John 19:1-42
Jesus on the First Good Friday
1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”
But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 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.”
8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus 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.”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). 14 It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon.
“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.
“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion of Jesus
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, 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.
24 “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.
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
The Death of Jesus
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 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 Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, 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. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 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. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
The Burial of Jesus
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.[e] 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
On Thursday night Jesus and His Disciples ate with Jesus...It would be His Last Supper...Jesus and His Disciples, after they ate, left where they were eating and went to Gethsemane in the Kidron Valley...Hours after eating His Last Supper, He would be arrested...
And soon it would be Friday...Jesus would be crucified and die on this day, yet we call it Good Friday...Years ago on the first Good Friday, and in the early housrs before dawn Peter would deny that he knew Jesus three times...And on the third time, a rooster crows, so dawn is breaking...
On this day, Jesus in the morning was taken before Pilate and He had a mock trial...The trial was mock because, Jesus had done nothing wrong...He was a Teacher and Rabbi for His Father...Pilate gave the crowd a choice to either release Jesus or Barabbas...The crowd chose Barabbas...Pilate could not figure out what Jesus had done...Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged...The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head...They clothed Him in a purple robe and went up to Him again and again, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”...And they slapped Him in the face...Pilate tried to set Jesus 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.”...When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha)...It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; and now it was about noon...“Here is your King,” Pilate said to the Jews...But they shouted, “Take Him away!...Take Him away!...Crucify Him!”...“Shall I crucify your King?” Pilate asked...“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered...The chief priests of the Sanhedrin were much involved in getting Jesus arrested, tried, and crucified...Finally Pilate handed Him over to them to be crucified...
Jesus would carry His Own Cross to His death...Pilate had a sign prepared and fastened to the Jesus' Cross...It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews...The soldiers 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.”...
Jesus would forgive those who were about to crucify Him...He was crucified between two thieves...He told one of the thieves that He had gained salvation and would be with Him soon in Paradise...He told John and His Mother, 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...
Jesus was dying on the Cross...St. Matthew writes: About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)...And St. Luke writes: It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed...And the curtain of the temple was torn in two...Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit!”...And having said this He breathed His last breathe...It was finished....He had died...With that, He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit...
Jesus would be buried by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus in a new tomb in a nearby garden...
The suffering of our Master and Savior is over, as we see the culmination of God's Plan to save His people from our sins...Good Friday was earlier called Holy Friday...Good Friday is always tied to Easter...Had Jesus not suffered and died on His Cross for our sins, there could have been no resurrection...He has died on Good Friday...And the Great Hope of His Resurrection and Eternal life with Him and His Father await...