“So they took Jesus; 17 and carrying the cross by Himself, He went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took His tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
“They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”
25 And that is what the soldiers did.
Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing beside her, He said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, He said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to is mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. 35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) 36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of His bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced”
John 19:17-37.
I have pointed out in the past a few passages from the Scriptures that are truly sad, but none are as sad as this passage today. Read it and weep!
Jesus goes to death carrying His own cross, demonstrating that He is in complete charge of His destiny. John does not mention Simon of Cyrene, the wailing women, the drugged potion, the many onlookers, the darkness that descended at the moment of Jesus’ death, the centurion that watched, nor the Temple veil that was torn. The plaque atop the cross is mentioned in all four (4) Gospels, but in four (4) different wordings, suggesting at the very least that the oral tradition preserved the substance of the stories but not the details. After all, there were no cell phones to take pictures. John remembers three (3) different translations of the plaque written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. And Pilate’s insistence to leave the plaque just as He ordered suggests the obvious irony that the Gentiles in the end upheld the kingship of Jesus, but not the Jews.
When Jesus’ garments are divided up John notices the prophecy from Psalm 22 that begins with these words: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me” Psalm 22:1. The verse from Psalm 22 reads: “They divide my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots”
Psalm 22:18. And in this Gospel John mentions Jesus’ seamless tunic, a detail that would have appeared as well in the tunic of the High Priest, suggesting that Jesus died not only as a king but also as a priest — the highest priest ever! Notice too that John mentions “the mother of Jesus” and “the beloved disciple” — neither of whom are ever named. Ironically the mother whose family origins from Cana are rebuked as coming from a place from where no good could come is now the mother of the disciples.
Giving His mother to John and John to His mother signals the end of what Jesus came here to do. But not before the incident of the wine, where the hyssop mixed with wine reminds us of Israel dipping the hyssop into the wine and smearing it on the doorposts to guarantee God’s protection in the Jewish Passover. Now the hyssop is mixed with the blood of the paschal Lamb to protect us from hell.
John tells of the moment of Jesus’ death as the moment when He “gave up His Spirit” John 19:30. In chapter 7 Jesus promised His Spirit when He was glorified: “37 On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, He cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, 38 and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ 39 Now He said this about the Spirit, which believers in Him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified” John 7:37-39. This also refers to “rivers of living water that will flow out of Him” which is what happened at the cross when His side was pierced with a spear, and at once blood and water out flowed from His body (Verse 34 above). Later blood and water became the fundamental symbols of the Eucharist and Baptism.
Finally there is the text of not breaking a bone, which was the ritual necessity of the Paschal Lamb when slaughtered on Passover. And it is at the end of His life that the Beloved Disciple testifies to Jesus being the Paschal Lamb and Suffering Servant that also comes from Psalm 34:19 & 20. John the Baptist’s description is certainly echoed here” the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
And so dear friends, I can only invite you at this time to stop what you are doing and sit quietly and prayerfully and think deeply on the death of Jesus — for you.
Oh dear Lord Jesus Christ,Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit” 1 Peter 3:18.
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters” 1 John 3:16.
“But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed”
Isaiah 53:5.
“By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” Colossians 2:14.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” Ephesians 1:7.
Opmerkingen