John 19: The Crucifixion

I've picked up this blog again after almost 3 years. Funny how I started something so long ago when I first got my new job, and then immediately had to drop it because the job started to take over too many demands. That led to an eventual mental breakdown, an eventual recovery, a connection with my true love, an engagement, and a new spiritual awakening in my life. Many things have changed, and I feel like I've been led to start writing about Scripture again. However, I don't believe working through the Bible in sequence is a good idea any longer. Instead, I'm going to skip around to various parts of the Bible using a randomizer, and follow where the Spirit leads me.

Today the randomizer picked John 19, which just happens to be Jesus' execution. Thanks randomizer! Way to start off with a light topic right? However, I think believe it's a perfect place to start back up. The crucifixion is the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus laying his life down for all of us, only to conquer death with his resurrection. It's an ending, and a beginning of something infinitely greater. And so hopefully I can start something greater here with this blog, and these chapters as we study them together.

John 19 has 3 parts in the chapter. The first is Pilate talking to the crowd after he has Jesus dressed up in a mocking robe and crown of thorns to declare him the "King of the Jews." Pilate tries to get the crowd to kill Jesus rather than condemning Jesus to death himself. The second part is the crucifixion itself and Jesus' death, and the third part is Jesus being laid in a tomb. If you've ever been to a good Friday service or seen the passion, none of this is foreign to you at all.

What speaks to me today is the position of Pilate when I read this story. I never really knew much about the man, but obviously he was in some position of authority in the Roman Empire, and the temple leaders obviously feared him enough not to kill Jesus without going to him first. As a leader myself, I often saw Pilate in a very unwinnable position. He understands that Jesus is likely without fault, but he's also looking at a possible rebellion if he doesn't acquiesce to the crowd.

Pilate was a prefect in the Roman Army, which was essentially a military governor, and he was charged with governing Judea. The province of Judea at that time which included what today we know as parts of Israel, Jordan, and Palestine, was under direct Roman control because one of Herod's sons was such a bad leader that the emperor fired him and replaced him with his own governor. That title eventually changed hands until Pontius Pilate came on the scene in 26 AD.

Instead of focusing on the death of Jesus here, I'd like to focus on how Pilate reacted to Jesus, because I think it's important. Verses 6-12 detail what Pilate does when he realizes who Jesus is:

6 Pilate told them, “You take him and crucify him. I don’t find this man guilty of anything.”

7 The Jews answered Pilate, “We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard them say that, he became more afraid than ever.  

9 He went into the palace again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus didn’t answer him.

10 So Pilate said to Jesus, “Aren’t you going to answer me? Don’t you know that I have the authority to free you or to crucify you?”

11 Jesus answered Pilate, “You wouldn’t have any authority over me if it hadn’t been given to you from above. That’s why the man who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

12 When Pilate heard what Jesus said, he wanted to free him. But the Jews shouted, “If you free this man, you’re not a friend of the emperor. Anyone who claims to be a king is defying the emperor.”

I've bolded two parts about what Pilate felt when he had Jesus in his custody. I believe we are often pulled between the words of the world, and the words of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Pilate was no different in this scenario. The world told Pilate that they had a law, and that the law meant death for the convicted. On the other hand, the words of Jesus made Pilate want to free him. Words that inspired death came from the world, and words that inspired freedom came from Christ.

It's an interesting thought for me, and something I wonder about when I think of Pilate: Did he sense the truth about Jesus as the Christ? Or was it simple self-preservation at it's highest to keep the crowd from rebelling in his province. I'm not sure, but the words of John give me more pause than in other gospel accounts. I can put myself in Pilate's shoes as a man given authority from above to choose which Master I'm going to serve. Will I serve an earthly law, or my heavenly Master in Jesus Christ?

Pilate ultimately gave into the crowd. He chose poorly and condemned a man he knew to be innocent to death, just so he could appease a worldly mob. How often do we also deny Christ in favor of worldly satisfaction or mollification. Christ died for us so that we would not have to suffer an eternal life without God, that our death would not be the final death, and that we would live in paradise with him. That was all impossible under the law. The law had failed, and it failed again that day when Jesus was executed after a mockery of a trial under the law.

What I take away from this chapter today is how when we hear Jesus and we feel the stirrings of freedom in our very souls, or when we fear the world and we know it's supposed truths to be nothing but falsehoods? We should run into the open arms of a loving Father, opened by the sacrifice of his Son, and dwelling inside of us in the Holy Spirit. We should stand proudly before the World and declare His Truth rather than meekly acquiesce to the mob.

And in that action we will stand firmly on solid ground. Just like in the words of the hymn, "My Hope is Built on Nothing Less"

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.