John 19:13 Comentariu

Though in the history hitherto this evangelist seems industriously to have declined the recording of such passages as had been related by the other evangelists, yet, when he comes to the sufferings and death of Christ, instead of passing them over, as one ashamed of his Master's chain and cross, and looking upon them as the blemishes of his story, he repeats what had been before related, with considerable enlargements, as one that desired to know nothing but Christ and him crucified, to glory in nothing save in the cross of Christ. In the story of this chapter we have, I. he remainder of Christ's trial before Pilate, which was tumultuous and confused (Joh 19:1-15). II. Sentence given, and execution done upon it (Joh 19:16-18). III. The title over his head (Joh 19:19-22). IV. The parting of his garment (Joh 19:23, Joh 19:24). V. The care he took of his mother (Joh 19:25-27). VI. The giving him vinegar to drink (Joh 19:28, Joh 19:29). VII. His dying word (Joh 19:30). VIII. The piercing of his side (Joh 19:31-37). IX. The burial of his body (Joh 19:38-42). O that in meditating on these things we may experimentally know the power of Christ's death, and the fellowship of his sufferings!

Then Pilate therefore took Jesus,.... Finding that the Jews would not agree to his release, but that Barabbas was the person they chose, and being very desirous, if possible, to save his life, thought of this method: he ordered Jesus to be taken by the proper officers, and scourged him; that is, commanded him to be scourged by them; which was done by having him to a certain place, where being stripped naked, and fastened to a pillar, he was severely whipped: and this he did, hoping the Jews would be satisfied therewith, and agree to his release; but though he did this with such a view, yet it was a very unjust action in him to scourge a man that he himself could find no fault in: however, it was what was foretold by Christ himself, and was an emblem of those strokes and scourges of divine justice he endured, as the surety of his people, in his soul, in their stead; and his being scourged, though innocent, shows, that it was not for his own, but the sins of others; and expresses the vile nature of sin, the strictness of justice, and the grace, condescension, and patience of Christ: and this may teach us not to think it strange that any of the saints should endure scourgings, in a literal sense; and to bear patiently the scourgings and chastisements of our heavenly Father, and not to fear the overflowing scourge or wrath of God, since Christ has bore this in our room.

When Pilate therefore heard that saying,.... Of the Jews, that a freeing of Jesus would show an unfriendliness to Caesar; and gave very broad hints that they would accuse him to Caesar of treachery and unfaithfulness, in letting go a man, that made pretensions to be a king in his territories; and knowing well the jealousies and suspicions of Tiberius, and fearing lest it would turn to his own disrepute and disadvantage, immediately he brought Jesus forth out of the judgment hall, the place where he had been examined in; not to declare his innocence, nor to move their pity, nor to release him, but to pass sentence on him. And he sat down in the judgment seat: for that purpose. He had sat but little all this while, but was continually going in and out to examine Jesus, and converse with the Jews; but he now takes his place, and sits down as a judge, in order to give the finishing stroke to this affair; and where he sat down, was in the place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. This place, in the Greek tongue, was called "Lithostrotos"; or "the pavement of stones", as the Syriac version renders it: it is thought to be the room "Gazith", in which the sanhedrim sat in the temple when they tried capital causes (t); and it was so called, because it was paved with smooth, square, hewn stones: "it was in the north part; half of it was holy, and half of it common; and it had two doors, one for that part which was holy, and another for that which was common; and in that half which was common the sanhedrim sat (u).'' So that into this part of it, and by this door, Pilate, though a Gentile, might enter. This place, in the language of the Jews, who at this time spoke Syriac, was "Gabbatha", front its height, as it should seem; though the Syriac and Persic versions read "Gaphiphtha", which signifies a fence, or an enclosure. Mention is made in the Talmud (w) of the upper "Gab" in the mountain of the house; but whether the same with this "Gabbaths", and whether this is the same with the chamber "Gazith", is not certain. The Septuagint use the same word as John here does, and call by the same name the pavement of the temple on which the Israelites felt and worshipped God, Ch2 7:3. (t) Gloss. in T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 8. 2. (u) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 25. 1. Maimon. Hilch. Beth Habbechira, c. 5. sect. 17. Bartenora in Misn. Middot, c. 5. sect. 3. (w) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 115. 1.

On the day of the preparation, then, at the third hour, Jesus received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen. At the sixth hour he was crucified. At the ninth hour he gave up the ghost. And before sunset he was buried.

After his public ministry, Jesus did not eat of the lamb, but he himself suffered as the true Lamb in the Paschal feast, as John, the divine and Evangelist teaches us in the Gospel written by him. “… And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the third hour,” as the correct books render it and the copy itself that was written by the hand of the Evangelist, which by divine grace has been preserved in the most holy church of Ephesus and is there adored by the faithful.… On that day, therefore, on which the Jews were about to eat the Passover in the evening, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was crucified. He was made the victim to those who were about to partake by faith of the mystery concerning him. This is what is written by the blessed Paul, “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” It is not the case, as some who, carried along by ignorance, confidently affirm that after he had eaten the Passover, he was betrayed. We neither learn this from the holy Evangelists, nor has any of the blessed apostles handed it down to us. At the time, therefore, in which our Lord and God Jesus Christ suffered for us, according to the flesh, he did not eat of the legal Passover. Rather, as I have said, he himself, as the true Lamb, was sacrificed for us in the feast of the typical Passover on the day of the preparation, the fourteenth of the first lunar month. The typical Passover, therefore, then ceased, the true Passover being present: “For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us,” as was said earlier. And he was that chosen vessel, as the apostle Paul teaches.

But O what shamelessness and ill-time cowardice! For Pilate, deeming that he should now incur some danger were he to overlook these words, comes forth as though to enquire into the matter, (for the "sitting down" showed this,) but without making any enquiry, he gave Him up to them, thinking to shame them. For to prove that he did it for this purpose, hear what he saith.

(Tr. cxvi) Pilate was before afraid not of violating their law by sparing Him, but of killing the Son of God, in killing Him. But he could not treat his master Caesar with the same contempt with which he treated the law of a foreign nation: 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.

It was the day of preparation, that is, the sixth holy day of the week, and it was about the sixth hour. For those who think that the words of the Evangelists are in contradiction, as some say at the third hour, others at about the sixth, it is necessary that we say something in this regard. Matthew and Luke, like John, said that there was darkness at about the sixth hour. Indeed, Pilate went out immediately and sat at the tribunal and handed Jesus over to be crucified. And after he was fixed to the cross, the darkness began to spread, as the Evangelists said. There are any number of reasons why it is not surprising that Mark said that it was the third hour. He said this, first of all, because he was not present. Second, he was not a disciple of our Lord but learned these facts from Peter or some other apostle. And finally, everyone has different opinions about times and hours, and the doubt about the hours does not affect in any way the reported facts. In addition, we especially must notice that Mark did not say that it was the third hour about any specific and well-known fact. But by relating in a simple and general way the things that happened, he rightly said that they took place at the third hour and so designated the entire interval of time in which these facts happened. Then he added, “They crucified him.” Therefore the sentence, “It was nine in the morning” refers to the account of all those events, which happened in the meantime. “They crucified him” is added concerning the previous events.

Lithostraton, i. e. laid with stone; the word signifies pavement. It was an elevated place.

But how little courage there was in Pilate, when he considered it dangerous for himself to leave such an accusation without investigation! He goes out, as if with the intention of investigating the matter, for this is what the words "sat down on the judgment seat" mean; meanwhile, having made no investigation, he hands Him over, thinking thereby to win them over.

The tribunal is the seat of the judge, as the throne is the seat of the king, and the chair the seat of the doctor.

2401 In treating the condemnation of Christ, the Evangelist mentions the place, secondly the time (v 14), and thirdly the manner of the condemnation (v 14b). 2402 In regard to the first, the Evangelist indicates the motive of Pilate when he says, When Pilate heard these words he grew more fearful, for it was not as easy for him to ignore Caesar, the source of his power, as it was to disdain the laws of a foreign people. So he says, he brought Jesus out. But there was no reason for Pilate to fear, because Jesus was not setting himself against Caesar. Christ had no purple, no scepter, no diadem, no chariots, no soldiers to indicate that he was seizing a kingdom. Rather, Christ always sat alone with his disciples, plain in food, in clothing and in dwelling. Yet as we read in Proverbs (28:1), "The wicked flee when no one pursues." "They trembled in fear when there was no fear" [Ps 53:5]; "Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks" (Ez 2:6). 2403 Then he mentions the place saying, and sat down on the tribunal. A tribunal is the seat of a judge, like the throne is the seat of a king, and the professor's chair is the seat of a master: "A king who sits on the throne of judgment winnows all evil with his eyes" (Prv 20:8). It was called a tribunal because among the Romans it was the tribunes (named from the tribes they headed) who adjudicated in certain cases. This tribunal was at a place called Lithostrotos, that is, a pavement of stones. "Lithos" in Greek means the same as "stone," and the place where Pilate sat in his judgment seat had been paved with stones. In Hebrew this place was called Gabbatha, that is, a mound formed from stones.

Jesus is scourged, crowned with thorns, and mocked by the soldiers, Joh 19:1-3. He to brought forth by Pilate, wearing the purple robe; and the Jews clamor for his death, Joh 19:4-8. Conversation between our Lord and Pilate, Joh 19:9-11. Pilate expostulates with the Jews on their barbarous demands; but they become more inveterate, and he delivers Christ into their hands, Joh 19:12-16. He, bearing his cross, is led to Golgotha, and crucified, Joh 19:17-22. The soldiers cast lots for his raiment, Joh 19:23, Joh 19:24. Jesus commends his mother to the care of John, Joh 19:25-27. Jesus thirsts, receives vinegar, and dies, Joh 19:28-30. The Jews request that the legs of those who were crucified might be broken; the soldiers break those of the two thieves, and pierce the side of Christ; the Scriptures fulfilled in these acts, Joh 19:31-37. Joseph of Arimathea begs the body of Christ; and Nicodemus brings spices to embalm it, Joh 19:38-40. He is laid in a new sepulchre, Joh 19:41, Joh 19:42.

The Pavement - Λιθοστρωτον, literally, a stone pavement: probably it was that place in the open court where the chair of justice was set, for the prefects of provinces always held their courts of justice in the open air, and which was paved with stones of various colors, like that of Ahasuerus, Est 1:6, of red, blue, white, and black marble; what we still term Mosaic work, or something in imitation of it; such as the Roman pavements frequently dug up in this and other countries, where the Romans have had military stations. Gabbatha - That is, an elevated place; from גבה gabah, high, raised up; and it is very likely that the judgment seat was considerably elevated in the court, and that the governor went up to it by steps; and perhaps these very steps were what was called the Pavement. John does not say that Lithostroton, or the Pavement, is the meaning of the word Gabbatha; but that the place was called so in the Hebrew. The place was probably called Lithostroton, or the Pavement: the seat of judgment, Gabbatha, the raised or elevated place. In several MSS. and versions, the scribes not understanding the Hebrew word, wrote it variously, Gabbatha, Gabatha, Kapphatha, Kappata, Gennetha, Gennaesa, and Gennesar. Lightfoot conjectures that the pavement here means the room Gazith in the temple, in which the grand council, called the Sanhedrin, held their meetings.

JESUS BEFORE PILATE--SCOURGED--TREATED WITH OTHER SEVERITIES AND INSULTS--DELIVERED UP, AND LED AWAY TO BE CRUCIFIED. (John 19:1-16) Pilate took Jesus and scourged him--in hope of appeasing them. (See Mar 15:15). "And the soldiers led Him away into the palace, and they call the whole band" (Mar 15:16) --the body of the military cohort stationed there--to take part in the mock coronation now to be enacted.