John Bible Study - Lesson 48

John Bible Study - Lesson 48

Read the passage below using the 2 different Bible translations:

John 19:1-16 New International Version (NIV)

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.

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 Aramaicis 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.

John 19:1-16 New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus Sentenced to Death

19 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. ² The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. ³ “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.

⁴ Pilate went outside again and said to the people, “I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.”⁵ Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”

⁶ When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

“Take him yourselves and crucify him,” Pilate said. “I find him not guilty.”

⁷ The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. ⁹ He took Jesus back into the headquarters^[a] again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. ¹⁰ “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

¹¹ Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹² Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.’^[b] Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”

¹³ When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people,^[c]“Look, here is your king!”

¹⁵ “Away with him,” they yelled. “Away with him! Crucify him!”

“What? Crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

¹⁶ Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Note:

Here are the 3 questions for you to answer. I have given some basic answers below the questions to help you understand the passage. Answer the questions first yourself before you look at my answers. Take a moment before you begin and ask God to help you understand what you are reading.

3 questions to answer:

1.    Content: What is this passage about?

2.    Lesson: What do I learn from this passage?

3.    Application: How can I apply what I have learned to my life?

Answers to the questions above and some background:

Content: What is this passage about?

·        Pilate had Jesus flogged.

·        The soldiers mocked Jesus by placing a crown of thorns and a purple robe on Him, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” They also slapped and spit on Him.

·        Pilate brings Jesus out to the people, which included the leading priests and Temple guards, and pronounced Him not guilty, but they called for Jesus’ crucifixion.

·        Pilate found Jesus not guilty and does not want to pronounce sentence but instead calls for the Jews to crucify Jesus.

·        But the Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.” The Jewish leaders remember, accused Jesus of Blasphemy.

·        Pilate, frightened by the response of the crowd, brings Him inside and  again questions Jesus.  Pilate said he had the power to release or crucify Jesus.

·        Jesus responded: “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.”

·        Pilate brings Jesus out to the crowd again to try to free Jesus but the crowd insists that Jesus be crucified.

·        Pilate finally turns Jesus over to be crucified.

Lesson: What do I learn from this passage?

·        Jesus is mocked and beaten which fulfilled prophecy:

Isaiah 50:6 New International Version (NIV)

I offered my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard;
I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting

Bible prophecy: Isaiah 50:6
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 31 AD

Jesus did not try to defend Himself in front of His accusers:

John 19:8-10

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. ⁹ He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. ¹⁰ “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

Isaiah 53:7New International Version (NIV)

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

Bible prophecy: Isaiah 53:7
Prophecy written: Between 701-681 BC
Prophecy fulfilled: About 31 AD

·        Jesus knew His mission and purpose. He was willing to suffer and die a horrible death for the sake of rescuing God’s people.

·        The Jewish leaders plotted to kill Jesus, and with this last episode with Pilate, were finally able to fulfill their purpose which was to eliminate Jesus, the greatest threat to their power.

·        Pilate had already asked Jesus where He had come and yet He once again asks Jesus the same question.

    Here is the answer Jesus gave the first time:

John 18:36 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

·        Pilate had already received all the truth he needed to believe yet he chose to shut his mind and his response to God’s revelation of the truth.

·        So when Pilate questioned Jesus again Jesus remained silent. Jesus remained silent with Herod as well.

·        People sometimes feel God’s silence because they choose not to respond to the truth given them. Responding to God’s truth opens the door to more revelation as God’s Word teaches us about God, His plan and purpose for His people.

·        Jesus explains to Pilate that those who are in power are placed there by God’s authority:  “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” This reminds us that God is sovereign even when we are ruled by those who we deem to be evil. Jesus went on to say, “So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.” Jesus was referring to the Sanhedrin who had knowledge of the scriptures and the prophecies from God’s Word but choose to reject God’s Son, the Messiah Jesus.

We are taught to respect and submit to authority:

Romans 13:1 New International Version (NIV)

Submission to Governing Authorities

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

If this is so, why do those in power abuse it?

God has chosen to create a “real” world in which real choices have real consequences. In this real world of ours, our actions affect others. Because of Adam’s choice to sin, the world now lives under the curse, and we are all born with a sin nature (Romans 5:12). There will one day come a time when God will judge the sin in this world and make all things new, but He is purposely “delaying” in order to allow more time for people to repent so that He will not need to condemn them (2 Peter 3:9). Until then, He IS concerned about evil. When He created the Old Testament laws, the goal was to discourage and punish evil. He judges nations and rulers who disregard justice and pursue evil. Likewise, in the New Testament, God states that it is the government’s responsibility to provide justice in order to protect the innocent from evil (Romans 13). He also promises severe consequences for those who commit evil acts, especially against the "innocent" (Mark 9:36-42).

In summary, we live in a real world where our good and evil actions have direct consequences and indirect consequences upon us and those around us. God’s desire is that for all of our sakes we would obey Him that it might be well with us (Deuteronomy 5:29). Instead, what happens is that we choose our own way, and then we blame God for not doing anything about it. Such is the heart of sinful man. But Jesus came to change men’s hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He does this for those who will turn from evil and call on Him to save them from their sin and its consequences (2 Corinthians 5:17). God does prevent and restrain some acts of evil. This world would be MUCH WORSE were not God restraining evil. At the same time, God has given us the ability to choose good and evil, and when we choose evil, He allows us, and those around us, to suffer the consequences of evil. Rather than blaming God and questioning God on why He does not prevent all evil, we should be about the business of proclaiming the cure for evil and its consequences—Jesus Christ! (Above from gotQuestions.org)

So in each case Pilate and the Jewish leaders acted in accordance to their will which God used to fulfill His greater purpose. Pilate even chose to act against his own conscience based on his understanding of the law and his personal judgment.   The passage below may also help us to understand that God given free will has its consequences when used for evil and rejection of God’s principles.

Romans 1:28-32New International Version (NIV)

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Truth: The goodness of God will shine through in the midst of an evil world.

The result of God’s love in the midst of the evil of others:

     (from Matt Slick, What did Jesus do on the cross?)

• Jesus laid his life down for us, John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."
• Jesus demonstrated the greatest act of love, John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."
• Jesus reconciled us to God, Rom. 5:10, "For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."
• Believers are justified, Rom. 5:18,  "So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men."
• He died to sin, Rom. 6:8, "For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God."
• Jesus died for our sins, 1 Cor. 15:3, "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."
• Jesus became sin, 2 Cor. 5:21, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
• Jesus finished the atonement, John 19:30, "When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit."
• Jesus reconciled Jew and Gentile, Eph. 2:16, "and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity."
• Jesus humbled himself, Phil. 2:8, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."
• Jesus reconciled all things, Col. 1:20, "and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven."
• Our sin and debt have been cancelled, Col. 2:14, "having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross."
• Jesus rendered the Devil Powerless, Heb. 2:14, "Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil."
• Jesus brought in the New Covenant, Heb. 9:15-16, "And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it."
• Jesus redeemed us, 1 Pet. 1:18-19, " knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ."
• Jesus bore our sin, 1 Pet. 2:24, "and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed."
• Jesus died for sins, 1 Pet. 3:18, "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit."

So why did Pilate ultimately give in to the pressure from the crowd to have Jesus crucified?

·        Pilate was fearful of His position of authority under Caesar.  The statement by the Jewish leaders, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar”, forced Pilate to choose between 2 kings, Caesar and the Lord Jesus Christ.

·        This is the kind of question everyone in the world faces: Who is the one “Lord” that reigns supreme in your life?

·        In spite of God’s warnings and what Jesus revealed to Pilate, he chose to fear man more than God. Pilate chose his position of power and authority, his money, to be in good standing with others in society, and his own comfort, but he lost eternal life.

     What are you going to do?

We all have choices to make in life. The most important choice we make will be our eternal one. Take some time to think and pray about the choices you are making today. Are you with God or against Him? Do you live by His principles or your own? Are you self-centered of God-centered? Do you have a saving faith in Jesus Christ? Is Jesus the way the truth and the life and the only way to God and salvation?

So Jesus was handed over to be crucified, yet this was planned so people could be rescued from the consequences of their sin nature. That is why we should be grateful for the greatest act of love the world has ever known.

Application: How can I apply what I have learned to my life?

·        Learn from Jesus.

·        Be careful that you are not hypocritical as you judge the behavior of others.

·        Be humble and willing to listen to the plight of others.

·        Strive to live with an eternal perspective.

·        Be thankful for what Jesus has done to rescue you.

Don’t forget:

John’s main purpose in writing this Gospel:

·        To tell the world that Jesus is the Messiah for the Jews and Gentiles

·        The events were recorded so that we might believe and have eternal life

John 20:30-31 New International Version (NIV)

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. ³¹ But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Questions to ponder:

·        Are you motivated to act out of fear or truth?

·        Do you falsely accuse others?

·        Do you mock and persecute others?

·        Do you condemn others who you may disagree with?

·        Whose authority do you submit to?

·        Does your free will do harm to others?

·        Who is the Lord over your life?

Have a great week…………….Dave