God guided John to write and record is TRUE!
Jesus Is Buried
38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was 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 away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 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 because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Personal…VERY Personal Application: Jesus suffered and died for MY sins, YOUR sins, OUR sins!
We again hear our Savior cry out in agony AND love for US from His Cross: “It is finished” (GREEK= “Tetelestai”).
We conclude John 19 by prayerfully pondering the Passion of our Lord reflecting on the final two verses of “Stricken Smitten and Afflicted”--
3 Ye who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See who bears the awful load;
'Tis the Word, the Lord's anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.
4 Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost;
Christ, the Rock of our salvation,
His the name of which we boast:
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.
In the Service of Our Suffering Servant and Savior,
Pastor Scott Schmieding
