John 19:12-22

CONDEMNED AND CRUCIFIED

Text: John 19:12-22

12

Upon this Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend; every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

13

When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment-seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

14

Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King!

15

They therefore 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.

16

Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified.

17

They took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself, unto the place called The place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha:

18

where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

19

And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20

This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek.

21

The chief priests of the Jews therefore said 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.

Queries

a.

What is the Preparation of the passover?

b.

Why did the Jews claim no king but Caesar?

c.

Why did Pilate insist (John 19:21-22) that his title for Jesus not be changed?

Paraphrase (Harmony)

Upon this Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment-seat at a place called the Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King! They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify the King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. So when Pilate saw that he prevailed nothing, but rather that a tumult was arising, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; see ye to it. And all the people answered and said, His blood be on us, and on our children. Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified. And when they had mocked him, they took off from him the purple and the robe, and put on him his garments, and led him away to crucify him.

They took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself, And when they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, passing by, Simon by name: coming from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, him they compelled to go with them, and laid on him the cross, to bear it after Jesus.

And there followed him a great multitude of the people, and of women who bewailed and lamented him. But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. For behold, the days are coming in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? And there were also two others, malefactors led with him to be put to death.
And when they came unto the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha: they offered him wine to drink mingled with gall: and Myrrh: but when he had tasted it, he would not drink. And it was the third hour, and there they crucified him, and with him the malefactors, two robbers; one on his right hand, and the other on the left. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And Pilate wrote a title also, the superscription of his accusation and put it up over his head on the cross. And there was written, This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, the King of the Jews; but, that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

Summary

The Jewish rulers, seeing their pigeon about to escape, intimidate Pilate with subtle inferences concerning the procurator's patriotism and loyalty to Caesar. This is enough to sway the vacillating Pilate. He sentences Jesus to be crucified against the urgings of his own conscience.

Comment

The subtleness of the accusation brought by the Jews (John 19:12) did not cause Pilate to miss its import! They are not merely accusing Pilate here in Jerusalem, but infer that they will accuse him before Caesar in Rome. The charge will be that Pilate is incompetent to punish those convicted of treason. The Jews were sure that even such a rumor reaching the ears of Caesar would do Pilate no good. Pilate had found the Nazarene innocent of any attempt to cause sedition. But a good part of political maneuvering was then, as now, based upon rumor and public opinion. Pilate could not afford even the rumor to drift back to Rome that he let a possible rebel go.

This ended the matter with Pilate. A decision had to be made. He must listen to his conscience and release a man not guilty of anything more than what he deemed proclaiming a religious philosophy, or, he must, for expediency's sake, sentence this Nazarene, accused of seditious talk lest these influential Jews spread rumors about his incompetency which would reach the ears of Caesar causing him to forfeit his position, perhaps even his life. He quickly chose the latter. He brought Jesus out of his quarters inside the Tower of Antonia unto the public place of judgment called The Pavement. The Tower of Antonia was a sort of a tower-castle connected with the Jewish temple on the northwest corner probably built by Herod the Great and named by him in honor of Mark Anthony. A Roman legion was stationed in the castle to guard against sedition and revolt which would be more apt to originate in the temple courts and at the great festivals of the Jews. The Roman procurator of Palestine came there often (especially at passover time) to supervise military operations at critical times. For the location of The Pavement see our comments on John 18:28. Most probably the judgment-seat was an elevated dias like those uncovered by archaeologists in the Grecian cities of the apostle Paul's time, If so, it was open to the public. The crowd could gather around and witness the sentencing.

In John 19:14 we have another of John's notations of time. The Preparation of the passover was Friday. It is plain that Preparation is the word then used to mean the sixth day of the week, Friday, when one compares Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54 with John 19:14. It is also very evident that Jesus was crucified on Friday, not on Wednesday or Thursday. Preparation was the day designated for preparation for the Sabbath. The entire week of passover celebration was designated simply, passover. Thus this Preparation of the pass-over was the Friday which fell within that particular passover week (cf. Special Study No. Three at the end of this chapter entitled, Was Jesus Crucified on Friday?).

Arndt and Gingrich's Greek lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature has this to say on the word paraskeue (Preparation): ... acc. to Jewish usage (Josephus, Antiquities, 16, 163; Synesius, Ephesians 4:1-32 p. 161D) it was Friday, on which day everything had to be prepared for the Sabbath, when no work was permitted. for the Christians as well paraskeue served to designate the sixth day of the week, Friday.

The next note of time in this fourteenth verse has caused some critics of the Bible to claim a contradiction. If the reader will check Mark 15:25 he will find Mark stating that Jesus was crucified at the third hour. Yet John says here in John 19:14 that Pilate did not sentence Jesus until the sixth hour. We have said before that John undoubtedly uses the Roman method of computing time (cf. our comments on John 1:39; John 4:6; John 4:52, etc.). If this be so then John's sixth hour would be about six o-'clock a.m. whereas Mark's third hour would be nine o-'clock a.m. There would be no contradiction here. There is only a supposed problem of about three hours (which could actually be about two and one-half hours) between Pilate's sentencing and the actual crucifixion. Considering the fact that Jesus had to carry His cross part of the way and considering the narrow streets and the crowds thronging the way from the Praetorium to Golgotha and considering the stops that were no doubt made along the way it could easily have taken two and one-half hours. Pilate, wishing to torment his opponents, brought the humiliated, mutilated Nazarene out to the mob and cried, Behold, your King! with the emphasis on King!

The answer of the Jews, We have no king but Caesar, is pregnant with inference and ambiguity! They are inferring that Pilate has not been altogether loyal to Caesar by seeking to release this Nazarene whom they have pronounced seditious. They are saying, We have no king but Caesarwhat about you Pilate?-' With their lips they pledge allegiance to Rome but their hearts are far from it. In the past they have followed false deliverers and saviours. Even now if one would come and raise up an earthly army and claim a temporal throne they would recant their allegiance to Rome and side with the revolt. They are shrewd politicians (as well as being crafty priests) and are wise enough to pledge allegiance to Caesar as long as Caesar is the most powerful.
Pilate, though he conscientiously believed Jesus innocent and though he would like nothing better than to do injury to his tormentors, by releasing Jesus, surrenders to expediency and delivers Jesus to his subordinates to be crucified.
Golgotha means, in Hebrew, skull. Calvary comes from the Latin language and also means skull. The exact location of Golgotha is a moot question. Some locate it about 250 yards northeast of the Damascus gate on a hill shaped like a skullthis is Gordon's Calvary. Most locate it where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher stands today in Jerusalem (which is inside the walls of modern Jerusalem). There is strong inference that Jesus was crucified outside the walls of Jerusalem in Hebrews 13:12. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered without the gate. This, however, may be a figure of speech indicating that He suffered outside the camp of Judaism having been excommunicated for blasphemy. None of the four gospels indicate specifically that the place of crucifixion was outside the city walls. John says, John 19:41, that near Golgotha was a garden in which was the tomb where they buried Jesus. Some have supposed this had to be outside the city walls. We like what Andrews, Life of Our Lord. says; Fortunately, here, as often, it is of little importance whether the traditionary site be or be not the true one. The fact of the Lord's resurrection is a vital one, but not whether He arose from a tomb in the valley of Jehosaphat, or on the side of Acra. The little value attached by the apostles to the holy places appears from the brevity with which they speak of them when they allude to them at all. Not to the places of His birth and of His burial would they turn the eyes of the early Christians, but to Himselfthe ever-living One, and now the great High Priest at the right hand of God.

We do not know which place is correct. Golgotha was outside the city walls (cf. John 19:20for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city;). Where the walls were in the days of Jesus is not absolutely certain.

Death by crucifixion was the most dreaded death in all the ancient world. It was the type of death reserved for slaves and criminals. Death by this method usually followed the same routine. We quote here from Wm. Barclay: When the case had been heard, and the criminal had been condemned, the judge uttered the fateful sentence: -Ibis ad crucem,-' -You will go to the cross.-' The verdict was carried out there and then. The criminal was placed in the center of a quaternion, a company of four Roman soldiers. His own cross was placed upon his shoulders. It is to be remembered that scourging always preceded crucifixion, and it is to be remembered how terrible scourging was. Often the criminal had to be lashed and goaded along the road, to keep him on his feet, as he staggered to the place of crucifixion. Before him there walked an officer with a placard on which was written the crime for which he was to die. He was led through as many streets as possible on the way to the place of execution. There was a double reason for that. There was the grim reason that as many as possible should see it, and should realize that crime does not pay, and should take warning from such a fate. But there was a merciful reason. The placard was carried before the condemned man, and the long route was chosen, so that if anyone could still bear witness in his favor, he might come forward and do so. By Roman law a criminal must hang upon his cross until he died from hunger and thirst and exposure, a torture which sometimes lasted for days. But by Jewish law the bodies must be taken down and buried by nightfall. In Roman law the criminal's body was not buried, but was simply thrown away for the vultures and the crows and the pariah dogs to dispose of:

Such was the tortuous death to which the Son of God was subjected. In hanging on a tree at Calvary He bore the curse of the law for all men (cf. Deuteronomy 21:23; Galatians 3:13). In being crucified as a criminal, between two criminals, He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12, He was numbered with the transgressors. He was made to be sin on our behalf (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:14-19).

The superscription, accusation, title placed on the cross above the head of Jesus read, THIS IS JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This was the full title and was written in Hebrew, the language of the Jews; in Roman, the official language of the occupation government; in Greek, the international language of the day. Some have found a contradiction in the gospel records because of this inscription. Matthew (Matthew 27:37) records, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Mark records, The King of the Jews, (Mark 15:26). Luke (Luke 23:38) records, This is the King of the Jews. John records, Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews,-' (John 19:19). Hendriksen has an excellent answer to this: Where, just where, is the discrepancy? Is a person who has witnessed an accident a liar because he does not report everything that occurred?. It certainly was not necessary for each Gospel writer to write down all of the words. Each gives the gist, as he sees it.

Now when the chief priests saw this superscription they were enraged. They certainly did not want the world to see such an inscription over one being crucified as a common criminal. Especially this meek and humble Nazarene. The cross has always been a stumbling block to the Jews (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:22-25). They do not to this day accept the idea of a Suffering Servant Messiah (cf. Isaiah 53:1-12). He was not their king!

Pilate has conceded all he is going to! He will not give in to his agitators. In fact he is determined to have the last word. He will make the last rapier thrustthrow the last dart. All the populace in and around Jerusalem during this great passover time will see what the powerful Roman empire thinks of the Jews and their king! He will have his way and so what he has written will stand. Perhaps, as Hendriksen suggests, God's providence directed the hand of Pilate as he wrote the title. Surely Jesus was the King of the Jews. He was the One of whom all the O.T. prophets wrote (cf. Isaiah 2:1-22; Isaiah 9:1-21; Isaiah 11:1-16; etc.). The title, as such, was indeed true.

Quiz

1.

What did the Jews mean to accomplish by crying out to Pilate, If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend. ?

2.

What is the Preparation of the passover? Was Jesus crucified on Friday?

3.

How do we reconcile the alleged discrepancy between Mark and John as they report the time of Jesus-' crucifixion?

4.

Why did the Jews insist, We have no king but Caesar? Was their statement true?

5.

Where is Golgotha located relative to the city of Jerusalem?

6.

What significance is there in the fact that Jesus was crucified between two criminals?

7.

Why did the Jews plead with Pilate to change the title upon the cross of Jesus?