King Jesus

Read John 19:1-5

1. Pilate’s humiliation of the King.

Jesus flogged/scourged, crown of thorns, purple robe, slaps to the face were all intended to humiliate the Jesus

3 types of flogging

fustigatio—less severe beating, light offences

flagellatio—brutal flogging, criminal activity

verberatio—always associated with other punishments like crucifixion

Jesus possibly endured 2 beating, 1 & 3. This one being fustigatio

Pilate was trying to appease the mob

We can’t help but notice the irony of the this kind of humiliation. This is the King of kings. This man who was chosen over Barabbas

When Pilate offers Jesus to them, his statement “Here is the man!” is dripping with sarcasm.

Whether you feel sorry for Pilate or despise him for his actions he plays a part in God’s ultimate plan of redemption.

2. Pilate issues a final judgment against the King.

Read John 19:6-7

The crowds escalation would have made Pilate very nervous.

3 times now Pilate has declared Jesus to be innocent of any crime worthy of death

Pilate is frustrated, “you crucify him!” Jews would have stoned a criminal not crucified them and they’ve already admitted they don’t the right to execute anyone.

They do finally admit that he broke their law by claiming to be the Son of God. They want him to die they just don’t want his blood on their hands.

They had tried to stone him once before and he escaped, they were not going to let that happen again

Read John 19:8-11

Something about Jesus claim to be the Son of God has frightened Pilate

He asks, “where are you from?” Possible he believed that Jesus was one of the gods that come to walk among them (common Roman belief)

Jesus silence makes Pilate angry so he changes his line of questioning and he brings up authority.

Jesus remains cool (and indication that he had not received the brutal beating yet).

His response in calculated

John 19:11 NIV

Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

All power and authority belongs to God. Even political powers.

Daniel 2:20–21 NIV

and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

Romans 13:1 NIV

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

Romans 13:4 (NIV)

For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.

Jesus calls the Jewish leaders guilty. The script is flipped, He is the judge and they are the defendants.

Read John 19:12-16

If there was ever a human advocate for Jesus freedom it was Pilate

The Jewish leaders become desperate. They hate Rome and despise Caesar but now they claim that he alone as their allegiance.

They turn the tables and claim it is fact Pilate who is no friend of Caesar. This is the kind of publicity that he does not need.

What else could Pilate do? He is forced to choose between his loyalty to the Rome and the life of an innocent man.

The subtext is ironic, Pilate sets in judgment of the one who would ultimately judge him and all of humanity.

John gives us a very specific detail. One that has rich theological meaning. It is the Day of Preparation of the Passover.

This is the day that the Jewish people would slaughter their lambs for Passover. (explain Passover lamb)

Here is your King (sarcasm)

The Jews do not flinch, “we have no king but Caesar!”

The Jews have rejected their king.

Think back to 1 Samuel 8. when they desperately desired a king.

1 Samuel 8:4–9 NIV

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

This seems to be the highest form of hypocrisy. You wanted a king. Here is a king, and now you want him dead.

On top of that they make the blasphemes claim, “we have no king but Caesar.”

Wasn’t blaspheme what they accused Jesus of?

At long last, at least for the Jews, Jesus is handed over to be crucified.

3. Pilate orders the King brought to Golgotha and crucified him.

Read John 19:17-22

Roman Soldiers take Jesus away.

Rome was hand that executed Jesus but this was a plan hatched and pushed through by the Jewish leaders.

Before we accuse the Bible of being antisemitic we need to remember Jesus was Jewish, the disciples were Jewish, and whole OT is a history of the Jewish people. And one of the reoccurring teaching of the NT is that Jesus came first for the Jew and then the Gentile.

They take him to the place of the Skull, Golgotha.

Simon of Cyrene not mentioned in John’s gospel

Jesus would have carried the cross beam

Persians and Greeks used crucifixion and a form of execution it was the Roman who perfected it.

Variety of ways: X, T, t or I

John 12–21 (1) To Skull Place and the Crucifixion (19:17–18)

The arms would be fastened along with the legs, and the body would normally fall forward, creating great difficulty in breathing. The fastened legs would enable the victim to push up on the body and gasp for breath. Without the fastened legs the victim would die. The breaking of the legs of those crucified with Jesus would quickly hasten death, but since Jesus was already dead, that was, according to John 19:32–33, unnecessary.

The combination of struggling to breath, stretched out limbs, and extended rib cage, the nails, and the earlier whipping would have made crucifixion and excruciating way to die and and an unbearable execution to watch.

It would not have been uncommon to have written the charges of the condemned on an tile and had them displayed as Pilate did with Jesus.

Writing it Hebrew, the language of the Jews, Latin, the language of the the State and Greek the language of the people. This was a universal declaration but Jesus death was also once and for all mankind.

The chief priests of course are still not happy, “don’t say he was, say he claimed...”

I think Pilate is through with the their shenanigans and lies… “what I’ve written, I have written.”

John 12–21 (2) The Royal Entitlement on the Cross (19:19–22)

It is almost as though the story affirms in capsule form the earlier statement of Jesus that power or authority is given from above. Two major themes throughout this Gospel are thus brought together: that Jesus was going to the hour of his glorification (cf. 2:4 to 17:1) but that he was also the expected King of Israel (cf. 1:49 to 12:13 and to the present verses). For John nothing could change these realities. Jesus’ kingship was certified by both God and Rome.

APPLICATION

1. Jesus who is King of kings and Lord of lords has willingly suffered.

The way he was to be born and the the way he was to suffer and die were both foretold by the prophets

2. Like Pilate, we too are forced to make a decision about Jesus.

PURPOSE John 20:30-31

John 20:30–31 NIV

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

3. Jesus was not crucified because he was an insurrectionist, he was crucified in order to carry out the mission of reconciliation.

This transforms how we see Jesus but also see the world.

Paul said 2Corinthians 5:16-21

2 Corinthians 5:16–21 NIV

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.