John 20:19-23 English Standard Version Jesus Appears to the Disciples 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” We now jump ahead to the evening of the Sunday we know as Resurrection Day. While John doesn't give the account, the disciples on the Road to Emmaus have just returned to the Eleven and told them about their experience, then Jesus appears among them and says, "Peace be with you." He showed them His hands and His side (probably in reference to Thomas saying that he would not believe unless he could put his fingers in the nailprints and his hand in the side where the spear had been thrust). Jesus had appeared to the others without Thomas there one time before this, The disciples were comforted and reassured and were glad to see Him.
Jesus again says, "Peace be with you" and then repeats to them some things that He said in the Garden on the evening of His arrest. As the Father has sent the Son, so the Son is sending them, the Church, into the world. John then says that Jesus breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. We usually don't think of the Holy Spirit being given to the disciples until Pentecost, but apparently He gave them a temporary gifting of the Spirit at this point to help them be able to see and understand everything that had happened and to remember all that He said. Then Jesus sends them out with power and authority telling them that, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld." There is much debate if these words apply only to the Eleven that were there that day, only to those who were called to be apostles (this authority passed to other apostles such as Matthias and Paul), or if it also would include everyone today who has received the Holy Spirit as a member of the Church. It's hard to build a doctrine about such things on only one verse like this without also looking at the rest of Scripture, but we know that Jesus had much to say about forgiveness and forgiving those who were our "brothers" and even extending forgiveness to those who were our enemies and didn't deserve it because we were enemies with God when He forgave us. So then the question becomes one of, "Is there even anyone that forgiveness should be withheld from?" and "Why would we want forgiveness to be withheld and for people to perish in hell?" Certainly if we withhold the gospel from people and don't permit them the opportunity if their sins to be forgiven, then they will not be forgiven, and surly if they repent and believe the gospel and pray for the forgiveness of their sins believing Jesus to be both Savior and Lord, then their sins will be forgiven. Is that the meaning of this verse? Honestly, I do not know and I try not to focus too much on any one verse and make a doctrinal position on it unless that verse is extremely clear in what it means. My assumption is that this was a message that was being given to these men who were in that room at that time as this message does not seem to be repeated by the other New Testament writers or given to any of the churches that they wrote letters to, nor is it repeated by Jesus to the churches that He gave letters to in the book of Revelation as something they should be doing (either to commend them for doing it or correcting them for not doing it). Let's make sure that in this passage we are making much about Jesus and much of the Holy Spirit where all this authority and power are derived from and let the Holy Spirit direct us in how to exercise the gifts that He has given to us. Should there be a time when the Spirit wishes us to exercise the gift of prophecy in a way where we speak condemnation on those who refuse to repent because they have hardened their hearts and have made their choice, let those words be His words coming out of our mouths, and if the Spirit gives us the gift of evangelism, teaching, preaching, exhortation, or any of the other gifts that are used to help bring people to repentance, and even to the point of sending us to them like He did with Philip being sent to the Ethiopian eunuch or Peter being sent to Cornelius, then He will certainly save those whom the Father has chosen and given to the Son. This has everything to do with the power and the work and will of the Spirit and has nothing to do with us imposing our will on God and forcing God to save some people and condemn others. John 20:11-18 English Standard Version Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. While John doesn't say "Mary Magdalene" specifically, it is clear by comparing this passages with the parallel passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke that John is indeed speaking to Mary Magdalene. From the best that I can tell, and entire group of women went to the tomb that morning with Mary Magdalene being one of them. By putting all the accounts together, it seems like the account goes something like this. The women woke up early in the morning before sunrise to take more spices and oils to the tomb to again anoint the body. Among the women going to the tomb were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses (called "the other Mary" or "the wife of Cleopas" in some passages), Joanna the mother of James (assuming this is James the Greater) and Salome. There were other women here too, but there is no mention in any of the accounts of Mary, the mother of Jesus and it would seem that she would have been mentioned by name if she was there.
The women realize on the way to the tomb that the stone that had been rolled in front of the grave would be in their way and that they would not be able to move it, and it seems they had no idea about the Roman guard that had been posted or the seal that had been put on the tomb because all that happened after they left the tomb following the crucifixion (it seems all these women were there at the foot of the cross and assisted Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea with the burial) God provided an answer to all of this as He sent an angel to roll away the stone. The appearance of the angel as well as the display of its power made these seasoned Roman soldiers fall over like dead men. The angel that rolled away the stone then sat on the tombstone waiting for the women and the disciples so that he could deliver the message that God had for each of them. While only one angel was mentioned as rolling back the stone, sitting on it and speaking to the women, it is clear from other accounts that there were two angels present. This is not an error or even conflict--just a difference in focus. Some accounts only focus on the angel that was speaking and doing most of the action while other accounts tell us that there was another angel present who it appears did not say or do much. The message from the angelic messenger(s) went something like, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples and Peter that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.. See, I have told you.” At some point during all this, Mary Magdalene turns around, looking away from the angels--it appears that the others who were with her did not see or hear what she was going to because they were looking at and listening to the angels. Mary Magdalene is weeping and a man appears in front of her who she does not recognize. He askes, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" The question makes sense given the good news that was just told tot he women by the angels, but Mary seems to have not heard or not listened to it. Mary assumes this person to be the gardener, that is the caretaker of the tomb and the property around it, and through her tears, she says, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” All that Jesus needs to do to cause her to listen and to reveal His identity to her is to say her name. With simply one word, "Mary," He turns her grieving into joy. She responds by saying, "Rabboni," which means "Teacher" or "Rabbi". Jesus then gives Mary a slightly different message than has been given by the angels to the other women, "“Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” What does this mean? I don't think this is any kind of statement about the kind of body that Jesus had at that time, but instead the fact that Jesus had more work to do before He returned to heaven and while He loved Mary and understood her desire to cling to Him and keep Him with her so that she could worship Him and sit at His feet to enjoy His teaching, He had to go so that He could take care of everything that needed to be done while He was still here. He also made clear to her that He was going away again, this time to return to the Father in heaven, and that it was important for her to remind the disciples of this. This was one of the main messages He was trying to relay to His disciples on the evening of His arrest and they did not understand at that time, and Jesus wants them to be reminded that He is going to return to where He came from and that if He goes that He is going to prepare a place for them that where He is, there they may be also, and that if He goes, He will send the Comforter, that is the Holy Spirit, to them. The Spirit of Truth, another name for the Holy Spirit, that is to come would lead them in all truth and cause them to remember the things that Jesus had said. The women fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. They eventually returned to the disciples and told them all they had seen and heard and the message that had been given to them, but Mary said, "“I have seen the Lord. " The disciples appear to not believe Mary Magdalene's message because it differed from that of the other women, so Peter and John go to see for themselves. John seems to have written these appearances out of order in his gospel, but remember that his goal was not necessarily to tell a chronological story, but to make the argument that Jesus was who He said He was and that in Him we have eternal life (we'll see his purpose statement for the book in a few verses). My best assumption is that John but his own eyewitness testimony first because this was the best and most compelling testimony that he had to offer, however, he did not want to leave out that Jesus actually appeared to Mary Magdalene. The fact that Jesus appears to a woman, particularly this woman, first is an amazing fact that should help us see that the disciples did not make up this story. For no Jew would have believed that angels from heaven and the Son of God would have first spoken to women, let alone a woman who had been possessed by seven demons only a short time before. Mary Magdalene was a woman who probably had a reputation and a past that would have made it easy for the religious leaders to ignore, deny, and reject her testimony. So, everything she said was also validated by the testimony of two men--Peter and John as this is the standard by which all facts must be established in a Jewish court of law (see Deuteronomy 17:6, Deuteronomy 19:15, Matthew 18:16, 2 Corinthians 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19, and Hebrews 10:28). God took care of all the details, but He did so in a way that would make us know that it was His plan and His work and not the invention of a story of man. We'll pick up here next time as Jesus continues to appear to other disciples to open their eyes and explain the gospel to them from the Scriptures that we today call the Old Testament as well as from His own words that He had spoken to them in what we call the Gospels. John 20:1-10 English Standard Version The Resurrection 20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. We have been anticipating this Day since almost the beginning of the book of John as Jesus and John have both been clear that Jesus came to die so that the nation of Israel and the whole world might be saved from the power of sin and have eternal life. As we read the compressed version of Jesus' life and we have it all in writing where we can look back and forth and compare things, we might wonder how everyone missed it, but we also miss the obvious things.
Let's return to the scene where the women who saw where the body was taken and buried were going back early on Sunday morning, after the Sabbath had ended but while it was still dark, to have a proper time to grieve and mourn (remember the crowd we saw gathered around the tomb of Lazarus in John 11?). The woman did not know that the tomb had been sealed by Pilate or that the guard had been posted, but they did know that there was a large rock in front of the tomb that they were going to have to find some way to deal with when they got there. The only woman that John mentions is Mary Magdalene, though we know she was not the only woman to see Jesus that morning. If we want to piece everything together from the other gospels, we could do that, but let's focus on this account today as John is trying to keep a narrow focus here to support his main point that Jesus is the Son of God. Mary Magdalene sees the tomb open and empty and runs to tell Simon Peter and John what she has seen--assuming that the body has been moved or stolen. Peter and John run to the tomb with John beating Peter there and John standing outside looking in and taking everything in and Peter running past John to get inside and experience everything up-close. It is Peter that saw the grave clothes laying there and the face cloth laying separate from the grave clothes and neatly folded by itself. John also sees the same evidence and we are told that he saw and believed. Remember our main purpose of the book--that we might believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that in Him we might have eternal life. John is clear that they did not yet understand the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead. That's no surprise because you and I would be hard-pressed to find any verses from the Old Testament that prophecy that Jesus is going to rise from the dead. It's there in the midst of other accounts that God gave us representing the work of Christ in figures like Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah and Jonah in the belly of the fish, but they would have to recall the words of Jesus Himself that "the sign of Jonah" was that just as Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man would be in the belly of the earth for three days and three nights. It says that all the disciples returned back to their homes, though it seems like "home" here refers to the Upper Room where they had been staying while in Jerusalem that time, for we find them gathered there together in other gospel accounts in the passages that we will be talking about in another couple of days. Mary Magdalene is going to be the first to have Jesus appear to her after His resurrection when we come back to John 20 next time. John 19:38-42 English Standard Version Jesus Is Buried 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. There was still a little time before the Sabbath, but not much, so Joseph of Arimathea, who was secretly a disciple of Jesus and Nicodemus who we met earlier in John 3 and John 7, made arrangements to secure the body of Jesus and prepare Him for burial. Joseph asked Pilate for the body and gave Jesus his own grave to fulfill prophecy that Jesus would be laid in a borrowed tomb, and Nicodemus being a Pharisee who was rich was able to gather the necessary ointments and spices to anoint the body for burial, because the Jews do not embalm bodied, but at this time would bury them right away and would use strong oils and spices to help mask the smell of death and decay. Nicodemus brought quite the offering of seventy-five pounds of these expensive spices.
So they took Jesus and bound Him in linen cloths (much like He was wrapped in at the time of His birth and the same kind of "grave clothes" that we saw in the resurrection of Lazarus) according to the custom of the Jews like I mentioned above. He was buried in what is known as the Garden Tomb where no one had been laid--the gospel of Matthew tells us this tomb belonged to Joseph of Arimathea as I mentioned before. Matthew also tells us that Joseph was also a member of "the Council," that is the Sanhedrin, like Nicodemus. Joseph is also the one who put the stone in front of the tomb. As long as they could finish burying Jesus before the end of the Day of Preparation, they would be "clean" to be able to celebrate the Passover. "The women" who came with Jesus from Galilee (we'll see them in the next chapter) followed and saw the location of the tomb. Something we're not going to see here in the book of John is that after Joseph got permission to bury Jesus, the Sanhedrin fears that Jesus' disciples might steal the body, because they remember He said that He would rise from the dead, so the ask Pilate for a guard to be posted and for the tomb to be sealed. This will be somewhat important in what we are going to talk about over the next several passages. The Sanhedrin knew and remember the words of Christ and yet did not believe in Him, but those who believed in Him were unable to recall His words until the right time. For now it was a time of grief for all of them. We know the end of the story that Jesus would turn their mourning into joy, but for the time being Jesus would rest on the Sabbath Day (Luke makes this very clear in his account). As the Jews would celebrate the Passover that day (on Saturday) and would be remember the LORD their Redeemer and the salvation that He brought them as He led them out of slavery from Egypt, Jesus would be redeeming the Elect from their slavery to sin by offering His own blood in the Temple of heaven as our Great High Priest to make atonement once and for all for us sins--not to cover them up, but to take them away as far as the east is from the west. There is much grief on the part of the disciples, but also much fear on the part of the Sanhedrin that perhaps Jesus was exactly who He said He was and that He would do exactly what He said He would do (or at least that someone would try to make it seem that way). The Sanhedrin remembers that He said He would rise again on the third day (the sign of Jonah that Jesus says would be the only remaining sign for them), so they make preparations to try to keep the gospel from moving forward--it didn't work for them in the Garden of Gethsemane, and and won't work here at the Garden Tomb. John 19:28-37 English Standard Version The Death of Jesus 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. Jesus' Side Is Pierced 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” I alluded to much of this at the end of yesterday's journal article, but Jesus was in complete control of the time and manner of His death. He waits until He knows that all Scripture has been fulfilled before saying "I thirst" so that Psalm 69:21 would be fulfilled, "They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink."
The fact that hyssop was used to offer the sour wine to Jesus should bring back some memories as to other places where we've seen hyssop mentioned in the Bible. where hyssop is part of the process of atonement and purification. See Exodus 12:22, Leviticus 14:4-6, 49-52, Numbers 19:6-18, Psalm 51:7, and Hebrews 9:19. Especially with the fact that this is Passover when this is happening, the images of hyssop here would have extra meaning since it was with hyssop that the LORD commanded the blood of the Passover Lamb to be spread on the doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over His people. Jesus then knows it is the right them--not only has His hour finally come, but is the exact right moment in time for Him to die. The timing here when compared to the other gospels and other historical sources tell tell us that Jesus gave up His spirit willingly (remember, He said no one would take His life from Him, He must lay it down willingly--and that if He lays it down willingly, He can take it back up again) that would correspond to the exact time that the Passover lambs were being slaughtered and their blood was being applied to the doorposts of the houses were people were staying there in Jerusalem. Much is going on here as heaven and earth respond to the death of Jesus and to HIs becoming sin for us and the fact that the Son feels disconnected from the Father. John doesn't talk much about this, but we see that several things happen during this time: the sky is pitch black, much like the Ninth Plague in Egypt, and the ground shook, causing the Roman centurion to say, "Truly this was the Son of God,"--John hints at this testimony without quoting it because apparently it known well by his readers, and the veil in the Temple which was torn from top to bottom). John just skips over most of that though, but the manner in which heaven and earth responded to the death of their Creator is yet another sign of who Jesus was and everything that was being accomplished through His death--especially when we see the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place being torn by God from top to bottom. No man would have been able to do this. We spoke yesterday about how the legs of the other were broken at the request of the Pharisees so that they would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath (Passover itself was a high holy day that was a special Sabbath to the Jews, and it also appears that Passover fell on the seventh day Sabbath this particular year, meaning they had to get those being executed off the crosses and buried before sundown). Time was of the essence so that they could follow the Law (in their minds) and remain pure (their impurity would only last until sundown according to the Law) so that they could be able to participate in the Passover. We see this clearly in the gospel of Luke where Luke talks about Nicodemus and joseph of Arimathea burying Jesus quickly and they and everyone else observed the Sabbath. I'll probably say something else about this in tomorrow's article if the opportunity presents itself. For now, let's get back to the death of Jesus and how the centurion confirmed that Jesus was dead so that His legs did not have to be broken. When they came to Him to break His legs to expedite His death, they saw that He appeared to be dead already, and the centurion took his spear and pierced Jesus' side in a way that was meant to puncture the heart and if the person wasn't already dead, they would be after this. When Jesus' side was pierced, the text says that "blood and water" came out which is an indication of fluid that had built up around Jesus' heart due to the results of the crucifixion, so John's description here is consistent with what we know would happen medically with someone who had been crucified. See this article for a bit more information if you'd like: https://www.compellingtruth.org/blood-water-Jesus.html. How is it that this centurion saw what so many Jews did not see, that Jesus was the Son of God? Jesus wants to point us to this testimony as this was the primary argument he has been making in his gospel--so that we may know that Jesus was the Son of God. Even this pagan centurion got it and believed--so did one of the thieves that was hanging on a cross next to Jesus, and it appears that possibly Pilate figured it out and maybe believed as well (we'll have to see when we get to heaven), but we see that the Jews who had the Law and the Prophets, and so much more and had been living in expectation of Messiah for millennia missed Him because He was not the kind of Messiah they were looking for. John wants us to see this, and that Jesus has died exactly the way that He said He would in John 3:14-15, "14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life." and John 12:30-32, "30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” Truly it has been God's plan from the beginning to save both Jews and Gentiles. John points us back to a couple of passages from the Old Testament that were fulfilled here. First was that no bone would be broken in the Messiah, so His legs could not be broken during the crucifixion. His timing was perfect to keep this from happening so that this prophecy would be fulfilled. Second was that His side would be pierced by those who looked upon Him. This happened when the centurion pierced the side of Jesus with his spear. This hole in Jesus' side remains after His resurrection as He is going to tell Thomas to thrust his hand into His side to prove that He is really died and came back to life. Thomas doesn't seem to take Jesus up on His offer, but he does see and believe. We are told that we will be more blessed if we don't see and still believe. We will also see that the nailprints in His hands remain for all eternity. Jesus will be forever marked by this event, and we will sing of this in our Revelation Song and the Song of the Redeemed. Oh how I long for that day! The Crucifixion So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Jesus has taken quite a beating in hopes that would satisfy the people and they might let him go free, but the Jews have insisted on His death. So He was compelled to bear His own cross. Little is said by John about this, but Jesus is so weak from the beating that He collapses along the weight and the soldiers compel Simon of Cyrene to carry His cross the rest of the way.
Jesus makes it all the way to the place called Golgotha (The Place of the Skull), also known to many as Calvary. He died among thieves so as to fulfill prophecy (the Gospel of Matthew points out many of the prophecies that were fulfilled during the trials and crucifixion if you are are interested in going back to those passages that we studied earlier). Above the head of each man was the indictment for why they were being crucified and above the head of Jesus, the sign was written in Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic so that all people from the area could know whether they were Jew or Gentile or of the religious orders or from the common people that this was why Jesus was being crucified--“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” The Jewish religious leaders took great offense to the sign with the indictment what Pilate as they wanted it to be changed to read, "He claimed to be the King of the Jews," but Pilate responded with "What I have written I have written." This gives us at least some indication that Pilate may have believed that Jesus was exactly who He said He was. It will be interesting to see if Pilate might have believed to the point of salvation. Again, John says very little of the actual crucifixion--that is not his purpose in writing the book. We can find many of the historical details in the book of Luke and the fulfillment of prophecy in the book of Matthew, and a bit of the agony and suffering of Christ as told in the book of Mark, but John is focused on the divinity of Jesus--that He is the Son of God and that He was in complete control. John simply wants to focus on the fact that Jesus is "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" and that He would be "lifted up" and draw all men unto Himself as He told Nicodemus. John focuses in on the soldiers at the foot of the cross who are there to help prolong the torture. His garments that had seems were divided into four parts--one part for each soldier, but His tunic was seamless so instead of dividing it and ruining the garment, they cast lots for it (gambled for it, probably by rolling dice). This is the one time in this passage that John quotes an Old Testament prophecy about the crucifixion from Psalm 22 (I'm going to post this Psalm at the end of today's blog as the entire Psalm clearly describes the crucifixion and contains the words of Christ that He spoke from the cross as Jesus quotes this Psalm to remind those who would hear it that this is the fulfillment of those words). “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” (Psalm 22:18) John then turns attention to the crowd, but not everyone in the crowd like some of the other gospel accounts do. No, John focuses in specifically on Jesus' mother who has been standing there watching the whole thing--this was another part of the torture from the Romans, as they made the person being crucified watch the agony on the faces of their family and their close relatives and friends. Jesus surly would not have wanted His mother to suffer like this, but even that cannot stop Him from His mission. Jesus has already told Pilate that is was for this reason that He came into the world. But there is another standing there among the family members. It appears that John (who never names himself in his gospel but refers to himself as "the one whom Jesus loved") was there close to Jesus' mother and as one of the final things that Jesus would say, He entrusted the care of Mary to John and told Mary to treat John as if he was her own son (John seems to have been selected by Jesus to take His place in His earthly family, as it was the job of the oldest to make sure that their family was taken care of). It appears that Jesus had reason to know that his half-siblings would not care for Mary like John would, and from that day forward, John brought Mary into his own home and cared for her. We don't see much of the timing here that we'd see by studying some of the other gospels in parallel, but as we've talked about before, Jesus doesn't die until He gives up His spirit because no one can take His life from Him--He had to give it up willingly. If we could lay everything out in parallel, we would see that Jesus died at the exact time that lambs were being sacrificed for the Passover. The Romans wanted to speed things along so that the executions would not interfere with the Passover, so they broke the legs of the two convicts on the right and left of Jesus, but when they came to Jesus they saw He was already dead and they did not break His legs (again a fulfillment of prophecy). We would also see that even while on the cross, Jesus was concerned about the men that were dying with Him and one man repents and believes and is told he will receive eternal life, and Jesus prays from the cross for the crowd and the soldiers that they be forgiven, because they don't know what they are doing. What an amazing example He has set for us! Even when the crowd jeers at Him to come off the cross to prove that He is the Son of God as He said He was, He remains there because His work is too important to simply make a spectacle and provide them with yet another sign that He knows they wouldn't believe. Very soon we will see the ultimate sign, and they will reject even that sign, just as Jesus had prophesied they would in the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man. As promised, here is Psalm 22 for you to study today as we think about the crucifixion today: Psalm 22 English Standard Version Why Have You Forsaken Me? To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David. 22 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. 3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. 4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. 5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. 6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; 8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” 9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts. 10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God. 11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help. 12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. 14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet-- 17 I can count all my bones-- they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid! 20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog! 21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen! 22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! 24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him. 25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him. 26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever! 27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. 29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive. 30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. John 19:1-16a English Standard Version Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified 19 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar's friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. Last time we talked about how Jesus took the place of Barabbas--a man condemned to death because of the crimes that he committed. He was "the chief of sinners"--the one who deserved to die on the center cross, but it was God's plan for Jesus to take the place of Barabbas and every one of us. Jesus has been telling everyone that this day was coming from the very beginning of His ministry (remember Him telling Nicodemus that just as "Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up"?) We're seeing everything continue to happen in God's way in God's time. Just as God said it had to happen, just as everything had been foretold by the prophets, according to the Scriptures.
The Sanhedrin couldn't find any evidence to convict Jesus until Jesus told them once again who He was--the Son of Man that they would see coming on the clouds with power. At this they condemned Jesus to death, but they said they did not have the authority to kill Him (though we've seen them try many times before this) and they know Rome will not kill Jesus for the crime of blasphemy with which they have charged Him (a religious and civil crime in the minds of the Romans that the Jews would be told to take care of on their own). So, they tell Pilate that Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Messiah, the King of the Jews. This got Pilate's attention and right when Pilate was ready to let Jesus go, Jesus tells Pilate that He is a king, but His kingdom is not of this world. Pilate finds no guilt with Jesus and tries to set up a situation where he thinks the people will definitely chose Jesus to be released, but instead, the people choose Barabbas--the person that would be on the top of everyone's "most wanted" list. For those old enough to remember this name, Barabbas was like the Osama bin Laden of his day--he was a terrorist, a murderer and an insurrectionist. The word "thief" used in the text yesterday can be more loosely translated to anyone guilty of a high crime as stealing from someone was considered an extremely high crime in those days. The people were about to riot, so Pilate hands Jesus over to be beaten. They beat Him to such a state that people are uncertain that He's even a man anymore. At this point, I'd like you to stop and read Isaiah 53. Some of you may have never read it, but see how this is exactly what has happened to Jesus to this point and what is happening to Him now. He was bruised for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities! That didn't just happen once He was put on the cross--it all started here during His torture that proceeded His execution. Pilate hopes that a good beating within an inch of death will satisfy the people, and he once again comes out to the people to say "Behold the Man"--this reminds me of John saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world." Pilate once again gives the people a choice. “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” and the people stirred up by the chief priest shouted as a mob, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate tries to tell them to take Him themselves to crucify Him--he no longer wants any part of this. However the people tell Pilate that Jesus must die because, "We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” Now Pilate is terrified! Is He really going to be responsible for killing the Son of God? Is this the "kingdom not of this world" that Jesus was talking about? Pilate quickly convenes court again inside his residence away from the crowd. He asks Jesus plainly, “Where are you from?,” but this time Jesus gave him no answer. The dye was cast and things were proceeding exactly as planned. Even though I'm sure it was tempting to Jesus to say something that would make it all stop, since just hours before He had prayed for "This cup to be taken from Me" He had submitted Himself to the will of the Father and knew that it was for this reason that He had come into the world. Pilate is frustrated because Jesus won't say anything to defend Himself, and Pilate wants to let Jesus go at this point. Pilate says, "Don't you realize I have the authority to release you or crucify you?" Jesus responded, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” Jesus doesn't completely absolve Pilate of his role, but He said that those turning Him over to Pilate would bear more guilt as they knew Jesus' identity and they claimed to be the children of God. Pilate's hand were tied here because the people were about to riot and if Pilate could not control them it was Pilate that would be killed. Every part of Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but Jesus wouldn't give Pilate any opportunity to do so, and the people threatened to report Pilate to Caesar if he let Jesus go. At about the sixth hour on the Day of Preparation, that is about high noon on Friday, Pilate finally sits down to proclaim his judgment. Pilate says, "Behold, your King." (I think he was serious about this), and the people responded again saying, "Take Him away. Crucify Him." Then for the third time Pilate tries to save Jesus and ask, “Shall I crucify your King?” and the people again respond all the more strongly, "“We have no king but Caesar.” It seems as if the people, not just Peter denied Jesus three times. So, Pilate finally relents and hands Jesus over to be crucified. That's where we'll pick up next time. |
Daniel WestfallI will mostly use this space for recording my "journal" from my daily devotions as I hope to encourage others to read the Bible along with me and to leave a legacy for others. Archives
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