Isaiah 52:13-15, Isaiah 53:1-12; Psalm 22:1-31; Hebrews 10:16-25; Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 5:7-9; John 18:1-40, John 19:1-42.
(A) JESUS THE MAN OF SORROWS.
Isaiah 52:13-15; Isaiah 53:1-12 – Fourth Servant Song.
1. The introduction to this prophecy of the Passion of Jesus begins not with His humiliation, but with His exaltation (Isaiah 52:13). The letter to the Hebrews speaks of Jesus, ‘who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God’ (Hebrews 12:2). The reason for Jesus’ Passion was to accomplish the salvation of the “many” (Isaiah 52:14-15; Isaiah 53:11-12; cf. Mark 10:45; Mark 14:24).
The path to our salvation was, for Him, just as hard as He had prophesied (Mark 10:33-34). The gory details of His suffering are scattered throughout this Song. Our emotional response to this picture ranges from “astonishment” (Isaiah 52:14) to incredulity (Isaiah 53:1).
Some people read the verb at the beginning of Isaiah 52:15 as ‘startle’ - but “sprinkle” is more in keeping with the sacrificial system which lies at the back of much of the thought here. The religious imagery being invoked is that of the solemn Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:19) - with Jesus as not only the supreme sacrifice, but also as the High Priest who sprinkles the blood on the altar (Hebrews 9:12). The irony of the passage is that the One who was so marred that His humanity was barely recognizable (Isaiah 52:14) becomes the source of cleansing for others (Isaiah 52:15).
2. “Who has believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1). In the Cross, the “arm of the LORD” – His strength and power - was being revealed. Who else could have dreamt up such a scheme for the salvation of mankind?
There is nothing about this picture which draws us to Jesus: it is more likely to repel us. He may have looked well enough to His Father: as “a root out of dry ground” (Isaiah 53:2) - but now humankind can see nothing to commend Him. In that awful moment of history, there was nothing whereby we could recognize His majesty – and where now was His beauty?
Throughout history people have drawn back from our Jesus, recoiling at the very thought of the Cross. It is not that He turned away from men, but that men turned away from Him (Isaiah 53:3). He was despised, and we accounted Him as nothing worth.
3. The reason for all this, the specific Mission of Jesus, is explained in the middle section of the Song. The repulsion evoked by the Cross of Jesus is countered by the recognition of the substitutionary character of His sacrifice (Isaiah 53:4). We may have seen Jesus as One “stricken” by God – but the toll which He was paying was not His own.
No, indeed, it was for OUR sins that He was “wounded” and “bruised” (Isaiah 53:5). These are strong verbs, carrying the idea of being “pierced” and “crushed” in some translations. The continued interplay between pronouns emphasises what HE (Jesus) did for US.
Before I began going the Lord’s way, I was like the rest of my generation: ‘going my own way’ (cf. Isaiah 53:6). Like sheep, when one of us (Adam) went astray, we all went astray. Yet the LORD lays our guilt upon Jesus.
4. Next, Jesus Himself is compared to a sheep: but this time the picture is complimentary (Isaiah 53:7). His silence was because of His willingness to suffer. His sacrifice was voluntary (cf. John 10:17-18).
The violent death of Jesus resulted from a deliberate miscarriage of justice. At this point He appeared as a childless man walking the lonely path to His own execution. He was literally, “cut off from the land of the living” (Isaiah 53:8).
An executed man could not expect a place in the family mausoleum. Despite having done no wrong, Jesus was destined to be buried with the wicked (Isaiah 53:9). However, the intervention of Joseph of Arimathea brought with it the first hint of an upturn in Jesus’ situation (Matthew 27:57-60).
5. This painful account ends not with Jesus’ suffering, but with His vindication. Jesus is not childless after all, but “shall see His offspring” (Isaiah 53:10; cf. Hebrews 2:11-13). His days are “prolonged” through the Resurrection, and the will of the LORD continues to “prosper” in His hand.
The “wisdom” of Jesus was to know our plight as sinners, and to provide the remedy. The LORD distinguishes Jesus with the appellation, “My Righteous Servant” (Isaiah 53:11). Through Jesus’ offering of Himself, He is able to justify (make righteous) the many (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21).
Having “poured out His soul unto death” (Isaiah 53:12), Jesus is now raised up into heaven, there to intercede for the transgressors. Jesus went through what He went through for you and for me. It is by His blood that we are redeemed - and His blood avails for all who will receive Him (John 1:12).
(B) FROM DESOLATION TO PRAISE.
Psalm 22:1-31.
(I). Jesus Upon the Cross.
Psalm 22:1-21.
The details of the sufferings in Psalm 22:1-21 match more exactly the anguish of Jesus upon the Cross than anything that we can find in any of the written records of David’s life - and because of this the church has always read this Psalm of David as a Psalm of Jesus. Whatever deep sense of desolation rocked David into penning these words, his God-inspired prophetic insight reaches far beyond the limits of his own time and experience to the Cross of Jesus – and beyond. In this respect Psalm 22 stands alongside Isaiah 53 as a prophecy of the suffering of Messiah.
One of the famous ‘seven last sayings of Jesus on the Cross’ is known as the Cry of Dereliction. It appears to be a verbatim quotation of Psalm 22:1 (cf. Mark 15:34), but in fact the converse is true. It was the Spirit of Jesus who inspired the words that flowed from David’s mouth (2 Samuel 23:1-2).
Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Mark 15:34; cf. Psalm 22:1).
This is the only time when Jesus addressed the LORD as “My God” rather than “Father.” It is known as the cry of dereliction, or abandonment. Yet it is remarkable that, deserted though He may have felt, Jesus still knew God as HIS God. Believers can draw great strength from this, even at times when we too may feel bereft of the felt presence of God with us.
Jesus’ description of His dereliction is a sense of forsakenness, a sense of God being “far from helping me, (far from) the words of my roaring” (Psalm 22:1b). It is a terrible thing for any one of us to ever feel that way, but consider this: THE SON OF GOD WAS WILLING TO GO THROUGH ALL THIS FOR SINNERS SUCH AS WE!
Sometimes when we are not hearing from God, we try to think of reasons why it might be. What sin might I have committed that causes my prayers to seem to reach no higher than the ceiling? Yet it was Jesus, the Son in whom God was ‘well pleased,’ who gave voice to such a situation: “My God,” He says, “I cry by day, and you do not answer, and in the night season I am not silent” (Psalm 22:2).
Yes, He is still acknowledging the relationship: He is still “My God.” Jesus taught that God would do justice for His own elect, ‘though He bear long with them’ (Luke 18:7). Yet there he was, after a long night which began with Him praying in a Garden, and heaven seemed like brass above His holy head. All this for us, whose forbears sinned in another Garden!
“Yet,” begins Psalm 22:3. The lament does not lack an answer, even if it has to be provided by the lamenter. In this instance, it introduces a reflection on just who God is. He is the holy, covenant-keeping God of Israel, who inhabits the praises of His people. He delivered His people in times past: they trusted in Him, and were not disappointed (Psalm 22:3-5).
Sometimes such a recollection leaves us feeling our own smallness, and our own un-deservedness: but Jesus had no cause for such shame. He ‘knew no sin’ (2 Corinthians 5:21); He ‘did no sin’ (1 Peter 2:22); in Him is no sin (1 John 3:5).
“But I am a worm, not a man” reflected Jesus, returning to His lament. “A reproach of men and despised” (Psalm 22:6; cf. Isaiah 53:3). “All who see me mock me” (Psalm 22:7; cf. Mark 15:29). They say, “He trusted in the LORD… Let Him deliver Him” (Psalm 22:8; cf. Matthew 27:43).
“Yet,” Jesus reiterates (Psalm 22:9). The LORD was with Him from His mother’s womb (and even before, we might add!) The LORD was with Him when Joseph took Jesus and His mother to Egypt, and when they came back to live in Nazareth. And still, He is “My God” (Psalm 22:10). Such providential care is the portion of all of God’s people (cf. Isaiah 46:3-4).
And again the plaintive plea: “Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help” (Psalm 22:11). The LORD is the one who delivers when there is no-one else to help us (cf. Psalm 72:12).
“Many bulls” encompassed Jesus (Psalm 22:12; cf. Matthew 27:1; Acts 4:27). They were like lions (Psalm 22:13). For us (Christians), it is the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). ‘Save me from the mouth of the lion,’ cried Jesus (Psalm 22:21a).
The details of Psalm 22:14-15 are an accurate prediction of what it must have been like. His “bones” are out of joint, His “heart” is like melted wax, His “strength” is dried up, His “tongue” sticks to the roof of His mouth. And “Thou hast brought Me into the dust of death.”
The righteous sufferer feels like He is prey to a pack of wild dogs, surrounded by “the assembly of the wicked.” There were people baying for the blood of Jesus from the very start of His ministry, and all this came to a head before and around the Cross. Written centuries before the grotesque reality of execution by crucifixion, we have here a prophetic prediction of what happened to Jesus: “they pierced my hands and feet” (Psalm 22:16).
In the midst of His agony, the crucified One could look down at His bones: and He would see, as it were, His bones staring right back at Him (Psalm 22:17). That, and the gawking crowd (cf. Luke 23:35). Added to this was the indignity of seeing others casting lots for His clothes - as if He were already dead (Psalm 22:18; cf. John 19:23-24).
Yet in the midst of His sufferings, and despite His sense of desolation, Jesus continued to make His appeal to His God (Psalm 22:19). No matter how bleak our situation, nor whether we can ‘feel’ the presence of God or not, faith will persist: the object of our hope will not fail us. The LORD is our strength.
In His direst need, He casts His soul upon God. “Deliver me” (Psalm 22:20). “Save me” (Psalm 22:21). Then, out of the desolation, the triumph of a prayer breakthrough: “THOU HAST HEARD ME!” (Psalm 22:21b).
(II). A Paradigm of Praise.
Psalm 22:22-31.
Whatever deep sense of desolation rocked David into penning these words, his God-inspired prophetic insight reaches far beyond the limits of his own time and experience to the Cross of Jesus – and beyond. Therefore I have called this closing section of the Psalm ‘a paradigm of praise’ - not just because of its content, but especially because of its context.
The first person singular of Psalm 22:1-21 - ‘I’ – switches to persons plural from Psalm 22:22 onward, as the composer looks forward to the day when he will no longer be a stranger in the great congregation (Psalm 22:25). Have we the faith that sees beyond the affliction to its end (Job 23:10), beyond the fight to the victory (Psalm 22:22-24); to praise God in the midst of affliction like Paul and Silas (Acts 16:22-25)? David - and Jesus – envisaged an end to the present tribulation.
The Psalmist calls upon his brethren to join him in celebration of the victory wrought by God, who ‘has not despised the affliction of the afflicted’ (Psalm 22:23-24). The celebration takes the form of a testimonial feast, to which the whole congregation is invited (Psalm 22:25). Those who formerly shared his tears (cf. Romans 12:15), now have opportunity to rejoice with him.
The reference to “the meek” anticipates the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (cf. Matthew 5:5). Those who seek the LORD are told, “Your heart shall live for ever” (Psalm 22:26). This in turn points to the regeneration accomplished by Jesus: the making alive of those who were ‘dead in trespasses and sins’ (Ephesians 2:1).
Jesus eventually opened the doors of salvation to those outside the family: to the poor and afflicted, and even to strangers beyond the boundaries of Israel (Psalm 22:27-28). This universalisation of the gospel, rightly understood, is the fulfilment of the promise to Abraham (Genesis 12:3).
The keys of death are in the hands of Jesus, and “none can keep alive his own soul” (Psalm 22:29). All the dead shall at last bow down before Him (cf. Philippians 2:10-11). The present celebrants are joining the faithful of former generations in the Church Universal.
They are followed by “a seed” that shall yet serve the LORD (Psalm 22:30), who shall in turn declare His righteousness to a people yet unborn (Psalm 22:31). The gospel extends not only to the ends of the earth, but to the end of the age.
Another of the ‘seven last sayings of Jesus upon the Cross’ is known as ‘the Word of Triumph’: - ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30). This is a cry of completion, or accomplishment, not unlike the closing words of our reading: “He has done it” (Psalm 22:31).
Perhaps one aspect of ‘taking up our Cross daily and following Jesus’ (Luke 9:23) is that we should do so not just with a cheerful countenance, but also with praise upon our lips. How do we relate to setbacks in our lives? Do we stop praising because of them?
Our Psalm does not end with Jesus still on the Cross. The turning point is “Thou hast heard Me” (Psalm 22:21b). Christ has died. Christ is risen. There is a resurrection to follow for all the people of God. “He has done this” (Psalm 22:31).
(C) A CALL TO DRAW NEAR.
Hebrews 10:16-25.
It is interesting to note here that the Holy Spirit is witnessing to US through the Scriptures (Hebrews 10:15). He has re-introduced the new covenant of Jeremiah 31:31-34 in Hebrews 10:16; and He is now telling us that it is OUR sins and iniquities He will remember no more (Hebrews 10:17). If our sins are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus, then there is no further need for the sacrificial system represented by tabernacle and Temple (Hebrews 10:18).
“Therefore” (Hebrews 10:19) introduces the whole practical section of the letter, but also specifically the application of this point. The finished work of Jesus gives us confident access to God. It is by His blood, and through the metaphorical “veil of His flesh” that we thus boldly approach (Hebrews 10:20).
With Jesus as our high priest (Hebrews 10:21), exhorts the writer, let us:
“Draw near” (Hebrews 10:22) faithfully, with a sincere heart; and in the certainty of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ (which we call “assurance of faith”). Make your approach boldly, having had your conscience (inwardly) cleansed by the blood of Jesus, and having been outwardly washed in the obedience of baptism. Furthermore, let us:
“Hold fast” (Hebrews 10:23) to the confession of our hope. Ours should be a sturdy hope: because He who made the promises is reliable!
Finally (Hebrews 10:24-25), let us be considerate of other Christians, encouraging one another to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect the meeting together of Christian community, both giving and receiving the word of exhortation – and all the more so, said our writer all those centuries ago, as we see “the day” approaching.
(D) JESUS THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST.
Hebrews 4:14-16.
The priesthood of Jesus is superior to that of Aaron. As a man like ourselves, Jesus is a merciful and faithful high priest: yet, unlike Aaron, He is capable of facing and overcoming temptation on our behalf (Hebrews 2:17-18; Hebrews 4:15). For though He is a man, Jesus is also the Son of God (Hebrews 5:5).
The earthly tabernacle is only a shadow of the heavenly (Hebrews 9:11-14). The sons of Aaron needed to repeat their sacrifices and offerings over and over again, according to a complex ritual: morning and evening, Sabbaths, new moons, festivals; day by day, month by month, year by year. Jesus has provided the one full final perfect sacrifice for sins, once and for all and for ever, by His own blood (Hebrews 9:24-26).
Jesus’ priesthood is of a better order than that of Aaron (Hebrews 5:10; Hebrews 7:11). It is not genealogy which qualifies our Great High Priest, but the power of an indissoluble life (Hebrews 7:16). Jesus has passed into the heavens (Hebrews 4:14) - and is set on the right hand of God (Hebrews 8:1) - and there makes continual intercession for His people (Hebrews 7:25-27).
This gives us boldness to approach the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).
(E) JESUS THE AUTHOR OF ETERNAL SALVATION.
Hebrews 5:7-9.
Jesus’ offering is described here as “prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears” (Hebrews 5:7).
At Gethsemane Jesus cried ‘Take this cup from me’ – but also ‘not my will but yours be done’ (Matthew 26:39).
At Calvary Jesus cried to God in dereliction, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46).
Jesus well knew that God was able to save Him from death, and we are told here that God “heard” because of His reverence for, and submission to God (Hebrews 5:7).
However, the historical facts demonstrate not a deliverance from suffering, but a strengthening in suffering (Luke 22:43).
They demonstrate not a deliverance from dying, but a deliverance out of the jaws of death itself (Romans 1:4).
The facts also demonstrate a subsequent elevation into heaven to minister on our behalf (Hebrews 4:14).
Though He was a Son, we are told, yet He “learned obedience” through what He suffered (Hebrews 5:8).
Of course, Jesus was always obedient. The incarnation itself was an act of obedience, and Jesus did not stop at ‘death, even the death of the cross’ (Philippians 2:8).
We are also told that He was “made perfect” (Hebrews 5:9).
This does not imply that He was ever anything less than perfect, but rather that through His suffering and obedience His qualifications to the role and function of high priest were fully validated (Hebrews 2:10).
Jesus’ obedience becomes the model of our obedience. Through His obedience He is made the author of eternal life to all who obey Him (Hebrews 5:9).
This speaks of the obedience of faith (John 1:12).
It speaks of our obedience to the call to take up our own cross, and to follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24).
(F) THE PASSION ACCORDING TO JOHN.
John 18:1-40; John 19:1-42.
1). THE ARREST OF JESUS.
John 18:1-14.
After the Passover meal, the institution of the Lord’s Supper, the Upper Room discourse, and Jesus’ great high priestly prayer, Jesus led His disciples over the brook Kidron to the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1). Judas, possessed by Satan (cf. John 13:2; John 13:27), had already disappeared into the night (cf. John 13:30). Judas knew where Jesus would be, and turned up with a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, who came bearing lanterns, torches, and weapons (John 18:2-3).
Jesus remained in control of the situation. Nobody had been able to lay a finger upon Him prior to this, but now He knew His hour was come (cf. John 13:1a). Before anyone touched him, He stepped forward. “Whom do you seek?” He asked (John 18:4).
Back in the Garden of Eden, it was God who was doing the seeking. There, the guilty man Adam had hidden himself. Here in the Garden of Gethsemane, men were doing the seeking, and the innocent man Jesus willingly stepped forward for man’s salvation.
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “I am,” replied Jesus. Such was His power over them that they immediately went backward and fell to the ground. “Whom do you seek?” asked Jesus again. And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am” (John 18:5-8a).
Jesus’ love for His disciples (cf. John 13:1b) now came to the fore: “if therefore you seek me, let these go their way” (John 18:8b). Jesus’ high priestly prayer was already being fulfilled (John 18:9; cf. John 17:12). John had already noted that Judas “stood” with those sent to arrest Jesus, aligning himself with them (John 18:5b).
Simon Peter, impetuous as ever, drew his sword, and smote off the ear of the high priest’s servant. John knew this man by name. Jesus rebuked Peter, adding, “the cup which my Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:10-11).
Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane had demonstrated His willingness to drink the cup of His sufferings down to the very dregs: ‘not my will, but yours be done’ (cf. Luke 22:42). ‘What shall I say?’ Jesus had asked earlier; ‘Father save me from this hour? but for this cause came I unto this hour (cf. John 12:27). And thus, He would ‘endure the cross, despising the shame’ (cf. Hebrews 12:2).
We see something of the meekness of Jesus in that He who had done no wrong (cf. Luke 23:41) surrendered to them and allowed Himself to be bound (John 18:12). He could have called upon His Father, and He would have sent forth twelve legions of angels to defend Him (cf. Matthew 26:53). Instead, He submitted to the limited power of His foes, and was led away to Annas first (John 18:13), and then to Caiaphas (cf. John 18:24).
“Now Caiaphas was he who gave council to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people” (John 18:14; cf. John 11:49-50). Thus far the purposes of God, and the plans of men, coincided (cf. John 11:51-53) .
2). DENIALS AND TRUTH.
John 18:15-40.
Although the disciples all initially scattered immediately after Jesus’ arrest (cf. Matthew 26:56), Simon Peter and “another disciple” thereafter followed Jesus and gained entrance into the palace of the high priest. The girl at the door challenged Peter, but he who had earlier said to Jesus, ‘I will lay down my life for thy sake’ (cf. John 13:37) now denied being Jesus’ disciple. Peter then stood with “the servants and the officers,” with whom Judas had so recently stood (cf. John 18:5), on the pretext of “warming himself” at the fire (John 18:15-18).
How can we pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation’ if we purposely choose to keep company with the Lord’s enemies? This is to place ourselves in temptation’s way.
At the other end of the room, the high priest was interrogating Jesus about His disciples, and His teaching. Jesus refused to answer since, as He said, His teaching had been public not secret. It would have been more appropriate to ask those who heard Him (John 18:19-21).
After He said this, one of the officers who stood by delivered a blow to Jesus’ face. Jesus’ answer to this was, “If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why do you smite me?” According to the Greek text, it was at this point that Annas sent Jesus bound to Caiaphas (John 18:22-24).
“Now Caiaphas was he who gave council to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people” (cf. John 18:14; John 11:49-50). Thus far the purposes of God, and the plans of men, coincided (cf. John 11:51-53). Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas is recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
Meanwhile, back at the fire, Peter stood warming himself. Again he was asked, “Are you not one of His disciples?” and again he replied, “I am not.” Then a relation of the man whose ear Peter had cut off recognised him, and asked, “Did I not see you with Him in the garden?” Peter denied again, and the cock crowed (John 18:25-27).
John’s account hastens us onward with Jesus into Pilate’s court. The hypocrisy of Jesus’ accusers comes to the fore, as they hand over a man whom they have no evidence against, but refuse to enter the judgment hall lest they be defiled and unable to eat the Passover (John 18:28). Ironically, and unbeknown to themselves, the one who they were handing over to be killed was the true Passover Lamb.
The interview between Pilate and Jesus paints a pathetic picture, with Pilate scurrying back and forth between the prisoner within, and His accusers at the door. Pilate needed to hear what accusation they brought against Him, but they evaded the question. So, judge Him by your own law, suggested Pilate. “It is not lawful for us to put any man to death,” admitted the Jewish leaders (John 18:29-31). The scepter had indeed departed from Judah (cf. Genesis 49:10)!
This fulfilled the saying of Jesus , signifying by what death He would die (John 18:32; cf. John 12:32-33).
The King of kings stood accused before the tribunal of an earthly governor. The prisoner appeared so unlike the usual revolutionary that you could almost hear the scorn in the prefect’s voice: “You? The King of the Jews?” Are you asking for yourself, or did others put you up to it? wondered Jesus. “What have you done?” demanded Pilate (John 18:33-35).
Jesus assured Pilate that He posed no threat to Rome: His kingdom is of another order. Yet He did not deny that He is the One who was to come, hoped for by Israel, and expected by the Gentiles: and that everyone who is of the truth hears (i.e. obeys) Him. Counselled by none other than the ultimate manifestation and personification of truth, the Emperor’s representative whimpered “What is truth?” and declared to the crowd, “I find no fault in Him" (John 18:36-38).
Some, perhaps, of the Passover crowd had expected a Messiah who would overthrow the Roman government, but this ‘son of David’ (cf. Matthew 21:9) came instead to die for His people. It is not without reason that Jesus said to Pilate, “but now my kingdom is not from hence” (John 18:36).
When Jesus said, “To this end was I born,” (John 18:37), He was acknowledging His incarnation. When He said, “and for this cause I came into the world” (John 18:37), He was hinting at His Messiahship.
Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). He came into the world to save sinners (cf. 1 Timothy 1:15). He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (cf. John 10:10).
Given the choice of a prisoner to release, the fickle crowd chose Barabbas, a robber, rather than their King (John 18:39-40).
3). BEHOLD YOUR KING.
John 19:1-16.
The nineteenth chapter of John’s Gospel opens in the midst of the ridiculous drama of Pilate’s darting back and forth between the hypocritical Jewish leadership on the doorstep, who refused to come into the judgment hall of the palace ‘lest they be defiled and unable to eat the Passover’ (John 18:28), and the prisoner indoors. Pilate wished to wriggle out of the responsibility of condemning an innocent man, as he three times ruled Jesus to be (John 18:38; John 19:4; John 19:6), but nevertheless had Him scourged to appease His accusers (John 19:1). Thus was fulfilled the prophecy, ‘by His stripes we are healed’ (Isaiah 53:5).
Jesus had been arrested by His own people without a reasonable charge, and was now exposed to the cruel indignities of the Roman garrison. The cruel crown of thorns, which they would have thrust upon His head causing it to bleed; an old cast off purple robe to parody His kingship; the striking of His face with their hands, crying ‘Hail, King of the Jews’ in mocking disgust (John 19:2-3). Is there no end to the malice which a fallen world feels towards their Creator?
Pilate went outdoors again, to inform the Jewish leadership that he was bringing Jesus out to them, and that he “found no fault in Him.” The spectacle continued with Jesus coming behind him, a pitiful sight with the crown of thorns on His head, His mangled bleeding body wearing the purple robe. And Pilate announced, “Behold the man” (John 19:4-5). Yes, Pilate, ‘the man Christ Jesus’ (cf. 1 Timothy 2:5-6).
If it was Pilate’s intention to shame Jesus’ accusers into sympathy with their victim, he was sadly mistaken. The chief priests and the officers (the temple police) cried, “Crucify, crucify.” Pilate still wished to metaphorically wash his hands of the whole affair - a metaphor that he acted out in Matthew 27:24 - and suggested that they should crucify Him since they were the ones who wished Jesus dead (John 19:6).
It seems that the conversation was going round in circles. Pilate had already told them to judge Jesus by their own law, to which they had replied that it was illegal for them to put anyone to death (John 18:31). But now the Jewish leaders argued, “we have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). Yet the Jewish law would have required death by stoning (cf. Leviticus 24:16).
Jesus had already prophesied by what death He was to die (cf. John 3:14; John 12:32-33). It was prophesied, too, in the Old Testament: ‘they pierced my hands and feet’ (cf. Psalm 22:16; cf. Zechariah 12:10). The curse of the law; the curse that is upon mankind as a result of his eating of the forbidden tree, is borne away by Jesus becoming a curse for us by ‘hanging upon a tree’ (cf. Galatians 3:13).
When Pilate heard the accusation that Jesus had claimed that He is the Son of God, he became even more alarmed. He took Jesus indoors and demanded of Him, “Where do you come from?” Jesus kept His dignity, and refused to answer (John 19:8-9; cf. Isaiah 53:7).
Frustrated, Pilate threatened, “Do you not know that I have power to crucify you, and have power to release you?” To which Jesus did reply, “You could have no power against me unless it were given you from above: therefore he that delivered me to you has the greater sin” (John 19:10-11).
The Jewish priesthood should have known better, and therefore had the greater sin than Pilate. Now Pilate tried again to release Jesus, “but the Jews cried out, ‘If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar: whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar’” (John 19:12).
Pilate did hold an honorary title given to him by Tiberius Caesar, which was “Friend of Caesar.” The man who had nominated Pilate to receive this title had since been stripped of the title himself, so the last thing Pilate wanted to do was to upset his Emperor. At the same time, the Levitical priesthood was gradually stripping itself of any entitlement to be termed ‘friend of God’!
Pilate brought Jesus forth, and sat in the judgment seat. John reminds us that the season was Passover. Paul would later write, ‘Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us’ (cf. 1 Corinthians 5:7). Pilate now presented Jesus once more to the Jews: “Behold your King!” (John 19:13-14).
But they cried out, “Away with _, away with _, crucify Him.” Pilate’s response was, “Shall I crucify your king?” To which the chief priests, answered “WE HAVE NO KING BUT CAESAR!” (John 19:15). All thought of the theocracy had departed from their minds!
So now at last ‘the sceptre had departed from Judah’ (Genesis 49:10). And in one fell swoop, the Levitical priesthood had unwittingly forfeited their position in favour of a new and better priesthood (cf. Hebrews 7:14-17). Pilate had Jesus led away to be crucified (John 19:16).
4). THE CROSS AND BURIAL OF JESUS.
John 19:17-42.
JOHN 19:17. “Went forth.” The ultimate sin-offering, outside the gate (cf. Hebrews 13:12-13).
JOHN 19:18. “Where they crucified Him.” Typology of the brass serpent (cf. John 3:14). A hanged man is cursed by God (cf. Deuteronomy 21:23), and Jesus became a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the law (cf. Galatians 3:13). Others crucified with Him (cf. ‘numbered with transgressors,’ Isaiah 53:12).
JOHN 19:19. Jesus was crucified as “King.” This writing, and what (and who) it represented, ‘blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross’ (Colossians 2:14).
JOHN 19:20. The three languages proclaim the universality of His kingdom (cf. Matthew 2:2).
JOHN 19:21. “The chief priests of the Jews” versus “the king of the Jews.”
JOHN 19:22. “What I have written I have written.” Having yielded already to them, Pilate will yield no more. ‘Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain’ (cf. Psalm 76:10).
JOHN 19:23-24. The soldiers’ parting of His garments unintentionally serves to verify Scripture (cf. Psalm 22:18). “These things the soldiers did” is the Apostle John’s eyewitness testimony.
JOHN 19:25. The women at the cross. Their courage and perseverance (cf. Romans 12:12). Such hope rewarded later at the tomb.
JOHN 19:26-27. Jesus’ compassionate care for His grieving mother. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” is the Apostle John’s own signature (cf. John 13:23; John 20:2; John 21:7; John 21:20).
JOHN 19:28. After this, we read, Jesus knowing that all things, literally “have been finished.” (This is the same verb as the one word statement in John 19:30.) “That the Scripture might be fulfilled,” said, “I thirst” (cf. Psalm 69:3; Psalm 22:15). Everything about His death, you see, was ‘according to the Scriptures’ (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), both foretold in word of prophecy and prefigured in typology in the Old Testament.
JOHN 19:29. The use of a hyssop branch to reach a sponge full of vinegar to our Lord’s lips (cf. Psalm 69:21) reminds us of that used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb to the doorposts just before the exodus (Exodus 12:22). David’s famous prayer of repentance contains the words, ‘purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean’ (Psalm 51:7).
JOHN 19:30. “Finished!” translates as “It has been finished” (cf. John 17:4). His work for our salvation is completed, ‘to finish transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and the prophecy’ (cf. Daniel 9:24). Jesus was still in control, to His very last breath (cf. John 10:18), and now at last “bowed His head” and literally “delivered up the spirit.” Read John 10:11 and Philippians 2:8.
JOHN 19:31-33. The leaders of the Jews now requested of the Roman Governor, because it was the day of preparation before the Passover sabbath, that the legs of the executed men might be broken to smithereens in order to speed up death, and the bodies taken away from their crosses. But when the soldiers came to Jesus, they were surprised to find that He was already dead, and so had no need to break His legs.
JOHN 19:34. Instead, one pierced His side with a spear, but instead of a gush of blood alone, as they might have expected; there was a pouring forth of “blood and water,” medically explained as an efflux of blood clots and serum. In other words, Jesus’ heart was ruptured, broken. Symbolically, ‘a fountain is opened, for sin and uncleanness’ (cf. Zechariah 13:1). John refers to the water and blood elsewhere (cf. 1 John 5:6-8).
JOHN 19:35-37. John bears witness to what he has seen. These are facts of our faith, and he shares them that we might believe (cf. John 20:31). John quotes two more Scriptures in verification of the fact that “a bone of Him shall not be broken” (cf. Numbers 9:12), and “they shall look on Him whom they pierced” (cf. Zechariah 12:10).
JOHN 19:38-42. After the flow of blood and water, two hitherto “secret” disciples (cf. John 7:13) stepped forward: Joseph of Arimathea, and “Nicodemus who first came to Jesus by night” (cf. John 3:1-2). Pilate granted them permission to take custody of the body of Jesus. Nicodemus brought enough spices (cf. Psalm 45:8) for the burial of a king, which is singularly apt. With all due haste on account of the approaching sabbath, the two men “bound” the body, and laid it in an unused tomb in a garden nearby (cf. Isaiah 53:9).
The scene was set for the Resurrection.
