John 19 - Wiersbe Study Bible

19:2 The Jews had mocked His claim to be a prophet (Matt. 26:67,68), and now the Gentiles mocked His claim to be a king. The verb tenses in the Greek text in John 19:3 indicate that the soldiers repeatedly came to Him, mocked Him, and slapped Him.

19:5,6 The failure of Pilate’s plan teaches us an important lesson: It takes more than human sentiment to bring the lost sinner to salvation. There is a view of the Atonement called “the moral influence theory” that would fit right into the governor’s approach. It states that the realization of our Lord’s sufferings moves the heart of the sinner so that he turns from sin and begins to love God. It is purely subjective and has no bearing on the holiness of God or the importance of satisfying divine justice.

19:6 The cross involves much more than an exhibition of innocent suffering. On that cross, the Son of God paid the price for the sins of the world and thereby declared the love of God and defended the holiness and justice of God. We are not saved by feeling pity for Jesus. We are saved by repenting of our sins and trusting Jesus, the sinless substitute.

19:10 Why did Jesus not answer Pilate’s question? Because He had already answered it (18:36,37). It is a basic spiritual principle that God does not reveal new truth to us if we fail to act on the truth we already know. Furthermore, Pilate had already made it clear that he was not personally interested in spiritual truth. All he was concerned about was maintaining peace in Jerusalem as he tried to expedite the trial of Jesus of Nazareth.

19:11b Jesus was referring to Caiaphas, the corrupt high priest who had long before determined that Jesus must die (11:47–54). Caiaphas knew the Scriptures and had been given every opportunity to examine the evidence. He had willfully closed his eyes and hardened his heart.

19:16 From the human standpoint, the trial of Jesus was the greatest crime and tragedy in history. From the divine viewpoint, it was the fulfillment of prophecy and the accomplishment of the will of God. The fact that God had planned all of this did not absolve the participants of their responsibility. In fact, at Pentecost, Peter put both ideas together in one statement (Acts 2:23).

19:17 It was customary for the criminal to carry his cross, or at least the crossbeam, from the hall of judgment to the place of execution. Jesus began the mile-long walk carrying His cross, but He was relieved by Simon of Cyrene, whom the Roman soldiers “drafted” to do the job (Matt. 27:32).

19:18 Crucifixion probably had its origin among the Persians and Phoenicians, but it was the Romans who made special use of it. No Roman citizen could be crucified, though there were exceptions. This mode of capital punishment was reserved for the lowest kind of criminals, particularly those who promoted insurrection. Today, we think of the cross as a symbol of glory and victory, but in Pilate’s day, the cross stood for the basest kind of rejection, shame, and suffering. It was Jesus who made the difference.

19:20 The fact that this sign was written in Hebrew (Aramaic), Greek, and Latin is significant. For one thing, it shows that our Lord was crucified in a place where many peoples and nations met, a cosmopolitan place. Hebrew is the language of religion, Greek of philosophy, and Latin of law, and all three combined to crucify the Son of God. But what He did on the cross, He did for the whole world.

19:25–27 Jesus assured His mother of His love, and He gave His beloved disciple, who sat next to Him at dinner, to be her adopted son and to care for her. If at that moment John took Mary away from the scene and took her home, we do not know. We do know that He cared for her and that she was among the believers in the Upper Room as they awaited Pentecost (Acts 1:14). Even while He was performing the great work of redemption, Jesus was faithful to His responsibilities as a son. What an honor it was for John to take His Lord’s place in Mary’s life!

19:30 When an artist completed a picture, or a writer a manuscript, He or she might say, “It is finished!” The death of Jesus on the cross “completes the picture” that God had been painting, the story that He had been writing, for centuries. Because of the cross, we better understand the ceremonies and prophecies in the Old Testament. In John’s Gospel, you find a number of pictures of our Lord’s death: the slaying of the lamb (1:29); the destroying of the temple (2:19); the lifting up of the serpent (3:14); the shepherd laying down his life for the sheep (10:11–18); and the planting of the seed in the ground (12:20–25). These pictures make it clear that Jesus’ death was not an accident; it was a divine appointment. He was not murdered in the strictest sense: He willingly gave His life for us. His death was an atonement, not just an example. He actually accomplished the work of redemption on the cross.

19:33,34 It is remarkable that the Roman soldiers did not do what they were commanded to do—break the victims’ legs—but they did do what they were not supposed to do—pierce the Savior’s side! In both matters, they fulfilled the very Word of God! The bones of the Passover lamb were not to be broken (Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; and see Ps. 34:20), so our Lord’s bones were protected by the Lord. His side was to be pierced (Zech. 12:10; Rev. 1:7), so that was done by one of the soldiers.

19:39 We have already met Nicodemus in our study of chapters 1–12. Note that each time he is named, he is identified as the man who came to Jesus by night (3:1ff.; 7:50–53). But the man who started off with confusion at night (ch. 3) ended up with open confession in the daylight! Nicodemus came out of the dark and into the light and, with Joseph, was not ashamed to publicly identify with Jesus Christ.