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The Scriptorium

Tried and Condemned

What glorious lessons are to be learned from Jesus' suffering!

The Gospel of John: John 19.1-42

Read and meditate on John 19.1-42.
Everything about this trial was unjust. The outcome was determined before Jesus was arrested, and, for the religious leaders of the day, it was just a matter of how much conniving and equivocation they would have to undertake to get what they wanted. As it turned out, just enough.

                                                   1And so
then Pilate ordered Jesus scourged, and blow
on blow tore at His body. 2Soldiers made
and twisted out of thorns a crown, and laid
it on His head, and wrapped Him in a shawl
of purple fabric. 3As they did, they all
began to mock Him, saying, “Hail, O King
of all the Jews!” And they began sting
and slap Him with their hands. 4Then Pilate went
before the Jews again and said to them,
“Behold, I bring Him out to you; and know
that I have found no fault in Him.” 5And so
then Jesus came out, in the purple robe
and crown of thorns. And Pilate said, “Behold
the Man!” 6And when the chief priest saw Him, and
the officers, they cried, “Now let that Man
be crucified!” But Pilate said to them,
“You crucify Him, for I find in Him
no fault.” 7The Jews replied, “We have a law,
and it is written in our holy law
that this Man ought to die, because He made
Himself the Son of God.” 8Now more afraid
than ever, 9Pilate went again into
the court, and said to Jesus, “Where are You
from?” Jesus answered not a word. 10And so
then Pilate said to Him, “Do You not know
that I have power to crucify or to
release You? Yet You are not speaking to
me?” 11Jesus answered, “You could wield no power
against me, had it not been in this hour
bestowed on you from above. And therefore he
who has delivered Me to you will be
more harshly judged.” 12From then on, Pilate sought
to let Him go. The Jews said though, “You ought
to know that if You let this Man go, you
are not a friend of Caesar. This Man Who
declares Himself our king, defies the king.”
13Then Pilate, hearing this, said they should bring
Jesus to the judgment seat – the place
they call The Pavement, but the Hebrew race
calls Gabbatha. 14It was the sixth hour then,
the day before the Feast. He said to them,
“Behold your King!” 15But they cried out, “Away
with Him!” and “Crucify Him!” “Do you say,”
he asked, “that I should crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered then, “We have no king
but Caesar!” 16Therefore he delivered Him
for crucifixion, and the Jews took Him
and led Him from that place.

                                       17And so, His own
cross bearing, He went out, outside the town
to Golgotha, 18and there they crucified
Him, and two others with Him, on each side,
and Him between them. 19Pilate wrote a sign,
and put it on the cross, a single line
that said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King
of the Jews. 20And many read this title, being
in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin written clear,
and where they crucified Him being near
the city. 21Then the chief priests argued, “Do
not let the title read, ‘King of the Jews,’
but that ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.”’”
22But Pilate said, “What I have written, I
have written.” 23Those, therefore, who crucified
Him took His garments, and divided them
in four parts, and His tunic, which no seam
contained, but had been woven from the top
in one piece. 24So they said, “Now let us not
destroy this tunic; let us cast lots for
it.” Thus the Scripture was fulfilled once more
which says, “My garments they divided; for
My clothing they cast lots.” The men therefore
did all these things.

                          25And standing there close by
the cross were Jesus’ mother and the wife
of Clopas (who was Mary’s kindred), and
the Magdalene, named Mary. 26Jesus, when
He saw His mother, standing by the one
He loved, said to her, “Woman, see your son.”
27And then, to His disciple, standing there,
He said, “Behold your mother!” So to care
for her, he took her from that hour into
his home.

              28And after this, when Jesus knew
that all was now accomplished, so that all
God’s Word might be fulfilled, then did He call,
“I thirst.” 29Nearby a vessel that was full
of sour wine sat; they fixed onto a pole
a sponge filled with that wine, and held it to
His mouth. 30And when He took the wine into
His mouth, He said, “Now it is finished.” Then
He bowed His head, and speaking not again,
gave up His Spirit.

                          31Since, therefore, it was
the Preparation, and upon a cross
no bodies should remain (that Sabbath being
a high and holy day), the Jews came seeing
if Pilate would not break their legs, that they
might die, and then be taken all away.
32They broke the legs of those on either side
of Jesus, those who had been crucified
with Him, but when they came to Jesus, He
was dead already, so they let Him be.
34One soldier took a spear and pierced His side,
and blood and water flowed. 35He testified
of this who saw it, and his word is true,
and he is telling you the truth, that you
might come to faith in Him. 36For this was done
that Scripture should be proved, which says, “Not one
of any of His bones should broken be.”
37Another says, “And they shall look and see
Him they have pierced.”

                                38Now after this, a man
named Joseph, a disciple, and a friend
of Jesus, came to Pilate secretly,
because he feared the Jews, to see if he
might take down Jesus’ body. Pilate gave
him leave to do so, so then Joseph came
and took His body. 39Nicodemus, who
to Jesus came by night, was with him, too.
They brought a hundred pounds of spices to
embalm Him. 40Now the custom of the Jews
for burial was to bind the body in
the spices, using linen strips, so then
they did. 41A garden was nearby, and in
the garden was a tomb, and no one in
that tomb had yet been laid. 42So there they laid
Him; it was then the Preparation Day.

- John 19.1-42

Reflect
1. Caiaphas, the high priest, had said that it was expedient (literally, advantageous) for one man to die (Jn. 11.50). He was determined to make that stick, as we saw in chapter 18. But Rome’s complicity was essential. How did the religious leaders manage to get Pilate on board with their plan? Complete this prayer: Father, Your Word is truth. Help me always to stand on Your Word, and to resist…

2.  How can you see that, throughout His trial, Jesus was resting in the sovereignty of God, the reliability of His Word, and the power of His will? How did that affect Jesus? What can we learn from Jesus about how to deal with the various trials that come upon us? Thank You, Father, that…

3.  John pointed out the various ways Scripture was fulfilled in Jesus’ trail and crucifixion. Why was this important? How should this affect our attitude toward the Bible and our use of it? Explain. Father, Your Word is reliable and sure, and I want always to…

4.  Pilate didn’t allow the Jewish leaders to have the last word. What do you make of his reply to their objection in verses 19-22? You are Lord and Savior and King, Lord Jesus. Help me in my witness to You that…

5. Even this final event in Jesus’ life has a forward-looking aspect, which we see in verses 25-27, and John’s reminding us that this all happened on Preparation Day. The Christian life is a forward-looking life. Explain. Bring together into one prayer the prayers you composed for questions 1-4.

Summary
“Who can sleep like this when he pleases, as Jesus died when he pleased? Who is there that puts off his garment like this when he pleases, as he put off his flesh at his pleasure? Who is there who leaves like this when he pleases, as he left this life at his pleasure? How great the power, to be hoped for or dreaded, that must be his as judge, if such was the power he exhibited as a dying man!” Augustine (354-430 AD)

In Jesus, no trial is too unjust or too great for us to bear. As He kept looking to the Father, and focusing on the joy that was set before Him, we can overcome the tribulations of the world in Him. How can Christians encourage one another in this?

Closing Prayer
You who fear the LORD, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him,
And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel!
For He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from Him;
But when He cried to Him, He heard.
My praise shall be of You in the great assembly;
I will pay My vows before those who fear Him.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the LORD,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s,
And He rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth
Shall eat and worship;
All those who go down to the dust
Shall bow before Him,
Even he who cannot keep himself alive.
A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this.

Psalm 22.23-31

Psalm 22.29-31 (Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth)
All the prosp’rous of the earth shall before His mercy fall;
Bending low before His worth, hear them humbly on Him call.
Even those low in the grave He will by His mercy save.

Let the generations all witness to His saving grace;
Let them to all nations call, “Bow before His holy face!”
Let the children of the earth hear of Jesus’ saving worth!

T. M. Moore
We are happy to offer each week’s Scriptorium studies in a free weekly PDF, suitable for personal or group use. You can download all the studies in our series on the Gospel of John by clicking here. Need help learning to pray the psalms? Order the book, God’s Prayer Program, and discover why and how to realize the power of the psalms to transform your prayer life (click here).

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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