1.
Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.
2.
And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
Verse 2
Purple robe; some rude garment probably, of a reddish color, which, like the reed for a sceptre, might represent, for the purposes of their mockery, the imperial purple.
3.
And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.
4.
Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.
5.
Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!
Verse 5
Behold the man! He hoped that they would have been satisfied with the sufferings which he had endured, and would consent to his release.
6.
When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.
Verse 6
Take ye him, &c. This was not intended as a serious proposal, but was an expression of Pilate's indignation at the cruel wrong which they insisted on committing.
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.
Verse 7
By our law. They had not mentioned this charge, at first, in making out their accusation before Pilate, supposing that he would be more easily influenced by a charge of sedition. But finding him not convinced by that, they now advance the other.
8.
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;
9.
And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.
10.
Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
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.
12.
And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.
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.
Verse 13
When Pilate,--heard that saying; and finding that the popular excitement was beginning to be uncontrollable. (Matthew 27:24.)
14.
And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15.
But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16.
Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.
Verse 16
Unto them; that is, to their will. One of Pilate's centurions had charge of the execution.
17.
And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
18.
Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
Verse 18
They placed him in the midst, as the most atrocious of the criminals.
19.
And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Verse 19
This inscription is recorded by the evangelists in the following forms:--
"This is Jesus the King of the Jews," . . . . . . . .
Matthew 27:37
"The King of the Jews," . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mark 15:26
"This is the King of the Jews," . . . . . . . . . .
Luke 23:38
"Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews," . . . . . .
John 19:19
A very important principle is illustrated by this diversity, viz., that it is the custom of the sacred writers to use the form of a quotation of words from others, when, in fact, the words are their own, used only to express in a more distinct and vivid manner the general ideas of their own minds. This was their mode of relating events,--clothing their own conceptions of the facts in language attributed to the actors. Even where they are recording real dialogue, they give the substance of what is said, in their own words. A comparison of the different accounts of the same conversation, recorded by the different evangelists, as, for example, the institution of the Lord's supper, the dialogue with Pilate, and any other case where the same dialogue is given by more than one evangelist, places this principle beyond question. It is a principle of fundamental importance, satisfactorily disposing of, as it does, a very large portion of the verbal discrepancies in the New Testament.
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.
21.
Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
22.
Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
Verse 22
What I have written, I have written; that is, I do not choose to alter it.
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.
Verse 23
The coat was without seam. The coat, as it is here called,--a garment very different from any now worn,--was of such a form as to admit of its being manufactured as here described.
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.
25.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Verse 25
Mary the wife of Cleophas; in the Matthew 27:56,Mk+15:40,Lu+24:10 mentioned as the mother of James and Joses.
John 19:26,John 19:27. This brief but affecting mode of committing his afflicted mother to the care of his most devoted friend, at such an hour, is one of the most touching incidents in the Savior's history,--rendered still more so by the very feeling, and yet unaffected simplicity, with which John relates the circumstance. His last expression, took her to his own, has a force and meaning which the necessity of adding the word home, to preserve the English idiom, seriously impairs.
26.
When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
27.
Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
28.
After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
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.
Verse 29
A vessel full of vinegar; for the use of the soldiers, a preparation of vinegar being their common drink.
30.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Verse 30
He said, It is finished; with a loud voice, exulting in the final accomplishment of the great work of redemption. We notice that the expression is, "It is finished." A mere martyr, enduring, passively, wrong done to him by others, would say, when he reached the end of his sufferings, "It is ended," or "It is over." Jesus said, "It is finished;" his mind regarding this great consummation, not as the end of the injuries which men had been inflicting upon him, but as the accomplishment of the great work which he had undertaken for them.
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.
Verse 31
That Sabbath day was a high day; that is, coinciding with the passover, it was a day of double sacredness and solemnity.
32.
Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.
33.
But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:
Verse 33
And brake the legs; with clubs. This violence, previous to allowing the bodies to be taken down, was to guard against the possibility that the sufferers might revive, and their lives be saved.
34.
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
Verse 34
And pierced his side; to see whether there was any sensibility or life remaining.
35.
And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.
36.
For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.
Verse 36
This was said originally of the paschal lamb. (Exodus 12:46,Nu+9:12.)
37.
And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
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.
39.
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
Verse 39
For previous evidence of Nicodemus's friendly feeling towards Jesus, see John 7:50.--Myrrh and aloes; for the embalming of the body.
40.
Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
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.
42.
There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Verse 42
Preparation-day; that is, for the Sabbath.