By this time, we are used to the difference between John’s narrative and the other (synoptic) gospels. That difference continues to the crucifixion, where he omits details well attested by the others and instead adds eyewitness testimony as one who saw it all, as it were, from the front row.

John 19:17-18 And he [Jesus] went out, bearing his cross, to the place called [place] of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha; where they crucified him, and with him two others, [one] on this side, and [one] on that, and Jesus in the middle.

Jesus began the trek to Golgotha carrying his own cross. But the scourging and all the beatings had taken their toll by then. As the other gospels tell us, soon thereafter, the Roman soldiers snatched a man coming in from the fields, probably for no other reason than he appeared strong enough, to carry the cross for Jesus: Simon of Cyrene.

John summarizes the whole trip to the place of the skull, and the subsequent crucifixion, in that one brief sentence. It is as if there is no more that needs to be said. Jesus had a Mission, and it led Him to that place and time… all according to the will of the Father and the obedient Son.

John mentions the criminals crucified on either side because of its prophetic significance. In fact, most of the details John writes down for us are there for us to recognize that those details had been recorded in Scripture, centuries before they happened, precisely for us; as a witness to us, that Jesus was who He claimed to be, and did exactly what God the Father ordained.

John 19:19-22 And Pilate wrote a title also and put it on the cross. But there was written: Jesus the Nazaraean, the King of the Jews. This title therefore many of the Jews read, for the place of the city where Jesus was crucified was near; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, Latin. The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Do not write, The king of the Jews, but that *he* said, I am king of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

Pilate has made his choice, to bow to the kingdom of the world (Caesar), but that does not place him beyond the reach of God’s hand. On this point, he stands like King Nebuchadnezzar in the time of Daniel, a man who worships false gods and yet who willingly bears witness to their world that there is a true King over Israel.

John 19:23-24 The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took his clothes, and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and the body-coat; but the body-coat was seamless, woven through the whole from the top. They said therefore to one another, Let us not rend it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the scripture might be fulfilled which says, They parted my garments among themselves, and on my vesture they cast lots. The soldiers therefore did these things.

I will not interrupt the narrative to give the Scripture references of these prophecies. I include many of them in the Appendix at the end of this post.

John 19:25-27 And by the cross of Jesus stood his mother, and the sister of his mother, Mary the [wife] of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. Jesus therefore, seeing his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, says to his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then he says unto the disciple, Behold thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Again, we have a detail only John could have given us. For it appears that he was the only one of the eleven that followed Jesus closely, all the way to Calvary, even to standing right next to Mary, His mother. From this detail we deduce two things: Joseph had died by this time and Jesus’ brothers had purposely distanced themselves from Him. We get hints of the latter in the other gospels, as well as in this one, back in John 7:4-5.

Thus, in this moment of unimaginable grief for a mother, Jesus has ensured that His mother will not be alone. Likewise, he has provided for John, whose grief is unimaginable in a different way… He truly believed that Jesus was the Messiah; a Messiah that had taken personal notice of him. John’s brother is nowhere near. John’s best friend, Peter, is also gone. And this Messiah whom he loved, whom he knew loved him, is all but gone.

Down to the last minute, even in the midst of agony, Jesus’ focus was to care of others.

We need to remember this, any time we feel overwhelmed by the troubles of this world.

Jesus will never forget us.

John 19:28-30 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now finished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, says, I thirst. There was a vessel therefore there full of vinegar, and having filled a sponge with vinegar, and putting hyssop round it, they put it up to his mouth. When therefore Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished; and having bowed his head, he delivered up his spirit.

As the description of the crucifixion is brief so it is that of His suffering. Because the emphasis is all on the purposeful accomplishment of the Plan. Jesus, even on the very edge of death is in full control. And in the end, no one defeated Him. He delivered up His own spirit. As He said back in John 10:18 This is the reason why the Father loves me—that I lay down my life, and I lay it down to take it up again!

But even after His death, the whole spectacle is under complete control of the Father… He selected everything down to the day that we all might recognize in Jesus the true Passover Lamb.

John 19:31-37 The Jews therefore, that the bodies might not remain on the cross on the sabbath, for it was [the] preparation, (for the day of that sabbath was a great [day],) demanded of Pilate that their legs might be broken and they taken away.

The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first and of the other that had been crucified with him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead they did not break his legs, but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.

And he who saw it bears witness, and his witness is true, and he knows that he says true that ye also may believe. For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled, Not a bone of him shall be broken. And again another scripture says, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

As John will tell us at the end of this gospel, the reason he has written all these details down is that we may know it is all true. He was there. He saw it.

There is one detail I want to dwell on momentarily and that is John’s quote from the book of the prophet Zechariah: They shall look on him whom they pierced. Many of the quotes from scripture we find in the Old Testament are taken from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, because that was widely accessible to all Jews (from East and West) and Gentiles. It makes perfect sense for a gospel written in Koine Greek.

But in this case, given the choice between the Septuagint’s Greek rendering of “and they shall look upon me, because they have mocked me” and the direct translation from the Hebrew “They shall look on him whom they pierced”, John selected the latter because it was the correct one.

Another detail that is easy to miss: Did you see that the religious leaders were the ones that requested that the prisoners’ knees be broken? Once that is done, the crucified man can no longer prop himself up momentarily to breath. It precipitates death. BUT… do not forget that these religious leaders knew the Scripture and they knew that Jesus repeatedly ascribed to Himself Messianic passages. They knew that that passage from the Passover story referred to the Messiah because it is also used in Psalm 34.

So, that request was not only about getting the bodies off the crosses. They also wanted to prove to any of the people in that crowd there, that still might have thought Jesus could be that messiah, that he was not…

Well, God the Father had other plans.

John 19:38-40 And after these things Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly through fear of the Jews, demanded of Pilate that he might take the body of Jesus: and Pilate allowed it. He came therefore and took away the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus also, who at first came to Jesus by night, came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds [weight]. They took therefore the body of Jesus and bound it up in linen with the spices, as it is the custom with the Jews to prepare for burial.

It has been said that one of the features that attests to the veracity of the gospel record is how bluntly honest it is about the failings of the people who we would consider heroes of the narrative. Here Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea drum up the courage to defy their religious leaders and to approach the Roman Prefect, to ask for the body of this condemned criminal.

Courageous, yes… But John reminds us that that courage did not come naturally from their hearts. They, like all of us, had lived with doubt in their lives, with fear of the world and fear of their peers, with shame for their actions (or lack thereof).

However, this was also true of them: They had put their hope in Jesus. And that was enough to move them into action even at this terrible time.

John 19:41-42 But there was in the place where he had been crucified a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. There therefore, on account of the preparation of the Jews, because the tomb was near, they laid Jesus.

Appendix: The suffering and death of the Eternal Son

Psalm 69:17-21 And hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble: answer me speedily.  Draw nigh unto my soul, be its redeemer; ransom me because of mine enemies. *Thou* knowest my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonour: mine adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am overwhelmed: and I looked for sympathy, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. Yea, they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalm 22:1-22 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou] far from my salvation, from the words of my groaning? My God, I cry by day, and thou answerest not; and by night, and there is no rest for me: And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel. Our fathers confided in thee: they confided, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they confided in thee, and were not confounded.

But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and the despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying:] Commit it to Jehovah—let him rescue him; let him deliver him, because he delighteth in him!

But thou art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make me trust, upon my mother’s breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother’s belly. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have encompassed me; Bashan’s strong ones have beset me round. They gape upon me with their mouth, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is become like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my palate; and thou hast laid me in the dust of death.

For dogs have encompassed me; an assembly of evil-doers have surrounded me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may count all my bones. They look, they stare upon me; They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But thou, Jehovah, be not far [from me]; O my strength, haste thee to help me.

Deliver my soul from the sword; my only one from the power of the dog; Save me from the lion’s mouth. Yea, from the horns of the buffaloes hast thou answered me. I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

Isaiah 53:1-12 Who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender sapling, and as a root out of dry ground: he hath no form nor lordliness, and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and left alone of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom [men] hide their faces;—despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely *he* hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; and we, we did regard him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth. He was taken from oppression and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And [men] appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth.

Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him; he hath subjected [him] to suffering. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see a seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of [the fruit of] the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant instruct many in righteousness; and *he* shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I assign him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong: because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and was reckoned with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look on me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for an only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.

Numbers 9:9-12 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your generations be unclean by reason of a dead body or be on a journey afar off, yet he shall hold the passover to Jehovah. In the second month, on the fourteenth day, between the two evenings, shall they hold it; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs shall they eat it. They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone thereof: according to every ordinance of the passover shall they hold it.

Hallelujah! Did you see that part above I underlined in Numbers? “If any one of you or of your generations be unclean by reason of a dead body or be on a journey afar off, yet he shall hold the passover to Jehovah.”

There is no sin, no uncleanness that the Passover blood cannot cover!