<p>19:13 <em>When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha</em>- The judgment seat of Christ is not a means by which the Father and Son gather information about us, consider it and then give a verdict. It will be for <em>our</em> benefit. Our behaviour is constantly analysed by them and 'judged'. The idea of sitting upon a judgment seat or giving judgment doesn't necessarily involve the idea of weighing up evidence. To 'judge' can mean simply to pronounce the final verdict, which the judge has long since known; not to weigh up evidence (consider Mt. 7:2; Jn. 3:18; 5:22; 7:24,51; 8:15,16,26; 16:11; 18:31; Acts 7:7; 23:3; 24:6 Gk.; Rom. 2:12; 3:7; 1 Cor. 11:31; 2 Thess. 2:12; Heb. 10:30; 13:4; 1 Pet. 4:6; James 5:10,22). Herod sat on the judgment seat in order to make &quot;an oration&quot; to the people, supposedly on God's behalf (Acts 12:21 RVmg.). It wasn't to weigh up any evidence- it was to make a statement. And thus it will be in the final judgment. Also, &quot;judge&quot; is often used in the sense of 'to condemn'- not to just consider evidence (e.g. Mt. 7:2; Rom. 3:7; 2 Thess. 2:17).</p><p>It is grammatically possible to read Jn. 19:13 as meaning that Pilate sat Him (Jesus) down on the judgment seat, on the pavement, replete with allusion to the sapphire pavement of Ex. 24. The Gospel of Peter 3:7 actually says this happened: &ldquo;And they clothed him with purple and sat him on a chair of judgment, saying, Judge justly, King of Israel&quot;. See on 1 Pet. 2:23. This would fit in with how it was as &quot;the judge of Israel&quot; at this time that the Lord was smitten on the cheek; see on :3. Now was &quot;the judgment of this world&quot;, and the Lord was judge.</p><p>The whole account of the crucifixion in John shows how the Lord gave His life up of Himself; the Jews and Romans had no power to take it from Him, and throughout John&rsquo;s accounts of the trials and crucifixion, it is apparent that it is the Lord and not His opponents who is in total control of the situation. Even though &lsquo;the Jewish Devil&rsquo; is seen as a factor in Judas&rsquo; betrayal of Jesus (Jn. 13:27,30), it is clear that Jesus was delivered up s.w. &lsquo;betrayed&rsquo; by the &ldquo;determinate counsel will and foreknowledge of God&rdquo; (Acts 2:23). It wasn&rsquo;t as if God fought a losing battle with a personal Satan in order to protect His Son from death. The way that the Lord Jesus is &lsquo;sat down upon&rsquo; the Judgment Bench, as if He is the authentic judge (Jn. 19:13), is an example of how the Lord Jesus is presented in John as being totally in control; His &lsquo;lifting up&rsquo; on the cross is portrayed as a &lsquo;lifting up&rsquo; in glory, enthroned as a King and Lord upon the cross. Likewise 'Gabbatha' means an elevated or lifted up place; the Lord there was lifted up too, that He might draw all believing eyes toward Him. Other examples of John bringing out this theme of the Lord being in control are to be found in the way He confronts His captors (Jn. 18:4), questions His questioners (Jn. 18:20,21,23; 19:11), gets freedom for His followers (Jn. 18:8), and makes those come out to arrest Him fall to the ground.</p><p>The mention that Jesus stood before Pilate &ldquo;in a place that is called the Pavement&quot; (Jn. 19:13) reminds us of Ex. 24:10, where Yahweh was enthroned in glory on another &lsquo;pavement&rsquo; when the old covenant was made with Israel. The New Covenant was inaugurated with something similar. &ldquo;In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily&quot; (Col. 2:9) would have been easily perceived as an allusion to the way that Yahweh Himself as it were dwelt between the cherubim on the mercy seat (2 Kings 19:15; Ps. 80:1). And yet the Lord Jesus in His death was the &ldquo;place of propitiation&quot; (Heb. 2:17), the blood-sprinkled mercy seat. &ldquo;There I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat... of all things which I will give thee in commandment&quot; (Ex. 25:20-22). In the cross, God met with man and communed with us, commanding us the life we ought to lead through all the unspoken, unarticulated imperatives which there are within the blood of His Son. There in the person of Jesus nailed to the tree do we find the focus of God&rsquo;s glory and self-revelation, and to this place we may come to seek redemption. See on Jn. 19:19.</p>