Continuing our journey through John
So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).18 There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read:jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews.20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek.21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”t
So this is what the soldiers did.25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ”Woman,t here is your son,”27 and to the disciple, ”Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Pilate made an honorable gesture in fastening the notice that Christ was the king of the jews. I don’t think he meant it mockingly, but he actually believed it in some ways. However, he still played a role in the death of Christ.
I wonder how often we do the same. We acknowledge him with our lips, all the while, denying him by our actions.
You could say the chief priests had more integrity in some ways – they believed crucifying Christ was the right thing to do, and followed through on it.
I can’t even begin to imagine what this scene was like for Mary mother of Jesus. How must it have felt to have your own flesh and blood, your own child you’ve nurtured into adulthood, wrongfully tortured upon a cross to the point of death?
Yet, upon the Christ you don’t see him ever looking for pity, or playing victim, his concern was for his family, or others, for the forgiveness of those who sought to kill him.
Is there something we can learn from Christ’s example? When we’re hung out to dry? when we’re suffering? when we’re blamed buy not at fault? when we respond to those who seek to hurt us?