John 19 Bible Study

What is wrong with what Pilate said in John 19:4 and John 19:6, compared to what he did?
If he found "no fault in Him", he should have released Jesus untouched, not have Him scourged.

What does "scourged" (John 19:1) mean?
It means, "whipped." While the Greek word in John 19:1 is just the generic verb for whipping, the verb in Matthew and Mark - flagello - more precisely identifies it as whipping with the Roman flagellum.

What is a Roman flagellum?
It's a whip with two or three leather strips attached to a short handle. Knotted in along the leather strips were pieces of metal and bone that tore out skin and flesh during the whipping, which ripped the victim's back from the neck to the buttocks to a pulp. It wasn't uncommon for the victims to die from the ensuing blood loss and/or shock.

After scourging Jesus , what did the soldiers do in John 19:2?
They mocked Him.

Why did Pilate so severely beat, and then showcase a man that he himself had declared innocent?
He had tried the Herod card and then the Barabbas card, but neither had worked. So he was trying the pity card to see if something just short of killing Jesus would appease the Jews, which it didn't.


What does, "Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid" (John 19:8) indicate?
"More afraid" means that He was already afraid.

Why doesn't Jesus answer Pilate question?
He knew that Pilate was now out of options. All that remained was for him to give in to the Jews.

What is Pilate asking for in John 19:10?
Jesus' help in finding a way to release Him.

Does Jesus comply?
No, He responds as if His crucifixion is a foregone conclusion and almost sounds like He is consoling Pilate: the power "against" (John 19:11) Jesus was really from "above" (John 19:11), meaning God the Father, and he - Pilate - was less guilty than those who "delivered" (John 19:11) Jesus to him, meaning the Jews who were aware of His teachings and miracles and should have recognized the Messiah foretold throughout the Old Testament.


What finally pushed Pilate to give into the Jews?
Their cry, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." (John 19:12)

Why would that push him over the edge?
Pilate had been close to Aurelius Sejanus, the commander of Caesar's Praetorian Guard and one of the most powerful men in Rome. About a year earlier, Sejanus had been executed for plotting against Caesar and many of his friends had been executed as well. Against that backdrop, Pilate realized that as much as he wanted to release Jesus, he couldn't risk word reaching Rome that he had spared a man who "speaks against Caesar" and was therefore no longer "Caesar's friend."

What ended up happening to Pilate?
He was recalled to Rome in 36 AD.

What is striking about the declaration, "We have no king but Caesar!" (John 19:15)?
It would have been outrageous for any Jew to call his king a pagan emperor who called himself god. Yet this was being shouted by the chief priests of Israel in front of a crowd of Jews.

What did Pilate do after delivering Jesus to "be crucified" (John 19:16)?
He washed his hands: "When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.” And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” (Matthew 27:24-25)

What did Pilate and "the people" mean by what they did and said, respectively?
Pilate washed with water to symbolically wash away any sins he may bear for his role, and the Jews were telling him not to worry, that those sins will wash up on them and their children when Jesus' blood is shed.

Who was right?
Neither, since it is the blood of Jesus that washes away sins.


What did “bearing His cross” involve?
Religious art has Jesus carrying the entire cross but this wasn't the case. The vertical beam weighed about 200 pounds and was kept at the site of execution. The condemned person carried/dragged just the horizontal beam, which still weighed about 120 pounds.

Did Jesus carry his horizontal beam all the way?
No, another man carried it for Him part of the way: "Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross." (Matthew 27:32)

Why couldn't Jesus carry His beam or couldn't keep up with the other two to be crucified?
They hadn’t been scourged like Jesus, whose back had been ripped up from His neck to His buttocks.

Why did Simon have to comply?
Roman soldiers had the legal right to make anyone to carry something for a distance of one Roman mile, which is about 80 yards shorter than the English mile, and this legal right was what Jesus was talking about when He preached, "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." (Matthew 5:41) during His sermon on loving enemies and turning the other cheek.

How far away was the execution site?
About 450 yards north of Antonia Fortress.

Why was it called the "Place of a Skull" (John 19:17)?
It's facade was and still is a cliff face whose cavities made it look like a human skull (photo of Golgotha).


Why was a "title" (John 19:19) put up on Jesus' cross?
Crucified victims served Rome as gruesome warnings against potential criminals and enemies of Rome, so it was typical to identify the victim's name and crime on a sign.

Why was it written in "Hebrew, Greek, and Latin" (John 19:20)?
Hebrew was the local language. Greek was the most common language in the Roman Empire. And Latin was the official language of the empire.

What did the chief priests ask Pilate to add?
“He said” (John 19:21), which would have identified blasphemy as Jesus' crime. As it stood, the criminals were the Jews who had killed their own king.

What did Pilate mean by, “What I have written, I have written” (John 19:22)?
He most likely was still unhappy about having been outmaneuvered by the Jews to kill Jesus, and may have wanted the last word.

Who has the real last word?
God, who was using Pilate’s anger to have Jesus killed not for blasphemy but for who He is.


How many soldiers "crucified Jesus" (John 19:23)?
Four: “four parts, to each soldier a part”. (John 19:23)

Why couldn’t they divide the "tunic" (John 19:23) like they did with the "garment" (John 19:23)?
Unlike the garment, which was the outer piece of clothing, the tunic, which was the inner piece, was "without seams, woven from the top in one piece" (John 19:23) so it would have been difficult to divide without ruining it.

Why were the soldiers concerned with Jesus' clothes to begin with?
Clothes were valuables back then, and one of the perks offered to Roman executioners was the right to keep the clothes of the person they killed.

How many pieces of clothing did Jesus have?
Just the two mentioned above.

Then what was He wearing on the cross?
Contrary to almost all artists' renderings of Jesus' crucifixion, He was completely nude on the cross. Humiliation was part of the punishment of death by crucifixion.

 
When Jesus told Mary, “behold your son” (John 19:26), to whom was He referring?
"The disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 19:26), which is John, the Gospel writer, who was standing by her.

What was the relationship Mary and John?
Mary was John's aunt, and John was Mary's nephew. And that means John and his brother James were not only Jesus' disciples, but also Jesus' half-cousins.

How do we know this?
John and James' father was Zebedee: "Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother..." (Matthew 10:2). Later in Matthew, the women near the cross are identified in the same context as in John above, but with slightly different information: "among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons." (Matthew 27:56). Mary Magdalene is mentioned in both accounts. The two other women are described as (A) "Mary the mother of James and Joses" and (B) "the mother of Zebedee's sons" in Matthew, but (1) "His mother's sister" and (2) "Mary the wife of Clopas" in John. "Mother of Zebedee's sons" means the wife of Zebedee, which means she couldn't have been the wife of Clopas. Therefore, (B) wasn't (2), which means that (B) "the mother of Zebedee's sons" was (1) "His mother's sister." This is why she had felt at liberty to ask special favors from Jesus: "Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and asking something from Him. And He said to her, “What do you wish?” She said to Him, “Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on the left, in Your kingdom.” (Matthew 20:20-21)

So when Jesus told John to "Behold your mother" (John 19:27), what was He saying?
He was telling John to take care of his aunt like his own mother.

What kind of shape must Mary have been in at this point?
Utterly devastated, as any mother would be seeing her son reduced to a bloody pulp nailed to a cross.

What did John do thereafter?
"And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home" (John 19:27), so Jesus may have motioned to John with His eyes and/or head to take her away to save her from the pain of watching the rest of His suffering and death.

Did Jesus say anything to any other human being while on the cross?
Yes, to one of the robbers next to Him: "Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us." But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong." Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise." (Luke 23:39-43) The corresponding account in Matthew adds a little more color: "Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, "You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.'" Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing." (Matthew 27:38-44)

Matthew says both "robbers" reviled, while Luke says just one of them did. Which account is correct?
They're both correct. Jesus was on the cross for six hours: "Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him... And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice..." (Mark 15:25, 34) When first nailed to the cross, both robbers most probably lashed out in pain and rage at everyone in sight, including at Jesus, especially since they saw the chief priests and the crowd insulting Him. As time wore on, however, one of the two recognized Jesus as God and "rebuked" the other as above.

Where did the rebuker end up?
"In Paradise."

What does that exemplify about baptism or good works?
Neither are prerequisites for going to heaven. The only prerequisite is to recognize and believe in Jesus for Who He is and what He did on the cross.


Matthew 27 and Luke 23 shed a little more light on this account:

Matthew 27:45-50  45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” 47 Some of those who stood there, when they heard that, said, “This Man is calling for Elijah!” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

Luke 23:32-34, 44-47  32 There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. 34 Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”And they divided His garments and cast lots. 44 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45 Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. 46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’” Having said this, He breathed His last. 47 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous Man!”

What are these passages describing?
While the six hours Jesus spent on the cross before "He gave up His Spirit" (John 19:30) may have seemed relatively uneventful to those standing around, much was happening in the spiritual realm. We will try to decipher as much as we can from the verses above.

Which of Jesus' quotes in these passages came first?
The first quote appears to be the one just after He was nailed to the cross and just before or while the division of His clothes by the soldiers: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:33-34)

Whom was Jesus asking the Father to forgive?
It could have been the two robbers, who may have been rebuking Him as discussed above, although that crime would have paled in comparison to what the others had just done to Him. It could have been the four Roman soldiers who nailed Him to the cross and were dividing or about to divide His clothes, or everyone involved in His arrest, torture and crucifixion. It also could have been a defense in response to prosecution; now that Jesus hung from the cross - since all that the Jews and the Romans had to do for their part were done - perhaps some among the twelve legions of angels may have started begging the Father to let them go and shred those who had trampled their Lord. Whatever the case, consider things from the Father’s perspective. He already had to send His only begotten, innocent Son to die. He had to say No when His Son asked Him while sweating blood to let the cup pass if there is another way. He watched His son get mangled into a bloody pulp. Now perhaps His angels are crying out to Him to let them unleash their fury on the Jews and Romans. But then, from the cross, Jesus - the Prince of Peace - asks Him, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." At that, maybe the angels just dropped to their knees and began to weep, the lips of the Father quivered and He whispered under His breath “My Son…” But here is the clincher: the Father then had to pour the sins of billions of sinners into that very Son, turning Him into sin itself ("For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." - 2 Corinthians 5:21) and hear His desperate cry, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:50) as the Holy Spirit is withdrawn, and the death penalty is carried out. This is the ground zero of the Bible, where the justice of God - the need for sin to be punished - collided with the mercy of God - His desire to save us from that punishment. And the only one big enough to bear all of that sin and to contain the force of the collision was His only begotten Son.

Why did He do this?
Because He loves us. The God of eternity, the Creator of the universe, loves us - specks of dust on a speck of dust in one corner of His universe - so much that He chose to go through this agony for us instead of just annihilating us. This is why God is called the God of love, because He loves us more than we can imagine, more than we love ourselves, far more than we deserve. And this is what Jesus meant when He said, ”For God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

What happened from noon until 3pm?
"Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land." (Matthew 27:45)

Was it an eclipse?
It couldn't have been, since the Passover was during full moon. The "darkness" may have had something to do with the sins from across the world and time being poured into Jesus.

What did Jesus cry out next?
"It is finished!" (John 19:30).

What was finished?
For 2000 years since Jesus had passed through the blood of sheep, goat, cow, dove and pigeon to promise Abraham, the Jews had been sacrificing those five animals. After the temple was built, they were sacrificed daily, from 9am, which coincides with when Jesus was nailed to the cross, until 3pm, when He gave up His breath, not because they paid for the sins of the people - "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins." (Hebrews 10:4) - but to acknowledge God's promise to take them away. On this particular day, when the shofar - the ram's horn - was blown from the temple at 3pm to sound the day's last sacrifice, Jesus cried out, "It is finished!" He had kept His promise. He had paid in full for the sins. Satan's grip on humanity had been ripped away. And billions of souls had been saved. And when the priest's knife sliced through the throat of the last lamb and its head slumped on the altar in the temple, Jesus, "bowing His head" (John 19:30) whispered through His dying breath, "Father, 'into Your hands I commit My spirit.'" Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:46)

What happened in the temple at that moment?
"Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom." (Matthew 27:51)

Which way did it tear?
"From top to bottom."

So who tore it?
God the Father.

What did this veil enclose?
The temple's inner-most sanctuary, called "Most Holy Place", where once a year, one priest could go to be in the presence of God to burn incense for the nation: "Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim." (1 Kings 8:6)

What did its tearing symbolize?
Sin had been blocking our way to God. Since Jesus removed that obstacle and cleared the way, we could now come into the presence of God at any time, anywhere and without going through a priest or any other intermediary.

What else happened?
"The earth quaked, and the rocks were split, and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many." (Matthew 27:51-53)

Why did these things happened?
The geological tremors were probably a sign of the creation reeling from the gravity of what had just happened to its Creator, while the opened graves and resurrected bodies attested to the life-giving power over death of Jesus' sacrifice.

How did those around the cross react?
They "beat their breasts" and many, including the executioners realized that they had just witnessed the execution of the Son of God: "And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done, beat their breasts and returned." (Luke 23:48) "So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God!" (Matthew 27:54)

How about the members of Jesus' entourage?
They looked on from "afar": "And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons." (Matthew 27:55-56)

Who isn't named here who was named earlier?
Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Where was she?
John had already taken Mary "to his own home." (John 19:27) Mary never saw or touched the dead body of Jesus.

By the way, what does the original passage say Jesus drank just before giving up His spirit?
"Sour wine from a sponge on hyssop": "Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." (John 19:29-30)

Didn't Jesus refuse to drink something similar just a bit earlier?
Yes, "And when they had come to a place called Golgotha, that is to say, Place of Skull, they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink." (Matthew 27:33-34)

Why did Jesus drink the latter but not the former?
He refused the former because it contained "gall", that was intended as a crude anesthetic for the holes they were about to drive through His wrists and feet. The fact that He drank the latter - "sour wine" without the gall - may have had more to do with the hyssop on which it was offered than the wine itself. The usage of this plant is mentioned ten other times in the Bible (Exodus 12:22, Leviticus 14:4,6,49,51,52, Numbers 19:6,18, Psalm 51:7 and Hebrews 9:19). Nine of the ten mentions are in the context of an innocent substitute being sacrificed and/or cleansing from impurity. Here is the other (the first) mention of hyssop in the Bible: "Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you." (Exodus 12:21-23). In words, deeds and symbolisms, Jesus made it clear that His sacrificial death cleanses us of our sins so that we may be spared the wrath of God against sinners.


Who had returned to the cross by this time?
John, after having taken Mary to his home, "and he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe." (John 19:35)

Why did the Jews ask "that their legs might be broken" (John 19:31)?
So that they would die faster.

How would breaking their legs make them die faster?
The nails were pounded through the wrists, not the hand as commonly depicted. This not only caused excruciating pain since it crushed and pinched the ulnar nerve, but it also assured that the weight of the body didn’t rip the nails through the soft flesh of the hands. Since the arms were thus secure, what ripped from the weight of the body were the shoulders, which dislocated soon after the victims were hung vertically. This meant that since they couldn’t pull themselves up, to breath, the victims had to flex up on their knees to lower their diaphragm and inhale, and then flex down on their knees to exhale. With their legs intact, the victims of crucifixion could stay on the cross sometimes for days, flexing up and down to keep breathing. With the legs broken, they could no longer flex, and suffocated to death within a couple of minutes.

What contributed to Jesus being "already dead" (John 19:33) while the other two were still alive?
Jesus had been scourged. His back was torn up from the back of the neck to His buttocks.

Why would that expedite His death?
Every time Jesus flexed up and down on the cross, He was scraping His ripped back against the rough wood of the cross, which increased blood loss and pain, as well as the chance of going into shock.

How do we know He was dead?
Water doesn’t separate from blood until circulation stops, at which point it accumulates in the heart and lungs. That's why both "blood and water came out" (John 19:34) when "the soldiers pierced His side with a spear." (John 19:34)

But John 19:34 says that the spear strike pierced His "side", which is below his heart and lungs?
Jesus' body was up on a cross, with the soldier below. So the spear strike pierced His side at an upward angle and punctured His vital organ. Note that even if Jesus' had been completely healthy at this time, this mortal spear strike would have killed Jesus on its own.

Is there any other significance to Jesus being pierced?
Yes, it fulfilled the prophecy, "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced..." (Zachariah 12:10)

What about Jesus’ legs not being broken?
That fulfilled another prophecy: "He guards all his bones; not one of them is broken." (Psalm 34:20)

Were any other prophecies fulfilled?
Prophecies about Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus are found throughout the Old Testament. One of them, spoken through David 1000 years in advance describes the details of His crucifixion long before that method of execution was even invented, as well as His cry from the cross: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?... All those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, “He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”... I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; you have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots." (Psalm 22:1,7-8,14-18) Still another prophecy, given through Isaiah about 700 years in advance, explains the reason for Jesus' sacrifice, and foretells His death with the robbers ("with the wicked") and His burial by rich men ("with the rich at His death"): "3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked, but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:3-12)

Why do some cite Isaiah 53:10 to argue that God the Father dealt the final mortal blow to Jesus?
Since God the Father is sovereign yet declined to take the cup away and was pleased that Jesus succeeded in His mission, it can be stated that God the Father was pleased to bruise Jesus. But does the phrase, "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him" indicate that God the Father actually dealt the final mortal blow to Jesus? Three elements stand against that notion. Firstly, daka, the original word translated "bruise" can mean "bruise, break, crush or destroy" and thus lacks such specificity. Secondly, the immediate context of the phrase doesn't support such a notion. Thirdly, two key words, "yet" and "but" in Isaiah 53:4-5 indicate that it is incorrect to "esteem" Jesus to have been "stricken, smitten by God".


Who was "Joseph of Arimathea" (John 19:38)?
A member of the Sanhedrin and a "disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews":"Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God." ((Luke 23:50-51)

Who was "Nicodemus" (John 19:39)?
Another member of the Sanhedrin, and the one who had come to Jesus at night early in His ministry. Nicodemus probably never imagined then that he would be one of the two who would bury Jesus' body.

How ironic is it that two members of the body whose decision crucified Jesus should also bury Him?
Not at all, since what required Jesus to die on the cross wasn't the Sanhedrin's decision, but sins, which everyone has.

Do you believe that Jesus' died to save you from yours as well?
If not, cry out to Him to reveal Himself to you.