Lesson for November 16, 2025

The Book of John

Lesson 41

Chapter 19:1-42

Verses 1-15

“So, Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and placed it on His head and put a purple cloak on Him; ³ and they repeatedly came up to Him and said, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ and slapped Him in the face again and again. ⁴ And then Pilate came out again and said to them, ‘See, I am bringing Him out to you so that you will know that I find no grounds at all for charges in His case.’ ⁵ Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, ‘Behold, the Man!’ ⁶ So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they shouted, saying, ‘Crucify, crucify!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Take Him yourselves and crucify Him; for I find no grounds for charges in His case!’ ⁷ The Jews answered him, ‘We have a law, and by that law He ought to die, because He made Himself out to be the Son of God!’ ⁸ Therefore, when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; ⁹ and he entered the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, ‘Where are You from?’ But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to Him, ‘Are you not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?’ ¹¹ Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no authority over Me at all, if it had not been given to you from above; for this reason the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.’ ¹² As a result of this, Pilate made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, ‘If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!’ ¹³ 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. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, ‘Look, your King!’ ¹⁵ So 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 except Caesar.’”

After Pilate released Barabbas to the Jews, he sent Jesus to be crucified. So, in accordance with prophesy from Isaiah 53, Jesus was beaten, a crown of thorns was placed on His head, and a robe mocking Him as a king was placed on Him, and they slapped Him, as they said “Hail, King of the Jews.” Once again, Pilate said to the mob that he found no fault in Jesus!

Pilate made efforts to release Him; but the Jews shouted, saying, ‘If you release this Man, you are not a friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!’ 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.  Pilate was a weak man and showed it by his fear of the Jews. The Jews said they could not enter the Praetorium on the day of preparation for the Passover. Pilate, in his weakness, then came outside to a place called the Pavement. When he went outside to talk to them, they were in charge, not Pilate. When Pilate took Jesus outside in front of the mob, he had already succumbed to the vicious mob pressure of the Jews.

Verses 16-30

^“So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified. ¹⁷ They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, carrying His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which in Hebrew is called, Golgotha. ¹⁸ There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. ¹⁹ Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: ‘JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ ²⁰ Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek. ²¹ So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, ‘Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; rather, write that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’ ²² Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’ ²³ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts: a part to each soldier, and the tunic also; but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. ²⁴ So they said to one another, ‘Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.’ This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: ‘They divided My garments among themselves, and they cast lots for My clothing.’ Therefore, the soldiers did these things. ²⁵ Now beside the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ So when Jesus saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, 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 own household. ²⁸ After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, said, ‘I am thirsty.’ ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. ³⁰ Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

Pilate did not personally believe in Christ as his Savior. And just as Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus Christ, so did Pontius Pilate. John does not describe what happened between the Praetorium and the Pavement and Golgotha. Jesus was so weak by the things that He had suffered, that it was almost impossible for Him to carry this huge cross on which He was going to be crucified. But His attitude was one of determination and even though He had been maltreated in every possible way, and even though His back was now raw from being whipped, He still put the cross on His shoulder and started to carry it. He kept right on carrying it until He staggered and fell, and that was when the centurion ordered a man named Simon to help Him. (Matthew 27:32)

The story of the two thieves who were crucified next to Jesus is described in Luke 23:39-43. The writers of the accounts of the Crucifixion report various historical detail, but John gives us the Crucifixion from the standpoint of Biblical principle, the fact that Bible prophesy was fulfilled. (Psalm 22:1-16; Isaiah 53:1-12)

The Greek word for what Jesus said before He dismissed His spirit was “tetelestai,” which is not three words, it is one word, “Finished.” It means to bring to an end, to complete, to accomplish, to fulfill, or to perform. Notice that Jesus was still alive when He said, “Finished.” Salvation was completed by the spiritual death of Christ on the Cross. Physical death was not the payment for the sin of the world, but it was important and part of the salvation plan of God the Father. Jesus had to die physically in order to be raised from the dead and receive a glorified body, so that believers could also receive a glorified body.

Verses 31-37

“Now then, since it was the day of preparation, to prevent the bodies from remaining on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews requested of Pilate that their legs be broken, and the bodies be taken away. ³² So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man, and of the other who was crucified with Him; ³³ but after they came to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴ Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things took place so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not a bone of Him shall be broken.’ ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, ‘They will look at Him whom they pierced.’”

Yet one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. Here is the prophecy that coincides with this verse from Isaiah 53:5, “But He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings; the punishment for our (spiritual) well-being was laid upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed (spiritually).”

For these things took place so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: ‘Not a bone of Him shall be broken. This is a reference to the prophecy regarding Christ as the Passover lamb, in Numbers 9:12, “They shall not leave any of it until morning, nor break a bone of it; they shall celebrate it in accordance with the whole statute of the Passover.”

And again, another Scripture says, ‘They will look at Him whom they pierced.’ This is reference to the prophecy in Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

Verses 38-42

^“Now after these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, requested of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So, he came and took away His body. ³⁹ Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras (pounds) weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. ⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”

Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Sanhedrin, which meant he was a Jewish ruler. (Luke 23:54) He was extremely rich, according to Matthew 27:57, which fulfilled a prophecy from Isaiah 53:9. He was a believer. (Matthew 27:57; Luke 23:50). He asked for the body of Jesus. (Mark 15:43-47 and Luke 23:51-56)

Nicodemus was also a member of the Sanhedrin and the one who met with Jesus secretly in John 3. He defended Jesus in the Sanhedrin by making a speech defending Jesus’ rights in John 7:50-52. Nicodemus provided for Jesus a mixture of expensive fragrances, normally used for the burial of a king.