John 19:18Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

They crucify Him even with robbers. Yet even in this they unwillingly fulfill prophecy. Everything they did as an insult served to confirm the truth, so that you might know how great its power is. For the prophet foretold this also from of old: "He was numbered with the transgressors" (Is 53:12).

Thus the devil wished to darken this event, but he could not. Three were crucified, but Jesus alone shone forth, so that you might know that everything was accomplished by His power. Although the miracles took place when three were nailed to crosses, no one attributed even one of them to anyone except Jesus alone.

They crucify two others with Him. By this the Jews wished to spread an evil rumor, as though He too were a robber. Yet involuntarily they fulfilled the prophecy that says, "He was numbered with the transgressors" (Is 53:12). Notice the Wisdom of God, and how It turned to the Lord's glory what they did for His dishonor. For on the very Cross He saved the robber, which is no small wonder. This proves His Godhead still more. For He alone was glorified, though others were crucified with Him. This would not have happened if He were guilty and a transgressor of the law, and were not Himself above the law and Judge of the lawless.

One should know that the divine Peter once considered unbearable the prediction announced by our Savior Christ concerning His sufferings on the cross. The Lord said: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners, and they will crucify Him and kill Him” (Mt 20:18; Mt 26:45; Mt 17:23).

Peter, not yet understanding the mystery of providence, but moved by love for God and his Teacher, and by reverence, said: “Be merciful to Yourself, Lord. This shall never happen to You.” What did Christ answer? “Get behind Me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Mt 16:22-23).

Even the cross, if you look carefully, was a place of judgment. The Judge was placed between the robber who believed and was forgiven, and the robber who mocked and was condemned. Already then He showed what He would do with the living and the dead. He will set some at His right hand and others at His left.

These were, as we learn from the accounts of the other Evangelists, the two robbers with whom Christ was crucified and between whom He was hung (Mt 27:38; Mk 15:27; Lk 23:33). Of this it was prophetically said: "He was numbered with the transgressors" (Is 53:12).

What is the reason that the Lord died before the robbers? And what do the robbers and the breaking of the legs signify?

Since our Lord Jesus Christ, who is God by nature, truly became the only Man by assuming our flesh, He alone preserved unchanged in Himself the purpose of God. Concerning this purpose God said, "Let Us make man according to Our image and likeness" (Gen 1:26). Since He was fashioned by divine hands, like the first man, the Lord endured death for him. He alone and first committed His soul into the hands of the Father.

"Where they crucified Him." All this has been explained in the interpretation of the twenty-seventh chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew.

"And with Him two others, on either side, and Jesus in the midst." Read in the same chapter the explanation of the words: "Then two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right and one on the left" (Mt 27:38).

The Jews contrived to crucify Jesus Christ together with robbers so that, because of the identical punishment, the evil reputation of the robbers might darken His glory. Yet His glory shone forth so brightly that, although three hung upon crosses when the fearful signs occurred, all attributed them to Jesus Christ.

The crucifixion of Jesus and of the two robbers.

Three crosses were set up, and the middle one was the cross of Jesus Christ. As they began to carry out this dreadful crime, the soldiers stripped Him of His garments. They lifted Him onto the cross, stretched out His hands, and began to fasten them with nails.

Blood flowed from the wounds onto the ground, but no one heard either groan or sigh. Only Christ was heard praying for His crucifiers: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Other soldiers were crucifying the robbers at the same time, one on His right and the other on His left. Thus, as the Evangelist says, the prophecy of Isaiah was fulfilled: "And He was numbered with the transgressors" (Is 53:12).

At what hour was Jesus Christ crucified? According to the opinion now generally accepted, Jesus Christ was crucified before noon, at the twelfth hour of the day. This opinion was expressed in the well-known church hymn: "On the sixth day and at the sixth hour, He was nailed to the Cross..."

Since this hymn entered the order of worship, some began to cite its words as proof that Christ was really crucified at the sixth hour by Jewish reckoning, or at the twelfth by ours. This opinion became so rooted that its supporters refuse to believe the Gospel, which refutes the hymn's wording.

I think the authority of the Evangelists is incomparably higher than the authority of the composer of this hymn. I also think one may refute the correctness of a church hymn by Gospel texts, but one may not refute the reliability of the Gospel by a hymn.

None of us saw Jesus Christ or heard His preaching. Yet we believe in Him as the God-man, because we are convinced of the authenticity and reliability of the Gospels, where His life and teaching are described.

If our conviction concerning the authenticity and reliability of the Gospels is shaken, and even the slightest doubt arises about the truthfulness of the Evangelists, then our faith in Jesus Christ is shaken too. As the Apostle Paul said, "your faith is also vain" (1 Cor 15:14).

This is why I find it impossible to doubt the authority of the Evangelists in order to maintain the authority of the compilers of church hymns.

Let us see, then, what the Evangelists say about this. Only the Evangelist Mark speaks directly about the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Or, better, the Apostle Peter speaks through Mark's mouth: "It was the third hour, and they crucified Him" (Mk 15:25).

The third hour by Jewish reckoning corresponds to our ninth hour. Therefore, according to Peter's account, Christ was crucified at the ninth hour, or at nine o'clock in the morning, not before noon.

That Mark's Gospel is nothing other than his written presentation of Peter's oral preaching in Rome is affirmed by Saint Irenaeus in the third book of Against Heresies. Clement of Alexandria testifies that Peter read this Gospel and approved it.

Therefore Mark wrote down what Peter said. We have no grounds whatever for distrusting the Apostle Peter. If he did not dare stand openly on Golgotha by the cross, he was certainly in the crowd surrounding the place of crucifixion.

If, at the time of his denial, he was drawn to the place where he might learn the fate of his Teacher, then after his repentance he must surely have been on Golgotha. He must have seen everything, though from afar.

He would not have been Peter if he had not gone to Golgotha. Therefore we must believe this reliable eyewitness unconditionally: it was the third hour when they crucified Jesus.

We must believe him unconditionally also because his account contains not the slightest contradiction of the accounts given by the other Evangelists concerning the events of that day.

The Evangelists Matthew and Luke say nothing about the hour of Christ's crucifixion. Yet they speak of darkness beginning at the sixth, or twelfth, hour, lasting three hours, and of the death of Jesus Christ at the ninth hour, or the third hour after noon.

Matthew says: "Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice... and yielded up His spirit" (Mt 27:45-46, 50).

Luke says: "It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And Jesus, crying with a loud voice... yielded up His spirit" (Lk 23:44, 46).

Mark relates this in complete agreement with them: "And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice... and yielded up His spirit" (Mk 15:33-34, 37).

If darkness began at the sixth hour, that is, at six o'clock by Jewish reckoning and at twelve by ours, and continued until the very death of Jesus Christ, then His crucifixion itself must undoubtedly have occurred much earlier.

From the accounts of these same Evangelists and of John, we know that several events occurred between the crucifixion and the onset of darkness. The members of the Sanhedrin, the people, passersby, soldiers, and even one crucified robber mocked Him.

Then came the repentance of the other robber, the chief priests' journey to Pilate with a request to change the inscription over Jesus' cross, and finally the Lord's entrusting the care of the Theotokos to John.

All these events, especially the chief priests' journey to Pilate, required no little time. They could quite fill the period from nine o'clock until twelve. Thus there is nothing implausible here, as some suppose, in Mark's account that Christ was crucified at the ninth hour.

If we agree with the opposite opinion and think that Jesus Christ was crucified at the twelfth hour, then where shall we place all the events just mentioned? We cannot suppose that these events, the crucifixion itself, and the onset of darkness all occurred within that single twelfth hour.

If so, all events except the crucifixion itself would have to be assigned to the period after noon, when darkness had already begun. But this is more than implausible.

When darkness fell, an oppressive silence reigned on Golgotha. It was broken only by the groans of the crucified and by Christ's dying cries. The mood of the crowd changed at once, and the mockery must immediately have ceased.

If, after the earthquake at the moment of Christ's death, "the people... returned beating their breasts" (Lk 23:48), then surely, when the extraordinary solar eclipse occurred during the full moon, many on Golgotha asked themselves in anguish: Had the Sanhedrin crucified the Messiah?

When Christ cried, "Eloi! Eloi!" many said in fear and bewilderment, "Behold, He calls Elijah" (Mk 15:35). In such a mood among the crowd, mockery was impossible.

Only the members of the Sanhedrin, brutalized by their hatred, dared in that atmosphere, which crushed everyone, to say, "Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him" (Mt 27:49).

Thus the accounts of Matthew and Luke do not contradict Mark's account of the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. They even fully support its truth.

Let us now see what the fourth Evangelist says. The Apostle John, who supplemented the narratives of the first three Evangelists, said nothing about the hour of the crucifixion, the onset of darkness, or even the hour of Jesus' death.

He passed over these circumstances because the first Evangelists had related them in detail. This silence confirms the truth of their narratives.

When John wrote his Gospel, he had the first three Gospels at hand. If any error had been allowed in them, he would certainly have corrected it.

Since he passed over these questions in silence, we must acknowledge that he considered the accounts of the first Evangelists to have been set forth correctly.

This silent testimony is precious to us because John alone of all the Apostles was not afraid to stand openly by the cross. Therefore he was an eyewitness of everything that happened on Golgotha.

Considering it unnecessary to speak of what the first Evangelists had already said, John nevertheless found it necessary to supplement their accounts by indicating the time of the trial before Pilate: "Now it was the Preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, Behold your King!" (Jn 19:14).

Supporters of the common opinion that Jesus was crucified at the twelfth hour say this: if Pilate was completing his trial at the sixth, or twelfth, hour, then Christ could not have been crucified at the third, or ninth, hour.

In short, they see in John's account a correction of Mark's narrative and a support for their own opinion. It seems to me, however, that John does not refute Mark's account, but confirms it. Here is why.

John wrote his Gospel in deep old age, while living in Ephesus among Romans and Greeks. He did not write for Jews, and he translated all Jewish names into Greek. Therefore he counted time no longer in Jewish fashion, but according to the Roman method, from midnight.

If he says that the trial before Pilate took place at the sixth hour, then we should understand this as the sixth hour, or six o'clock in the morning.

Other passages of John's Gospel prove that the Evangelist did not count time in Jewish fashion. In telling how he himself and Andrew followed Jesus and stayed with Him that day, John adds: "It was about the tenth hour" (Jn 1:39).

That is, they remained with Jesus the whole day, until the tenth hour. If we count as we do, then, having stayed with Jesus until ten o'clock in the evening, they truly remained with Him all day.

If we count in Jewish fashion, they stayed with Jesus only until four o'clock in the afternoon. Then John could not have said that he and Andrew remained with Him the whole day.

In another case, when Jesus was returning with His disciples through Samaria to Galilee and stopped to rest at Jacob's well, John explains that it was about the sixth hour and that a woman of Samaria came to draw water (Jn 4:6-7).

If time is counted in Jewish fashion, the Samaritan woman came for water at about twelve noon. Yet it is known that in the East people do not go for water at midday. Therefore here too the Evangelist John did not determine the time by Jewish reckoning.

Those who disagree with this interpretation say that it is implausible to fit such great events into the brief morning period: the trial of the Sanhedrin, Pilate's first trial, Herod's trial, Pilate's second trial, and the scourging of Jesus Christ.

In countries such as Palestine, all occupations and labors always began at dawn, because the inhabitants hastened to do as much as possible in the morning before the day's heat.

In former times generally, even not very long ago and not only in hot countries, people went to sleep early and rose early. Even among us, under Peter the Great, senators were required to appear at Senate sessions at six o'clock in the morning.

Therefore it is entirely plausible to think that the second trial of the Sanhedrin began at dawn, with the arrival of morning, before sunrise. This is all the more so because all the Evangelists confirm it.

The first says that "when morning came, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel" (Mt 27:1). According to the second, this happened "immediately in the morning" (Mk 15:1).

Luke says: "And when day came, the elders... were gathered together" (Lk 22:66). John testifies that "it was morning" when they led Jesus to the praetorium (Jn 18:28).

All these testimonies prove that Pilate did not judge Jesus at the twelfth hour of the day by our reckoning. He judged Him immediately in the morning, as soon as day had come and daylight had replaced the darkness of night.

The second trial of the Sanhedrin was convened only to observe formality. It lasted briefly and was limited to the interrogation of the Accused (Lk 22:66-71; Lk 23:1). This could have required no more than ten minutes.

Such speed is entirely plausible, given the Sanhedrin's understandable haste. The session did not take place in Caiaphas's house, where the first trial had been held, but in the regular chamber of the Sanhedrin (Lk 22:66), in one of the Temple buildings.

After Jesus Christ they crucified two criminals, one on His right and the other on His left. This position was chosen deliberately, so that the Holy of Holies, even on the Cross, might appear as the worst of evildoers. According to the observation of St. Chrysostom, the devil wanted by this to darken the Lord's glory. But without knowing it, he increased that glory, because through this one of the prophecies was fulfilled, that Jesus Christ would be "reckoned with the transgressors" (Is 53:12).

"They crucified Him": see the note on Mt 27:35. "On this side and on that": see the note on Mt 27:38.

"Where they crucified Him." How was this done? Ordinarily the cross was set up first, and then the condemned man was nailed to it. Hence the expressions, to ascend, to be lifted up, to be exalted upon the cross. Our Savior also was crucified in this way. He had foretold this earlier, when He said, "When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself" (Jn 12:32). The Savior's most pure hands and His feet were nailed to the cross, each with a separate nail. This is also clear from His words after the Resurrection, when He showed the disciples and Thomas the nail wounds in His hands and feet (Lk 24:39; Jn 20:20, 29). "The words, 'They pierced My hands and My feet' (Ps 21:17), pointed to the nails by which His hands and feet were fastened to the cross," writes St. Justin. "Set a man with arms outstretched, and you will have the image of the cross," says another ancient teacher. St. Irenaeus writes: "The cross has five ends: two in length, two in breadth, and one in the middle, where the one nailed to the cross rests." What kind of punishment was this, crucifixion? Only the inhumanity of paganism could have devised such a terrible punishment. Even one pagan said that it was the cruelest and most dreadful punishment. From it, he said, the eye, the ear, and human thought itself ought to be spared. Crucifixion on the cross is the most tormenting and shameful punishment. And Christ Jesus accepted this very punishment. The cruelty of the torments of crucifixion has been understood through the investigations of physicians. First, on no part of our body are there so many nerves and small veins as on the palms of the hands and feet. Even the slightest injury to a single nerve causes tormenting pain. When so many nerves and veins were crushed, injured, and torn by nails in the Savior's most pure hands and feet, what terrible torment He endured. Second, the unnatural and forced position of the crucified body is itself very grievous. The body's weight hangs on the nailed hands, and the nailed feet do not relieve it. The pain of the nailed hands and feet permits not the slightest movement to ease the body's forced position. The longer it lasts, the more unbearable this unnatural position becomes. Hour by hour, the weight of the hanging body tears the nerves more deeply and increases the sufferings. Third, the wounds of the hands and feet, the longer they remain in the open air, become more inflamed and burning. Finally, because of the forced position of the crucified body, the blood cannot circulate properly. So many nerves and veins have been injured. The blood rushes to the head. It cannot pass freely either from the right side of the heart, or from the lung into the left side of the heart, already full of blood. From this there arises tormenting anguish in the heart and dizziness in the head. The dishonor of the punishment of the cross, in the person of our Savior, surpassed its very cruelty. What was the punishment of the cross in the eyes of pagans? The Romans condemned only the most rejected criminals to the cross: murderers and rebels. They sentenced only slaves to it. Behold among what kind of people Jesus Christ was counted in the eyes of the pagan world. Therefore the preaching of the cross, as the Apostle says, is foolishness to the Greeks, the utmost folly (1 Cor 1:23). "You honor," pagans said to Christians, "not only a man, but one killed by the punishment of the cross, which is shameful even for base men." "Their Teacher was killed on a cross," said Celsus, fully convinced that he could say nothing worse about Christ Jesus. How did the Jews regard this punishment? Among the Jews, to hang on a tree meant the same as to be accursed, excluded from civil and religious society (Deut 21:23). And this referred to those who, after being stoned, were hanged on a tree. What, then, did a Jew think of one who was hanged alive on a cross by the hands of unclean pagans? For a Jew, such a one was accursed among the accursed. The Apostle says that the preaching of the power of the cross is a stumbling block for the Jews (1 Cor 1:23). After this, remember that the crucified Jesus is the Lord of glory (1 Cor 2:8), the image of God the Father, and the true Son of God (Phil 2:8). He is the Master of heaven and earth (Jn 1:1-4). Then measure, if you can, the depth of His humility, for He humbled Himself even to the cross. The Godhead did not suffer the torments of crucifixion. Yet because of the personal union of the Godhead with humanity in Jesus Christ, the Godhead of Jesus endured the shame of crucifixion. The Apostle teaches us: "Who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God robbery, but humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:8). The weight of this humility can be measured only by the boundlessness of the love and power of the Son of God. For what purpose, then, was all this? Spiritual Babylon is still the same toward You, sweetest Jesus (Rev 11:8). It maliciously mocks Your crucifixion together with the Sanhedrin. Together with paganism, it sees nothing particular on Your cross except the death of innocence (1 Cor 1:23). But not in vain, hearers, did the great Apostle desire to know nothing except Jesus Christ crucified (1 Cor 2:2). What does God's revelation show us in the crucified Jesus? It teaches: "God set Him forth as a propitiation by faith in His blood, to show His righteousness" (Rom 3:26). You see, Jesus is the sacrifice that propitiates for men. How? By His teaching, or by our obedience to His teaching? No, by His blood. And note further: this meaning of Christ's blood is not the fruit of arbitrary speculation. No. God Himself appointed it. God Himself determined that it should be so. "God set Him forth." "Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died for them," says St. Paul in one epistle (2 Cor 5:15). And in another he writes: "You were bought with a price" (1 Cor 6:20). You see, if Christ's death were nothing more than an example of innocent death, it would be incomprehensible why we must live for Jesus alone. There have been many other innocent sufferers. On the other hand, the Apostle does not promise us forgiveness of sins for our holy life. Rather, by the very fact that Christ died for us, and that we were bought with a precious price, he urges us to live in holiness. In one place the Apostle speaks of the great price paid for us. In another he shows Jesus Christ as the One who died for all. Thus he explains one expression by the other. The words "Christ died for all" mean the same as this: Christ died as a redemptive sacrifice for humanity. This means that His death is not merely an instruction in patiently enduring undeserved calamities. No, it is the death that criminal humanity deserved, and that Jesus endured in place of all men. What formed the chief content of the Apostles' preaching to the world? The chief content of their preaching was the thought that "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3). And what does our poor soul need, if not first of all the Redeemer of the world? Let us look at it carefully. From youth to the grave, we are all sinners, all guilty before God. What can we do for our justification before God? Suppose we sincerely repent of our sins. No repentance makes a guilty man innocent. It only declares his guilt. No repentance destroys the consequences of sin. They are not within the power of our will. Nor can we reconcile God to ourselves by a better life. By living better, we only fulfill our duty, while the old debts all remain with us. Meanwhile, does not the better life, even the strictest life, allow much that places new guilt upon us before God? At one time men offered, and some even now offer, cleansing sacrifices and sacrifices of reconciliation. But these very sacrifices express humanity's cry over its need for a Reconciler. They speak loudly. However deeply humanity has fallen, it knows and feels its need for cleansing and a Cleanser, for reconciliation and a Reconciler. Otherwise, can the blood of animals cleanse an unclean conscience from sins? And does man have the right to dispose for his own benefit of what is not his property? How, then, can humanity, and our poor soul, fail to receive Him who is wholly able to reconcile the righteousness of God with guilty humanity? The sufferings of the cross would not have meant much before the infinite righteousness of God if only a righteous son of man had borne them. But the humility of the Son of God on the cross is a fully worthy payment to infinite righteousness. Christ Jesus "through the eternal Spirit offered Himself to God," according to the Apostle (Heb 9:14). Or, as He Himself said, in sacrificing Himself He acted by His own divine, independent, and good will (Jn 10:12). He who was "in the form of God" endured the shame of the cross out of obedience to the will of the Father (Phil 2:8). Is it not in accord with God's righteousness to blame and punish the Innocent for the guilty? This would be so if the righteous Jesus had been handed over unwillingly to sufferings for us, the guilty. But we have seen how the Lord Jesus had many occasions and possibilities to escape undeserved sufferings, and did not turn away from them. With full freedom He gave Himself into the hands of His enemies. With full freedom He resolved to endure the sufferings of the cross, refusing even the drink that would cloud the mind. By His own will He took upon Himself the guilt of humanity and voluntarily resolved to endure the punishment for it. After this, the righteousness of God subjected to punishment not the Righteous One, but Him who appeared before it in the person of guilty humanity. In what wondrous light the glory of the Godhead was revealed on Golgotha. If men do not see it, they must be pitied for seeing poorly. The Son of God, taking upon Himself the person of sinful man, suffered for the sinner. Can one imagine a love higher than this love? If the creation of man is the work of God's love, then the redemption of the world by the self-sacrifice of the Son of God is a miracle of God's love. Could sinful man have expected the love of heaven toward him to extend so far as he sees it on the cross? The heavenly Father received with love the feat of the Son's infinite love. The infinite love of the Son offers Himself in sacrifice upon the altar of the cross. He does this to proclaim to heaven and earth the inviolable rights of eternal righteousness. "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it again" (Jn 10:17). So the Son of God bore witness. Crucified Jesus, Son of God who humbled Yourself even to the cross, with a sincere heart and reverent soul we worship You, our Savior. "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches, and wisdom and strength, and honor and glory." "You have redeemed us to God by Your blood from every tribe and tongue of peoples and nations." "To Him who sits on the throne. And to the Lamb, be blessing and honor, and glory and dominion, unto the ages of ages" (Rev 5:9, 12, 13). Amen. Plautus says: "I will give him a talent, the first who runs to the cross, but on this condition, that his feet are fastened twice and his arms twice." St. Justin speaks of the middle of the post "like a horn," meaning the seat. Gregory of Tours was the first, already in the sixth century, to speak of a footrest on the Cross of Christ. So late a testimony deserves little trust. It suggests that from the sixth century the footrest replaced the seat, which from that time was almost never mentioned. Shameful was the punishment to which the Sanhedrin and Pilate sentenced Jesus Christ. But the divine glory of Jesus shone through the darkness of humiliation and dishonor. The crucifixion of the robbers on either side of Jesus, the inscription on His cross, and the division of His garments were circumstances directed by human intention toward His humiliation. By a higher ordering, they bring Him glory. "And with Him they crucified two robbers, one on His right and one on His left" (Mk 15:27).