The crucifixion John 19:14-22
A young business owner was opening a new branch office, and a friend decided to send a floral arrangement for the grand opening but when his friend arrived at the opening, he was horrified to find that instead of a bunch of flowers the florist had sent a wreath that bore the inscription: “Rest in peace.” Well, he was really angry, so he decided to complain to the florist. And after apologizing, the florist said, “Look at it this way—somewhere a man was buried beneath a wreath that says, ‘Good luck on your new location.’“
As I said last week compared to the other three gospel accounts of the crucifixion John presents a rather calm picture. He doesn’t emphasize or mention such things as the taunts of the crowds, the darkness at noon, or even Jesus’ cry from the cross. And even when Jesus is crucified, John portrays Him as being totally in control and steadily, of his own will, moving toward the fulfillment of what God the Father’s intended Him to do.
And as I finished last week I was saying that these Jewish people, the Scribes and the Pharisees were religious to the core but at the same time they were so full of hatred towards anyone that didn’t have a subservient attitude of reverence and absolute respect towards them. They thought everyone should bow every time they walked down the road or into a room. And that seems to be such a contradiction of spirituality because we would wonder how someone could profess to have a relationship with the God of love and at the same time hate anyone who didn’t love them.
But then again, we have to ask ourselves, what about me? Am I any different? I mean, does my faith motivate me to reach the lost or is my faith just something that makes me comfortable? Do I really have a burden for souls or do I say I do because that’s supposed to be who I am?
We are known as evangelical Baptists and that’s not a denominational title but it’s a description of who and what we are. And by being called Baptists we are telling the world that we believe in the act of baptism as a means of identifying with Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and the evangelical part means we believe in evangelizing or preaching the gospel to the lost or the unsaved. So, I guess the question we have to ask ourselves is, how are we doing? Are we individually living up to our name? Or do we think that giving a few dollars to missions somehow, gets us off the hook? You see, we really have to be careful not to fall into the same rut that these scribes and Pharisees lived.
Now, before we get into the passage I read, I want to give you three parts of an indictment or an accusation against this religious crowd. And the first thing I want you to notice is that they were concentrating on ceremonial purity by staying outside of Pilate’s home while contradicting what they said they believed in by demanding death to the One who was a threat, because Jesus wasn’t a threat to their faith but to both their positions and their income.
They’re like the guy who was serving time in a federal prison for murder (and this is a true story) he was serving time for murder and he refused to sing in the prison choir because he said he grew up as a member of a denomination that never used any instruments with their singing. He was doing time for murder but he made sure everyone knew that his life was very pleasing to God because he took his worship seriously. And these religious people were doing the same thing, because they were more concerned with what everyone else thought than they were with what God knew about them.
Second, their claim to be concerned for their nation was contradicted by their demand that a prisoner be released who was a known thief and a murderer. I mean, who in their right mind would want someone like Barabbas who the Romans thought to be worthy of death, roaming the streets.
And then third, they actually renounced any faith they had in God when they pledged allegiance to Caesar. And this is really strange, because they were actually being very careful to keep themselves pure for the Passover and don’t forget that the Passover was the celebration of the nation’s deliverance from Egypt while at the same time they were pledging allegiance to Rome. And their actions were a total contradiction of everything they said they believed in.
So, that was what they were doing and here they were standing before Pilate, who was a heathen in their minds, telling him they wanted to kill someone even though they couldn’t seem to come up with a good reason for killing Him.
Now, the way Pilate is described in the gospel of John is so realistic that we can actually understand some of the pressure that he’s under. On one hand, he’s got this crowd of Jews who want him to do something that he knows is wrong while on the other hand he’s got Jesus who he realizes is a victim of their prejudice, their hatred and their devotion to the business of religion. And on top of all of this, he knows he’s got the emperor of Rome looking over his shoulder and telling him to do what’s right and don’t allow things to get out of control or he’s going to get himself into a pile of trouble. So, Pilate is where we would describe as being caught between a rock and a hard place because no matter what he does somebody is going to be mad at him. (I think I experienced just a little bit of that when I was on town council and I learned very early in the game that you can’t please all the people all the time.)
Now, I think Pilate would have liked to have done the right thing but at the same time he wasn’t willing to pay the price. And we can relate to him on one level because every once in a while we find ourselves confronted with a decision where we have to decide whether we’ll live for ourselves and get ahead of the game or live for God and pay the price for doing so. It may not be the same kind of life and death decision we see here but it’s the kind of decision where we have to decide whether we’ll do what’s right or what’s wrong.
And so, we come to verse 15 and we see how the Jewish leadership and their followers reacted to Pilate’s comment about Jesus being their king and it says, "But they cried out, away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, we have no king but Caesar." And this was the full, final, and absolute rejection of Jesus Christ as Israel’s King. And despite everything He had done and all that He said He was, He was despised and rejected and it wasn’t because He had offended them but because of the sinful nature of those who refused to accept Him.
And so as we look at verse 16 we see that Jesus has already been beaten and scourged by Pilate’s soldiers and as He stood there in absolute agony and pain, this crowd that were motivated by the religious leaders to cry out for more. And in Matthew 27:24-25 it says, "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous Person. See ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children." And with that statement, the children of Israel indicted themselves in the death of Jesus Christ.
You see, what they were saying when they said, His blood be on us and our children was, His death is our fault and regardless of those who try to blame everyone else but the Jews, it was them who brought Jesus to the Romans and without them there would be no crucifixion.
As we read this section we wonder how anyone could possibly be part of the crucifixion of Jesus, but this shows us the depravity and the depth of sin that lives in the heart of man. And it also shows us the character of religious hypocrisy that can claim to hold to the rituals of faith while killing the reality behind it.
I mean, think about this, these very men who were behind the death of Jesus would be teaching the equivalence of Sunday school classes for all the little Jewish kids the very next day. And they’d be telling them how God hates sin and wants them to live in a way that demonstrates His love for the rest of the world. And what they were saying was right but the message they taught had gone through their heads and out their mouths but it had never touched their hearts. Does this still happen to people today?
I have read several articles about Charles Stanley who is pastor of Atlanta’s First Baptist Church and probably one of America’s best-known preachers. Many of you have probably seen him on television or read his books. He had announced that he and his wife of 44 years had separated and this was about five years ago. And then he told his congregation that, if the separation turned to divorce, he would resign immediately. And a few weeks ago, the other shoe dropped when Stanley announced that the divorce was final but instead of resigning as he had promised to do Stanley vowed to stay on as senior pastor. He characterized it as being "faithful to God’s call." And then he put his leadership to a vote and in a congregation of some 14,000 people the vote was 86% to keep him on. And do you know what the strange part is, these people would hold to the exact same position on scripture as you and I would. I think he acted like these Pharisees who knew what to do and yet, they contradicted everything they believed.
So, this religious crowd called for the crucifixion and there was no more horrible death than a death like this. Even the Romans thought it was the worst way to die and they said they even shuddered to talk about it. Cicero declared that it was "the most cruel and horrifying death" and Tacitus said that it was a "despicable death."
Crucifixion we are told was invented by the Persians, picked up by the Carthaginians, and then passed on to the Romans. And it’s interesting to note that the Romans never used it for a Roman citizen, no matter how bad or disgusting his crime was because as far as they were concerned, it was the worst punishment that was only used to keep foreign slaves and criminals in line. And that tells us what they thought of Jesus because He died the death of a slave or a criminal.
Now, as we look at John’s Gospel, we have to remember that the purpose of his writing was to show that Jesus was the Son of God and here when He was being tortured, humiliated and then crucified, Jesus actually shines all the more because He was doing something He didn’t have to do. He was suffering and dying for you and I and not for Himself.
And in this section of scripture John actually picks out some of the more obscure prophecies that were fulfilled. For instance, in verses 16-18 it says, “Then delivered he Him, therefore, unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went forth into a place called ‘The place of a skull’, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the center."
Now, here’s the scene of the crucifixion and as I said John’s purpose is not to show the agony of Jesus’ death but it’s to allow us to see both His deity and the majesty as He fulfills prophecy. And there were all kinds of prophesies that were fulfilled at this time.
For instance, just look at the last three words of John 19:16 where it says, "and they took Jesus and led Him away." According to historians, the very idea of crucifixion was so terrifying that the one being crucified had to either be dragged or even carried to his place of execution. And yet, here we see Jesus and it says, they ‘led Him away’ and that tells us that He willingly followed. And that fulfills a specific prophecy from Isaiah 53:7 where it says, “He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter." And through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah said that when Jesus would go to His death He would be led and only lambs are led, a cow, a goat or a bull would either have to be dragged or driven.
And then we also see that Jesus was executed immediately after His trial and most of us would say, well, that makes more sense than a person sitting on death row for eleven years which is the average for people in the United States today but Roman law actually provided for a two-day interval between the sentencing at the trial and the execution. And the purpose of these two days was to allow any new evidence to be revealed or even to allow a man time to put his affairs in order. And yet, as we study this passage carefully, we see it had only been about two and a half hours since Jesus’ trial began before Pilate and when He was taken to be crucified.
This tells us that the leaders were really in a hurry and they wanted Jesus killed as soon as possible. And there were two reasons for this. First, they had their Passover celebrations and the people who were pushing to have the crucifixion right away were the same ones who were in charge of the Passover. And second, they didn’t want to waste a minute, just in case some of those who were Jesus followers were able to work up the crowds and deliver Him. So, they certainly weren’t about to allow two days to go by and so immediately after His sentence was pronounced, He was taken to be executed.
This corresponds to what Isaiah 53:8 says, "He was taken from prison and from judgment." And what Isaiah means is that He would go from prison to judgment to death and that wasn’t normal in a Roman trial. Normally, the prisoner would go from prison to judgment, back to prison for two days, then to death but Isaiah prophesied they would do it this way because God said this was how it would happen in order to fulfill prophecy.
And then John 19:17 says, "And He, bearing His cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha." And we know from the other gospels that while Jesus was carrying His cross to Calvary He stumbled under the weight of it and the cross was picked up by a man called Simon, the Cyrene. And the fact that He stumbled under the weight tells us He was exhausted from the blood loss He endured from the torture He received from the soldiers the night before.
We are also told in Matthew 27 that Simon of Cyrene was on his way to Jerusalem from out in the country and he was drafted by the Romans to carry Jesus’ cross. And you can’t help but wonder what affect Simon’s encounter with Jesus made on his life because Mark mentions in chapter 15 that Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus and so we’d wonder if he and his sons didn’t come to faith in Jesus Christ.
And then it’s interesting that in Acts 13 we meet a man called Simeon was called Niger, and Niger means black. And there are some commentators who think this Simeon was the same man as Simon of Cyrene and if he was then he would have been not only one of the first gentile missionaries.
Well, on the way to the place of crucifixion the soldiers would lead the victim through as many streets as possible and they had a man who led the procession who would be carrying a sign that listed the crimes that the person who was being crucified was convicted of and they did this for two reasons. First, it was a warning to everybody that crime doesn’t pay. And second, the Romans also had a sense of fairness because they were looking for any new witness or any new evidence that could be introduced into the case and anyone could stop the procession if they had evidence that hadn’t been heard. And if they did, then the case would go back to court and it would start all over again, but, if anyone tried to introduce any false evidence there would also be a new cross on the hill.
So, the sign that this person carried before Jesus was very significant because it was the same sign that was nailed to the cross above His head. And this sign was ordered by Pilate who mentioned several times that Jesus was innocent. Now, as I said, on this sign was the crime for which this person was to be crucified but in this case there was no crime because Jesus hadn’t committed any. And since there was no crime for Pilate to put on the sign, he saw this as an opportunity to take a shot at the Jews, who he couldn’t stand anyway because they blackmailed him into crucifying Jesus. So he used this as an opportunity to embarrass them.
We see this in verses 19-20 where it says, “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.” And there were several things wrong with this in the eyes of the Jews. First of all, Pilate wrote, "Jesus, of Nazareth" knowing that the Jews had a saying, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" You see, as far as they were concerned, Nazareth was a hick town and nobody who ever came from there amounted to anything. And they considered it ridiculous to even think that a king of all people could ever come out of Nazareth. So the first part of the title was a really offensive and belittling shot at them.
But even worse than that was the label ‘the king of the Jews’ and they certainly didn’t like that one either. But, you see Pilate wanted to mock them by showing them how small they were in his eyes because they forced him to crucify someone who wasn’t guilty of anything, so he announced to the world that this man was "The king of the Jews." And let’s face it, if this condemned criminal was really their king, then what kind of losers did that make them?
And then verse 21 says, "Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate." And I want you to notice that they called themselves ‘the chief priests of the Jews’ rather than the chief priests of God because it shows they were more committed to the Jewish cause than they were to God. And they said to Pilate, "Write not, The King of the Jews, but, He said, I am King of the Jews." And what they were saying was, your sign says He’s our king and you’re crucifying Him but we want to make it clear that He was nothing more than an imposter. You see, they were saying, if Pilate left the sign the way he had written it, it would look like the hope of Israel was being nailed to a cross and yet, he said, it stays the way it is and I’m sure that the longer they stared at the sign, the more it bothered them. And you can see the way Pilate was thinking, "I want the opportunity to make it appear like I’m crucifying your hopes and dreams because he was so filled with hatred for this crowd that he wouldn’t budge an inch.
And so it says, "Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written." And even though he thought he was just standing his ground to show them who was in charge, little did he know but he was he was acting under the sovereign control of Almighty God to declare the truth of who was dying there.
The obvious meaning of the inscription from the Roman perspective was that Jesus had claimed to be the king of the Jews and that crucifixion awaited anyone foolish enough to repeat such a threat against Rome and yet the actual words stated that Jesus was the messiah the whole nation was waiting for.
These Jews were highly skilled in debating over words and their meaning, but they didn’t win this battle because Pilate had had just about enough of them for one day and he wasn’t going to let them tell him what to do any more. He knew that his sign would both insult and embarrass them, and that was exactly what he wanted to do. His words would stand as they were written and that was the end of the discussion.
And although it looks like Pilate finally showed some backbone in front to this crowd, what he actually does is take a stand for something that really doesn’t mean that much while he lets everything important slip away. I’m sure we’ve all met people who are really stubborn about the things that don’t matter while they’re really weak about things that ought to be taken seriously. And that was Pilate, he was a man who majored in the minors.
And even though he made this sign to get even with the Jews God used it to say what He wanted said and that was that Jesus Christ is King. Philippians 2:10 says, "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth." And then Revelation 19:16 says, "And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." And so He was Israel’s king and the Jews had destroyed any hope they had as they gave up both their King and their kingdom.
We also notice that it says that Jesus suffered outside of the city. John 19:17 says, "And He, bearing His cross, went forth." He "went forth" out of Jerusalem and He did this because the Romans had a law that no one could be crucified within the city limits. And as I said before, the Jews had tried, on several occasions, to stone Jesus within the city, but God didn’t allow that to happen.
And the reason the crucifixion took place there was that all of the Old Testament offerings and repeated sacrifices were pictures of Jesus sacrifice, and in particular of the sin offering. For instance, in Exodus 29:14 it says, "But the flesh of the bullock, and his skin, and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire outside the camp: it is a sin offering." In other words, the sin offering had to be taken outside the camp of Israel. And then in Leviticus 4:12 it says, "Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth outside the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on the wood with fire; where the ashes are poured out shall he be burned." And Leviticus 16:27 says, "And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth outside of the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung."
In other words, all the sin offerings of the Old Testament had to be taken outside of the camp and they were a picture of Jesus and in order for Him to fulfill the plan of God, He had to die outside the camp.
So, there was no way He could have been stoned or executed within the city walls, because God had designed for Him to be the perfect fulfillment of every Old Testament sin offering and they were always taken outside the camp. That’s why the writer of Hebrews says, "For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate." In other words, Jesus was executed outside the city gates in order to fulfill the Old Testament prophecy.
And then John 19:18 says that when they had reached Golgotha, they crucified Him and this also fulfills prophecy. In Numbers 21 there is a very clear type of Jesus’ death where Israel had been sinning by complaining against God and Moses so God sent poisonous snakes to bite them. And in verses 6-9 it says, "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, we have sinned; for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of bronze, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass that, if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of bronze, he lived." And the idea was that the serpent was lifted up on high so that everyone could see it and all the people had to do was look as an expression of faith and they were healed. And this very illustration is a type of Christ because He was lifted up, so that all can look to Him and be healed from sin.
We also see where Jesus acknowledged that the serpent on this brass pole was a prophetic picture of Him in John 3:14-15. It says, "And, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." And then in John 12:32-33 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death He should die." In other words, when He died He would have to be lifted up.
So, the place where Jesus was crucified was outside of Jerusalem but it was also close to the road and there were many Jews who were on their way either to or from Jerusalem and they would have to pass by the scene of the crucifixion. And since, messianic hopes were running high, the words written above His head would have caught the attention of these people. We’re told the words were written in Aramaic which was the language of the Jews of Palestine and then in Latin which is the language of the Romans, and also in Greek which was the common language of the day in that part of the world. And as someone said, Aramaic was the language of religion, Latin was the language of law and Greek was the language of philosophy. And so, it would have been difficult for anyone who walked by not to have read it. And keep in mind that almost everyone spoke one of these three languages, so this was also an indication that what He was doing there He was doing for the whole world.
And then the last half of verse 18 also fulfills prophecy where it says, "and two others with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the center." And the significance of that is that it fulfills Isaiah 53:9 which says, "And He made His grave with the wicked" and Isaiah 53:12 says, "and He was numbered with the transgressors." In other words, Jesus had to die with criminals. And yet, we don’t see a humiliated Christ dying with criminals but what we see is an exalted Christ paying for the sin of the whole world as He died with those we needed Him most.
And this whole distasteful episode is a great illustration of what men intend for evil but God intends for good because one of those very thieves Pilate had crucified was won to the Lord on the cross. Luke 23:39-43 shows us how it happened when it says, "And one of the malefactors who were hanged railed at Him, saying, if thou be the Christ, save Thyself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we, indeed, justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in paradise."
And the amazing thing is, we think Jesus just casually spoke to the guy next to Him but keep in mind that all three of these men were nailed to crosses and yet even while He was dying and experiencing excruciating pain Jesus took the time to welcome this man into heaven. And we don’t know for sure but there’s always the possibility that both of these men may have been partners in crime with Barabbas who was set free.
I’m always baffled by the reaction of these two men. The one was saved and the other guy simply couldn’t care less. It’s hard to understand isn’t it? I’ve seen many people on there death beds and all of them were just like these two. I mean, some of them accepted the Lord and if they were sincere then the Bible says they were saved.
I remember I had a funeral for a man one day and I had just led him to the Lord a couple of days before in the hospital. And as I was sharing in the service how he had accepted the Lord and if he was sincere then he was in heaven today. And when I said that, you could hear the crowd gasping in disbelief. It was the strangest expression I’ve ever seen and it made me wonder, what kind of life did this guy live?
But, on the other hand, there were a couple of times when I shared the word with someone who was dying and they were no more interested then, then they were the day before. So, there will be those who accept God’s salvation while there will always be those who reject it but regardless of their reaction we need to be faithful and give them the opportunity.
Summary
So, as I’ve said many times since we began this series, John’s gospel is different from the other three in that he has only 6% of the same material that they do and the reason for this is John probably had copies of the other three and spent his time not only filling in the blanks of what they left out but also approaching the account of Jesus life from the perspective that he wanted to show everyone in the world that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and their savior. And that’s the message not only of this account of the crucifixion but also of the rest of the book as well.
From a human standpoint, the trial of Jesus was the greatest crime and the greatest tragedy of all history but from the divine viewpoint, it was the fulfillment of prophecy and the accomplishment of the will of God. And even though God was in charge of everything that happened that doesn’t resolve anybody of their responsibility for what took place.
I like how the poet wrote,
What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be.
One day your heart will be asking,
“What will He do with me?”
