The Word Made Fresh
1So, Pilate took Jesus into custody and had him flogged. 2The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and draped him with a purple robe. 3They would get right in his face and yell, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and slap him.
4Pilate went out again and said to the Jews, “Look, I’m bringing him out to you. I’m telling you I find no case against the man.”
5They brought Jesus out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, “Here he is!”
6But when the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
Pilate said, “You take him out and crucify him yourselves. I find no case against him.”
7The Jews replied, “According to our law he should die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
8When Pilate heard this, he was even more reluctant. 9He returned to the praetorium and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus said nothing. 10Pilate said, “You refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the power to release you or crucify you?”
11“You would have no power over me,” Jesus answered, “unless it comes from above. The one who handed me over to you is guilty of the greater sin.”
12Again, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews yelled, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Those who claim to be a king set themselves against the emperor!”
13When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench at the Stone Pavement, known as Gabbatha in Aramaic. 14It was about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. Pilate said to the Jews, “Here is your king!”
15They screamed, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Do you really want me to crucify your king?” Pilate asked them.
And the chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16Then Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified. They took Jesus, 17carrying the cross himself, to the place known as Golgotha in Aramaic, the Place of the Skull. 18They crucified him there with two other men, one on either side of him. 19Pilate had an inscription placed on the cross, which read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20A lot of the Jews read this because the crucifixion site was near the city, and the inscription was in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 21The chief priests asked Pilate not to write, ‘King of the Jews,’ but ‘This man said I am king of the Jews’ instead. 22Pilate retorted, “What I have written I have written.”
23When the soldiers crucified Jesus they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each of them. They also took his wrap, which was of one piece with no seam. 24They agreed not to tear it, but cast lots to see who would claim it, thus fulfilling the scripture which said, “They divided my clothes among themselves and cast lots for it,” and that is exactly what they did.
25All the while, his mother, his aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene were standing nearby. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son.” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time, the disciple brought her into his own home.
28Later, when Jesus knew it was finished, he said, in accordance with scripture, “I’m thirsty.” 29A bowl of sour wine was nearby, so they dipped a sponge in it, attached to a hyssop branch, and raised it to his mouth. 30Jesus received the wine, and then said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31Because it was the day of Preparation, the Jews didn’t want the bodies left hanging on crosses during the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath was a day of solemn remembrance. They asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and their bodies removed from the crosses. 32The soldiers came and broke the legs of the other two men who had been crucified with Jesus, 33but they saw that Jesus had already died, and they didn’t break his legs. 34Instead, one of them took a spear and stabbed Jesus’ side; and blood and water came out. 35(An eyewitness has told us this so that you will also believe it happened – his testimony can be trusted; we know he tells the truth.) 36All of this happened to fulfill the scripture, “None of his bones shall be broken.” 37Another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
38After all this took place, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (though secretly because he was afraid of the Jews) asked Pilate for permission to claim Jesus’ body. Pilate gave his approval, so Joseph came and removed the body. 39And Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus by night, also came and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds, 40and the two of them took Jesus’ body, wrapped it in linen strips with the spices, as was the burial custom of the Jews. 40There was a garden nearby in which was a new tomb which had never been used. 42So, since it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus’ body there.
Commentary
1-7: Pilate turns Jesus over to soldiers who go about the task of humiliating him. But Pilate seems determined not to kill Jesus, and tells the Jews a second time that he can find no charge to justify the death sentence. To this, the Jews begin chanting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate declares for the third time that he can find no case against Jesus, to which they reply that he claimed to be the Son of God. This is the first time that term has been used since Jesus was on his way to raise Lazarus (11:27). It has not been used until now as a complaint against him by the Jews.
8-12: Pilate is shaken by this new piece of information. He goes back in to interrogate Jesus, who is still being quite uncooperative, but nevertheless absolves Pilate of culpability in his death. Pilate again tries to release him, but the Jews threaten to complain to Caesar.
13-16: At this point Pilate seems to convene a public trial. He presents Jesus as their king, perhaps hoping to ridicule them into submission. They respond by claiming Caesar as their king, and getting this endorsement from them, he gives Jesus back to the soldiers to have him crucified.
17-24: John specifically states that Jesus carried the cross by himself, though the other gospels all mention Simon of Cyrene (Matthew 27:32, etc.). All four mention the two thieves crucified with Jesus, and all four report the inscription placed above him, though only John tells us it was in three languages and that the chief priests appealed to Pilate to reword the sign and that Pilate shrugged them off. John reports the soldiers dividing his clothes, as do Matthew and Mark, but only John mentions the seamless tunic and the quote from Psalm 22:18.
25-27: John tells us that three women named Mary were there along with his mother’s sister, whose name is not given. Of the other three gospels, only Mark mentions women who are witnesses, but includes different names (Mark 15:40). John is the only one who records that Jesus provides for his mother by asking the disciple “whom he loved” to care for her.
28-30: Matthew, Mark, and John each report the attempt to give Jesus vinegar or sour wine. Only John, however, mentions that act as a response to Jesus crying out about his thirst, and only John reports the last words, “It is finished,” although Matthew and Mark remember that he cried out in anguish (Matthew 27:52, Mark 15:37). Luke alone reports Jesus’ last words were “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).
31-37: Only John reports the soldiers breaking the legs of the victims at the request of the Jews, and the piercing of Jesus’ side, quoting Psalm 24:20 and Zechariah 12:10.
38-42: All four gospels report that Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for permission to take the body of Jesus. Only John, however, has him joined in this endeavor by Nicodemus. They take the body to a tomb and lay it there. Only Matthew tells us the tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea (Matthew 27:60), and only Matthew and Mark mention that the tomb was sealed with a stone (Matthew 27:61, Mark 15:46). John’s account almost gives us the idea that Joseph and Nicodemus happen to spot this empty, never-used tomb, and decide to deposit the body there because the Sabbath, a strictly observed day of rest, is upon them.
Takeaway
The unnamed “disciple whom Jesus loved” seems to be the only follower of Jesus who is present at the cross to witness the crucifixion up close. Anytime we are tempted to use our faith in Christ as a steppingstone to some measure of acclaim, we should remember the unnamed disciple and be satisfied to do the right thing even if no one ever knows we have done it.