ACC ~ John 19 v17 - 22

OVERVIEW:

John tells us that Jesus carried his own cross that is later taken up by Simon of Cyrene, as we learn from the other Evangelists, (THEODORE) and ultimately taken up by us (ORIGEN). Abraham was willing to give up his son Isaac, who carried the wood for his own sacrifice, but was not called on to do so. Our heavenly Father, however, did give up his own Son, having him also carry the wood for his sacrifice for us (ROMANUS, CLEMENT). Jesus goes further, however, in finishing what Isaac was spared (CHRYSOSTOM), thus fulfilling the type of the ram who is sacrificed while caught in the thorns of his crown and cross (TERTULLIAN). He carried a cross that was rightfully ours, not his, and so it is fitting not only that our Savior carried his own cross but that we should do so as well (CYRIL). The cross is the scepter of Jesus’ power as he carries the trophy of victory (LEO). He came to the place of the skull, which, according to Hebraic tradition (although its veracity may be questioned) was the place where the body of Adam was buried (ORIGEN, JEROME). The blood of the second Adam thus washes away the sin of the first Adam (JEROME). The naming of the place of the skull is indeed prophetic since Christ, the true head, began his headship from this place (CYRIL OF JERUSALEM).

Jesus is crucified between two thieves as the Jews seek to discredit Jesus, but instead of infamy, they bring glory to Jesus (CHRYSOSTOM). The two thieves who are crucified with him are a type of Israel and the Gentiles (CYRIL) with Jesus in the middle foreshadowing his future seat of judgment (AUGUSTINE). The cause of Jesus’ death was contained in the inscription above his head, that is, that he was king of the Jews (ORIGEN). The Jews could not keep him from being their king even in death (AUGUSTINE).

In posting this notice on the cross, Pilate proclaims Jesus’ victory as well as his innocence (CHRYSOSTOM). This very public record (CHRYSOSTOM), written in the most conspicuous languages of the day (AUGUSTINE), amounted to a declaration that Christ would not only rule over the Jews but over all nations and languages (CYRIL). The chief priests object to the title King of the Jews, but it remains an accurate description of Jesus, who reigns over all nations but does so, nonetheless, as the King of the Jews (AUGUSTINE). Pilate wrote what he wrote because the Lord said what he said (AUGUSTINE). The Gentile Pilate ends up bearing witness to Jesus at his death just as the Gentile magi had done at his birth (AUGUSTINE).

19:17a | Carrying His Own Cross

CHRIST CARRIED FIRST, SIMON SECOND

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: When Christ was condemned, they laid his cross on him. However, on the way out to Golgotha, they met Simon of Cyrene and transferred it on to him. [1] In this way there is no disagreement among the Evangelists. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 7.19.17. [2]

[1] Mt 27:32.

[2] CSCO 4 3:335.

LET US ALSO BEAR THE CROSS

ORIGEN: But it was fitting not only that the Savior should take his own cross but that we also should bear it, fulfilling our being pressed into service in the cause of salvation. But yet again, we do not profit from taking his cross as much as we do when Jesus himself takes his cross and bears it. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 126. [1]

ABRAHAM AND THE FATHER, ISAAC AND CHRIST

ROMANUS MELODUS:

“In you [Abraham] I foreshadow my plans, [2]

For indeed, O just man, you are clearly my figure in relief. [3]

Do you wish to know what is to come after you as a result of your deeds?

It is for this reason that I had you ascend here, to show you.

Just as you did not spare your son because of me,

Just so, I shall not spare my son because of all men;

But I shall give him to be slain for the sake of the world.” [4] …

“In the same way that your Isaac has carried the wood on his shoulders,

In the same way, my son will bear the cross on His shoulders.

Your great love has revealed to you the future.

See now the battering ram attached to the wood;

As you see the source of its support, you will understand the mystery.

It is by the horns that it holds in the bonds;

The horns signify the hands of my son.

Set the seal of approval on Him, and I shall guard your son.”

KONTAKION ON ABRAHAM AND ISAAC 41.22-23. [5]

[1] AEG 6:53*; GCS 38 2 (11):263. This is a common solution to John omitting mention of Simon of Cyrene, that is, that Jesus first carried the cross and then Simon. See, for instance, Theodore on this point. Irenaeus alludes to a possible Gnostic proposal that it was Simon of Cyrene and not Christ who was crucified, implying a theological reason for Simon’s omission by John. See Against Heresies 1.24.4.

[2] Gen 22:15-19.

[3] Gen 1:26; 22:12, 16.

[4] Rom 8:32.

[5] KRBM 2:69. For a further sampling among the many comparisons between Isaac and Christ in the patristic literature, see J. Cavadini, “Exegetical Transformations: The Sacrifice of Isaac in Philo, Origin, and Ambrose,” in Dominico Eloquio, ed. Paul Blowers et. al. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 35-49.

THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC PREFIGURED CHRIST’S SACRIFICE

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: Isaac (for the narrative may be interpreted otherwise) is a type of the Lord, a child as a son. For he was the son of Abraham, as Christ was the Son of God, and a sacrifice as the Lord, but he was not immolated as the Lord. Isaac only bore the wood of the sacrifice, as the Lord the wood of the cross. And he laughed mystically, [1] prophesying that the Lord should fill us with joy, who have been redeemed from corruption by the blood of the Lord. Isaac did everything but suffer, as was right, yielding the precedence of suffering to the Word. Furthermore, there is an intimation of the divinity of the Lord with his not being slain. For Jesus rose again after his burial, having suffered no harm, like Isaac released from sacrifice. CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 1.5. [2]

[1] The name Isaac means “laughter.”

[2] ANF 2:215*. For further parallels between Isaac and Christ here see also Tertullian An Answer to the Jews 10 and Against Marcion 3.18 and the commentaries, loc. cit.

JESUS FINISHES WHAT ISAAC WAS SPARED

CHRYSOSTOM: And now, [the Jews] laid the cross on him as a malefactor. For they even abhorred the wood and would not even touch it. This was also the case in the type. For Isaac bore the wood, but then the matter stopped because his father wanted it to, for it was the type. Here there was no stopping it because it was the reality [and not the type]. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 85.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:317**.

ISAAC AND CHRIST CARRIED THEIR OWN WOOD

TERTULLIAN: Isaac the son of Abraham personally carried the wood for his own sacrifice when God had enjoined that he should be made a victim to God himself. But these had been mysteries that were being kept for perfect fulfillment in the times of Christ. Therefore Isaac, with his wood, was preserved when the ram that was caught by the horns in the bramble was offered in his place. [1] Christ, however, carried his wood on his own shoulders, adhering to the horns of the cross with a thorny crown encircling his head. For he chose to be made a sacrifice on behalf of all. AN ANSWER TO THE JEWS 13. [2]

[1] Gen 22:1-14.

[2] ANF 3:170-71**.

HE BECAME A CURSE FOR US

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: They led away the author of life to die—to die for our sake. In a way beyond our understanding, the power of God brought from Christ’s passion an end far different from that intended by his enemies. His sufferings served as a snare for death and rendered it powerless. The Lord’s death proved to be our restoration to immortality and newness of life. Condemned to death though innocent, he went forward bearing on his shoulders the cross on which he was to suffer. He did this for our sake, taking on himself the punishment that the law justly imposed on sinners. He was cursed for our sake according to the saying of Scripture: “A curse is on everyone who is hanged on a tree.” [1] … We who have all committed many sins were under that ancient curse for our refusal to obey the law of God. To set us free he who was without sin took that curse on himself. Since he is God who is above all, his sufferings sufficed for all, his death in the flesh was the redemption of all. And so, Christ carried the cross, a cross that was rightfully not his but ours, who were under the condemnation of the law. … Indeed, our Lord Jesus Christ has warned us that anyone who does not take up his cross and follow him is not worthy of him. [2] And I think taking up the cross means simply renouncing the world for God’s sake and, if this is required of us, putting the hope of future blessings before the life we now live in the body. Our Lord Jesus Christ was not ashamed to carry the cross we deserved, and he did so because he loved us. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [3]

[1] Gal 3:13.

[2] See Mt 10:38.

[3] LF 48:623-24**.

THE CROSS IS THE SCEPTER OF JESUS’ POWER

LEO THE GREAT: When our Lord was handed over to the will of his cruel foes, they ordered him, in mockery of his royal dignity, to carry the instrument of his own torture. This was done to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah: “A child is born for us, a son is given to us; sovereignty is laid on his shoulders.” [1] To the wicked, the sight of the Lord carrying his own cross was indeed an object of derision. But to the faithful a great mystery was revealed, for the cross was destined to become the scepter of his power. Here was the majestic spectacle of a glorious conqueror mightily overthrowing the hostile forces of the devil and nobly bearing the trophy of his victory. On the shoulders of his invincible patience he carried the sign of salvation for all the kingdoms of the earth to worship, as if on that day he would strengthen all his future disciples by the symbol of his work and say to them, “Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” [2] SERMON 8.4. [3]

[1] Is 9:6.

[2] Mt 10:38.

[3] NPNF 2 12:172; JFB 44; PL 54:339-40.

19:17b | The Place of the Skull

ADAM AND THE PLACE OF THE SKULL

ORIGEN: The place of the skull is said to have some special appropriateness for the death of him who was to die for humankind. A Hebraic tradition has come down to us that says that the body of Adam the first man was buried just where Christ was crucified. And so, as in Adam all die, so in Christ all should be made alive. In the place that is called the place of the skull or head, the head of the human race should find resurrection along with the whole people through the resurrection of the Lord and Savior who suffered there and rose again. For it was unfitting that when many born from him received remission of sins and attained the blessing of resurrection, the very father of all people should not also attain this grace. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 126. [1]

[1] AEG 6:54-55*; GCS 38 2 (11):264-65.

THE TRADITION OF ADAM QUESTIONABLE

JEROME: [The tradition that Adam died at Calvary is] an apt connection and smooth to the ear but not true. For the place where they cut off the heads of people condemned to death, called in consequence Calvary, was outside the city gates, whereas we read in the book of Jesus [i.e., Joshua] the son of Nave [Nun], that Adam was buried by Hebron and Arbah. [1] COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 4. [2]

[1] Jerome makes a somewhat dubious assertion here on the basis of the Hebrew text of Josh 14:15, which contains the Hebrew word Adam, but the context would suggest its translation as “man” rather than “Adam.” He more than likely knew the rabbinic tradition preserved in Genesis Rabbah 58.4 and based his assertion on that explanation which gave the name of Kiriath Arbah as the burial place of Adam and Eve as well as the patriarchs and their wives. At any rate, he still cites the tradition in one of his own letters, Letter 46, which follows.

[2] CCL 77:270.

THE BLOOD OF THE SECOND ADAM WASHES THE SIN OF THE FIRST ADAM

JEROME: Well, then, to bring forward something still more out of place, we must go back to yet remoter times. Tradition has it that in this city, in fact, on this very spot, Adam lived and died. The place where our Lord was crucified is called Calvary, [1] because the skull of the first man was buried there. So it came to pass that the second Adam, that is, the blood [2] of Christ, as it dropped from the cross, washed away the sins of the buried one who was first formed, [3] the first Adam, and thus the words of the apostle were fulfilled: “Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” [4] LETTER 46.3. [5]

[1] The place of a skull (Lat. Calvaria).

[2] One of Jerome’s fanciful ideas. Haddam is the Hebrew for “the blood.”

[3] Gk protoplastos. See Wis 7:1.

[4] Eph 5:14.

[5] NPNF 2 6:61**.

THE PROPHETIC NAME OF GOLGOTHA

CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Now Golgotha is interpreted “the place of a skull.” Who were they, then, who prophetically named this spot Golgotha in which Christ the true head endured the cross? The apostle calls him “the image of the invisible God,” and a little after, “the head of the body, the church.” [1] And again, “The head of every man is Christ.” [2] And again, “[He] is the head over all principalities and powers.” [3] The head suffered in “the place of the skull.” O wondrous prophetic appellation! The very name also reminds you, saying, “Do not think of the Crucified as a mere man.” He is “the head of all principalities and powers.” That head that was crucified is the head of all power and has for his head the Father, “for the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God.” [4] CATECHETICAL LECTURES 13.23. [5]

[1] Col 1:15, 18.

[2] 1 Cor 11:3.

[3] Col 2:10.

[4] 1 Cor 11:3.

[5] NPNF 2 7:88**. Sozomen records in his Ecclesiastical History 2.26 the completion of the “Great Martyrium,” which was built on the site during Constantine’s reign as a focal point for Christian piety and pilgrimage.

19:18 | Crucified with Two Others

THREE CRUCIFIED, ONLY ONE ATTRIBUTED GLORY

CHRYSOSTOM: Who cares if the Jews did these things with a different intent? They crucified him too with thieves, in this also unintentionally fulfilling prophecy. For what they did for insult contributed to the truth, that you may learn how great its power is, since the prophet of old had foretold, “He was numbered with the transgressors.” [1] The devil therefore wished to cast a veil over what was done but was unable. For the three were crucified, but Jesus alone was glorious, that you may learn that his power affected all. Yet the miracles took place when the three had been nailed to the cross. But no one attributed anything of what was done to either of those others but to Jesus only. This is how the plot of the devil was rendered so entirely impotent and how everything rained back on his own head. For even of these two, one was saved. He therefore did not insult the glory of the cross but contributed to it not a little. For it was not a lesser matter than shaking the rocks to change a thief on the cross and to bring him into paradise. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 85.1. [2]

[1] Is 53:12.

[2] NPNF 1 14:317*.

THE TWO THIEVES ARE A TYPE OF ISRAEL AND THE GENTILES

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The two criminals who hung by Christ’s side symbolize the two nations who were about to be brought into close contact with him, namely, the children of Israel and the Gentiles. And why do we take condemned criminals as the type? Because the Jews were condemned by the Law, for they were guilty of transgressing it. And the Greeks were condemned by their idolatry, for they worshiped the creature more than the Creator. … Therefore, the crucifixion of the two robbers, side by side with Christ, signifies … the juxtaposition of the two nations, dying together, as it were, with the Savior Christ by bidding farewell to worldly pleasures, refusing any longer to live after the flesh and preferring to live with their Lord, as far as possible, by fashioning their lives according to him and consecrating them to his service. And the meaning of the figure is in no way affected by the fact that the men who hung by his side were criminals. For we were by nature children of wrath [1] before we believed in Christ and were all doomed to death. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [2]

[1] Eph 2:3.

[2] LF 48:626-27*.

THE MIDDLE CROSS FORESHADOWS THE JUDGMENT SEAT

AUGUSTINE: Even the cross, if you consider it well, was a judgment seat. For the Judge was set up in the middle with the thief who believed and was pardoned on one side and the thief who mocked and was damned on the other. Already then he signified what he would do with the living and the dead: some he will place on his right hand, others on his left. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 31.11. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:193**.

19:19 | The Inscription

THE CAUSE OF JESUS’ DEATH AND HIS CROWN

ORIGEN: Whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed king, and every letter bears witness of his reign, whether of Greeks, or Romans, or Hebrews. And for a crown above his head was written, “This is Jesus the King of the Jews.” And since no other cause is found for his death (for there was none), this alone is put forward, “He was king of the Jews.” [1] … And the high priest according to the letter of the law used to carry on his head the form of the sign and the sanctification of the Lord written on the plate. But the true high priest and king, Jesus, on the cross has it written, “This is the King of the Jews.” But ascending to the Father and receiving the Father into himself, he has for letters and for a name what he [God] is named and has him [the Father] as a crown. COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 130. [2]

[1] See also Ps 2:6.

[2] AEG 6:57-58*; GCS 38 2 (11):267.

THEIR KING EVEN IN DEATH

AUGUSTINE: The title placed over his cross, on which was written “The King of the Jews,” showed that they could not keep him from being their king even by his death. SERMON 218.5. [1]

[1] WSA 3 6:184**.

PILATE PROCLAIMS JESUS’ VICTORY AND INNOCENCE

CHRYSOSTOM: Pilate wrote a title that both requited the Jews and made a defense for Christ. They had given him up as worthless and attempted to confirm his sentence by making him share the punishment of the robbers. He does this in order that, in the future, it might be in no one’s power to bring evil charges against Jesus or accuse him of being a worthless and wicked person. He closes their mouths and the mouths of all who might desire to accuse him and shows that they had risen up against their own king. Pilate, however, places those letters almost as if he were placing them on a trophy—letters that proclaim in a clear voice Jesus’ victory and kingdom. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 85.1. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:317**.

19:20 | Written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek

A VERY PUBLIC RECORD

CHRYSOSTOM: He wrote this title not in a single tongue but in three languages. It was likely that there would be a mixed crowd among the Jews because of the feast. And so, in order that no one might be ignorant of the defense, he publicly recorded [1] the charges … in all the languages. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 85.1. [2]

[1] ESUS IS INFORMED THAT LAZARUS IS SICK | JOHN 11:1-5

[2] NPNF 1 14:317**.

THE MOST CONSPICUOUS LANGUAGES OF THE DAY

AUGUSTINE: These three languages were conspicuous in that place beyond all others: the Hebrew because of the Jews who gloried in the law of God; the Greek, because of the wise people among the Gentiles; and the Latin, because of the Romans who at that very time were exercising sovereign power over many, in fact, over almost all countries. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 117.4. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:429*.

THE TITLE IS FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: It was providential and the fruit of God’s inexpressible purpose that the title was written in three languages: one in Hebrew, another in Latin and another in Greek. For it lay in plain view, proclaiming the kingdom of our Savior Christ in the most widely known of all languages … fulfilling the prophecy that had been spoken concerning him. For the wise Daniel said that there was given him glory and a kingdom and that all nations and languages shall serve him. [1] Similarly the holy Paul teaches us, crying out that “every knee shall bow; of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth. And every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” [2] Therefore the title proclaiming Jesus “king” was, as it were, the true firstfruits of the confession of tongues. [3] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [4]

[1] Dan 7:14.

[2] Phil 2:10-11.

[3] See Acts 2:1-12.

[4] LF 48:628-29*. See also Augustine Sermon 218.6.

19:21 | Objection by the Chief Priests

KING OF THE JEWS AND THE GENTILES

AUGUSTINE: The leaders of the Jews urged Pilate not to write without qualification that he is the king of the Jews, but that he himself said he was the king of the Jews, to which he replied, “What I have written, I have written.” This had Pilate representing the wild olive to be grafted on, while the leaders of the Jews represented the broken-off branches. He was, you see, a man of the nations, writing for the nations their confession of faith, convicting the Jews of their denial of it, so that the Lord himself rightly said to them, “The kingdom shall be taken away from you and given to a nation that does justice.” [1] … Pilate, certainly, wrote “king of the Jews,” not “king of the Greeks or the Latins,” although Jesus was going to reign over the nations. And what he has written, he has written, and he did not change it at the urging of unbelievers, as had been foretold such a long time before in the psalm, “Do not corrupt the inscription of the title.” [2] All the nations believe in the king of the Jews. He reigns over all the nations but reigns nonetheless as the king of the Jews. Such was the worth and potency of that root that it could change the engrafted wild olive into itself, while the wild olive could not eliminate the name of the olive. SERMON 218.7. [3]

[1] Mt 21:43.

[2] See the superscriptions to Ps 57 (56:1 LXX) and Ps 58 (57:1 LXX).

[3] WSA 3 11:240.

19:22 | What I Have Written, I Have Written

TRUTH CANNOT BE ALTERED

AUGUSTINE: What Pilate has written, he has written. But the high priests, who wanted it to be corrupted, what did they say? “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews.’ But that he said, ‘I am King of the Jews.’” What is it you are saying, madmen? Why do you oppose the doing of what you are utterly unable to alter? Will it become any less true that Jesus said, “I am King of the Jews”? If that cannot be tampered with which Pilate has written, can that be tampered with which the truth has uttered? TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 117.5. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:429**.

THE MAGI AND PILATE ACKNOWLEDGE THE KING

AUGUSTINE: The magi were from the Gentiles. Pilate too was a Gentile. They saw a star in the sky; he wrote a title on the tree. Both, however, were looking for or acknowledging the king, not of the Gentiles but of the Jews. Thus already there was a prefiguring of what the Lord himself spoke about later, “Many will come from the east and the west and sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom will go into outer darkness.” [1] The magi, you see, had come from the east, Pilate from the west. So they bore witness to the king of the Jews rising, that is, to his being born. Pilate bore witness to the king of the Jews setting, that is, to his dying. In this way, they could take their seats in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, from whom the Jews derived their descent. They were not descended from them, of course, in the flesh but grafted into them by faith. Thus the wild olive the apostle talks about, that was to be grafted into the olive, was already being prefigured. SERMON 201.2. [2]

[1] Mt 8:11-12.

[2] WSA 3 6:88.