Joh 19:2-17 | JFB | STEP | 1-3. Pilate took Jesus and scourged him-- in hope of appeasing them. (See ). "And the soldiers led Him away into the palace, and they call the whole band" ( )--the body of the military cohort stationed there--to take part in the mock coronation now to be enacted.

‏ John 19:2-17

CHAPTER 19 Joh 19:1-16. Jesus before Pilate--Scourged--Treated with Other Severities and Insults--Delivered Up, and Led Away to Be Crucified.

1-3. Pilate took Jesus and scourged him--in hope of appeasing them. (See Mr 15:15). "And the soldiers led Him away into the palace, and they call the whole band" (Mr 15:16)--the body of the military cohort stationed there--to take part in the mock coronation now to be enacted.

4-5. Pilate ... went forth again, and saith ... Behold, I bring him forth to you--am bringing, that is, going to bring him forth to you.

that ye may know I find no fault in him--and, by scourging Him and allowing the soldiers to make sport of Him, have gone as far to meet your exasperation as can be expected from a judge.

6-7. When the chief priests ... saw him, they cried out--their fiendish rage kindling afresh at the sight of Him.

Crucify him, crucify him--(See Mr 15:14).

Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him; for I find no fault in him--as if this would relieve him of the responsibility of the deed, who, by surrendering Him, incurred it all!

8-11. When Pilate ... heard this saying, he was the more afraid--the name "Son of God," the lofty sense evidently attached to it by His Jewish accusers, the dialogue he had already held with Him, and the dream of his wife (Mt 27:19), all working together in the breast of the wretched man.

12-16. And from thenceforth--particularly this speech, which seems to have filled him with awe, and redoubled his anxiety.

Pilate sought to release him--that is, to gain their consent to it, for he could have done it at once on his authority.

but the Jews cried--seeing their advantage, and not slow to profit by it. If thou let this man go, thou art not Cæsar's friend, &c.--"This was equivalent to a threat of impeachment, which we know was much dreaded by such officers as the procurators, especially of the character of Pilate or Felix. It also consummates the treachery and disgrace of the Jewish rulers, who were willing, for the purpose of destroying Jesus, to affect a zeal for the supremacy of a foreign prince" [Webster and Wilkinson]. (See Joh 19:15).

When Pilate ... heard that, ... he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in--"upon"

the judgment seat--that he might pronounce sentence against the Prisoner, on this charge, the more solemnly.

in a place called the Pavement--a tesselated pavement, much used by the Romans.

in the Hebrew, Gabbatha--from its being raised.

Joh 19:17-30. Crucifixion and Death of the Lord Jesus.

17. And he bearing his cross--(See on Lu 23:26).

went forth--Compare He 13:11-13, "without the camp"; "without the gate." On arriving at the place, "they gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall [wine mingled with myrrh, Mr 15:23], and when He had tasted thereof, He would not drink" (Mt 27:34). This potion was stupefying, and given to criminals just before execution, to deaden the sense of pain.

Fill high the bowl, and spice it well, and pour

The dews oblivious: for the Cross is sharp,

The Cross is sharp, and He

Is tenderer than a lamb.

Keble.

But our Lord would die with every faculty clear, and in full sensibility to all His sufferings.

Thou wilt feel all, that Thou may'st pity all;

And rather would'st Thou wrestle with strong pain

Than overcloud Thy soul,

So clear in agony,

Or lose one glimpse of Heaven before the time,

O most entire and perfect Sacrifice,

Renewed in every pulse.

Keble.