Warning: the material in the Bible is graphic in places. It does talk about uncomfortable things. It will make you scherm. This is one of those places. It is very clear what Jesus went through just so you could make the choice to have a real relationship with him. He didn't go through this for the joy of it. It makes the people who reject him as bad as the people that are guilty of the misconduct of Jesus' interrogation, trials, sentencing, and execution.
What happened to Jesus was pure and obvious misconduct on the part of the judicial system. What is worse is all the people that allowed it to happen and no one tried to stop it. It had to go down that way for Jesus to finish his job on Earth, but it was wrong. The worst part is that misconduct still happens. It is not just in third world countries or up and coming countries. It happens all the time in countries that dominate the world.
Pilate was one of those people that could have changed what happened to Jesus, but did the bare minimal to try to stop it. He had Jesus flogged to try to appease the Sanhedrin. That means that he was wiped with leather straps that had hooks or barbs on them. Each lash would tear the skin from the body. Jesus endured 39 lashes. A lot of people actually died before the lasher was able to finish.
Not only was that torturously painful, but the blood loss would have made Jesus weak. He was not trying to escape. There could have been a better way, but I guess Pilate really thought that the flogging would at least attempt to save his life. There was still a real chance that if Jesus was just a human, that he would have died from infection. We will never know how it could have been because the Pharisees were set on Jesus dying on the cross.
The soldiers that were in charge of Jesus took it upon themselves to make fun of him in his vulnerable state. They insulted him. They inflicted more pain by placing a royal robe on his torn flesh and a crown of long, thick thorns on his head and pressed them into his skull. They slapped him, spat on him, and teased him. It appears like they enjoyed the abuse as their entertainment. After all this was the culture of the gladiators. Death and violence was a part of their lives. Better that other people suffer than themselves.
Pilate was afraid for his own life, so he allowed all this evil to just happen. He did nothing to stop it. It is a pity that the people in power are so often afraid of the people and the people never seem to know. Pilate lost his pathetic attempt to save Jesus' life, so he handed Jesus over to be crucified. He didn't want any part of it, but his hands are just as bloody as the soldiers that did the beating and crucifixion.
Jesus accepted everything inflicted upon him and never gave Pilate even a dirty look. Jesus did however point out to Pilate that all the authority that Pilate had over him was the authority that Jesus himself gave to Pilate. Jesus also said that it would be worse for the people that handed him over because they were guilty of a worse sin than beating him. This tell me that we have the power to change the injustice and misconduct of the world around us. It also tells me that when people persecute us, that it is better not react.
When Jesus hung on the cross naked the soldiers placed a sign in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek to taunt him even further. It said "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews". It was true, but written as a mockery and insult to the Sanhedrin. It basically called them out to try to deflect the fact that the Romans were a part of this injustice. Over all the actions of everyone involved were actions of misconduct. Even as Jesus hung on the cross the soldiers cast lots to have possession of his clothes. They unknowingly fulfilled a prophecy proving Jesus is who he said he is.
Jesus' mother was present. She stood near the cross that her son hung on. With her was his aunt (maybe Elizabeth or Salome), Mary (Clopas's wife), and Mary Magdalene. John was standing beside Jesus' mother to support her. Jesus looked his mother in her eyes and said that John would be her son now and would take care and love her. This indicates that Mary was a widow. We do not know when Jesus died, so we don't know how fresh that mourning was. Mary was only probably in her early 50s and had so much loss.
When Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus, I am sure she never imagined that she would be standing where she was that day. The pain and grief must have been unimageable for her. Her miracle baby was not supposed to die that way (in her opinion). Or maybe she always knew it would end this way, but I really doubt it.
When the time came for Jesus to allow his soul to leave his body, he stated "it is finished". This means all the prophecies had been fulfilled for his life. Jesus surrendered his spirit and breathed his last breath before they could break his legs. The soldiers would do that to speed up the people suffocating from their own body weight. They used their legs to push themselves up to breath. It was a very slow process.
Jesus was only on the cross for about six hours. It could take a day for some people to die, but the people were in a hurry because the next day was the Sabbath. The other two criminals did have their legs broken and died shortly after Jesus. He had surrendered his body before they could break his legs to fulfill the prophecies post murdrum of not having any bones broken. There was a reason for everything even the proving that he was in fact dead.
Joseph and Nicodemus, secret disciples within the Sanhedrin, took care of Jesus' body. This must have felt like a huge loss for all the people that followed Jesus. They felt like their hope had died. It also inflicted fear in the hearts their hearts. What would happen to them? Would they die for following and loving Jesus. The atmosphere was full of uncertainty. That is why Joseph and Nicodemus did what they could. They couldn't change anything, but they could care for Jesus' body and give him some dignity back in his burial. In death he received some of the same gifts that he received at birth from the wisemen.
John 19
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