John 19

I Have the Authority…

JOHN 19:01-42

1Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. 2And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; 3and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. 4Pilate came out again and *said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” 5Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!” 6So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” 7The 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.”

8Therefore when Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid; 9and he entered into the *Praetorium again and *said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10So 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?” 11Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.” 12As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, “If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar.”

13Therefore 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. 14Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the *sixth hour. And he *said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!” 15So 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.”

16So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

17They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. 18There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. 19Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 20Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. 21So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

23Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the *tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.” 25Therefore the soldiers did these things.

But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

28After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, *said, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. 30Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

31Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; 33but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. 34But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35And 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. 36For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” 37And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”

38After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. 39Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. 40So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41Now 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. 42Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

JOHN 19:01-07

1Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. 2And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; 3and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. 4Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” 5Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate *said to them, “Behold, the Man!” 6So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate *said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” 7The 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.”

Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!”

Illegitimate authority shows its power with intimidation and victimization (bullying).

Pilate, because of his wife’s dream, doesn’t want to kill Jesus, but he does want to show his authority over Jesus to the crowd, so he has Jesus beaten.

Notice how Pilate does not do the beating himself, he has his lackeys do it. It reminds me of Donald Trump speaking about Senator John McCain, saying the Senator was a loser and only a hero because he was captured. Meanwhile Donald Trump avoided the military draft five times, once for bad feet and four times for college.

We should never confuse leadership with power or authority. Many of the world’s greatest leaders were powerless in the face of authority. This is an example in Jesus’ life, contemporary examples might include Nelson Mandela and President FW De Klerk or Martin Luther King, J. Edgar Hoover and Sheriff Bull Conners confronting the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, Alabama.

Real leaders do not need coercion or violence to move people. They rely instead on meaning and engagement.

In your relationships or positions of leadership, do you lean to authoritarian power or the power of engagement?

Authoritarian Power relies on

1. Manipulation

2. Force

3. Accumulation and centralization of power

4. Emotional or physical violence

5. Bullying

Engagement Power relies on

1. Meaning

2. A vision of hope

3. Giving power away

4. Advocacy

5. Honesty and Open Communication

6. Listening to the needs of people

JOHN 19:08-12

Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?”

If you have to tell someone you’re in charge, you’re not…

Pilate and the religious authorities had reached the end of their influence, so they were focusing more on their authority.

The influence that the religious leaders once had rested in the myths about their religion and laws. They drew their power from being able to convince followers they would be damned in the afterlife if they didn’t heed their specific instructions for paying homage to their religious institutions in this life.

Jesus was a threat to them because his influence came from his relationships and the way he modelled compassion—especially to the most vulnerable.

Pilate’s influence lay in the might of the Roman empire. His fragile position depended on keeping the masses under control and paying taxes. He was not doing a very good job at either and his authority was rapidly fraying. It’s doubtful that he ever really had any influence.

Jesus was a threat to him because he caused tension in his already tenuous relationship with the religious leaders and with Rome.

Jesus is a threat to all who hide behind the mask of authority and manipulative power. “Do you not know that I have authority…” is the last vestige many use to maintain their power when authority is based upon might. Parents’ might use the phrase, “Because I said so…” in a similar fashion with children. Bureaucrats might turn to the phrase, “I don’t make the rules, I just enforce them…” and “we can’t make an exception for one person because then everyone will want things that way…”

Jesus offers relationship and meaning. His truth was God wanted to be WITH his people, not ABOVE them. God was ready to move into a relationship and Jesus was the bridge.

JOHN 19:13-16

16So he then handed Him over to them to be crucified.

The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

The chief priests must have been deeply terrified of Jesus to sink this low in their bootlicking of Pilate. These two groups hated each other. At the root of hatred is fear and our greatest fear seems to always dwell with loss of some imaginary control.

It takes immeasurably more energy to defend what we pretend to control rather than to live a life continually seeking to let go of false beliefs.

Jesus actually had the most control over this situation, because he had the least to lose. Those with the least to lose always have the most power. Certainly, Jesus had his life to lose, but he felt that was part of his mission, so everyone else was playing into his design. He was confident his death would lead to the coming of the Holy Spirit and the opening of our human relationship directly with God. Not through intermediaries, like the chief priests, but a direct relationship. And that relationship would be based upon love, not the law.

In fear, humans often seek to return to the authority of the law, rather than love. It is alluring because it seems so much more concrete. But such a relationship inevitably leads us to more relationships with legal interpreters (lawyers and/or chief priests). What authoritative responses will always get wrong is that the least engaged have the most power. This is true in every relationship; in families, in classrooms, in cities, nations and economic systems. The way to healing will never be increased authoritative power, but deepened engagement.

Freedom lies in love. Not a freedom to do what is wrong—or break the law—but a freedom to seek what is just and compassionate.

JOHN 19:17-22

There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between

It must be noted that Jesus sought out the vulnerable in life and died among political prisoners at death.

To follow Jesus, is to aspire to these two bookends. Will our lives be reflected by how we comforted the vulnerable and advocated for the oppressed? We need look no further than the priorities of each day. If you looked at your task list or scheduler right now, would it show your week full of those who are in need? Not just in administrating to them, but in relationship with them?

“Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews’; but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’”

The Religious Leaders finally had what they wanted, but it wasn’t enough. They wanted Pontius to change a couple words on Christ’s epithet that the crowds would see. From “The King of the Jews,” to “He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”

The difference is slight, but it is important to the Religious Leaders. Failed institutions (and their leaders) often have a great need for lawyers to protect themselves from the finer points of litigation. Politicians like Donald Trump are in constant need of people who will help them retract or restate public announcements made in impromptu speeches because the leaders either aren’t aware of or don’t hold any core values. Many are used to making broad statements without consultation.

Suffice it to say that such blowhards are often surrounded by people who follow his/her speeches around like a street sweeper following a parade of circus animals and saying things like, “What he/she really meant was…”

JOHN 19:23-27

From that hour the disciple took her into his own household

It is quite common for people “in the ministry” to forget their families while focused on their flocks. I can attest to this issue in my early days of ministry. I became so focused on my work, that I neglected my home.

It is apparent in this reading that this was not the case with Jesus. He (like most of us) dies surrounded by his earthly family while his closest followers (except for John) are not to be found. It is compelling that one of the last acts of Jesus’ earthly life was to make sure his mother is cared for. It is important also to note that he puts the care of his beloved mother, not into the hands of the “smartest” disciple or the “strongest” disciple—for where were they? He puts her in the care of his beloved disciple.

It was love that underlined Jesus’ final decisions, not just love for God’s people, but love for his family.

As I have learned the hard way, our love for “the world” is shallow if not undergirded by care for our family. As we so easily forget, “family is our first ministry.”

JOHN 19:28-30

A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.

There are a number of ways of interpreting this action by the Roman guards, but they all reveal the debasement that occurs during an occupation of a country or the insidious impact of racism when one race or culture makes another less-than-human.

Racism is the cultural embodiment of narcissism, it’s assuming that one’s race or birth (as in the caste system) automatically places your race or culture above another’s.

Hyssop was a very important herb to the Jewish people; it was used ceremoniously as a reminder of our sins and as a form of skin cleansing. The use of hyssop for cleansing purposes is chronicled in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 1 Kings and the Psalms.

Was the Roman Centurion in charge of the crucifixion aware of its significance and offering Jesus comfort (remember he was the one who said, “truly this is the son of God”) or was he having the hyssop dipped in drugged wine because the herb smelled awful, like a skunk?

The crucifixion detail would have done this job dozens—if not hundreds—of times, it was a favorite Roman method of torture. Time was an issue for the soldiers, as was boredom. Death by crucifixion could take days, so often the guards would break the femurs of their victims to hasten their suffocation. Because of the beatings prior to his crucifixion, resulting in massive blood loss, Jesus’ death was fairly quick (relative to the norm). He did not need his legs broken and he did not accept the drugged wine.

So, was it

1. An act of expedience?

Expedience drives so many decisions related to injustice. It was expedience that Caiaphas used as an excuse to turn Jesus over to Pilate for execution. Are there times when expedience leads to acts of injustice in my life (or through my investments or government)?

2. An act of cruelty?

Cruelty is an outgrowth of racism; racism is an outgrowth of cultural or economic narcissism. Are their times I make decisions based upon narcissistic beliefs? Or again, times when I allow other who speak on my behalf to do so?

3. An act of kindness?

I would like to believe that this was a final act of compassion offered by the Centurion in charge of Christ’s crucifixion. That observing the character of Jesus as he died, led him to offer what solace he could within the legal parameters available to him.

If this were the case, it sure would be an example of Satyagraha where compassion overwhelms cruelty. It offers a window of hope to humanity that someone so steeped in racism, classism and barbarity would be changed because of the example of unshakeable love.

It’s important to root down deeply into my own beliefs, narcissism—as an individual or a culture—is insidious. It comes couched in broad excuses (as slaveowners used to justify their cruelty).

“It is finished!”

Locus of Control. The higher your internal locus of control (the sense that you feel in control of your life), the higher your self-esteem. We each have an internal locus of control and an external locus of control. One might look at the last day of Jesus and think that he had no internal locus of control. That everything was being done TO him and not WITH him. A low internal locus of control (and thus a high external locus) leads to despair and hopelessness.

But Jesus’ choice of words here don’t just mean, “I am finished…” it means “It is complete, it is fulfilled…” There is a radical difference.

The preeminent psychologist, Erik Erikson, told us that the final stage of our lives is “integration/disintegration.” If we are able to negotiate the other life stages successfully, this final stage is about whether the pattern and efforts of our life made sense. If they do make sense, we enjoy a satisfying mature adulthood with an increased well-being.

By saying, “It is complete…” it is obvious that Jesus felt that he made the choice to die and it was the fulfillment of his life’s efforts. He had lived his purpose and chose to die at the most meaningful time. A painful death doesn’t mean a meaningless death. It is the content of your life, not the process of your death that indicates fulfillment and meaning.

Many people die painfully but satisfied. We have a hard time understanding that because one of the Gnostic (poisonous) falsehoods of our culture is that pain is evil. But very few people who have lived exemplary lives, lived lives without suffering or pain.

We need to banish that falsehood; it is both psychologically and physically debilitating. One of the greatest gifts we can offer our children or those we lead, is that we have the ability to focus on the aspects of our lives where we can increase our internal locus of control.

Jesus was not in control of the MEANS of his death, but he was in control of the ENDS. He controlled when he was taken. He marched to Jerusalem on a feast day to place himself in the center of the fray. It was a choice he made that even his apostles did not understand. His life was not only finished, but also complete. He had fulfilled his purpose on earth.

· Finished, teleō, [5055], completed, accomplished, from telos, [5056], fulfilled, perfected

JOHN 19:31-32

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.

To testify was to be willing to die for your witness. In the end, all of these disciples would be tortured and die for the truth they told. We often hear people in churches who give their testimony (the story of their faith life), but what if they gave their testimony in front of those who would kill them for it?

The story is told of a group of military soldiers in a communist country that broke into a clandestine Christian worship service. Brandishing their weapons, the leader gave the choice for all those who would denounce Jesus to take the opportunity and leave.

After those people had cleared the room, the soldiers asked to join the service. When asked by the Pastor, why they invited the others to leave, the commander responded, “We just wanted to get rid of those who were not true believers.”

Can I truly say that I would be among those who remained under these circumstances?

· Testified, martureō, [3140], bear approval, good reputation, from martus, [3144] to witness, to be willing to die for one’s statements/beliefs

JOHN 19:33-42

Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.

There used to be a tv show that my children watched at night called, “Nic at Night” (Nicolodean). I jokingly call the story of Nicodemus and Jesus, “Nick at Night.”

Prior to Christ’s death, all of Nicodemus’ support came in clandestine ways. Initially, Nicodemus seeks Jesus with loaded questions. He doesn’t come to learn from Jesus, he comes to trap Jesus with questions that would force him to be on the theological side of the Pharisees or the Sadducees. Nick isn’t seeking wisdom; he’s trying to trick Jesus. He is also trying to recruit Jesus, but he winds up stumped by a greater truth (metanoia=greater knowing) than he can comprehend from his closed-minded viewpoint.

Now that Jesus is dead, Nicodemus is willing to show his support and he does it in an abundant fashion. Nicodemus stays in the darkness until it is too late. His support will not assist Jesus in life, nor will it confront the evil systems of his time. His gift is not particularly helpful—since it will only serve to make Jesus’ body more fragrant for a few days. It doesn’t go to support any of Jesus’ family or purpose.

It would have been substantial; had it been given thoughtfully. To put it in terms we might understand, the cost of the burial mixture provided by Nicodemus would be around $20,000-$30,000 US in today’s dollars. In comparison, the cost of Mary’s anointing of Jesus’ feet would be around $10,000-$15,000 in contemporary US currency. An astounding amount for a single woman in Jesus’ day. This gift by Mary was the primary reason Judas cited as the reason he betrayed Jesus.

JOHN 12:4-6

4But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, *said, 5“Why was this perfume not sold for *three hundred denarii and given to poor people? ” 6Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.

We are like Nicodemus when

· We won’t take a public stand against injustice

· We go to people with answers instead of questions and/or our questions are designed, not to learn and communicate, but to lay a trap (or proselytize) others

· We won’t let go of our close-mindedness and cling to the belief we are already the expert

· Our giving is solely impersonal or sentimental, it doesn’t take into account the needs of anyone but our own guilt or emotions