John 19:16-24, 30
Jesus’ Crucifixion
We continue to study through John’s account of the crucifixion of
Jesus.
1. Jesus’ arrest.
2. Jesus’ trial.
3. Jesus’ interrogation.
4. Jesus’ suffering.
5. Jesus’ crucifixion.
After being paraded through the streets of Jerusalem, John simply
says, "They crucified Him" \\#20\\. From the remainder of the verse,
it is apparent that Jesus was not the only One crucified, but that
He was crucified between two thieves. This was in fulfillment of
Isaiah 53:12 "…he was numbered with the transgressors." God wanted
Jesus not only to hang AS a transgressor. He wanted Jesus to hang
WITH the transgressors. It must have been to identify Him with us
because thieves and murderers certainly have little in common with
Him!
I. Consider the drink they gave Jesus.
A. Matthew told us of one thing done before the nails are driven
into the victims’ bodies.
Matthew 27:33 And when they were come unto a
place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place
of a skull,
34 They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with
gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would
not drink.
1. This vinegar was mixed with gall to form an anesthetic.
a. The vinegar was a wine mixed with water and eggs
called posca.
b. The gall is thought to have been a herb used to
deaden the senses.
c. This, Jesus refused to take.
http://www.keyway.ca/htm2001/20011228.htm
2. Before you get the notion that the Romans were getting
soft, I am certain they gave this for their benefit and
not the victims.
a. This might make it a bit easier to get the victim
nailed in place although it doesn’t seem very likley.
Most herbs don’t work instantly.
b. It also allowed the victim to endure more pain and
prolong the crucifixion process.
B. This potion is not to be confused with the potion offered to
Jesus toward the end of the crucifixion.
John 19:28 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 vinegar, and put
it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth.
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar,
he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head,
and gave up the ghost.
a. This was just cheap wine (posca) often drank among
soldiers.
b. Alcohol without the herbs would actually have
stimulated the body and heightened His senses.
c. It appears to have been used in Jesus’ crucifixion as
a smelling sauce might be today.
II. Consider the nails they used to hold Him to the cross.
A. We know that Jesus was nailed to the cross because it was
prophesied and confirmed by the disciples.
Psalms 22:16 For dogs have compassed me: the
assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they
pierced my hands and my feet.
Joh 20:25 The other disciples therefore said
unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said
unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the
print of the nails, and put my finger into the
print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe.
B. However, I read that some victims were simply tied to the
cross.
http://www.bible.ca/d-history-archeology-crucifixion-cross.htm
C. Only one victim of crucifixion has ever been found in
Israel. The tomb was discovered in 1968 and the victim
was estimated to have died in the first century.
1. We know this victim was nailed to his cross, in part
because the nail head had bent over, making it too
difficult to remove the nail. Hence, he had been
buried with the nail still impaling him. (That was
rare because iron was expensive, making retrieval of
the nails a common practice.)
2. The point of the nail had olive wood fragments in it,
indicating the victim was nailed to a Olive tree.
Since Olive trees don’t grow very tall, it is
assumed that he was crucified at eye level.
3. From that victim’s heel, it would seem that the feet were
nailed to the cross from the side not from the front.
4. In addition, acacia wood was found between the head
of the nail and the bone, indicting a piece of wood
was placed over the foot to keep the nail head from
being pulled through the flesh.
5. The nail used in that case was a little over 4 inches
long, suggesting that each foot had been nailed s
separately.
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Crucifixion#2.
However, I have seen what is supposed to be genuine
Roman nail replicas where the nails were spikes
approximately 8 inches long. These nails could have
been used to nail both feet at the same time.
http://www.booksofthebible.com/p3247.html
6. Apparently, nails were not always driven in the same place
along the hands or arms.
a. This man was likely nailed to the cross in the
forearm. A scratch along the radius bone and the
intact wrists lead to that conclusion.
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Crucifixion#2.
b. The Bible never tells us exactly what part of Jesus’
body was nailed to the cross. It is believed that
Renascence artists gained their insight from
John 20:25, 27.
John 20:25 The other disciples therefore said
unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto
them, Except I shall see in his hands the print
of the nails, and put my finger into the print of
the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I
will not believe.
27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy
finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy
hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not
faithless, but believing.
c. In his book, "Basic of Biblical Greek" by William D.
Mounce, he defined the Greek word used for hand as
meaning "the finger, the hand, or the arm."
d. Although I do not find other sources with a
definition so encompassing, it would give credibility
to what I have often heard which is that Jesus was
likely crucified in the wrists, as it is supposed
that if a nail were driven through the palm of a hand,
it would simply tear out while trying to bear the
weight of the victim.
http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/b-greek/2004-February/028463.html
7. In 2003, I fell, shattering my left wrist. I can only
imagine that a spike as wide as 3/8" would likewise
shatter much of the wrist area. I can testify that the
pain from that broken wrist was severe. I cannot imagine
having a nail impale both wrists and feet, then having to
put all the weight of my body on those points for hours
or even days, to hold myself up.
8. It does seem to be accepted that crosses usually had a
small seat called a "sedile" attached about half way up
on the front.
a. The sedile was just a thin board nailed long ways
across the upright stake.
b. It was not expected to be a real seat just a board the
victim could push against for a few seconds to take
the pressure off his hands and feet. The sedile was
not meant as much to give any real relief to the
victim as to prolong his death.
http://wapedia.mobi/en/Crucifixion#2.
III. Consider the time of the crucifixion.
A. The Bible gives the times of the crucifixion.
B. The simplest understanding being it occurred from 9AM to 3PM.
Mark 15:25 And it was the third hour, and they
crucified him. (9 AM)
C. Around noon, the sun darkened.
Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until
the ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?
which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
35 And some of them that stood by, when they
heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of
vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him
to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether
Elias will come to take him down.
37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave
up the ghost.
IV. Consider Jesus’ death.
A. Medically, the suffering of the cross has been documented.
Ultimately, the mechanism of death in crucifixion was suffocation. To
breathe, the victim was forced to push up on his feet to allow for
inflation of the lungs. As the body weakened and pain in the feet and
legs became unbearable, the victim was then forced to trade breathing
for relief from that pain and exhaustion. Eventually, the victim
would succumb in this way, becoming utterly exhausted or lapsing into
unconsciousness so that he could no longer lift his body off the
stipes and inflate his lungs. Due to the shallow breathing, the
victim’s lungs would begin to collapse in areas, probably causing
hypoxia. Due to the loss of blood from the scourging, the victim
probably formed a respiratory acidosis, resulting in an increased
strain on the heart, which beats faster to compensate. Fluid would
also build up in the lungs. Under the stress of hypoxia and acidosis,
the heart would eventually fail.
http://www.allaboutjesuschrist.org/crucifixion.htm
B. Even knowing these things, you and I can only see a small
portion of what Jesus suffered for our sakes. The greater
suffering was His spiritual suffering, only indicated by two
of Jesus’ last statements.
1. Somehow, Jesus, God’s Son, was separated from the Father.
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus
cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
2. Somehow, Jesus paid for all of our sins WHILE He was on
the cross.
John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he
bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
3. He endured your hell and mine while hanging on that cross.
What’s more, He endured hell for every human being that
has or will be born. What great love He has shown to us!
V. Consider the noise in the background.
A. While having little to do with what was really happening, the
crucifixion itself, there were a lot of things going on in the
background.
1. \\#19\\ Pilate’s last thought on Jesus was written and
posted. It was the charge against Jesus.
2. \\#26-27\\ One of Jesus’ last thoughts was for His mother.
He places her in the charge of John.
3. \\#31\\ One of the Pharisees’ last thoughts is seen in
that even in the midst of their wicked hypocrisy, they
wanted to preserve the next holy day and so had the legs
of the thieves broken.
B. None of this changes the real details. Jesus was dying for
our sins.
C. It just makes a reality of death more obvious.
1. Here the most important Person of all was dying and the
world kept on tooling on.
a. Heaven stopped and took notice.
b. The cosmos stopped and took notice.
c. But the earth kept on spinning and people kept on
sinning.
2. I pray you and I have not! Have you seen the Man on the
cross? Have you acknowledged the Man on the cross? Have
you asked that man to save you from sin?
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