John 19 - What Was "Finished" on the Cross?

John 19 - NIV

Enduring Word Bible Commentary

Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified

19 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.

Flogging was very painful. Sharp, lead balls raked across one's flesh and dug in to induce maximum pain. It is also known as "scourging". 

Pilate gave the order, so Jesus was scourged according to Roman practice. The blows came from a whip with many leather strands, each having sharp pieces of bone or metal at the ends. It reduced the back to raw flesh, and it was not unusual for a criminal to die from a scourging, even before crucifixion. - Guzik

Purple was the color of royalty, so they clothed him in a purple robe and also twisted a crown of thorns, which dug into his forehead. These items were meant not only to inflict pain but also humiliation on Jesus. Since Jesus claimed to be a king, they chanted derisively, "Hail king of the Jews". But far from honoring Jesus as king, they slapped him in the face. 

Everything about this was intended to humiliate Jesus. The Jewish rulers had already mocked Jesus as the Messiah (Matthew 26:67-68). Now the Roman powers mocked him as king. - Guzik

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.”

Again Pilate found no basis for charging Jesus of any real crime deserving punishment. When Jesus was paraded in front them in wearing the purple robe and crown of thorns they shouted, "Crucify him". Pilate did not want blood on his hands, so he told them to take care of the matter themselves if they were so convinced about Jesus. 

We aren’t told the immediate reaction of the crowd; perhaps they did feel a moment of sympathy for this remarkable, strong man in such circumstances. Whatever the crowd felt, the religious leaders immediately screamed “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”This was pure hatred, man’s hatred of God.

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.”

When Pilate learned that the Jews wanted to crucify Jesus because he said he was the "Son of God", he got even more paranoid. Could it be that he was really a king? He certainly showed all of the evidence of this. Pilate went to Jesus hoping that by talking to him it might assuage his fears. Pilate asked him where he came from, but Jesus didn't answer. 

Pilate plied Jesus. How he could refuse to speak to a man of his stature and authority But Jesus reminded Pilate his power came from God above. Romans 13 says that God has appointed all earthly leaders to rule by the power of the sword. Pilate sensed Jesus' authority by the way he spoke, and once again tried to get rid of all the issues Jesus was causing by trying to set him free. 

But the religious leaders tried a different angle. They accused Pilate of subverting  Caesar by not punishing the man who said He was a king. If there were to be an uprising against the Roman Emperor, Pilate would not want to be held accountable for letting Jesus go. 

Pilate saw something in Jesus – even beaten, bloodied, and spat upon – that made him think that it could be true that the Man before him was more than a man. - Guzik

he general silence of Jesus before His accusers and judges fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:7: And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. = Guzik

By some accounts (such as Boice), Pilate was an unremarkable man who only had his position because he married the granddaughter of the emperor. Holding his position only by relationship, Pilate would be greatly concerned that the relationship was damaged. The religious leaders and the crowd knew Pilate’s weak point and they pressed upon it.

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. b16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

It's easy to see why the Jewish leaders were so adamant about killing Jesus for political and personal reasons. But I wonder why the Jewish people wanted him dead too. After all, what had he done to harm them? Caesar had given the Jews a period of relative peace, and perhaps they thought this would be jeopardized by Jesus. In the end they were self-seeking too. They were willing to let an innocent man die a horrible death for selfish reasons. 

The crowd had created a Messiah who they envisioned would give them what they wanted. They didn't see how a suffering servant could liberate them. The Messiah they had created in their minds did not look like Jesus at all in his present state.

Pilate offered this sacrificial Lamb before the people for their inspection. He may have meant to mock Jesus and the crowd, presenting a thorn-crowned, bloodied and beaten Man with a purple rag across His ripped-open back as their King. The crowd saw Jesus in all His misery and dignity and responded by screaming, Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him! - Guzik

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.

When Jesus told his disciples (and us) to pick up their cross and follow him, he wasn't asking them to do anything he wasn't willing to do for them. Jesus had to carry his own cross, the same cross they would use to crucify him. 

Perhaps in sarcasm, or maybe subconsciously Pilate fastened a sign to the cross which said, "Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the jews". It revealed what John had been saying along in his gospel that Jesus was "fully man" (Jesus of Nazareth) and "fully God" (the king of the jews).

The Jews tried to get him to take it down, but Pilate refused saying, "What I have written, I have written". Pilate had written the truth about Jesus, the truth of the Word of God. It was the truth all the world could see. It was written in every language spoken at that time for all to hear.  As another verse said,

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” John  12:32

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.”[a] So this is what the soldiers did.

When the soldiers sought to divide the coat or tunic of Jesus, they saw it was not a patchwork of pieces sewn together. It had no seams, which meant it was a quality garment that took extra time to make. This is why lots were used so that only one of the soldiers would receive this "prize." The garment was the same quality of clothing, woven from top to bottom in one piece, worn by the high priest in Jerusalem's temple. - Biblestudy.org

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,[b] here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home

We remember in Luke, Mary's Magnificat, which was song of celebration at Jesus' birth. She was filled with joy in God's presence that he had taken kindly upon her low estate. Now, she stood at the cross, her son gripped with suffering and pain. As Jesus obeyed his mother during his whole life he now commanded John (the disciple whom Jesus loved) to take care of her. 

Though we don't pray TO Mary, we certainly should respect her and honor her for being the mother of our Lord! 

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.

Jesus' last words in fulfillment of scripture were, "I am thirsty!" Jesus, the living water, had been deprived of real water. Instead he was given wine vinegar. I can only imagine what this tasted like. 

Jesus didn’t accept a pain-numbing drink at the beginning of His ordeal (Mark 15:23), but now He accepted a taste of greatly diluted wine, to wet parched lips and a dry throat so He could make one final announcement to the world with a clear, loud voice. - Guzik

When Jesus said it is finished, we might ask what was finished? Jesus finished the work the Father had given him to do. Jesus finished the work of salvation, as he died for our sins so that we might live. He finished off Satan once and for all. Satan thought he had won by bringing sin into the world and killing Jesus, but three days later the joke would be on him. Jesus finished the power death has over us. He freed us from Satan's power.  Because he lives, we shall live. Because he finished his work on the cross and died, we can live forever. 

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,”[c] 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”[d]

The Jewish leaders didn't want Jesus' body to left up on the Sabbath. Think of the hypocrisy of this. They thought they were obeying God's law by doing this, though they had just crucified God's son. The religious leaders worried about of the law they had the legs of the other two men broken so they would die quickly. The only way someone could keep themselves alive on the cross was by using their legs to prop up their chest so they could breathe. When their legs were broken they died of asphyxiation. 

Normally those executed by crucifixion remained affixed to their cross for days as a grim warning of the consequences of disobeying the Roman government. Yet because of the approaching Sabbath (and because it was a high day, associated with Passover and its week), the religious leaders demanded that the Romans take away the disgusting sight of three crucified men. (Guzik)

“Their consciences were not wounded by the murder of Jesus, but they were greatly moved by the fear of ceremonial pollution. Religious scruples may live in a dead conscience.” (Spurgeon)

Instead of breaking Jesus' bones since Jesus was already dead, they pierced his side.  Blood and water flowed out separately confirming he was indeed dead. Unknowingly they had fulfilled yet another prophecy from Psalm 34:20 that not one of his bones would be broken.  Also, they fulfilled Zechariah 12:9 that they would look on the one they had 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.

In this final step of the earthly work of Jesus before His resurrection, the Son of God remained passive. God raised up two previously secret disciples (Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus) to receive the body of Jesus and give it the best burial they could in the short time they had before sundown and the start of Sabbath (Luke 23:54). - Guzik

Both of these men ensured Jesus had an honorable and proper burial. Though Jesus would only be in the tomb three days, these men made sure Jewish burial customs were honored and bought an expensive to lay him in. It was expensive because nobody had ever lain there before. 

Matthew 27:60 tells us that this tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea himself. A rich man like Joseph would probably have a tomb that was carved into solid rock; this tomb was in a garden near the place of crucifixion - Guzik

The door to the tomb was typically made of a heavy, circular shaped stone, running in a groove and settled down into a channel, so it could not be moved except by several strong men. This was done to ensure that no one would disturb the remains.

This door would be a crucial detail in proving the validity of the resurrection for no human being (i.e. his disciples) could have moved the heavy circular stone. All of these details of Jesus' burial come into play when he was raised from the tomb on Sunday morning!