John 19:1-16a--Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

John 19:1-16a
English Standard Version

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified
19 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

​12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 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.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

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Last time we talked about how Jesus took the place of Barabbas--a man condemned to death because of the crimes that he committed.  He was "the chief of sinners"--the one who deserved to die on the center cross, but it was God's plan for Jesus to take the place of Barabbas and every one of us.  Jesus has been telling everyone that this day was coming from the very beginning of His ministry (remember Him telling Nicodemus that just as "Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up"?)  We're seeing everything continue to happen in God's way in God's time.  Just as God said it had to happen, just as everything had been foretold by the prophets, according to the Scriptures.

The Sanhedrin couldn't find any evidence to convict Jesus until Jesus told them once again who He was--the Son of Man that they would see coming on the clouds with power.  At this they condemned Jesus to death, but they said they did not have the authority to kill Him (though we've seen them try many times before this) and they know Rome will not kill Jesus for the crime of blasphemy with which they have charged Him (a religious and civil crime in the minds of the Romans that the Jews would be told to take care of on their own).  So, they tell Pilate that Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Messiah, the King of the Jews.  This got Pilate's attention and right when Pilate was ready to let Jesus go, Jesus tells Pilate that He is a king, but His kingdom is not of this world.  Pilate finds no guilt with Jesus and tries to set up a situation where he thinks the people will definitely chose Jesus to be released, but instead, the people choose Barabbas--the person that would be on the top of everyone's "most wanted" list.  For those old enough to remember this name, Barabbas was like the Osama bin Laden of his day--he was a terrorist, a murderer and an insurrectionist.  The word "thief" used in the text yesterday can be more loosely translated to anyone guilty of a high crime as stealing from someone was considered an extremely high crime in those days.

The people were about to riot, so Pilate hands Jesus over to be beaten.  They beat Him to such a state that people are uncertain that He's even a man anymore.  At this point, I'd like you to stop and read Isaiah 53.  Some of you may have never read it, but see how this is exactly what has happened to Jesus to this point and what is happening to Him now.  He was bruised for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities!  That didn't just happen once He was put on the cross--it all started here during His torture that proceeded His execution.

Pilate hopes that a good beating within an inch of death will satisfy the people, and he once again comes out to the people to say "Behold the Man"--this reminds me of John saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."  Pilate once again gives the people a choice.  “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” and the people stirred up by the chief priest shouted as a mob, “Crucify him, crucify him!”  Pilate tries to tell them to take Him themselves to crucify Him--he no longer wants any part of this.  However the people tell Pilate that Jesus must die because, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.”  Now Pilate is terrified!  Is He really going to be responsible for killing the Son of God?  Is this the "kingdom not of this world" that Jesus was talking about?  Pilate quickly convenes court again inside his residence away from the crowd.

He asks Jesus plainly,  “Where are you from?,” but this time Jesus gave him no answer.  The dye was cast and things were proceeding exactly as planned.  Even though I'm sure it was tempting to Jesus to say something that would make it all stop, since just hours before He had prayed for "This cup to be taken from Me" He had submitted Himself to the will of the Father and knew that it was for this reason that He had come into the world.  Pilate is frustrated because Jesus won't say anything to defend Himself, and Pilate wants to let Jesus go at this point.  Pilate says, "Don't you realize I have the authority to release you or crucify you?"  Jesus responded, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”  Jesus doesn't completely absolve Pilate of his role, but He said that those turning Him over to Pilate would bear more guilt as they knew Jesus' identity and they claimed to be the children of God.  Pilate's hand were tied here because the people were about to riot and if Pilate could not control them it was Pilate that would be killed.  Every part of Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but Jesus wouldn't give Pilate any opportunity to do so, and the people threatened to report Pilate to Caesar if he let Jesus go.

At about the sixth hour on the Day of Preparation, that is about high noon on Friday, Pilate finally sits down to proclaim his judgment.  Pilate says, "Behold, your King."  (I think he was serious about this), and the people responded again saying, "Take Him away.  Crucify Him."  Then for the third time Pilate tries to save Jesus and ask, “Shall I crucify your King?” and the people again respond all the more strongly, "“We have no king but Caesar.” It seems as if the people, not just Peter denied Jesus three times.  So, Pilate finally relents and hands Jesus over to be crucified.  That's where we'll pick up next time.