THE GOSPEL 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 Jesus 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 (John 10:31–36).(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 Simon of Cyrene was enlisted to help carry Jesus' cross (Matt 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26), 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" (John 1:29).(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 Gospel of John, indeed the whole Bible, 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 (John 18:31; 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 Nazareth, 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, I am 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 Judea 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 (John 12:23, 32).