19:19-22
A sign saying what the crime of a someone was was often fastened to the cross. Pilate insisted that a sign saying “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” was placed on His cross. Being “king of the Jews” was the “crime” for which the Jewish leaders had brought Jesus to Pilate. The sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek, making sure that everyone passing by could read it. The Jewish leaders didn’t like this. They wanted to have it taken down, but Pilate refused. They now had no hold on him. So on the cross the truth was told, for Jesus actually was, and is, the true king of the Jews. And the message was written so all, Jews and Gentiles, could see and understand.
19:23,24
The soldiers took Jesus’ garments. The tunic may have been quite valuable as they did not want to tear it. This was in fulfilment of Psalm 22:18, and was a common custom among Roman soldiers. Psalm 22 is the most oft quoted Psalm in the New Testament. David wrote Psalm 22 about 1000 years before the crucifixion.
19:25-27
Most of the disciples had fled (but not John), but some of women were around watching the excruciating events. His mother’s sister may be Salome the mother of the sons of Zebedee. Jesus saw His mother and “the disciple whom He loved”, namel John. Even in the midst of His agony Jesus thought about the well-being of His mother, instructing John to look after her, which he did from this time forth. Note that we are in the midst of the most momentous events in history, the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yet in the midst of all this Jesus is still taking account of practical details of people’s lives. We will find that in the midst of important times seemingly trivial things will come in to our minds, seeking to distract them. We should take a two pronged attack to resist this. The first is to realise what is really important and to put that first, and the second is to know that God takes account of all things, even the mundane everyday matters of life.
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