John 18
TFGJohn 18:1
(A garden between the brook Kidron and the Mount of Olives. Late Thursday night.) M 30, 36-46; M 26, 32-42; L 39-46; J 1. [the words contained in ] [the shadow of the cross did not quench the spirit of praise in Christ] [The name Gethsemane means and hence it accords well with the name of the mountain at whose base it was situated. But the place was now a garden. It was about half a mile from the city, and from what Luke says here and elsewhere , it seems that Jesus often resorted to it while in Jerusalem at the festivals. Compare also ] [As the hour of trial and temptation came upon Jesus he fortified himself against it by prayer. And he bade his disciples do likewise, for his arrest would involve them also in temptations which he [685] foresaw that they would not be able to withstand.] [While seeking heavenly aid in this hour of extremity, our Lord also manifested his desire for human sympathy. All the eleven apostles were with him in the garden, and the three most capable of sympathizing with him were stationed nearer to him than the rest.] [one hundred fifty to two hundred feet] [The sequel shows that the phrase “even unto death” was no figure of rhetoric.
The nervous prostration of Jesus was such as to endanger his life, and the watching of the apostles may have been doubly needful. Not only did he require their sympathy, but he may also have looked to them to render him assistance in the case of a physical collapse.] [This posture was expressive of the most intense supplication.] [Much of mystery is found in all life, so it is small wonder if the dual nature of Jesus presents insoluble problems.
It perplexes many to find that the divine in Jesus did not sustain him better during his trial in the garden. But we must remember that it was appointed unto Jesus to die, and that the divine in him was not to interfere with this appointment, or the approaches to it. For want, therefore, of a better expression, we may say that from the time Jesus entered the garden until he expired on the cross, the human in him was in the [686] ascendant; and “being found in fashion as a man,” he endured these trials is if wholly human. His prayer, therefore, is the cry of his humanity for deliverance. The words “if it is possible” with which it opens breathe the same spirit of submissive obedience which is found in the closing words. Reminding the Father of the limitless range of his power, he petitions him to change his counsel as to the crucifixion of the Son, if his gracious purposes can be in any other way carried out.
Jesus uses the words “cup” and “hour” interchangeably. They are both words of broad compass, intended to include all that he would undergo from that time until his resurrection.
They embrace all his mental, moral, physical, and spiritual suffering which we can discover, together with an infinite volume of a propitiatory and vicarious nature which lies beyond the reach of our understanding. The submission of Jesus was no new fruitage of his character; the prayer of the garden had been the inner purpose of his entire life– , .] [Commentators give instances of bloody sweat under abnormal pathological conditions.] [The admonition which had at first been addressed to all the eleven is now spoken to the chosen three] [Peter, having boasted of his loyalty, has his weakness pointed out and is further warned to be on his guard, since the weakness of his nature will not stand the coming strain. The slumber of the disciples was not through indifference; but was [687] caused by the prostration of grief. When we remember the excitement which they had endured that night, the tender words spoken by Jesus, the sadness of which was intensified by the atmosphere of mystery which pervaded them, the beautiful and touching prayer, and lastly this agony in the garden, it is not to be wondered at that the apostles, spurred by no sense of danger, should succumb to the long-borne tension and fall asleep. Had they comprehended how much the Lord needed their sympathy as he came again and again seeking for it, they would probably have kept awake.] [Jesus here speaks of draining the cup. The “cup” was a common Hebrew figure used to denote one’s divinely appointed lot or fortune– , , , , .] [They were ashamed of the stupor which had come upon them and knew not what apology to make for it.] [Our Lord’s words are paradoxical.
In our judgment the saying is best understood by regarding the first part of it as spoken from the Lord’s viewpoint, while the latter part is spoken from the disciple’s viewpoint. It is as if he said, “So far as I am concerned, you may sleep on and take your rest, for the time to be of comfort or assistance to me has wholly passed.
But so far as you yourselves are concerned, you must arise and be going, because Judas with his band of temple police is upon us.”] [688] [FFG 685-693]
John 18:2-11
(Gethsemane. Friday, several hours before dawn.) M 47-56; M 43-52; L 47-53; J 2-11. [See ). Jesus asked, “Whom seek ye?” (1) To openly and manfully declare his identity; (2) to make the Jewish rulers fully conscious that they were arresting him, an innocent man; (3) to confine the arrest to himself and thus deliver his disciples. The older commentators regard the falling to the ground as a miracle, but modern scholars look upon it as a result of sudden fear. Jesus merely manifested his dignity and majesty, and the prostration followed as a natural result.] [Some place this event before the preceding paragraph. It comports better with the fitness of things to place it here. Jesus made Judas feel his utter nothingness, and his worthlessness even as a betrayer.
Before Judas can in any way identify Jesus, the Lord had twice declared himself to be the party whom they sought. When he approaches to carry out his contract, the Lord’s question exposes him before all as a betrayer, and not a disciple as he wished to appear to be (for kissing was the common mode of salutation between men, especially between teacher and pupils), and when Judas brazenly persists in completing the sign, Jesus bids him do it, not as a friend, but as a traitor.
Little did the betrayer think that the kiss of Judas would become a proverb in every nation.] [690] [The sight of Judas touching him no doubt reassured them, and they laid hands on Jesus.] [We have seen that the apostles were but scantily armed, there being only two swords in their possession. See ). He knew Malchus by name, and he also knew his kindred– .] [Some think that Jesus spoke these words, “Suffer ye thus far,” to those who held him, asking them to loose him sufficiently to enable him to touch the ear of Malchus. But the revision committee by inserting “them” make Jesus address his disciples, commanding them not to interfere with those who were arresting him, making it a general statement of the idea which the Lord addressed specifically to Peter in the next sentence.] [By the healing of Malchus’ ear and the words spoken to Peter, Jesus shows that the sword is not to be used either to defend the truth or to advance his kingdom. Had he not thus spoken and acted, Pilate might have doubted his words when he [691] testified that his kingdom was not of this world . While we know better than to rely upon the aid of the sword for the advance of truth, we are often tempted to put undue trust in other “carnal weapons” which are equally futile.
Wealth and eloquence and elaborate church buildings have but little saving grace in them. It is the truth which wins.
By using the word “cup” John gives us an echo of the agony in Gethsemane, which suggests that he expects his readers to be conversant with the other Gospels. The other Evangelists, having shown that Jesus was fully resolved to drink the cup, do not regard it as necessary to repeat these words.] [Jesus still addresses Peter. Had it accorded with the divine purpose that Jesus should resist this arrest, angels and not men would have been his proper and infinitely more effective rescuers. But, on the contrary, it was God’s purpose that he should be arrested, as the Scripture had foretold.] [The party which came to arrest Jesus was large. The word “band” used by John to describe part of it is which is the Greek name for the cohort, a division of the Roman army which in the time of Augustus contained 555 men. Ten cohorts, or a legion, were usually quartered in the castle Antonia, at the northwest corner of the temple enclosure.
That the whole cohort was present is not likely , but there was a large enough body to represent it. The [692] Evangelists therefore properly style it a great multitude.
Moreover, it was a motley crowd. Its strength and diversity suggest the fear that Jesus might miraculously defend himself. Each part of the crowd found courage in the strength possessed by the other part, the priests relying upon the solidity of the soldiers, the soldiers superstitiously trusting to some spiritual power residing in the priests, etc. Now, because of these fears, the preparation was as great as if some band of robbers was to be taken. The questions of Jesus, therefore, show two facts: 1. By their extensive preparation the rulers bore an unintentional testimony to his divine power. 2.
By their failure to arrest him openly in the temple, they bore witness to his innocence. With his divinity and his innocence, therefore, Jesus challenges them, referring to their own conduct for testimony thereto.
In conclusion, he cites them to the Scriptures which they were fulfilling. Our Lord’s dual reference to the Old Testament at this sacred time should cause us to handle them with awe and reverence.] [All the predictions of Jesus had failed to prepare the apostles for the terrors of his arrest. Despite all his warnings, each apostle sought his own safety. The young man who fled naked is usually presumed to be Mark himself, and it is thought that he thus speaks impersonally after the manner of Matthew and John. The manner of his description shows that he was not an apostle. As Mark’s mother resided in Jerusalem , Canon Cook advances the theory that the Lord’s Supper was eaten in the upper room of her house, and that when the disciples retired with Jesus from thence to Gethsemane, Mark slipped from his bed, threw his sindon about him, and followed after them. The sindon, or linen vestment, was very costly, not being worn even by the middle classes: no apostle would be thus attired.] [693] [FFG 689-692]
John 18:12-23
(Friday before dawn.) J 12-14, 19-23. [For confusion in the priesthood, etc., see , ), but he did not do so for [694] the purposes of concealment . Jesus was the light of the world; addressing his teachings to all flesh, he chose the most public places to utter them–places, however, dedicated to the worship of the true God. He who had said that heaven and earth would pass away, but that his word would not pass away, did not suffer his teaching to be held in contempt; he did not permit it to be made matter for cross examination. On the contrary, it was to be taken cognizance of among the things universally known and understood. The very officers who had arrested him could tell about it– , .] [Jesus was then under arrest, and as the trial had not yet opened there was ample time to add new matter to the charges against him. If, in addressing the high priest, he had just spoken words worthy of punishment, the officer who struck him should, instead, have preferred charges against him and had him punished in a legal manner.
If the officer could not do this (and the point is that he could not), he was doubly wrong in striking him. Thus the Lord calmly rebuked the wrong-doer. Compare his conduct with that of Paul under somewhat similar circumstances . Jesus exemplified his teaching at . “Christ,” says Luther, “forbids self-defense with the hand, not with the tongue.”] [695] [FFG 694-695]
John 18:15-27
(Court of the high priest’s residence. Friday before and about dawn.) M 58, 69-75; M 54, 66-72; L 54-62; J 15-18, 25-27. [leaving Jesus in the palace of the high priest, we now turn back to the garden of Gethsemane at the time when Jesus left it under arrest, that we may follow the course of Simon Peter in his threefold denial of the Master] [This other disciple was evidently the apostle John, who thus speaks of himself impersonally.] [John’s acquaintanceship appears to have been with the household as well as with the high priest personally, for we find that it is used as a permit at the doorway. It is likely that the high priest knew John rather in a business way– ] [For courts of houses see . John would have shown a truer kindness to Peter had he let him stay out] [Peter] [The doorkeeper evidently recognized John as a disciple, and was therefore suspicious of Peter. The cowardly “I am not” of Peter is a sad contrast to the strong “I am he” of Jesus] [700] [they were gathered around a little smokeless charcoal fire] [Though his faith in Christ was shaken, he still loved him enough to see what would become of him.] [Peter’s second denial was of a quadruple nature. He denied to four different parties, but in such quick succession that the event is regarded as one.] [701] [Exasperated by the repeated accusations, Peter loses his temper and begins to emphasize his denial by profanity. Desire to make good his denial is now supreme in his thoughts and the Lord whom he denies is all but forgotten.] [When Peter remembered the loving tenderness of Jesus manifested when he foretold Peter’s crime it formed a background against which the sin appeared in all its hideous enormity.] [FFG 700-702]
John 18:24
(Palace of Caiaphas. Friday.) M 57, 59-68; M 53, 55-65; L 54, 63-65; J 24. [Foiled in his attempted examination of Jesus, Annas sends him to trial.] [It is very likely that Annas had apartments in the same palace with Caiaphas, and that from these apartments Jesus was led into some hall large enough to hold the Sanhedrin, which was now convened. But this was not its formal session as a court; it was more in the nature of a caucus, or committee of the whole.] [What Jesus [696] had really said will be found at . Though his words were misunderstood at that time, being applied, not to his body, but to Herod’s temple, yet it is not unlikely that the Jewish rulers, hearing our Lord’s prediction that he would rise from the dead after three days , came to understand the import of his words. If so, the record itself shows the willingness of the Sanhedrin to receive false witnesses against Christ, for its judges received testimony which they knew to be utterly immaterial if rightly construed. The accounts of the two Evangelists, moreover, show how the witnesses failed to agree. A man could only be condemned on the testimony of two witnesses as to some fact or facts constituting a ground for condemnation– , .] [While the testimony then before the court might be used to show that Jesus was recklessly boastful, it was insufficient to justify a sentence of blasphemy.
A threat to destroy the temple might be thus construed ; but a promise to rebuild the temple, if destroyed, was altogether different. The high priest, knowing this, sought to extort from Jesus some additional evidence.
With great cunning and effrontery he assumes that the testimony is all that could be possibly desired, and demands of Jesus what he has to say in answer to it. But our Lord did not suffer himself to seem so easily deceived. He gave no explanation, since the future would explain his meaning, and speak the real truth to all who had ears to hear it.] [Seeing that Jesus was not to be lured into an answer, and well knowing his perfect frankness, Caiaphas resolved, in his desperation, to question Jesus plainly and [697] bluntly. His question is twofold: 1. Art thou Christ? 2. Art thou the Son of God?
The latter of these would constitute blasphemy, and the former, by showing a boastful spirit, would tend to confirm the charge. Perhaps, too, Caiaphas anticipated the future, and foresaw how useful this claim to be the Messiah would prove when a hearing was had before Pilate .
Originally the Messiah was recognized as the Son of God , but if the Jews had ever generally entertained such an idea, they had lost it before Jesus’ day, The Messiah might of course be called the Son of God in that secondary sense in which Adam was thus called . But Jesus had used the term in an entirely different sense, and his usage had been extremely offensive to the Jews . Caiaphas evidently wished Jesus to answer this question in that new sense which the Lord had given to the words. Caiaphas had no legal right to ask either of these questions. No man can be compelled to testify against himself, but he knew the claims of Jesus, and realized that if Jesus repudiated them he would be shamed forever, and if he asserted them he could be charged with blasphemy. Taking advantage, therefore, of the situation, Caiaphas put the question with the usual formula of an oath, thus adding moral power to it, for, under ordinary circumstances, one was held guilty if he refused to answer when thus adjured .
When their own witnesses failed, these rulers called the “faithful witness”– , .] [Jesus freely confessed the truth which his church is called upon to confess. “Right hand of Power” was commonly understood to mean the right hand of God. By the words “nevertheless” and “henceforth” Jesus brings the present state of humiliation into contrast with his future state of glory.
Hard as it might be for them to believe it, the day would come when he should [698] sit in judgment and they should stand on trial before him.] [Though Jesus had given the very answer which the high priest was longing to hear, yet he hypocritically pretends to be shocked at it, and rends his clothes and feigns horror. Evidently he feared the effect of the clear, calm answer of Jesus and sought to counteract its influence on his colleagues.] [This was not the final, formal sentence, but the mere determination of the council at the preliminary hearing.] [To spit in the face has been an insult in all ages and in all lands. See , , . Jesus, having stood out for examination, is now given back to the officers to be led away into the council chamber. These officers received Jesus with many indignities. They seek to make his high claims contemptible, and to make it appear that instead of being divine he is hardly worthy to be regarded as human.] [699] [FFG 696-699]
John 18:28-38
(Jerusalem. Early Friday morning.) M 11-14; M 2-5; L 2-5; J 28-38. [See , ), but he also gave the details of his trial– , , , .] [The Jews now profess to change their verdict into a charge, they themselves becoming witnesses as to the truth of the matter charged. They say “We found,” thereby asserting that the things which they stated to Pilate were the things for which they had condemned Jesus. Their assertion was utterly false, for the three things which they now mentioned had formed no part whatever of the evidence against Jesus in their trial of him. The first charge, that Jesus was a perverter or seducer of the people, was extremely vague. The second, that he taught to withhold tribute from Cæsar, was a deliberate falsehood. See .] [Jesus is called from the guards who have him in custody and stands alone before Pilate that the governor may investigate his case privately] [705] [The Gospels are unanimous in giving this question as the first words addressed by Pilate to Jesus.
The question expresses surprise. There was nothing in the manner or attire of Jesus to suggest a royal claimant.
The question was designed to draw Jesus out should he chance to be a fanatical or an unbalanced enthusiast.] [Using the Hebrew form of affirmative reply . They objected to his kingly claims , but Jesus shows Pilate that these kingly claims, however distasteful to the Jews, were no offense to or menace against the authority of Rome. Further than this, Jesus did not define his kingdom, for Pilate had no concern in it beyond this. It was sufficient to inform him that it made no use of physical power even for purposes of defense. Such a kingdom could cause no trouble to Rome, and the bare fact stated by Jesus proved that it was indeed such a kingdom.] [See , .] [This question has been regarded as an earnest inquiry (Chrysostom), the inquiry of one who despaired (Olshausen), a scoffing question (Alford), etc. But it is evident that Pilate asked it intending to investigate the case of Jesus further, but, suddenly concluding that he already knew enough to answer his purpose as a judge, he stifles his curiosity as a human being and proceeds with the trial of Jesus, leaving the question unanswered.] [707] [The pronoun “I” is emphatic; as if Pilate said, “You, prejudiced fanatics, demand his death, but I, the calm judge, pronounce him innocent.”] [When Pilate left the Prætorium to speak with the Jewish rulers, it is evident that Jesus was led out with him, and so stood there in the presence of his accusers.] [Pilate was irritated that Jesus did not speak in his own defense.
He had already seen enough of our Lord’s wisdom to assure him that it would be an easy matter for him to expose the malicious emptiness of these charges–charges which Pilate himself knew to be false, but about which he had to keep silent, for, being judge, he could not become our Lord’s advocate. Our Lord’s silence was a matter of prophecy .
Jesus kept still because to have successfully defended himself would have been to frustrate the purpose for which he came into the world– .] [The Jews cling to their general accusation of sedition, and seek to make the largeness of the territory where Jesus operated overshadow and conceal the smallness of their testimony as to what his operations were.] [708] [FFG 704-708]
John 18:39-200
(Friday. Toward sunrise.) M 15-30; M 6-19; L 13-25; J 39- 16. [the passover and unleavened bread] [No one knows when or by whom this custom was introduced, but similar customs were not unknown elsewhere, both the Greeks and Romans being wont to bestow special honor upon certain occasions by releasing prisoners.] [710] [Josephus tells us that there had been an insurrection against Pilate’s government about that time caused by his taking money from the temple treasury for the construction of an aqueduct. This may have been the affair here referred to, for in it many lost their lives.] [It was still early in the morning, and the vast majority of the city of Jerusalem did not know what was transpiring at Pilate’s palace. But they came thither in throngs, demanding their annual gift of a prisoner. Pilate welcomed the demand as a possible escape from his difficulties.] [He did not wish to seem to take advantage of our Lord’s accusers by releasing him during their absence. Possibly he knew of the triumphal entry the Sunday previous, and thought that the popularity of Jesus would be such that his release would be overwhelmingly demanded, and so called the rulers that they might see that he had released Jesus in answer to popular clamor. If he had such expectations, they were misplaced] [Though Jesus had been declared innocent on the joint finding of himself and Herod, [711] Pilate did not have the courage to deliberately release him.
He sought to please the rulers by scourging him, and the multitude by delivering him to them as a popular favorite, and himself by an adroit escape from an unpleasant situation. But he pleased nobody.] [We see from Matthew’s account that though the people had a right to name their prisoner, Pilate took upon himself the liberty of choosing which one of two it should be.
By doing so he complicated matters for the Jewish rulers, asking them to choose between Jesus, who was held on an unfounded charge of insurrection, and Barabbas, who was notoriously an insurrectionist and a murderer and a robber as well. But the rulers were not to be caught in so flimsy a net. Without regard to consistency, they raised their voice in full chorus for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus.] [This message of Pilate’s wife suggests that the name and face of Jesus were not unknown to Pilate’s household. Pilate would be much influenced by such a message. The Romans generally were influenced by all presages, and Suetonius tells us that both Julius and Augustus Cζsar attached much importance to dreams.] [712] [Finding the mob cruelly persistent, Pilate boldly declines to do its will and turns back into the Prζtorium declaring his intention to release Jesus. But he retires with the demands of the multitude ringing in his ears.] [Carrying out the program which he proposed, Pilate had Jesus removed from the Prζtorium to the place of scourging, and inflicted that punishment upon him.
We learn from Josephus and others that the law required that those about to be crucified should first be scourged. But Pilate hoped that scourging would suffice.
He believed that the more moderate would take pity upon Jesus when they viewed his scourged body, for scourging was so cruel a punishment that the condemned person often died under its infliction. The scourge was made of thongs loaded at the extremity with pieces of bone or metal. The condemned person was stripped and fastened to a low post, this bending the back so as to stretch the skin. Blood spurted at the first blow.] [The soldiers had no special malice against Jesus, but the Roman military system made men hard of heart. The occasion gave to these foreign legionaries a much-enjoyed opportunity to show their contempt for the Jews by mocking Jesus as their King. It is not known which one of the many thorny plants of Palestine [713] was used to form the Lord’s crown.
See ). If Pilate had found Jesus guilty, he would have condemned him at once.
As it was, he sought to return Jesus to the Sanhedrin as having committed no crime of which the Roman law could take note.] [It was Pilate’s original proposition to scourge Jesus and let him go . Having already scourged him, he now hoped to effect his release. Presenting our Lord in this state of abject humiliation, he feels that he has removed him from every suspicion of royalty. He speaks of Jesus as no longer a king, but a mere man. Pilate’s words, however, have a prophetic color, somewhat like those uttered by Caiaphas. All those of subsequent ages have looked and must continue to look to Jesus as the ideal of manhood.
The “Ecce Homo” of Pilate is in some sense an echo of the words of the Father when he said, “This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him.” In Jesus we behold the true man, the second Adam.] [Thus Pilate’s expectation came to naught, for not one of the Jewish rulers ever wavered in their demand for crucifixion.] [714] [In this sentence, “ye” and “I” are both emphatic; for Pilate wishes to draw a contrast between himself and the Jewish rulers. His words are not a permission to crucify, but a bit of taunting irony, as if he said: “I the judge have found him innocent, but ye seem to lack the wit to see that the case is ended.
If ye are so much superior to the judge that ye can ignore his decision, proceed without him; crucify him yourselves.”] [Perceiving that Pilate was taunting them, and practically accusing them of attempting to put an innocent man to death, they defended themselves by revealing the fact that in addition to the charges that they had preferred against Jesus, they had found him clearly guilty and worthy of death on another charge; viz.: that of blasphemy . They had made no mention of this fact because Pilate was under no obligation to enforce their law; but they mentioned it now to justify their course. They probably felt sure that Jesus himself would convince Pilate of the truth of this latter accusation if Pilate questioned him.] [The words of Jesus at John xviii. 37 (see , (the same word being translated both “betrayed” and “delivered”), but Judas did not deliver to Pilate, so Caiaphas as the representative of the Sanhedrin is here meant; and Pilate’s sin is contrasted with that of the rulers. Both of them sinned in abusing their office ; but Pilate’s sin stopped here. He had no acquaintance with Jesus to give him the possibility of other powers–those of love or hatred, worship or rejection. The members of the Sanhedrin had these powers which arose from a personal knowledge of Jesus, and they abused them by hating and rejecting him, thereby adding to their guilt.
Pilate condemned the innocent when brought before him, but the Sanhedrin searched out and arrested the innocent that they might enjoy condemning him.] [As we have seen, Pilate had before this tried to win the consent of the rulers that Jesus be released, but that which John here indicates was probably an actual attempt to set Jesus free. He may have begun by unloosing the hands of Jesus, or some such demonstration] [716] [Whatever Pilate’s demonstration was it was immediately met by a counter one on the part of the rulers.
They raise a cry which the politic Pilate can not ignore. Taking up the political accusation (which they had never abandoned), they give it a new turn by prompting Pilate to view it from Cζsar’s standpoint. Knowing the unreasoning jealousy, suspicion and cruelty of the emperor, Pilate saw at once that these unscrupulous Jews could make out of the present occasion a charge against him which would cost him his position, if not his life.] [Pilate had already again and again declared Jesus innocent. He now mounts the judgment-seat that he may formally reverse himself and condemn him. The apostle as an eye-witness fixes by its two names the exact spot where this awful decision was rendered.] [see ), their faithful prophet, Samuel, warned them what the king of their choice would do, and what they should suffer under him. Thus Jesus also foretold what this Cζsar of their choice would do to them .
They committed themselves to the [717] tender mercies of Rome, and one generation later Rome trod them in the wine-press of her wrath.] [They overcame Pilate’s weak resistance by their clamor.] [Pilate’s act was symbolic, intended to show that he regarded the crucifixion of Jesus as a murder, and therefore meant to wash his hands of the guilt thereof. The Jewish law made the act perfectly familiar to the Jews .
Had the Jewish rulers not been frenzied by hatred, the sight of Pilate washing his hands would have checked them; but in their rage they take upon themselves and their children all the responsibility. At the siege of Jerusalem they answer in part for the blood of Christ, but God alone determines the extent of their responsibility, and he alone can say when their punishment shall end. But we know that it ends for all when they repentantly seek his forgiveness. The punishments of God are not vindictive, they are the awards of Justice meted out by a merciful hand.] [Mark mentions the scourging to show that it preceded the crucifixion, but we see from John’s account that the scourging took place somewhat earlier in the proceeding] [Pilate delivered Jesus to their punishment, but not into their hands; he was led forth and crucified by Pilate’s soldiers, who first mocked him, as the next paragraph shows.] [718] [and] [After the sentence of death the soldiers take Jesus back into the Prζtorium, and renew the mockeries and indignities which had been interrupted that Pilate might exhibit Jesus to the people, as John shows us. Moreover, the whole band, or cohort, are now gathered, where at first but a few took part. It is likely that the mock robe and crown were removed when Jesus was brought before Pilate to be sentenced, for it is highly improbable that a Roman judge would pronounce the death sentence while the prisoner was clothed in such a manner.] [FFG 710-719]