New Testament Commentary - John 19

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 19 Jesus is scourged and crucified—He places his mother in John's care—He dies; his side is pierced with a spear—He is buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathaea.
1 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and ^ascourged him. him. 2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3 And said, Hail, ^aKing of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
4 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no ^afault in him. 5 Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
6 When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they ^acried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no ^bfault in him. 7 The Jews answered him, We have a ^alaw, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the ^bSon of God.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
8 ¶ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9 And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no ^aanswer.
10 Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11 Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no ^apower at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater ^bsin. 12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a ^aking speaketh against Caesar.
13 ¶ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 And it was the preparation of the ^apassover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your ^bKing! 15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, ^acrucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no ^bking but Caesar^a.
16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17 And he ^abearing his ^bcross went forth into a place called the place of a ^cskull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18 Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
19 ¶ And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. 21 Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.
23 ¶ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. 24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my ^araiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
25 ¶ Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his ^amother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of ^bCleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the ^adisciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, ^bWoman, behold thy son! 27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy ^amother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.
28 ¶ After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29 Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with ^avinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is ^afinished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the ^across on the sabbath day, (for that ^bsabbath day was an ^chigh ^dday,) besought Pilate that their legs might be ^ebroken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they ^abrake not his legs: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
35 And he that ^asaw it bare ^brecord, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A ^abone of him shall not be broken. 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they ^apierced.
38 ¶ And after this ^aJoseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus^a, but secretly for ^bfear of the Jews^b, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39 And there came also ^aNicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of ^bmyrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Joseph of Arimathaea Josephof Arimathaea was a wealth man of position. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, though as stated in Luke's record, 'he had not consented to the counsel and deed of them' (Luke 23:51). But whether he as a scribe, elder, Pharisee, Sadducee or priest, it is not stated. But he was of Arimathaea. Arimathaea was called Ramathaim in the Old Testament and it was the same as the birth place of Samuel (1 Samuel 1:1). This raises the question as to whether he was a Levite and a priest like unto Samuel or not. This was the 'hill country' of Ephraim northwest of Jerusalem, and it was called by the shorter name of Ramah meaning hill or hills, being the same regions of Mount Ephraim. And though Luke calls it a city of the Jews, this only does stipulate that it was not of Samaria but of the then current realm and domain of Judaea. Further, as stated in Luke 1:39 in similar terms by Luke, Mary when she visited Elisabeth her Levite cousin, the wife of Zacharias, did travel to the 'hill country' and into a city of Juda, meaning also a city in the realm of Judaea rather than Samaria or Galilee. Thus there is a consistency of discription concerning the place where Zacharias did live who was the Levite priest of the temple and where Joseph of Arimathaea did live, the 'hill country' perhaps the same as Ramah and Mount Ephraim as where Samuel the prophet of old was born and did live. Now tradition states that Joseph of Arimathaea was a relative of Jesus on the side of Mary the mother of Jesus. Now whether he was of the House of David as was Mary or of the tribe of Levi as was the family of Zacharias and Elisabeth, Mary's cousin, is left undetermined. As Zacharias was of the family line of Kohath, which had been assigned to cities of the tribe of Ephraim, as had the family of Samuel also been so assigned, it is further considered that Zacharias, like Samuel, was of that 'hill country' of Ramah or Mount Ephraim, as was also Joseph of Arimathaea. And thus where the families connected, that of the House of David and that of the Levites of Ephraim descended from Kohath the second son of Levi. Now as to that Joseph of Arimathaea was associated with the tin mines of Briton and Cornwall, and did flee with Mary the mother of Jesus with others to Wales, it can and should be merely left to that realm of traditional histories which promote such and to be a matter undetermined here. Yet it does make good logic that he who did obtain the body of Jesus from Pilate be a member of the family of Jesus, though removed from it by position and standing before the eyes of the Jews. That such is not stipulated by the gospel accounts can be logically set out that the family of Jesus was after the time of Jesus protected as to its identities for safety and security before those who did carry on the persecutions of all such Christians. And also further in that many of the faith did flee the lands of the Jews with the exception of the Apostles who did remain there to propagate the faith. With Joseph of Arimathaea being a member of the family of Jesus, it is therefore set out that Jesus was being laid to rest in a tomb of his family members, though it was being prepared for the older Joseph of Arimathaea rather than the young thrity year old Jesus. This was a great jesture of love and devotion to his younger family member which the disciple of Jesus did perform in yielding up his own tomb for the burial of Jesus. Yet in the wake of the coming persecutions, it was just as well, as Joseph of Arimathaea, as did others of Jesus family other than the ministering males of the gospel, did flee the land for their own self protection. Tradition holds that Joseph of Arimathaea, as also Mary the mother of Jesus and other related women and family did die and were buried in Wales.	38^a a disciple of Jesus A 'disciple' would imply that Joseph of Arimathaea had fully accepted Jesus as the Christ and that he had entered into the 'baptism of Christ' whether by John or by the authorized apostles and seventies of Jesus. In short, he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ. 38^b but secretly for fear of the Jews Joseph of Arimathaea's fear was real and properly based, as he was a member of that Sanhidren which consisted of the Chief Priests of the Jews and the chief Pharisees, Sadducees, Elder and scribes of the Jews who did seek Jesus' life. Many consider that Jesus knew all along that Judas would betray him. But Jesus was living in mortality and subject to many of the same limits of that mortal existence. He may not have known before hand that one of his chosen disciples would betray him. But with the likes of Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus on the inside of the Sanhidren, between when Judas first made the betrayal arrangement two days before the passover and the night of the passover meal, Jesus could well have been so informed that it was Judas that had come to the priests of the Sanhedrin to effect the betrayal.	Nicodemus Nicodemus was that Pharisee who came to Jesus by night and who was taught the Doctine of Christ directly by the Savior as to being born again by the waters of baptism unto being a son of Christ. His close association with Joseph of Arimathaea, to the point of tending to the body of Christ, can only atest that Nicodemus, like Joseph of Arimathaea, was a faithful disciple or member of the Church of Jesus Christ. The bring of 100 pounds of Myrrh for the purpose of applying to the dead body of Christ, was of no little matter. And while Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus are stated to be the primaries of this course of action, it is likely that others also participated whether they be servants or other family members such of Cleophas and even such apostles as would perhaps be assisting. Certainly the weight of the great stone being placed covering the tomb entrance was of no little matter either (Matthew 27:60). Matthew mentions that in the course of these events there was Mary Magdalene and the 'other Mary', who if not the mother of Jesus, would likely be that Mary the wife of Cleophas another of Jesus' family, who were 'sitting over against the sepluchre at this burial (Matthew 27:61 and note: since Mary's name was Mary and this other Mary described as her sister was Mary, it is more likely that she was a sister-in-law and that Cleophas her husband was the brother of Mary the mother of Jesus and uncle unto Jesus). And then there would be any such observers as the Jews and Romans would wish to witness the internment as and to have set the 'watch' as further referenced in Matthew's account (Matthew 27:62-66). That 'watch' was stated that they already had it, and that Pilate only gave such order of cooperation to 'make it as sure as ye can'.
41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new ^asepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' ^apreparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.