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Home , John 19

THE OF JOHN Small Group Discussion Guide Text: John 19:16-27

Theme/ Big Idea: John shows us our burden bearing savior lifted up to die and yet in complete control and extending grace even in death.

Context/ Background Information: John provides details regarding the crucifixion of not given by the other Gospel writers. Specifically, John highlights: the inscription placed over Jesus and the ensuing debate (John 19:19–22), four references to the fulfillment of scripture (John 19:24, 28–29, 36–37), the care and compassion Jesus extends towards his mother and "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 19:25–27), Jesus' last cry from the cross (John 19:30), and the piercing of Jesus' side (:31–36).(1) In John 19:16-27, John emphasizes our burden bearing Savior willingly lifted up to die, Jesus' ultimate authority though all appears lost, and Jesus' incredible compassion and grace even amid his own agony.

OUR BURDEN BEARING SAVIOR Unable to convince the religious leaders to release Jesus, Pilate handed him over to the will of the religious leaders to be crucified (John 19:16a; Lk 23:25). In the very next verse, John says the Roman soldiers took Jesus but that Jesus "went out, bearing his own cross" (John 19:17). The phrase "his own" signals that John is making a point. While the other Gospel writers note that Jesus made it as far as the city gate and was enlisted to help carry Jesus' cross (Matt 27:32; :21; :26), John intentionally excludes this detail. John's audience, familiar with the passion narrative, would have wondered why.

John is emphasizing two things. First, and most obvious, is John's emphasis throughout chapters 18 and 19 that Jesus is no powerless victim. Instead, Jesus is the rightful and True King. The Jewish religious leaders may be calling for his death, the Romans may be ushering him to death, but Jesus is the one marching voluntarily to his own death. Though it appears all is lost, Jesus is firmly in control, on the throne, and all things are working according to plan.

Secondly, John is making it clear that Jesus alone is our sin-bearing Savior. Pilate said three times that Jesus is innocent, and three times it is emphasized that Jesus is King. And then three times the religious leaders cry out, "away with him, away with him, crucify him." Their language literally means lift him up, lift him up, lift him up to die. And what does John capture in the very next scene? Jesus is "bearing his own cross." The word "bearing" (bastazo) means to willfully lift up, carry away, and remove. The religious leaders want Jesus carried away and removed. And yet, in being carried away and removed, Jesus is carrying away and removing our sins with him. In being lifted up, Jesus is lifting up and taking away our burden of sin. He truly is "the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (:29).(2)

One might ask, how is Jesus bearing our burdens away? We see in the text it is by his death; specifically, Jesus dies the death of a cursed slave hanging on a tree between two criminals. The , indeed the whole , builds toward the moment of Jesus' death and sacrifice. And surprisingly, John reduces it simply to "they crucified him." In fact, all of the Gospel writers move right over defining crucifixion and the excruciating details involved and only say Jesus was crucified. For a 1st Century audience familiar with crucifixion, this is not surprising. They knew it was the death of slaves and criminals, and they knew the agony and shame that crucifixion entailed. But for a 21st Century audience, this might need explanation.

Crucifixion was widely used and intentionally designed to be an agonizing and humiliating death.(3) Primarily used for slaves and criminals, it served as a public opportunity to shame lawbreakers and discourage anyone else from doing the same thing. Initially, crucifixion involved a prisoner being tied or impaled on a wooden stake. The Romans later developed the system of nailing prisoners to a wooden beam that was then attached to a vertical wooden post placed in the ground.(4) At the execution site, prisoners were nailed or lashed to the horizontal cross beam and then hoisted up and dropped into position on the vertical beam. The criminal's feet were then nailed one on top of the other into the upright beam (or their feet were placed on the side of the upright beam and nails driven through the ankles or heels).

Hanging there, Jesus would have struggled to breathe and would asphyxiate unless he put weight on his legs nailed below him. In this position, writhing up and down in agony, men were left to suffer for days and even weeks. It was an excruciating, agonizing, and humiliating way to die. Josephus called crucifixion "the most wretched of deaths" (5)

In Jesus' crucifixion, the Jewish leaders got exactly what they wanted and yet were being offered infinitely more. Jesus was being crucified, shamed, and humiliated on a wooden cross as they wished from the beginning (:31; 19:6, 15). They wanted to make sure "that Jesus was not viewed as a martyr for God's cause, but as an impostor who died under the curse of God." (6) According to Jewish law, anyone hung on a tree was cursed (Deut 21:23).

However, what they desired, God providentially orchestrated (John 18:32). Jesus willingly died the shame- filled death of slaves and criminals because he was willingly dying in our place. This is the heartbeat of the gospel; in the Garden, we substituted ourselves for God, and on the cross, Jesus substituted himself for us. As Paul makes clear, Jesus became "a curse for us" being hung "on a tree" in order to redeem and set free all who are in bondage to sin "under the law" (Gal 3:13-14; 4:4-5). Said another way, "though he was rich, yet for [our] sakes he became poor, so that [we] by his poverty might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9). Or said yet another way, God "made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21). This is the beautiful exchange found in the gospel whereby our sins and their punishment are placed on Jesus, and his righteousness and freedom are given to us.

Again we see, what both Jew and Gentile intended for evil, God intended for good. What they intended for shame is actually how our shame is taken away. What they hoped would show Jesus as cursed is how our curse is removed. What they intended as punishment is our only hope of escaping punishment. Jesus is innocent yet dying in place of insurrectionists, rebels, and robbers like us. The moment of his death is the moment of his glory and our rescue. Jesus is our burden bearing Savior marching to the cross.

JESUS IS KING, IN COMPLETE CONTROL John makes it clear Jesus is our burden bearing Savior. But there is another central theme in this text, and it is this: though all seems dark and lost, Jesus is King and in complete control. We have seen the clear emphasis that Jesus is King throughout chapters 18 and 19. But now we see the culmination and explicit declaration that Jesus is King in the inscription Pilate places over him on the cross.

It was common practice to hang a sign over the condemned, notifying onlookers of the accusation against them. This was yet another way to deter the public from breaking the same law. According to John, Pilate's inscription read "Jesus of , King of the Jews." Each of the Gospel writers notes some variation of this inscription, but all consistently emphasize the central theme, "King of the Jews" (Matt. 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38).

The inscription is likely Pilate's last attempt at shaming the Jews. Nazareth was an insignificant, nothing town, and Pilate sees Jesus as innocent and impotent to lead a rebellion. In essence, Pilate is saying, "Here is a nobody from a backwater, nothing town; the perfectly fitting king for a nobody people from a backwater, nothing region."

The religious leaders want Pilate to add, "This man said, King of the Jews" (John 19:21). They thought adding that Jesus said, "I am king" would clear things up. In yet another remarkable twist of irony, Pilate's inscription and the Jewish leader's addition does further clarify Jesus' identity. He is "I Am, the King," and that truth is no longer hidden. Both the visible location "near the city" and the inscription in multiple languages served as a public warning to the masses not to break the law (John 19:20). But it also accomplished more than anyone knew. Aramaic was the common language of and largely influential in the development of the Hebrew language. It was, therefore, widely understood by the ordinary Jewish person. While Latin was the common language of Rome, and Greek was the common language of trade and commerce used by all. In God's providence, the sign was easily understood by all who might pass by and broadcast to the world the full truth about Jesus. What Pilate and the religious leaders intended for shame actually declared to the nations that Jesus is the King, not just for the Jew, but also for the Gentile.(7) He is indeed Savior of the world, lifted up and drawing all people to himself (:23, 32).

John goes further and makes it abundantly clear as King, Jesus, is in complete control. There is an intentional tension highlighted by John throughout this scene. On the one hand, John says the Roman soldiers "took Jesus" (John 19:16b). While on the other hand, Jesus "went out bearing his own cross" (John 19:17). On the one hand, "they crucified him" on a tree (John 19:17). While on the other hand, "God sent forth his Son," Jesus "became a curse for us" (Gal 4:5; 3:13; 2 Cor 5:21), and the Son of Man "must…be lifted up" (:14; 8:28; 12:31). At every turn, it appears as though all is lost, but John will not let us lose sight of the fact that Jesus is still in control and on his throne.

Verses 23-24 draw out this tension further and make it emphatic; though all seems dark and lost, Jesus is King and still in control. It was common practice for executioners to take the remaining belongings of the condemned. What is interesting and unique to the Gospel of John is how much attention and space John gives to the taking of Jesus' clothes. In three different ways, John emphasizes that the soldiers took Jesus' clothes and divided them. He says they took his garments and divided them" in verse 23, then he quotes :18, which also says, "They divided my garments," and then in verse 24, John says again, "the soldiers did these things." They took his garments; they took his garments; they took his garments.

All of the Gospel writers see an allusion to Psalm 22, but only John goes so far as to emphasize that this was done "to fulfill the Scripture" (John 19:23). The Roman soldiers take Jesus' clothes and see this as further humiliation. But John makes it clear yet again, Jesus is the one in control. Jesus humbled himself and gave up his clothes in in an extraordinary sign of sacrifice and service. And here again, we see the same thing.

So who is in control? Who is working? Who's plan is in action here? They took, but it was according to God's will and plan. They are attempting to humiliate Jesus, but Jesus is actually humbling himself. They are trying to shame him, but Jesus is taking our shame on himself. What they intended for evil, God intends for our good. Though everything appears lost, though Jesus is lifted up to die, and though he is stripped, shamed, and humiliated…Jesus is still on the throne, and his greatest moment of weakness is Jesus' greatest moment of glory.

JESUS IS KING, GIVING HIMSELF TO THE END In verses 25-27, we see that even in death, Jesus expresses compassion and concern and offers hope and life. First, John captures an intentional contrast between the soldiers and the women standing nearby. John says, "So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were" several women and the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 19:24–25). John is intentionally contrasting the soldiers with these women.

The soldiers callously and coldly ignore the person of Jesus, preoccupied only with taking his possessions. His possessions are more important than his person. The text says they "took" his clothing. The Greek word is "lambano," and it means to grasp. Quite literally, the soldiers grasped his possessions but missed his person.

In contrast, however, the women stand nearby preoccupied with Jesus' person, not his possessions. Undoubtedly, they wept, and they prayed, but they stood by Jesus even though it might cost them for doing so. They grasped what mattered most. More importantly, they grasped who mattered most.

And the response by Jesus is remarkable; it displays the nature of the King and the Kingdom of God. Jesus looked at Mary and said, "Woman, behold, your son!" And then he looked at the disciple (whom most believe is ) and said, "Son, behold, your mother!" The last time we saw Jesus addressing Mary as "woman" was at the wedding feast in . There he said," Woman…My hour has not yet come" (:4). In this scene, the hour of his death has come. And in his last agonizing moments, we see the true heart of our True King; Jesus extends extraordinary care and compassion. Even in the middle of his own agony, Jesus is concerned for others. And even in their darkest hour—losing a son and a beloved friend—we observe the very heart of the True King for sinners and sufferers.

But Jesus' words are even more remarkable in that the phrases he uses were common to the language of adoption. While the soldiers are only concerned with taking and dividing, Jesus is concerned with giving and uniting. Indeed, that is the very nature of the Kingdom of God. Where the soldiers grasp and miss Jesus, those standing nearby grasp Jesus and are treated as family. It reminds us yet again of John's words in John 1:10-13, "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not [lambano/ grasp] him. But to all who did [lambano/ grasp] him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." Even in death, our True King is in complete control, extends love and grace, and offers hope and life.

Quotes To Consider: • "The heavens frighten us; they are too calm; In all the universe we have no place. Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm? Lord Jesus, by thy scars we know thy grace. The other gods were strong; but thou wast weak; They rode, but thou didst stumble to a throne; But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak, And not a god has wounds, but thou alone." – Edward Shillito, "Jesus of the Scars"

Discussion Questions: 1. Unlike the other Gospel writers, John does not mention Simon of Cyrene (Matt 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26). Instead, John says Jesus "went out bearing his own cross." What point do you think John is trying to make? 2. John, along with the other Gospel writers, simply says, "they crucified him." What do Jesus' wounds and crucifixion say about our sin? In Jewish thought, what is true of a person who is crucified on a wooden beam (i.e., hung) according to Deut 21:23? Why was Jesus cursed according to Gal 4:5; 3:13; 2 Cor 8:9; and 2 Cor 5:21? What has been clear from the very beginning of the Gospel of John, according to John 1:29; 3:14-15? 3. While the cross tells us we are so sinful someone and to die, what does Jesus' willingness to die on your behalf communicate? Read and discuss the quote above by Edward Shillito. 4. John intends for us to see a comparison and contrast between the soldiers and the women who stood near the cross. What are they each preoccupied and focused on? Which are you? 5. There is another comparison in the text between the kingdom of man (represented by the soldiers) and the Kingdom of God (led by King Jesus). What do the soldiers do according to John 19:23a, and what does Jesus do in verses 26-27? 6. What encouragement do you find that even in Jesus' last agonizing moments, he expressed love, grace, and compassion for his disciples?

Footnotes: 1. George R. Beasley-Murray, John, Volume 36: Revised Edition (Dallas: Zondervan Academic, 2015). 344. 2. Because John regularly and masterfully works in allusions and fulfillment it is possible John is also making reference to the Old Testament story of Abraham and Isaac so familiar to his Jewish audience. In that story Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son (Gen 22:1-2). On the way to be sacrificed Abraham “laid” the wood for the sacrifice on Isaac. Isaac, therefore, carried his own instrument of death towards his sacrifice (Gen 22:6). By God’s grace, however, a substitute was provided and Isaac was not sacrificed. God provided his own lamb for the sacrifice (Gen 22:8). Here in the Gospel of John, the promised Son is our substitute. He is God’s lamb marching to the death we deserve bearing the instrument of his own death. 3. Crucifixion was first used by the Persians, then adopted by the Greeks, and later perfected by the Romans. Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 246, and Gerald G. O’Collins, “Crucifixion,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1207. 4. Ibid. 5. Gerald G. O’Collins, “Crucifixion,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1207. 6. Beasley-Murray, John, 328. 7. James Montgomery Boice, The Gospel of John: An Expositional Commentary, Pbk. ed. (Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books, 2005).