The dreadful tragedy is still continued; and that it is so in the same line of thought and with the same object as before, is evident from the parallelism between chap. John 18:33-40 and chap. John 19:1-16. The subject is the humiliation of Jesus, the half-hearted efforts of Pilate to release Him, a... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:1. THEN PILATE THEREFORE TOOK JESUS AND SCOURGED HIM. It is the scourging itself that is the prominent thought, not the fact that it was inflicted by order of Pilate. The name of the governor indeed is mentioned, but this seems simply to be because without his authority the punishment could... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:2-3. AND THE SOLDIERS PLATTED A CROWN OF THORNS, AND PLACED IT ON HIS HEAD, AND THEY PUT ON HIM A PURPLE ROBE, AND THEY CAME UNTO HIM AND SAID, HAIL, KING OF THE JEWS! AND THEY GAVE HIM BLOWS WITH THEIR HANDS. All is in mockery of His royal claims: first the crown of thorns, secondly the pur... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:4-5. AND PILATE WENT OUT AGAIN, AND SAITH UNTO THEM, BEHOLD, I BRING HIM OUT TO YOU, THAT YE MAY PERCEIVE THAT I FIND NO CRIME IN HIM. JESUS THEREFORE CAME FORTH, WEARING THE CROWN OF THORNS AND THE PURPLE ROBE. AND HE SAITH UNTO THEM, BEHOLD, THE MAN! The difference between the situation he... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:6. WHEN THEREFORE THE CHIEF PRIESTS AND THE OFFICERS SAW HIM, THEY CRIED OUT, SAYING, CRUCIFY! CRUCIFY! The advance from what is stated at chap. John 18:40 to the present point is at once perceptible. Then the Jews refused to have Jesus released to them, and cried out for Barabbas. Now their... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:7. THE JEWS ANSWERED HIM. WE HAVE A LAW, AND BY THE LAW HE OUGHT TO DIE, BECAUSE HE MADE HIMSELF SON OF GOD. The ‘We' is emphatic. ‘Thou, Pilate, mayest pronounce Him innocent; and He may be innocent of all such crimes as are wont to be tried at thy bar. But _We_ have a law, and that law den... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:8-9. WHEN PILATE THEREFORE HEARD THIS WORD, HE WAS THE MORE AFRAID; AND HE WENT AGAIN INTO THE PALACE, AND SAITH UNTO JESUS, WHENCE ART THOU? The remarkable expression by which the Evangelist designates the language of the Jews deserves our notice, ‘this word.' It is not a mere saying that t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:10. PILATE THEREFORE SAITH UNTO HIM, SPEAKEST THOU NOT UNTO ME? KNOWEST THOU NOT THAT I HAVE POWER TO RELEASE THEE, AND THAT I HAVE POWER TO CRUCIFY THEE? There is no trace of spiritual feeling in these words; nothing but the sense of offended dignity, that to one in his position, and posses... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:11. JESUS ANSWERED HIM, THOU WOULDEST HAVE NO POWER AT ALL AGAINST ME, EXCEPT IT HAD BEEN GIVEN THEE FROM ABOVE; FOR THIS CAUSE HE THAT DELIVERED ME UP UNTO THEE HATH GREATER SIN. These words call attention to the fact that the source whence Pilate derived his power, ‘from above,' was the sa... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:12. UPON THIS PILATE SOUGHT TO RELEASE HIM. The verb ‘sought' in the original implies that Pilate now made repeated attempts, not recorded, to effect with consent of the Jews the release of his prisoner. The attempts were vain. BUT THE JEWS CRIED OUT, SAYING, IF THOU RELEASE THIS MAN, THOU... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:13. 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. The decisive moment is now come; and, according to the frequent method of our Evangelist, the way is prepared for it by the mention of... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:14. AND IT WAS PREPARATION-DAY OF THE PASSOVER; IT WAS ABOUT THE SIXTH HOUR. It is not to be denied that the difficulties connected with each of these two clauses are very great; and we have again to regret, as at chap. John 18:28, that in a commentary such as this it is impossible to do jus... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:15. THEY THEREFORE CRIED OUT, AWAY WITH HIM, AWAY WITH HIM, CRUCIFY HIM. Instinct tells them that the last moment when they may accomplish their object is arrived: and, roused to the utmost pitch of fury by the words of Pilate, they cry out, with a quick repetition of words corresponding to... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:16 a. THEN THEREFORE DELIVERED HE HIM UP UNTO THEM TO BE CRUCIFIED. The tragedy has reached its climax; and in this single sentence the rest of the direful story may be told. John 19:16 b. THEY THEREFORE RECEIVED JESUS. ‘ They,' not the soldiers, but the chief priests of John 19:15 and the J... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:17. AND BEARING THE CROSS FOR HIMSELF HE WENT FORTH UNTO THE PLACE CALLED THE PLACE OF A SKULL, WHICH IS CALLED IN HEBREW GOLGOTHA. It is a trace of the accuracy of John both in observing and relating facts, that he is the only Evangelist who mentions the circumstance. Nor is there any contr... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:18. WHERE THEY CRUCIFIED HIM, AND WITH HIM TWO OTHERS, ON EITHER SIDE ONE, AND JESUS IN THE MIDST. On the lingering torture of death by crucifixion it is unnecessary to dwell. We learn from the earlier Gospels that the two crucified along with Jesus were robbers (Matthew 27:38; Mark 15:27).... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:19. AND PILATE ALSO WROTE A TITLE, AND PUT IT ON THE CROSS; AND THERE WAS WRITTEN, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. The object, as before, was to do despite to the Jews, not to Jesus. To the last moment their terrible crime must, under the overruling providence of God, be brought home... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:20. THIS TITLE THEN READ MANY OF THE JEWS, FOR THE PLACE OF THE CITY WHERE JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED WAS NIGH. The language in which this proximity of Golgotha to the city is spoken of is in a high degree remarkable: not ‘the place was nigh to the city,' but ‘the place of the city was nigh.' We ar... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:21. THE CHIEF PRIESTS OF THE JEWS THEREFORE SAID TO PILATE, WRITE NOT, THE KING OF THE JEWS, BUT, THAT MAN SAID, I AM KING OF THE JEWS. The offence taken might have been, and probably was, expected by Pilate; but the mode in which it is described is again highly worthy of our notice. This is... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:22. PILATE ANSWERED, WHAT I HAVE WRITTEN I HAVE WRITTEN. It is impossible to mistake the feeling of the Evangelist that in all this the finger of God is to be traced. Those who refuse to ‘believe' shall yet be compelled to own that Jesus is King.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:23. THE SOLDIERS THEREFORE, WHEN THEY HAD CRUCIFIED JESUS, TOOK HIS GARMENTS, AND MADE FOUR PARTS, TO EVERY SOLDIER A PART; AND ALSO HIS TUNIC: NOW THE TUNIC WAS WITHOUT SEAM, WOVEN FROM THE TOP THROUGHOUT. The soldiers are no longer a ‘band.' They are only four in number, the usual number o... [ Continue Reading ]
This paragraph details some of the events of the crucifixion, but not in strict historical sequence to John 19:21-22. The conference with Pilate there alluded to following as it did the reading of the inscription spoken of in John 19:20, must have been later than the moment when the division of the... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:24. THEY SAID THEREFORE TO ONE ANOTHER. LET US NOT REND IT, BUT CAST LOTS FOR IT, WHOSE IT SHALL BE. Both in the dividing and in the casting of lots the Evangelist sees Scripture fulfilled. THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILLED, THEY PARTED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND UPON MY VESTURE THEY... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:25. BUT THERE STOOD BY THE CROSS OF JESUS HIS MOTHER, AND HIS MOTHER'S SISTER, MARY THE WIFE OF CLOPAS, AND MARY MAGDALENE. In Matthew 27:55 we are told of ‘many women beholding from afar.' But as there is nothing to say that the moment was the same as that now before us, the supposed contra... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:26-27. WHEN JESUS THEREFORE SAW HIS MOTHER, AND THE DISCIPLE STANDING BY, WHOM BE LOVED, HE SAITH UNTO HIS MOTHER, WOMAN, BEHOLD, THY SON. THEN SAITH HE TO THE DISCIPLE, BEHOLD, THY MOTHER; AND FROM THAT HOUR THE DISCIPLE TOOK HER UNTO HIS OWN HOME. The act thus recorded has been variously i... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:28. AFTER THIS. JESUS KNOWING THAT ALL THINGS ARE NOW FINISHED, THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE ACCOMPLISHED, SAITH, I THIRST. It is a question whether the words ‘that the Scripture might be accomplished' are to be connected with what precedes or with what follows. In favour of the former connec... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:29. THERE WAS SET THERE A VESSEL FULL OF VINEGAR: THEY PUT THEREFORE A SPONGE FULL OF THE VINEGAR UPON HYSSOP, AND BROUGHT IT TO HIS MOUTH. It is possible that the vinegar here referred to may have been the mixture of vinegar and water used by the Roman soldiers to quench their thirst; or it... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:30. WHEN JESUS THEREFORE HAD RECEIVED THE VINEGAR, HE SAID, IT IS FINISHED; AND HE BOWED HIS HEAD, AND DELIVERED UP HIS SPIRIT. It is not said that Jesus took much of the vinegar, and the probability is that He did not. When He had taken it He exclaimed, ‘It is finished.' The word is the sam... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:31. THE JEWS THEREFORE, BECAUSE IT WAS PREPARATION-DAY. It has already been remarked (on John 19:14) that the word here used has in itself the double meaning of ‘preparation' and of ‘Friday.' Here, without the article, it cannot have the general sense of ‘the preparation.' Any thought of pre... [ Continue Reading ]
Jesus is now dead, and this paragraph relates the events immediately following, before His body was removed from the cross.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:32. THE SOLDIERS THEREFORE CAME AND BRAKE THE LEGS OF THE FIRST, AND OF THE OTHER WHICH WAS CRUCIFIED WITH HIM. The bodies had been suspended on the cross with Jesus in the midst. It is natural to suppose that the soldiers, approaching from two opposite sides, would proceed in the order thus... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:33-34. BUT WHEN THEY CAME TO JESUS, AND SAW THAT HE WAS DEAD ALREADY, THEY BRAKE NOT HIS LEGS; BUT ONE OF THE SOLDIERS WITH A SPEAR PIERCED HIS SIDE, AND STRAIGHTWAY THERE CAME FORTH BLOOD AND WATER. The explanation of the fact here recorded has always been felt to be attended with peculiar... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:35. AND HE THAT HATH SEEN HATH BORNE WITNESS, AND HIS WITNESS IS TRUE; AND HE KNOWETH THAT HE SAITH TRUE, THAT YE ALSO MAY BELIEVE. It is of himself that the Evangelist speaks: compare 1 John 1:1-3. The witness that he bears is ‘true.' The word differs from that which is used in the second m... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:36-37. FOR THESE THINGS CAME TO PASS, THAT THE SCRIPTURE MIGHT BE FULFILLED, A BONE OF HIM SHALL NOT HE CRUSHED; AND AGAIN ANOTHER SCRIPTURE SAITH, THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED. The passages referred to in the first of these quotations seem to be Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12, ra... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:38. AND AFTER THESE THINGS JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA, BEING A DISCIPLE OF JESUS, BUT SECRETLY FOR FEAR OF THE JEWS, ASKED OF PILATE THAT HE MIGHT TAKE AWAY THE BODY OF JESUS: AND PILATE GAVE HIM LEAVE. HE CAME THEREFORE AND TOOK AWAY HIS BODY. It is easy to understand that Pilate should at once gr... [ Continue Reading ]
The paragraph before us records the committal of the body of Jesus to the tomb.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:39. AND THERE CAME ALSO NICODEMUS, WHICH AT THE FIRST CAME TO HIM BY NIGHT, BRINGING A MIXTURE OF MYRRH AND ALOES, ABOUT AN HUNDRED POUND WEIGHT. The quantity of spices thus brought by Nicodemus is certainly remarkable; and hence some have shrunk from taking the words in their literal sense,... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:40. THEY TOOK THEREFORE THE BODY OF JESUS, AND BOUND IT IN LINEN CLOTHS WITH THE SPICES, EVEN AS THE MANNER OF THE JEWS IS TO PREPARE FOR BURIAL. It is hardly possible to suppose that the fact mentioned in the last clause is without a purpose. The words ‘even as' would of themselves seem to... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:41. 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. Nothing further is told by John of the garden and of the sepulchre thus referred to. We learn only from the other Evangelists that they belonged to Joseph, and t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 19:42. THERE THEREFORE, BECAUSE OF THE PREPARATION-DAY OF THE JEWS (BECAUSE THE SEPULCHRE WAS NIGH AT HAND), LAID THEY JESUS. These words can hardly mean that Jesus was laid in this tomb simply as a matter of convenience, owing to the nearness of the Sabbath. The meaning must rather be that, ow... [ Continue Reading ]