The Big Picture of Prophecy

Carrying the Cross (v. 16, 17)

The argument is over. (v. 16)

“He” = Pilate

“Them” = soldiers / executioners

Crucifixion was the most terrible and humiliating form of execution. It was reserved for slaves, criminals, prisoners of war, and insurrectionists. Roman citizens could not be crucified except by authorization of the emperor himself. Crucifixion originated in Persia, and was also used by the Phoenicians and Carthaginians. While many others used crucifixion, the Romans perfected it. Many hung on their crosses for days, before giving in to exhaustion, dehydration, shock, or suffocation.

The long walk to Calvary has begun. (v. 17)

It is worth noting that there is no indication that Jesus attempted to resist being led to Calvary. What the text indicates is that the soldiers took Jesus and He went out. You can imagine that most who were being driven to this fate went kicking and screaming.

He went “bearing His own cross”

This confirms what we know from history that crucifixion victims were often forced to carry the crosspiece to the location of their death.

For hundreds of years Bible readers have seen Genesis 22 as a foreshadow of the cross.

Genesis 22 is the ultimate test of one man’s faith. God’s command to Abraham is extreme: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2). It’s an utter scandal until you consider the pattern. Who is this son? He is the seed of Abraham, the hope of the world. All God’s promises are focused on through this beloved son. If he is sacrificed, God would have to — somehow! — bring him back to life in order to save and bless the world.

Notice that he is to be sacrificed on a mountain in the region of what would become Jerusalem (Genesis 22:1–14; see 2 Chronicles 3:1). Isaac carries the wood on his back as he trudges up the hill toward the atoning sacrifice (Genesis 22:6). All the while, Abraham believes that he will receive the son back from death (Genesis 22:5; see Hebrews 11:17–20).

On top of seeing Christ in Genesis 22 we also have the picture of Christ as a sin offering because of the requirement that the execution take place outside the city.

Exodus 19:14 “So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments.”

Leviticus 16:27 ““But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire.”

You might be thinking that I am stretching the text to make this typology fit, but I have been given permission to do so by Hebrews 13:11-12 “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

This was a long walk that only He could make and He made it for you. This reality should change our thoughts, desires, and choices.

Crucified with Criminals (v. 18)

None of the Gospel writers describe in detail the physical torture of Jesus.

John simply states “There they crucified Him...”

Numbers 21:6-9 “The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.”

Which then leads us to

John 3:14 ““As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up;”

John 8:28 “So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”

John 12:32-33 ““And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die.”

John does not tell us who these other two men are, but the other Gospels share that information. Luke 23:32-33 “Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.”

Isaiah 53:12 “ ...Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”

He was numbered with the transgressors. There He was, the God of the universe, suffering between two common criminals.

But the truth is even deeper than that. Not only was the God of the Universe suffering between these two criminals He was suffering for these two criminals. One of them realizes who Jesus is and what He is doing. Luke 23:40-43 “But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.””

What mercy and grace! and it is the same mercy and the same grace that God has shown to me and to you.

Pilate’s Parting Shot (v. 19-22)

It was the custom for the crime of which the person doomed to crucifixion had been found guilty to be written on a tablet or placard and hung around his neck or carried before him as he made his way to the place of execution.

In this case Pilate personally dictated what was to be written onto the tablet that hung on Jesus’ cross. JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS

Just to make sure everyone knew what it said it was written in three languages. The Romans had vested interest in making sure everyone knew what happened to anyone who opposed Rome.

Pilate wanted to taunt the Jews one last time.

He has already taunted the Jews with Jesus’ kingship; here he does so again, mocking their convenient allegiance to Caesar by insisting that Jesus is their king, and snickering at their powerless status before the might of Rome by declaring this wretched victim their king.

Pilate was still angry at being manipulated (v. 12) into executing Jesus. This undoubtedly contributed to his unyielding insistence that the wording remain as he prepared it.

The chief priests request that the sign be changed to, ‘I am the King of the Jews’, to make the matter one of Jesus’ claims and no more, but this would strip the governor of his last revenge. And so he stands firm. Thus Pilate’s firmness is not motivated by principle and strength of character, but by the hurt obstinacy and bitter rage of a man who feels set upon.

Here Pilate like Caiaphas before him becomes an unwitting truth teller for Jesus was and is the King of the Jews. Thus the two men most actively and immediately responsible for Jesus’ death, Caiaphas (11:49–52) and Pilate, are unwittingly furthering God’s redemptive purposes, unwittingly serving as prophets of the King they execute.

Gambling for Garments (v. 23-25a)

This is certainly one of the more callous things we read about in the crucifixion narrative. This also seems to be a common practice of the Roman soldiers who served as executioners.

Apparently after divvying up the majority of Jesus’ possessions there was one piece left, His tunic. Rather than ruining the garment by tearing it into pieces they gamble for it by casting lots.

Theses soldiers were acting by purely selfish motives and yet they were used by God to validate and fulfill biblical prophecy. Psalm 22:18 “They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.”

In order to leave no doubt John tells in v. 24 that this was done “that the Scripture might be fulfilled”

It seems that the closer to the cross we get the more John points out those things that fulfill Scripture.

Without a doubt the main purpose of John recording this event is to show God’s sovereign hand in the fulfillment of Scripture. However, in a lesser way we should note the moral lesson we can learn from the negative example of those callous soldiers who even before Jesus was dead began dividing up His possessions. When we for whom Christ died act in ways that are contrary to the holiness of God we are no better than these soldiers.

Mercy for Mary (v. 25b-27)

The Greek syntax suggests that John intends to communicate a contrast between the callousness of the soldiers and the women and John who wait nearby in faithful devotion.

Even as Jesus hung from the cross enduring as much pain as any man can endure His eyes fall on His mother and His heart fills with compassion and love for the woman who cared for Him.

Jesus uses some of the last bits of energy He has to make sure that His mother is cared for. (Now that is a message for mother’s day!) Jesus’ earthly brothers were not yet believers so Jesus charges John with caring for Mary.

Luke 2:33-35 “And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed— and a sword will pierce even your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.””

May we be so compassionate and merciful so that even as we endure hardship we find the strength to show mercy.

Signs of Sovereignty (v. 28-30)

It is interesting that the way the text reads, it seems that Jesus made the statement “I thirst” not exclusively because He was thirsty, but also to fulfill Scripture as He had already been doing.

Psalm 69:21 “They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”

John wants to make his readers understand that every part of Jesus’ passion was not only in the Father’s plan of redemption but a consequence of the Son’s direct obedience to it.

In Mark 15:23 “They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it.” Jesus refused a drink. This was likely a sedative provided by compassionate onlookers. Jesus was fully committed to endure the cross in all of its brutality for the sake of sinners.

This wine was a cheap sour wine commonly consumed by soldiers which is probably why it was nearby. (not vinegar as the KJV states)

A second sign of His Sovereignty is that He controls the exact moment of His death. (v. 30)

Luke 23:46 “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.”

Psalm 31:5 “Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.”

John 10:17-18 ““For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.””

A Bone Not Broken (v. 31-37)

The normal Roman practice was to leave crucified men and women on the cross until they died—and this could take days—and then leave their rotting bodies hanging there to be devoured by vultures.

However, the Jews were concerned about leaving the bodies on the crosses over the Sabbath day, especially because this was considered to be a “high Sabbath” due to the fact that this was also Passover week. They believed that to leave the bodies hanging there would defile the land.

They were so zealous for the details of the law that they had not idea that they just executed the one who wrote it. In order to hasten the deaths of those on the crosses they would break their legs to increase blood loss and asphyxiation. However, as we already know, Jesus was already dead. They did not break His legs.

Psalm 34:20 “He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken.”

The piercing of His side is also seen in prophecy.

Zechariah 12:10 ““I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

The point of this is to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is dead, not just unconscious as some have theorized.

Remember John was there.

Bound and Buried (v. 38-42)

Joseph of Arimathea appears in all four Gospels, and only in connection with the burial of Jesus.

The Synoptists tell us he was

A member of the Sanhedrin (Mk. 15:43 par.), which may be why he was granted audience with Pilate

That he was rich (Mt. 27:57), which is how he could afford such a nice tomb.

He was looking for the kingdom of God (Mk. 15:43; Lk. 23:51).

Matthew (27:57) and John refer to him as a disciple of Jesus;

John alone adds, but secretly because he feared the Jews. Normally this would condemn him in John’s eyes (12:42–43), but Joseph exculpates himself by the courageous action he now undertakes.

Nicodemus also shows up to help with the burial.

Isaiah 53:9 “His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.”

Application

Trust God’s plan

Remember He did this for you.

He is coming back.