ACC ~ John 19 v9 - 16

OVERVIEW:

Jesus is silent in the face of Pilate’s further inquiry. The silence of the lamb Jesus (AUGUSTINE) was not a sign of weakness (ORIGEN) as the Word stood without a word (ROMANUS). In the face of such silence, Pilate tries waving his wand of power (CYRIL), but the state’s authority comes from God (AUGUSTINE). Jesus appeals to the power that is from above, which allows Pilate to put him to death, since it is true that nothing happens without God (ORIGEN), although just because Pilate had been given the power does not mean that he had to use it (AUGUSTINE). Christ did have power, but chose not to use it, instead giving himself to suffer for us (CYRIL). Although those who handed Jesus over were guilty of a greater sin, Pilate is still not exempt from blame for his complicity in Jesus’ death (AUGUSTINE). The Jews’ implicit accusation that Jesus made himself a king agrees with what we find in Luke’s account (AUGUSTINE). But if this was really true, then Pilate should have investigated further (CHRYSOSTOM). Instead, he chooses to be an enemy of the Almighty instead of being an enemy to Caesar (ROMANUS).

At this point John is specific about the time of events and chronology, which introduces its own difficulties that have received various solutions (THEODORE, AUGUSTINE, IGNATIUS, EUSEBIUS). The fact, however, that our Lord was offered up on the day of preparation for the Passover should enable us to see how the Passover as type was giving way to the true Passover that is found in Christ our Passover lamb (PETER OF ALEXANDRIA). By specifying the day and the hour, John also makes clear Jesus’ fulfillment of the prophecy of Jonah (CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Once John has established the chronology of events, he records Pilate’s presentation of Jesus to the people as their king. But Israel rejects its king in favor of Caesar (IRENAEUS, CHRYSOSTOM). And so Pilate hands Jesus over to be crucified, but neither Pilate nor the Jewish leaders are without guilt in this (CYRIL, AUGUSTINe).

19:9 | No Answer for Pilate

SILENCE OF THE LAMB

AUGUSTINE: It is found, in comparing the narratives of all the Evangelists, that this silence on the part of our Lord Jesus Christ took place more than once, both before the chief priests and before Herod, to whom, as Luke intimates, Pilate had sent him for a hearing, and before Pilate himself. [1] So it was not in vain that the prophecy regarding him had preceded, “As the lamb before its shearer was dumb, so he opened not his mouth,” [2] especially on those occasions when he did not answer his questioners. For although he frequently replied to questions addressed to him, yet because of those questions where he made no reply, the metaphor of the lamb is supplied in order that in his silence he might be accounted not as guilty but innocent. When, therefore, he was passing through the process of judgment, wherever he “opened not his mouth” it was in the character of a lamb that he did so. In other words, he did so not as one with an evil conscience who was convicted of his sins but as one who in his meekness was sacrificed for the sins of others. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 116.4. [3]

[1] See Mt 26:63; 27:14; Mk 14:61; 15:5; Lk 23:7-9; Jn 19:9.

[2] Is 53:7.

[3] NPNF 1 7:426*.

SILENCE NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS

ORIGEN: Since he willed to suffer on behalf of the world, he is silent when examined and beaten by Pilate. For if he had spoken, he would not have been crucified from weakness, [1] since there is no weakness in the words that the Word speaks. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 19.61. [2]

THE WORD WITHOUT A WORD

ROMANUS MELODUS:

The Thunderer stood voiceless—the Word, without a word;

For if He had spoken out, He would not have been overpowered,

And as victor, He would not have been crucified, and Adam would not have been saved.

Therefore, He who had caught the wise, [3] conquered by His silence.

The judge on seeing that He did not utter a sound

Was overcome with embarrassment and said: “What am I to do with one who does not speak?”

But they answered: “He is liable for those things which we question, hence his silence… .”

“Death is a debt I owed,” said my Savior

To the lawless people—as for Pilate,

[Jesus] did not consider the unspeakable animal [4] worthy of a word.

KONTAKION ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST 20.7-8. [5]

[1] 2 Cor 13:4.

[2] FC 89:182**; SC 290:84-86.

[3] Job 5:13.

[4] Pilate is both a brute animal and unspeakable; the Gk word alogon implies both.

[5] KRBM 1:209-10.

19:10 | The Power to Crucify?

PILATE TRIES WAVING HIS WAND OF POWER

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Pilate thought this silence of Jesus was the silence of a madman. Therefore, he stretches over him, as it were, the wand of his official power and thought that he could, through fear, induce Jesus to return a fruitless answer against his will. For he says that nothing could hinder his inclining whichever way he chose, either to punish him or to take compassion on him. He [implies] that there was nothing that could make him give a verdict against his will since it was with him alone that the fate of the accused rested. He rebukes Jesus, therefore, as though he felt himself insulted by untimely silence. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [1]

[1] LF 48:615**.

THE STATE’S AUTHORITY COMES FROM GOD

AUGUSTINE: “There is no authority but God’s.” [1] Jesus also taught that someone is a greater sinner who maliciously delivers up the innocent to be killed by such an authority than the authority itself, if that authority kills him through fear of another authority that is greater still. This was the kind of authority that God had given to Pilate, since Pilate was under the authority of Caesar. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 116.5. [2]

[1] Rom 13:1.

[2] NPNF 1 7:426**.

19:11 | Power from Above and Pilate’s Guilt

NOTHING HAPPENS WITHOUT GOD

ORIGEN: As with Job … it is not by accidental attacks that we are assailed, whenever we are visited with any such loss of property. It is not by chance when one of us is taken prisoner or when those who are dear to us are crushed to death in their houses [1] that fall in ruins. For in each one of these circumstances every believer ought to say, “You could have no power at all against me, except it were given you from above.” For observe that the house of Job did not fall on his children until the devil had first received power against them. Nor would the horsemen have made a raid in three bands to carry away his camels and oxen and cattle unless they had been instigated by that spirit to whom they had delivered themselves up as servants of his will. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.2.6. [2]

[1] Job 1:6-19.

[2] ANF 4:333-34*; GCS 22(5):254.

ABILITY DOES NOT IMPLY NECESSITY

AUGUSTINE: But still, when the ability is given, surely no necessity is imposed. Therefore, although David had received ability to kill Saul, he preferred sparing to striking him. [1] From this, we understand that bad people receive ability for the condemnation of their depraved will, while good people receive ability for the trying of their good will. ON THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER 54. [2]

[1] 1 Sam 24:7; 26:9.

[2] NPNF 1 5:107**.

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: When Jesus says that power was given to Pilate from above, he does not mean that God the Father inflicted crucifixion on his own Son against his will. Rather, he means that the Only-Begotten himself gave himself to suffer for us and that the Father suffered the fulfillment of the mystery in him. It is, then, plainly the consent and approval of the Father that is here said to have been given, and the pleasure of the Son is also clearly signified. For no doubt the force of numbers could never have overcome the power of the Savior. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [1]

[1] LF 48:616**.

PILATE NOT EXEMPT FROM BLAME

AUGUSTINE: Jesus told Pilate, “You would have no power against me,” that is, even the little measure you really have, “except” this very measure, whatever its amount, “were given to you from above.” But knowing as I do its amount, for it is not so great as to render you altogether independent, “therefore he that delivered me unto you has the greater sin.” He, indeed, delivered me to your power at the bidding of envy, while you exercise your power on me through the impulse of fear. And yet not even through the impulse of fear should one person kill another, especially the innocent. Nevertheless to do so by an officious enthusiasm is a much greater evil than under the constraint of fear. And therefore the truth-speaking teacher does not say, “Only the one who delivered me to you has sin,” as if the other had none. Rather, he says that he “has the greater sin,” letting him understand that Pilate himself was not exempt from blame. The sin of the latter is not reduced to nothing because the other sin is greater. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 116.5. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:426**.

19:12 | No Friend of Caesar

THIS CHARGE AGREES WITH LUKE’S VERSION

AUGUSTINE: This [charge] may very well agree with what Luke records in connection with the said accusation brought by the Jews. For after the words “we found this fellow perverting our nation,” he has added the clause, “and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar and saying that he himself is Christ a king.” [1] This will also offer a solution for the difficulty previously referred to, namely, the occasion that might seem to be given for supposing John to have indicated that no specific charge was laid by the Jews against the Lord, when they answered and said to him, “If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto you.” HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.8.35. [2]

[1] Lk 23:2.

[2] NPNF 1 6:196**.

PILATE SHOULD HAVE INVESTIGATED

CHRYSOSTOM: Pilate ought therefore to have accurately inquired whether Jesus had aimed at sovereignty and set his hand to expel Caesar from the kingdom. But he makes no such exact inquiry, and therefore Christ answered him nothing, because he knew that he asked all the questions idly. Besides, since his works bore witness to him, he would not prevail by word or compose any defense, showing that he came voluntarily to this condition. … Pilate, thinking that he might now incur some danger if he were to overlook these words, comes forth as though to inquire into the matter (for the “sitting down” showed this), but without making any inquiry, he gave Jesus up to them, thinking to shame them. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 84.2. [1]

AN ENEMY OF THE ALMIGHTY INSTEAD OF CAESAR

ROMANUS MELODUS:

“Crucify!”, the murderer heard the impious cry out,

And he fulfilled their will,

Handing over, without being compelled to, the One whom he wished to be crucified.

For having heard that he would be the enemy of Caesar, the coward was frightened;

He wished to be the enemy of the Almighty

Rather than the enemy of Caesar, preferring his life to Life.

He will certainly not be blameless, since in answer to the lawless, he killed the Living One.

KONTAKION ON THE PASSION OF CHRIST 20.16. [2]

[1] NPNF 1 14:314-15**.

[2] KRBM 1:213.

19:13-14 | Pilate at Noon on the Day of Preparation

MARK’S ACCOUNT IS MORE GENERAL THAN JOHN’S

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: It was the day of preparation, that is, the sixth holy day of the week, [1] and it was about the sixth hour. For those who think that the words of the Evangelists are in contradiction, as some say at the third hour, others at about the sixth, it is necessary that we say something in this regard. Matthew and Luke, like John, said that there was darkness at about the sixth hour. [2] Indeed, Pilate went out immediately and sat at the tribunal and handed Jesus over to be crucified. And after he was fixed to the cross, the darkness began to spread, as the Evangelists said. There are any number of reasons why it is not surprising that Mark said that it was the third hour. [3] He said this, first of all, because he was not present. Second, he was not a disciple of our Lord but learned these facts from Peter or some other apostle. And finally, everyone has different opinions about times and hours, [4] and the doubt about the hours does not affect in any way the reported facts. In addition, we especially must notice that Mark did not say that it was the third hour about any specific and well-known fact. But by relating in a simple and general way the things that happened, he rightly said that they took place at the third hour and so designated the entire interval of time in which these facts happened. Then he added, “They crucified him.” [5] Therefore the sentence, “It was nine in the morning” refers to the account of all those events, which happened in the meantime. “They crucified him” is added concerning the previous events. COMMENTARY ON JOHN 7.19.14. [6]

[1] Hebdomas.

[2] That is, noon. See Mt 27:45; Lk 23:44

[3] Mk 15:25. Theodore assumes that the third hour mentioned by Mark is 9:00 in the morning.

[4] Theodore here reflects another solution that has been put forward to this problem of chronology, that is, that the different Gospel writers may have been writing with different conceptions as to when to begin counting the hours of the day.

[5] Mk 15:25.

[6] CSCO 4 3:333-34.

TIME DISCREPANCY?

AUGUSTINE: What else, then, is the meaning of the Evangelist Mark saying, “And it was the third hour, and they crucified him,” [1] but this, that the Lord was crucified at the third hour by the tongues of the Jew, at the sixth hour by the hands of the soldiers? [2] TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 117.1. [3]

[1] Mk 15:25.

[2] Augustine’s chronological solution in his Harmony of the Gospels 3.13.40-50 (especially par. 42) extends Theodore’s thought by asserting that Mark has a hidden agenda when he mentions the third hour. For Mark, the crucifixion technically begins when the Jews first cried out that Jesus should be crucified and extends to the later crucifixion by the Roman soldiers. Mark, Augustine says, did this so that the reader would understand who was truly responsible for Jesus’ death, noting that while the soldiers were the executioners, it was the cry to crucify him, which took place at the third hour and was inspired by the Jewish leaders, that was the cause of his death.

[3] NPNF 1 7:428*.

ONE POSSIBLE TIMELINE

IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: On the day of the preparation, then, at the third hour, [1] Jesus received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen. At the sixth hour he was crucified. At the ninth hour he gave up the ghost. And before sunset he was buried. EPISTLE TO THE TRALLIANS 9 (LONGER VERSION). [2]

[1] Ignatius or, more likely, his editors in this case reflect a tradition that seems to contradict John but fits in with the broader Synoptic timetable.

[2] ANF 1:70**.

COPYIST ERROR?

EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA: Mark says Christ was crucified at the third hour. John says that it was at the sixth hour that Pilate took his seat on the tribunal and tried Jesus. This discrepancy is a clerical error or an earlier copyist. Gamma () signifying the third hour is very close to the episemon () [1] denoting the sixth. As Matthew, Mark and Luke agree that the darkness occurred from the sixth hour to the ninth, it is clear that Jesus, Lord and God, was crucified before the sixth hour, i.e. about the third hour, as Mark has recorded. John similarly signified that it was the third hour, but the copyists turned the gamma () to the episemon (). MINOR SUPPLEMENTS TO QUESTIONS TO MARINUS 4. [2]

[1] See PGL 530-31.

[2] PG 22:1009.

PASSOVER AS TYPE GIVES WAY TO TRUE PASSOVER

PETER OF ALEXANDRIA: After his public ministry, Jesus did not eat of the lamb, but he himself suffered as the true Lamb in the Paschal feast, as John, the divine and Evangelist teaches us in the Gospel written by him. “… And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the third hour,” [1] as the correct books render it and the copy itself that was written by the hand of the Evangelist, which by divine grace has been preserved in the most holy church of Ephesus and is there adored by the faithful. … On that day, therefore, on which the Jews were about to eat the Passover in the evening, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was crucified. He was made the victim to those who were about to partake by faith of the mystery concerning him. This is what is written by the blessed Paul, “For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.” [2] It is not the case, as some who, carried along by ignorance, confidently affirm that after he had eaten the Passover, he was betrayed. We neither learn this from the holy Evangelists, nor has any of the blessed apostles handed it down to us. At the time, therefore, in which our Lord and God Jesus Christ suffered for us, according to the flesh, he did not eat of the legal Passover. Rather, as I have said, he himself, as the true Lamb, was sacrificed for us in the feast of the typical Passover on the day of the preparation, the fourteenth of the first lunar month. The typical Passover, therefore, then ceased, the true Passover being present: “For Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us,” as was said earlier. And he was that chosen vessel, as the apostle Paul teaches. FRAGMENT 1.7. [3]

[1] Peter here seems to give some credence to the belief of Eusebius and others, such as Severus and Theophylact, that there was an early error among the copies of John’s Gospel. See Eusebius above.

[2] 1 Cor 5:7.

[3] ANF 6:282**.

THE FIRST OF THREE DAYS

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The inspired Evangelist is induced to signify, for our benefit, the day and hour because of the resurrection itself and his three days’ sojourn among the departed, that the truth of our Lord’s saying to the Jews might appear: “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so also shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [1] COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [2]

[1] Mt 12:40.

[2] LF 48:619*. Irenaeus reflects the tradition that Jesus died on the same day as Adam; see Against Heresies 5.23.2.

19:15 | We Have No King but Caesar

THE JEWS GIVE AWAY THEIR BLESSING TO THE CHRISTIANS

[1] IRENAEUS: [Jacob] received the rights of the firstborn when his brother looked on them with contempt. In the same way, the younger nation [i.e., the Christians] received Christ, the first-begotten, when the elder nation [i.e., the Jews] rejected him, saying, “We have no king but Caesar.” But in Christ every blessing [is summed up], and therefore the latter people has snatched away the blessings of the former from the Father, just as Jacob took away the blessing of this Esau. This is why his brother suffered the plots and persecutions of a brother, just as the church suffers this self-same thing from the Jews. AGAINST HERESIES 4.21.3. [2]

[1] This passage was used often in polemics of Christians against Jews in the patristic period.

[2] ANF 1:493*.

ISRAEL REJECTS GOD’S RULE

CHRYSOSTOM: Of their own will they subjected themselves to punishment. Therefore God also gave them up, because they were the first to cast themselves out from his providence and governance. And since with one voice they rejected his rule, he allowed them to fall by their own expressed wish. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 84.2. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 14:315*.

19:16 | Jesus Handed Over to Be Crucified

PILATE IS NOT WITHOUT GUILT

CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: We cannot acquit Pilate of his complicity in the iniquity of those who committed this impious crime against Christ. Pilate shared their responsibility inasmuch as when he might have delivered and rescued him from the madness of his murderers, he did not merely refrain from releasing him but even gave him up to them to be crucified. COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 12. [1]

[1] LF 48:622-23**.

JEWISH LEADERS ARE NOT WITHOUT GUILT

AUGUSTINE: It was not said “then he delivered him to them” so that they might crucify him but “so that he might be crucified,” that is, that Jesus might be crucified by the judicial sentence and power of the governor. But the Evangelist has said that Jesus was delivered to them so that he might show that they [i.e., the Jewish leaders] were implicated in the crime from which they tried to hold themselves aloof. For Pilate would have done no such thing except to implement what he perceived was their determined desire. TRACTATES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 116.9. [1]

[1] NPNF 1 7:427**.