John 19:16-24

16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."

22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

24 "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

"They divided my clothes among them

and cast lots for my garment."

So this is what the soldiers did.



Dig Deeper

I hate to admit this, but I really like the 1990’s action television show, Walker Texas Ranger. I know it’s a bit cheesy but I like the show nonetheless. One of my favorite episodes is one in which Walker, played by the brilliant actor Chuck Norris, is injured apprehending a criminal. In order to rest and recuperate, his fiancee takes him on what is supposed to be a relaxing white water canoeing trip down a river. What Walker doesn’t know, however, is that the leader of the trip is actually an escaped convict who has killed the real guide and taken his identity to try to escape the manhunt that is on for this criminal. After a while, Walker figures out who this guide leader really is. As he confronts the man and prepares to subdue him as only Walker can do, Walker is struck from behind in the head by a canoe paddle from the bad guy’s up-to-this-moment unknown accomplice. The antagonist rolls the unconscious Walker into the river and he seems to be dead. For the next half hour of the show, the criminal and his accomplice make themselves known, pull out some guns and intend to take the rest of the group to a place where they can finally make their complete escape. Walker’s fiancee is torn because she has always relied on Walker as an almost superhuman individual who would always save her, but now the bad guy tells her that Walker is dead. What does she do now? What hope is there now? All hope seems lost, but those of us who have watched this show many times should know better than that. After we’ve been led to believe that he was dead, we are now shown that he only seemed that way. He had survived, climbed out of the river, and is now on the hunt. We should have seen that coming all along.

Jesus is about to be led to one of the most brutal forms of death ever devised by man. The Romans were good at crucifixion and they used it as a weapon of terror and intimidation. It was a repugnant and reviled institution, one that mannerly people would not even speak of in the presence of others. It was reserved for the vile, slaves, revolutionaries, bandits, the worst of criminals. Jewish historian Josephus said that it was the "most pitiable of deaths." Yet, John has spent his entire Gospel showing us that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the true word and representation of the Father. He was the one, John has shown, through whom the Father was acting to restore his fallen creation and deal with the problem of sin. So, how can he be all of that and do all of that if he is about to be put to a very cruel death? In one sense, we can certainly say that if we’ve read the rest of the Bible that we should know better, but John has given us more than just that. He has given us very subtle clues that should tip us off that this is a story of someone that everyone thought was dead at the hands of those who intended evil, but whose seeming death will actually be the very means of the salvation of God’s people. We’ll get to all that in a moment, but first let’s look at the picture that John has painted for us.

Pilate has given into fear and self-preservation and hands Jesus over to the will of the Jews. He will be taken off for the vicious verberatio beating which could leave bones and organs exposed, sometimes even killing the criminal before he could be taken to crucifixion. After being stripped, tied to a post and beaten within an inch of his life, Jesus was given his own crossbeam of the cross to carry to a place outside of the city where crucifixions took place. The other Gospels tell us that Simon of Cyrene was needed to help a badly weakened Jesus finish the journey to Golgotha, but John , stressing the isolation of Jesus, doesn’t add that detail, likely assuming that his readers are already well aware of it. Jesus is now nailed to the cross and hoisted up to suffer the excruciating pain of a punishment that was so brutal that Roman citizens, regardless of their crime, could not be punished to crucifixion unless Caesar himself gave specific permission.

In describing the horrors of crucifixion, biblical commentator, Anreas Kostenberger says, "For hours (if not days), the victim would hang in the heat of the sun, stripped naked and struggling to breathe. In order to avoid asphyxiation, he had to push himself up with his legs and pull with his arms, triggering muscle spasms that caused almost unimaginable pain. The end would come through heart failure, brain damage caused by reduced oxygen supply, suffocation, or shock. Atrocious physical agony, length of torment, and public shame combined to make crucifixion a most horrible form of death."

Having given into the demands and threats of the Jews, Pilate knows that he no longer need fear anyone going to Tiberius Caesar with anything that he would have to fear. With that threat removed, Pilate returns to his defiance and desire to take every opportunity to snub the Jews. He puts a sign on top of Jesus’ cross that confirms that Jesus has been officially crucified for the treason of claiming to be king, but it also show that Pilate gains a small measure of petty revenge. He has given into their demands, but he will bite back with a sign that basically says this is the only king you’ll every be worthy of. Look at him, this is your king, and this is what Rome will do to any of you that thinks he is worthy of being king. There is a third purpose in the sign, though. It is the ironic symbolism that John no doubt sees in it. The irony in all of this is that the sign is true. He is the king of the Jews, in fact he is the true king of the whole of creation. The Jews protested this insult from Pilate, but Pilate is not in the mood to listen to any of their petty complaints. They can hardly run back to Caesar and cry that Pilate was mean to them so the the sign will stand, written in the three major languages of this area of the world, declaring the true logos to all who could see it. The very act of his death on the Cross is how he would come into his glory and fulfill his own words, " lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself" (Jn. 12:32).

As the crucifixion wears on, four of the soldiers take Jesus’ clothes and divide them among him. His under garment, a seamless robe, was nice though (although not a luxury item that demonstrated massive wealth as some prosperity gospel preachers have falsely claimed). There was no point in tearing it so they would cast lots to see who wins this gruesome lottery.

John believed that this all happened as a fulfillment of the Scriptures, Psalm 22 in particular. Psalm 22, a passage which Jesus would refer to himself as he died on the cross (Matt. 27:46; Mk. 15:34). Psalm 22 is the song of God’s suffering servant. The one who was reviled, encircled by his enemies, and then done the indignity of watching his tormentors gamble for his clothes. Yet, the servant appeal to God for delivery, something that seems hinted at in the end of the Psalm: "They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn: He has done it!" (Ps. 22:31).

Certainly in referring to this passage, John has left us a very subtle hint of what might be to come, but there is an even clearer, though still quite subtle hint here. John specifically tells us of the robe that was stripped from him but not torn to pieces. What biblical story does that seem to echo? If you thought of Joseph and his robe (Gen. 37:3, 23, 31-33) then you’re right. In that account, Joseph was encircled by his brothers who had become his enemies, stripped of his robe and was dead, at least in the mind of his father. For all intents and purposes in the minds of those who know him, Joseph has suffered the indignity of death. Evil has overtaken him and he is gone. Yet, as we read on in Genesis, we know that is not the end of the one who had his robe stripped from him. He was off preparing a place for his family as the people of God. They didn’t know this, of course. They thought he was dead.

This was perhaps particularly problematic for his father who was no doubt haunted by memories of a dream that he believed God had given to Joseph in which his entire family would bow down to him. How could this happen now if he was dead? Later, however, when Joseph’s family was suffering from drought, they sought relief, only to discover that Joseph is not dead he is alive. In the very act that his brothers had taken against, an act that caused everyone to believe he was dead, had actually led to there very salvation. The account culminates in Genesis 50:20, which declares that "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

In the little details of the robe and the reference to Psalm 22, John has clued us into what God is up to in all of this. The Messiah will be surrounded, he will be mistreated and shamed by his enemies, which will culminate in his death. Or so it seems. In this case, however, he really will die, but that’s that not the end of the story. In that very act that man has intended for evil, God has planted the seeds of the saving of many lives.



Devotional Thought

John gives us the detail that Jesus was hung on the cross between two insurrectionists. A popular song written from the perspective of one of those men asks the question, "who is this man, this man beside me." How would you answer that question to someone who has lived their entire lives in rebellion against God? How could you explain to them that the man that died on that cross is really the king of the whole world?