What it looks like to focus on God in the middle of our pain – John 19, Part 1

A few years ago one of the pastors in my local ministerium of churches told us that he had been in the mall looking for a gift for his wife.  He walked up to a jewelry counter at one of the department stores.  As he was waiting in line, he couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between a couple of people in front of him.  One was saying to the other, “Oh, look at this cross necklace.”  And then the other said, “Look at this other one. It has a little man on it.” 

I mention this story not to condemn the people who don’t know about the man on the cross.  Instead I tell the story because of the very real possibility that we, too, we Christians, might need to talk about the cross.  Why? Because we humans tend to take things for granted.  You leave a cup on a shelf one day, forget about it, and suddenly two months goes by before you see it there again. Yet that cup has been there the whole time.

Is it possible that we are so used to the crucifixion that it has lost meaning?

Are you possibly wearing a cross necklace right now? 

Or maybe you have a cross tattoo?

The cross is such a familiar symbol.  But what does it mean?  There’s the historical story of the cross that we’re going to talk about this week on the blog, but the crucifixion of Jesus also has meaning.  Actually, it has many meanings. So many meanings that we cannot possibly cover them all in five short blog posts.

And yet, because the crucifixion is so utterly important, we need to talk about it. 

Last week guest blogger Emerald Scafe taught us about Jesus’ betrayal, arrest, denial, and illegal trials.  That was John chapter 18.  Chapter 19 begins with Jesus in the custody of the Romans.  The Roman governor in Jerusalem, Pilate, was the big man in charge.  The Jewish religious leaders who instigated the whole take down of Jesus couldn’t do anything because they had no legal authority to execute him.  They bring him to Pilate, who does have legal authority, and Pilate interviews Jesus, concluding, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” 

Pilate wants to avoid a riot, and these Jews are known for their riots, so Pilate offers a plan B.  The customary release of a prisoner.  He offers to release Jesus.  The Jews don’t want Jesus released, though.  They want Jesus dead.  So they cry out for another guy, Barabbas, to be freed.  That’s not what Pilate seems to have expected.  The story picks up there with John chapter 19, verse 1,

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they struck him in the face.”

If you’ve ever watched the flogging depicted in the film The Passion of the Christ, this is probably where you turn your head because it is hard to watch.  This is the scene where I started weeping the very first time I watched it in the theater.  The flogging is awful.  A brutal whipping. 

Roman floggings were so bad, tearing the flesh, that many who received a flogging didn’t survive it.  Even if the actual flogging was 50% less severe than what we see in the film, it’s still one of the most horrible things you will ever see.  The Romans are totally humiliating the so-called King of the Jews, showing the power and might of their Empire. 

Why does Pilate have Jesus flogged?  It’s not like the Jews asked him to flog Jesus.  They asked Pilate to execute Jesus.  We know from historical sources that Pilate was a maniac. He had no qualms with this kind of extreme violence.  Pilate, it seems, didn’t want to kill Jesus, so he hopes the flogging will placate the Jews.  Let’s continue reading in verse 4,

“Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!” As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.” The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.”

Three times now Pilate has said “I find no basis for a charge against him.”  That means he flogged Jesus just because he wants to get the Jews off his case.  None of it changes their hearts and minds.  They want Jesus dead, they say, because he committed the sin of claiming to be the Son of God.  They were right, of course; he did claim to be the Son of God. 

But they were also wrong because Jesus hadn’t made a false claim.  He spoke the truth.  The Jews don’t believe Jesus, and they press hard for Pilate to crucify Jesus.  The Jews can’t legally crucify Jesus, despite what Pilate says in verse 6.  As I said earlier, Roman law forbids the Jews from enacting capital punishment.  Only Roman authority could approve that. That brings us to verse 8.

“When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. ‘Where do you come from?’ he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. ‘Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’”

Emotion is rising inside this cruel man, Pilate.  Historians tell us Pilate crucified hundreds of rebels at the same time to put down a rebellion.  But things are starting to feel different with this Jesus.  Is there something more going on here?  Who is this guy Jesus?  Why isn’t he pleading for his freedom?  Pilate is basically on Jesus’ side!  Pilate has said three times that he finds no basis for a charge against him, but Jesus is just quiet.  So Pilate seems to say in a frustration, “Don’t you realize I can free you or crucify you?” 

Notice how Jesus responds.  Jesus, beaten, bloody, half dead already, standing there with a purple robe stained with his blood, and crown of thorns piercing his head.  I wonder if Jesus could barely get the words out.  Look at verse 11.

“Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.’”

Even in that desperate moment, Jesus is thinking about his father, about truth, about how God is far above earthly government.  About how Pilate really ought to see himself in light of the truth.  Is Jesus reaching out to Pilate even in this moment?  Is Jesus hoping to convert Pilate to the truth?  I wonder.  It wouldn’t surprise me.  Jesus was always ready to turn every situation into a teaching moment. 

Or is Jesus, in the middle of his deep physical and emotional pain, being an example for us, by focusing on the larger spiritual perspective.  Not easy to do when you are in pain.  When there doesn’t seem to be hope.  But Jesus demonstrates for us that we can focus on God in the middle of our pain.

Photo by Sophia Sideri on Unsplash