Dear Explorer,
Now let's look at John's account of Jesus' final trial with Pilate. He gives a little more detail.
Read John 18:38-40
and
Read John 19:1-16
Pilate had Jesus flogged. Now I don't want to go into gory details, but a Roman flogging is brutal. It is done with a whip that has pieces of bones and metal and sharp glass pieces tied into the cords. Many people died from flogging because of the loss of blood.
Now you need to know that a person who was going to be crucified wasn't usually flogged first. Pilate had him flogged hoping that the Jewish leaders would be satisfied. They weren't. They wanted him dead.
This is just another example of Satan making Jesus' pain as bad as possible.
What was Pilate's reaction when they said that He claimed to be the Son of God (John 19:8)?
How much power do you think Pilate had – when he couldn't even make his judgment stick? How did Jesus respond to Pilate's belief that he had power over Jesus?
Do you remember we talked about Satan using your weakest spot to make you cave into temptation? What was Satan's final blow to Pilate?
“We'll tell Caesar that you aren't his friend!” Sounds almost childish doesn't it. But that's the way Satan works.
What day is it?
It was Friday. Passover began at 6 pm. (or sundown) on Thursday night. In Jerusalem and the surrounding territory of Judea, all day Friday was their Day of Preparation for the Seder Feast.
What time of day was it?
According to John 19:14, John says that it was around noon (or the 6th hour) when Pilate made his judgment. However, later we'll see that Mark records that it was about 9 a.m. when Jesus was nailed to the cross. Whoa! Stop! Why the discrepancy?
So, I investigated!
Mark says that Jesus was nailed to the cross at the 3rd hour (which is 9 a.m.). And John says that Pilate pronounced his judgment at the 6th hour (which is noon). Why the difference?
In the Jewish way of keeping time, time was divided into night and day starting at sundown. So approximately 6 pm to 6 am was night and 6 am to 6 pm was day. But remember that they didn't wear watches or carry cell phones to tell time. They watched the sun's location primarily, so everything is approximate.
Now, here in John 19:14, John says that Pilate pronounced judgment on Jesus at the 6th hour. Using the Jewish method of keeping time, that would be noon. But what if you weren't using the Jewish method? Some scholars believe that John was using Roman time!
Now, Roman time is the same as our time system. They counted a day as being from 12 midnight until 12 midnight. Using our time system, what is the 6th hour of the day?
6 a.m.
Why would John use Roman time when all the other writers are using Jewish time?
It's just speculation on my part, but I believe it was because of something significant that happened in Jerusalem between the time that Matthew, Mark and Luke wrote their accounts (50-60 AD) and when John wrote his account (85-90 AD).
In 70 A.D. Rome cracked down on Jewish autonomy, destroyed their temple and most of Jerusalem. I believe that from that point on, the Jewish way of counting was considered archaic and out of date (no pun intended). So, I believe that John began using the Roman time for his writings so that his readers would not be confused! In a later study, I'll show you another incident that shows that John is using Roman time instead of Jewish time. But we'll get to that later.
Long story short: There is no discrepancy in these two Scriptures! And – don't be afraid to investigate God's Word! It is true and reliable!
Also. you need to know that when someone says it was the 6th hour – that would cover everything from 6:00 to 6:59! So, their time keeping was not as exact as our digital clocks today! And remember, they were probably using “sun” time, not a time piece.
And finally, Pilate turned Him over to the soldiers to crucify Him.
This is so hard to even think about. It is so sad. But you need to know that “the wages of sin is death”. Jesus paid this price for you and for me.
In His service, dale
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