Interpretation of the Gospel of John Chapter 19. New Testament

1–16. Christ before Pilate. – 17–29. Crucifixion of Christ. – 30–42. Death and burial of Christ.

John 19:1. Then Pilate took Jesus and ordered him to be beaten.

John 19:2. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and clothed Him in purple,

John 19:3. and they said: Rejoice, King of the Jews! and they struck Him on the cheeks.

(See Matt. 27:26; et seq.; Mark 15 et seq.).

Complementing the tales of the first evangelists about the scourging of Christ, John portrays this scourging not as a punishment that preceded, according to custom, crucifixion, but as a means by which Pilate thought to satisfy the anger of the Jews towards Christ.

John 19:4. Pilate went out again and said to them: Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I do not find any guilt in Him.

John 19:5. Then Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe. And Pilate said to them: Behold, Man!

Pilate, having punished Christ and brought Him out to the Jews with signs of beatings on his face, wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe (cf. Matt. 27:28-29), thereby showing the Jews the complete insignificance of their accusations that they brought against Christ. “Can such a person be considered as a contender for the royal crown?” - Pilate seemed to be saying this. No, Pilate does not find any serious grounds for accusing Christ of the plans attributed to Him. The words “Behold, Man!” can be understood in two ways. On the one hand, Pilate wanted to say with this exclamation that before the Jews stood a completely insignificant person, to whom attempts to seize royal power could only be attributed in mockery; on the other hand, he wanted to arouse compassion for Christ in people who were not completely hardened.

John 19:6. When the high priests and ministers saw Him, they shouted: Crucify Him, crucify Him! Pilate says to them: Take Him and crucify Him; for I find no fault in Him.

John 19:7. The Jews answered him: We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.

Nothing is said how the common people gathered in front of the procurator’s palace reacted to this pitiful spectacle: the people were silent. But the “high priests and” their “servants” began to shout loudly that Pilate must crucify Christ (cf. John 18:40, where “everyone” is depicted shouting). Annoyed by their stubbornness, Pilate again mockingly invites the Jews themselves to execute Christ, knowing that they will not dare to do this. Then the enemies of Christ show Pilate a new reason on which they demand the condemnation of Christ to death: “He did,” i.e. called himself “the Son of God.” By this, the Jews wanted to say that Christ, in conversations with them, ascribed to Himself equality with God, and this was a crime for which the death penalty was imposed in the Law of Moses (this was blasphemy or humiliation of God, Lev. 24:16).

John 19:8. Pilate, hearing this word, became more afraid.

John 19:9. And again he entered the praetorium and said to Jesus: Where are you from? But Jesus did not give him an answer.

From the very beginning of the trial of Christ, Pilate felt some fear of the Jews, whose fanaticism was well known to him (Josephus, “The Jewish War,” XI, 9, 3). Now this old fear was joined by a new superstitious fear of the Man, about whom Pilate had, of course, heard stories as a miracle worker and who had become the subject of reverent veneration among many Jews. Alarmed, he takes Christ back to the praetorium and asks Him no longer as a representative of justice, but simply as a man in whom pagan ideas about the gods who previously descended to earth and lived among people have not faded away. But Christ does not want to answer a man who was so indifferent to the truth (John 18:38), does not want to talk to him about His divine origin, since Pilate would not even understand Him.

John 19:10. Pilate says to Him: Do you not answer me? Don’t you know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?

John 19:11. Jesus answered: You would not have any power over Me if it had not been given to you from above; therefore there is greater sin on him who delivered Me to you.

Pilate realized that Christ did not recognize him as worthy of a conversation with Himself, and with a feeling of offended pride, he pointed out to Christ that He was in his hands. But Christ says in response to Pilate that he himself does not have the power to control the fate of Christ (to lay down life and take it back - this depends only on Christ Himself, John 10 et seq.; John 12 et seq.). If now Pilate has the right to condemn Christ to death, it is because it was so indicated to him (“given,” that is, appointed) from above or from God (ἄνωθεν, cf. John 3:27). It is in vain that Pilate is proud of his right as a procurator in the present case; in the cause of Christ, he is a pitiful, characterless, devoid of conscience man, who, precisely because of his inherent properties, God allowed to become the executioner of the Innocent Sufferer. However, in Christ's words about Pilate, he is not given any justification. No, he is also guilty, although his guilt is less than the guilt of the one who betrayed Christ to Pilate. In the fact that he condemned Christ, Pilate showed his low character, his corrupt nature, and although, in carrying out his bloody deed, he was fulfilling, without realizing it, the mysterious plans of God's will, nevertheless, he personally, as a judge - the guardian of justice, betrayed his calling and is subject to condemnation for it. As for the Jewish people who betrayed Christ to Pilate, and especially the high priest and priests (cf. John 18:35: “Your people and the high priests delivered you to me”), then Christ recognizes these people as guilty to a greater extent than Pilate, because they knew The Scriptures, which contained prophecies about Christ (John 5:39), and on the other hand, knew enough about the activity of Christ (John 15:24), which could not be said about the procurator, who stood far from the questions that aroused hostile feelings towards Christ in the hearts of the Jews.

John 19:12. From that time on, Pilate sought to release Him. The Jews shouted: if you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar; Anyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.

Pilate undoubtedly must have liked what Christ said about him. He saw that the defendant understood his predicament and was condescending to him. Therefore, it is better to understand the expression ἐκ τούτου here in this sense. Pilate with particular persistence began to seek the release of the defendant, although the evangelist does not say what his efforts were. This intention of Pilate was noticed by the enemies of Christ, who, for their part, intensified their efforts to achieve the condemnation of Christ. To do this, they begin to threaten Pilate with denunciation of his actions to Caesar (Tiberius) himself, who, of course, would not forgive Pilate for his frivolous attitude towards the matter, where the question of his imperial rights was raised: he took revenge for lese majeste in the most cruel way, not paying attention to the height of the position occupied by the person suspected of this crime (Suetonius. “The Life of the Twelve Caesars”, Tiberius, 58; Tacit. “Annals”, III, 38).

John 19:13. Pilate, having heard this word, brought Jesus out and sat down at the judgment seat, in a place called Liphostroton, and in Hebrew Gavvatha.

The threat of the Jews influenced Pilate, and he, changing his intention, again took Christ out of the praetorium and sat down in the judge's chair (βῆμα). He had, of course, sat on it before at the beginning of the trial of Christ, but now the evangelist notes Pilate’s ascension to the judge’s seat as something especially important and indicates the day and hour of the event. By this the evangelist wants to say that Pilate decided to pronounce a guilty verdict over Christ. The place on which Pilate’s judge’s chair was placed, says the evangelist, was called in Greek Liphostroton (actually, a mosaic floor) - this is what the Greek-speaking residents of Jerusalem called it, and in Hebrew - Gavvatha (according to one interpretation - “exaltation”, in another way - “dish”).

John 19:14. Then it was the Friday before Easter, and it was six o’clock. And Pilate said to the Jews: Behold, your King!

John says that the condemnation of Christ to crucifixion and, therefore, the crucifixion itself took place on the Friday before Easter (more precisely, “on the Friday of Easter,” replacing with this the indication of the Evangelist Mark “the Friday that is before the Sabbath” - Mark 15:42). By this he wanted to note the special importance of the day on which Christ was crucified. Christ, so to speak, is preparing for the slaughter (the word “Friday” itself in Greek means “preparation,” and the readers of the Gospel well understood the meaning of this), just as the lamb was preparing for the night meal on the eve of Easter.

“The sixth hour”, i.e. twelfth. It would be more accurate to translate “about twelve” (ὡς ἕκτη). Some interpreters (especially Gladkov in ours in the 3rd edition of his exegetical Gospel, pp. 718–722) try to prove that the evangelist counts here according to the Roman, and not the Judeo-Babylonian, reckoning, i.e. means the sixth hour of the morning, in accordance with the instructions of the Evangelist Mark, according to whom Christ was crucified at the “third”, i.e., according to Roman reckoning, at the ninth hour of the morning (Mark 15:25). But this assumption is contradicted by the fact that none of the ancient church interpreters resorted to this method of agreeing on the testimony of the evangelists Mark and John. Moreover, it is known that at the time when the Apostle John wrote his Gospel, throughout the Greco-Roman world the hours of the day were counted in the same way as among the Jews, from sunrise to sunset (Pliny, Natural History, II, 188). It is very likely that in this case John wanted to more accurately determine the time of Christ’s crucifixion than it is indicated in Mark.

In conclusion, Pilate makes a last attempt to save Christ, again pointing out to the Jews that they are handing over their king to execution. “Other nations will hear,” Pilate wants to say, “that the king was crucified in Judea, and this will bring shame to you.”

John 19:15. But they shouted: take him, take him, crucify him! Pilate says to them: Shall I crucify your king? The high priests answered: We have no king except Caesar.

The high priests do not even want to listen to Pilate’s admonitions; they have completely abandoned all national dreams of their own Jewish king; they have become, or at least show themselves, loyal subjects of Caesar.

John 19:16. Then finally he handed Him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away.

John 19:17. And, bearing His cross, He went out to a place called Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha;

John 19:18. there they crucified Him and two others with Him, on one side and the other, and in the middle was Jesus.

(See comments on Matthew 27:24-38 and parallel passages.)

Why doesn't John mention Simon the Cyrene? It is very likely that by this he wanted to deprive the opinion that existed among the ancient Gnostic Basilidians of support, that instead of Christ on the cross, Simon was crucified by mistake (Irenaeus of Lyons. “Against Heresies”, I, 24, 4).

John 19:19. Pilate also wrote the inscription and placed it on the cross. It was written: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

John 19:20. This inscription was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Roman.

John 19:21. The chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Do not write: King of the Jews, but what He said: I am the King of the Jews.

John 19:22. Pilate answered: What I wrote, I wrote.

About the inscription on the cross of Christ, the Evangelist John says that the Jews were extremely dissatisfied with it, because it did not accurately express the crime of Jesus, and yet it could be read by all the Jews passing by Calvary, many of whom did not know how “their king” ended up on the cross. Pilate did not agree to the demand of the Jewish high priests to correct the inscription, wanting, it seems, to put them in an awkward position in front of those who did not participate in the betrayal of Christ to Pilate. It may very well be that John, depicting this detail, wanted to indicate to his readers that the Providence of God acted in this case through a stubborn pagan, announcing to the whole world about the royal dignity of the Crucified Christ and His victory (St. John Chrysostom).

John 19:23. When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, and a tunic; The tunic was not sewn, but entirely woven on top.

John 19:24. So they said to each other: Let us not tear it apart, but let us cast lots for it, whose it will be, so that what is said in the Scripture may be fulfilled: They divided My garments among themselves, and cast lots for My clothing. This is what the warriors did.

John does not narrate in detail about Christ’s stay on the cross, but paints four striking pictures before the reader’s gaze. Here is the first picture - the division of the clothes of Christ by the soldiers, which is only briefly mentioned by the weather forecasters. One John reports that, firstly, the tunic was not divided into parts, secondly, the clothes were divided between four soldiers and, thirdly, in the division of Christ's clothes the prophecy about the Messiah, found in the 21st Psalm, was fulfilled (Ps. 21:19). There were four soldiers who were tasked with crucifying Christ, and therefore Christ’s outer garments were divided into four parts, but exactly how is unknown. The lower garment, the chiton, as woven, could not be cut into pieces, because then all the fabric would unravel. Therefore, the warriors decided to cast lots for the tunic. Perhaps John, in reporting this preservation of the tunic of Christ intact, wanted to point out the need for unity of the Church of Christ (Cyprian of Carthage. “On the unity of the Catholic Church,” 7).

John 19:25. Standing at the cross of Jesus were His Mother and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

John 19:26. Jesus, seeing His Mother and the disciple standing there, whom He loved, said to His Mother: Woman! Behold, Your son.

John 19:27. Then he says to the disciple: Behold, your Mother! And from that time on, this disciple took Her to himself.

Here the evangelist paints us another picture, which presents a sharp contrast with the first: Christ entrusts His Mother to the care of His beloved disciple.

How many women stood at the cross? Some interpreters say three, others say four. The second opinion seems more likely, because it would be unnatural to assume that the evangelist would accurately call the sister of the Most Holy Theotokos by name when he did not name the Mother of Christ Herself. Meanwhile, it is very natural to assume that the evangelist mentions four women standing in pairs, of which he does not name the first two by name (this explains the double use of the particle “and”). For Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas, see comments on Matt. 20:20; OK. 8:2, 24:18. But who was the sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary? There is nothing incredible in the assumption (which Tsang makes) that John here means his own mother, whom, like himself, he does not call by name out of modesty. With this assumption, it is very natural for John and James to claim a special role in the Kingdom of Christ (Matthew 20ff.) and the assignment of the Most Holy Theotokos to John, who was thus a close relative of Christ. Although the Blessed Virgin could have found shelter with the sons of Joseph, they were not close in spirit to Her Son (John 7:5) and, therefore, also to Her.

Why does Christ call His Mother simply a woman? On the one hand, He shows by this that from now on He belongs to all people, that the natural ties that hitherto connected Him with the Blessed Mother are now resolved (cf. John 20:17), and on the other hand, He expresses His compassion to Her precisely as orphaned woman.

John then took the Most Holy Virgin with him to take Her to his father’s house in Capernaum - such, of course, was his intention then. But this intention was not realized, and John and the Blessed Virgin remained in Jerusalem until Her death, after after the resurrection of Christ they spent three weeks in Galilee, where they went at the command of Christ Himself (cf. Matt. 26:32).

John 19:28. After this, Jesus, knowing that everything had already been accomplished so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says: I thirst.

John 19:29. There was a vessel full of vinegar. The soldiers filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop and brought it to His lips.

John 19:30. When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

Here the evangelist paints a third picture for us - the picture of the death of the Crucified Christ. “After that”, i.e. after Christ fulfilled His filial duty towards the Mother.

“Knowing that everything has already been accomplished,” i.e. knowing that everything that was fitting for Him to accomplish in His earthly life had been completed.

“Let the Scripture be fulfilled, says: I thirst.” Some interpreters (among ours, for example, Bishop Michael) attribute the expression “let the Scripture be fulfilled” to the verb “says” and conclude that the evangelist in Christ’s exclamation “thirst” sees the exact fulfillment of the prophecy contained in the psalm: “in thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Ps. 68:22). But it is difficult to agree with such a conclusion, firstly, because in the cited passage from the psalm there is no expression “I thirst,” and secondly, because the expression of the Greek text, translated into Russian by the expression “may it come true,” would be more correct replace with the expression “so that it may be brought to completion” (the verb used is τελειοῦν, not πληροῦν), so Tsang’s plausible opinion is that here the evangelist wants to say that although it was “finished,” it was, however, lacking one of the most important things that should All the writings of the Old Testament were to find their completion (“that the Scripture might be fulfilled”)—namely, the death of Christ. But the death of Christ to His own consciousness and the consciousness of the apostles was presented as a free and conscious surrender into the hands of God the Father of the life of Christ, as a voluntary act of Christ’s love for humanity (John 10:11, 14:31). Therefore, tormented by a terrible thirst, which overshadowed the consciousness of those hanged on the cross, Christ asks to drink in order to get relief for at least a few moments and breathe His last breath with full consciousness. And only John alone reports that Christ, having strengthened himself with vinegar, said: “It is finished,” i.e. for Him there is no longer any duty that would bind Him to life (On hyssop, see comments on Ex. 12:22).

John 19:31. But since it was Friday then, the Jews, in order not to leave the bodies on the cross on Saturday - for that Saturday was a great day - asked Pilate to break their legs and take them off.

John 19:32. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him.

John 19:33. But when they came to Jesus, when they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs,

John 19:34. but one of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

Here the evangelist paints a fourth and final picture. Representatives of the Sanhedrin asked the procurator that the bodies of the crucified be removed by the coming Sabbath, since the Law of Moses required that the body of a criminal who was hanged on a tree should not remain there overnight, but should be buried on the very day of execution (Deut. 21 :22-23). The Jews wanted to fulfill this law all the more because the Passover holiday came along with the Sabbath. For this, it was necessary to finish off the criminals who were hanged on the cross (their legs were broken). Pilate agreed to this, and the soldiers who came to the place of execution soon put an end to the two criminals hanged on both sides of Christ, but Jesus, noticing that he had died, was left untouched. Only one of the soldiers, probably wanting to eliminate any possibility of burying the supposedly deceased, hit Christ in the side with a spear. This blow, which pierced the heart of Christ, was supposed to extinguish the last spark of life, if any was still smoldering in the heart of Christ. The evangelist, mentioning this event, wanted to prove the reality of the death of Christ in contrast to those heretics who (mainly Kerinth) said that Christ did not die on the cross, because He had only a ghostly body.

At the same time, the evangelist points to an amazing circumstance that took place when Christ’s side was pierced. From the wound caused by the blow of the spear, “blood and water flowed out” (more correctly, “protruded”). The evangelist mentions this, firstly, as an extraordinary phenomenon, since blood and water do not flow from the body of the deceased when pierced, and secondly, he wants to show here that by the death of Christ believers received blood that cleanses from hereditary sin, and water, which in the Scriptures of the Old Testament is a symbol of the grace of the Holy Spirit (see Isa. 44:3). John repeats the last thought in his first Epistle, saying that Christ, as the true Messiah-Redeemer, came or appeared “by water and blood” (1 John 5:6).

John 19:35. And he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true; he knows that he speaks the truth so that you may believe.

“And he who saw it testified...” According to the explanation of the Fathers of the Church (St. John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria), the evangelist here speaks about himself, out of humility, as in other places, without directly mentioning his name. He insists that his testimony is completely true in view of the fact that in his time the reports of miraculous events in the life of Christ were sometimes viewed with great distrust (see Luke 24:11, 22; 2 Pet. 1:16). Finally, with regard to his reports of miracles performed at the time of the death of Christ, of which he alone speaks, he could be suspected of wanting to elevate his authority over other writers of the Gospels, and he therefore declares in advance that he had no other purpose in doing so , how to establish faith in Christ in your readers.

John 19:36. For this happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled: Let not His bone be broken.

John 19:37. Also in another place the Scripture says: they will look at Him whom they have pierced.

The evangelist has just said that he is driven to testify to the extraordinary flow of blood and water from the side of Christ in order to confirm his readers’ faith in Jesus Christ. Now, to further strengthen their faith, he points out that in the designated event, as well as in the non-breaking of Christ’s legs (the Greek text says: ἐγένετο ταῦτα - these events happened, and not “this happened”) two predictions of the Old Testament were fulfilled: the institution regarding the Passover lamb (Exodus 12:46) and 2) the prophetic word of Zechariah (Zechariah 12:10).

Just as it was forbidden to break the bones of the Passover lamb, so Christ’s bones remained completely intact, although one could expect that they would certainly be broken, just like those of the thieves crucified with Christ. In this, the evangelist wants to say, it turned out that Christ was the true Passover Lamb, thanks to Whom people are saved from eternal death, just as the firstborn Jews were once saved from temporary death by the blood of a simple Passover lamb.

As for the prophecy of Zechariah, who spoke about how the chosen people of God would eventually look with repentance at Jehovah, whom he had pierced, the evangelist, without going into detailed explanations, only notes that this prophecy, incomprehensible to the reader of the book of Zechariah, it became clear to those who looked at Christ pierced by a spear: from now on they will now look with faith at Him Who was pierced, i.e. will (Jews, and partly pagans, whose representatives were Roman soldiers) will reverently recognize in Christ their Redeemer, Who exudes grace that revives people.

John 19:38. After this, Joseph from Arimathea - a disciple of Jesus, but secretly out of fear from the Jews - asked Pilate to remove the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed it. He went and took down the body of Jesus.

John 19:39. Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also came and brought a composition of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred liters.

John 19:40. So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in swaddling clothes with spices, as the Jews are wont to bury.

John 19:41. In the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden there was a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid.

John 19:42. They laid Jesus there for the sake of the Friday of Judea, because the tomb was close.

Reporting here about the removal from the cross and burial of Christ, John makes some additions to the narrative of the weather forecasters (Matthew 27:57-60; Mark 15:42-46; Luke 23:50-53). Thus, he alone mentions the participation of Nicodemus in the burial of Christ (about Nicodemus, see John 3). This secret follower of Christ brought a huge amount of aromatic substances, namely, a composition of myrrh resin and aloes wood (cf. Mark 16:1), in order to abundantly anoint both the body and the burial shrouds of Christ, with this, obviously, Nicodemus wanted to express his great reverence for Christ. It is also probable, however, that the opinion (expressed by Loisy) was that John wanted by this mention of two outstanding representatives of Judaism to show that in their person all Judaism paid its last respects to its King.

Also, one John notes that the tomb of Christ was in the garden. Does he not give a hint that this garden should appear as a new Eden, where the new Adam Christ, risen from the grave, will appear in his glorified human nature, just as the ancient Adam once entered into life in the garden?

Finally, one John notes that Christ was buried in a garden located near the site of the crucifixion because it was Jewish Friday. By this he wants to say that Joseph and Nicodemus were in a hurry with the burial of Christ in order to finish it by the onset of the Sabbath. If they had taken the body of Christ somewhere far away from Calvary, they would have had to seize part of the Sabbath and disrupt the peace of the Sabbath day.

Then Pilate took Jesus and ordered beat Him.And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and clothed Him in purple,and they said: Rejoice, King of the Jews! And they beat Him on the cheeks.

Pilate went out again and said to them: Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I do not find any guilt in Him.Then Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe. And he told them Pilate: behold, Man!

When the high priests and ministers saw Him, they shouted: Crucify Him, crucify Him!

Pilate says to them: Take Him and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.

The Jews answered him: We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.

Pilate, hearing this word, became more afraid.And again he entered the praetorium and said to Jesus: Where are you from? But Jesus did not give him an answer.

Pilate says to Him: Do you not answer me? Don’t you know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?

Jesus answered: you would not have any power over Me if it had not been given to you from above; therefore there is greater sin on him who delivered Me to you.

From this time Pilate sought to release Him. The Jews shouted: if you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar; Anyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.Pilate, having heard this word, brought Jesus out and sat down at the judgment seat, in a place called Liphostroton, and in Hebrew Gavvatha.Then it was the Friday before Easter, and it was six o’clock. And said Pilate To the Jews: Behold, your King!

But they shouted: take him, take him, crucify him!

Pilate says to them: Shall I crucify your king?

The high priests answered: We have no king except Caesar.

Then finally he handed Him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away.

And, bearing His cross, He went out to a place called Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha;there they crucified Him and two others with Him, on one side and the other, and in the middle was Jesus.Pilate also wrote the inscription and placed it on the cross. It was written: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”This inscription was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Roman.The chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Do not write: “King of the Jews,” but that He said: “I am the King of the Jews.”

Pilate answered: What I wrote, I wrote.

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, and a tunic; The tunic was not sewn, but entirely woven on top.So they said to each other: “Let us not tear it apart, but let us cast lots for it, whose it will be, so that what is said in Scripture may be fulfilled: “They divided My garments among themselves, and cast lots for My clothing.” This is what the warriors did.

Standing at the cross of Jesus were His Mother and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.Jesus, seeing His Mother and the disciple standing there, whom He loved, says to His Mother: Woman! Behold, Your son.Then he says to the disciple: Behold, your Mother! And from that time on, this disciple took Her to himself.

After this, Jesus, knowing that everything had already been accomplished so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says: I thirst.There was a vessel full of vinegar. Warriors Having filled a sponge with vinegar and placed it on hyssop, they brought it to His lips.When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

But since Then It was Friday, then the Jews, so as not to leave the bodies on the cross on Saturday - for that Saturday was a great day - asked Pilate to break their legs and take them off.So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him.But when they came to Jesus, when they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs,but one of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.

And he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true; he knows that he speaks the truth so that you may believe.For this happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Let not His bone be broken.”Also in other place Scripture says: “They will look at Him whom they have pierced.”

After this, Joseph from Arimathea - a disciple of Jesus, but secretly out of fear from the Jews - asked Pilate to remove the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed it. He went and took down the body of Jesus.Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also came and brought a composition of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred liters.So, they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in swaddling clothes with incense, as the Jews usually bury.In the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden there was a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid.They laid Jesus there for the sake of the Friday of Judea, because the tomb was close.

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and ordered him to be beaten.

2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and clothed Him in scarlet robe,

3 And they said: Rejoice, King of the Jews! and they struck Him on the cheeks.

Jesus wearing a crown of thorns. Artist G. Dore

4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”

5 Then Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe. And Pilate said to them: Behold, Man!

6 When the chief priests and ministers saw Him, they shouted: Crucify Him, crucify Him! Pilate says to them: Take Him and crucify Him; for I find no fault in Him.

7 The Jews answered him: We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.

8 When Pilate heard this word, he was more afraid.

9 And he entered the praetorium again and said to Jesus: Where are you from? But Jesus did not give him an answer.

10 Pilate says to Him, “Are you not answering me?” Don’t you know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?

11 Jesus answered: You would have no power over Me unless it had been given to you from above; therefore there is greater sin on him who delivered Me to you.

12 From that time on, Pilate sought to release Him. The Jews shouted: if you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar; Anyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.

13 Pilate, having heard this word, brought Jesus out and sat down at the judgment seat, in a place called Liphostroton, and in Hebrew Gabbath.

14 Then it was the Friday before Easter, and it was six o’clock. And Pilate said to the Jews: Behold, your King!

15 But they shouted: Take him, take him, crucify him! Pilate says to them: Shall I crucify your king? The high priests answered: We have no king except Caesar.

Crucify Him! Artist Y. Sh von KAROLSFELD

16 Then at last he handed Him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away.

Crucify Him! Artist G. Dore

17 And, bearing His cross, He went out to a place called Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha;

18 There they crucified Him and two others with Him, on this side and on the other, and Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and placed it on the cross. It was written: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.

20 This inscription was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Roman.

Crucifixion. Artist G. Dore

21 But the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write: King of the Jews, but what He said: I am the King of the Jews.

22 Pilate answered, “What I wrote, I wrote.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, a piece for each soldier, and a tunic; The tunic was not sewn, but entirely woven on top.

24 So they said to each other, “Let us not rend him, but let us cast lots for him, whose it will be, so that what is said in the Scripture may be fulfilled: They divided my garments among themselves, and cast lots for my clothing.” This is what the warriors did.

25 Standing at the cross of Jesus were His Mother and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 Jesus, seeing His Mother and the disciple standing there, whom He loved, said to His Mother: Woman! Behold, Your son.

27 Then he said to the disciple: Behold, your mother! And from that time on, this disciple took Her to himself.

28 After this Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst.”

29 There stood a vessel full of vinegar. The soldiers filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop and brought it to His lips.

30 When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

Crucifixion. Artist Y. Sh von KAROLSFELD

31 But since it was Friday, the Jews, in order not to leave the bodies on the cross on Saturday - for that Saturday was a high day - asked Pilate to break their legs and take them off.

32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him.

33 But when they came to Jesus, when they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs,

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

35 And he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true; he knows that he speaks the truth so that you may believe.

36 For this was done, that the scripture might be fulfilled: Let not his bone be broken.

37 Also in another place the Scripture says: They will look at Him whom they have pierced.

38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, but secretly out of fear from the Jews, asked Pilate to take down the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed it. He went and took down the body of Jesus.

39 Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also came and brought a composition of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred liters.

Funeral of Jesus (wrapped in linen). Artist G. Dore

40 So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in swaddling clothes with spices, as the Jews are wont to bury.

41 In the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.

Burial. Artist Y. Sh von KAROLSFELD

42 They laid Jesus there because of the Friday of the Jews, because the tomb was near.

Funeral of Jesus (placed in a tomb). Artist G. Dore
Then Pilate took Jesus and [ordered] him to be beaten.
And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and clothed Him in purple,
and they said: Rejoice, King of the Jews! and they struck Him on the cheeks.
Pilate went out again and said to them: Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I do not find any guilt in Him.
Then Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe. And [Pilate] said to them: Behold, Man!
When the high priests and ministers saw Him, they shouted: Crucify Him, crucify Him! Pilate says to them: Take Him and crucify Him; for I find no fault in Him.
The Jews answered him: We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.
Pilate, hearing this word, became more afraid.

And again he entered the praetorium and said to Jesus: Where are you from? But Jesus did not give him an answer.
Pilate says to Him: Do you not answer me? Don’t you know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?
Jesus answered: You would not have any power over Me if it had not been given to you from above; therefore there is greater sin on him who delivered Me to you.
From that time on, Pilate sought to release Him. The Jews shouted: if you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar; Anyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.
Pilate, having heard this word, brought Jesus out and sat down at the judgment seat, in a place called Liphostroton, and in Hebrew Gavvatha.
Then it was the Friday before Easter, and it was six o’clock. And [Pilate] said to the Jews: Behold, your King!
But they shouted: take him, take him, crucify him! Pilate says to them: Shall I crucify your king? The high priests answered: We have no king except Caesar.
Then finally he handed Him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away.
And, bearing His cross, He went out to a place called Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha;
there they crucified Him and two others with Him, on one side and the other, and in the middle was Jesus.
Pilate also wrote the inscription and placed it on the cross. It was written: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
This inscription was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Roman.
The chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate: Do not write: King of the Jews, but what He said: I am the King of the Jews.
Pilate answered: What I wrote, I wrote.
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, and a tunic; The tunic was not sewn, but entirely woven on top.
So they said to each other: Let us not tear it apart, but let us cast lots for it, whose it will be, so that what is said in the Scripture may be fulfilled: They divided My garments among themselves, and cast lots for My clothing. This is what the warriors did.
Standing at the cross of Jesus were His Mother and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.
Jesus, seeing His Mother and the disciple standing there, whom He loved, said to His Mother: Woman! Behold, Your son.
Then he says to the disciple: Behold, your Mother! And from that time on, this disciple took Her to himself.
After this, Jesus, knowing that everything had already been accomplished so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, says: I thirst.
There was a vessel full of vinegar. [The soldiers] filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop, and brought it to His lips.
When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
But since [then] it was Friday, the Jews, so as not to leave the bodies on the cross on Saturday - for that Saturday was a great day - asked Pilate to break their legs and take them off.
So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him.
But when they came to Jesus, when they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs,
but one of the soldiers pierced His ribs with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
And he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true; he knows that he speaks the truth so that you may believe.
For this happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled: Let not His bone be broken.
Also in another [place] Scripture says: They will look at Him whom they have pierced.
After this, Joseph from Arimathea - a disciple of Jesus, but secretly out of fear from the Jews - asked Pilate to remove the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed it. He went and took down the body of Jesus.
Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also came and brought a composition of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred liters.
So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in swaddling clothes with spices, as the Jews are wont to bury.
In the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden there was a new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid.
They laid Jesus there for the sake of the Friday of Judea, because the tomb was close.
(John 19:1-42).

 1 The flagellation of Jesus; crown of thorns and scarlet; “Crucify Him”! Pilate handed Him over to be crucified. 19 “King of the Jews”; 23 The soldiers cast lots for the tunic; 25 Mother of Jesus. 28 Jesus gave up the spirit; the warrior pierced His ribs. 38 Joseph and Nicodemus buried Jesus' body in a new tomb.

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and ordered beat Him.

2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and clothed Him in scarlet robe,

3 And they said: Rejoice, King of the Jews! and they struck Him on the cheeks.

4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.”

5 Then Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe. And he told them Pilate: behold, Man!

6 When the chief priests and ministers saw Him, they shouted: Crucify Him, crucify Him! Pilate says to them: Take Him and crucify Him; for I find no fault in Him.

7 The Jews answered him: We have a law, and according to our law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.

8 When Pilate heard this word, he was more afraid.

9 And he entered the praetorium again and said to Jesus: Where are you from? But Jesus did not give him an answer.

10 Pilate says to Him, “Are you not answering me?” Don’t you know that I have the power to crucify You and the power to release You?

11 Jesus answered: you would not have any power over Me if it had not been given to you from above; therefore there is greater sin on him who delivered Me to you.

12 From this time Pilate sought to release Him. The Jews shouted: if you let Him go, you are not a friend of Caesar; Anyone who makes himself a king is an opponent of Caesar.

13 When Pilate heard this word, he brought Jesus out and sat down at the judgment seat, in a place called Liphostroton, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.

14 Then it was the Friday before Easter, and it was six o’clock. And said Pilate To the Jews: Behold, your King!

15 But they shouted: Take him, take him, crucify him! Pilate says to them: Shall I crucify your king? The high priests answered: We have no king except Caesar.

16 Then at last he handed Him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away.

17 And, bearing His cross, He went out to a place called Skull, in Hebrew Golgotha;

18 There they crucified Him and two others with Him, on this side and on the other, and Jesus in the middle.

19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and placed it on the cross. It was written: “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”

20 This inscription was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was not far from the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Roman.

21 But the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write, “King of the Jews,” but that He said, “I am the King of the Jews.”

22 Pilate answered, “What I wrote, I wrote.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, a piece for each soldier, and a tunic; The tunic was not sewn, but entirely woven on top.

24 So they said to each other, “Let us not tear it apart, but let us cast lots for it, whose it will be, so that what is said in the Scripture may be fulfilled: “They divided my garments among themselves, and cast lots for my clothing.” This is what the warriors did.

25 Standing at the cross of Jesus were His Mother and His Mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 Jesus, seeing His Mother and the disciple standing there, whom He loved, said to His Mother: Wife! behold, your son.

27 Then he said to the disciple: Behold, your mother! And from that time on, this disciple took Her to himself.

28 After this Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst.”

29 There stood a vessel full of vinegar. Warriors, having filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on hyssop, they brought it to His lips.

30 When Jesus tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” And, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

31 But since Then It was Friday, then the Jews, so as not to leave the bodies on the cross on Saturday - for that Saturday was a great day - asked Pilate to break their legs and take them off.

32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with Him.

33 But when they came to Jesus, when they saw Him already dead, they did not break His legs,

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

35 And he who saw it bore witness, and his testimony is true; he knows that he speaks the truth so that you may believe.

36 For this happened, that the scripture might be fulfilled: “Let not his bone be broken.”

37 Also in another place Scripture says: “They will look at Him whom they have pierced.”

38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, a disciple of Jesus, but secretly out of fear from the Jews, asked Pilate to take down the body of Jesus; and Pilate allowed it. He went and took down the body of Jesus.

39 Nicodemus, who had previously come to Jesus at night, also came and brought a composition of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred liters.

40 So they took the body of Jesus and wrapped it in linens with spices, as the Jews are wont to bury.

41 In the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid.

42 They laid Jesus there because of the Friday of the Jews, because the tomb was near.