NL 431: Jesus Condemned

image: "Ecce Homo", Hieronymus Bosch, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

John 19:1-16a

April 3, 2022

John 19:1-16a

Initial Thoughts

  • The final four scenes of Pilate and Jesus

    • 19:1-3 - Jesus is Whipped

    • 19:4-8 - Jesus declared innocent

    • 19:8-11 - Discussion on Authority

    • 19:12-16 - Jesus is handed over

Bible Study

  • Judgment 

    • “Judgment in the Gospel of John is that which individuals bring upon themselves as a result of their reaction to Jesus’ revelation. God does not condemn or judge and neither does Jesus. Rather judgment is the result of a lack of recognition of who Jesus is…Everyone is on trial and in jeopardy of recognizing who Jesus is.” Karoline Lewis, John, Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentary, p.225

  • 19:1-3 - Jesus is Whipped

    • Jesus as King

      • Crown of Thorns and Purple Robe - they dress Jesus in the part they want him to play, but one he refuses to take on. At the same time the thorns mock who he is

      • Perhaps he is dressed up, beaten, and mocked in order for Pilate to reveal the absurdity of thinking this “man” could be a threat to Pilate or Ceasar. Of course, the absurdity is that in his declaration, Here is the man!” Pilate reminds us that this “man” is the Word made flesh (1:14).

      • Reversal of Genesis 3 - “When Roman soldiers place a crown of ‘thorns’ on Jesus’s head… this derisive act mirrors the agricultural curse near the end of Genesis 3; namely, that the land will produce ‘thorns’ for Adam outside of Eden. Quite literally, Jesus takes the agricultural curse upon his own head, and the Messiah’s toil begins where Adam’s bliss ends.” (Nicholas Shasser, “Inverting Eden: The Reversal of Genesis 1-3 in John’s Passion,” Word and World, vol. 40, no, 3, Summer 2020, p. 266-7)

    • Jesus is whipped- a usual form of torture which would weaken Jesus and speed his death

  • 19:4-8 - Jesus declared innocent

    • Innocence - Despite finding “no grounds for a charge against him”, Pilate still has Jesus beaten, whipped, and mocked

    • Man and God

      • Pilate doesn’t recognize the divinity of Jesus, nor the humanity of Jesus

      • Pilate and the Jewish leaders repeatedly go back and forth about the nature of Jesus: “here is the man” (v.5), “God’s Son” (v. 7) “Where are you from?” (v.9)

    • The declaration of Jesus as God’s son is new and only mentioned here in John’s Gospel - it seems like they are grasping for straws here. Firstly, a theological charge should have been brought before the high priest, not Pilate. Also, while the Law prohibited blaspheming the name of God (Leviticus 24:16), there was no prohibition to the sentence (of stoning) being carried out. This refusal to take ownership of this mockery of a trial, also reveals the injustice of it.

    • NOTE - in John is is the chief priests and their deputies who call for Jesus’ crucifixion, not a larger crowd (this is different than Matthew 27:25)

    • Reversal of Genesis 3, part 2 “When the Roman governor tells the chief priests to crucify Jesus themselves, he hears that Jesus ‘ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.’ The assessment that Jesus should ‘die’ recalls the divine warnings that Adam and Eve will ‘die’ if they eat the arboreal fruit….[what’s more] ‘When Pilate heard this word, he was very afraid.’ In both language and sequence, Pulate’s response echoes Adam’s rationale for hiding from God: ‘I heard… and I was afraid.’... Adam fear’s God’s ‘sound,’ Pilate fears God’s ‘word’.” (Nicholas Shasser, “Inverting Eden: The Reversal of Genesis 1-3 in John’s Passion,” Word and World, vol. 40, no, 3, Summer 2020, p. 267)

  • 19:8-11 - Discussion on Authority

    • “Where are you from?” v. 9 - calls back to John 1:1 - Jesus is from the beginning, also this word “Where” or “Whence”, pothen in Greek “is the ordinary adverb for “whence,” similar to the enteuthen (hence) of 18:36, and is so used by John in a number of places, for example, to describe where the wine (2:9) or the wind (3:8) or the flowing water (4:11) has come from, or will.” Gerard Stephen Sloyan, John, Interpretation, p. 209.

    • Pilate wants to know who Jesus is representing - just as Pilate is representing the emperor. Pilate is trying to size up Jesus’ authority and power, but he is out of his league

    • v.11 - “given to you from above” - the word here is anothen, the same word used with Nicodemus in John 3 and recalls themes of life and death, witness and judgment

    • Jesus’ response on the “greater sin” focuses back on the fact that Jesus is not on trial, but Pilate, Peter, Judas, and all those who were gathered and have gathered since are on trial. When called to the stand about who Jesus is - what will we say?

    • Greater sin could refer to Judas, Satan, the ones whom Judas was working for- it is unclear.

  • 19:12-16 - Jesus is handed over

    • Political and Theological

      • The juxtaposition of Jesus and the Emperor gets to the crux of the issue for Pilate - his own power, authority and safety.

      • Pilate cannot allow sedition to go unchecked and retain his status as governor (and potentially his life)

      • Jesus poses a threat  to Pilate’s political power

      • Like Peter, he too is concerned with his survival (literal or political) and so he acquiesced to the leadership. He denies the divinity and the humanity of Jesus and hands him over to die.

    • Here is your King

      • Calls back to John’s proclamation at the beginning of the Gospel (1:29), “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The Greek word used by Pilate “Here” and John “Look/Behold” are the same word.

    • Preparation Day

      • It was the day before Passover and Jesus was handed over to be killed in the Gabbatha, which was in the Temple Court, at or after noon

      • Gabbatha - probably refers to an elevated place in the temple court.

      • Traditionally, the passover lamb was killed in the Temple court on the eve of Passover (Adele Reinhartz, “John”, Jewish Annotated New Testament, p.214)

      • Just as Jesus is handed over we get the call back to John’s accurate declaration, “Here is the Lamb of God”, in juxtaposition with Pilate’s false declaration, “Here is your king”

Thoughts and Questions

  • Pilate and the Jewish leaders agree to something repeatedly declared as untrue - that Jesus has declared himself king of the Jews. They create a lie and then kill Jesus for it. What are all of the ways people have historically agreed to things they knew were not true - in order to serve their own wants, desires, or maintain their power - and had others oppressed, hurt, or killed to preserve that lie? In what ways do we still do this?

Year 4Eric FistlerJohnComment