In this powerful account of Yeshua’s crucifixion, we witness His ultimate sacrifice as He fulfills His mission to save humanity. It describes the physical and emotional agony He endured and the profound significance of His final words.

The Crucifixion

16b So, they took charge of Yeshua.  Handed Him to the Roman soldiers (Matityahu 26:26–31, Mark 15:16–20), not to the Judeans.

 ¹⁷ Carrying the stake Himself, He went out to the place called Skull (in Aramaic, Gulgolta).

Carrying the stake Himself until Shim‛on of Cyrene took it (Luke 23:26).

 ¹⁸ There they nailed Him to the stake along with two others, one on either side, with Yeshua in the middle. ¹⁹ Pilate also had a notice written and posted on the stake; it read,

YESHUA FROM NATZERET

THE KING OF THE JEWS

²⁰ Many of the Judeans read this notice, because the place where Yeshua was put on the stake was close to the city; and it had been written in Hebrew, in Latin and in Greek. ²¹ The Judeans’ head cohanim therefore said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but ‘He said,“I am King of the Jews.” ²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

This appears only in Yochanan. We see Pilate unwilling to bother himself over the point that offended the Head Cohanim, distinguishing between Yeshua’s supposedly erroneous claim to kingship and the implication of Pilate’s sign that Yeshua was in fact the king of the Jews. Yochanan therefore reports the incident to show that God used Pilate’s inscription, intended by him to mock the people in general and only incidentally to mock Yeshua in particular, to announce an eternal truth to the whole community and, by implication (and by inclusion here), to the whole world.

²³ When the soldiers had nailed Yeshua to the stake, they took His clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier, with the under-robe left over. Now the under-robe was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom; ²⁴ so they said to one another, “We shouldn’t tear it in pieces; let’s draw for it.” This happened in order to fulfill the words from the Tanakh, “They divided my clothes among themselves and gambled for my robe.” This is why the soldiers did these things.  

Ten books of the Brit Hadashah quote or allude to various portions of Psalm 22; it is one of the most important Messianic Psalms.

 ²⁵ Nearby Yeshua’s execution stake stood His mother, His mother’s sister Miryam the wife of K’lofah, and Miryam from Magdala. ²⁶ When Yeshua saw His mother and the talmid whom He loved standing there (Yochanan), He said to His mother, “Mother, this is your son.” ²⁷ Then He said to the talmid, “This is your mother.” And from that time on, the talmid took her into his own home.

The Finished Work of Yeshua

²⁸ After this, knowing that all things had accomplished their purpose, Yeshua, in order to fulfill the words of the Tanakh, said, “I’m thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar full of cheap sour wine was there; so they soaked a sponge in the wine, coated it with oregano leaves and held it up to his mouth.

In response to Yeshua’s “I’m thirsty,” people offer him a sponge soaked in what Mattityahu calls “vinegar” (Mt 27:48), and Yochanan calls it cheap sour wine (a little earlier he had been offered “bitter gall,” which he had refused, Mattityahu 27:34). They pass it up to Him on what Mattityahu calls a “stick” and Yochanan a “hyssop branch.” Hyssop is a variety of oregano with a pungent, cooling taste; it grows wild, and its branches are 12–18 inches long.

³⁰ After Yeshua had taken the wine, He said, “It is accomplished!” And, letting His head droop, He delivered up his spirit. ^[1]

Delivered up his spirit, or, putting euphemism aside, “died.”

In public life, as tensions rise in conversations about faith and morality, remember the ultimate sacrifice shown in Yochanan 19:16-30. Use moments of disagreement as opportunities to embody peace. When faced with opposing views, practice active listening and respond thoughtfully rather than react. This can be a chance to witness to others. Let your actions reflect Yeshua’s love and sacrifice, break down barriers, and foster dialogue in a polarized society.

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^[1] Yochanan 19:16-30.