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John 19
Yeshua’s Sufferings, Death And Burial

Yeshua had been turned over by the Jewish leaders to the Roman governor. They
wanted Pilate to judge Yeshua and condemn and execute Him. Pilate did not
believe Yeshua violated Roman law and wanted to release Him. However, the
Jewish leaders kept pressuring the governor to condemn Yeshua to death.

The Romans could be very cruel. Here’s what happened next. Then Pilate took
Yeshua and had Him flogged.

A Roman flogging was horrible. A short whip, made of one or more leather thongs
or ropes connected to a handle, was used. Pieces of metal or bone were tied to the
thongs or ropes which cut through the skin and even the muscle. The whole body
was affected, sometimes including the face. A flogging could be so brutal that the
man being flogged could be disfigured or die.

Yeshua’s flogging fulfilled which Messianic prophecy?

Yeshua’s sufferings got worse. The Roman soldiers wanted to humiliate and inflict
more pain on the one who was called the king of the Jews. So, after the flogging,
the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.

What’s significant about a crown of thorns put on Yeshua’s head?

The soldiers inflicted more pain and humiliation. They clothed him in a purple robe
(purple dye was expensive and purple robes became associated with royalty) and
went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they
slapped him in the face. Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jewish people
gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no
basis for a charge against him.” When Yeshua came out wearing the crown of
thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

What did Pilate hope to accomplish by having Yeshua flogged, beaten and
humiliated by wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and being presented
to the people?
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What does “Here is the man!” mean?

Yeshua’s sufferings and humiliation did not produce compassion in the leaders.
They didn’t want Yeshua released. They wanted Him executed. As soon as the
chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

The Roman governor didn’t like their response. He knew Yeshua was not guilty of
violating Roman law. But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for
me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” The Jewish leaders insisted, “We
have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the
Son of God.”

The Jewish leaders understood that Yeshua claimed to be the Son of God - to share
the same nature as God, to have a special divine relationship with God. They
believed that was blasphemy. And according to the Torah, that was a sin
punishable by death. And they wanted Yeshua executed.

When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the
palace.

Why was Pilate even more afraid when he heard that Yeshua claimed to be the Son
of God?

The governor wanted to know more about the one who claimed to be the Son of
God. “Where do you come from?” he asked Yeshua, but Yeshua gave him no
answer.

Why did Yeshua not respond to Pilate’s question?

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Most people comply with the requests of those who have the power of life and
death over them. Not Yeshua. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t
you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Yeshua answered,
“You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”
Yeshua informed the governor that he shouldn’t be impressed with his power. He
should know that his power was given to him by God. He should understand that
and do what was right according to God who gave Pilate his power - which Pilate
hadn’t done.

“Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” Yeshua
told Pilate that he had sinned. How had Pilate sinned?

Who is the one who handed Yeshua over to Pilate, and why was his sin greater?

Yeshua’s answer, which was wise and other-worldly, disturbed Pilate even more.
From then on, Pilate tried to set Yeshua free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting,
“If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a
king opposes Caesar.”

Explain the political and moral/ethical dynamics that were going on.

When Pilate heard this, he brought Yeshua out and sat down on the judge’s seat at
a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic [better translated as
“Hebrew”] is Gabbatha). It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was
about noon. John let us know the day and time when these events took place. It was
the day before the Sabbath that took place during the week of Passover.

The representative of the Roman empire sat in the place of judgment, ready to make
his decision. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jewish people.

What does “Here is your king?” mean?

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Pilate’s statement was not received with compassion for Yeshua but with continued
calls for His death. But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify
him!”

Pilate responded by asking if crucifixion was really what they wanted. Couldn’t
there be some alternative? “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

The leaders rejected Pilate’s statement that Yeshua was their king. “We have no
king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Why is it significant that the chief priests were the ones who expressed loyalty to
the king of Rome rather than loyalty to Yeshua?

The Roman governor did what was politically and personally expedient. Finally
Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of
Yeshua. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in
Aramaic [better translated as “Hebrew”] is called Golgotha).
How did carrying His own cross add to Yeshua’s sufferings and humiliation?

The place of the Skull was outside the walls of Jerusalem. Why is that significant?

There they crucified him, and with him two others - one on each side and Yeshua in
the middle.

Why is it significant that Yeshua was crucified between two criminals?

Yeshua’s crime was displayed on His cross for everyone to read. Pilate had a
notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Yeshua of Nazareth, the king of
the Jews. Many of the Jewish people read this sign, for the place where Yeshua was
crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic (better translated
as “Hebrew”), Latin and Greek. Everyone in that area was familiar with one of
those three languages. Everyone would know the crime Yeshua was executed for -
being the king of the Jewish people.
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Why is this ironic?

What does this teach us about humanity?

The chief priests didn’t like the way Yeshua’s crime was phrased on the notice. The
chief priests of the Jewish people protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of
the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

The governor had enough of the leaders. He had made enough compromises. Pilate
answered, “What I have written, I have written.” And what he wrote was true. And
what he wrote was damning to his soul.

The soldiers inflicted more pain and humiliation on the intensely suffering Yeshua.
They stripped Him of His clothes so that He was crucified while naked. When the
soldiers crucified Yeshua, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one
for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless,
woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one
another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture
might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for
my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did.

Where is this prophecy from? Who wrote it and when?

Yeshua died naked. Why is this ironic? What does this teach us about Yeshua?

Although all of His male disciples, with the exception of John, abandoned Him,
several women were there while He was dying. Near the cross of Yeshua stood his
mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Scholars are divided whether this describes three or four women.
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Even though Yeshua was in excruciating pain and dying, His thoughts were not
only about His own horrible situation. He was thinking about the well-being of His
mother. When Yeshua saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved
standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple,
“Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Who was this unnamed disciple whom Yeshua loved?

Joseph, Yeshua’s father, was not mentioned. That indicates that Joseph had died. If
that’s the case, then Yeshua was the eldest son and the head of the family. Even
though He had brothers and could have left Mary to their care, He entrusted His
mother to the care of John. Why?

Yeshua probably had not had anything to drink since the previous evening. It was
afternoon. He had moved from place to place. He had been flogged so that He lost
blood. He was forced to carry a heavy cross over a distance on a spring day in
Israel, which could be hot. While on the cross, Yeshua experienced another kind of
suffering - thirst.

Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would
be fulfilled, Yeshua said, “I am thirsty.”

What Scripture did this fulfill?

A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a
stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Yeshua’ lips.

What is wine vinegar?

The wine vinegar was enough to wet His lips and mouth but not sufficient to
quench His thirst.

What’s ironic about Yeshua being thirsty?

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Yeshua knew that He had done everything His Father had asked Him to do. He had
lived a perfectly righteous, obedient, God-honoring life. He had spoken the truth.
He had revealed the nature of God to humanity. He had prepared His disciples to
take over His mission of world evangelism. He was about to die to meet our
greatest need - atonement. He didn’t need to suffer any longer. When he had
received the drink, Yeshua said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and
gave up his spirit.

“It is finished.” Only a few words yet so full of meaning. What was Yeshua
referring to? What was finished?

What does “He gave up His spirit” imply?

Now it was the day of Preparation (Friday), and the next day was to be a special
Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses
during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken
down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had
been crucified with Yeshua, and then those of the other. But when they came to
Yeshua and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead,
one of the soldiers pierced Yeshua’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of
blood and water.

The day of Preparation was the day before the Sabbath - Friday. The next day was a
special Sabbath because it was the Sabbath during Passover.

Why did breaking the legs of a man being crucified speed up his death?

Summarize the evidence that Yeshua died on the cross; that He was really dead.

The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that
he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe.
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Why did the unnamed disciple include this information?

These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his
bones will be broken,” and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one
they have pierced.”

Why did these things happen to Yeshua?

Why is it not possible that the scripture would not be fulfilled? Why must the
scripture be fulfilled?

Like other events connected to the life, death and resurrection of Yeshua were
predicted, so was the fact that His legs were not broken and He was pierced.

Where is the scripture that lets us know the Messiah’s legs would not be broken?

Where is the scripture that lets us know the Messiah would be pierced?

Yeshua suffered. He died. And He was buried. Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked
Pilate for the body of Yeshua. Now Joseph was a disciple of Yeshua (and a member
of the Sanhedrin), but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s
permission, he came and took the body away. He was accompanied by Nicodemus
(another member of the Sanhedrin), the man who earlier had visited Yeshua at
night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.
Taking Yeshua’s body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of
linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. At the place where
Yeshua was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which
no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since
the tomb was nearby, they laid Yeshua there.

Did all the Jewish leaders reject Yeshua?

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Joseph and Nicodemus summoned the courage to give Yeshua’s body an honorable
burial in a nearby tomb that Joseph owned - fulfilling another prophecy. What
prophecy is that?

John has set the state for another one of the greatest events in history - Yeshua’s
resurrection.