John 19
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 19
Behold, the Man! 1 Then Pilate ordered that Jesus be scourged.[a] 2 The soldiers twisted together some thorns into a crown and placed it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. 3 They kept going up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews,” while striking him on the face repeatedly.
4 Once again, Pilate went out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no evidence of a crime in him.” 5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”
6 When they saw him, the chief priests and the temple guards shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no evidence of a crime in him.” 7 The Jews answered, “We have a Law, and according to that Law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”
The Second Hearing before Pilate. 8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9 Returning to the praetorium, he asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus offered no response. 10 Pilate then said to him, “Are you refusing to speak to me? Do you not realize that I have the power to release you and the power to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him,
“You would have no authority over me at all
unless it had been given to you from above.
Therefore, the one who handed me over to you
is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 Jesus Is Condemned to Death. From that moment on, Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews kept shouting, “If you release this man, you are no Friend of Caesar.[b] Everyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and seated him on the judge’s bench at a place known as the Stone Pavement[c] (in Hebrew, “Gabbatha”). 14 It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, and it was about noon.[d] Pilate said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” 15 They shouted, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” “Am I to crucify your King?” Pilate asked them. The chief priests replied, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.
Jesus Is Crucified. Then they took him away, 17 and, carrying the cross[e] by himself, he went out to what is called the Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, “Golgotha”). 18 There they crucified him[f] along with two others, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate also had an inscription written and fastened to the cross. It read, “Jesus the Nazorean, King of the Jews.”[g] 20 This inscription, in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, was read by many Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. 21 Therefore, the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “You should not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man claimed to be the King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate responded, “What I have written, I have written.”[h]
23 [i]When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, one share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, which was woven seamless, top to bottom. 24 They said to one another, “Instead of tearing it, let us cast lots for it to see who is to get it.” In this way, the Scripture was fulfilled that says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
And that is what the soldiers did.
25 Mary and John at the Cross. Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
28 Jesus Dies on the Cross. After this, aware that everything had now been completed, and in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” 29 A jar filled with sour wine was standing nearby, so they soaked a sponge in the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.”[j] Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 The Blood and the Water. It was the day of Preparation, and the Jews did not want to have the bodies remain on the cross on the Sabbath, especially since that Sabbath day was a great solemnity. Therefore, they requested Pilate to order that their legs be broken and the bodies taken down.
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and then of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 However, when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, 34 but one of the soldiers thrust a lance into his side, and immediately a flow of blood and water came forth. 35 An eyewitness has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that what he says is true, so that you also may believe.
36 This happened so that the Scripture might be fulfilled,
“Not one of his bones will be broken.”
37 And again, in another passage Scripture says,
“They shall look on the one
whom they have pierced.”
38 Jesus Is Buried.[k] Shortly thereafter, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate for permission to remove the body of Jesus. Pilate granted him permission, and so he came and took his body away.
39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing with him a mixture of myrrh and aloes weighing about one hundred pounds.[l] 40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, in accordance with the burial custom of the Jews.
41 At the place where Jesus had been crucified there was a garden, and in that garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been buried. 42 And so, since it was the Jewish day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Footnotes
- John 19:1 Pilate was obviously hoping that a scourging would suffice for the Jews and he could then release Jesus.
- John 19:12 Friend of Caesar: an honorific Roman title given to high officials for merit.
- John 19:13 Stone Pavement: Greek, lithostrotos; it has been identified with the great courtyard of the fortress Antonia, northeast of the temple, and therefore with the praetorium, the place or headquarters mentioned in Jn 18:28.
- John 19:14 Noon: literally, the sixth hour. See note on Mk 15:25.
- John 19:17 Carrying the cross: see note on Mk 15:21.
- John 19:18 Crucified him: see note on Mt 27:35.
- John 19:19 The inscription is found in all four Gospels under a slightly different form. John gives the most complete form, corresponding to the Latin of the three forms: INRI = IESU NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM (“Jesus the Nazorean, King of the Jews”). See also note on Jn 18:5.
- John 19:22 What I have written, I have written: by this statement, Pilate affirms the truth of Jesus’ divinity, which is rejected by his opponents. At the same time, Pilate stresses the inscription’s public and universal character—for it can be read by Jews (Hebrew, i.e., Aramaic), Greeks (Greek), and Romans (Latin).
- John 19:23 To the last moment, Jesus retains a keen awareness that he is completing God’s work for the world, the will of God that all of the Scriptures (so frequently cited) proclaim. We see how Jesus’ final gestures are symbols of the gifts given to humankind.
In dividing the garments of the crucified man, the soldiers are careful not to tear the seamless tunic. By calling attention to this, John perhaps wishes to signify the unity that Christ leaves as a heritage to those whom he wills to save.
Tradition identifies John with the beloved disciple (see Jn 13:23; 20:2-10; 21:7-20; and compare Jn 1:35-39; 18:15) to whom Jesus entrusts his mother. As she did with the servants at Cana (Jn 2:5), Mary will teach the disciple how to follow the example and teaching of her Son. The passage suggests the maternal vocation of the Mother of Jesus in relation to all believers.
The author bears witness to the fulfillment of the Scriptures. The words “I thirst” recall Ps 69:22: “In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” By drinking the sour wine offered to him, Jesus finishes the cup of his suffering (Jn 18:11). Jesus is pierced by a lance, immolated like the Passover lamb, the bones of which are not broken. From his opened breast spurt blood, the sign of life surrendered, and water, the sign of the Spirit that he gives to believers (see Jn 7:38-39). Spiritual meditation has taken these symbols further; the blood and water are seen as prefigurations of the Eucharist and Baptism, the two Sacraments that form and feed the Church, this new Eve that has come forth from the opened side of the new Adam, Jesus Christ.
All are called to the heart of the Redeemer where they can joyfully draw water from the fountain of salvation (see Isa 12:3). A privileged disciple, doubtless the beloved disciple once again, offers a special guarantee of the truth of the events and the richness of their meaning: in his mind it is a case not of the sad death of a human being but of the fulfillment of God’s plan, the shining forth of his love and his glory. - John 19:30 It is finished: this may correspond to the loud cry mentioned in Mt 27:50 and Mk 15:37. Jesus died as a victor, completing what he came to accomplish. Gave up his spirit: a description of death that is out of the ordinary—it may suggest an act of will.
- John 19:38 Some disciples, who until now were afraid to declare themselves, proceed to the burial of Jesus. According to Jewish custom, an executed criminal could not be put in a tomb where other people had already been buried; to do so would have brought dishonor on them. But the sepulcher where Jesus is put is new in another sense perhaps—in it lies concealed the source of new life.
- John 19:39 One hundred pounds: literally, “a hundred litrai.” Myrrh and aloes: possibly a fulfillment of Ps 45:9.
