Today´s Scripture: John 19

For many of us this year has been a very tough one. Mainly because of the worldwide pandemic we have all experienced loss in many different degrees! Many have lost their loved ones; their health; their jobs, their homes… you name it! But sadly the greatest loss of all, is that some have lost their faith and hope!

No matter how much you have endured, let me remind you of God´s love for you:

John 3:16 (AMP) “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] ^[a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Yes, you probably know this verse by heart. But do you realize the true meaning and the depth of the first words?

As Isaiah 53:10-11 stated: “Yet the Lord was ^]willing to crush Him, causing Him to suffer; If He would give Himself as a guilt offering [an atonement for sin], He shall see His [spiritual] offspring, He shall prolong His days, and the will (good pleasure) of the Lord shall succeed and prosper in His hand.
¹¹ As a result of the anguish of His soul, He shall see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge [of what He has accomplished] the Righteous One, My Servant, shall justify the many [making them righteous—upright before God, in right standing with Him], for He shall bear [the responsibility for] their sins.”

Throughout all of John 19, the author vividly describes the sufferings Jesus endured for our sake! I would like to share the comments of the first verses from Spurgeon´s Verse Exposition on the BIble:

John 19:1 “Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.”

This was one of the most terrible punishments to which a man could be sentenced. The Roman scourge was no trifle. It tore off the quivering flesh of the agonized sufferer for it was constructed on purpose to do so. It was generally made of the sinews of oxen, intertwined with the knuckle bones of sheep, and small slivers of bone. This torture our blessed Saviour endured. These are the stripes with which we are healed.

John 19:2 “And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,

Mockery was blended with cruelty. They might have made him a crown, yet surely it need not have been one of thorns unless they intended to put him to the utmost torment that they could conceive. By this crown of thorns our blessed Lord was crowned King of the curse, for the earth was cursed through Adam’s sin, and part of the sentence pronounced by God in the garden of Eden was, “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.” So Christ wore the mark of the curse which man’s sin had brought upon the world.

John 19:3 “And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.”  This was the homage which the Son of God received from men; harmless and gentle, he came here with no purpose but that of doing good, and this is how mankind treated him.

John 19:4-5.” 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. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!”

Was there ever such a sight of majesty in misery before or since? Yet he needed not to endure all that ignominy, he was no vanquished monarch unable to maintain his own rights. He was still “over all, God blessed for ever,” and could have smitten everyone there to death if he had pleased to do so. But he was the Lamb of God’s passover, so he meekly suffered.”

John 19:15. “But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King?”

Crucifixion was so awful and degrading that polite Romans wouldn’t talk about it in public. The Roman statesman Cicero said of crucifixion: “It is a crime to bind a Roman citizen; to scourge him is an act of wickedness; to execute him is almost murder: What shall I say of crucifying him? An act so abominable it is impossible to find any word adequately to express.” The Roman historian Tacitus called crucifixion “A torture fit only for slaves.”

It would take many pages to describe each and every verse in today´s chapter: ALL the physical and emotional agony Jesus endured for LOVE: for you and me! (Isaiah 53:4-5)

My prayer is that we may find rest and comfort in our earthly sufferings focusing on Jesus: “...who is the Author and Perfecter of faith, who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross…”…”³ Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2a-3) Amen!

Mari