Verse 32
John noted that the Jews’ admission that they could not put anyone to death was in harmony with the sovereign plan of God. Jesus had predicted that He would die by crucifixion, not by stoning (cf. 12:32-33). The Romans were the only ones who could condemn a person to death by crucifixion. The Jews did stone people to death for blasphemy (e.g., Acts 6:11; Acts 7:58), but these seem to have been instances of mob violence rather than independent legal action. They probably wanted Jesus crucified too because the Mosaic Law regarded such a death as proof of God’s curse (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
"Ironically, the death that the Jewish hierarchy regarded as a final negation of Jesus’ claims became the means of justification apart from the law (Galatians 3:13)." [Note: Tenney, "John," p. 175.]
"It was necessary for three reasons for Jesus to be crucified by the Romans at the instigation of the Jews: (a) to fulfill prophecies (e.g., that none of His bones be broken; cf. 19:36-37); (b) to include both Jews and Gentiles in the collective guilt for the deed (cf. Acts 2:23; Acts 4:27); (c) by crucifixion, Jesus was ’lifted up’ like ’the snake in the desert’ [3:14] . . ." [Note: Blum, p. 337.]
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