After facing arrest (18:1-11) and several unfair trials by high priests and governors (18:12-40), Jesus was finally led away to be crucified by order of Pontius Pilate and the will of the people (19:1-16). Although Jesus was innocent of the charges brought against Him, the religious leaders had convinced the crowds that Jesus’ “blasphemous” claim to be the Son of God was not true and therefore He was deserving of death. Following Pilate releasing Jesus to be crucified by the Jews, the horizontal bar of the cross was placed on His shoulders and He was led to a place called Golgotha (19:17). John then writes “they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (19:18-19). Crucifixion was the most horrific form of death known to the culture of Jesus’ day because it was one of torture and extreme suffering. Basically, two wooden beams were put together in the shape of a cross while the victim’s hands and feet were nailed to it. His hands would be stretched across and nailed to the horizontal beam while his feet would be nailed to the vertical beam. It is also thought that a piece of wood was placed on the vertical beam for the victim to use as a seat, but it only served as a partial support and oftentimes elongated the suffering. As if that would not cause enough pain, the torturers would drop that cross into a hole in the ground where the victim would then hang for hours, naked and visible to all who would come near. John documents the following actions by the soldiers who crucified Jesus, “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part…. They said therefore among themselves, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be…’. Therefore the soldiers did these things” (19:23-24). Not only was this type of death painful, but also shameful. Jesus’ mother and some of His family stood by and watched as He suffered in agony (19:25-27).
“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’ Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (19:28-30). In this moment, Jesus realized that He had accomplished the work His Father had sent Him to do; in fact, when Jesus declared “It is finished”, He was declaring that the price for sin (death) had been “paid in full.” History tells us that this phrase Jesus used here has also been found on receipts when a person’s taxes had been paid in full. Jesus’ statement here was not regarding a financial transaction, but a spiritual one. His death fully satisfied the wrath of God upon sin and those who believe in Jesus as their Savior will be given eternal life. Jesus’ death on the cross was payment for our sin.
The soldiers saw that Jesus had died (19:31-37) and they entrusted His body to Joseph of Arimathea because Pilate had given him permission to bury Jesus (19:38). Nicodemus (John 3:1-10), as well as Mary Magdalene and another Mary (Matthew 27:57-61), also joined Joseph in preparing Jesus’ body for burial (19:39-40) and they laid Him in a new tomb (19:41-42). It seems anti-climatic for things to end this way in John 19. Jesus’ burial is almost matter-of-fact and is very distinct from the enormous crowds who followed Jesus while He was still alive. Many had followed Him during His life, but only a few were there after His death; however, Jesus’ death is a part of the gospel (good news) because in His death He identified with the death and burial every human being will face one day. Although many did not understand how Jesus’ death fit into God’s plan, I’m so glad that John’s account does not end here. The rest of the story is still to be told.
Dear God, thank You for sending Jesus to suffer death, so that I might have life through Him.
