16 April 2025
Scripture
John 9:1-25 (NLT)
Jesus Sentenced to Death
Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.
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.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”
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.”
The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”
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.”
Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.' Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”
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).
It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”
“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.
Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.
Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”
Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.
Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
The Death of Jesus
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. “Hail! King of the Jews!” they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.
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.” Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, “Look, here is the man!”
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.”
The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”
When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”
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.”
Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders shouted, “If you release this man, you are no ‘friend of Caesar.' Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.”
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).
It was now about noon on the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, “Look, here is your king!”
“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.
Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.
The Crucifixion
So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.
Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’”
Pilate replied, “No, what I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says, “They divided my garments among themselves and threw dice for my clothing.” So that is what they did.
Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
The Death of Jesus
Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.”A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 3:16 (NLT)
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life
The Power of the Cross
What was the Cross?
Isn’t it strange that so many people wear an ornament around their necks, a symbol of an ancient method of execution? For that is what “the Cross” actually is. Or at least, that’s what it was.
The word ‘cross’ comes from the Latin word crux. And the method of executing somebody on a crux or cross was called crucifixion–literally “to fasten onto a cross.” This method of execution was one of the cruellest ever devised and was calculated to produce the maximum humiliation and suffering.
In fact, the words crucifix and crucifixion are not the only English word derived from the Latin crux. An unimaginable and intolerable level of pain and suffering is said to be excruciating. And what we literally mean when we say that we are experiencing excruciating pain is that our suffering is comparable to that which Jesus experienced on the Cross.
However, Jesus experienced both the physical agony of the crucifixion AND the spiritual torment of taking on himself every sinful thought, word and action that humanity has ever committed or will commit.
But lest we miss or minimise the excruciating pain of the physical torture, read again the details in today’s Scripture.
Jesus was first scourged. Historical accounts tell us of the brutal horror of this scourging, sometimes referred to as the ‘half-death’, that preceded crucifixion. The victim was stripped, fastened to a frame and stretched out prone. Blows were then inflicted, often by two soldiers standing, one on each side. The scourging was performed with the Roman flagellum, the leather thongs of which had small iron balls and sharp bits of bone fastened at various intervals to produce bruising and bleeding. Some victims died from blood loss and shock alone before they ever got to the cross.
It was only after all of this that they led Jesus out to crucify him, forcing him to carry his own cross, until he stumbled and fell under its weight. Jesus was stretched out once again, and placed on the raw and bleeding flesh of his back onto this rough wooden cross.
Nails were driven through his ‘hands’, in between the bones of his wrists, and feet to fix him to the crux. At this point the soldiers’ work was done. Time did the rest and that perhaps was the greatest cruelty of all. Hour after agonising hour, the victim would struggle, instinctively forcing their body up to receive each breath by pushing on the nails in their feet, before slumping down again, hanging on the nails through their hands, until eventually they lacked the strength to breathe again. It took hours until Jesus breathed his last breath before declaring “It is finished!” Excruciating is an understatement!
What is the Cross?
The Cross was an instrument of cruel torture and execution. But that is not what it is to us. Jesus changed forever something that had been so evil into a message of hope (and that is what he will do with your life if you let him). To us it signifies not pain, but freedom; not death, but life, and life everlasting! And the simple promise of the gospel is that God so loved the world–or to put it another way this is the way that God loved the world–that he “gave his only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). You can experience that life today if you will but put your trust in him and ask him to forgive you of your sins.
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