John 19:31

John 19:31 states, The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabboth day ( for the Sabboth day was a high day), besought Pilate, that their legs might be broken, and they could be taken away.  The Jewish leaders were not concerned about Jesus's suffering on the cross.  They were even willing for Him to endure more suffering, having His legs broken, as long as it did not interfere with their worship service.  The Sabbath was a high day.  It was important to them, and they didn't want the Lord of the Sabbath to interrupt their rituals.  We can wonder how they could have been so blind, but do we ever want Jesus to hurry and get out of the way so we can get on with our rituals?  There is a difference between real worship and going through rituals, and the Jews that day were not concerned with real worship of God.  Had they been, they would have bowed at the foot of the cross.  We today, when we are truly worshipping God, must bow at the foot of the cross.  Some today see rituals, like taking the bread and the wine, as a saving action.  Some see the cross of Christ as an inconvenience to worship.  They do not want to believe that the shedding of the blood of Christ was necessary.  I believe that another reason the Jews wanted Christ dead and buried was so they could truly feel victorious. As long as Jesus was alive, even on the cross, if He was Who He said He was, He might still claim victory.  We may attempt to leave Jesus on the cross today, but as the Jews, especially their leaders should have known, He was never going to stay there. When we come to the foot of the cross today, it is an empty cross pointing us to a victorious Savior.  Though the suffering of Jesus was real, it is His victory we celebrate.  May we never allow the concern for rituals make us attempt to get Jesus out of the way.

John 19:30

John 19:30 says, When Jesus had therefore received the vinegar, He said "It is finished:" and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. It is finished did not mean Jesus' life and redemptive work.  His task, the earthly part of His ministry was finished, and by His death, so was redemption completed.  The suffering and humiliation were finished.  Jesus took all the pain and suffering, but now that was over and victory was claimed.  Jesus came to redeem mankind, and the redemption plan was finished.  Jesus would never again have to suffer like this for us.  He took all of humanities sin for all time with Him to the cross.  Our sins were paid for that day.  We, as His followers, have claimed the gift Jesus gave us that day, but too many in the world allow it to go unclaimed.  It is so sad that they are redeemed but choose to remain lost.  God's chosen people, the Jews, even today see Jesus as having been defeated on the cross.  It says Jesus bowed His head and gave up the ghost.  He was not struggling for breath, and His life was not taken from Him.  Jesus submitted to the will of the Father and voluntarily gave His life.  Those looking on might have thought they were victorious, but they only played a part in redemption.  Often today, those of the world may think they can defeat God's redemptive plan that came through Christ, but they are as wrong as the witnesses to the crucifixion of Jesus were that day. Like Jesus, we may one day give up the ghost, that is, die a physical death, but our spirit lives on.  This life with its pain and suffering will be over, but that is all that is finished.  Jesus was going to the Father, and if we are truly His followers, so will we.  We are called on to have that same faith.  Even in a situation that seems to bring nothing but humiliation and defeat, we must stand firm in faith so that we too can say that it is finished.  We need to be able to say as Paul did that we fought a good fight and kept the faith.  Jesus remained true to His task until He could truly say, "It is finished."

John 19:28

John 19:28 says, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, "I thirst." We do not read of Jesus saying anything while He was being scourged, but now He said He was thirsty.  That would be normal after all He had been through, but it was also a fulfillment of Scripture.  Again, though we can be certain that Jesus knew the scriptures better than anyone, I do not believe this was His checking off a list.  Looking back, John saw the scripture fulfilled by this request.  Psalms 69:21 says, They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.  Verse twenty-nine adds, Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth. Though Jesus may have known the scriptures, the Roman soldiers likely did not, yet by their actions, they filled the scripture.  They gave Jesus vinegar, not water to drink.  We can also know that the religious leaders would have also known the scriptures and would have done everything they could to keep them from being fulfilled by Jesus.  I believe we can also see another aspect to Jesus saying, "I thirst."  He was taking on the sins of the world and was being cut off from the very living water He came to bring.  Jesus thirsted spiritually.  I believe this was the greater thirst and implication of His statement. Yes, scripture was fulfilled when they gave Jesus vinegar to drink, but I believe He was speaking of a spiritual thirst.  The beating and carrying the cross brought no complaint because Jesus was not being separated from the Father, and now He was.  We tend to complain more about the physical things in life, but we need to be in more distress about the spiritual.  When we are in a bad situation, we need to thirst for the Living Water.  When we are fully in the hands of God, everything will be ok.  Again, we cannot force the fulfillment of the scripture, but we can thirst after the knowledge of God.

John 19:25

John 19:25 says, Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and her sister Mary, the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. These three women were there at the cross with Jesus.  They did not let the threat of being associated with Jesus turn them away.  We can only wonder what must have been going through their thoughts. Mary, the mother of Jesus, had been told she was to be the mother of the Savior, and now He was on the cross.  It would be a lot for any mother to witness, but it had to be especially hard on her.  She was not there as any sort of co-savior, but as a mother in anguish.  The other two Mary's must have been wondering how this could be happening, but they did not abandon Jesus.  We today may not always understand everything that happens in our following Jesus, but even when things look hopeless, we must not abandon Jesus.  We must realize that His grace will sustain us.  The world was not defeating Jesus that day, no matter how it looked.  Verse twenty-six adds, When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the discipline standing by, whom He loved, He saith unto His mother, "Woman, behold thy son."  Jesus called her woman instead of mother, not out of disrespect, but to keep people from trying to elevate her to an almost God like status, which some have done anyway.  He was also meeting her needs.  We are not told where her other children were, but the disciple Jesus loved was there.  Had we been alive during the crucifixion, where would we have been?  Would Jesus have had enough faith in our devotion to Him to trust us with the care of His mother?  There were no governmental programs to take care of widows.  So, Jesus was entrusting Mary to the care of the disciple He loved, which most see as being John.  I have to wonder how John felt about this, but verse twenty-seven continues, Then saith He to the disciple, "Behold thy mother!  And from that hour, that disciple took her unto his own home.  He had been following Jesus, Who was now on the cross and was entrusting John to make sure Mary was provided for.  His career for three years had been following Jesus, so what was he to do now?  We, like John, have to believe that if God calls us to do something, He will provide the way.  We might also wonder where Mary's other children were, but the fact of being born to one in a right relationship with God does not mean that we have the same right relationship.  Jesus knew John believed in Him, even if he questioned what was happening.  We can only hope God would have the same faith in us.  We are His, not by birth, but by acceptance of His call and through His sacrifice on the cross.  The only way to God is through the cross.

John 19:23

John 19:23 says, Now the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat: now His coat was coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.  Jesus did not leave many earthly possessions, only His garments.  Jesus was stripped bare on the cross.  Until sin came into the world, being naked was not considered wrong, and now Jesus was bearing even this first symbol of sin on the cross.  Jesus died for all sins, from the beginning to the end of time.  Verse twenty-four adds, They said therefore amongst themselves, "Let's not rend it, but let's cast lots for it, whose it shall be:" that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast lots.  These things therefore the soldiers did. The soldiers were not concerned at all about Jesus on the cross.  They were only concerned with how much they could profit from His execution.  They were totally focused on material things, not the Savior on the cross.  Had they realized Who He really was, I think they would have changed their focus.  Some people today attempt to use Jesus only for their own gain.  They may attend worship services and religious events, but their eye is always on the garments, or how they can profit from their attendance.  Though, like the soldiers, Jesus was on the cross for them, they never look up to the cross.  When we are gathered in His name, we need to make sure that our focus is on Him.  As we go through everyday life, we need to make sure that we look to Jesus for salvation, not for material blessings.  The soldiers got a material blessing, but they missed the spiritual restoration that Jesus came to bring.  Even though they did not know it, they were fulfilling scripture.  This is another reason we can know that everything that Jesus did was not to cause scripture to be fulfilled, but that scripture was fulfilled because of what He did.  These soldiers were unaware of the scripture, but the scripture was fulfilled because of them.  We do not need to try to conform scripture to the world, because the world will be conformed to scripture.  All we have to do is keep our focus on Jesus, not the material things of this world.

John 19:19

John 19:19 says, And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross.  And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS. Pilate was still trying to placate the Jews and humiliate Jesus, but he published the truth.  Pilate may have also wanted to make himself look better to Caesar, but the inscription as written had no charge worthy of death.  All Pilate did was publish the truth for all to see. When the world attempts to discredit Jesus today, it can never be done with the truth.  Any attempt to discredit Jesus must be made on lies.  Pilate, with his title written above Jesus on the cross was a witness to the world of Who Jesus really is.  Nothing that was written there brought any disgrace to Jesus.  Verse twenty adds, The title then read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh unto the city, and it was written in Hebrew,and Greek, and Latin. Jesus was not crucified in some remote location where few people would ever see Him.  Part of the purpose of a crucifixion was to put a certain fear into others, so the officials wanted it to be witnessed by many people.  Since Pilate had the title written in three of the everyday languages of that day, he became a witness to Christ not only to the Jews, but to nearly everyone else around. It is always ironic when in an attempt to discredit Jesus that people point others to Him.  Many of those passing by that day might not have known Who Jesus was had Pilate not told them.  Pilate also, by writing the title in three languages, implied that Jesus was the Savior, not only of the Jews, but of the whole world.  Pilate had acknowledged that any fault found with Jesus was with the Jews, but he proclaimed Him to the world.  Verse twenty-one continues, And the said the chief priests of the Jews unto Pilate, "Write not the King of the Jews, but that He said I am King of the Jews."  They did not want the truth published.  They were trying to discredit Jesus, and Pilate was proclaiming Him to be exactly Who He said He was.  When God's truth is proclaimed, those who teach a false religion or those who teach falsely about the One God do not like it.  Verse twenty-two concludes, Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."  Pilate may have wanted to put the chief priests in their place.  He had allowed the crucifixion based on their claim that Jesus was a threat to Caesar, and this would be a statement about what happened to those who opposed Caesar.  As followers of Christ, we a called on to present the truth of Who He is, no matter the situation.  His people that day failed, but His truth was still proclaimed.

John 19:17

John 19:17 says, And He, bearing His cross, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.  They had scourged and beaten Jesus, attempted to humiliate Him by dressing Him as royalty, and now the final humiliation before His crucifixion was to have to bear His cross.  The Jewish leaders, who were the leaders of God's people, thought they were finally to be rid of Jesus, Who was indeed the long-awaited Messiah.  They were wrong.  We may sometimes say that we cannot do something that we feel God wants us to because it would be to embarrassing.  When we do, we need to remember what happened to Jesus.  When we think that God is just asking too much of us, remember Jesus carrying His cross to His crucifixion.  Though it may be portrayed otherwise in movies, I believe that Jesus' thoughts were only on the heavenly Father, as they were in the Garden.  For that reason, I believe that when we feel life has become to hard to bear, we need to turn our thoughts to the heavenly Father and focus only on His will.  If we do, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will never be defeated by the world.  The world may think it has defeated us, but if we are true to God's calling, it never will.  Even burdened with the cross, beaten and abused, Jesus was not on His way to defeat, but to victory.  We need to remember that God has assured us the victory through the cross of Jesus.  Verse eighteen adds, Where they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.  The world saw Jesus as nothing special, even at His crucifixion.  He was just one of three being put to death on a cross.  As Jesus was hanging there, the religious leaders and the crowd must have felt victorious. The religious leaders probably felt self-righteous satisfaction.  They had preserved their status.  When the world sees the cross today, if it means anything, it means the defeat of a long-ago person called Jesus.  To the leaders of some religions, it means the same thing.  It was nothing special.  To the Jews today, again it was nothing special. As followers of Christ, to us it must mean everything.  There is no other way to God but through the cross of Christ.