Author: drthomasclothier

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” Matthew 27:31 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20 (ESV)

¹⁶ “So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus.” (John 19:16 (ESV). 

The following article is by Dr. James Montgomery Boice. It is entitled The Centrality of the Cross. It is excerpt from Dr. Boice’s Foundations of the Christian Faith

“…if the death of Christ on the cross is the true meaning of the Incarnation, then there is no gospel without the cross. Christmas by itself is no gospel. The life of Christ is no gospel. Even the resurrection, important as it is in the total scheme of things, is no gospel by itself. For the good news is not just that God became man, nor that God has spoken to reveal a proper way of life for us, or even that death, the great enemy, is conquered.”

“Rather, the good news is that sin has been dealt with (of which the resurrection is a proof); that Jesus has suffered its penalty for us as our representative, so that we might never have to suffer it; and that therefore all who believe in him can look forward to heaven. …Emulation of Christ’s life and teaching is possible only to those who enter into a new relationship with God through faith in Jesus as their substitute. The resurrection is not merely a victory over death (though it is that) but a proof that the atonement was a satisfactory atonement in the sight of the Father (Rom 4:25); and that death, the result of sin, is abolished on that basis.”

“Any gospel that talks merely of the Christ-event, meaning the Incarnation without the atonement, is a false gospel. Any gospel that talks about the love of God without pointing out that his love led him to pay the ultimate price for sin in the person of his Son on the cross is a false gospel. The only true gospel is of the ‘one mediator’ (1 Tim. 2:5-6), who gave himself for us.

 Finally, just as there can be no gospel without the atonement as the reason for the Incarnation, so also there can be no Christian life without it. Without the atonement the Incarnation theme easily becomes a kind of deification of the human and leads to arrogance and self-advancement. With the atonement the true message of the life of Christ, and therefore also of the life of the Christian man or woman, is humility and self-sacrifice for the obvious needs of others.”

“ The Christian life is not indifference to those who are hungry or sick or suffering from some other lack. It is not contentment with our own abundance, neither the abundance of middle class living with home and cars and clothes and vacations, nor the abundance of education or even the spiritual abundance of good churches, Bibles, Bible teaching or Christian friends and acquaintances. Rather, it is the awareness that others lack these things and that we must therefore sacrifice many of our own interests in order to identify with them and thus bring them increasingly into the abundance we enjoy… We will live for Christ fully only when we are willing to be impoverished, if necessary, in order that others might be helped.”

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.” Matthew 27:31 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him.” (Mark 15:20 (ESV)

¹⁶ “So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus.” (John 19:16 (ESV).  

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

Today’s focus is on the method of execution called crucifixion. Two concepts related to crucifixion occur in Scripture: the “cross,” a pagan mode of capital punishment, and the “tree,” which was a Jewish form (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13).

“The Greek used in the Christian New Testament uses four verbs, three of them based upon stauros (σταυρός), usually translated “cross”. The most common term is stauroo (σταυρόω), “to crucify”, occurring 46 times; sustauroo (συσταυρόω), “to crucify with” or “alongside” occurs five times, while anastauroo (ἀνασταυρόω), “to crucify again” occurs only once at the Epistle to the Hebrews 6:6. Prospegnumi (προσπήγνυμι), “to fix or fasten to, impale, crucify” occurs only once, at the Acts of the Apostles 2:23,” writes one historical scholar.

The English term cross is from the Latin word crux, referring to a tree or any construction of wood used to hang criminals for execution. The term later came to refer specifically to a cross. The term crucifix is from the Latin crucifixus or cruci fixus, meaning “to crucify” or “to fasten to a cross.”

“The oldest depiction of a crucifixion … was uncovered by archaeologists more than a century ago on the Palatine Hill in Rome. It is a second-century graffiti scratched into a wall that was part of the imperial palace complex. It includes a caption – not by a Christian, but by someone taunting and deriding Christians and the crucifixions they underwent. It shows crude stick-figures of a boy reverencing his ‘God’, who has the head of a jackass and is upon a cross with arms spread wide and with hands nailed to the crossbeam. Here we have a Roman sketch of a Roman crucifixion, and it is in the traditional cross shape,” explains Clayton F. Bower Jr. “Cross or Torture Stake?” 

“The cross work of Christ is central to the Christian faith and its proclamation, because of who it was who died on the cross and what it was he did there. With the apostles the church affirms that it was the eternal Son of God, the Word who became flesh, the Lord of glory, who died on Calvary (Rom. 9:5; Titus 2:13; Heb. 1:8; 2 Pet. 1:1; John 1:1, 14; 20:28; 1 Cor. 2:8). Accordingly, in its best moments, the church has “gloried in nothing but the cross” (Gal. 6:14) and has “resolved to know nothing among [the nations] except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2),” explains Robert R. Raymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith

“It has done so even though it knows that the preaching of the cross is “a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles” (1 Cor. 1:23). It has done so, not only because it knows that “God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [the message of the cross] to save those who believe” (1 Cor. 1:18, 21), but also because it recognizes that the cross of Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24). For Paul to characterize the cross of Christ the way he did in 1 Corinthians 1:24—”the power of God and the wisdom of God”—implies that God accomplished a truly great salvation through the cross work of the Lord of Glory. One can sketch the momentous outlines of that “so great salvation” simply by surveying what the New Testament epistles affirm about the “body,” “blood,” “cross,” and “death” of Christ, words which taken in their contexts represent that great work in terms of a sacrifice (see also 1 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 7:27; 9:26, 28; 10:10, 12, 14).”

¹⁸ “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” ²⁰ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:18–21 (ESV)

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. ³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.” Matthew 27:31–34 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. ²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

The wine which the soldiers offered to Jesus and which he refused is described by Matthew as “mixed with gall,” or with something bitter. This event would be a fulfillment of Psalm 69:21: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”  

“The women of Jerusalem had prepared a painkilling potion of drugged wine for condemned men to drink; Jesus refuses it (cf. 26:29). The myrrh-mixed wine of Mark 15:23, a delicacy and external pain reliever, becomes wine mixed with gall in Matthew; compare Ps 69:21 and the similarity between the Aramaic word for “myrrh” and the Hebrew word for “gall,” explains commentator Craig Keener.

“The evangelist was probably thinking of Ps. 69:21a, and if so, correctly regarded what was now happening as a fulfilment of that Old Testament passage. According to Mark 15:23 the bitter substance was myrrh,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“Having tasted this mixture, Jesus refused to drink it, no doubt because he wanted to endure with full consciousness all the pain that was in store for him, in order to be our perfect Substitute.”

It is easy to focus on the physical pain Jesus suffered on the cross. What is of greater importance is the significance of His death. It was a substitutionary death providing a substitutionary atonement on behalf of sinners.

²¹ “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— ²² the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. ²⁶ It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:21–26 (ESV)

“The death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth are the central events of Christian theology. The cross has meaning because of the significance of the person who was put to death on it and because of what his death accomplished. “The word of the cross” was central in the salvation proclamation of the early church. Above all, the event of the cross was God’s principal saving act in history; hence the cross, though a past event, has present significance. Christ crucified and risen is the core of the church’s message (Gal 3:1),” states the Tyndale Bible Dictionary.

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. ³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.” Matthew 27:31–34 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. ²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” ³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” (Luke 23:26–33 (ESV)

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.” (John 19:16–17 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

Three more crosses; three more men. Luke alone mentioned two criminals who also faced crucifixion (Luke 23:32). He did not mention their names, but only their being led away to their death along with Jesus.

Three more crosses; three more men. Just another day for the Roman executioners at a location called Golgotha. In Aramaic, this meant The Place of a Skull (John 19:17).  

The word Golgotha appears only in the New Testament accounts of the Crucifixion. Three of the Gospels use the Hebrew-Aramaic term, “Golgotha” (Matt. 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17). Only Luke used the Latin equivalent, “Calvary,” meaning “skull or cranium” (Luke 23:33).

Why was the name Place of a Skull or The Skull used when referring to Jesus’ place of execution? Scholars offer varying opinions and reasons.

“The reason why this place was called “the skull” is unknown, although several explanations have been offered. An early tradition, apparently originating with Jerome (ad 346–420), asserted that it was a common place of execution and that the skulls of many who had been executed were strewn around the site. No first-century evidence has been found to substantiate this viewpoint,” explains the Tyndale Bible Dictionary.

“Some suggest that it was a place of execution and that “skull” was used figuratively, simply as a symbol of death. Origen (ad 185–253) mentioned an early, pre-Christian tradition that the skull of Adam was buried in that place. This is probably the oldest explanation of the name, and is referred to by several writers after Origen.”

“Others have said that the name resulted from the fact that the place of the Crucifixion was a hill that had the natural shape of a skull. No early evidence from any sources has been found to substantiate this view, and the NT accounts do not refer to the place as a hill.”

Three more crosses; three more men. What is known is Golgotha/Calvary was outside the Jerusalem city proper (John 19:20; Heb. 13:12). It could have been on an elevated site, since people saw it from a distance (Mark 15:40). It was probably near a road since Matthew and Mark mention   “passersby” (Matt.t 27:39; Mark 15:29). The Gospel of John alone places it near a garden containing the tomb where they buried Jesus (John 19:41). The use of the definite article, “the place of the skull,” indicates it was a familiar place.

Three more crosses; three more men. Luke alone mentioned Jesus was hung on the center cross of three (Luke 23:33). For the Jews, to be hung on a tree, in this case a cross, was a sign of God’s curse upon the executed (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13). Jesus Christ became a curse on behalf of sinners like you and me.

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. ³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.” Matthew 27:31–34 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. ²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” ³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” (Luke 23:26–33 (ESV)

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.” (John 19:16–17 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

While all four Gospels, as previously noted, recorded Jesus’ journey to Golgotha only Luke included the number of people following Him to His execution. Luke indicated there was a great multitude of people in this procession. These individuals included women who were mourning and lamenting Jesus and His impending death on the cross. It is at this moment Jesus turned and spoke to these women.

“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

While Jesus noted their sorrow for Him, He warned them that unless they repented of their sin, they would face judgment. It would initially be Rome’s destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Ultimately, it would be the Lord’s judgment of their sin resulting in eternal punishment in Hell.

“As to Jesus, though right now he is agonizing and though during the next several hours he will be suffering the torments of hell, his future is secure. But unless these women repent, theirs is not. Neither is that of their children. By and large Jerusalem’s population consisted of unregenerate people (Luke 13:34, 35; cf. Matt. 23:37, 38). Moreover, God does not permit impenitence to go unpunished, and this both now and in the hereafter,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“Such terrible woes would befall the city that women would be considered blessed if they were childless. The enemy would destroy Jerusalem’s inhabitants without showing any regard for sex or age. So appalling would be the divine judgment against Samaria that in deathly agony people would yearn—but in vain—to be covered by toppling mountains and overturning hills.”

Regarding the object lesson of green vs. dry wood, Dr. Henrdriksen concludes, “He is drawing a contrast between “green” (that is, moist) wood and “dry” wood. Dry wood burns and is consumed readily; when the wood is still green and wet this is not the case. Therefore if even green wood is made to burn, then surely dry wood will burn and be consumed. The green wood represents Jesus; the dry wood, his impenitent opponents; one might say the Jews in their impenitent state. If God has not spared Jesus, then the divine judgment will fall in full and undiminished severity on the Jewish people if they persist in unbelief and disobedience.”

Do you belong to the people group Jesus identified as dry wood? Repent of you sin and trust Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

³¹ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him. ³² As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to carry his cross. ³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ³⁴ they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it.” Matthew 27:31–34 (ESV)

²⁰ “And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they led him out to crucify him. ²¹ And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. ²² And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). ²³ And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” (Mark 15:20–23 (ESV)

²⁶ And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?” ³² Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ³³ And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” (Luke 23:26–33 (ESV)

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.” (John 19:16–17 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

All four Gospels describe the prophetic fulfillment by the Prophet Isaiah several centuries earlier. “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.” (Isaiah 53:7 (ESV)

Condemned criminals about to face crucifixion were compelled to carry their own cross to the place of execution. They would walk with the horizontal cross beam attached to their shoulders. As they did so, the curious onlookers would gaze at the public spectacle. Such a procession would inflict fear into the hearts of even the most casual observer providing a stark and stern deterrent to anyone considering ever violating Roman law.

“When Pilate turned the responsibility over to the Jews (Matt. 27:24), however, they readily accepted it. They said, Let His blood be on us and on our children! Their words sadly came to pass as the judgment of God came on many of them and their children in a.d. 70 when the Romans destroyed the nation and the temple. In spite of Pilate’s four declarations of Jesus’ innocence (Luke 23:14, 20, 22; John 19:4), he fulfilled his commitment to the Jews by releasing Barabbas and turning Jesus over for crucifixion after He had been flogged,” explains commentator Louis A. Barbieri Jr.in the Bible Knowledge Commentary.

Due to exhaustion and apparent loss of blood from the scouring, Jesus is physically unable to carry the crossbeam any longer. Therefore, the soldiers compelled an apparent onlooker, Simon of Cyrene, to carry Jesus’ crossbeam.

“Having finished their scourging and mockery of Jesus in the governor’s headquarters (Matt. 27:26–31), the Roman soldiers take our Lord and begin His march toward the cross. Evidently, the physical beating Christ has suffered at the hands of the centurions has taken its toll, for He is not able to carry His cross on His own,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“Thus, the soldiers compel a man named Simon to bear the weight of the wooden crosspiece the condemned man would have to carry (Matt. 27:32), that is, the part to which Jesus’ arms will be nailed. The vertical beam of the cross is already put in the ground before the condemned arrives. Simon is from Cyrene, a Greek settlement in North Africa, and later church traditions depict him as a model of piety for carrying our Lord’s cross. Yet he has no choice but to obey the orders of the centurions, and to make his bearing of Christ’s cross a sign of Simon’s devotion goes a bit too far. Still, it could be that Simon later came to faith, for how could he carry the cross of Christ and then not be open to the gospel message? Mark 15:21 tells us Simon has two sons, Alexander and Rufus, and the latter man may be mentioned in Romans 16:13.”

“Simon was compelled to carry Christ’s cross, but we who live subsequent to His death and resurrection are called to take up His cross willingly (Luke 9:23). As followers of Jesus, we are to bear the scorn that comes our way for living after His pattern and not the pattern of the world. Let us remember that Christ endured far worse as we suffer for the gospel, and let us look to Him to make us able to stand in the day of trial,” concludes Dr. Sproul.

Soli deo Gloria!

“Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.” (Matthew 27:26 (ESV)

“So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.” (Mark 15:15 (ESV)

“He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.” (Luke 23:25 (ESV)

“So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,” (John 19:16 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

The following essay is by Dr. R. C. Sproul. It is entitled Sentenced to Death.

“Ultimately, Pontius Pilate does not believe that Jesus wants to supplant the Caesar and destroy the Roman Empire as an Israelite king. Several factors explain why he finds no fault in Jesus (Matt. 27:11–23).”

“First, whether through outside sources or his own intuition, Pilate sees that Caiaphas and the other leaders seek Jesus’ death out of envy, not the truth (v. 18). Secondly, his wife has had a nightmare about the events transpiring (v. 19) and sees involvement in the death of Jesus as disastrous for Pilate. Finally, the response of Jesus Himself to His accusers strongly refutes their accusations. John’s gospel tells us that at one point in the trial our Savior assures Pilate that His kingdom is “not of this world” (18:36) and therefore not interested in the violent overthrow of the Caesar. Coupled with this is Jesus’ appearance before Pilate bound and beaten, which likely convinces him that the Nazarene is no real threat to the Empire.”

“Jesus’ innocence, however, makes Pilate no less willing to give in to his fear of a riot and have Jesus crucified to prevent an uprising (Matt. 27:26). Ultimately, this compounds his guilt — to commit the great sin of executing the Lord of glory Pilate must unashamedly cast justice aside. Moreover, the gathered mob is not excused for demanding Christ’s death simply because they are following their leaders (v. 20). But if in this mob there are those who once hailed Jesus as David’s heir (21:1–11), why do they follow along? It is because they want a violent conqueror and their expectations cannot accept that this bound man is God’s Messiah. Barabbas is willing to overthrow Rome by any means necessary (Mark 15:7); thus, the people prefer him over the humble Jesus (Matt. 27:21).”

“Pilate futilely tries to shift blame to the crowd, and, tragically, the crowd’s acceptance of responsibility for Jesus’ death has been used over the centuries to justify anti-Semitism (v. 25). Many professing Christians have literally brought blood upon Jewish people, a gross misuse of the text given that Jesus and His disciples are Jewish and that the crowd is speaking for itself, not an entire ethnic group. In reality, all people are guilty of having Christ killed, for our sin made His death necessary in the first place (Rom. 3:21–26).”

“A select group of corrupt religious leaders and unjust Roman officials are those who enacted the legal procedures that resulted in Jesus’ death. Yet in a sense, we all killed Jesus, because had we not sinned, there would have been no need of His death. It is sobering to realize that we put Jesus on that cross; still, He went there willingly so that we could be forgiven of our sin. How amazing is God’s marvelous grace!”

Soli deo Gloria!

²⁴”So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” ²⁵ And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!” ²⁶ Then he released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, delivered him to be crucified.” (Matthew 27:24–26 ESV)

“So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.” (Mark 15:15 (ESV)

²⁴ “So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus over to their will.” (Luke 23:24–25 (ESV)

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,” (John 19:12–16 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days.

Pontius Pilate was frustrated and faced a personal dilemma. He knew Jesus Christ was innocent. He also knew the Sanhedrin’s charges against Jesus were fabricated at best, and lies at worst. He tried bargaining for Jesus’ life but offering the crowd a choice between the Lord and Barabbas, to no avail. He even had Jesus severely scourged to satisfy the blood lust of the Jews (John 19:1-13). Pilate had declared to all who would listen, “I find no guilt in Him” (John 18:38). Then he said, “Behold your king!” (John 19:14).

“This exclamation must have been uttered with stinging ridicule. It was born of sullen resentment. Such is your king, O Jews, shackled, weak, defenseless, bloody, and sentenced to a horrible death, at your own request! Pilate “rubs it in.” How he hates these people,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“The priests and the priest-ridden mob felt the sting of Pilate’s plaguing question. So in answer to his spitefully nettling remark they scream back: “Away with him, away with him, crucify him.” The governor jabs them once more with, “Your king shall I crucify?” (Note the order of the words, which is true to the original.) With unabashed, but all too transparent, hypocrisy the chief priests answer, we have no king but the emperor.”

When Pilate realized he was not accomplishing anything, he relented to the crowd’s demands. He also saw a riot was beginning, and he could not politically afford that to occur on his watch. Therefore, he symbolically washed his hands of the whole affair and said to the people, “I am innocent of this man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” (Matthew 27:24 ESV)

⁴ “Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:4–6 (ESV)

Soli deo Gloria!  

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.” (John 19:6–11 (ESV)

In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it has been necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours and days. Today we continue our study by exclusively examining John’s Gospel account.

Pontius Pilate was a man caught between a rock and a hard place. He faced two equally dangerous or difficult choices or circumstances. On the one hand, he found no guilt in Jesus to warrant Pilate to execute Him (John 18:38). On the other hand, he faced the increasingly hostile Jewish leaders and the riotous crowd.

Pilate sought to satisfy the blood lust of the Jewish religious leaders and the crowd. Therefore, he had Jesus flogged. To be flogged (μαστιγόω; mastigoo) means to be scourged and beaten with a whip. If he could present Jesus as a hapless figure, perhaps the Jews would relent and no longer seek His death.

However, Pilate’s efforts to satisfy the Jewish people were of no avail. He had the Lord flogged and humiliated but the people continually cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate then said, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” This is the second time John recorded Pilate making this statement of Jesus’ guiltlessness (John 18:38).

The Jews remained undeterred. They retorted, ““We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” This was a veiled reference to Leviticus 24:16 which says, “Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.”  

The irony here is striking. The Jews sought to convict and execute Jesus for the very behavior they displayed toward Jesus. The English proverb “there are none so blind as those who will not see” certainly applies. Understanding cannot be forced on someone who chooses to be ignorant.

However, Pilate’s limited understand began to stir within him. The biblical text states he became even more afraid. He fearfully asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” Pilate was experiencing what psychologists call xenophobia, which is the fear of the unknown. Jesus was someone the governor had never before encountered.

“Many Roman officials were deeply superstitious. While Jews interpreted Jesus’ claims as messianic, to the Greco-Roman person, the title “Son of God” would place Jesus in the category of “divine men” who were gifted with supernatural powers. Pilate was afraid because he had just whipped and tortured someone who, in his mind, could bring down a curse or vengeance upon him,” explains Dr. John MacArthur.

When Jesus did not reply to Pilate’s question, he said, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Pilate spoke like a man used to being in control. The irony here is that he did not understand who as truly in control.

Jesus aptly replied, “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’ statement here indicates that even the most heinous acts of wickedness cannot circumvent the sovereignty of God. Pilate had no real control (vv. 10–11), yet still stood as a responsible moral agent for his actions. When confronted with opposition and evil, Jesus often found solace in the sovereignty of his Father (e.g., John 6:43–44, 65; 10:18, 28–29).”

Regarding the statement, “he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin,” Dr. MacArthur comments, “This could refer either to Judas or Caiaphas. Since Caiaphas took such an active part in the plot against Jesus (11:49–53) and presided over the Sanhedrin, the reference may center on him (18:30, 35). The critical point is not the identity of the person but guilt because of the deliberate, high-handed, and coldly calculated act of handing Jesus over to Pilate, after having seen and heard the overwhelming evidence that he was Messiah and Son of God.”

Soli deo Gloria!