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John Chapter
Nineteen
John 19
Pilate (chap. 19) gives way to his usual inhumanity. In
the account
however
given in this Gospel
the Jews are prominent
as the real
authors (as far as man was concerned) of the Lord's death. Jealous for their
ceremonial purity
but indifferent to justice
they are not content to judge
Him according to their own law; [1] they choose to have Him put to death by the
Romans
for the whole counsel of God must needs be accomplished.
It is on the repeated demands of the Jews that Pilate delivers Jesus
into their hands-thoroughly guilty in so doing
for he had openly avowed His
innocence
and had had his conscience decidedly touched and alarmed by the
evident proofs there were that he had some extraordinary person before him. He
will not shew that he is touched
but he is so (chap. 19:8). The divine glory
that pierced through the humiliation of Christ acts upon him
and gives force
to the declaration of the Jews that Jesus had made Himself the Son of God.
Pilate had scourged Him and given Him up to the insults of the soldiers; and
here he would have stopped. Perhaps he hoped also that the Jews would be
satisfied with this
and he presents Jesus to them crowned with thorns. Perhaps
he hoped that their jealousy with regard to these national insults would induce
them to ask for His deliverance. But
ruthlessly pursuing their malicious
purpose
they cry out
"Crucify him
crucify him!" Pilate objects to
this for himself
while giving them liberty to do it
saying that he finds no
fault in Him. Upon this they plead their Jewish law. They had a law of their
own
say they
and by this law He ought to die
because He made Himself the Son
of God. Pilate
already struck and exercised in mind
is the more alarmed; and
going back to the judgment hall again
questions Jesus. He makes no reply. The
pride of Pilate awakes
and he asks if Jesus does not know that he has power to
condemn or to release Him. The Lord maintains
in replying
the full dignity of
His Person. Pilate had no power over Him
were it not the will of God-to this
He submitted. It heightened the sin of those who had delivered Him up
to
suppose that man could do anything against Him
were it not that the will of
God was thus to be accomplished. The knowledge of His Person formed the measure
of the sin committed against Him. The not perceiving it caused everything to be
falsely judged
and
in the case of Judas
shewed the most absolute moral blindness.
He knew His Master's power. What was the meaning of delivering Him up to man
if it were not that His hour was come? But
this being the case
what was the
betrayer's position?
But Jesus always speaks according to the glory of His
Person
and as being thereby entirely above the circumstances through which He
was passing in grace
and in obedience to His Father's will. Pilate is
thoroughly disturbed by the Lord's reply
yet his feeling is not strong enough
to counteract the motive with which the Jews press him
but it has sufficient
power to make him throw back upon the Jews all that there was of will in His
condemnation
and to make them fully guilty of the Lord's rejection.
Pilate sought to withdraw Him from their fury. At last
fearing to be accused of infidelity to Caesar
he turns with contempt to the
Jews
saying
"Behold your King"; acting-although unconsciously-under
the hand of God
to bring out that memorable word from their lips
their
condemnation
and their calamity even to this day
"We have no king but
Caesar." They denied their Messiah. The fatal word
which called down the
judgment of God
was now pronounced; and Pilate delivers up Jesus to them.
Jesus
humbled and bearing His cross
takes His place
with the transgressors. Nevertheless He who would that all should be fulfilled
ordained that a testimony should be rendered to His dignity; and Pilate
(perhaps to vex the Jews
certainly to accomplish the purposes of God) affixes
to the cross as the Lord's title
"Jesus of Nazareth
the King of the
Jews": the twofold truth-the despised Nazarene is the true Messiah. Here
then
as throughout this Gospel
the Jews take their place as cast off by God.
At the same time the apostle shews-here
as elsewhere-that Jesus was
the true Messiah
by quoting the prophecies which speak of that which happened
to Him in general
with regard to His rejection and His sufferings
so that He
is proved to be the Messiah by the very circumstances in which He was rejected
of the people.
After the history of His crucifixion
as the act of man
we have that which characterises it in respect to what Jesus was upon the
cross. The blood and water flow from His pierced side.
The devotedness of the women who followed Him
less
important perhaps on the side of action
shines out in its own way nevertheless
in that perseverance of love which brought them nigh to the cross. The more
responsible position of the apostles as men scarcely allowed it to them
circumstanced as they were; but this takes nothing from the privilege which grace
attaches to woman when faithful to Jesus. But it was the occasion for Christ to
give us fresh instruction
by shewing Himself such as He was
and by setting
His work before us
above all mere circumstances
as the effect and the
expression of a spiritual energy which consecrated Him
as man
entirely to
God
offering Himself also to God by the eternal Spirit. His work was done. He
had offered Himself up. He returns
so to speak
into His personal
relationships. Nature
in His human feelings
is seen in its perfection; and
at the same time
His divine superiority
personally
to the circumstances
through which He passed in grace as the obedient man. The expression of His
filial feelings shews
that the consecration to God
which removed Him from all
those affections that are alike the necessity and the duty of the man according
to nature
was not the want of human feeling
but the power of the Spirit of
God. Seeing the women
He speaks to them no longer as Teacher and Saviour
the
resurrection and the life; it is Jesus
a man
individually
in His human
relationship.
"Woman
" He says
"behold thy
son!"-committing His mother to the care of John
the disciple whom Jesus
loved-and to the disciple
"Behold thy mother!" and thenceforth that
disciple took her to his own home. Sweet and precious commission! A confidence
which spoke that which he who was thus loved could alone appreciate
as being
its immediate object. This shews us also that His love for John had a character
of human affection and attachment
according to God
but not essentially
divine
although full of divine grace-a grace which gave it all its value
but
which clothed itself with the reality of the human heart. It was this
evidently
which bound Peter and John together. Jesus was their only and common
object. Of very different characters-and so much the more united on that
account-they thought but of one thing. Absolute consecration to Jesus is the
strongest bond between human hearts. It strips them of self
and they have but
one soul in thought
intent
and settled purpose
because they have only one
object. But in Jesus this was perfect
and it was grace. It is not said
"the disciple who loved Jesus"; that would have been quite out of
season. It would have been to take Jesus entirely out of His place
and His
dignity
His personal glory
and to destroy the value of His love to John.
Nevertheless John loved Christ
and consequently appreciated thus his Master's
love; and
his heart attached to Him by grace
he devoted himself to the
execution of this sweet commission
which he takes pleasure in relating here.
It is indeed love that tells it
although it does not speak of itself.
I believe that we again see this feeling (used by the
Spirit of God
not evidently as the foundation
but to give its colour to the
expression of that which he had seen and known) in the beginning of John's
first epistle.
We also see here that this Gospel does not shew us Christ
under the weight of His sufferings
but acting in accordance with the glory of
His Person as above all things
and fulfilling all things in grace. In perfect
calmness He provides for His mother; having done this
He knows that all is
finished. He has
according to human language
entire self-possession.
There is yet one prophecy to be fulfilled. He says
"I thirst
" and
as God had foretold
they give Him vinegar. He knows
that now there is not one detail left of all that was to be accomplished. He
bows His head
and Himself gives [2] up His spirit. Thus
when the whole divine
work is accomplished the divine man giving up His spirit
that spirit leaves
the body which had been its organ and its vessel. The time was come for so
doing; and by doing it
He secured the accomplishment of another divine
word-"Not one of his bones shall be broken." But everything bore its
part in the fulfilment of those words
and the purposes of Him who had
pronounced them beforehand.
A soldier pierces His side with a spear. It is from a dead
Saviour that flow forth the tokens of an eternal and perfect salvation-the
water and the blood; the one to cleanse the sinner
the other to expiate his
sins. The evangelist saw it. His love for the Lord makes him like to remember
that he saw Him thus unto the end; he tells it in order that we may believe.
But if we see in the beloved disciples the vessel that the Holy Ghost uses (and
very sweet it is to see it
and according to the will of God)
we see plainly
who it is that uses it. How many things John witnessed which he did not relate!
The cry of grief and of abandonment-the earthquake-the centurion's
confession-the history of the thief: all these things took place before his
eyes
which were fixed upon his Master; yet he does not mention them. He speaks
of that which his Beloved was in the midst of all this. The Holy Ghost causes
him to relate that which belonged to the personal glory of Jesus. His
affections made him find it a sweet and easy task. The Holy Ghost attached him
to it
employing him in that which he was well suited to perform. Through grace
the instrument lent itself readily to the work for which the Holy Ghost set it
apart. His memory and his heart were under the dominant and exclusive influence
of the Spirit of God. That Spirit employed them in His work. One sympathises
with the instrument; one believes in that which the Holy Ghost relates by his
means
for the words are those of the Holy Ghost.
Nothing can be more touching
more deeply interesting
than divine grace thus expressing itself in human tenderness and taking its
form. While possessing the entire reality of human affection
it had all the
power and depth of divine grace. It was divine grace that Jesus should have
such affections. On the other hand
nothing could be farther from the
appreciation of this sovereign source of divine love
flowing through the
perfect channel which it made for itself by its own power
than the pretension
to express our love as reciprocal; it would be
on the contrary
to fail
entirely in that appreciation. True saints among the Moravians have called
Jesus "brother
" and others have borrowed their hymns or the
expression; the word never says so. "He is not ashamed to call us
brethren
" but it is quite another thing for us to call Him so. The
personal dignity of Christ is never lost in the intensity and tenderness of His
love.
But the rejected Saviour was to be with the rich and the
honourable in His death
however despised He may previously have been; and two
who dared not confess Him while He lived
awakened now by the greatness of the
sin of their nation
and by the event itself of His death-which the grace of
God
who had reserved them for this work
made them feel-occupy themselves with
the attentions due to His dead body. Joseph
himself a counsellor
comes to ask
Pilate for the body of Jesus
Nicodemus joining with him to render the last
honours to Him whom they had never followed during His life. We can understand
this. To follow Jesus constantly under reproach
and compromise oneself for
ever on His account
is a very different thing from acting when some great
occasion happens in which there is no longer room for the former
and when the
extent of the evil compels us to separate from it; and when the good
rejected
because it is perfect in testimony
and perfected in its rejection
forced us
to take a part
if through grace any moral sense exists in us. God thus
fulfilled His words of truth. Joseph and Nicodemus place the Lord's body in a
new sepulchre in a garden near the cross; for
on account of it being the Jews'
preparation
they could do no more at that moment.
[1] It
is said that their Jewish traditions forbade their putting any one to death
during the great feasts. It is possible that this may have influenced the Jews;
but however that might be
the purposes of God were thus accomplished. At other
times the Jews were not so prompt in submitting to the Roman exigencies that
deprived them of the right of life and death.
[2] This
is the force of the expression; which is quite different from the word
translated expired. We learn from Luke 23:46 that He did this when He had said
"Father
into thy hands I commend my spirit." But in John
the Holy
Ghost is setting forth even His death as the result of a voluntary act
giving
up His spirit
and not saying to whom He committed (as man with absolute and
perfect faith) His human spirit
His soul
in dying. It is His divine
competency that is here shewn
and not His trust in His Father. The word is
never used in this way but in this passage as to Christ
in either the New
Testament or the LXX.
── John Darby《Synopsis of John》
John 19
Chapter Contents
Christ condemned and crucified. (1-18) Christ on the
cross. (19-30) His side pierced. (31-37) The burial of Jesus. (38-42)
Commentary on John 19:1-18
(Read John 19:1-18)
Little did Pilate think with what holy regard these
sufferings of Christ would
in after-ages
be thought upon and spoken of by the
best and greatest of men. Our Lord Jesus came forth
willing to be exposed to
their scorn. It is good for every one with faith
to behold Christ Jesus in his
sufferings. Behold him
and love him; be still looking unto Jesus. Did their
hatred sharpen their endeavours against him? and shall not our love for him
quicken our endeavours for him and his kingdom? Pilate seems to have thought
that Jesus might be some person above the common order. Even natural conscience
makes men afraid of being found fighting against God. As our Lord suffered for
the sins both of Jews and Gentiles
it was a special part of the counsel of Divine
Wisdom
that the Jews should first purpose his death
and the Gentiles carry
that purpose into effect. Had not Christ been thus rejected of men
we had been
for ever rejected of God. Now was the Son of man delivered into the hands of
wicked and unreasonable men. He was led forth for us
that we might escape. He
was nailed to the cross
as a Sacrifice bound to the altar. The Scripture was
fulfilled; he did not die at the altar among the sacrifices
but among
criminals sacrificed to public justice. And now let us pause
and with faith
look upon Jesus. Was ever sorrow like unto his sorrow? See him bleeding
see
him dying
see him and love him! love him
and live to him!
Commentary on John 19:19-30
(Read John 19:19-30)
Here are some remarkable circumstances of Jesus' death
more fully related than before. Pilate would not gratify the chief priests by
allowing the writing to be altered; which was doubtless owing to a secret power
of God upon his heart
that this statement of our Lord's character and
authority might continue. Many things done by the Roman soldiers were
fulfilments of the prophecies of the Old Testament. All things therein written
shall be fulfilled. Christ tenderly provided for his mother at his death.
Sometimes
when God removes one comfort from us
he raises up another for us
where we looked not for it. Christ's example teaches all men to honour their
parents in life and death; to provide for their wants
and to promote their
comfort by every means in their power. Especially observe the dying word
wherewith Jesus breathed out his soul. It is finished; that is
the counsels of
the Father concerning his sufferings were now fulfilled. It is finished; all
the types and prophecies of the Old Testament
which pointed at the sufferings
of the Messiah
were accomplished. It is finished; the ceremonial law is
abolished; the substance is now come
and all the shadows are done away. It is
finished; an end is made of transgression by bringing in an everlasting
righteousness. His sufferings were now finished
both those of his soul
and
those of his body. It is finished; the work of man's redemption and salvation
is now completed. His life was not taken from him by force
but freely given
up.
Commentary on John 19:31-37
(Read John 19:31-37)
A trial was made whether Jesus was dead. He died in less
time than persons crucified commonly did. It showed that he had laid down his
life of himself. The spear broke up the very fountains of life; no human body
could survive such a wound. But its being so solemnly attested
shows there was
something peculiar in it. The blood and water that flowed out
signified those
two great benefits which all believers partake of through Christ
justification
and sanctification; blood for atonement
water for purification. They both flow
from the pierced side of our Redeemer. To Christ crucified we owe merit for our
justification
and Spirit and grace for our sanctification. Let this silence
the fears of weak Christians
and encourage their hopes; there came both water
and blood out of Jesus' pierced side
both to justify and sanctify them. The
Scripture was fulfilled
in Pilate's not allowing his legs to be broken
Psalm 34:20. There was a type of this in the
paschal lamb
Exodus 12:46. May we ever look to Him
whom
by
our sins
we have ignorantly and heedlessly pierced
nay
sometimes against
convictions and mercies; and who shed from his wounded side both water and
blood
that we might be justified and sanctified in his name.
Commentary on John 19:38-42
(Read John 19:38-42)
Joseph of Arimathea was a disciple of Christ in secret.
Disciples should openly own themselves; yet some
who in lesser trials have
been fearful
in greater have been courageous. When God has work to do
he can
find out such as are proper to do it. The embalming was done by Nicodemus
a
secret friend to Christ
though not his constant follower. That grace which at
first is like a bruised reed
may afterward resemble a strong cedar. Hereby
these two rich men showed the value they had for Christ's person and doctrine
and that it was not lessened by the reproach of the cross. We must do our duty
as the present day and opportunity are
and leave it to God to fulfil his promises
in his own way and his own time. The grave of Jesus was appointed with the
wicked
as was the case of those who suffered as criminals; but he was with the
rich in his death
as prophesied
Isaiah 53:9; these two circumstances it was very
unlikely should ever be united in the same person. He was buried in a new
sepulchre; therefore it could not be said that it was not he
but some other
that rose. We also are here taught not to be particular as to the place of our
burial. He was buried in the sepulchre next at hand. Here is the Sun of
Righteousness set for a while
to rise again in greater glory
and then to set
no more.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on John》
John 19
Verse 7
[7] The
Jews answered him
We have a law
and by our law he ought to die
because he
made himself the Son of God.
By our law he ought to die
because he made
himself the Son of God — Which they understood in the highest
sense
and therefore accounted blasphemy.
Verse 8
[8] When Pilate therefore heard that saying
he was the more afraid;
He was the more afraid — He seems to have been afraid before of shedding innocent blood.
Verse 9
[9] And
went again into the judgment hall
and saith unto Jesus
Whence art thou? But
Jesus gave him no answer.
Whence art thou? —
That is
whose son art thou?
Verse 11
[11]
Jesus answered
Thou couldest have no power at all against me
except it were
given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater
sin.
Thou couldst have no power over me — For I have done nothing to expose me to the power of any magistrate.
Therefore he that delivered me to thee
namely
Caiaphas
knowing this
is more
blamable than thou.
Verse 13
[13] When Pilate therefore heard that saying
he brought Jesus forth
and sat
down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement
but in the
Hebrew
Gabbatha.
Pilate sat down on the judgment seat — Which was then without the palace
in a place called
in Greek
the
pavement
on account of a beautiful piece of Mosaic work
with which the floor
was adorned: but in Hebrew
Gabbatha - Or the high place
because it stood on
an eminence
so that the judge sitting on his throne might be seen and heard by
a considerable number of people.
Verse 14
[14] And
it was the preparation of the passover
and about the sixth hour: and he saith
unto the Jews
Behold your King!
It was the preparation of the passover — For this reason both the Jews and Pilate were desirous to bring the
matter to a conclusion. Every Friday was called the preparation
(namely
for
the Sabbath.) And as often as the passover fell on a Friday
that day was
called the preparation of the passover.
Verse 17
[17] And
he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull
which
is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
Bearing his cross —
Not the whole cross
(for that was too large and heavy
) but the transverse
beam of it
to which his hands were afterward fastened. This they used to make
the person to be executed carry. Matthew 27:31; Mark 15:20; Luke 23:26.
Verse 19
[19] And
Pilate wrote a title
and put it on the cross. And the writing was
JESUS OF
NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Jesus of Nazareth
the king of the Jews — Undoubtedly these were the very words
although the other evangelists do
not express them at large.
Verse 20
[20] This
title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was
nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew
and Greek
and Latin.
It was written in Latin — For the majesty of the Roman empire; in Hebrew - Because it was the
language of the nation; and in Greek - For the information of the Hellenists
who spoke that language
and came in great numbers to the feast.
Verse 22
[22]
Pilate answered
What I have written I have written.
What I have written
I have written — That shall stand.
Verse 23
[23] Then
the soldiers
when they had crucified Jesus
took his garments
and made four
parts
to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without
seam
woven from the top throughout.
The vesture —
The upper garment.
Verse 24
[24] They
said therefore among themselves
Let us not rend it
but cast lots for it
whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled
which saith
They
parted my raiment among them
and for my vesture they did cast lots. These
things therefore the soldiers did.
They parted my garments among them — No circumstance of David's life bore any resemblance to this
or to
several other passages in the 22d Psalm. So that in this scripture
as in some
others
the prophet seems to have been thrown into a preternatural ecstacy
wherein
personating the Messiah
he spoke barely what the Spirit dictated
without any regard to himself. Psalms 22:18.
Verse 25
[25] Now
there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother
and his mother's sister
Mary the
wife of Cleophas
and Mary Magdalene.
His mother's sister —
But we do not read she had any brother. She was her father's heir
and as such
transmitted the right of the kingdom of David to Jesus: Mary
the wife of
Cleopas - Called likewise Alpheus
the father
as Mary was the mother of James
and Joses
and Simon
and Judas.
Verse 27
[27] Then
saith he to the disciple
Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple
took her unto his own home.
Behold thy mother — To
whom thou art now to perform the part of a son in my place
a peculiar honour
which Christ conferred on him.
From that hour —
From the time of our Lord's death.
Verse 29
[29] Now
there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar
and put it upon hyssop
and put it to his mouth.
A stalk of hyssop —
Which in those countries grows exceeding large and strong. Psalms 69:21.
Verse 30
[30] When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar
he said
It is finished: and he bowed
his head
and gave up the ghost.
It is finished — My
suffering: the purchase of man's redemption.
He delivered up his spirit — To God
Matthew 27:50.
Verse 31
[31] The
Jews therefore
because it was the preparation
that the bodies should not
remain upon the cross on the sabbath day
(for that sabbath day was an high
day
) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken
and that they might be
taken away.
Lest the bodies should remain on the cross on
the Sabbath — Which they would have accounted a
profanation of any Sabbath
but of that in particular.
For that Sabbath was a great day — Being not only a Sabbath
but the second day of the feast of unleavened
bread (from whence they reckoned the weeks to pentecost:) and also the day for
presenting and offering the sheaf of new corn: so that it was a treble
solemnity.
Verse 34
[34] But
one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side
and forthwith came there out
blood and water.
Forthwith there came out blood and water — It was strange
seeing he was dead
that blood should come out; more
strange
that water also; and most strange of all
that both should come out
immediately
at one time
and yet distinctly. It was pure and true water
as
well as pure and true blood. The asseveration of the beholder and testifier of
it
shows both the truth and greatness of the miracle and mystery.
Verse 35
[35] And
he that saw it bare record
and his record is true: and he knoweth that he
saith true
that ye might believe.
His testimony is true — Valid
unexceptionable.
And he knoweth —
And his conscience beareth him witness
that he testifieth this for no other
end
than that ye may believe.
Verse 36
[36] For
these things were done
that the scripture should be fulfilled
A bone of him
shall not be broken.
A bone of it shall not be broken — This was originally spoken of the paschal lamb
an eminent type of
Christ. Exodus 12:46.
Verse 37
[37] And
again another scripture saith
They shall look on him whom they pierced.
They shall look on him whom they have pierced — He was pierced by the soldier's spear. They who have occasioned his
sufferings by their sins (and who has not?) shall either look upon him in this
world with penitential sorrow: or with terror
when he cometh in the clouds of
heaven
Revelation 1:7. Zechariah 12:10.
Verse 38
[38] And
after this Joseph of Arimathaea
being a disciple of Jesus
but secretly for
fear of the Jews
besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus:
and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore
and took the body of Jesus.
Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate — And Nicodemus also came - Acknowledging Christ
when even his chosen
disciples forsook him. In that extremity Joseph was no longer afraid
Nicodemus
no longer ashamed.
Verse 41
[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.
In the place where he was crucified — There was a garden in the same tract of land: but the cross did not
stand in the garden.
Verse 42
[42]
There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the
sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Because of the preparation — That is
they chose the rather to lay him in that sepulchre which was
nigh
because it was the day before the Sabbath
which also was drawing to an
end
so that they had no time to carry him far.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on John》
John 19:30
Michelangelo was a genius. He excelled as a
sculptor
designer
painter
and architect. His statues of Moses and David
to
name but a few
are widely recognized and appreciated. What many people do not know
is the in
Jesus Christ left no unfinished works.
Chapter 19. Crucified and Buried
A Talent of
Myrrh
A New Tomb
I. Behold the
Man
II. Commission
Under the Cross
III. Fulfill
the Scripture
── Chih-Hsin Chang《An Outline of The New Testament》