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John 19:17-27
So the trial is over and Jesus stands condemned of charges that truly don’t make any sense at all. They are literally fictitious and taken completely out of context, but that is how it was to be for the Messiah, the Son of God to be rejected by the world – not just the Jews but also the Gentiles. And there wasn’t a Gentile government stronger at that time that the Romans that would have been better to represent the rest of the world.
It also brings up a thought before we get to our Scripture today. When we talk about this moment and when we speak of Christ’s birth or His death or His return to redeem His Bride, the Church, the Bible speaks about culmination of time. And I’ve talked about it a bit before. Again everything had to line up just right. For Scripture to be fulfilled Jesus had to die a certain way to fulfil prophecy. All of the things He did before He dies is the work He completed so that He could become the sacrifice that humanity needed to gain a right relationship with God the Father – it’s all through Jesus.
And so the hour is upon us, as it is upon Jesus.
John 19:17-27 (NIV) So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Now I know that we are not in chapter 20 yet, but we need to remember why John wrote his account of the Gospel of Jesus. And that comes from verses 30 and 31.
John 20:30-31 (NIV) Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Knowing that – let’s look closer at today’s passage and what John tells us about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. First is that Jesus carries His own cross. Now the other 3 Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell us, that Jesus started out carrying His cross but then a man named Simon of Cyrene was commanded to carry the cross for Christ part way.
Scholars are not certain why John chose to leave Simon out of his narrative. There is speculation of drawing a parallel between Jesus and Isaac or maybe that early on the Gnostics thought that Simon was crucified but not Jesus. And that would have opened up an entirely different set of issues. Honestly, no one has any certainty in regards to this. It does seem to speak of John’s ongoing thought that Jesus is in complete control of what is happening. Remember when Jesus answered the Roman soldiers and the Temple guards with “I Am He.” And then they stepped back and fell down – Jesus was in control. Here is the same thought or idea that John is trying to put into his account. And that the biblical scholars agree on.
I also find it interesting that John records the Jewish leaders of the day having an issue of how and what Pilate wrote on the sign that hung above Jesus’ head on the cross. It wasn’t just for Jesus, anyone who hung on a cross had a sign above their head with their crime written on it so that passers by would see what they were hanging for. The religious leaders of the day wanted it to be that Jesus claimed to be King of the Jews. And in essence Pilate told them to go packing – I wrote what I wrote was his response. And I’m guessing to John it was that Jesus indeed is the King of Kings, and that it should be noted in this way.
We also see more fulfillment of Scripture in the casting of lots for Jesus’ clothing. And then that Jesus provides for the care of His mother – Mary. Jesus has other siblings to care for her, but it may be that they do not believe in Him. We aren’t told why John the Beloved is asked to care for Mary. It’s what many believe to be the beginning of what we so fondly call the Family of God – showing the idea of adoption into this family through belief in Jesus as the Messiah.
At any rate Jesus is now on the cross, the work finished that qualifies Him as the sacrificial lamb – He literally becomes the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world.