John 19 - Holman KJV Study Bible

19:1 After the Jewish phase of the trial and ­Jesus' interrogation by Pilate, the sentencing stage of His trial began. On Pilate, see note at 18:29. The flogging weakened ­Jesus so much that He could not carry His crossbeam very far.

19:2 The crown of thorns represented a mock crown ridiculing ­Jesus' messiahship. The thorns would sink into His skull, bloodying and distorting His face. The purple robe (cp. Matt. 27:28; Mark 15:17) represented a mock royal robe. Purple was the imperial color (1Macc 8:14).

19:3 Hail, King of the Jews mimicked the "Ave Caesar" ("Hail, Caesar!") extended to the Roman emperor. Roman soldiers customarily played "mock king" games during the Saturnalia festival.

19:5 Behold the man (Lat ecce homo) conveys a sense of, "Look at the poor fellow!" In His mock regal clothes, ­Jesus made a heartrending sight. In the context of John's Gospel, the statement may also highlight ­Jesus' humanity and invoke messianic passages such as Zech. 6:12.

19:6 Pilate used sarcasm, being fully aware that the Jews did not have the authority to impose the death penalty (see note at 18:31).

19:7 The Jews' comment may refer to Lev. 24:16 "he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death" (see note at 5:18; cp. 8:59; 10:31,33).

19:8 Pilate was more afraid. Earlier that morning his wife's dream had disturbed him (Matt. 27:19).

19:9 ­Jesus' origin was frequently an issue with His opponents (7:27-28; 8:14; 9:29-30). For John, there were clear spiritual overtones to Pilate's question (cp. 18:36-37). ­Jesus' silence before Pilate is reminiscent of Isa. 53:7; cp. Mark 14:61; 15:5; 1 Pet. 2:22-23.

19:11 In typical Jewish fashion, ­Jesus used above to refer to God.

19:12 Unconvinced of ­Jesus' guilt, Pilate sentenced Him to die only after intense Jewish pressure (v v. 13-16). Caesar, originally the surname of Gaius Julius Caesar (d. 44 b.c.), became the title of subsequent Roman emperors (cp. v. 15; Matt. 22:17,21). Caesar's friend was a semiformal status indicating a person favored by the emperor.

19:13 The judgment seat served as the platform for the judge's formal verdict (Acts 25:6,17). The kind of Pavement mentioned here has been excavated on the lower level of the Fortress of Antonia, one of the two possible sites for the governor's residence (see note at 18:28).

19:14 The preparation day for the passover may refer to the day before the sabbath of Passover week (Matt. 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; see note at John 18:28). If so, all four Gospels concur that ­Jesus' Last Supper was a Passover meal eaten on Thursday evening (which, by Jewish reckoning, was the beginning of Friday). John used Roman time, in which the sixth hour was six in the morning.

19:15 By professing Caesar alone as their king, the Jewish leaders betrayed their national heritage and denied their own messianic expectations based on Scripture.

19:16-42 The final unit in John's passion narrative describes ­Jesus' crucifixion and burial.

19:17 ­Jesus set out bearing his cross until He collapsed. Simon of Cyrene was then pressed into service, and he carried it to the execution site (Matt. 27:32). Went forth means "out of the city," where Jewish custom prescribed that executions should take place (Lev. 24:14,23; Num. 15:35-36; Deut. 17:5; 21:19-21; 22:24; cp. Heb. 13:12). Golgotha means "Skull Place"; the Latin equivalent is "Calvary" (see note at 1:38).

19:18 On crucifixion, see note at 18:32. ­Jesus' crucifixion between two criminals is reminiscent of Ps. 22:16 "the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me," and Isa. 53:12 "he was numbered with the transgressors."

19:19 The title on ­Jesus' cross specified the crime for which He was executed, probably to discourage others from committing similar acts.

19:20 On nigh to the city, see note at verse 17. Hebrew or Aramaic was the language most widely understood by the Jewish population of Israel; Latin was the official language of the Roman occupying force; and Greek was the "international language" of the empire, understood by most Diaspora Jews as well as Gentiles. The trilingual inscription ensured that virtually anyone could read the crimes with which ­Jesus was charged.

19:22 Pilate was unwilling to give in to further Jewish pressures. For John, the inscription unintentionally confirmed ­Jesus' true kingship.

19:23-24 The seamless coat may recall Joseph's robe (Gen. 37:3,23). Similar to several later events at the crucifixion (19:28-37; see note at 12:38-40), the soldiers' division of ­Jesus' clothes and their casting of lots fulfilled scripture (Ps. 22:18). Psalm 22 is a lament psalm ascribed to David. This is the first of several references to ­Jesus as the righteous sufferer in keeping with the experience of the psalmist (). John may have purposefully shaped his account of ­Jesus' crucifixion in a way that highlighted the parallels between the experiences of David and ­Jesus. For instance, Ps. 22:15-18 mentions the sufferer's thirst (v. 15), his pierced hands and feet (v. 16), and the preservation of all his bones (v. 17).

19:25 On ­Jesus' mother, see 2:1-5 and note at 19:26-27. His mother's sister may be Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee mentioned in Matthew and Mark. On Cleophas, see Luke 24:18. On Mary Magdalene, see 20:1-18 (cp. Luke 8:2-3).

19:26-27 In keeping with biblical injunctions to honor one's parents (Exod. 20:12; Deut. 5:16), ­Jesus made provision for His mother, who was almost certainly widowed and probably in her early fifties, with little or no personal income. On the word woman, see note at 2:4.

19:28-29 The reference to Scripture being fulfilled builds on verse 24 (see note there), most likely in allusion to Ps. 69:21 "they gave me vinegar to drink" (cp. Matt. 27:34,48; see Ps. 22:15). Soldiers and laborers used vinegar to quench their thirst (Mark 15:36). It is different from the "wine mingled with myrrh" ­Jesus refused on the way to the cross (Mark 15:23). Hyssop was a plant classified in 1 Kings 4:33 as a humble shrub. It was used for the sprinkling of blood on the doorpost at the original Passover (Exod. 12:22).

19:30 Gave up the ghost may express an act of the will, echoing "poured out his soul unto death," which was prophesied of the Suffering Servant (Isa. 53:12).

19:31-33 On preparation, see note at verse 14. That sabbath day was special because it was Passover week. For the Jews, bodies of hanged criminals were not to defile the land by remaining on a tree overnight (Deut. 21:22-23; cp. Josh. 8:29). The legs of crucifixion victims were broken to hasten death. This prevented them from pushing themselves up to open the chest cavity and thus breathe better. Since the victims would now have to pull themselves up by the arms instead, suffocation occurred once their arm strength failed. See note at verse 36.

19:34 The flow of blood and water proved that ­Jesus was dead (1 5:6-8). The passage may also allude to Exod. 17:6 "he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank" (cp. Num. 20:11). The thrusting spear was about three and one-half feet long with an iron head.

19:35 On John's witness about ­Jesus, see notes at 5:31-47; 13:23; and 21:24.

19:36 After verses 24 and 28-29 (see notes there), this is the third scriptural proof that shows that ­Jesus' death fulfilled Scripture (Exod. 12:46; Ps. 34:20). ­Jesus escaped having His legs broken since He died so quickly, and the spear did not damage any of His bones.

19:37 The Roman soldiers again fulfilled prophecy without knowing it (Zech. 12:10; also cited in Rev. 1:7).

19:38 Joseph of Arimathaea, a wealthy member of the Jewish ruling council (Matt. 27:57), asked Pilate for ­Jesus' body. Thus ­Jesus was killed alongside criminals and was buried in a rich man's tomb, fulfilling another Scripture: "he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death" (Isa. 53:9).

19:39-40 The amount of aromatic spices brought by Joseph and Nicodemus was considerable (2 Chron. 16:14). Myrrh was a fragrant resin used by Egyptians in embalming; aloes were a powder of aromatic sandalwood; the mixture cloaked the smell of decay.

19:41 On the place, see notes at verses 17 and 20. The garden was apparently somewhat elaborate; note the mention of a gardener in 20:15. Garden burials are recorded in the OT (Manasseh in 2 Kings 21:18; Amon in 21:26).

19:42 On preparation, see note at verse14. Sabbath was rapidly approaching, when all work ceased, including that of carrying spices or transporting a corpse. Thus we may see it as an instance of divine providence that the tomb was nigh (see note at 20:1).