New Life Bible Fellowship Church
7/27/25

      • Psalm 103:11–14ESV

  • The Old Rugged Cross
  • Calvary Covers It All

      • Psalm 139ESV

  • Introduction:

    Last week, we looked at Part 2 of Jesus Betrayal and Arrest from John 18:28-40, where we saw Jesus before Pilate and how Jesus declared the scope of His kingdom, a kingdom that is not of or from this world, but a heavenly, Spiritual kingdom. All this in the context of a mock trial that sought only one outcome, His death.
    This morning we begin with first part of the sobering details of Jesus’ Crucifixion, in the context of where we left off last week, the crowds have cried for the release of Barabbas and the sentencing of Jesus. We will see the details of His suffering, the crowd's response, and the ultimate fulfillment of Scripture.

    Text: John 19:1-27

    John 19:1–27 ESV
    1 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. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 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 to his own home.

    Main Idea: Since the crucifixion of Christ reveals both the cost of our salvation and the depths of God's love, we His people are to live in light of this great sacrifice.

    I. Suffering Servant's Silence (1-11)

    Note, Jesus willingly faced humiliation and pain out of love for us. He remained silent and submitted to God's will, fulfilling prophecies like Isaiah 53. This shows us the immense cost of our salvation and and should inspire gratitude for Christ's sacrifice.
    The Soldiers Abuse (1-3)
    1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him.
    flogged him. The Roman scourge was cruel and sometimes fatal. The whip had metal or bone fragments in it to tear the flesh. Since Pilate continued to maintain Jesus’ innocence (vv. 4, 6, 12), he apparently hoped that the flogging, though it stopped short of death, would satisfy the Jewish leaders’ demand for Jesus’ punishment.
    2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe.
    The crown of thorns (this plant grow abundantly around Jerusalem and was flexible enough to form into a mock crown, with long piercing thorns) represents a mock crown ridiculing Jesus’ claim of being a king. The thorns would sink into the victim’s skull, causing blood to gush out and distorting a person’s face.
    The purple robe (cf. Matt. 27:28; Mark 15:17) similarly represents a mock royal robe. Purple is the imperial color (1 Macc. 8:14). The soldiers’ actions are in stark, ironic contrast to the fact that Jesus truly is the King.
    3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands.
    Hail, King of the Jews! mimics the “Ave Caesar!” (“Hail, Caesar!”) extended to the Roman emperor.
    Pilot’s Presentation (4-5)
    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.”
    When Pilate appears before the public once more, he states the reason why he is bringing Jesus before them, namely, 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!”
    Probably conveys the sense, “Look at the poor fellow!” (In other words, “What possible threat could this man pose to the government or to anyone else?”, but also, in a theological sense…
    Behold the man. Providentially a significant statement. Jesus is the last Adam, who sums up all that humanity should be. Likewise, Pilate’s later announcement, “Behold your King!” (19:14), intended to mock the Jews’ political impotence by portraying the bloodied prisoner as their ruler, is more profoundly true than he realizes.
    People’s Response (6-8)
    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.”
    the chief priests ... cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!. In their hatred of Jesus, the chief priests become the leaders of a mob.
    Take him yourselves and crucify him. They have already admitted that Roman law forbids the Jews, as a subject nation, to carry out capital punishment (18:31), so Pilate’s retort is both an evasion and a taunt.
    I find no guilt in him. For the third time Pilate proclaims Jesus’ innocence (18:38; 19:4; cf. Luke 23:4, 14, 22).
    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.”
    he ought to die. The appeal is to the charge of blasphemy, a capital offense under Jewish law (Lev. 24:16).
    [he has made] (poieo [aor, act, ind] - to make, to result in) himself the Son of God - Jesus in every way not only declared himself to be the Son of God, but showed it to be true in undeniable ways and actions…this is why Pilot is so afraid as we see next…
    8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.
    Pilate was even more afraid. Pilate was more afraid than ever. This new fear was caused not so much by the determination of the Jews to have things their own way, but by the item of information which he had received just now. What! This mysterious prisoner a son of the gods (creating great fear because of their superstitions and pantheon of gods)? Was that, perhaps, the reason why Pilate’s wife had endured such agonies when she dreamed about him? See Matt. 27:19.
    Matthew 27:19 ESV
    19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”
    Jesus Declaration (9-11)
    9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
    But Jesus gave him no answer. Jesus’ submission to arrest and trial is part of His surrender as a self-offering, foreseen in the Messiah’s silence like a lamb led to slaughter (Is. 53:7).
    Isaiah 53:7 ESV
    7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
    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?”
    What Pilate does now is altogether natural in cases of this kind. It must be borne in mind that he is trembling all over. Hence, in order to conceal his fear he begins to boast! Indignantly he fumes,…
    To me (in the Greek the position of this pronoun is at the very beginning of the question) You will not speak?” How dare you? Don’t you realize who I am?
    And don’t you understand that I have authority to release you and I have the authority to crucify you? Pilate speaks of releasing before he mentions crucifying, probably because releasing Jesus was uppermost in his mind, that is, if it could be done without injury to himself of course! Jesus’ answer is nothing more than supernatural…
    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.”
    You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Jesus calls on Pilate to recognize that his authority to govern and administer punishment is delegated to him not by the emperor but by God (Rom. 13:1–5). Jesus also acknowledges that the sovereign plan of God includes even the wickedness of His accusers and the cowardice of Pilate, who is less guilty than they but still culpable. See also the words of Peter (Acts 2:23).
    Acts 2:23 ESV
    23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
    So not only do we see the Suffering Servant’s Silence, but a play for power between heaven and earth, in…

    II. Power's Perilous Play (12-16)

    Note, Pilate's struggle with the Jewish leaders reveals the tension between earthly power and divine purpose. Although Pilate had the authority, God's sovereign plan was unfolding. Thus emphasizing the futility of human power in the face of God's will.
    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.”
    Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. “Caesar’s friend” is a recognized title for political supporters of the emperor. The Jews threaten Pilate with the suggestion that he will be considered a traitor to Rome if he releases someone who talks about being a king.
    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.
    The Greek for judgment seat here (bēma) implies a raised area used for official judgments (cf. Matt. 27:19); also, the name Gabbatha plausibly indicates a “raised place.” The seat in which sentencing was given.
    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!”
    Preparation of the Passover. The reference here is probably to Friday as the preparation day following the Passover dinner and before the weekly Sabbath.
    the sixth hour - 12:00 noon.
    Behold your King. Pilate throws back at Jesus’ unappeasable opponents the charge that they have leveled against Him, presenting Him as the “King of the Jews.” Pilate may intend this as an ironic insult to a troublesome but subject people, but his identification of Jesus is accurate in a deeper sense than either the governor or the Jewish leadership realize (18:33–37). Later on, Pilate has this title affixed to the cross (v. 19).
    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.”
    no king but Caesar. In their zeal to be rid of Jesus, the Anointed One of God, they deny that the Lord is their King (Pss. 24:7–10; 47:2–9).
    By professing to acknowledge Caesar alone as their king, the Jewish leaders betray their national heritage (in which God himself is their ultimate King; cf. Judg. 8:23; 1 Sam. 8:7) and deny their own messianic expectations based on the promises of Scripture. See also note on John 19:12.
    16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,
    Upon pronouncement of the sentence, the person was first scourged and then executed.
    So as Jesus, the Suffering Servant was Silent, even in the midst of Power's Perilous Play between heaven and earth, ultimately, Jesus submitted to the…

    III. Journey of Obedience (17-22)

    Note, bearing the cross to Golgotha, showcases Jesus' obedience and humility
    17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
    Jesus set out carrying his own cross until he collapsed on the way, whereupon Simon of Cyrene was pressed into service (cf. Matt. 27:32 par.).
    He went out is in keeping with the Jewish requirement that executions take place outside the camp or city (Lev. 24:14, 23; Num. 15:35–36; Deut. 17:5; 21:19–21; 22:24; cf. Heb. 13:12).
    Place of a Skull translates the Aramaic Gulgulta; the Latin equivalent used in the Vulgate is “Calvary.” See also note on Matt. 27:33.
    18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
    two others. Two criminals are crucified at the same time as Jesus, in fulfillment of prophecy. This gives Christ the opportunity to show His saving power by reaching out and rescuing a man at the very edge of eternity (Luke 23:40–43).
    Jesus’ crucifixion between two criminals is reminiscent of Ps. 22:16 (“a company of evildoers encircles me”) and Isa. 53:12 (“numbered with the transgressors”).
    Psalm 22:16 ESV
    16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
    Isaiah 53:12 ESV
    12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
    19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
    inscription. The four Gospels recount the inscription of Pilate with minute differences, perhaps because the inscription was in three languages. John’s form, with the name “Jesus of Nazareth,” has a Semitic flavor. It was customary to attach an inscription stating the reason for execution. At the same time, Pilate’s notice was a public announcement of the kingship of Christ.
    20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek.
    the place … was near the city. Aramaic was the language most widely understood by the Jewish population of Palestine; Latin was the official language of the Roman occupying force; and Greek was the “international language” of the empire, understood by both Jews and Gentiles. The trilingual nature of the inscription thus ensured the widest possible awareness of the official reason why Jesus was being crucified.
    21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
    the chief priests ... said. They view the inscription as an offense to their nation, and Pilate may mean it that way—but he refuses to change it.
    Through it all, Jesus, close to the end of His earthly purpose, never lost track of His mission, we even see it shown finally, in His…

    IV. Compassion Amidst Crucifixion (23-27)

    Note, the fulfillment of Scripture is seen plainly through the soldiers' actions and Jesus' care for His mother. These details highlight the precision of God's plan and Jesus' unwavering compassion even in His suffering.
    23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom,
    When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts - it was common for those involved with the crucifixions to take the victims garments and any belongs and divide it among themselves as plunder.
    tunic. Such tunics were not uncommon in the ancient world. The point is not the tunic’s value, but the depth of Jesus’ humiliation, from whom everything was taken as He offered Himself. It is also the fulfillment of Ps. 22:18.
    24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,
    John quotes Psalm 22 (the psalm most frequently quoted in the NT), in which the psalmist David provides numerous prophetic details of the execution scene that are fulfilled in Jesus’ crucifixion nearly 1,000 years later.
    This is the first of several references to Jesus as the righteous sufferer in keeping with the experience of the psalmist (cf. John 19:28, 36, 37). By dividing Jesus’ garments among them and by casting lots for his tunic, the Roman soldiers unwittingly fulfilled Scripture, continuing John’s theme of Jesus’ enemies unknowingly participating in God’s plan of redemption. The soldiers’ reasoning was that they did not want to tear Jesus’ tunic, which was formed out of one piece of cloth (vv. 23–24).
    John’s account of Jesus’ crucifixion reflects several details of Ps. 22:15–18, which mentions the sufferer’s thirst (v. 15), his “pierced … hands and feet” (v. 16), and his bones (v. 17). (Cf. Matt. 27:35–43.) This cluster of references strikes a strong note of prophetic fulfillment.
    But not all of Jesus’ followers had abandoned him, for we see…
    25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. by
    standing by the cross. “Clopas” may be the same as “Cleopas,” mentioned in Luke 24:18. The courage of the four women is noteworthy, especially in view of the absence of all the apostles except “the disciple whom he loved,” the gospel’s author (21:20, 24). Some of these women are present again at Jesus’ burial (Matt. 27:61; Mark 15:47) and are among the first witnesses to His resurrection (20:1–18; Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:1).
    26 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 to his own home.
    Woman, behold your son. “Woman” is not a harsh form of address in Aramaic (2:4 note). Even in the midst of dying on the cross as the Mediator of the new covenant, Jesus fulfills His duty as the son of Mary in a splendid example of obedience to the letter and spirit of the fifth commandment,
    Behold, your mother! - Jesus is taking the initiative as Mary’s firstborn by entrusting to the beloved disciple (John) the ongoing care of His widowed mother. In a time of intense physical pain and mental anguish, the Lord is thinking of others, as is shown in the first statements from the cross (Luke 23:34, 43).

    So What?

    Do we truly understand the infinitely immense debt of our sin, which required an infinitely immense payment by our Savior, all because of the infinitely immense love of God for His people?
    I fear we have lost the awesome reality that sin is a big deal!
    This is why as believers we continually seek to mortify the deeds of the flesh, for if we don’t we cheapen Christ’s sacrifice.
    We must realize that each sin we allow is what brought the whip to Christ’s back, the deep thorns in His forehead, the mockery that was slung at Him, powering the hammer that came down on the nails in His hands and feet, and was the thrust behind the spear in His side.
    Do we understand that the authority to put Jesus on the cross ultimately came from God, and was delegated to sinful, evil men?
    Isaiah 53:4 ESV
    4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
    Isaiah 53:10 ESV
    10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
    Do we realize that nothing in all this physical world or the unseen world of Satan’s kingdom can ever thwart God’s eternal plan?

      • John 19:1–27ESV

      • John 19:1–8ESV

      • Matthew 27:19ESV

      • John 19:9ESV

      • Isaiah 53:7ESV

      • John 19:10–11ESV

      • Acts 2:23ESV

      • John 19:12–16ESV

      • John 19:17–18ESV

      • Psalm 22:16ESV

      • Isaiah 53:12ESV

      • John 19:19–21ESV

      • John 19:23–27ESV

      • Isaiah 53:4ESV

      • Isaiah 53:10ESV

  • Lamb Of Glory
New Life Bible Fellowship Church
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https://newlifebfcde.org
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