John 19: 1 – 16
New Game Just Out – ‘Kill The King’
1 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!” 6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” 11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.” 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” 16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
The torture of our Precious and Holy Lord Jesus by the Roman soldiers is also recorded by Matthew and Mark. You will note that they pretty much say the same thing so The Holy Spirit does not urge Luke to report on this situation.
Matthew 27:27–31, “27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.
Mark 15:16–20, “16 Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 18 and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 Then they struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 20 And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.
Let me ask you to consider something which I find interesting. We all know that King David was fondly thought of by Jews. He was the greatest king that ever existed in Israel. Would you agree? Even those people who did not know the Holy Scriptures paid reverence when the name of King David was mentioned. For those individuals who knew the Holy Word of God in many verses we see our Magnificent Holy Father speak lovingly and favorably about David. Here are a couple verses that point this fact out;
I Kings 2: 45, “But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.”
1 Kings 9; 5, “then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
Now the point I want for us all to consider is this. David’s descendants would be the royal line for all time for the people of Israel, right? The religious leaders knew that Joseph the carpenter was a royal descendant of David and should have been the king over Israel. Therefore they knew that our Lord Jesus as Joseph’s son filled all the requirements to be the king of Israel. The Jews wanted freedom from the tyranny of the Romans. They wanted again to be an important nation in the earth like the time when David ruled. So here we have David’s descendent fulfilling all the requirements of God’s favor and opportunity for Israel to receive their deliverance and how do they respond to One Who claims that the time of God’s Blessing is ready to be achieved. Even the pagan Gentiles are referring to this unique Messiah as the Jews king. So, instead of being excited with this awesome new life they can have, the blind pathetic leaders would rather keep things the way they are and get rid of this king. Amazing!
The emphasis that our Lord Jesus Is ‘the King of the Jews’, and thus the Messiah, which is what John was seeking to underline carries on through chapter 19. Here He is hailed as such, somewhat crudely, by the soldiers, is indirectly acknowledged as such by His accusers, is declared as such by Pilate, and will be described as such in the superscription on His cross. And along with this is an acknowledgement of His claim to be the Son of God.
John has made clear in chapter 18 that, in facing His trial by His fellow Jews, our Master and King Jesus had nothing to hide, although no details of their actual attempts to find prosecuting witnesses or of the charge of blasphemy has been given. In the examination before Annas The Lamb of God our Lord Jesus had simply pointed to the proofs that He was unblemished. That is John’s emphasis that the Lamb was open to examination before the High Priest and was found to be without blemish.
Before Pilate John was concerned rather to show that as far as the final legal authority was concerned our Lord Jesus was innocent. He was not particularly trying to show the Jewish religious leaders as guilty, although in the circumstances how could he avoid it? For guilty they were. But what mattered to him above all was that The Lamb of God Adoni Yeshua was the unblemished Lamb, and the Messiah.
It would, of course, be foolish to blame the Jewish nation as a whole for the behavior of the few evil politicians. Indeed had they known of the situation many Jews, especially the Galileans gathered in Jerusalem, would have rallied to His support. It was the chief priests, aided by others who were antagonistic to our Lord Jesus, who bore the main responsibility. And as Ezekiel made clear, every man is responsible for his own sin. For these men were not thinking of the Jewish nation in what they did. They were thinking of themselves, of their own prestige and positions, and of their own prospective prosperity. Their actions were the actions of ruling elite.
Pilate, on the other hand, had come to the conclusion that The Lord Jesus was not guilty of any charges against Him. However, he also was not prepared to come to a position where he stood firmly against the wishes of the Jewish leaders. He had done this previously in the past, rather foolishly and brutally, and the consequences had not been good for his reputation, and thus Tiberius Caesar was keeping a close eye on him. Pilate felt that he dare not put himself in a position where the Jewish representatives could again appeal against him to Caesar with accusations that he had allowed a dangerous ‘pretender to the throne’ to go free. So as far as he was concerned, justice had to come second to what was best for him.
1 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him.
Throughout the ages the treatment of prisoners has been similar. Unless they were important people (Roman citizens) they could be treated in any horrible manner regardless of whether they were innocent or guilty. This was done ‘for the good of the state’. Guilt or innocence was irrelevant. What mattered was ‘getting at the truth’, so that the ill-treatment and even torture of detainees to ‘get at the truth’ was commonplace.
The thought appeared to be that once they had had a taste of what might be coming to them if they did not, they would tell the truth, and this just became the custom. They failed to recognize that thereby men would say whatever they wanted in order to escape more torture. The fact was that common people were not considered important, and it was therefore not uncommon for a person who was acknowledged to be innocent from the start, to leave custody with his health ruined because of the methods used to ‘obtain the truth’ from him about a crime, even when he had not been involved. Thus a preliminary scourging like that applied to our Lord Jesus was not unexpected, and would be carried out by those soldiers present.
Pilate was still seeking to release our Lord Jesus because He knew He was innocent and the scourging was ordered he felt to appease the Jews in their zeal for punishment meted out to our Holy Lord. When that offer was refused Pilate then appears to have felt that if he could present the man in a sufficiently pathetic condition, a kind of parody of a king who was clearly no danger, he would be able to discharge Him. He had not yet recognized the vindictiveness of the Jewish leaders.
Three forms of corporal punishment were employed by the Romans, in increasing degrees of severity, the fustigatio (beating), the flagellatio (flogging), and the verberatio (scourging). The first could, on occasion, be a punishment in itself, leaving the person then free to go. But the more severe forms were usually part of the capital sentence as a prelude to crucifixion. The most severe, verberatio, is what was usually indicated by the use of the Greek verb mastigo-o, which is used here in verse 1. Men sometimes died when being scourged. So this would not be just a mild beating.
Our Lord Jesus knew from His Creation of the earth all of history. It is His story. He willingly agreed to be God’s lamb Who would be slain for the sins of the world -That’s yours and my sins. He knew the exact brutal and terrible treatment He would receive in order to accomplish God’s redemption. This is why He spoke through the prophet Isaiah and let us knows centuries before He would come to earth, some of the ways He would be treated by sinful human beings. Isaiah writes in chapter 50 verse 6 the exact things done to Him, “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.
The Roman scourge was a dreadful thing. It consisted of a short wooden handle to which a number of leather thongs were attached whose ends were equipped with pieces of lead, brass and sharp bone depending on choice. The victim’s back was bared and the scourge lay on more or less heavily. It could cause severe damage penetrating well below the outer flesh.
It is hard to think about but just let me remind us all of all the beating He took for us. He had been smacked in the face before Annas, spit on and beaten before Caiaphas and the council, mocked before Herod, and He was now scourged and knocked around by the Roman soldiers by Pilate orders. He would be scourged again before being led out to crucifixion as a matter of course. We remember the words of Lamentation, ‘Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by, look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow which is done to me with which God has inflicted me in the day of His fierce anger.’ (Lamentations 1.12). These words, spoken of the sufferings of Zion, well fit what The Lord Jesus as the representative of Israel was now undergoing.
2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands
Horseplay with condemned prisoners was a recognized pastime. It relieved the boredom of custodial duties. Here it was related to the charge brought against Him in typical military humor. If you go to Israel today you will be able to visit the exact location where all this torture was done against our Holy Lord. On the floor you can still see engraved the game that these soldiers would play against condemned prisoners. It was called ‘Kill the King’. They did not realize that they were indeed trying to kill the King of the entire world. You and I know that there will come a time when they will find out about their horrible treatment of our Wonderful Savior.
There were many thorny plants in Palestine and one was used here. The fact that they might be painful did not concern the soldiers. The purple robe was intended to indicate royalty and was probably an officer’s cloak. Then they alternatively treated Him as a mock king. They were on the whole brutal men and behaved brutally. If they were auxiliaries, as they probably were, they were drawn from non-Jewish inhabitants of the land and would have had no liking for Jews. They were on duty. They were bored. They egged each other on to really beat Him up.
The crown of thorns was symbolic of something else. Our Lord Jesus was taking on His own head the curse of the Garden of Eden. This was why Adam and Eve could be forgiven and clothed in the coats of skins, representing animals which had been slain. It was because this One would bear the crown of thorns and be slain in their stead.
4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
The battle of wills continued. Pilate did not like the Jewish authorities and he clearly objected to being railroaded by them. They had brought The Lord Jesus for Pilate to judge and in his view it was all pretence. Their charges were ludicrous. Why then should he do what they wanted and be in line to take the blame? Why didn’t they deal with Him themselves?
Furthermore there was an underlying superstition within him that this man may have been more than He seemed. His wife had sent him a warning about continuous nightmares she had had about Him and this fitted in with the man’s own talk about a kingdom in another world.
He again told them that he found the man innocent of any specific crime. They did not seem to be able to bring any evidence whatsoever. Why then should he take the risk of executing Him? He was after all accountable for his judgments. So he brought our Lord Jesus out and said, ‘Look at him’. Standing there weakly with blood streaming from His wounds and dressed grotesquely He did not appear to be much of a danger to anyone. Surely they were not afraid of Him? What could such a person possibly do?
He had in fact no comprehension of the thoughts and bitterness filling their minds at this man who had so corrected their false teachings and had shown them up before the people, bitterness that had been built up over the years as He had constantly shown them to be in the wrong. To them He had power, for He had the power of words and popularity. And they had had enough of it. They would never forgive Him.
Furthermore they knew that Pilate was wavering. He had not been firm in his judgment, appealing to them rather than overriding them; he had offered to release Jesus according to a custom, as though He had been guilty; and he had subjected our Lord Jesus to the dreadful scourge, a pointer to guilt.
Please take note of Pilate’s statement - ‘Behold, the man.’ For the things our Holy Lord Jesus endured He opened not His mouth. He took it all for us. Pilate was true in saying look or behold a real man. Truly, the Lord Jesus Christ Is a man’s man. John saw a deeper significance in the word ‘Man’. Here was the One Who represented mankind, the second Man, the One Who as Man would, through His own death, redeem mankind, being the bruiser of the Serpent’s head. He represented Man, bruised but triumphant.
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.” 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid,
The sight of our Lord Jesus reawakened the hatred of the Jewish Leaders and their supporters. Pilate saw a pathetic figure. They saw a thorn in their sides. He saw someone relatively harmless. They saw the man whose teaching had often brought them into such ridicule that they could never forgive Him. He saw someone powerless to do anything. They saw the man whose miracles had won Him allegiance from the crowds and even support from among their own. He saw a quiet philosopher. They saw One who had challenged their status and sought to ruin their prosperous trading in the Temple. So they had only one thing in mind. “Crucify him, crucify him,” was their cry. They were beyond reason. They were beyond thought. They simply wanted to get rid of Him. Their minds were tired and they had worked themselves up in the previous few weeks to a state of such frustration and vindictiveness that any possibility of retraction was absent.
Pilate was angry and somewhat afraid. Angry because they had been dishonest with him and afraid because of the uneasy feeling he had about this man. He did not like coming up against something to do with unearthly powers. So he essentially derided them. ‘That is your sentence,’ he says, ‘passed on the basis of your laws. So you crucify him.’ But he knew perfectly well that they could not. Their powers were limited. Blasphemy against Judaism was not a Roman offence.
9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
Pilate’s words indicate his uneasiness. Superstitious ideas were taking hold of him. Could this man really be from another world? ‘Where are you from?’ he asked, and there was apprehension in his voice. But the silent figure before him simply looked at him and gave no answer.
For our Holy God and Master Jesus knew that this was not the question of a person seeking truth and He knew that no reply would make any difference. So He said nothing. If Pilate did genuinely want to know there were ways for him to find out. But He knew that in the end Pilate was going to give way to the Jewish authorities. It was only Pilate’s anger at being outmaneuvered by those whom he despised that had kept him going thus long. Therefore, any answer our Lord Jesus gave would therefore only prolong His suffering.
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
The silence unnerved Pilate. He could not understand it. Why did this man not plead for mercy? Why did He not viciously curse at him? Did He not realize that His life was in the balance? Why did He not say something? Pilate was not used to prisoners who did not try to gain their release by some means or other. Did the man not realize what total power he had over Him? Did He not realize that Pilate had the authority to release or the authority to crucify anyone he so deemed? He could understand defiance; he could understand weeping, but not this. So as he struggled with his conscience and tried to encourage himself all that resulted was that he was more confused.
Through all this though John knew, and all those who read his report knew that in this case Pilate had no power at all nor had the Jewish accusers. There was only One Who was making the decisions, and that was The Holy and Supreme Jesus Christ.
11 Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
The Lord Jesus here acknowledged Pilate’s earthly authority, although pointing out that it was a partial authority. The words could mean that Pilate had the authority ‘from above’, that is from the Emperor, and that that was what gave him the power to do what he said. Possibly that is how Pilate took it. But the greater meaning is clear to the reader. It was that he had authority because the Lord of the Universe was allowing it. It was because of that that he had been put in this position. He had not chosen to be there. He was but a pawn, even though a responsible pawn. So, although he might not decide as he should, it would not be with a deliberate vindictiveness like that of his accusers. Thus his sin was less. It was, however, still sin for he had free choice and little excuse.
I like the history channel and I am intrigued how such atrocious acts against other human beings could have been done. In subsequent trials after I am astonished that some of these perpetrators claimed that they were only following orders. Such a claim Pilate could make but as we all know it does not gel with the individual’s responsibility to do what is right.
12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”
Up to this point Pilate had been consistent in his view. He had examined Jesus and constantly declared Him without blemish. He did not think that this man was a troublemaker or insurrectionist, and he did not care whether he was a blasphemer against the Jewish religion. He was also a little uneasy about the man. So he still did not want to give way. Subconsciously he must surely have recognized that to give way would actually undermine the authority he had so proudly claimed. So he again voiced his doubts to the accusers.
These Jewish religionists had kept their final threat until last. First they had hoped for a quick ratification of their own ‘findings’. Then they had hoped that the Lord Jesus would say something foolish. Then they had hoped that Pilate would give way under their pressure. But each time Pilate had come back with the ‘not guilty’ verdict. So they felt that now they had no choice but to apply the final threat. The used the very line that they knew Pilate was scared to death about. It was this; if he let Jesus go they would report him to Caesar as having let go someone who claimed to set himself up against the earthly ruler of the world - Caesar.
Please note that they say to him that if he does not rule in their favor then ‘You are not Caesar’s friend.’ We find out in history books that the title of ‘Caesar’s Friend’ was an honor given to men who were seen as loyal to Caesar and worthy of his commendation. It is possible that Pilate bore the title and they would go to Caesar and tell him that Pilate was being unfaithful to it.
That threat made him stop and think about what could he now do? However false the report presented by these Jews to Caesar would still cause an investigation, and there were some things he did not want investigated. He could be called to Rome. He could simply be replaced as inefficient and incapable. Anything could happen. And all he had to do to save himself was let this man be crucified, like hundreds of others. And anyway he could get his revenge later. For they must surely realize he would never forgive them
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
At this point Pilate gave up on justice. Now they all knew that they had won. The solemn moment had come. ‘Justice’ would now be declared from the Judgment Seat. Let the entire world admire Roman justice. The innocent man would be declared guilty. The verdict would save Pilate’s flagging career for a time and would maintain the Chief Priesthood for another forty years. But both had sealed their own fates. The one would finally be recalled, the others would be destroyed in the flames of a Jerusalem rejected by God.
14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!” 16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away
The word for ‘preparation’ (paraskeue) meant the day before the Sabbath. ‘The sixth hour’ is’ about noon’. In this case it may be John’s intention to link the time in the reader’s mind with the time when the Passover sacrifices could commence, stressing that Jesus is the Passover lamb, without being too specific as to time.
Today we would call it mob rule, except that sadly the mob was the judicial authorities. There were no witnesses called, there was no evidence laid, the verdict was based on passion and political expediency. Pilate felt he could no longer resist. He made one final feeble attempt and then gave up. The Jewish leaders were determined to have blood, and not only to have blood but to have it by a method that would bring a curse on the One Who died, by His hanging on a cross. They wanted Him shamed.
Look at what these Jewish officials said, ‘We have no king but Caesar’. It was a good that the common people did not hear this statement. Any true Israelite present must have been squirming. This ran contrary to the whole of Jewish belief. They were betraying their own people. They were rejecting the hope of the Messiah. To most Jews God was king and Caesar an intruder whom they longed to get rid of, and they looked for God to send their Messiah to set them free. But to the Chief Priests Caesar was important because he maintained the status quo and thus their power base.
The trial was over, the verdict had been given, and Pilate probably thought he would escape with a few days of bad conscience, while the Chief Priests no doubt believed that another problem was satisfactorily out of the way. Jesus was handed over to the Gentile crucifying party. They could now go back and finish off their Passover meal in peace, still ‘undefiled’, or so they foolishly believed. And the future would go on as normal.
They might even think to themselves as a job well done. Hey, they even solved other administrative problems. The money they spent to payoff Judas was able to be used to buy a potter’s field to bury homeless people. Yes, they must have thought a good job was done all around.
But from the eternal point of view this was the moment when the Lamb was handed over to be sacrificed. He had been examined and found to be without fault. Now He would be offered up to God as a whole offering, as a Passover sacrifice, as a guilt offering. This is the day that the Lord has made. Because of His loving sacrifice we will be glad and rejoice in it for He came and died to set us free. Thank you dear Jesus
