Reflection on John 19:16-30

Pilate had again and again pronounced Jesus' innocence, yet in the end, he signed the warrant for Jesus' execution. He delivered Jesus not to his own officers, but to the prosecutors, the chief priests and elders, so excusing the wrong to his own conscience. But the soldiers still had to attend the execution. They "took charge of Jesus" and led Him away to the place of execution. The Son of Man was delivered into the hands of wicked and cruel men. Both the priests and the soldiers joined in leading Him away.

Jesus carried His own cross and went out to the place of the Skull or Golgotha. The soldiers obliged Jesus as long as He was able to carry His cross to add His misery. Jesus did not oppose being led away, as the Scripture must be fulfilled, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter”. It is us who deserved to be led forth as criminals to be execution. But Jesus was led forth for us, that we might escape the death. He went forth, not dragged against His will, but voluntary in His sufferings. He went out of Jerusalem which had been set apart by God as His special city for the Jews to worship Him in the temple there. Jesus was thrust out of Jerusalem as a criminal. "They crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle." They crucified Him among the real criminals. He was made sin for us; therefore the cross was laid on Him.

"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 Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek." The soldiers who walked ahead of the condemned man usually carried a sign which listed the criminal's crimes. The notice nailed on Jesus' cross was different from any other. Instead of listing crimes, Pilate ordered the sign proclaiming Jesus' identity. Jesus is crucified because of who He truly is. The sign was written in three great languages of the ancient world, so all could understand. Pilate wrote a sarcastic inscription meant to annoy the Jews, but it was true beyond his understanding. God had a greater purpose: for all people to recognize the glory of His Son. Jesus is not only the King of the Jews, He reigns over all. Out of all the nations, God chose to reveal Himself to the Jews first. But the Jewish leaders accused King Jesus of blasphemy. 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." The chief priests objected to this title. They felt it was false, because they didn't believe that Jesus was the King of the Jews. They also believed it was demeaning, because it showed Rome's power to humiliate and torture even the "King of the Jews." Only a short while before, Pilate had submitted to the Jewish leaders' demand to crucify Jesus because they blackmailed him. Now he had the courage to stand up to the chief priests' protest. He answered, "Whatever I have written, I have written." He probably wanted to repay these leaders for getting him involved in crucifying an innocent man. But Pilate was guilty on his part. Had Pilate acted on what he knew about Jesus since he had the privilege of speaking with Jesus face-to-face, or took the warning given to him by God through his wife's dream seriously, his name would be remembered as one of greatness instead of one of shame.

On the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, there was another sign nailed on His cross. It was unseen by people around, but seen by God. This invisible sign could not be physically visible at all, simply because it was too long and too wide. On this sign, there was an endless list of charges against all whose sins cost Jesus His life. Apostle Paul explained to us in Colossians 2:13-14, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." God Himself nailed all believers' sins to the cross. He is the only One who can write the long list.  No one can add or subtract. As believers, we can be joyful and take confidence that Jesus took our ugly sins with Him on His cross.

"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 which said, 'They divided my garment among them and cast lots for my clothing.' So this is what the soldiers did." Our Lord Jesus suffered this terrible humiliation of being stripped of clothing without complaint. The soldiers stripped Jesus of everything except the crown of thorns on His head and the invisible sign listed all believers' sins on His naked body. It might seem that Jesus had no control over Himself being stripped of clothes, yet the invisible hand of God guides all things, so that a specific prophecy might be fulfilled.

Before Adam and Eve sinned, they "were both naked, and they felt no shame." Our Lord Jesus is sinless. He felt no shame of His own when He was stripped of clothing. But He felt our shame because He was made sin for us. When Adam and Eve first chose to disobey God, they immediately "realized they were naked" both inwardly and outwardly. The obedient Son of God never chose to disobey His Father. So He was covered by righteousness all over Him. Adam and Eve made pitiful attempt to cover their shame. "They sewed fig leaves together and made covering for themselves." "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." In order to do this, God sacrificed an animal of atonement to cover the two sinners for them to have limited access toward Him and toward each other. The sacrifices for sin that God commanded in the Old Testament point to this same reality. When God sacrificed His perfect Son naked on the cross as atonement for sinners, He clothed all who believe in His Son with His own perfect righteousness. He washed all believers clean in His Son's blood. The believers receive "garments of salvation" and "a robe of His righteousness". We as believers can enjoy the forgiveness of sin and have the right to stand with God on the basis of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. God honors no other covering. If we try to come before God on the basis of our own righteousness, we are naked and need to be clothed. 

While His enemies continued to squabble with one another about what should be the right wording on the notice which announced His crimes and dividing His clothes by lot, Jesus Himself continued to love His followers and direct them to share in His love. John was probably the only disciple of the eleven standing near the cross. But at least four women risked everything to stand there. "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 His mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son.' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.' From that time on, this disciple took her into his home." Even at a moment when Jesus deserved to be self-focused, He remained others-centered to the end. Jesus focused on His mother and His beloved disciple. He entrusted His mother to His beloved disciple. It could also assume that the disciple was given into the care of His mother. The mother and the beloved disciple together symbolize the new family, the new Christian community. That new community is to share in His own relationship with the Father and to participate in the divine life, which is characterized by love. This Christian family community is the fruit of His death. The life of the community derives from Jesus' own giving of Himself, and in turn such self-giving is to typify the community itself.

After Jesus provided for His mother, He prepared to die. “Later knowing that all was now completed, and so that the 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.” Jesus took care to fulfill every detail the Scriptures foretold so His final triumph would be complete. Jesus asked for His thirst to be quenched so He might be conscious to the end and finish all the work His Father had given Him. The soldiers unknowingly also fulfilled Old Testament symbolism by offering Jesus “the drink”. He accepted the drink to wet His parched lips and dry throat so He can make one final announcement to the world with a "great cry." Jesus shouted in triumph, "It is finished." Jesus' final word is the cry of a winner. Jesus' words applied not to His death, but to the battle against sin, death and Satan. He shed His own pure and clean blood to defeat His enemies. He didn't shed anyone else’s blood, not even His enemies’. Jesus had finished the eternal purpose of the cross. It stands today as a finished work. 

Jesus bowed His head in peace. This speaks of a peaceful act, like lying down on a pillow to sleep. This was not hanging the head in defeat. Jesus' life was not taken from Him. He had complete authority to lay down His life and to take it up again. Death had no hold over the sinless Son of God. He stood in the place of sinners, but was never a sinner Himself. He could not die unless He gave up His spirit. John does not say that Jesus died and then His head slumped over, but rather that He bowed His head, and then gave up His spirit. The order of Jesus' actions is important in order to describe His death as a voluntary act with an attitude of submission. As the obedient Son, submissive to His Father, Jesus shows characters of the true King in His death, confirming the message of the visible sign over his head.

When Jesus shed His blood on the cross, His blood also washed the invisible sin clean. Before this happened, sin leaves us exposed, with no covering and no place to hide from the holy God. But after Jesus' blood wiped away our records of sins, believers can stand in front of the very presence of the holy God and experience complete oneness with Him in love. Such love is only really possible when sin has been taken away, since the essence of sin is a false self-love that prevents one from sharing in the life of God, which is love. Jesus' death is both a revelation of the love of God and an example of such self-giving love. It is surely the greatest of all mortal sins to reject His love, to ignore it, or to profess not to need it.