Chapter BY Chapter

John 19:16-32

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Crucifixion, Death, and Burial of Jesus

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The Crucifixion of Jesus

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Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

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So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.  Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).  There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: “Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews.”  Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.  The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

 

Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

 

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

 

“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

 

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.”

 

So this is what the soldiers did.

 

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

 

The Death of Jesus

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Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”  A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.  When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

 

Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.  The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.  But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.  Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.  The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.  These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

 

The Burial of Jesus

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Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.  He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.  Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.  At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.  Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

 

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“Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.”

 

Who is “them” in this statement?  The Jewish leaders were clamoring for Jesus to be crucified, so he is not handing Jesus over to his own authority to be crucified.  He is handing Jesus over to the Jewish authorities.  Remember, the Jewish authorities have at least 1,000 Roman soldiers under their command.  These soldiers would be well versed in all activities of the Roman army, especially crucifixion since they executed anyone that led a rebellion against the Jewish authorities. 

 

“So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.”

 

These would be the soldiers under the command of the Jewish authorities.

 

It is interesting to note the irony of the sign that Pilate places a sign on the cross that says that Jesus is the King of the Jews.  Is Pilate mocking the Jews with this sign, or does he actually recognize Jesus as the King of the Jews?  Jesus would have been the perfect King of the Jews in his sight.  Jesus was not leading any armed rebellions.  In Matthew’s gospel, Pilate refers to Jesus as “who is called the Christ.”  I am sure that Pilate would have known about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem just a few days before this.  Pilate at least acknowledged how the majority of the populace regarded Jesus.  So, this did not exactly please the Jewish leaders.  Remember though, these same people that complained about Jesus being their king were shouting earlier in the same day, “We have no king but Caesar.”

The soldiers divide his clothing among themselves and cast lots for his seamless undergarment.  John notes this is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:18.  Now whenever, the New Testament quotes the Old Testament, we should read that whole passage.  The New Testament writers did not just cherry pick verses, but used these references to bring these whole passages to memory.  Psalm 22 reads as follows:

 

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
    Why are you so far from saving me,
    so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
    by night, but I find no rest.

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
    you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
    they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved;
    in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

But I am a worm and not a man,
    scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
    they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
“He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
    “let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
    since he delights in him.”

Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Do not be far from me,
    for trouble is near
    and there is no one to help.

Many bulls surround me;
    strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
    open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
    and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
    it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
    and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
    you lay me in the dust of death.

Dogs surround me,
    a pack of villains encircles me;
    they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
    people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.

But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
    You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
    my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
    save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will declare your name to my people;
    in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
    All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
    Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned
    the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
    but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
    before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
    those who seek the Lord will praise him—
    may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth
    will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
    will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the Lord
    and he rules over the nations.

All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
    all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
    those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
    future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
    declaring to a people yet unborn:
    He has done it!”

 

Other gospels record Jesus saying, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  This is how this Psalm starts out.  The Psalm ends with “he has done it,” or “He has completed it.”  Jesus dies on the cross right after saying, “It is finished.”

 

There are several parallels between Psalm 22 and the crucifixion of Jesus.  Can you pick them out? 

 

In Psalm 22, he is scorned and despised.  While Jesus is on the cross, he is scorned and despised.

 

In Psalm 22, his heart is like wax.  The blood & water of the wound is typical of a massive heart attack.

 

In Psalm 22, they cast lost for his garment and divided his clothes.  The soldiers cast lots for his garment and divided his clothes.

 

In Psalm 22, future generations will be told about the Lord.  The future generations have been told and there are more to be told. 

 

In Psalm 22, it ends with the words, “He has done it!”  When Jesus dies, he says, “It is finished.”

 

Now, we have several witnesses to the crucifixion.

 

“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”

 

We deciphered previously that John refers to himself as “the disciple who Jesus loved.” So standing there witnessing the crucifixion is John, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary’s sister, Mary wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  At least 5 witnesses there, and I imagine that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were there as well.  These are very important verses when you encounter someone that makes the false claim that Jesus did not die on the cross.

 

Now Jesus gives a special significance to his death.

 

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”  A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.  When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Do you see the special significance there?

 

What is the significance of Jesus saying “It is finished?”

 

This draws upon John 3:14-15,

 

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

 

Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness and those that looked to it were healed.  Jesus repeatedly said that he had to be lifted up.

 

John 12:32-33,

 

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.”

The listeners understood that this meant crucifixion as well by their response that the Messiah was to be with them forever.

This also has a significance with what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18,

 

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”

 

What in the Law had yet to be accomplished at this point?

 

The next paragraph gives us a clue:

 

“Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.  The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.  But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.  Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.  The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.  These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”

 

“Not one of his bones will be broken” speaks back to the Passover meal.

 

“They will look on the one they have pierced.” Speaks back to Zechariah 12:10. 

 

Now, John interjects himself very intentionally here.  Instead of breaking Jesus’ legs, a soldier pierced Jesus’ side and it caused a sudden flow of blood and water.  Now the Romans were very skilled at knowing where to hit someone where it would mean certain death.  Even the gladiators stabbed their opponents between the clavicle and the neck because they knew it would cut the aorta.  They certainly knew where the heart was and when piercing someone’s side, they would definitely aim for the heart.  Who knows the medical implications of a sudden flow of blood and water coming from such a wound? ??? 

 

There are only a couple possibilities here. 

1) The sac surrounding the lungs was filled with water from being so damaged from the inability to breath and the flesh wounds.  So when the side was pierced this water and the blood from the heart poured out.  In such a case, you were either dead or you had 3 minutes to live. 

 

2) The heart had burst open and the blood coagulated leaving the sac surrounding the heart filled with water.  When the piercing is made both blood and water appear to come out.

 

Notice that John inserts himself here.   John says, “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.”  Why is it so important for John to say this at this point in the story?

1. Because if Jesus did not die on the cross, he could not have been resurrected from the dead.

2. There are no witnesses from the first century that claim that Jesus did not die.So many people saw Jesus die on the cross, that this was an accepted fact in the entire Roman Empire. The Jews vehemently claimed he had died and even wrote about his death. (https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-great-offense-was-jesus-really-crucified)

 

John also affirms that these things happened in the way they did because they were a fulfillment of prophesy. 

 

“These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says,

“They will look on the one they have pierced.”

 

This fulfills prophecy in 2 ways. 

 

1) It confirms the Passover example that God gave by telling the Israelites not to break the bones of the Passover lamb.  2) By referring to Zechariah 12:10 as the one they have pierced, it is affirmed that the Messiah is God.  There are a couple ways to translate this “the one” or “me.”  The Septuagint clearly translated it as “me.”  So, the interpretation of earlier scholars closer to the time of writing is to be preferred. 

 

7 Clues Tell Us Precisely When Jesus Was Crucified

(http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/when-precisely-did-jesus-die-the-year-month-day-and-hour-revealed)

 

Clue #1: The High Priesthood of Caiaphas

 

The gospels indicate that Jesus was crucified at the instigation of the first century high priest named Caiaphas (Matthew 26:3-4, John 11:49-53).

 

We know from other sources that he served as high priest from A.D. 18 to 36, so that puts Jesus' death in that time frame.

 

Clue #2: The Governorship of Pontius Pilate

 

All four gospels agree that Jesus was crucified on the orders of Pontius Pilate (Matthew 27:24-26, Mark 15:15, Luke 23:24, John 19:15-16).

 

We know from other sources when he served as governor of Judea--A.D. 26 to A.D. 36--so we can narrow down the range by several years.

 

Clue #3: After "the Fifteenth Year of Tiberius Caesar"

 

The Gospel of Luke tells us when the ministry of John the Baptist began:

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar . . . the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness [Luke 3:1-2].

This picks out a specific year: A.D. 29.

Since all four gospels depict the ministry of Christ beginning after that of John the Baptist had begun (Matthew 3, Mark 1, Luke 3, John 1), this means that we can shave a few more years off our range.

The death of Christ had to be in a range of seven years: between A.D. 29 and 36.

 

Clue #4: Crucified on a Friday

 

All four gospels agree that Jesus was crucified on a Friday (Matt. 27:62, Mark 15:42; Luke23:54;  John 19:42), just before a Sabbath, which was just before the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1, Mark 16:2, Luke 24:1, John 20:1).

We know that it was a Friday because it is referred to as "the day of preparation"--that is, the day on which Jews made the preparations they needed for the Sabbath, since they could not do any work on that day. Thus thus cooked food in advance and made other necessary preparations.

The Jewish Encyclopedia states:

Friday, as the forerunner of Shabbat, is called "'Ereb Shabbat" (The Eve of Sabbath). The term "'ereb" admits of two meanings: "evening" and "admixture" (Ex. xii. 38); and "'Ereb Shabbat" accordingly denotes the day on the evening of which Sabbath begins, or the day on which food is prepared for both the current and the following days, which latter is Sabbath.

The idea of preparation is expressed by the Greek name paraskeué, given by Josephus ("Ant." xvi. 6, § 2) to that day (compare Mark xv. 42; Luke xxiii. 54; Matt. xxvii. 62; John xix. 42). In Yer. Pesaḥim iv. 1 the day is called "Yoma da-'Arubta" (Day of Preparation) [Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v., "Calendar"].

That eliminates six of the days of the week, but there were still quite a few Fridays between A.D. 29 and 36.

 

Clue #5: A Friday at Passover

 

The gospels also agree that Jesus was crucified in conjunction with the annual feast of Passover (Matthew 26:2, Mark 14:1, Luke 22:1, John 18:39).

 

Here we encounter a momentary complication, because Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe the Last Supper on Holy Thursday as a Passover meal (Matthew 26:19, Mark 14:14, Luke 22:15). That would suggest that Good Friday was the day after Passover.

However, when describing the morning of Good Friday, John indicates that the Jewish authorities had not yet eaten the Passover meal:

Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the Praetorium [i.e., Pilate's palace]. It was early. They themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they might not be defiled, but might eat the Passover. So Pilate went out to them [John 18:28-29a].

 

That suggests that the Passover would have begun on sundown Friday.

 

There are a number of ways of resolving this. For example, some have suggested that Jesus and his disciples used a different calendar than the Jewish authorities, and we know that there were different calendars in use in first century Judaism.

It's also possible that Jesus just advanced the date of the Passover celebration for him and his disciples. I mean, they were already convinced he was the Messiah and the Son of God. If he says, "We're celebrating Passover today," and it's a day earlier than most people, they'd just go with that. (Note that he made other modifications to the ceremony, such as instituting the Eucharist in the midst of it.)

 

And there are other solutions.

 

However, regardless of what Jesus' movement did, we can look to John's statement about the Jesus' captors as an indication of what the Jewish authorities or the mainstream Jewish practice was: They were celebrating a Passover beginning on what we would call Friday evening.

 

That lets us narrow down the range of possible dates to just a few. Here is a complete list of the days between A.D. 29 and 36 on whose evenings Passover began:

• Monday, April 18, A.D. 29

• Friday, April 7, A.D. 30 ***

• Tuesday, March 27, A.D. 31

• Monday, April 14, A.D. 32

• Friday, April 3, A.D. 33 ***

• Wednesday, March 24, A.D. 34

• Tuesday, April 12, A.D. 35

• Saturday, March 31, A.D. 36

• As you can see, we have just two candidates left: Jesus was either crucified on April 7 of A.D. 30 or April 3 of A.D. 33.

• Which was it?

• The traditional date is that of A.D. 33. You will find quite a number of people today advocating the A.D. 30 date.

 

Clue #6: John's Three Passovers

 

The Gospel of John records three different Passovers during the ministry of Jesus:

• Passover #1: This is recorded in John 2:13, near the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

• Passover #2: This is recorded in John 6:4, in the middle of Jesus' ministry.

• Passover #3: This is recorded in John 11:55 (and frequently mentioned afterwards), at the end of Jesus' ministry.

 

That means that the ministry of Jesus had to span something over two years. A fuller treatment would reveal that it spanned about three and a half years, but even if we assume it began immediately before Passover #1, the addition of two more Passovers shows that it lasted more than two years at a bare minimum.

 

That means the A.D. 30 date is out.

 

There is not enough time between the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar--A.D. 29--and the next year's Passover to accomodate a ministry of at least two years.

 

The numbers don't add up.

 

As a result, the traditional date of Jesus' death--Friday, April 3, A.D. 33--must be regarded as the correct one.

 

Clue #7: "The Ninth Hour"

 

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record that Jesus died about "the ninth hour" (Matthew 27:45-50, Mark 15:34-37, Luke 23:44-46).

"The ninth hour" is what we, today, would refer to as 3:00 p.m.

 

This allows us to narrow down the time of Jesus' death to a very specific point in history: around 3:00 p.m on Friday, April 3, A.D. 33.

Of course, there are a lot of detailed arguments that I haven't taken space to deal with here. But this is the thrust of things.

 

This is when it happened. 

 

Now, John gives us some very detailed information about the burial of Jesus.

 

“Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.  He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.  Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.  At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.  Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”

 

John doesn’t mention this, but it was also a custom to have the death certified by authorities so the relatives could come by a year later to claim the bones.

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Watch the video below.