NIV Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition - Flipbook - Page 68
J ohn 1 8 : 4 0
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to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release
‘the king of the Jews’?”
40 They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken
part in an uprising. b
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. c 2The soldiers twisted together a
crown of t horns and put it on his head. They c lothed him in a purple robe 3and
went up to him a
gain and a
gain, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” d And they s lapped
him in the face. e
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing
him out f to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” g 5When
Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, h Pilate said to them,
“Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief p
riests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. i As for me, I find no basis for a
charge against him.” j
7 The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, k
because he claimed to be the Son of God.” l
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more a
fraid, 9and he went back inside the pal
m
ace. “Where do you come from?” he a
sked J esus, but J esus gave him no answer. n 10“Do
you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free
you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from
above. o Therefore the one who handed me over to you p is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate t ried to set J
esus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting,
“If you let this man go, you are no f riend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king q
opposes Caesar.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he b
rought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat r at a
place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic s is Gabbatha). 14It was the day
of Preparation t of the Passover; it was about noon. u
“Here is your king,” v Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
19
18:40 Barabbas was a rebel against Rome, and although he had com-
mitted murder, he was probably a hero among the Jews. The Jews hated
being governed by Rome and paying taxes to the despised government.
Barabbas, who had led a rebellion and failed, was released instead of
Jesus, the only one who could truly help Israel. (For more on Barabbas,
see the notes on Luke 23:18-19.)
19:1-42 To grasp the full picture of Jesus’ crucifixion, read John’s perspective along with the other three accounts in Matthew 27, Mark 15, and
Luke 23. Each writer adds meaningful details, but each has the same
message—Jesus died on the cross, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, so that we could be saved from our sins and be given eternal life.
19:1-3 Flogging could have killed Jesus. The usual procedure was to
bare the upper half of the victim’s body and tie their hands to a pillar
before whipping them with a three-pronged whip that had pieces of
lead in the prongs. The number of lashes was determined by the severity
of the crime; up to 40 were permitted under Jewish law (Deuteronomy
25:3). After being flogged, Jesus also endured other agonies recorded
here and in the other Gospels.
19:2-5 The soldiers went beyond their orders to whip Jesus—they also
mocked his claim to royalty by placing a crown on his head and a royal
robe on his shoulders.
19:7 The truth finally came o
ut—the religious leaders had brought Jesus
to Pilate not because he was causing rebellion against Rome but because
they thought he had broken their religious laws. Blasphemy, one of the
most serious crimes in Jewish law, deserved the death penalty. Accusing
Jesus of blasphemy would give credibility to their case in the eyes of Jews;
accusing Jesus of treason would give credibility to their case in the eyes
of the Romans. They didn’t care which accusation Pilate listened to, as
long as he would cooperate with them in killing Jesus.
19:10 Throughout the trial we see that Jesus was in control, not Pilate
or the religious leaders. Pilate vacillated, the Jewish leaders reacted out
18:40
bAc 3:14
19:1
cDt 25:3; Isa 50:6;
53:5; Mt 27:26
19:3
27:29
18:22
dMt
eJn
19:4
fJn 18:38
gver 6; Lk 23:4
19:5
hver
2
19:6
iAc 3:13
jver 4; Lk 23:4
19:7
kLev
24:16
26:63-66;
Jn 5:18; 10:33
lMt
19:9
18:33
14:61
mJn
nMk
19:11
oRo 13:1
pJn 18:28-30;
Ac 3:13
19:12
qLk 23:2
19:13
rMt 27:19
sJn 5:2
19:14
27:62
15:25
vver 19,21
tMt
uMk
of hatred and anger, but Jesus remained composed. He knew the truth,
he knew God’s plan, and he knew the reason for his trial. Despite the
pressure and persecution, Jesus remained unmoved. In reality, Pilate and
the religious leaders were on trial, not Jesus. When you are questioned
or ridiculed because of your faith, remember that while you may be on
trial before your accusers, they are on trial before God.
19:11 When Jesus said the man who delivered him to Pilate was guiltier
than Pilate, he was not excusing Pilate for his reaction to the political pressure placed on him. Pilate was responsible for his decision about Jesus.
But Caiaphas and the other religious leaders were guilty of a greater sin
because they had premeditated Jesus’ murder.
19:12-13 This veiled threat by the Jewish leaders pressured Pilate into
allowing Jesus to be crucified. As Roman governor of the area, Pilate
was expected to keep the peace. Because Rome could not afford to
keep large numbers of troops in the outlying regions, they maintained
control by crushing rebellions immediately with brute force. Pilate was
afraid that reports to Caesar of insurrection in his region would cost
him his job and perhaps even his life. When we face a tough decision,
we can take the easy way out or we can stand for what is right regardless of the cost. If we know the good we ought to do and don’t do it,
we sin (James 4:17).
19:13 The Stone Pavement was part of the Tower of Antonia bordering
the northwest corner of the temple complex.
19:15 The Jewish leaders were so desperate to get rid of Jesus that,
despite their intense hatred for Rome, they shouted, “We have no king but
Caesar.” How ironic that they feigned allegiance to Rome while rejecting
their own Messiah! Their own words condemned them, for God was to
be their only true King, and they had abandoned every trace of loyalty
to him. The priests had truly lost their reason for existence—instead of
turning people to God, they claimed allegiance to Rome in order to kill
their Messiah.