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John 19 English Standard Version (ESV)

Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified

¹ Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. ² And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. ³ They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. ⁴ Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” ⁵ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” ⁶ When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” ⁷ The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” ⁸ When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. ⁹ He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. ¹⁰ So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” ¹¹ Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.”

¹² From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.”¹³ So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. ¹⁴ Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” ¹⁵ They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” ¹⁶ So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

REFLECTION

• Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter. Try to see and hear the story.
• Sing today’s hymn. What are your thought and your feeling? Talk to God about it. Wait for His response.

PRAYER

Dear Lord Jesus, today’s scripture made me see a terrible scene: Many of those who welcomed You into Jerusalem shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David” loudly, were also shouting “Get rid of him”, and wanted to crucify You! You were willing to lay down Your life for those who crucified You, and prayed for them on the cross, asking Heavenly Father to forgive their sins. What a great love! Lord, today I bow my head and meditate, to examine carefully whether I am among those who crucified You. Yes, although separated by time and space, I am ashamed to find that I am also one of them. Although I have already welcomed You to be King in my life, how many times have I actually regarded the glory of the world as king? My behavior is no different from that of those who nailed You back then! I saw the darkness of human nature, and I also saw that You died for us when we were sinners, and Your love was revealed to us! Lord, please cover my sins with Your precious blood and cleanse my soul, so that I can sincerely regard You as the Lord of my life, obey You and follow You wholeheartedly. Amen!

HYMN

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? – youtu.be/0Az2HIyyBTk