John 35 Crucified
CRUCIFIED
#35
John 19:16-42
16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
28 After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
38 And after this Joseph of Arimathæa, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand” (John 19:16-42).
Crucifixion
The Romans aren't squeamish. You do not slaughter your enemies by the thousands if you can't handle the sight of blood. You don't use the spectacle of unimaginably creative violence in the amphitheater to pacify the masses if cruelty and violence is not a deeply ingrained part of your social DNA.
Yet even for the Romans, the cross was shameful. They wouldn't even entertain the idea such a barbaric practice could have been created by them. It was beneath them. Roman writers speak of the word "crucifixion" as being hard for their ears to take.
No matter the crime, Roman citizens were never to be crucified. In fact, the notorious Roman magistrate Gaius Verres was tried and exiled for his crimes and cruelty as a leader in Sicily. Cicero, recorded in Against Verres, details his abuses of power, including, but not limited to, the crucifixion of Publius Gavius. That was a major problem. He was a Roman citizen. To be a citizen of Rome, like Paul, for example, afforded you the respect and dignity of beheading for capital crimes rather than the disgrace of crucifixion.
Jesus didn't have the honor of Roman citizenship. After His arrest, beatings, and corrupt trials, Pilate "handed Him over to them to be crucified" (John 19:17). John is the only gospel to mention Jesus "bearing His own cross" (John 19:17).
The other gospels mention a man, apparently well known to the recipients of Mark's gospel, named "Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus)" who was ordered "to bear the cross" (Mark 15:21). Tradition developed that Jesus was so battered and physically exhausted as He tried to carry the cross that He repeatedly fell under its load. Thus, the cross was handed to someone standing nearby to carry for Jesus. That Jesus could still stand at all is astonishing.
When Jesus arrives at the Place of the Skull, He is nailed through His wrists to the crossbar and suspended in the air on the cross. This gruesome moment has been alluded to a number of times by Jesus already. As Moses' healing bronze serpent was exalted high, so the saving Son of Man has been lifted up above the people (John 3:14). In this moment, all men are being drawn to the saving power of Jesus and the "ruler of this world," the devil himself is being defeated (John 12:31-33). God's glory is seen in the exaltation of Christ. Even, or perhaps especially, the exaltation of the cross.
Scripture Is Fulfilled
In John's description of Jesus on the cross, he repeatedly appeals to the fulfillment of Scripture. This continues a trend beginning with Jesus' farewell meal with His disciples (John 12:37-40; 13:18; 15:24-25; 17:12; 19:23-24; 19:28-29; 19:36-37) and culminates with His death on the cross. Even after His death, when He is pierced through with a spear, He is still fulfilling scripture.
The crucifixion was not unexpected or some demoralizing failure. It did not catch God off guard. It did not halt the coming of the kingdom. Rather, it is fulfilling the long-awaited climax of God's plan. In fulfillment of Scripture, the cross is the means by which God brings His upside-down kingdom into the world.
The first passage fulfilled on the cross is when the soldiers divide up His clothes and cast lots to see who gets to keep His tunic. The passage cited is from Psalm 22:18, a Psalm of David crying to God for help in his time of hopeless despair.
You may remember this Psalm is also quoted by Jesus in Matthew and Mark: "My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?" (Mark 15:34; Matthew 27:46; Psalm 22:1). The second passage fulfilled is not explicitly stated. It's when Jesus says, "I am thirsty," and they give Him sour wine to drink (John 19:28-29). This is almost certainly an allusion back to Psalm 69:21, "And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."
This Psalm is also a Davidic cry of distress. It's the Psalm quoted by Jesus when cleansing the temple (John 2:17; Psalm 69:9) and fulfilled when Jesus says, "They hate Me without cause" (John 15:25; Psalm 69:4). Like Psalm 22, this is a king's cry of distress which becomes closely connected to the death of Jesus. It is interesting to note over half of all of John's citations come from the Psalms.
The third and fourth passages are closely linked to the spear piercing Jesus' side. The first, "Not a bone of His shall be broken," is clearly a reference to the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12) on the day of preparation (John 19:31, 35-36, although the wording is also quite close to Psalm 34:20.
Finally, John 19:37 directly quotes Zechariah 12:10, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." If you turn your Bible back to Zechariah 12:10, you'll notice this image is one of Divine protection for the house of David against his enemies, and it is God who says, "They will look on Me whom they have pierced." In fact, "In that day ... the House of David will be like God" (Zechariah 12:8-10).
These citations inform us this is all part of God's plan. At the cross, more than anywhere else, we need to remember God is still in control. It is not the Roman soldiers, Pilate, the Jews, or Caesar. In these citations, Jesus takes on the role of the Davidic king, the house of David, and the role of the Passover Lamb. On the cross, it is all fulfilled. On the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30).
That famous final phrase of Jesus should give us all pause. That brief three-word sentence in our Bibles is actually just one Greek word, tetelestai. The same word is used just two verses earlier to describe what had been "accomplished (tetelestai) to fulfill the Scripture." Those two verses should be read together.
On the cross, Jesus fulfilled, accomplished, and finished it all. The perfect tense of tetelestai indicates it has been and will forever be accomplished, finished, and fulfilled. The feasts, the Exodus, the house of David, Messianic expectation, creation, and new creation have all been anticipating this moment. Jesus, God's chosen King, accomplished it all.
The Death of a King
Jesus is the King who brings fulfillment. He accomplishes what no one else could--not just for one group or one nation, but for the whole world. That's why the sign on the cross itself, written in three languages for all men, Jew, Roman, or Greek, the powerful proclamation: "The King of the Jews" (John 19:19-20). He's wearing a crown for a reason. When the Jews ask Pilate to revise the plaque above the head of Jesus, he refuses, "What I have written I have written" (John 19:22). At the trial, Jesus is dressed as a King (John 19:2- 3). On the cross, Jesus is proclaimed as a King (John 19:19-22). And after His death, Jesus is buried as a King (John 19:38-42).
Here, Nicodemus makes his final appearance. He's with a man named Joseph, a secret disciple. Nicodemus is a disciple at night, and Joseph is a disciple in secret, but at the death of Jesus, they both come forward. They have seen it. They have seen God's King. This is Nicodemus' third appearance in John (John 3:1; 7:50; 19:39). Each time we see him, he seems to be getting closer to "seeing the kingdom" (John 3:3).
This burial gives us reason to be optimistic. Slaves are not buried in beautiful, new garden tombs. Criminals are not decorated with 100 Roman pounds of myrrh and aloes. Joseph and Nicodemus are on a journey. I hope we can meet them one day to ask them about it.