NLT Study Bible - Gospel of John - Flipbook - Page 50
John 19:17
1811
19:6
John 18:31
19:7
Lev 24:16
Matt 26:63-66
19:11
Rom 13:1
19:12
Luke 23:2
Acts 17:7
19:13
Matt 27:19
19:16-27
//Matt 27:32-44
//Mark 15:21-32
//Luke 23:26-43
6When they saw him, the leading priests
and Temple guards began shouting, “Cru
cify him! Crucify him!”
“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pi
late said. “I find him not guilty.”
7The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law
he ought to die because he called himself
the Son of God.”
8When Pilate heard this, he was more
frightened than ever. 9He took Jesus back
into the headquarters again and asked him,
“Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no an
swer. 10“Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate
demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have
the power to release you or crucify you?”
11Then Jesus said, “You would have no
power over me at all unless it were given to
you from above. So the one who handed me
over to you has the greater sin.”
12Then Pilate tried to release him, but
the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release
this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’ Any
one who declares himself a king is a rebel
against Caesar.”
13When they said this, Pilate brought
Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat
down on the judgment seat on the platform
that is called the Stone Pavement (in He
brew, Gabbatha). 14It was now about noon
on the day of preparation for the Passover.
And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is
your king!”
15“Away with him,” they yelled. “Away
with him! Crucify him!”
“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading
priests shouted back.
16Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them
to be crucified. So they took Jesus away.
The Crucifixion
John 19:17-24 // Matt 27:32-38 // Mark 15:21-27 //
Luke 23:26-34
17Carr ying
the cross by himself, he went
to the place called Place of the Skull (in
me: Although Pilate had the power to
of not guilty a second time, but he was
met with a strident call for Jesus’ death . . . crucify Jesus, it was only because
(19:6).
God had given him this temporary
power so Jesus could advance toward
19:6 Pilate knew that a riot could
the cross (see 10:18).
happen when a man popular with the
masses was executed, so he shifted
19:12 Each time he had a conversation
responsibility to crucify Jesus to the
with Jesus, Pilate tried to release him:
Temple leaders.
He kept trying, but his repeated efforts
were fruitless. “Friend of Caesar” is
19:7 During the trial before Caiaphas,
a technical term that refers to an ally
the charge of blasphemy—calling
of the emperor. It was an official title
himself the Son of God—was determined to be Jesus’ true crime (see Mark given to individuals such as senators
who showed exceptional loyalty and
14:61-65). The leaders had already
service to the emperor. The Jewish
tried pitting Roman imperial interests
leaders were implying that they would
against Jesus (18:33), and would do
ruin Pilate’s career by reporting that
so again (19:12). Now they challenged
he was not working in Rome’s interests.
the governor on another level: Pilate
They probably knew that Pilate was also
must keep the peace by upholding
having a personal crisis. His patron in
local law, even when it was irrelevant
Rome, Sejanus (the chief administrator
to Rome. Claiming to be God’s son was
of the Empire under Tiberius Caesar),
not illegal, because Israel’s kings did
had fallen from favor and was executed
this (Ps 2:7; 89:22-27). However, Jesus
in AD 31. Pilate had every reason to be
claimed to have the divine authority of
afraid.
God himself (see 5:18), which they saw
as blasphemy.
19:13 Pilate took the governor’s judgment seat (Greek bema, cp. Acts 25:6,
19:8-9 Pilate . . . was more frightened
“seat in court”) to render his verdict.
than ever: He was superstitious, and
The Stone Pavement was the platform
the idea of gods appearing in the world
holding the judgment seat; from there
was not uncommon (Acts 14:11). He
Pilate now spoke with the authority of
sensed that more than a political fight
his office.
was going on, so he asked Jesus, Where
are you from? He did not mean Jesus’
19:14 the day of preparation for the
birthplace, but whether Jesus was a
Passover (or the day of preparation
divine man who had descended from
during the Passover): Here, Passover
heaven. the headquarters: Greek the
does not refer to the Jewish Passover
Praetorium. Why Jesus gave no answer meal, which had taken place the night
is unclear. Perhaps it was because
before, but to the whole Festival of
Pilate would not have been able to
Unleavened Bread. It was now Friday,
understand the answer—that true
the day of preparation for the Passpower comes only from God, and God
over Sabbath, which would begin at
had empowered Jesus (cp. 19:11).
sundown (cp. Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54).
19:10-11 You would have no power over
people: Literally Jewish people; also
in 19:20.
19:15 The final words of the priests,
“We have no king but Caesar,” stood in
direct contradiction to the OT understanding that God was Israel’s king (cp.
Judg 8:23; 1 Sam 8:7; 10:19). Jerusalem
and its leaders were in the process of
killing their true king (18:37) while
paying homage to Caesar, the pagan
king of Rome.
19:16 Pilate turned Jesus over to the
Roman garrison, who prepared Jesus
for crucifixion by a second flogging
(Mark 15:15), which brought him near
death. Bleeding profusely, his clothes
soaked in blood, his thorn-laced crown
now digging deeply into his head, and
nearly in shock, Jesus was marched to a
site outside the city.
19:17 The vertical beam (Latin
staticulum) of the cross was generally
kept at the crucifixion site, and the
victim was forced to carry only the
heavy crossbeam (Latin patibulum).
Crucifixions were public executions
that took place near major roadways.
They were designed to shock and
warn the people. Place of the Skull
(Hebrew and Aramaic Golgotha; Latin
calvariae, “Calvary”): See map on
p. 1809. Most archaeologists agree that
Jesus’ crucifixion was at the site of the
present-day Church of the Holy Sepulchre, located in the Christian Quarter
of the old walled city of Jerusalem (see
“First-Century Jerusalem,” p. 1753). An
alternate site, Gordon’s Calvary (north
of the Damascus Gate), is a model of
what the scene possibly looked like, but
it holds only a tomb from the 500s BC
and therefore cannot be the authentic
site of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial.
