John 19

1. Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be taken away and whipped.

If Jesus was not the Messiah then:

There would have to be someone else who was born of a virgin. Isaiah 7:14

Who would be from the family of David. Isaiah 11:10

Was born in Bethlehem. Micah 5:2

Would come to Jerusalem on the exact day that Daniel had said. Daniel 9:25 – 26

Would be betrayed and sold for thirty pieces of silver, and the money would have to be thrown into the temple. Zechariah 11:13

This person would also have to fit with the rest of this chapter and have no bones broken, and be buried with the rich, and many other things. Can you see that God said all these things would happen to Jesus and there is no one else in history who has lived through all these things?

2 – 3

The soldiers used some thorny branches to make a crown. They put this crown on Jesus' head and put a purple robe around Him. Then they came to Jesus many times and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They hit Jesus in the face.

It was 8 o'clock in the morning. They were mocking God's right to be king over men.

4 – 5

Again Pilate came out and said to them, “Look! I am bringing Jesus out to you. I want you to know that I find nothing I can charge against Him.”

Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is the man!”

Pilate may have been trying to say, “Look how He has been whipped until He is half dead. Is this not enough for you?”

Isaiah said that He was beaten so badly that He did not even look like a man anymore. Isaiah 52:14

6. When the leading priests and the guards saw Jesus they shouted, “Kill Him on a cross! Kill Him on a cross!” But Pilate answered, “Take Him and nail him to a cross yourselves. I find nothing I can charge against Him.”

He is saying that he has not found Jesus guilty of rebellion against Rome and their claims about blasphemy have nothing to do with Roman law.

7 – 8

The Jews answered, “We have a law that says He should die, because He said He is the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid.

He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus did not answer him.

Pilate did not listen to the truth that Jesus had already told him. God does not give us more truth until we use what He has already told us.

10 – 11

Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don't you know that I have power to set You free and power to have You killed on a cross?” Jesus answered, “The only power you have over Me is the power given to you by God. The man Caiaphas who gave Me to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

Pilate's sin is that he knew Jesus was innocent and he knew that he had the power to let Him go, but he wanted to stay out of trouble with the Jews.

12. After this, Pilate tried to let Jesus go free. But the Jews cried out, “Anyone who makes himself king is against Caesar. If you let this man go free, you are not Caesar's friend.”

Pilate was in trouble with the leaders in Rome and he knew that if he did not do what the Jews wanted then he could lose his position.

13 – 15

Pilate heard what the Jews were saying, so all he brought Jesus out to the place called The Stone Pavement. (In the Jewish language the name is Gabbatha.) Pilate sat down on the judge's seat there.

It was about noon on the Preparation Day of Passover week. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!” They shouted, “Take Him away! Take Him away! Kill Him on a cross!”

Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to kill your King on a cross?” The leading priests answered, “The only king we have is Caesar!”

By now Pilate has seen that there is no way out of this situation. He sits on the judgment seat because he has already decided he will let Jesus be killed. But he wants to mock the Jews first. The Jews mock him also. They hate Rome but now they say they want no king but Caesar. They reject God as their king, just like they did in the days of Samuel. 1 Samuel 8:7

16 – 17

So Pilate gave Jesus to them to be killed on a cross. The soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to a place called The Place of the Skull. (In the Jewish language this place is called Golgotha.)

Some teachers disagree, but it is very interesting that there is a small hill still standing in Jerusalem with holes in the rocks and it looks like a skull. Hebrews 13:12, Genesis 22:6

18 – 22

There they nailed Jesus to the cross. They also put two other men on crosses, one on each side of Jesus with Jesus in the middle.

Pilate wrote a sign and put it on the cross. It read: “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

The sign was written in the Jewish language, in Latin, and in Greek. Many of the Jews read the sign, because this place where Jesus was killed was near the city.

The leading Jewish priests said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews.' But write, ‘This man said, I am the King of the Jews.'” Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written!”

Paul says something like this which shows that the devil would like to put a sign over our heads to condemn us and accuse us as sinners to the world. Colossians 2:14

23 – 24

After the soldiers nailed Jesus to the cross, they took His clothes. They divided them into four parts. Each soldier got one part. They also took his long shirt. It was all one piece of cloth, woven from top to bottom.

So the soldiers said to each other, “We should not tear this into parts. We should throw lots to see who will get it.” This happened to give full meaning to the Psalm: “They divided My clothes among them. And they threw lots for My clothing.” So the soldiers did this.

They divide My clothes among themselves and throw dice for My clothing. Psalm 22:18

25. Him and Jesus' mother stood near His cross. His mother's sister was also standing there, with Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Mary could have told everyone how the angel Gabriel had come to her and said that Jesus would be the Messiah. She could have told how God had caused the baby to grow before she was married. She believed what God had told her and Joseph about Jesus saving His people and ruling forever. She trusted God to do this no matter what things looked like to her eyes.

26 – 27

Jesus saw His mother. He also saw the follower [John] he loved standing there. He said to His mother, “Dear woman, [John] will be your son.”

Then He said to [John], “Here is your mother.” From that time on, [John] took her to live in his home.

Church history tells us that Mary lived in Ephesus with John after the Christians were chased out of Jerusalem.

28 – 30

After this, Jesus knew that everything had been done. The Psalms came true as He said, “I am thirsty.”

There was a jar full of vinegar there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it. Then they put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus' mouth.

Jesus tasted the vinegar. Then He said, “It is finished.” He bowed His head and died.

No man will save himself if he has made up his mind to save someone else from death. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon when Jesus died. He had been on the cross for three hours. The Psalms said that He would be thirsty and that they would give Him vinegar. Psalm 69:21, Psalm 22:15

31. This day was Preparation Day. The next day was a special Sabbath day. The Jews did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath day. So they asked Pilate to order that the legs of the men be broken and the bodies be taken away.

You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung on a tree is cursed in the sight of God. Deuteronomy 21:23

32 – 33

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man on the cross beside Jesus. Then they broke the legs of the man on the other cross beside Jesus.

But when the soldiers came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead. So they did not break His legs.

The Romans used, to break the legs of the man they killed on the cross to speed up their death. They did not break Jesus legs because he was already dead.

34 - 35

But one of the soldiers stuck his spear into Jesus' side. At once blood and water came out. The one who saw this happen has told about it. The things he says are true. He knows that he tells the truth. He told about it so that you also can believe.

False teachers say that Jesus was a spirit. John saw this and he wants us to know about the blood and water. A spirit does not have blood and water.

36. These things happened to make the Psalms come true: “Not one of His bones will be broken.”

He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. Psalm 34:20, Psalm 22:17, Exodus 12:46

37. Zechariah said, “They will look at the One they have speared.”

They will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only Son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn. Zechariah 12:10

38. Later, a man named Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate if he could take the body of Jesus. (Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus, because he was afraid of the Jews.) Pilate gave his permission. So Joseph came and took Jesus' body away.

They planned to bury Him with the wicked but He was put in a rich man's grave. Isaiah 53:9

39 – 42

Nicodemus went with Joseph. Nicodemus was the man who earlier had come to Jesus at night. He brought about 75 pounds of spices. This was a mixture of myrrh and aloes.

These two men took Jesus' body and wrapped it with the spices in pieces of linen cloth. (This is how the Jews bury people.)

In the place where Jesus was killed, there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. The men laid Jesus in that tomb because it was near , and the Jews were preparing to start their Sabbath day.

Joseph from Arimathea was a rich man and would not want to be buried next to a place where criminals were hung on crosses. He bought this tomb because it was close by and it was time to get ready for the Sabbath. Some teachers do not agree but there is a tomb exactly like the one shown to us in the Gospels still there in Jerusalem. Next to the hill that looks like a skull. It is an empty tomb, just as the Bible said it was.