seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
John 19:16 So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read.
And He, bearing His cross: According to Roman custom Jesus carried His cross from the place of sentencing to the place of crucifixion, the Place of a Skull. Before the Romans put a man on a cross, they put the cross on the man, forcing him to carry it in a public procession intended to draw attention to the condemned, his crime, and his fate.
They crucified Him: The Persians invented crucifixion, but one could say that the Romans perfected it and made it an institution. It was the form of execution reserved for the worst criminals and the lowest classes. Crucifixion was designed to make the victim die publically, slowly, with great pain and humiliation. This was the form of death God ordained for Jesus to die, and the death that He submitted to in the will of God.
And two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center: There were three scheduled for crucifixion on that day, the two others and Barabbas. Jesus took the place of Barabbas. This was another way that Jesus was identified with sinners in His death.
Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross: This was according to Roman custom. The one to be crucified had his crime written out and the title hung around his neck as he carried his cross to the place of death. Then the title was placed at the top of the cross, so all would know the reason for the crucifixion.
The writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS: Pilate wrote the name of Jesus, the same name by which He was identified and arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane (John 18:5). He also wrote what was said to be the crime of Jesus, (at least in the original charge brought to him) that He claimed to be King of the Jews (John 18:33-34).
It was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin: Pilate wanted this statement regarding Jesus to be as public as possible. This is also an unknowing prophecy of how the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and reigning as King would be published to every nation and language, that it was from the beginning intended as a global message.
Do not write, “The King of the Jews,” but, “He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews’”: The religious leaders objected to Pilate’s title. They felt it was false, because they did not believe that Jesus was the King of the Jews. They also believed it was demeaning, because it showed Rome’s power to humiliate and torture even the “King of the Jews.”
What I have written, I have written: Pilate finally found the courage to stand up to the Jewish rulers, but on a relatively unimportant matter. One may say that despite himself, Pilate honored the King of Truth (John 18:37) with this true description of who He was, in both His humility and His glory.
Then the soldiers: A Roman crucifixion was supervised by soldiers, both to keep order and to make sure the condemned actually died.
Took His garments: On the cross, Jesus retained no material possessions. Even the clothes on his back were taken and His tunic was awarded by a bit of petty gambling.
The tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece: The main garment Jesus wore (the tunic) was made well enough that it was better to not tear it into four parts, as each of the four soldiers had already received one of His other garments.
There stood by the cross of Jesus His mother: It is difficult to comprehend the agony of Mary as she saw her Son crucified. She was witness to the pain, humiliation, shame, suffering, and death of her Son.
His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene: These faithful women were there with Jesus through His agony on the cross, to honor Him and to support His mother Mary. Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene were also among those who first discovered the empty tomb, evidence of the resurrection of Jesus.
He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son”: Jesus consciously cared for His mother to the end, showing that even on the cross His attention was directed to others and not upon Himself. If there was ever a moment when Jesus deserved to be self-focused, this was it; yet He remained others-centered to the end.
Behold your mother! Significantly, Jesus did not need to tell John, “Take care of My mother.” All Jesus needed to do was describe the new relationship and He knew the rest would properly follow. In the same way, there are many commands for a holy life that Jesus need not specifically give to us; if the relationship is ordered right, the conduct will flow from it.
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Well, those Pharisees and Sadducees finally got what they wanted. That Bastard Nazarene is on the Cross. I bet some who saw Jesus on the Cross with that sign "King of the Jews" hanging as His crime, just shook their heads and said "King of the Jews, indeed".
This is a really sad thing. We have now experienced something they don't televise.... execution. Out here in Arizona, there was recently an execution. They considered murdering the murderer using a firing squad. The murderer agreed to that instead of lethal injection. I should mention that in Arizona they have had trouble delivering lethal injections. The last time they used it, it took so long and the prisoner went through such horrifying pain, they stopped executions for a while as they hired a guy to study the whole deal. He's the one that came up with the firing squad idea. But that was too antiquated for Arizona to put back into practice. So lethal injection is the only way to go here.
They don't televise it. They televise the room. They televise the audience. They describe everything. They don't televise it. It's too horrifying for public television. It must be worse than war. It must be worse than watching them pull a dead child from the bombed-out rubble that used to be the child's home. That's televised all the time, but they don't televise executions. Are we that frail?
He was also naked. Is that why they don't televise executions today? Do they save us from seeing a naked man? Is that the reason we don't televise executions? Are we too innocent to see a naked man's junk? Are we that frail?
Jesus' junk was hanging out when they took Him to the tomb. The guard who won the one-piece garment would have made sure of that. After all, they thought, He wouldn't be needing that anymore.
IMHO, the most touching part of this whole chapter is Jesus' concern for His mother, Mary. She was in danger. If Jesus was a Bastard, as it appeared on the census, because no Jewish human's name was listed as "father", then they could murder Mary too. She had to be a whore or an adulterous woman. They stoned women to death for having children outside of marriage.
Jesus told John, His best human friend, to take care of Mary.
The commentaries all want to make a big deal out of the fact that unlike many women who lost their sons, Mary had family to take care of her. She wouldn't have to sit at the gate and beg. I really think Jesus wanted to make sure no pious prick decided to do away with her too. John would protect her.
There is no question about the title for these verses. My Online Bible got it right.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
