João 19
John MacArthur · Citado em PreceptAustin
João 19
MacArthur - Mark notes that it was the third hour (or 9:00 a.m.; the Jewish method of reckoning the hours of the day began about 6:00 a.m.) when they crucified Him. The statement in John 19:14, that it was “about the sixth hour” when Pilate sentenced Jesus earlier that morning, does not contradict what Mark says here. John was using the Roman method of reckoning time, which began counting hours at midnight. Consequently, the sixth hour in John’s gospel referred to 6:00 a.m., three hours before Jesus was nailed to the cross. (See Mark New Testament Commentary) Tasker agrees writing that "“Westcott gives good reasons for supposing that this evangelist, instead of reckoning hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., as was the Jewish custom, reckoned them from midnight to noon, and noon to midnight – a practice which we know from the Martyrdom of Polycarp was in use in Asia Minor at the time that document was written, and which is still followed in the West today. On this reckoning, it was… about 6 a.m. when Pilate passed sentence on Jesus.” At what hour was Christ crucified? - Gleason Archer - Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties page 379 There is an apparent discrepancy between Mark 15:25, which states that Jesus was crucified at the “third” hour on Good Friday, and John 19:14, which indicates that the trial of Jesus was still going on at the “sixth” hour, indicating that the time of His crucifixion was later yet. John 19:14 reads: “And it was the preparation [paraskeuē] of the Passover, and it was about the sixth hour, and he [Pilate] says to the Jews, ‘Behold your king!’ ” Obviously one of these Evangelists is in error, or else his text has been miscopied, or else the hours of the day have been numbered by John according to a different system from that followed by Mark. It should be noted that Matthew and Luke both follow the same system as Mark; for all three indicate that as Jesus hung on the cross, a great and terrible darkness came on the earth at the sixth hour and lasted until the ninth hour, when Jesus breathed His last (Matt. 27:45; Mark 15:33; Luke 23:44). It is universally agreed that in the Synoptics the hours were numbered from sunrise, approximately 6:00 A.M. This would mean that Christ was crucified at 9:00 A.M. and the preternatural darkness lasted from 12:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. This apparent contradiction was unsuccessfully handled by ancient commentators through textual correction. Eusebius pointed out that the numeral “three” was indicated by capital gamma, whereas “six” was indicated by a digamma (a letter resembling our F). The copyist thought he saw the extra horizontal stroke and changed “three” to “six.” But this does not really solve the problem at all, because John 19:14 does not indicate the time Christ was crucified but only the time of His appearance before Pilate’s judgment seat. And so even though many fine scholars have favored this textual-error theory (such as Beza, Bengel, Alford, and Farrar), it is basically unsound—and completely unnecessary. There is no difficulty at all in the received textual reading, provided we understand that John was following the official numbering system of the Roman civil day. The evidence for a civil day that began numbering the hours right after midnight is quite decisive. Pliny the Elder (Natural History 2.77) makes the following observation: “The day itself has been differently observed in different countries: by the Babylonians between two sunrises; by the Athenians between two sunsets; by the Umbrians from noon to noon; by the Roman priests and those who have defined the civil day, as the Egyptians also and Hipparchus, from midnight to midnight.” This is confirmed by Macrobius (Saturnalia 1.3): “the day, which the Romans have declared to begin at the sixth hour of the night.” (It should be explained that the ancients did not maintain hours of uniform length throughout the year but simply divided the interval between sunrise and sunset into twelve equal parts, known as horae—regardless of the season of the year.) So what would be 6:00 A.M. according to the Roman civil day (and likewise according to our modern practice) would be the first hour according to Athenian and Hebrew practice. Thus it was 9:00 A.M. when Christ’s trial was winding up, and He was led away to Golgotha to be crucified. This perception of a differing system of hour numbering removes all discrepancy between John and the Synoptics. But we may very well ask, Why should John have followed the official Roman system when he had the same cultural background as the Synoptics? The answer lies in the time and location of the composition of John’s gospel. As McClellan points out, “St. John wrote his Gospel in Ephesus, the capital of the Roman province of Asia, and therefore in regard to the civil day he would be likely to employ the Roman reckoning. And as a matter of fact, he does employ it, extending his day until midnight—John 12:1; John 20:19” (Christian Evidences, 1:741). The point of the John 20:19 reference is that John reckons Christ’s first appearance to the disciples in the house of John Mark as occurring in the latter part (opsia) of the first day of the week. This proves conclusively that John did not regard the second day of the week as having begun at sunset, as the Palestinian reckoning followed by the other Evangelists would have regarded the late supper hour. (We know from the return of the two disciples from the Emmaus journey at sundown that it was already well past sundown by the time they had delivered their report to the Eleven, and thus before Jesus Himself appeared to them all as a group.) The fact that John followed the Roman civil day is thus established; his reason for doing so is found in the probable place of composition of his gospel, presumably in Ephesus around A.D. 90 or shortly thereafter. (Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties page 379) Related Resource: Gleason Archer - Was Christ crucified on Thursday or Friday? - Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties page 368 QUESTION - What time was Jesus crucified? ANSWER - The gospel writers make several references regarding the time of Jesus’ crucifixion. Putting all those references together gives us an idea of the time of day that Jesus died. In this article, we will use the NASB because it presents a literal translation of the time references recorded in the original Greek. We know that Jesus was arrested at night and was brought to Pilate the next morning. Matthew 27:1–2 tells us, “Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death; and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.” There was a series of hearings before Pilate and Herod, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover (see Luke 23:6–15). But Pilate had to make the final decision. Pilate had wanted to set Jesus free (Luke 23:20), but ultimately felt it more advantageous to appease the crowd. “When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, ‘I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.’ And all the people said, ‘His blood shall be on us and on our children!’ Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified” (Matthew 27:24–26). Matthew provides some clues as to the time Jesus was crucified: “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, ‘This man is calling for Elijah.’ Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, ‘Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.’ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:45–51). So according to Matthew, Jesus died “about the ninth hour.” Luke 23:44–47 agrees with Matthew about the darkness at the sixth hour and Jesus’ death about the ninth hour. Mark 15:25 adds further information: “It was the third hour when they crucified Him,” and the rest of the account agrees with Matthew and Luke about the times of darkness and Jesus’ death. So, putting Synoptic Gospels’ accounts together, Jesus was crucified at the third hour. Darkness descended at the sixth hour until the ninth hour, and Jesus died about the ninth hour. Jesus was on the cross for about six hours, three of those in total darkness. In modern reckoning, a new day starts at midnight, so the third hour would be 3:00 AM. However, the Jewish day started at sundown, but hours were counted from sunup, which would be roughly 6:00 AM. So the third hour when Jesus was crucified would be three hours after sunup, or about 9:00 AM. The sixth hour when darkness descended would be roughly noon, and the ninth hour when Jesus died would be about 3:00 PM. This is all rather straightforward, except that John seems to record something different. John 19:13–14 says, “Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.” John seems to place the hearing before Pilate “about” noon, which would conflict with Mark, who records that Jesus was crucified at the third hour or 9:00 AM. There are several possible solutions to the seeming discrepancy. Some have suggested that John is counting hours from midnight (the “Roman” method), so the sixth hour would be about 6:00 AM. This solves the problem of chronology; however, D. A. Carson, citing research by Henry Morris, thinks this unlikely, as this reckoning was normally reserved for Roman legal documents (BORROW Pillar New Testament Commentary, “John,” Eerdmans, 1991, p. 605). Merrill Tenney points out that this “Roman” method would be inconsistent with John’s other notations of time (NIV Bible Commentary, Volume 2, New Testament, “John,” Zondervan, 1994, p. 363). Andreas Kostenberger also notes that John appears to use the traditional sunup-to-sundown frame of reference when referring to time in John 1:39 where the tenth hour seems to refer to late afternoon (4:00 PM), not 10:00 AM (SEE Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, “John,” Baker Academic, 2004, Page 75). So the “Roman time” solution seems to be unlikely. Another proposed solution is to attribute John’s mention of the sixth hour to a scribal error. In this theory, an early copyist of John mistakenly wrote Ϝ (the Greek numeral digamma, or 6) instead of Γ (the Greek numeral gamma, or 3). This would make John and Mark to be in complete agreement; however, Carson points out that there is absolutely no manuscript evidence for this variant (op cit, p. 606). Therefore, this solution rests upon conjecture entirely. Kostenberger, although he does not necessarily endorse the idea, suggests that John may be making a theological point here and is not attempting to give a literal indication of the time (op cit, p. 536). The Paschal lamb selection would normally take place at noon on the day before Passover. Therefore, when Jesus was selected for crucifixion, John makes reference to noon (the sixth hour) to emphasize the fact that the Lamb of God had been selected. However, this solution has its own chronological difficulties. The “day of preparation” mentioned in John 19:14 is most likely preparation for the Passover Sabbath, not the Passover Feast that would require the lamb to be selected. The fact that Jesus had already eaten the Passover with His disciples would seem to indicate that the meal itself has already occurred. Kostenberger (John - Page 538) and Carson (p. 605) prefer a solution based on the imprecise methods of ancient timekeeping. Before the use of watches and other precise timekeeping devices, the day was usually divided up into three-hour blocks, and people often estimated and rounded off the time. If it was mid-morning, say 10:30, one person might have rounded down and called it the third hour (9:00 AM); another person might have rounded up and called it the sixth hour (noon). In this solution, there is no discrepancy, just a difference in the way each writer estimated the time. (Even in modern times with digital clocks that tell time down to the second, we often round to the nearest quarter or half hour.) According to this solution, the choice between the third and the sixth hour would be a matter of personal estimation. It is possible that John and Mark “rounded off” the times in keeping with custom. In the final analysis, this may be a case of expecting modern scientific precision from an ancient book. Carson puts it this way: “More than likely we are in danger of insisting on a degree of precision in both Mark and John which, in the days before watches, could not have been achieved. The reckoning of time for most people, who could not very well carry sundials and astronomical charts, was necessarily approximate. If the sun was moving toward mid-heaven, two different observers might well have glanced up and decided respectively that it was ‘the third hour’ or ‘about the sixth hour’” (p. 606) Taking all the evidence together, Jesus was crucified at some time in the morning, and He died at some time in the afternoon. He would have spent somewhere between three and six hours on the cross, with a good portion of that time in total darkness. The gospel writers were not overly interested in precision in this matter. They were far more concerned with the theological implications, which they faithfully recorded. QUESTION - How long was Jesus on the cross? ANSWER - Jesus was on the cross for about six hours. “The chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, “I am the Son of God”’” (Matthew 27:41–43). Crucifixion was a method the ancient Roman Empire used to carry out the death penalty for those found guilty of a capital offense. Crucifixion was usually reserved for slaves, foreigners, insurrectionists, and those guilty of the vilest crimes. The Jewish theocrats, in order to eliminate Jesus and maintain their power, devised a plan to convince Roman authorities that Jesus must be killed (Mark 14:1; cf. John 19:12; 19:15). The Jewish leaders accused Christ of encouraging rebellion and proclaiming Himself as King. This charge of insurrection is how Jesus ended up on a Roman cross rather than being stoned to death, the ancient Jewish method of execution. Crucifixion was designed not only to kill but to dissuade others from criminal actions. Victims of crucifixion were to be humiliated, often left to hang completely naked. The cross carried a stigma, and Jewish Law said it brought a curse (Galatians 3:13; 5:11). The term excruciating literally means “out of crucifying”; crucifixion was an “excruciating” way to die because it was a very slow and painful means to death. Depending on the circumstance, some people could live for days after being nailed to a cross. Answering the question of how long Jesus was on the cross is complicated by the fact that two systems of marking time are used in the Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke use the Jewish system of marking time. John uses the Roman system. Using the Jewish system, Mark says, “They crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him” (Mark 15:24–25, ESV). According to this, Christ’s crucifixion began at 9:00 A.M. Also using the Jewish system of marking time, Matthew says that “from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour” (Matthew 27:45, ESV). That is, the darkness lasted from 12:00 noon to 3:00 P.M. This was Jesus’ final three hours on the cross. At the end of that time, “when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50). After that a Roman soldier made sure of His death (John 19:34), and Jesus’ body was taken down. Jesus had been on the cross from approximately 9:00 A.M. until 3:00 P.M., a total of six hours. John adds the detail that Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate was taking place, according to Roman time, “about the sixth hour” (John 19:14, ESV). Since the Romans started counting their hours at midnight, the “sixth hour” would start at 6:00 A.M. So, using the Roman system: “about the sixth hour” = about 6:00 A.M. Jesus is sentenced by Pilate. Then, using the Jewish system: “the third hour” = 9:00 A.M. The crucifixion begins. “the sixth hour” = 12:00 P.M. (noon). Darkness begins. “the ninth hour” = 3:00 P.M. Jesus dies. Putting it all together, Jesus’ trial ended about 6:00 A.M. His crucifixion began about three hours later, and He died about six hours after that. QUESTION - On what day was Jesus crucified? (SEE VIDEO) ANSWER- The Bible explicitly states, in all four Gospels, that Jesus was crucified on preparation day (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14,31). He rose again on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:1; John 20:1). Determining the day of the week for the crucifixion would seem to be straightforward, but it’s not. Several factors must be considered: the Jewish mode of reckoning a day, the start of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and three calendars: Jewish, Julian, and Gregorian. Three possibilities emerge: Jesus was crucified on what we would call a Friday, on a Thursday, or on a Wednesday. Here is a brief look at each viewpoint: Jesus was crucified on a Friday Early Friday: Jesus eats the Passover. Late Friday: Jesus is crucified and buried. Early and late Saturday (the Sabbath): Jesus is in the tomb. Early Sunday: Jesus rises from the dead, and the women find the empty tomb. The traditional view is that Jesus was crucified on a Friday. According to this timeline, Jesus was killed in AD 30, and the day of preparation was Passover, Friday, Nisan 14. That was the time to eat the Passover meal and to ready dwellings for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which began the next day, Saturday, Nisan 15. The fact that Jesus was killed on Passover accords well with 1 Corinthians 5:7, which calls Christ “our Passover lamb.” Mark 15:42 says that Jesus was crucified on “the day before the Sabbath”; proponents of the Friday view consider the “Sabbath” here to be the weekly observance held on Saturday. Immediately after Jesus was taken down from the cross, the women present followed the body of Jesus to the tomb to see where it was laid. This happened “late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation, as the Sabbath was about to begin” (Luke 23:54, NLT). On the day after the crucifixion (Saturday, Nisan 15), the chief priests and the Pharisees met with Pilate, who agrees to have the tomb sealed and guarded (Matthew 27:62). The Friday view has Jesus in the tomb for three days by reckoning part of a day as a full day: Jesus was buried late in the day Friday (Day 1) and was entombed Saturday (Day 2) and the first part of Sunday (Day 3). Another argument for Friday points to verses such as Matthew 16:21 and Luke 9:22, which say that Jesus would rise “on the third day.” Sunday is the third day from Friday. According to the Friday view, the “three days and three nights” prophecy of Matthew 12:40 was fulfilled in that both Jesus and Jonah were “confined” in difficult situations where they could not move about freely for three periods of darkness (night) and three periods of light (day). The three nights of confinement for Jesus were His arrest on Thursday night and His time in the tomb Friday night and Saturday night (or, as reckoned in the Jewish method—in which a day begins at sunset—early Friday, early Saturday, and early Sunday). The three days for Jesus were all day Friday, all day Saturday, and part of Sunday. Jesus was crucified on a Thursday Late Thursday: Jesus is crucified and buried. Late Thursday through early Sunday: Jesus is in the tomb. Early Sunday: Jesus rises from the dead, and the women find the empty tomb. One point to be made in favor of the Thursday view is that Jesus’ prophecy of the sign of Jonah specifically includes three nights as well as three days (Matthew 12:40). If the crucifixion occurred on Thursday afternoon, the three days and three nights are all accounted for. As for Luke’s statement that Jesus was taken down from the cross because “the sabbath was about to begin” (Luke 23:54), the Thursday view points out that there were actually two Sabbaths that week, the first Sabbath starting at sundown Thursday, followed by the regular Sabbath starting at sundown Friday. In fact, John’s account says that “the next day was to be a special Sabbath” (John 19:31); Passover was considered a special Sabbath (see Leviticus 16:29–31; 23:7, 24–32, 39). Further, Matthew 28:1 says that the resurrection occurred “after the Sabbaths” (Berean Literal Bible)—the plural sabbaths being in the original, confirming there were multiple Sabbaths between the crucifixion and the resurrection. So, the “Passover” Sabbath was followed immediately by the “weekly” Sabbath, making the first opportunity to prepare the body for burial on Sunday at first light—and the women came to the tomb to do just that. Thursday advocates also point to several passages that indicate the number of days between the crucifixion and the resurrection. For example, in John 2:19, Jesus says, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Three days from Thursday is Sunday. In addition, when Jesus appears to the two men on the road to Emmaus on resurrection Sunday, they state that “it is the third day since all this took place” (Luke 24:21). A natural reading of this sentence would place the crucifixion on Thursday. Advocates for a Thursday crucifixion consider the “Preparation Day” to be the day before the Passover, the High Sabbath (John 19:14). Preparation day was the day that the Passover lamb was killed prior to the Passover meal that evening—which, according to Jewish reckoning, was the beginning of the next day (Mark 14:12). It is clear from the Old Testament instructions on the Passover (Exodus 12:6; Leviticus 23:5) that the lamb was to be slaughtered late in the day on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Nisan—which was Thursday afternoon in AD 32. Thursday advocates point out that at the same time Israel was slaughtering their Passover lambs on Nisan 14, Jesus, the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29) was dying on a cross. Thus was fulfilled the prophetic symbolism of the Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7). Based on this timeline, Thursday proponents also argue that the Last Supper, eaten on Wednesday evening, was not the Passover meal. The main course at Passover was a lamb, and there is no lamb mentioned at the Last Supper. Only bread and wine are mentioned. Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday Late Wednesday: Jesus is crucified and buried. Early Thursday (Passover) through Late Saturday (Sabbath): Jesus is in the tomb. Friday (between the two Sabbaths): the women buy and prepare the spices. Early Sunday: Jesus rises from the dead, and the women find the empty tomb. Those who argue for a Wednesday crucifixion agree with the Thursday view that there were two Sabbaths that week, but they separate them by a day. The first Sabbath, in this view, was the Passover Sabbath starting Wednesday evening following the crucifixion (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:52–54). Then came a non-Sabbath day (Friday) and then the weekly Sabbath starting Friday evening. The women purchased spices after the Sabbath, according to Mark 16:1—meaning the Passover Sabbath. Luke 23:56 says that, after the women saw where Jesus was buried, “they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” The Wednesday argument states that the women could not purchase the spices after the Sabbath and prepare those spices before the Sabbath unless there were two Sabbaths that week, separated by a day. Supporters of the Wednesday viewpoint see theirs as the only explanation that does not violate the biblical account of the women and the spices and holds to a literal understanding of Matthew 12:40. The “three days and three nights” of Matthew 12:40 are reckoned as follows: early Thursday (Day 1), late Thursday (Night 1), early Friday (Day 2), late Friday (Night 2), early Saturday (Day 3), and late Saturday (Night 3). A difficulty with the Wednesday view is that the disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus did so on “the same day” of His resurrection (Luke 24:13). The disciples, who do not recognize Jesus, tell Him of Jesus’ crucifixion (verse 20) and say that “today is the third day since these things happened” (verse 21). Wednesday to Sunday is four days. A possible explanation is that they may have started their count on Wednesday evening at Christ’s burial, which begins the Jewish Thursday, and Thursday to Sunday could be counted as three days. Conclusion While the day of the crucifixion is debated, the day of the resurrection is absolutely clear: Scripture says that Jesus rose on the first day of the week. What’s more important than knowing the day of the week of Jesus’ death is believing that He did die and that He rose from the dead. Equally important is why He died—to take the punishment that all sinners deserve. Jesus is truly the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Putting your trust in Him results in eternal life (John 3:16, 36)! This is true whether He was crucified on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Related Resource: Gleason Archer - Was Christ crucified on Thursday or Friday? - Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties page 368 QUESTION - If Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation, why had He already eaten the Passover meal? ANSWER - All four Gospels state that Jesus was crucified on the Day of Preparation (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14, 31, 42). Mark, Luke, and John all state that the following day was the Sabbath. John’s account uses this wording: “It was the day of Preparation of the Passover” (John 19:14). The question becomes, since Jesus was killed on the Day of Preparation, why had He already observed the Passover with His disciples (Matthew 26:17–29; Mark 14:12–25; Luke 22:7–22; John 13:1–30)? First, we should discard the theory that the writers of the New Testament made a mistake. Theorizing that all four of the Gospel writers got the chronology wrong stretches credulity to the breaking point. Are we really to believe that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all forgot what they had written from one chapter to the next? No, there must be a better explanation for why Jesus ate the Passover before the Day of Preparation. Next, we need to identify what the Day of Preparation was preparing for. Every week, preparations had to be made for the Sabbath—food had to be prepared ahead of time. This led to the “Day of Preparation” becoming the common term for “Friday.” Although many preparations also had to be made for the Passover, there is no record of “Passover Eve” being called the Day of Preparation. The Day of Preparation was always Friday, the day before the Sabbath. Mark 15:42 makes this clear. How then do we explain John’s statement that Jesus died on “the day of Preparation of the Passover” (John 19:14)? It’s quite possible that John simply meant that this particular Friday fell during Passover week; we could understand his words this way: “It was the day of Preparation, the one that happened to come during the season of Passover.” So, the Day of Preparation was to prepare for the Sabbath, not the Passover. The Mosaic Law stipulated what day the Passover lamb was to be eaten: Nissan 14 (Numbers 9:2–3). We must assume that Jesus kept the Law and observed Passover at the appointed time (see Galatians 4:4). After the Passover (Thursday) came the Day of Preparation (Friday) on which Jesus was killed. The Sabbath (Saturday) followed, of course, and then the first day of the week (Sunday)—the third day after the crucifixion and the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. One objection to the above chronology is based on John 18:28, which says, “The Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.” At first glance, it seems that, whereas Jesus had eaten the Passover the night before, the Jewish leaders had not yet eaten the Passover—they still “wanted to be able to eat” it after Jesus was arrested. To reconcile this verse with the Synoptic narratives, we must remember this: Passover was the first day of the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast (or Festival) of Unleavened Bread (Chag HaMatzot) lasted for a full week, from Nissan 15 to Nissan 22. The first day of Unleavened Bread coincided with the day of Passover. Because of the close relation between Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the whole week was sometimes referred to as “Passover.” The two holidays were (and still are) considered a single celebration. This explains John 18:28. The Jewish leaders had already eaten the Passover proper, but there still remained other sacrifices to be made and meals to be eaten. They were unwilling to defile themselves (Pilate’s palace contained leaven) because it would disqualify them from participating in the remainder of the week’s ceremonies (see Leviticus 23:8). There are other difficulties in pinpointing the exact chronology of Jesus’ arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. But this seems to be a workable solution: Thursday – Passover proper. The lamb is killed, and Jesus and His disciples eat the Passover meal in the upper room. Friday – the Day of Preparation. Jesus is tried and executed (although never convicted). The Jews continue their “Passover” celebrations with the chagigah, offerings made during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Saturday – the weekly Sabbath. Sunday – Resurrection Day. John 19:15 So they cried out, “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.” Away: John 19:6 Lu 23:18 Ac 21:36 22:22 We have: John 18:31 Ge 49:10 Eze 21:26,27 See Trial & Crucifixion of Jesus - Parallel Passages - to arrange the events chronologically and bring out details unique to each Gospel Related Passages: Matthew 27:26-31+ Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. 27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. 31 After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. Mark 15:15-20+ Wishing to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas for them, and after having Jesus scourged, he handed Him over to be crucified. 16 The soldiers took Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they *called together the whole Roman cohort 17 They *dressed Him up in purple, and after twisting a crown of thorns, they put it on Him; 18 and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him. 20 After they had mocked Him, they took the purple robe off Him and put His own garments on Him. And they *led Him out to crucify Him. WE HAVE NO KING They could and should have stopped their protest with the words "We have no king," for this was more true. Caesar was not their king and sadly Christ was not their King! So they cried out (kraugazo), “Away (airo in aorist imperative - Do it now! Do not delay!) with Him, away with Him, crucify (stauroo aorist imperative - Do it now! Do not delay!) Him!” Luke 23:18+ But they cried out all together, saying, ““Away (airo) with this Man (NOTE THEIR CONTEMPT), and release for us Barabbas!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify (stauroo) your King (basileus)?” - Pilate in vain tries to appeal to their senses, but the Jews are "out of control" by now. Recall earlier Pilate had called Jesus King declaring to the Jews “But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?”(Jn 18:39+) Utley on “them” - In Matt. 27:26–27 and Mark 15:15–16 the pronoun refers to the Roman soldiers. In John the inference may be that Pilate hand Jesus over to the wishes of the Jewish leaders and the mob. The chief priests (archiereus) answered, “We have no king (basileus) but Caesar (kaisar) - This was the "proverbial straw" that broke Pilate's resolve to release Jesus. He knew the potential repercussions if he was seen as not recognizing Caesar as king. The irony is that when the Romans first came into Palestine, they had the most bloody rebellion on their hands, because the Jews had insisted that “God alone was their king!” Now these Jews showing utter hypocrisy! God was to have been their king but they had rejected His rule long ago (cf 1Sa 8:7). Judges 8:23 But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you.” 1 Samuel 8:7 The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. I am reminded of the rebellious days of the book of Judges where the tagline was "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Jdg 21:25+) Indeed, these Jews were unwilling to submit to the true King and as a result crucified their King because in their delusion, they thought they were doing was was right! But they were wrong, so, so wrong! THOUGHT - That's what happens when Jesus is not the King of our heart! We become delusional! And don't miss the irony of these Jews only 5 days earlier hailing Jesus as "King" because they thought He had arrived to overthrow Caesar! Now in their delusional mindset, they decry Jesus as King and instead hail hated Caesar as "King!" (cf Lk 19:38+, Mt 21:5) So great is their hatred of Jesus, that the Jews hypocritically declare their allegiance to a pagan power! A T Robertson on no king but Caesar - The chief priests (hoi archiereis) were Sadducees, who had no Messianic hope like that of the Pharisees. So to carry their point against Jesus they renounce the principle of the theocracy that God was their King (1 Samuel 12:12+). Marvin
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MacArthur - Whatever his motives, Pilate’s decision to execute Jesus with criminals accorded perfectly with Old Testament prophecy (cf. Acts 4:27–28+). (See MacArthur New Testament Commentary) Brian Bell - In the center - or in-between! Between 2 thieves; between life & death; between heaven & earth. There He hangs with outstretched arms, aching for a prodigal world’s return. In the meanwhile, Jesus is blessed with the last kind words He’d hear on earth. Not from a religious leader, not from a disciple, not even from His mother but from a common thief. We don’t know anything about this criminal. Not how much he stole nor how often. From whom or why. We only know he was a thief. A wayward son over whom some mother’s heart has been broken; over whom some father’s hopes have been dashed. I wonder, was his mother even there? If she was, could she hear or even perceive what just took place? [Lk 24:39-43+] Oh and, what did Jesus’ eyes of forgiveness look like? Jesus in the center - may it be said of our lives! Not: God #1; marriage #2; kids #3; ministry #4; work #5; hobbies #6; etc. But, Jesus the center of our life; Jesus the center of our marriage; Jesus the center of our kids; Jesus the center of our ministry; Jesus the center of our work; Jesus the center of our hobbies. Spurgeon's expository comments - note there may be some repetition as this is simply a collection of all his thoughts on a given passage or section. John 19:18. Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. As if to show that they thought him the worst of the three, and therefore gave him ¾shall I call it the place of chief dishonour? John 19:18-19. Where they crucified him, and two others with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews. What could have moved Pilate to write that title? Perhaps he did it just to let the Jews know that they had forced him to put the Christ to death; he would put over him their accusation without any endorsement of his own: “ JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS; “ and so he is, and King of the Gentiles, too. Dr Truman Davis describes crucifixion from a medical standpoint - The left foot is now pressed backward against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees moderately flexed. The Victim is now crucified. As He slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating (LATIN - "OUT OF THE CROSS") pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain — the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As He pushes Himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, He places His full weight on the nail through His feet. Again there is the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet. At this point, as the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by his arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen. (A Physician's View of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ) F W Farrar on crucifixion - A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death can have of the horrible and ghastly-dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of intended wounds-all intensified just up to the point at which they can be endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which would give to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness.The unnatural position made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushed tendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed by exposure, gradually gangrened [when a victim took several days to die]; the arteries-especially at the head and stomach-became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood, and while each variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added to them the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst, and all these physical complications caused an internal excitement and anxiety, which made the prospect of death itself-of death, the unknown enemy, at whose approach man usually shudders most-bear the aspect of a delicious and exquisite release. (Life of Christ) The order of events at the crucifixion: (1) Arrival at Golgotha (Mt 27:33; Mk 15:22; Lu 23:33; Jn 19:17). (2) Offer of the stupefying drink refused (Mt 27:34; Mk 15:23). (3) Crucified between 2 thieves (Mt 27:35-38; Mk 15:24-28; Lu 23:33-38; Jn 19:18). (4) Utters 1st cry fr the cross, "Father, forgive," (Lu 23:34). (5) Soldiers part His garments (Mt 27:35; Mk 15:24; Lu 23:34; Jn 19:23). (6) Jews mock Jesus (Mt 27:39-43; Mk 15:29-32; Lu 23:35). (7) Thieves rail Him, one repents (Mt 27:44; Mk 15:32; Lu 23:39-43). (8) Second cry from cross, "Today you will be with me," (Lu 23:43). (9) Third cry, "Dear woman, here is your son," etc. (Jn 19:26-27). (10) Darkness (Mt 27:45; Mk 15:33; Lu 23:44). (11) Fourth cry, "My God," etc. (Mt 27:46-47; Mk 15:34-36). (12) Fifth cry, "I am thirsty" (Jn 19:28). (13) Sixth cry, "It is finished" (Jn 19:30). (14) Seventh cry, "Father, into your hands," etc. (Lu 23:46). And (15) Lord dismisses His spirit (Mt 27:50; Mk 15:37; Lu 23:46; Jn 19:30). John 19:19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” wrote: Mt 27:37 Mk 15:26 Lu 23:38 JESUS: John 19:3,12 1:45,46,49 18:33 Ac 3:6 26:9 Related Passages: Matthew 27:37+ And above His head they put up the charge (ACCUSATION) against Him which read, “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Mark 15:26+ The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” Luke 23:38+ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” SEE TITULUS - Hebrew, Latin and Greek Inscription THE CAUSE FOR CRUCIFIXION "KING OF THE JEWS" You may have seen the acronym INRI which stands for the Latin inscription IESVS·NAZARENVS·REX·IVDÆORVM = Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum. Pilate also wrote an inscription (titlos; Latin "titulus") and put it on the cross (stauros) - This suggests to some commentators that Pilate himself wrote this inscription, but others feel he caused it to be written and controlled the content. The inscription (titlos) was a brief notice used for identification and giving the reason for condemnation. The point is that Jesus' "crime" in Pilate's eyes was that He claimed to be a King. Gilbrant - "The victim of crucifixion was required to wear or have carried before him a wooden board on which his crime was proclaimed in ink or burned letters. This superscription was then placed over his head as he was crucified (ED: BUT SEE NN BELOW)." A T
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MacArthur writes that It is Finished… was a shout of triumph; the proclamation of a victor. The work of redemption that the Father had given Him was accomplished: sin was atoned for (He 9:12-note; He 10:12-note), and Satan was defeated and rendered powerless (He 2:14-note; cf. 1Pe 1:18, 19-note, 1Pe 1:20-note; 1Jn 3:8). Every requirement of God's righteous law had been satisfied; God's holy wrath against sin had been appeased (Ro 3:25-note; He 2:17-note; 1Jn 2:2; 4:10); every prophecy had been fulfilled. Christ's completion of the work of redemption means that nothing needs to be nor can be added to it. Salvation is not a joint effort of God and man, but is entirely a work of God's grace, appropriated solely by faith (Eph. 2:8, 9-note). His mission accomplished, the time had come for Christ to surrender His life. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – John 12-21) Andrew