“And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true” John 19.35
by Malcolm Radcliffe, N. Ireland
INTRODUCTION
Matthew Chapter 27: The Supernatural Happenings at Calvary
Mark Chapter 15: The Silence of the Servant
Luke Chapter 23: The Sympathy of the Saviour
John Chapter 19: The Scriptures Being Fulfilled
The Way to the Cross
The Writing at the Cross
The Warriors at the Cross
The Women at the Cross
The Words at the Cross
The Witness at the Cross
The Winding of the Body at the Cross
INTRODUCTION
In the Old Testament, foreshadowings of the Lord’s death are presented, for example:
- In picture, Genesis chapter 22, in the offering up of Isaac;
- In the Passover, Exodus chapter 12;
- In the pattern of the brazen altar, Exodus chapter 27;
- In the Psalms, particularly in Psalm 22.
But it is in the four Gospels that the facts of His death are presented. It is interesting that when God was giving Moses the instructions for the Tabernacle, He said of the brazen altar, “the altar shall be foursquare” Ex.27.1: it was four-sided. God ever had it in mind that He would give to us a fourfold view of the death of His blessed Son, and that is what He has done, in the fourfold view in the Gospels. Thus, all four Gospel writers state that “they crucified Him” Matt.27.35; Mk.15.25; Lk.23.33; Jn.19.18. However, the accounts given are not the same as each other; each gives us details that none of the other three do.
Matthew Chapter 27: The Supernatural Happenings at Calvary
Matthew tells us about the darkness for three hours, from 12 noon to 3 o’clock in the afternoon: “Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour” Matt.27.45. Men have tried to explain this away by claiming it was an eclipse, but no eclipse has ever lasted 18 minutes, let alone 180, which was the length of time this darkness lasted.
Matthew also tells us that “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” Matt.27.51. As the cry went up from the Saviour, the hand of God came down, and rent that mighty veil. What was God showing us? That He was finished with Judaism, with all its rites and rituals. That had all come to an end, and He was bringing in something new. But He was doing something more: when He rent that veil, He was showing us that inside there was only an empty shell. In Herod’s Temple (in contrast to the Tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple) there was no Shekinah glory, no Ark, and no Mercy Seat. Where were they then? They were all impaled, so to speak, on an old rugged cross, outside the city walls. There was the glory; there was the Ark in all its fulness; and there was the Mercy Seat. We sing rightly when we sing the words of Edward C. Quine:
- And when above, my crown is at Thy feet,
- I’ll praise Thee still for Calvary’s mercy seat.
Only Matthew tells us about the earthquake and the opening of graves: “the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” Matt.27.51-53. We note that they “came out of the graves after His resurrection”: He must be the Firstfruits. Matthew presents Christ as the Sovereign, the King, and here he is telling us that the creation went into mourning. The King had died, and all creation was affected.
Mark Chapter 15: The Silence of the Servant
Throughout Matthew’s Gospel there are lengthy discourses, for the Lord Jesus Christ is the Sovereign, and “where the word of a king is, there is power” Eccl.8.4. Mark, however, primarily presents Christ as the Servant, and he records much less of the speech of the Lord Jesus. He concentrates more on His works than on His words. Mark’s Gospel is packed with activity and, at Calvary, he writes more of what the Lord Jesus did than what He said. Of the seven sayings at the cross, Mark records only one, the centre one: “‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is, being interpreted, ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’” Mk.15.34. This saying is in keeping with Mark’s Gospel, which is the Gospel of the sin offering.
Luke Chapter 23: The Sympathy of the Saviour
Luke is the priestly Gospel, and the writer to the Hebrews reminds us that for one to function as a priest, he must not only be taken from among men, but he must have feelings for men, Heb.5.1,2. Not only was Christ taken from among men, but He certainly had feelings for them. That runs throughout the Gospel of Luke, and it is seen very much at Calvary. It is only Luke who tells us of the women weeping for Him as He was led away, and His tender response: “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children” Lk.23.27,28. Only Luke records the first of the seven sayings: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” Lk.23.34. It is also only Luke who records the sympathetic, saving words to the repentant thief: “To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise” Lk.23.43.
John Chapter 19: The Scriptures Being Fulfilled
As John stands at the foot of the cross, he is deeply impressed by the fact that what is taking place is in fulfilment of the Scriptures. As he watches the soldiers casting lots, v.24, he sees Ps.22.18 being fulfilled. As he hears the Lord say, “I thirst” v.28, he notes the fulfilment of Ps.69.21. As he sees the soldiers come and break the legs of the two thieves, but not those of the Lord Jesus, v.33, he records the fulfilment of another Scripture, Ex.12.46, in which it is stated that not a bone of the Passover lamb was to be broken. As he watches the soldier pierce the side of the Saviour, v.34, he says, “And again another scripture saith, ‘They shall look on Him whom they pierced.’” v.37. We notice the accuracy of God’s Word: in this last case he does not say that this act was a fulfilment of Scripture, for the words he quotes from Zech.12.10, “They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced”, await fulfilment in a day to come: “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him” Rev.1.7.
We will consider some aspects of John’s account of the work of Christ in John chapter 19 under the following headings:
- The Way to the Cross
- The Writing at the Cross
- The Warriors at the Cross
- The Women at the Cross
- The Words at the Cross
- The Witness at the Cross
- The Winding of the Body at the Cross
THE WAY TO THE CROSS
“And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha” v.17.
In Genesis chapter 22, there comes a point in the story when the wood is laid upon Isaac, and Isaac is carrying the wood to Mount Moriah. Now, in John chapter 19, is the story in all its fulness; here is the unique, beloved Son, and He is carrying the wood: “He bearing His cross went forth”. In John’s Gospel there is no record of Simon of Cyrene helping to carry the cross. This is the Gospel of the Son of God. He takes the cross to Himself, and voluntarily and devotedly He will carry that cross to Golgotha. He bore His cross to “a place called the place of a skull”. When David slew Goliath of Gath, he “took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem” 1Sam.17.54. Could it be that the place to which David brought the giant’s skull and the place to which the Lord carried His cross are one and the same, and that it was so named due to the skull of Goliath having been taken there?
John says that the place was “called in the Hebrew Golgotha”. This reminds us of an earlier reference in this Gospel: “a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda” Jn.5.2. “Bethesda” means ‘house of mercy’, and it stands in contrast to Golgotha, for it was not a ‘house of mercy’; certainly no mercy was shown there to the Christ of God.
- From Salem’s gates advancing slow
- What object meets mine eyes?
- What means yon majesty of woe?
- What mean yon mingled cries?
- Is this the Man, can this be He,
- The prophets have foretold,
- Should with transgressors numbered be,
- And for my crimes be sold?
- O lovely sight, O heavenly form,
- For sinful souls to see;
- I’ll creep beside Him as a worm,
- And see Him die for me.
- (William Batty)
THE WRITING AT THE CROSS
“And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, ‘Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.’” v.19.
Matthew calls this writing “His accusation” Matt.27.37; Luke calls it “a superscription” Lk.23.38; Mark calls it “the superscription of His accusation” Mk.15.26; but John calls it “a title”. And what a title it is: “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews”!
“Jesus” – His Humanity
Jesus is the name that links Him with this world and people in it. The angel said to Joseph, concerning Mary, that “she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins” Matt.1.21.
“Of Nazareth” – His Humility
When Philip told Nathanael of “Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph”, Nathanael’s response shows the very low esteem in which Nazareth and its people were held: “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Jn.1.45,46.
“The King” – His Royalty
Four times in John chapter 18 and eight times in chapter 19 we read the word “king” in connection with the Lord Jesus Christ. “Pilate therefore said unto Him, ‘Art Thou a king then?’ Jesus answered, ‘Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth My voice.’” Jn.18.37
“Of the Jews” – His Nationality
When He met the woman of Samaria, she could see and hear that He was a Jew: “How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” Jn.4.9. The writer to the Hebrews stated that “He took on Him the seed of Abraham” Heb.2.16.
The chief priests did not like this title. They said to Pilate, “Write not, ‘The King of the Jews;’ but that He said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate replied, “What I have written I have written” vv.21,22. Pilate’s words could be rendered, ‘What I have written, it stands written.’ It would not be changed. We look up and we view with appreciation that unchanged title, acknowledging that He is the true King.
THE WARRIORS AT THE CROSS
“Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part” v.23.
A poor Galilean would have had five items of clothing: a headpiece, an outer robe, a girdle, sandals and a coat. Each of the four soldiers left Golgotha that day with a piece of the Lord’s clothing: one with the headpiece, one with the outer robe, one with the girdle and one with the sandals, of which John the Baptist had spoken earlier in the Gospel: “He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose” Jn.1.27. There is a spiritual lesson here. It is a good thing if all of us leave a meeting taking something of Christ away with us:
- The headpiece: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” Phil.2.5.
- The robe: “Put on [as in putting on a garment] therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if a man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye” Col.3.12,13.
- The girdle: “He … took a towel, and girded Himself. After that He poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded … ‘If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.’” Jn.13.4,5,14,15.
- The sandals: “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps” 1Pet.2.21.
But then John speaks of “His coat” v.23, His inner garment. It was “without seam” v.23. The first garments that were ever made, by our first parents, were full of seams: “they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons” Gen.3.7. It is not surprising that the only thing the Lord Jesus cursed when He was here was a fig tree, Mk.11.12-14,20,21. What men and women would use to try to cover up their sin will come under the curse of God. How different was the coat of our Lord Jesus Christ! There was not a seam in it. In the Bible, coats speak of character, and how fitting it is that there was no seam in His: He is without sin, without stain, without a flaw, absolutely perfect.
His coat was also “woven” v.23. This is the only time this word “woven” occurs in the whole of the New Testament. There was none like it, and there is none like Him. Not only so, but it was woven “from the top throughout” v.23. What it was at the top, it was the very same at the bottom. There was no deviation in the coat, and there is no deviation in Him. The image that Nebuchadnezzar saw, Dan.2.31-45, started off well: “Thou art this head of gold”, but there was deterioration going down, until the feet, which were iron mixed with miry clay. Just like everything that man touches, it finished up in mud. How different from this blessed One! The soldiers appreciated something of the value of that lovely coat, and so they said, “Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be.”
So John adds, “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” v.24.
As we look at the unchanged title, it tells us that He is the true King, but when we look at the unrent garment, it tells us that He is the true High Priest. Just a few hours before this, the Lord Jesus had stood in the presence of Israel’s high priest, who rent his garments, Matt.26.65; Mk.14.63, which he was strictly forbidden to do by the Law: “And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes” Lev.21.10. As he rent his garments he was abdicating his office; it had come to an end, but here is the true High Priest, with an unrent garment.
THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS
At that time, in His darkest hour, “there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene” v.25. Also there was John, the writer of the Gospel, “the disciple … whom He loved” v.26. These five, the four women and one man, stand in contrast to the four soldiers and one centurion. The four soldiers and the centurion were at Calvary out of a sense of duty; it was their job. However, the four women and one man were there not out of a sense of duty, but a sense of devotion, devotion to the Man on the centre tree. Why do we come to the assembly meetings? Is it out of a sense of duty? Is it because we are expected to be there? And, indeed so we should be. Shame on us if we are not at the meetings! However, there is a motive much higher than that: we should be there not only because we ought to be there, but out of a sense of devotion: because we love Him. In the story of the Hebrew servant, Ex.21.2-6, we see two kinds of service: for six years the servant served out of a sense of duty; it had to be done. But there was the service of the seventh year, when the man said, “I love my master”. What kind of service are we engaged in? May it not be ‘six-year service’, but ‘seventh-year service’, rendered out of love for Him.
This company “stood by the cross”. There were others of whom we read that they “stood afar off” Lk.23.49, on the perimeter, but these five people stood at the very foot of the cross. It must have given tremendous
pleasure to the Christ of God, in His hour of suffering and shame, to see this little company that was devoted to Him. The women were in the majority. However, before we come to the end of the chapter we read of two more men who came, Joseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus, vv.38,39. So there were four women and three men, who, in the darkest hour in the history of this world, showed themselves to be loyal to Him. “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother.” It is sad for a son to watch his mother die, but surely it is sadder still for a mother to watch her son die. Mary was watching her Son, her Firstborn, but more than that, her Saviour. Then John adds, “and His mother’s sister”. If I had been in John’s position, I would probably have written, ‘and my own mother’, for Mary’s sister was indeed John’s own mother. But John understands that the important thing is not her links with him (John), but her links with Him (Jesus Christ). What matters is not natural relationship, but spiritual relationship: how we stand in relation to Him.
THE WORDS AT THE CROSS
Of the seven sayings of the Lord Jesus at the cross, John records three, all of which are found only in his Gospel.
“He saith unto his mother, ‘Woman, behold thy son!’ Then saith He to the disciple, ‘Behold thy mother!’ And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home” vv.26,27.
The Lord did not commit His mother into the hand of any of His half- brothers or half-sisters (children of Mary and Joseph), but into the hand of the “disciple whom Jesus loved”. This teaches us, as already noted, that spiritual relationships are on a much higher plane than natural relationships could ever be. John learned that lesson at the foot of the cross. And so, many years later, when he wrote his Epistles, he wrote them to ‘the family’; he came to appreciate the blessedness of being in the family of God.
I judge that it was right at “that hour” that John “took her unto his own” (“home” is not in the original). He took her unto his own heart. Perhaps at that hour he also took her to the upper room in Jerusalem (the next time we read of her she is there, Acts 1.13,14), and then, having left her there, he returned to Calvary, where he was present to record the closing events.
“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, ‘I thirst.’” v.28.
It is remarkable that John is the Gospel that is full of water: John baptising in Jordan, chapter 1; six pots of water, chapter 2; being “born of water and of the Spirit” and John baptising where there was “much water”, chapter 3; the well at Sychar and the teaching on “living water”, chapter 4; the pool of Bethesda, chapter 5; the Lord crossing Galilee, chapter 6; rivers of living water, chapter 7; etc. Yet, with all the water in John, it is this Gospel that tells us of two occasions when the Saviour thirsted: first, at the well, in chapter 4; and now, at the cross, He says, “I thirst.”
“Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth” v.29. That was the last thing that the world gave to Him: sour vinegar.
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, ‘It is finished:’ and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost” v.30.
What a final note! He did not say, ‘I am finished.’ The thieves could have said that of themselves, but not He. The work had been accomplished.
- Done is the work that saves!
- Once and for ever done.
- (Horatius Bonar)
The first time we read of the head of the Lord Jesus in the Gospels is in Matt.8.20: “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” The word “lay” in Matt.8.20 is the same as “bowed” in Jn.19.30: He had ‘not where to bow His head’. Only when the mighty deed was done, and the mighty victory was accomplished, did He bow His head, and give up the ghost.
THE WITNESS AT THE CROSS
“And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe” v.35.
John is a witness at the cross. What does he witness? The soldiers coming and breaking the legs of the two thieves, thus hastening one of them to heaven and the other to hell. But “they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already”, so “they brake not His legs … that the scripture should be fulfilled, ‘A bone of Him shall not be broken.’” vv.33,36. A human hand has twenty-seven bones, and a human foot has twenty-six. Cruel soldiers, without a thought, pierced the Saviour’s hands and feet to that tree, and God guided every nail. Not only did He take care of some of the smallest bones in His Son’s body, but He took care of the largest bones, the thigh bones: “they brake not His legs”. There is a lovely text in Ps.34.19,20: “Many are the afflictions of the righteous [which could be rendered ‘the righteous one’]: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”
- No bone of Thee was broken,
- Thou spotless, paschal Lamb!
- (Robert C. Chapman)
But John does watch “one of the soldiers”, who “with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” v.34, and he quotes “another scripture”: “they shall look on Him whom they pierced” v.37. What a day it will be for Israel when they view that blessed Man, and take in the truth in all its fulness: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities” Isa.53.5.
THE WINDING OF THE BODY AT THE CROSS
“Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury” v.40.
God not only took care of His Son’s bones; He also took care of His body. He allowed cruel, callous men to spike Him to the cross, but it is as though He said, ‘So far shall you go, and no further.’ He had arranged that there would be men there to handle, carefully and devotedly, the body of His Son. His grave was “made … with the wicked”: that was the intention of those who crucified Him, to bury Him with the thieves, but God said that He would be “with the rich [‘the rich one’] in His death” Isa.53.9.
When the Saviour came into the world there was a Joseph, a carpenter, a poor man. When He was leaving, God arranged for there to be another Joseph, a counsellor, a rich man. God had a work for them both, whether poor or rich. When the Lord Jesus came in, God did not need a rich man; He had a work for a poor man. But when His Son was to be buried, God needed a rich man, a counsellor. If a poor carpenter had gone to Pilate begging for the body, he would have been chased, but a member of the Sanhedrin, a man with authority, carried weight with Pilate. So he “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” v.38.
John is the only Gospel writer who tells us about Nicodemus. “And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night” v.39. When it was revealed to Nicodemus that the Son of man was going to be lifted up on the cross, Jn.3.14,15, little did he think that one day he would have the honour of taking Him down from it. What an honour that was!
I believe that Joseph and Nicodemus had everything already prepared. They did not need to hurry to try to find a sepulchre, or to prepare spices, as did the women who then had to wait until after the sabbath to bring them, Lk.23.55,56; 24.1. Joseph had the sepulchre ready and the linen, and Nicodemus had the spices. It was “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight” v.39. When Mary of Bethany anointed the Lord with “a pound of ointment”, Judas said that it could have been “sold for three hundred pence” Jn.12.1-5. That was approximately what a working man would have earned in one year. If that was the value of one pound of ointment, then “one hundred pound weight” must have been worth a vast fortune! Was it too much? Does Nicodemus regret spending such a vast fortune on God’s beloved Son? Not at all! What rich dividends will be his in a day to come!
“Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 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. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand” vv.40-42. No-one had ever been laid in that sepulchre before. This reminds us of the law of the burnt offering, of which it is written that the priest was to “carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place” Lev.6.11.
- Gently they took Him down,
- Unfixed His hands and feet,
- Took from His head the thorny crown,
- Brought forth a winding-sheet.
- Fine linen, fitly made,
- Wrapped they around His face;
- Where never man before was laid
- Made they His resting-place.
- Spices most sweet they chose,
- Aloes they brought, and myrrh,
- Wound Him with these in linen clothes,
- Gave Him a sepulchre.
- Laid Him in hewn rock,
- Rolled to the door the stone,
- Watched the world add its waxen lock,
- And left Him there alone.
- (I.Y. Ewan)
But we do not leave Him there alone. We rejoice in that third and appointed morn, when, in the words of Robert Lowry,
- Up from the grave He arose
- With a mighty triumph o’er His foes.