John 19 …the stakes are high..

19 Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

² And the soldiers platted (to braid) a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

³ And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote (punched) him with their hands.

⁴ Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.

• Why would he be beaten if he were not guilty?

⁵ Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!

⁶ When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him.

• You see the Pharisees orchestrating the movements and stirring the emotions of the crowd.

⁷ The Jews (Pharisees) answered him, We have a law (Talmud), and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

⁸ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid;

⁹ And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.

¹⁰ Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?

¹¹ Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Pilate was not trying to defend himself…. It would have been understood by Pilate that way….because he had no (training) knowledge of Hebrew scriptures or prophesy.

¹² And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews (Pharisees) cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. (Pure power grab)

¹³ When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement*, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.**

*G3038 λιθόστρωτος lithostrotos (liy-tho’-strō-tos) adj. stone-strewed, i.e. a tessellated mosaic on which the Roman tribunal was placed.  [from an unused root meaning to hollow or curve]

**H1354 גַּב gab (gaɓ) n-e. 1. the back (as rounded). 2. (by analogy) the top or rim, a boss, a vault, arch of eye, bulwarks, etc.

¹⁴ And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews (crowd), Behold your King!

¹⁵ But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

This was a lie. King Herod Archelaus (4 BCE – 6 CE), Ethnarch of the Tetrarchy of Judea. After Archelaus and during the intervening period, the Sanhedrin, founded by Ezra, became the sole rulers of the Jewish people in Judea in conjunction with the High Priest.

¹⁶ Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away.

¹⁷ And he bearing his cross* went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha**:

*G4716 σταυρός stauros (stav-ros’) n. a stake or post (as set upright).. see attached photo. Thus the quotes by Jesus stating he would be “lifted up”.

**Why was this the place of the skull?

1 Samuel 17:50-54 “So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem.”

¹⁸ Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

• The Pharisees tried to make him a criminal by association.

¹⁹ And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.

²⁰ This title then read many of the Jews (people): for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin.

²¹ Then said the chief priests of the Jews (Pharisees) to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.

²² Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

A political move here as Pilate would have relished the deposing of a sitting king. Their goal as Romans was to do this all day long. This also rids Pilate of any wrong doing by the Roman leadership.

²³ Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

²⁴ They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.

A complete study of Psalm 22 is available at https://bereanbreadcrumbs.com/2017/12/17/psalm-22-yeshua-crucified/

²⁵ Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

²⁶ When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

²⁷ Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

The notion that widows needed someone to take care of them rests on ideas about the legal and social status of women. Perhaps most important is the idea that widows could not possess their own property. A wife was dependent on her husband, and when he died, she went to live with her father’s household if he was alive, or to an adult son if she had one. Having a father or son was fortunate, because otherwise widows were entirely without resources. Widows were also legally subordinate to these male relatives. Displaced women were thrown to the streets to beg. Under Roman law, both women and men technically owned no property until their father died.

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*.

* G4151 πνεῦμα pneuma (pnev’-ma) n. a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze. 2. (by analogy or figuratively) a spirit. 3. (humanly) the rational soul, as in the “spirit of a man.”

Think what you will here…. For me…. I believe that the first definition is the best as His body was a temporary dwelling for the eternal Spirit of YHVH. He ceased to function in the human form.

³¹ The Jews (Pharisees) therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

³² Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him.

³³ But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

³⁴ But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.

³⁵ And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.

³⁶ For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

•  Psalm 34:20 “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”}

³⁷ And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

³⁸ And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews (Pharisees), besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.

³⁹ And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.

⁴⁰ Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews (Hebrews) is to bury. {Most likely learned in Egypt}

⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.

⁴² There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

Preparation day – The quality of an occasion and the success of it is often determined by the amount of preparation that goes into it.

In the scripture, the day before the onset of Shabbat is called “Preparation Day” (Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:31). To be able to keep the Sabbath properly, adequate preparation is necessary which means planning ahead. Preparation to avoid working on the day and have it free from work-related activities, needs to be done on the Friday.

All provisions, stores of goods to last over till the next time available to purchase them, needs to be undertaken beforehand. As business activities are prohibited, foresight may be needed to care for events or payments due on the day to avoid such transactions that involve handling money.

The necessary preparation involves preparing special meals in advance, organizing the Sabbath artifacts, cleaning, and most of all, arranging our schedules for prayer and time together. Friends and relatives may need to be advised of your intention to keep the Sabbath to avoid them embarrassment or offence if they expect continuance of previously accepted activities on the day.