The Crucifixion
John 19:16b-25a
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 fulfil 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.
Jesus having been sentenced to die, the crucifixion is under way with all the gruesomeness involved with that. Notice how spare John is in his telling of the crucifixion. “They took Jesus…there they crucified him.” At times fewer words say more than a great number of words. Since the details are spare – the details that are included are important for John.
We are given detail about the inscription. Pilate gets it right. Jesus is the king of the Jews and the cross is Jesus’ throne. It is on the cross that Jesus is glorified by the Father. “If I be lifted up, I will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32) The pinnacle of the book has been reached, the moment when the king is going to be glorified is here. Even at this point the opposition fails to see who this is on the cross. But in fairness it is hard to recognize what is really happening. How could this Jesus, nailed to the cross, in fact be the King of kings and Lord of lords? How is it possible that this one on the cross is in fact ruler over all?
The second element told in detail is about Jesus’ clothes. It seems so trivial – so why include it. John uses the clothing to signal that God has been working on this plan for a very long time. The quoted sentence is from Psalm 22:18. While the soldiers were doing what soldiers at a crucifixion did, their actions fulfilled what had been described hundreds of years earlier. John is saying, “Even on the cross the plan of God is being fulfilled, down to tiny details.”
In John we do not find the line, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – that is in Mark and Matthew. That line also opens Psalm 22. John in referencing Psalm 22:18 is inviting us to consider the whole of Psalm 22 – not just vs. 18.
PRAYER:
O Lord, your Son, Jesus Christ, was lifted up so that all people would be drawn to him. We pray that you will draw all people to the wonder and glory of the cross. In Jesus’ name. Amen.