The Good News by John 19

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Jesus is Sentenced to Crucifixion

1 Pilate took Jesus and ordered that he be whipped. 2 The soldiers wove a crown from thorny branches and put it on his head, and they clothed him with a purple robe.* 3 They began coming up to him, saying, “Welcome, King of the Jews!” while slapping him on his face.

4 Pilate came out again and said to the Jews, “Look, I'll bring him out to you so you'll know that I've found no guilt in him.” 5 Jesus came out, and on him was the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “This is the man.” 6 When the chief priests and the guards saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “You take him and crucify him, because I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews* answered him, “We have a law, and according to this law, he should die, because he claims to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was very frightened. 9 He went back inside the palace and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus didn't reply to him. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You refuse to speak to me? Don't you know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me if God had not given it to you. That's why the one who has handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

12 Because of this, Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews shouted, “If you release him, then you don't love Caesar, because anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”*

13 When Pilate heard them say this, he brought Jesus out and sat on the judgment seat in a place called the Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 It was around six o'clock in the morning on the day of preparation for the Passover. He said to the Jews,* “This is your king.” 15 They shouted, “Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king except Caesar.” 16 So finally he handed [Jesus] over to them to be crucified, and the soldiers took him.*

The Cross

17 Jesus went out, carrying his cross to the place called the Skull, and in Hebrew, Golgotha.* 18 They crucified* him there, and they crucified two others with him, one on each side, with Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate wrote a sign that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” and they put it on the cross. 20 Many of the Jews read the sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was close to the city, and the writing was in the Hebrew, Latin, and Greek languages. 21 The chief priests said to Pilate, “Don't write, ‘the king of the Jews,’ but rather write, ‘This man said, “I am the king of the Jews.”’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

23 As for the soldiers, when they crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, one for each soldier, and they took the shirt as well. It was one piece, woven from top to bottom without stitching.* 24 They said to one another, “Let's not tear it apart; rather, let's cast a lot to see who gets it.” So what was stated in the Scriptures was fulfilled: “They divided my clothes among themselves and cast a lot for my garments.”* And that is what the soldiers did.

25 The mother of Jesus was standing by his cross, together with her sister Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother and, by her side, the disciple whom he loved. He said to her, “Mother, this is your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “This is your mother.” From that time, the disciple took her into his home.

The Death of the Messiah

28 Jesus saw that everything was completed, and to fulfill what was stated in the Scriptures, he said, “I'm thirsty.”* 29 There was a container filled with wine vinegar,* so they dipped a sponge in it and put it on a branch of hyssop; then they raised it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the wine vinegar, he said, “Everything is completed.” Then he bowed his head and yielded up his spirit.

31 Now this was the day of preparation,* so the leaders of the Jews requested of Pilate that the legs of those crucified be broken* and their bodies be taken down so they would not remain on the cross into Saturday, because that Saturday was an important day. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of one [man] and then the other of those crucified with Jesus. 33 But when they got to [Jesus], they found that he had [already] died, so they didn't break his legs. 34 One of the soldiers stabbed him in the side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

35 This is the testimony of the one who saw [it]. It is a true testimony, and he knows that he is telling the truth. He presents it so that you yourselves will believe as well. 36 This happened in order that what is stated in the Scriptures would be fulfilled: “Not a bone of his will be broken.”* 37 The Scriptures also say in another place, “They will look at the one whom they stabbed.”*

The Burial of the Messiah

38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus — though in secret, because he feared the leaders of the Jews — went and asked Pilate [to allow him] to take the body* of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he went and took the body. 39 Nicodemus, the one who visited Jesus previously at night, went with him.* Nicodemus took with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing around thirty-four kilograms. 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the fragrant substances in a linen shroud, as was the custom of the Jews in burying their dead.

41 In the place where they crucified Jesus, there was a garden, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had been buried. 42 So they buried Jesus in that tomb, since it was nearby, because that day was the day of preparation for the Jews.*

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Definitions

 *19:2 purple robe: It was customary at that time for kings to wear a purple robe.

 *19:7 the Jews: This is a reference to the chief priests and temple guards mentioned in the previous verse.

 *19:12 Caesar: Tiberius Caesar, the ruler of the Roman Empire. At that time the Roman Empire included southern Europe, North Africa, Egypt, and the Middle East.

 *19:14 the Jews: This is a reference to the chief priests and temple guards.

 *19:16 the soldiers took him: In other words, the Roman soldiers serving Pilate took Jesus to crucify him. The Jewish leaders did not have soldiers but only guards, and they were not allowed to execute anyone. It was the Roman soldiers who took Jesus and crucified him.

 *19:17 See location 7 on the map of Jerusalem.

 *19:18 crucified: nailed to a cross through the hands and feet and left to die. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution; the Jews did not crucify people.

 *19:23 without stitching: In other words, the tunic had not been made from pieces of cloth that were sewn together.

 *19:24 This is a quotation from the Psalms of David 22:18. This psalm describes the crucifixion of the Messiah a thousand years before it happened.

 *19:28 See the Psalms of David 22:15 and 69:21.

 *19:29 wine vinegar: a drink consisting of water mixed with grape juice that has turned sour.

 *19:31 the day of preparation: Friday, which was the day when people prepared meals for that evening and the following Saturday. That Saturday was important, because it was not only the holy day of rest, but it also occurred during the Passover week.

 *19:31 They would break the legs of someone on a cross so the person would die quickly and the body could be removed.

 *19:36 This is quoted from the Psalms of David 34:20. See also the Torah, Exodus 12:46, which says the bones of the Passover lamb should not be broken.

 *19:37 This is a quotation from the Book of the Prophet Zechariah 12:10.

 *19:38 body: or corpse.

 *19:39 See John 3:1-15.

 *19:42 By Jewish reckoning, the Sabbath began at sundown after the Day of Preparation (Friday). It was late in the day, and they needed to complete the burial ceremonies before the Sabbath began at sundown.