John 19

The Explanation

The soldiers laughed while they worked. They twisted sharp thorn branches into a circle, like a crown, and pressed it onto Jesus' head. They threw a purple cloak over his shoulders, because purple was the colour of kings. Then they walked past him one by one. "Hail, King of the Jews!" they said, and they slapped his face.

Pilate was the Roman governor. He was the one who could say yes or no. He brought Jesus outside, still wearing the thorns and the purple, and said to the crowd, "Behold, the man!" Look at him. He has done nothing wrong.

But the crowd shouted back one word, over and over: "Crucify! Crucify!"

Pilate got scared. He went back inside and asked Jesus, "Where are you from?" Jesus said nothing at all. Can you imagine standing quiet while someone shouts at you? Then Pilate said, "Don't you know that I have power to release you and have power to crucify you?" And Jesus answered that Pilate would have no power at all, unless God had given it to him.

Pilate wanted to let Jesus go. He really did. But the crowd yelled that he would not be Caesar's friend, and Pilate was more afraid of losing his job than of doing wrong. So he sat down on his judge's chair and said, "Behold, your King!" And the people shouted, "Away with him!"

So Jesus was led away, carrying his own cross, to a hill called the Place of a Skull. There they nailed him to the cross, with a robber on his left and a robber on his right, and Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and nailed it above his head: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. He wrote it in three languages, so everyone could read it. The priests were angry about that sign. Pilate shrugged. "What I have written, I have written."

Down below, the soldiers divided up Jesus' clothes. His coat had no seam, all woven from the top, so they threw dice for it. They were playing a game under the cross.

And close by stood his mother. Jesus saw her, and he saw his friend John standing next to her. Even then, even hanging there, he was thinking about her. "Woman, behold, your son," he said to Mary, and to John, "Behold, your mother." And John took her home with him.

Then Jesus said, "I am thirsty." They soaked a sponge in sour wine and held it up to his mouth. And Jesus said three words: "It is finished." He bowed his head, and he died.

Later a soldier pushed a spear into his side to be sure, and blood and water came out. Two men, Joseph and Nicodemus, carried his body to a garden. There was a new tomb there, where no one had ever been laid. They wrapped him in linen cloths with sweet-smelling spices, and laid him inside.

What Does This Mean?

The soldiers thought they were making a joke with that crown. But Jesus really was the King. The sign on the cross was true, in three languages, for the whole world to read. This is what our King is like: he does not fight back, and he does not run. He stays.

The Common Thread

"It is finished" does not mean "I am finished." It means the work is done. Long, long before, God had promised to rescue his people from everything that goes wrong inside them. Everything Jesus came to do, he did. Nothing was left over. The old writings had even said that not one of his bones would be broken, and not one was.

For You

Jesus thought about his mother when he was in the worst pain of his life. That is your King. Today, notice someone who is sad or left out. Say something kind to them, or sit next to them. You do not have to be strong to do that. You only have to look.

Talk About It

Why do you think Jesus stayed quiet when Pilate shouted at him?

What do you think Mary felt, standing there and watching?

Praying Together

Lord Jesus, you were called a king as a joke, but you really are the King. Thank you that you stayed on the cross for us. Help us to look at people the way you looked at your mother. Amen.