The Soldiers Mock Jesus(A)

19 So then (B)Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. [a]Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they (C)struck Him with their hands.

Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, (D)that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”

Pilate’s Decision

Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

(E)Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!

Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”

The Jews answered him, (F)“We have a law, and according to [b]our law He ought to die, because (G)He made Himself the Son of God.”

Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” (H)But Jesus gave him no answer.

10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have [c]power to crucify You, and power to release You?”

11 Jesus answered, (I)“You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore (J)the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. (K)Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

13 (L)When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now (M)it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”

15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”

Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”

The chief priests answered, (N)“We have no king but Caesar!”

16 (O)Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus [d]and led Him away.

The King on a Cross(P)

17 (Q)And He, bearing His cross, (R)went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and (S)two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 (T)Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

23 (U)Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

(V)“They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.”

Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Behold Your Mother

25 (W)Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of (X)Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and (Y)the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, (Z)“Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her (AA)to his own home.

It Is Finished

28 After this, Jesus, [e]knowing that all things were now accomplished, (AB)that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and (AC)they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, (AD)“It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

31 (AE)Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, (AF)that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a (AG)high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately (AH)blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is (AI)true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may (AJ)believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, (AK)“Not one of His bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, (AL)“They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

Jesus Buried in Joseph’s Tomb(AM)

38 (AN)After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, (AO)for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. 39 And (AP)Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of (AQ)myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and (AR)bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So (AS)there they laid Jesus, (AT)because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

Footnotes

  1. John 19:3 NU And they came up to Him and said
  2. John 19:7 NU the law
  3. John 19:10 authority
  4. John 19:16 NU omits and led Him away
  5. John 19:28 M seeing

The Crown of Thorns

19 So then Pilate took Jesus and had Him [a]scourged (flogged, whipped). And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe around Him;(A) and they kept coming up to Him, saying [mockingly], “Hail, King of the Jews [Good health! Peace! Long life to you, King of the Jews]!” And they slapped Him in the face.(B) Then Pilate came out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, “Look! The Man!” When the chief priests and officers saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify [Him]! Crucify [Him]!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him [no crime, no cause for an accusation].”(C) The Jews answered him, “We have a law [regarding blasphemy], and according to that law He should die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”(D)

So when Pilate heard this said, he was [even] more [b]alarmed and afraid. He went into the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus did not answer him.(E) 10 So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me at all if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the sin and guilt of the [c]one who handed Me over to you is greater [than your own].” 12 As a result of this, Pilate kept making efforts to release Him, but the Jews kept screaming, “[d]If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar! Anyone who makes himself out [to be] a king opposes Caesar [and rebels against the emperor]!”

13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called [e]The Pavement, but in [f]Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the [g]Passover [week], and it was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Look, your King!” 15 But they shouted, “Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”

The Crucifixion

16 Then he handed Him over to them to be crucified.

17 So they took Jesus, and He went out, [h]bearing His own cross, to the place called [i]the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.(F) 18 There they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.(G) 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription [on a placard] and put it on the cross. And it was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”(H) 20 And many of the Jews read this inscription, for 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, ‘He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’” 22 Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written [and it remains written].”

23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer clothes and made four parts, a part for each soldier, and also the tunic. But the [j]tunic was seamless, woven [in one piece] from the top throughout.(I) 24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it will be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture, “They divided My outer clothing among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”(J) 25 So the soldiers did these things.

But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother’s sister [[k]Salome], [l]Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.(K) 26 So Jesus, seeing His mother, and the [m]disciple whom He loved (esteemed) standing near, said to His mother, “[Dear] woman, look, [here is] your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple (John), “Look! [here is] your mother [protect and provide for her]!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said in fulfillment of the Scripture, “I am thirsty.”(L) 29 A jar full of [n]sour wine was placed there; so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a branch of] hyssop and held it to His mouth.(M) 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and [voluntarily] [o]gave up His spirit.

Care of the Body of Jesus

31 Since it was the day of Preparation [for the Sabbath], in order to prevent the bodies from hanging on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high holy day) the Jews asked Pilate to have their legs [p]broken [to hasten death] and the bodies taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who had been crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came [flowing] out. 35 And he (John, the eyewitness) who has seen it has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also [who read this] may believe. 36 For these things took place to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of His shall be broken.”(N) 37 And again another Scripture says, “They shall look at Him whom they have pierced.”(O)

38 And after this, Joseph of Arimathea—a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews—asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away His body.(P) 39 Nicodemus, who had first come to Him at night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, [weighing] about a hundred [Roman] [q]pounds. 40 So they took Jesus’ body and bound it in linen wrappings with the fragrant spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now there was a garden at the place where He was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb [cut out of solid rock] in which no one had yet been laid. 42 Therefore, because of the Jewish day of Preparation, and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Footnotes

  1. John 19:1 Because Pilate viewed Jesus as innocent, he may have ordered the beating expecting that the Jews would consider it adequate punishment and consent to Jesus’ release. Scourging was a horrific, brutal form of punishment. The glass and metal of the whip tore the body apart, exposing the vital organs. Men frequently died of the scourging.
  2. John 19:8 As a Roman pagan, Pilate would have been superstitious and may have feared that Jesus actually had some sort of magical or divine power.
  3. John 19:11 This may refer to Judas Iscariot, but Caiaphas may be the more likely one since he was directly responsible for Jesus’ going before Pilate.
  4. John 19:12 This put political pressure on Pilate. The Jews indicated if Pilate released Jesus they would inform Rome and Pilate’s career would be in jeopardy.
  5. John 19:13 Gr The Lithostrotos, i.e. the Mosaic Pavement, the Stone Platform.
  6. John 19:13 I.e. Jewish Aramaic.
  7. John 19:14 See note 18:28.
  8. John 19:17 The vertical post remained permanently in the ground. Jesus carried the cross beam.
  9. John 19:17 Latin: Calvarius or Calvary; Aram: Golgotha; Greek: Kranion.
  10. John 19:23 Gr khiton, the long shirtlike undergarment worn next to the skin.
  11. John 19:25 The mother of the apostles John and James, the sons of Zebedee.
  12. John 19:25 The mother of James the Younger (also called James the Less). Believed to be a sister or sister-in-law of Jesus’ mother.
  13. John 19:26 John, the Apostle and author of this Gospel was Jesus’ cousin.
  14. John 19:29 This sour wine was not to dull the senses, but to provide minimal relief to the victim. The wine mixed with gall (myrrh) that Jesus earlier had refused to drink (Matt 27:34; Mark 15:23) had narcotic qualities to deaden the pain.
  15. John 19:30 This wording implies that Jesus voluntarily and sovereignly released His spirit from His body in submission to God’s plan.
  16. John 19:31 After the legs were broken with a heavy blow, the condemned prisoner could no longer push upwards to assist his own breathing and would soon suffocate due to the awkward position that was forced on him by crucifixion. At the same time, breaking the legs was more painful than a quicker end with the point of a spear.
  17. John 19:39 Lit litras, equal to 12 oz each.

Jesus Sentenced to Death

19 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”

The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters[a] again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. 10 “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

11 Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

12 Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’[b] Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”

13 When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). 14 It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people,[c] “Look, here is your king!”

15 “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”

“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

16 Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19 And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth,[d] the King of the Jews.” 20 The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.

21 Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”

22 Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice[e] for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.”[f] So that is what they did.

25 Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus

28 Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”[g] 29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. 30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31 It was the day of preparation, and the Jewish leaders didn’t want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath, because it was Passover week). So they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. 33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. 34 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out. 35 (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also may continue to believe.[h]) 36 These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, “Not one of his bones will be broken,”[i] 37 and “They will look on the one they pierced.”[j]

The Burial of Jesus

38 Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took the body away. 39 With him came Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night. He brought about seventy-five pounds[k] of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. 40 Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. 41 The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. 42 And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover[l] and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Footnotes

  1. 19:9 Greek the Praetorium.
  2. 19:12 “Friend of Caesar” is a technical term that refers to an ally of the emperor.
  3. 19:14 Greek Jewish people; also in 19:20.
  4. 19:19 Or Jesus the Nazarene.
  5. 19:24a Greek cast lots.
  6. 19:24b Ps 22:18.
  7. 19:28 See Pss 22:15; 69:21.
  8. 19:35 Some manuscripts read that you also may believe.
  9. 19:36 Exod 12:46; Num 9:12; Ps 34:20.
  10. 19:37 Zech 12:10.
  11. 19:39 Greek 100 litras [32.7 kilograms].
  12. 19:42 Greek because of the Jewish day of preparation.