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Gospel Light Christian Church
Thru-The-Bible Series (6.1)
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The Gospel Of John
John 19:19-45 - Read
this Bible passage once through before referring to the notes below.
This passage of scripture continues
with the description of the crucifixion. Please read this section slowly and refer to the notes to get a better
idea of Christ’s sufferings for us, and note the remarkable fulfilment of the prophecies in the Old Testament at
Christ’s crucifixion.
The Crown of Thorns
v.l9 It was customary to write an inscription on a piece
of wood to describe the offender and his crime.
v.20
Pilate unintentionally published to all those that came to Jerusalem for the Passover that the King of the Jews
was crucified.
v.21 The chief priests were probably conscience-stricken
that they had crucified the King of the Jews and demanded that Pilate change the inscription to "he said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” ie, Jesus was a usurper who deserved to be punished.
v.22 Pilate, who had thus far
given in to the Jewish requests, finally refuses, thereby unknowingly becoming the first "evangelist"
to declare the crucifixion of the King of the Jews.
v.23 It was customary for the
victim's garments to be divided among his executioners. v.24 This parting of Jesus' garments,
by casting lots, fulfilled prophecy (PSA
22:18).
v.25 Except for John (v.26), the
"brave" disciples had fled, but four '"weak" women boldly stood by
the cross of Jesus.
The women were also the first at the tomb on the third day. v.26 Though Jesus was suffering unimaginably
on the cross, He prayed for those who crucified Him, He converted the criminal who was crucified with Him, and
He made arrangements for His mother's care. In so doing, He was fulfilling the Fifth Commandment (ie, honour thy
father and thy mother).
Jesus does not address Mary as "mother"' because He foresaw the cult of Mary-worship that would later
develop in the church. The word "woman" sounds rude,
but is a polite term in the original Greek, which would be somewhat equivalent to our English version of “dear lady”. Mary-worshippers teach that Mary
is the Mother of God and of the Church, but here she is revealed as a weak woman needing to be taken care of. v.28 When
Jesus had paid the full price for our sins (ie, knowing that all
things were
now accomplished), He said, “I thirst." Jesus' death
was totally voluntary, ie, after all things were accomplished. The word "accomplished" means "finished." The Psalmist described
Jesus' severe dehydration on the Cross in PSA22:15. Jesus did not ask for a drink earlier, because He had to suffer
for our sins, but all things were now accomplished as far as His substitutionary sufferings were concerned. The sufferings
of hell included severe unquenchable thirst (LUK 16:24), therefore, Jesus suffered severe thirst for us. Jesus suffered
severe thirst for us, that we might never thirst (JOH
4:14). More sins are committed by our tongues than by any other member of our body (JAM 3:2), therefore, as
our sin-bearer, Jesus' tongue was cleaved to His jaw (PSA
22:15). The prophecy in PSA
69:21 were fulfilled by Jesus' cry of "I thirst."
v.29 "Now there was set" is better translated
"now there lay." "Vinegar" refers
to the cheap sourish wine that was commonly drunk by the Roman soldiers. This vessel probably belonged to the soldiers who were responsible for crucifying and watching over Jesus. At the
beginning of His crucifixion, Jesus refused to drink the vinegar that was offered to Him (MAT 27:34) because it contained alcohol that would numb His pain, and He would
not have been our completely suffered in our behalf if He did not fully experience His sufferings. The soldiers
give Jesus this drink as soon as He requested for it - either because they felt sorry for Him, or because of fear
from the supernatural darkness that covered the land. There is some fear in even the bravest man, and some compassion
in the cruellest man. Since Jesus' mouth was beyond their reach, and His hands were immobilised by the nails, the
only way to give Him a drink was by soaking a sponge in the wine and tying the soaked sponge onto a hyssop branch, then lifting up the sponge to Jesus' lips.
v.30 In Greek the phrase "It is
finished" is one word. This single Greek word is the most wonderful
word ever uttered. Jesus' death was totally voluntary, ie, he "gave up the
ghost (spirit)." No man can even sleep at the precise moment
he decides, let alone die at the precise moment he desires. It would appear that throughout Jesus' sufferings.
His head was help up high, but as soon as He gave up His life, he bowed his
head. The centre of gravity of man's head pulls it forward and downward.
When a man is alive and awake, his neck muscles keep his head upright.
Jesus died at 3pm, ie, the time of the evening sacrifice when the Passover Lamb would be sacrificed. At the moment
of Jesus' death the veil in the Temple, that separated the Holy of holies from the rest of the Temple, was torn
in two from top to bottom (MAT 27:51). Since the Holy of holies represented the place of God’s special presence, this
signified that the way into God's presence was now made open to all that trust in Jesus as their Saviour. v.31 The day before the Passover Sabbath day
is called "the preparation" day. The
wicked Jewish leaders who unjustly planned the death of Jesus are very careful not to break a minor law of Scripture,
namely, that bodies should not hang overnight (DEU
21:23) and therefore should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day. Wicked men who break
great commandments, soothe their consciences by obeying little ones.
Since crucifixion kills slowly, often legs were broken
by hitting them with a blunt object (eg. hammer, spade) resulting in a fracture of the thigh bone and causing massive
internal bleeding that leads to a speedy death. The word "broken" means "to break into little pieces.”
v.32 Probably a pair of soldiers
broke the legs of the first criminal, and the other pair of soldiers broke the legs of the other. v.33 The two criminals were still alive, but
Jesus was dead already because He had given up His spirit after accomplishing His mission.
That not one of Jesus’ bones were broken at His crucifixion, even though it was a common procedure in this form
of execution, is another remarkable piece of fulfilled prophecy (see notes on v. 36.)
v.34 The soldiers were given the task of killing the
victims so that their bodies could be taken down from the crosses. Therefore, this soldier pierced
Jesus' side (probably aiming at His
heart) to ensure that He was indeed dead. Even if he did not aim at the heart, a right handed soldier would have
pierced the left side of Jesus’ chest. Soldiers often do the same to their fallen enemies to ensure that they leave
no survivors. Unknowingly, this soldier fulfilled the prophecy made in ZEC 13:1 (“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
for sin and for uncleanness”); and
PSA 22:16.
Unknowingly, he had also given full proof of Jesus’ death – which is vital to our salvation. If Jesus did not die
for our sins, then we must die for them. The spear first pierced the outer covering of the heart called the pericardium,
and then pierced the chambers of the heart. During heart-failure (which Jesus suffered while on the Cross), serum
collects in the pericardial sac (ie. the space between the pericardium and the heart).
Serum is straw-coloured fluid that is also found in a blister. To a layman, like John, it appears like water. v.35 John was an eye-witness of all the events
recorded here.
v.36 The bones of the passover lamb were not to be broken
(EXO 12:46).
v.37 Quotation from ZEC 12:10.
v.38 When Jesus' disciples fled and when even
His mother is too fearful to claim His body, this previously unknown disciple appears. Thus far,
he had been a secret disciple for fear of the Jews. However, the miraculous
events surrounding Jesus' death must have convinced Joseph that Jesus was indeed the Son of God, and he is converted
from a cowardly disciple to the boldest disciple. He was a rich man (MAT 27:57) and an honourable counsellor (MAR 15:43) and had feared losing his riches and honour. Now, when enmity against
Jesus was greatest, and when Jesus was dead and "useless," Joseph risks all by taking care of Jesus'
body. He probably took down the body of Jesus with the help of Nicodemus and John.
There are far more "secret" disciples of Jesus than we realise (1KI 19:18). The fear of men is the greatest hindrance to testimony and service.
The only way to overcome the fear of man is to fear God.
v.39 Another cowardly disciple, Nicodemus, is also converted
by Jesus' death. John reminds us that Nicodemus came to
Jesus by
night (see also JOH 7:51). We must not despise those whose faith appears to grow very slowly.
Often the strongest tree is the one that grows the slowest.
The mixture of
myrrh and aloes was probably in powder form. These extremely expensive spices
prevented corruption of the body and gave it a strong sweet smell. Nicodemus was obviously a very rich and generous
man to have a hundred pound of spice.
v.40 The time between Jesus' death (at 3pm) till
the beginning of the Sabbath (at 6pm) was only three hours. (The Jewish Sabbath begins at 6pm.) In this short time,
Joseph and Nicodemus did all the things mentioned here. Mary and the women may have helped. Jesus was rich only
on two occasions, namely, shortly after His birth when the three wise men brought their gifts, and shortly after
His death when the two rich men brought theirs.
v.41 Jesus' burial was speedily concluded because the
sepulchre (ie, tomb dug into the rock) was near the place where He was crucified. Jesus had no home during His
earthly ministry (MAT 8:20),
and a borrowed tomb in His death. Though Jesus died as a criminal among criminals, He was buried in a rich man's
tomb (thus fulfilling the prophecy in ISA 53:9).
v.42 When Jesus entered the tomb, the tomb was still
a place of hopelessness to all man, but three days later when He conquered death, He took away our fear of the
tomb (HEB 2:15). The believer,
whose Head is in heaven, need not fear that his body is in the grave. It is proper to give the body a decent burial
because the body
is the Temple of the Holy Spirit (1CO 3:16).
--------------------------
Footnotes
The four Gospels record slightly different versions of the "title"
that was placed on Jesus' cross. This "inconsistency"' does not pose any problem because the inscription
was written in three different languages (v.20) and may have been slightly different in each language; or each
of the Gospel writers may have recorded only a portion of the full inscription. All of the variations contain the
important fact that Jesus was "the King
of the
Jews." Pilate probably intended to mock the Jews,
with whom he was very annoyed, that this poor man from Nazareth was their king. But unintentionally he was correctly
identifying Jesus as the King of the Jews (LUK 1:32-33, MAT
2:2, JOH 12:13).
Hebrew was the language of God's Word in the Old Testament, Greek the language of philosophers (which was later
used to write the New Testament), and Latin was the language of Roman law. John and Matthew may have recorded from
the inscription that was written in Hebrew, Luke from that which was in Greek, and Mark from that which was in
Latin.
He was probably conscience-stricken that he had unjustly crucified the Son of God and therefore refused to compromise
any further. Man who lack principle are often stubborn on petty matters.
The four pieces of apparel, namely, the head-gear, sandals, belt and outer garments being of different values were
divided among the four soldiers by castling lots. The fifth piece, the coat (or inner tunic) was given to the one
who won the lots (v.24). Four soldiers (ie, a quaternion
of soldiers) crucified Jesus. Jesus was stripped of His garments, that we might be clothed with His robe of righteousness
(ISA 61:10). He bore the shame of nakedness for us (GEN
3:9-11).
It took much courage on their part to stand by Jesus, because He was a condemned criminal hated by the Jewish leaders.
These four women represented the tiny faithful remnant who are not ashamed to be identified with the rejected Christ.
The other followers who forsook Jesus represent the majority of Christians who are ashamed to be identified with
the rejected Christ. As Mary watched Jesus suffering on the cross, she must have remembered Simeon's prophecy (LUK 2:35). John does not mention the name of Jesus' mother's
sister because it was probably his own mother, Salome.
Modest John always avoids mentioning his own name (v.26).
He honoured faithful John by appointing him to take care of His mother. Man appoints those who are faithful to
act as their trustees.
v.27
Jesus did not commit Mary to His half-brothers probably because they were yet unsaved (7:5).
While on the Cross, Jesus spoke seven sayings. His committal of Mary to John's care (v.26-27) was His third saying,
and His last before darkness fell upon the land. The next four sayings are: "My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?," "I
thirst," "It is finished,"
and "Father into thy hands I commit my spirit."'
His cry "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me"
was uttered in total darkness - as He was being punished by God the Father for our sins.
Graves were also opened and saints resurrected, signifying that death had been conquered (MAT
27:52).
Though Jesus had promised salvation to one of the criminals (LUK 23:43),
he continued to suffer agonisingly for hours on the cross. This refutes the Charismatic teaching that Jesus' salvation
includes also salvation for physical infirmities and sufferings.
Blood is symbol of atonement (ie, justification), and
water that of cleansing (ie. sanctification). Moses used
blood to dedicate and cleanse the Tabernacle (HEB 9:19). Justification
and sanctification are always joined together in God’s salvation plan (1JO 5:6).
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