John 19 - Jon Courson's Application Commentary

The scourging that took place was painful beyond our understanding. Prophesied by Isaiah in chapter 53, to the thinking student of Scripture, the question becomes, “If the crucifixion of Christ provided for our redemption and salvation, what was the purpose of the scourging?” Peter tells us in his epistle that by His stripes we are healed (1 Peter 2:24). Thus, while the Crucifixion provides for our redemption presently and eternally-it is the stripes Jesus bore and absorbed that actually release the grace of healing for our bodies physically.

“Behold the man,” or literally, “Here is a man.” After having endured the bursting of blood vessels as He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, the beating in the courtyards of the high priest and Pontius Pilate, and the brutal blows of the flagellum, Jesus, as Isaiah prophesied, was marred beyond recognition (52:14).

We have heard this account so often, and we know it so well that it loses its punch oftentimes. We know Jesus was beaten. We know He was marred more than any man and eventually nailed to a tree. But I think it would do us well sometimes to take a long walk in the evening or get up early in the morning to consider what Jesus willingly went through with you on His mind and in His heart. We were on His mind. We were on His heart when He took those blows, felt that pain, and endured unspeakable suffering. It was all for me. It was all for you.

The uniqueness of Jesus is verified by the fact that Pilate went on record, saying, “I find no fault in Him”-a finding that has never been disputed by historian or cynic. According to many historical records, Pilate himself committed suicide not long after this.

“Jesus never claimed deity,” the cultist insists. Take him to this passage and say, “The Jewish leaders understood very clearly His claim to deity. That is why they killed Him.”

Pilate thought he was in a position of power, when in reality he was simply a pawn. God is always on the throne. Everything goes according to His plan.

As Pilate sits down in his judgment seat to make a decision, the irony is that he himself is being judged on the basis of his response to Jesus Christ. So, too, some of you will sit back and say, “I’m going to analyze, scrutinize, and evaluate Jesus Christ.” In reality, however, you’re not judging Him, but your reaction to Him is judging you because He is the King of kings regardless of what you decide. He’s going to have His way whether you choose to get on board or not. Thus, the judgment seat you’re occupying right now is that of your own judgment. And how you respond to Him will determine whether you go to heaven or spend eternity in hell.

Throughout history, the nation of Israel has undergone unparalleled pain and problems. Why? In 1 Samuel 8, we see the Jews rejecting the Father as they begged Samuel for a king to rule over them. Here in John 19, we see them refusing the Son as they cry, “We have no king but Caesar.” Finally, in Acts 7, we see them resisting the Spirit, and stoning Stephen as a result. Rejecting the Father in the Old Testament, refusing the Son in the Gospels, and resisting the Spirit in the Book of Acts caused the collapse of the people of Israel. But God is faithful. The message of Romans 9-11 is that even though Israel has refused the Son, rejected the Father, and resisted the Spirit-God will keep His promises to her. And all of Israel shall be saved.

In Latin, “Golgotha” is “Calvary,” or “The place of the skull.”

Between two thieves is a fitting place for our Lord to be positioned because He is the Ultimate Thief. He’s stolen my heart and wants to steal yours.

Hebrew was the theological language; Greek, the intellectual language; and Latin, the political language. Let those who view things theologically; let those who view things intellectually; let those who view things politically know this: Jesus is King.

Pilate at last shows a little courage when he says, “What I’ve written stays.”

According to Exodus 28, the high priest’s robe was to be made of one piece of material. Jesus being the great High Priest, His robe was seamless as well. So here are the soldiers-playing games on Golgotha, even as Jesus was dying for their sins. Are we doing that? I wonder. Those in the “Name It and Claim It” camp say, “I’ll get some nice clothes, a faster car, a bigger house on the basis of the finished work of the Cross.” This ought not to be.

When Jesus was healing the sick, and feeding the multitudes, He captivated people’s attention. Like metal filings to a magnet, the masses were drawn to Him. But as His ministry progressed, when His teaching became a little more intense, the number of those who followed Him was reduced from thousands to seemingly hundreds. Only seventy shared the gospel of the kingdom (Luke 10:1). Only twelve left everything to follow Him. And of the twelve only three would be with Him on the Mount of Transfiguration, where He spoke of His death and in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed with such intensity. And of the three, only one would be at the foot of the Cross.

But there were four women there-although it was not easy for them. It was not easy for Mary to watch her Son convulsing in pain, or for her sister to hear the curses hurled at Him. It was not easy for the wife of Cleophas to see the spit of the crowd running down His face, or for Mary Magdalene to see His blood flowing from His wounds. But these four women, lovers of the Lord and followers of Him, were there at the foot of the Cross, no matter how great the price, no matter how deep the pain.

Why would Jesus use the word gune, or “woman”-a term of great respect but not particularly affectionate? Perhaps because His use of this term would cause Mary’s mind to race back to a point three years previously when, at the very outset of His public ministry, He had used this same term. “They have no wine,” she had said-perhaps hoping that her own reputation would be salvaged when a thirsty wedding party saw that her Son was who she had always said He was.

“Woman, what have I to do with thee? My hour is not yet come,” Jesus had answered her (John 2:4). Jesus did, indeed, provide wine for the wedding. But no one knew about it except some lowly slaves.

Yet here on the Cross, Mary’s request is finally answered, for it was at the Cross where even the most cynical Roman centurion would look at Him and say, “Truly, this must be the Son of God” (see Matthew 27:54).

I find this fascinating in light of the fact that, as we know from Matthew 13:55,56 , Jesus had four half brothers and a bunch of sisters. Yet He bypassed the earthly bloodline and established a new family. And in so doing fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 69:8: “I am become a stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother’s children.” You see, at this point, Jesus’ brothers didn’t believe in Him. So He turned to one who did. Why John? No doubt it was partly because John was there-the only male disciple willing to jeopardize his life by taking a stand at the foot of the Cross. Yet perhaps it was only fitting that Jesus entrust the one whose breast had cradled Him to the one who had himself reclined on His own breast (John 13:25).

A family is formed at the Cross because that’s where true families are forged and held together.

For topical study of John 19:25-27 see “The Family Tree”.

“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” cried Jesus-signifying to all in attendance that He was the fulfillment of Psalm 22. “Today you will be with Me in paradise,” He said to the thief-setting the precedent for salvation by faith alone. “Behold thy mother,” He said to John, thereby establishing a new order of family. Redemption and sanctification, justification and propitiation-questions of eternal import were being settled on the Cross. And yet Jesus also declared, “I thirst”-reminding us of the personal agony He endured through it all.

Mom and Dad, when your kids have questions-be it concerning resentment toward some other kid at school, bitterness about someone who hurt them, or rivalry in the family-the crux of the matter is always discerned at the foot of the Cross. No wonder that the Latin word crux means “cross.”

“It is finished.” This Greek phrase denotes such power that if Jesus’ hands hadn’t been nailed down, it would have been uttered with a clenched fist raised in the air. It was the phrase an artist would use when he put the last stroke on his paper; a writer when he put the last period in his book. It was the statement a businessman would make when a transaction was final; the pronouncement given concerning a lamb that passed inspection.

Every other religion and cult bases its teaching on what one must do. Only true New Testament Christianity bases a belief system not on what remains to be done, but on what He’s already done. We can’t do anything to get right with God or closer to God except to realize that it’s all been done. And as we continue in our walk, we continue to say, “I’m coming to You, Father, expecting Your blessing and confident of Your grace not because of who I am, but because of what Your Son accomplished when He cried, “It is Finished.”

The next day was Passover, so the Jews didn’t want the bodies left on the crosses. “Let us break their legs,” the Jews said to Pilate, “and speed up death so we can move on with our holy convocation.”

Medical experts tell us that the outpouring of blood and water indicates that Jesus died literally of a ruptured heart, a broken heart. Blood and water are also the fluids of birth-for just as a bride was birthed from the side of the first Adam, so the church was birthed through the blood and water from the side of the last Adam.

If you look at prophecies given and fulfilled in Jesus simply to prove that He is the fulfillment of those prophecies, you’re missing a great deal. In this case, John takes four or five verses to make it clear that, just as prophesied, not a bone of Jesus was broken. Why is this so important? Because where is blood continually produced in the body? It’s produced in the bone. Therefore, God mandated not a bone of His would be broken, ensuring a perpetual and inexhaustible supply of blood. That’s why Paul could later declare, “Where sin abounds, grace abounds yet more,” (Romans 5:20). Truly, the blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse you from every sin you have ever committed or will commit because not a bone of His was broken.

Suddenly, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea, men who were once hesitant to be seen with Jesus, asked permission to take His body. Because the bodies of crucified victims were destined for a garbage heap, this request would ruin Joseph’s business and jeopardize Nicodemus’ religious standing. The way to motivate people to serve Christ is not to make them feel guilty, not to put pressure on them, not to try to manipulate their emotions-but simply to allow them, like Nicodemus and Joseph, to see what He did for them on the Cross.

Joseph takes the body, wraps it in linen, and places it in a stone tomb with myrrh and spices-just as another Joseph, thirty-three years earlier, had taken the same body, wrapped Him in swaddling linen cloth, placed Him in a stone manger, and watched as He was presented with myrrh.

In Leviticus 16, it is prescribed that on one day each year-Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement-the high priest was to trade his beautiful priestly robes for the simple linen robes worn by his fellow priests. And what did the high priest do on the Day of Atonement? He went through the veil into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood on the lid, or mercy seat, of the ark of the covenant-the two- foot-by-three foot box that held the Ten Commandments. If he were defiled, he would stay in that place as a dead man and would later have to be pulled out with a rope. But if he wasn’t defiled, he would walk out into the courtyard of the temple to the jubilant cries of the people who knew they were forgiven for another year.

Here, our great High Priest, Jesus Christ, is inside the tomb. Would He emerge? Did the sacrifice work? Are we free? Only if He came out among the people as He had prophesied could there truly be celebration and could we know our sins are forgiven-not just for one year, but forever.