John Ch.19
For cross reference: Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23
1Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.
This flogging - or scourging - was designed to get a confession from its victim (and would also weaken them to the point where their death on the cross would be much quicker)
In the time of Jesus, under the ruthless reign of Pilot, many Jews were crucified…hundreds more were flogged; everyone would have understood the weight of this “flogging” of Jesus. We would have no concept of this, but for numerous historical sources that tell us:
Scourging: “The victim of this severe punishment was bound in a stooping attitude to a low column and beaten with rods or scourged with whips, the thongs of which were weighted with lead, and studded with sharp-pointed pieces of bone, so that frightful laceration followed each stroke.” (Dods)
In order to understand, even slightly, what was endured by Jesus here, we must look - not to the Gospels - but to the Old Testament - and one of the most powerful prophetic utterances about the suffering of the Messiah:
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— (Isaiah 52:14) ***In other words: Jesus didn’t look human…
2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.
This act of mockery was a brutal one; adding further torture to Jesus’s body. According to the knowledge of thorn bushes growing in the area at that time, these were great long spikes, protruding from long, flexible branches, which would have been wrapped around, and forcibly driven in, causing his head to swell…(Again, refer: Isaiah 52:14)
This was not a crown of royalty, but of torture…
…and arrayed him in a purple robe.
The mockery continues with the placing upon Jesus, of the purple robe of a king: Purple dyes were expensive; and the wearing of purple denoted opulence and power.
In Matthew 27:27-29, we read that the whole Roman cohert (some 600 men) was gathered around Jesus, and, in a further act of mockery, they place a reed in his hands - “And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head.” (Vs.30)
3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
In cross referencing the accounts from all four Gospels, we will quickly see that some say Jesus was given a crimson robe (Matthew) - while others (Mark & John) say purple.
Without a doubt, this robe was meant to resemble the purple robe of a king, as a mockery of Jesus; it seems equally likely that they would not have used a new robe - but rather, an old, worn out one; where its color had faded, from a royal purple to a crimson red - further adding to the insult.
Many scholars believe that this is reason behind this apparent contradiction: Because we know that the Bible doesn’t contradict itself; the Bible doesn’t lie.
***Note: The account of Gethsemane, Jesus’s trial, and events all the way through the Gospels, show us that the Gospels themselves, are at times, like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle: You cannot get the complete picture by reading just one. (One person’s account) We have multiple sources, all agreeing with each other; and, not only does this lend credibility to the historical accuracy and authenticity of the Gospels, but we also come to recognize: This is not a one-man show; but the Lord uses many witnesses to proclaim the same message. The Lord has given us four Gospels, that by reading and cross-referencing between the four, we get a complete picture of the Whole, True and Complete Gospel of Jesus Christ: The good news that Yeshua…the Lord our Salvation, has truly come down to save us.***
4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.”
5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them,
“Behold the man!”
Again, let the scripture speak for itself here: Place these words of Pilot “behold the man”, alongside the words of Isaiah 52:14 -
As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind. (not recognizable as a man)
6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!”
Isaiah 53:3
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
6b Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.”
This is just one of a number of desperate attempts by Pilot, to release Jesus - knowing that he is innocent. {He cannot afford yet more trouble with Rome, for failing to act with justice.}
Note: Even the ruthless Pilot, cannot - and will not - find fault with him. And yet, his own people…his own flesh and blood (in the natural sense) are set on doing exactly this! It is the ultimate betrayal…the ultimate sin…that will lead to the ultimate act of mercy and forgiveness!
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.
Now they are aiming at the jugular: This claim of deity is a threat to the rule of Caeser, who in the eyes of Rome, is “god”. This has now become, not only a sin against Israel, but treason against Rome!
9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
7
Matthew 27:19 gives us a further clue as to why Pilot still wants to avoid sentencing Jesus to death, if possible. He now reaches out with a direct and desperate appeal to Jesus: “Defend yourself!”
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7
10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?”
Who could resist such a temptation? The temptation to abandon this quest and go free? No one, but the Son of God…He who is God. And, in as much as Pilot does in the natural sense, possess the authority to set Jesus free, we know that Jesus is no ordinary man: He is the Messiah - the “Son of Man”…and as such, serves One who is infinitely higher than Caesar.
We know this…and are so thankful: We would never have been able to resist such temptation…we would have fled with the other disciples…we would have attempted to save ourselves long ago; and in doing so, we would condemned ourselves forever.
But Jesus…
“He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.
When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” 1Peter 2:22-23
11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.
For context here, read Romans 13:1-7.
Pilot has been appointed - not by Rome - but ultimately, by the sovereign will of God (just as Rome itself, governs only by - and because of - the Lord’s sovereign will.) Pilot does not realize that his authority lies in the Hand of the Lord…and it is by the Hand of the Lord - not Pilot - that this One who stands before him will die a criminal’s death on the cross.
“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief” Isaiah 53:10a
11(b)Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”
Pilot is acting out of ignorance: But those who have handed Jesus over to him (the Pharisees…Judas Iscariot)…these are not!
10
12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”
13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha.
Again, this brings us back to recognize Pilot’s precarious position in the eyes of Rome. Ultimately, when faced with the choice: to either go with his conscience or yield to the people, Pilot will choose the latter. Like all of us, outside of the Cross, Pilot will choose to love his life in this world, with tragic consequences. “Gabbatha”, where Pilot sits in judgment, is described as a high place, with a stone pavement or steps - but one cannot help but wonder: Who is being judged here? Jesus or Pilot?
14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
In rejecting their true Messiah, they have sworn allegiance to Rome - the very tyrant masters they have been overtly resisting for almost a century.
And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 1Samuel 8:5-7
Maybe, this was all too bewildering for Pilot: These shouting “Crucify” are the same religious sect who, after Pilot had profaned the Temple walls, with images of Caesar, are said to have “laid their necks bare”, choosing rather to die, than accept these graven images. Pilate was apparently, so deeply moved by this action, that he relented and took down the images.
How amazing and tragic it is to realize, that this devout Jewish sect were willing to die, rather then accept an image of a false god…until, that is, the image of their One True invisible God comes on the scene. (Colossians 1:15) They will not die for him! But Hallelujah! He will die for them!
16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
{Compare with Matthew 27:24
So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
For these Jews, this decision will go one of two ways:
1. His blood of mercy and forgiveness upon them and their children: as fulfilled in Acts Ch.2
2. His blood of judgment upon them and their children: As tragically fulfilled in the Roman siege of Jerusalem, AD 68-70.}
“Many a crown has been secured by blood, and so is this, but it is his own blood; many a throne has been established by suffering, and so is this, but he himself bears the pain.” (Spurgeon)
The Crucifixion
It is (according to vs.14) around 9am (the time of the morning sacrifice) And it is here - at this place- that we remember Psalm 118:27
“Bind the sacrifice with chords to the horns of the Altar.”
16(b) So they took Jesus,
17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
{“Bearing his own cross…” Genesis 22:6 paints a powerful picture of this moment:
Usually only the crossbeam would have been carried, on the backs of the criminals; the uprights being already in place and used multiple times.}
18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
This cross that Jesus is being nailed to, was originally assigned to Barabbas. (It is plausible that the criminals on either side, were affiliated with Barabbas.) Jesus is literally dying a sinner’s death, in a sinner’s place, numbered among sinners: Such a powerful picture…
And again Isaiah 53:5 states:
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
…For it was the custom in Roman executions, that the condemned’s name and their crime, would be written on a placard and hung about their neck as they carried their crossbeam to the place of execution. The placard would then be nailed above them on the cross; sending a clear message from the powers of Rome, to the multitudes of subjects passing by: “Such crimes as these, are punishable by death.”
20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.
…So that everyone, across the entire Roman province…whether Jews gathered for Passover; whether Greek or Roman…all would be able to read and understand!
The incredible twist is that, here, in this terrible place of betrayal and death, we find the first public declaration of who Jesus Christ is; which of course, is being proclaimed at exactly the right time - God’s time - as this “King of the Jews” is offered up for all Jews…and not only for these, but for all people, everywhere…the perfect sacrifice…on a cross!
21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
What he had “written” was Jesus’s name and his crime according to the original charge. Pilot would not, under Roman Law, have been able to change it. Was this inscription a type of mockery on Pilot’s part? - “Here is your king…the “king of the Jews”, publicly humiliated and dying the death of every traitor of Rome.”
Or, alternatively, could Pilot’s conscience have been troubling him? (remember Matthew 27:19) Pilot knew Jesus had committed no crime, and had sought to release him. Jesus’s placard should have said nothing - and Pilot knows this:
Therefore, what he has “written” again sends a clear message - but this time, a very different one: “Here is your king…the “King of the Jews” - whom YOU (not me) have rejected!”
This makes Pilot’s symbolic act of washing his hands, in Matthew 27:24, an even more iconic one: “I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves.” And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25)
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier;
Criminals were usually crucified naked, although in Judea, some concessions were made, out of respect to Jewish laws and customs. Whether or not such concessions were made for Jesus, we do not know: What we do know is that Christ the Lord, the Son of the Living God, gave his absolute all for us…to his very last piece of clothing… “the shirt off his back”.
Vs.23 cont…also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,
See Exodus 28:31-32. The prescribed garment - “the tunic” - worn by the High Priest was also a seamless one…
~ For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. (Hebrews 5:1)The role of the high priest under the Old Covenant, was to bring the blood of a spotless lamb before the holy presence of God, on behalf of the people. This blood was sprinkled upon a wooden chest, overlaid with gold, called the Ark of the Covenant - which was the holding place for the broken Commandments of God…if you like…the hiding place for the record of man’s sins, away from Satan the accuser, and reserved for the judgment of God alone.
When the high priest applied blood atop of the Ark, the broken Law beneath was appeased…covered…and it become the Mercy Seat; so mercy and forgiveness could then be granted to the people. This, the high priest did once a year on the Day of Atonement, and at great risk to his own life.
Jesus has now become our High Priest.
Jesus did not just risk his life - he laid down his life.
From the Book of Hebrews:
2:17 Therefore (Jesus) had to be made like his brothers (us) in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.
He (Jesus) knows how we are formed…he remembers that we are but dust; because he became one of us. (Psalm 103:13-14)
Hebrews 4:14-16
Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 7:26-27
For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.
He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.
Hebrews 9:12-14
he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
See also Hebrews 5:1-10
Here is the most profound and wonderful mystery:
The high priest who offers the perfect sacrifice, has now become the perfect sacrifice: It will be his OWN blood that he sprinkles on the Mercy seat.
What Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, is about to do here, will be perfect and permanent…for all who will receive it. It is in him - and only in him - that we are able to stand in the Holy Presence of the Lord - and call him “Father”.
24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
These words are quoted by John, directly from Psalm 22:18 - the exact same Psalm that begins with the words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (See Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34)
And later on, in vs. 6-8 of this psalm:
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
(See Matthew 27:39-43; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-36)
And later still, in vs. 16:
a company of evildoers encircles me (Matthew 27:27-31; Luke 23:1-2);
they have pierced my hands and feet
We know that in writing this psalm, King David’s hand and feet were certainly not in any way “pierced” as we would understand the word. No such punishment was ever heard of at that time. We also know that David was a prophet (Acts 2:30); and that all of his Psalms came ultimately, not from him, but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which is how they came to be included in the canon of holy Scripture.
As we read through the entirety of this psalm, we realize amazingly, that King David is prophesying! Just like the prophet Isaiah, David is describing - in detail - the suffering and crucifixion of his descendant: The Messiah…the Son of David - 1000 years before it will all come to pass!
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2022&version=ESV
24(b) So the soldiers did these things,
25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
The mother of Jesus
34“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed
35(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also) See Luke 2:28-35.
These final words of this powerful prophecy are written in parentheses, implying that they were not declared, but rather, almost whispered to Mary; that in the midst of Simeon’s incredible Messianic prophetic declaration, the Lord is quietly and gently telling the one chosen to be the mother of Messiah…the one “blessed among women”; telling her ahead of time: “The Messiah will surely suffer, as ordained from the beginning - and few will feel this more than you…”
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
“Woman” This was a term of respect in the time of Jesus (as we would say “Madam” or “Ma’am.) Why did Jesus refer to his mother this way?
(Here is just my take on it) Jesus Christ is ultimately the Son - not of Mary - but of God…and as a parent, there is a burden…a level of pain and agony…that only the Lord God is able to bear. So here we see a deeply loving and merciful transfer: the Apostle John steps into the role of first born son for Mary…and Jesus, the dying Son of God, places himself back entirely into the hands of his Father…
27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
John will be true to this calling, to the very end; taking care of Mary, as his own mother, until the day that she too, will go home to be reunited with her Lord.
The Death of Jesus
14 “I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.” Psalm 22:14-15
“This crown He continued to wear to the end: both Origen and Tertullian, two of the earliest Fathers of the Church of east and west, assert that He was crucified with it on His head.” (Trench)
This “crown of thorns” is an agonizing picture of the price that was put upon our heads, following the fall in the Garden of Eden: And Jesus has paid it all for us…taking it all the way to Death.
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”
This signifies both the fulfillment of Jesus’s mission - and also the transference of Mary’s burden of motherhood, back to the Father…as demonstrated by Jesus’s words in vs.26-27. Mary will still feel much pain…she will still grieve - but, as we will shortly find out, in the next two chapters - and then, in the sequel to this story - the book of Acts - her sorrow will give way to joy…much joy… (Ch.16:20-22 & Psalm 30:5) The joy of her Salvation!
29 A jar full of sour wine stood there,
so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
“They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” Psalm 69:21
In tasting this vinegar (sour wine), he has truly tasted the bitterness of death for all of us. (See also Hebrews 2:9)
Compare with Mark 15:23 - This is not the vinegar mixed with myrrh that Jesus was offered earlier, to help numb the pain: That medicine is no longer needed. But rather, this was likely the cheap, diluted wine, drunk by the soldiers, through the long hours of carrying out crucifixions.
“I thirst”
Jesus’ thirst is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:15 - and is not only physical, as a result of his pain and exhaustion: This is now a spiritual thirst; a thirst possibly first experienced by Adam and Eve following their exile from Eden; a thirst which each and every one of us, without exception know, because we are born with it. To be separated from the LORD - the “Fountain of Living Water”, is to thirst. (See Ch. 4:13-15; also Jeremiah 2:13 & Matthew 5:6) Fallen humanity is attempting constantly, to satisfy this thirst, in so many different, and often deadly ways:
For we, who know the true Way, to the True Fountain of Life, this must be our mission and our message…to direct people to the only One who can satisfy what they really thirst for.
As for Jesus, this watered down wine will serve one purpose; moistening his mouth, just enough for him to utter one final and decisive declaration:
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,”
“Finished: Greek teleó
Meaning: to end, i.e. complete, execute, conclude, discharge (a debt) - our debt!
This is a cry of victory!
And of course, the Lord will offer His perfect Sacrifice, right on time!
Luke 23:44-46 It was now about the sixth hour (12 noon) and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour (3 in the afternoon), while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
30(b) and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Death did not take Jesus’s life: He gave it freely (Ch.10:18) and only once this monumental task had been completed, did Jesus himself, relinquish his Spirit.
“God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” Genesis 22:8
Here is the fulfillment of Passover!
The sacrifice for the fallen human race has been made; the separation between the Lord God and his creation, has been destroyed: Saints of God, now we know: It is truly finished…
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” Ch.7:37-38…Now we can all come!
Jesus' Side Is Pierced
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away.
Again we see the shocking display of hypocrisy: They are claiming to honor the Sabbath, having dishonored and murdered the One who is Lord of the Sabbath - and who has just fulfilled the Sabbath.
Note: This “high Sabbath” is not the normal weekly Saturday Sabbath. This is the Passover Sabbath, which at that time, scholars estimate to have fallen on a Thursday. (More about this later…)
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him.
Breaking their bones would hasten death. Criminals remained on their crosses until death: Supported entirely by their legs, and sometimes perching on a type of seat - a “horn”, they could hang in this agony for hours…even days, before succumbing - usually to asphyxiation. The only way they would be able to breathe is by using their legs to raise themselves up. Once their legs were broken - which was in itself, a brutal act - the body would collapse on itself, causing suffocation.
33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
“…and saw he was already dead”: Because his task has been accomplished!
Remember Ch.10:18 “No one takes (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”
Pilot will marvel at this fact. (See Mark 15:44-45)
“…they did not break his legs.”
Why?
“It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.” Exodus 12:46 (Numbers 9:12)
The perfect Passover Lamb has now, at last been sacrificed:
The soldiers would likely have been ordered by Pilot, to produce evidence of Jesus’s death. It is certain that the soldier on watch, would have no idea as to the weight of the prophecy he was fulfilling, when he chose not to break his legs; instead, he does the following:
34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
Water and blood: These were the substances used for purification under the Tabernacle system, from the time of Moses: Blood for atonement (Salvation) and water for cleansing (sanctification). John’s description of these, issuing from Jesus’s side, provide for us now, a beautiful picture of the fulfillment of the old sacrificial system - the Old Covenant - by Jesus’s One, True, Pure and Perfect Sacrifice. Read also John words in 1John 5:6.
The movie, “the Passion of the Christ” also illustrates this moment with emotive brilliance: In the space of a few seconds, we see: first the veil of the Temple being torn…
then, as Jesus’s side is pierced, blood - his redemptive blood - comes gushing out, over the Roman soldier who had just pierced him:
Here is the end of the Old Covenant…and the beginning of the New!
35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.
He who saw it: the Apostle John, is led by the Holy Spirit to record it - without realizing why. This would have been a fatal thrust to Jesus’s side. Only now do we understand…this sure medical sign of death, so that those who read will know: Jesus truly did die; his ruptured heart being evidence of this; and John truly did witness it.
36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”
See Psalm 34:20
37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”
See Zechariah 12:10 (& 13:6)
Jesus Is Buried
38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.
Bodies were usually left to rot on their crosses - except during a feast such as Passover, where the Roman authorities would sometimes make concessions.
39 Nicodemus (see Ch.3 & 7) also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.
What beautiful image comes to mind here?
“Mary therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” Here, Mary’s anointing of Jesus in Ch.12 is brought back to remembrance… “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial.”
40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Imagine the monumental task here: the removal of the iron nails that held his body (removing a body from a cross was not according to the norm)…the cleansing of the body; the removal of blood, dirt, thorns, spikes and splinters; the sight of those terrible wounds…
“As Achilles dragged Hector by the heels round the walls of Troy, so would Satan have liked that men should have mauled the dead body of Christ. He would have cast him to the dogs or to the kites if he could have had his way; but so it must not be.” (Spurgeon)
So, these two members of the Sanhedrin, in giving Jesus a proper burial, were not only preserving his dignity, and demonstrating their own secret devotion to him - but they are also participating in the amazing, unfolding plan of God; and as men both learned in the Law, they likely know this…
This act of servitude is a deliberate one: They are preserving his body, to fulfill the prophecy:
9 “And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.” Isaiah 53:9
Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea knew who they were: “the wicked” and “the rich”
…and they also now knew, who Jesus Christ was!
This horrific job would naturally be done by servants, yet the Gospel writers strongly imply that these two teachers of the Law did this themselves: Just like Mary in Ch.12, they now knew, the only correct posture for them, was that of the most humble of servants; laying themselves low by their actions here - almost into the dust.
Besides the anointing of Jesus’s feet, by Mary, we also read in the Gospel of Matthew, of another separate anointing, this time on Jesus’s head, in the same town, just a few days later. And Jesus will once again rebuke his disciples, making this revelatory statement: “In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial.” See Matthew 26:6-13
Now, the actions of these two men are preparing Jesus’s body - not only for burial - but for the climatic conclusion to this mystery: the resurrection!
41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
The stage is being set…
42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
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