John 2:13-25
Jesus was very angry. It was Passover, but the merchants and
the moneychangers in the temple did not respect God’s house, or the people who
came to worship God there. Jesus chased all from the temple courts, both sheep
and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their
tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning
my Father’s house into a market!”
His disciples remembered a prophecy from the Scriptures,
that it is written in Psalm69:9: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”
The Jews questioned Jesus’ authority, because only someone
who had God’s authority had the right to do what Jesus did, and they asked Jesus
to show signs to prove his authority.
In v19-21, Jesus was not referring to “the Temple that Herod
had built.” Jesus meant that God had come to live among his people in a new
way. God was living among them as a man. This man was Jesus. His body was the
new “Temple”. This was what John meant in John 1:14, “the Word became a man and
he lived on earth with us. We saw his glory. It was the glory of the Father’s
only Son.”
I think I should be careful treat the church as the Temple
of God. When I go to church on Sundays, I should go with a heart of worship and
get there on time. During the service, I should remain focused on God and not be
distracted by my mobile phone. When serving, I am to serve wholeheartedly.
Furthermore, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, so these attitudes
should be present in my everyday life, not just on Sundays at church.
John 4:1-42
The Pharisees heard Jesus was baptising more people than John
the Baptist. Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about him, so he left
Judea and returned to Galilee. Unlike other Jews who usually bypass Samaria, he
actually went through Samaria. He spoke to a Samaritan woman and asked her for
water.
The Samaritan woman was very surprised Jesus spoke to her.
Not only does Jews not talk to Samaritans, it seems like her people also
refused to talk to her, because she had been married many times. Strict Jewish
teachers also would not speak to a woman in public. Furthermore, Jesus knew
many things about this woman’s life, and the woman thought Jesus was a prophet.
Jesus’ disciples were surprised that Jesus was talking to a woman, but did not
are to ask him about it. The woman rushed away and started telling her people
about Jesus, and that she thought he might be the Messiah. Then, many
Samaritans came to meet Jesus and believed in Jesus.
Jesus needed to drink and the Samaritan woman had what he
needs. Jesus has something which all of humanity needs (including the woman),
which is “the water that gives life.” In other words, the Holy Spirit. Our
bodies need water to stay alive. And our spirits need the Holy Spirit to stay
alive, too. The Holy Spirit is like a fountain in us. The Holy Spirit supplies
us with everything that we need to live as Christians every day.
What happened in this passage was the spiritual revival of a
town. I need to constantly ask for the “living water” to fill me in order to do
God’s work, and to ask the Spirit to help me transform from my sinful ways so
that I can be a living testimony for Jesus, and be able to invite others to
accept Jesus in their lives.’
Parallels with Ezekiel:
·
Cleansing of the temple in many ways parallels
Ezekiel 8-11.
·
Just as Yahweh chooses to minister to exiles
(Ezekiel 11:16), after the cleansing of the temple Jesus ministers to
“outcasts” (eg. the Samaritan woman).
·
During Ezekiel’s vision, the reader is made
aware that Yahweh has the authority to superseded the “sacred” temple by
departing from it and destroying it as Yahweh sees fit (Ezekiel 9-11). Thus,
Yahweh showed Yahweh’s authority to override earthly institutions. In John 5,
Jesus showed that he had authority even over the Sabbath by healing the lame
man.
John 6
A large crowd followed Jesus because they had seen the
miracles Jesus did. Jesus went up to a mountain. Jesus asked the disciples to
buy bread for these people. Jesus performs another miracle and fed 5000 people
using 5 loaves of read and 2 small fish. There were 12 baskets leftover! After
this miracle, the people wanted to make him king by force. Jesus knew that so
he went further up the mountain alone. Afterwards, Jesus’ disciples went down
to the lake. Then they saw Jesus walking on water during a storm on the lake.
This surprised the disciples.
The people were focused on the physical things of earth when
they saw these miracles. However, physical things can never satisfy spiritual
hunger. Jesus explains that he is the bread from heaven that gives eternal
life. These words led some Jews to complain about him. They couldn’t understand
the spiritual meanings behind what Jesus was saying, especially the part about
eating his flesh and blood, therefore many left. In V51, Jesus did not mean
that we have to eat his physical flesh to receive eternal lives, but to receive
Jesus into our spirits. When we unite ourselves with food, then our bodies can
continue to live. In the same way we must unite ourselves with Jesus to receive
life in our spirits.
People have the choice to accept or to reject Jesus. Only Jesus
could give eternal life. However, people need the help of the Holy Spirit in
order to understand that they need God’s life. And not only must we accept
Jesus as saviour, we must obey Him. We have to let the Holy Spirit guide us and
not depend on our own strength to do what He wants.
Sometimes we also have difficulty understanding the
Scriptures. However, we should not reject these things. Instead, we can ask God
to show us what the Scriptures mean. We should also ask God what he wants to
say to us personally through the Scriptures.
I Am the bread of life (John 6:35):
·
Ezekiel 4:16-17; 5;16-17; 6:11-12; 7:15; 12:16-19;
14:13, 21: During Ezekiel’s days, especially in the siege, there was a lack of
the necessities of life such as bread and water.
·
Ezekiel prophesies the new covenant era would be
an end of famine and deprivations (Ezekiel 34). The feeding of 5000 in John
does that. We see a direct connection between Ezekiel’s prophesised new age and
the miraculous signs that will accompany this era. The first of the “I Am”
sayings and the feeding of 5000 occurred after the cleansing of the temple
(John 2:13-22).
John 9
Jesus and the disciples saw a blind man. Jesus’ disciples
asked whether this man was blind as the result of this man’s sin or his parents’
sins. Jesus told them that these were not the cause.
Jesus did not cure the man immediately. The man had to do
something first, and because he obeyed Jesus, he was cured from his blindness.
Interestingly, this man did not really know Jesus. He only
knew his name, but he had trusted Jesus enough to obey his instructions, and
now he is able to see. The man thought Jesus was a prophet initially.
The Pharisees argued among themselves about Jesus and some
thought he could not have come from God as he did not obey the rules about the
Sabbath. Furthermore, they refused to believe the man had been blind from birth
and asked his parents about this.
The man displayed increasing faith. V33, he said that Jesus
had certainly come from God. Because of his beliefs about Jesus, the Jewish
leaders would not allow him to attend the Synagogue. By V38, we can see that the
man believed completely in Jesus and worshipped Him. Here we see the man
receiving spiritual sight also, just that it took longer, and happened while he
was speaking to Jesus.
There are two types of blindness: physical vs spiritual.
Spiritual blindness is the result of sin. It means we cannot see the truth
about God. The Jewish leaders were able to see Jesus with their eyes, but they
were unable to recognise Him as the Messiah and God’s son. This is spiritual
blindness. Only Jesus can cure our spiritual blindness.
We often have spiritual blind spots as well. Sometimes we
think we understand more than we really do, and not realise that there are sins
in certain areas of our lives that make us unable to see the truth. It is not
uncommon for Christian believers to hold misconceptions about God. We can’t get
to know God fully until we get to heaven though, as we are still living in a
fallen world affected by sin.
I Am the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5):
·
Connections between Jesus as the light of the
world and Ezekiel’s vision of the radiance of Yahweh in Babylon (Ezekiel 1:4,
27-28).
·
John 8:12: Jesus presents himself as the light
to follow in a leadership role (spiritual and messianic). Ezekiel’s sign act in
chapter 12 was to be partially performed n the dark (Ezekiel 12:6-14), to show
that the prince (Zedekiah) would slink out of the city shirking his leadership
responsibilities by leaving the people to fend for themselves.
·
John 9:5: The context deals with both spiritual
and literal blindness, the former of which brings judgment. The chapter begins
with Jesus seeing a blind man. Jesus declares himself to be the light of the
world and heals the blind man. This is a metaphor for Israel’s leaders’
spiritual blindness (John 9:6-41). Jesus finishes this by nothing his role in
bringing judgment because of the spiritual blindness of those who should be
attuned to the spiritual realities of which he speaks. In Ezekiel 12, we also
see the concept of blindness, both spiritual and literal. The covering of the
eyes in Ezekiel 12:12 serves as a metaphor for the literal blinding of Zedekiah
for his treachery against Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel ends this discourse by predicting
judgment on the people for their spiritual blindness.
Jesus performs a sign (John
9:1-7)
|
Ezekiel performs a sign act
(Ezekiel 12:6)
|
Spiritual blindness
predominates ad forms an inclusion for both accounts (John 9:2, 40, 41)
|
(Ezekiel 12:2, 9, 22, 27)
|
Day/night motif (John 9:4)
|
(Ezekiel 12:3-7)
|
Covering the eyes with clay
(John 9:6)
|
Covering eyes with cloth
(Ezekiel 12:6, 12)
|
Blind man gains his sight
(John 9:6-7)
|
Zedekiah loses his sight
(Ezekiel 12:13)
|
People don’t believe (john
9:8-34)
|
People ask Ezekiel, what
are you doing (Ezekiel 12:9)
|
John 9 ends with an
allusion to Isaiah 6:10 (Joh 9:39)
|
Ezekiel 12 begins with a
reference to Isaiah 6:10 (Ezekiel 12:2)
|
Judgment for spiritual
blindness is the outcome (John 9:39-41)
|
(Ezekiel 12:28)
|
John 10
Jesus tells a story about a shepherd and his sheep to help
people understand about spiritual truths. The Old Testament writers often
referred to a shepherd and his sheep when they wrote about the ideal king. An
ideal king knows all his people really well. He protects them from dangers and
from their enemies. He guides them and he leads them. They follow him because
they trust him. Jesus was comparing himself with the shepherd. The thieves and
strangers meant evil leaders who did not care about the people.
V3: Unlike Western shepherds who drive the sheep, often
using a sheep dog, the shepherds of the Near East lead their flocks, their
voice calling them on.
In V6 people did not understand what Jesus’ story meant, so
Jesus explained further, saying He is like the gate for the sheep, because the
shepherd was the means by which the sheep could enter the sheepfold, which is
the way to safety, away from danger. Jesus the gate is the sole means by which
the sheep may enter the safety of the fold, or the luxurious forage of the
pasture.
V16: “Other sheep” refers to the Gentiles.
V17: Jesus lays down his life in order to take it up again:
Jesus’ sacrificial death was not an end in itself, and his resurrection an
afterthought. He died in order to rise, and by his rising to proceed toward his
ultimate glorification (12:23; 17:5) and the pouring out of the Sprit (7:37-39)
so that others too might live.
In V19-21, some people though Jesus was either mad or
wicked. V20: “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?” We can
believe only one of three things about Jesus. Jesus said that he was God’s Son.
If this was not true, then Jesus was either mad or wicked. A mad person
believes things that are not true. A wicked person lies about something very
important in order to deceive people on purpose. So if Jesus was not mad or
wicked, he was telling the truth. He was God’s Son.
In V22, the Jewish leaders asked whether he was the Messiah.
Perhaps some of them really wanted to know if Jesus was the Messiah. But
probably other leaders wanted Jesus to say something against the law, then they
would have a reason to arrest him.
V25 Jesus refuses to answer with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but spoke
about the miracles as evidence of who he is. He repeats the idea of the
shepherd and the sheep again, saying that the Jewish leaders are not his sheep.
V28: To his own sheep, Jesus gives eternal life.
The meaning of what Jesus said in V30 is clear to the
audience: Jesus was saying that he is God. This made the Jewish leaders want to
kill him even more, because they believed he was a man claiming to be God and
therefore insulting God.
Jesus escaped from the Jewish leaders, crossing the river
Jordan to the place where John the Baptist used to baptise people. Many people
at that place believed in Jesus. These people were not proud like the Jewish
leaders and were able to see and accept the truth. Although the authorities in
Jerusalem are eager to see Jesus die, the ministry of John the Baptist bore
significant fruit. They remembered the Baptist’s witness to Jesus, and now find
Jesus’ ministry so powerful that the Baptist’s witness is confirmed.
If we have
sensed that God is calling us to do the work of the shepherd, two of our roles
include:
1.
Leading
people to freedom. Freedom from fear, from sin. To be free in Christ. Rather than
focusing on the ‘unworthiness of the sinner’ and be penned in by fundamentalist
legalism, we should remind people that we are all are created in the image of
God, with the freedom to be in the presence of God.
2.
Teach
the sheep to hear and recognize the shepherd’s voice.
I Am the gate/ good shepherd (John 10:1-21):
·
John 10:1-10 sets up the metaphor of Jesus
fulfilling the messianic shepherd promises of Ezekiel 34.
·
As the “gate,” Jesus is the only way of entering
the new covenant (John 10:9).
·
The evil leaders in the OT tried to get Israel
to follow another way and enter into worship of Yahweh through a “door” of
their own making. (Ezekiel 22:25-31; 8:1-18; 13:1-23)
·
The shepherds who came before Jesus were thieves
and robbers that steal and kill (10:7-8). Jesus promise to lead his flock to a
good “pasture” and given them life (10:10).
·
The picture of judgment in both texts is also of
central importance to both authors. For Ezekiel, judgment would come in the
form of exile with the hope of a return from the remnant to a renewed land of
Israel (Ezekiel 34-48). In John’s case, judgment upon the evil shepherds would
be no less real.
·
Ezekiel ends chapter 34 with a recognition
formula, “then they will know that I, Yahweh their God, am with them and the
house of Israel is my people (Ezekiel 34:30). John 10:14, 27 reveals Jesus to
be the “house of Israel.”
John 11
I Am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25):
·
It is at once a declaration of hope to those
mourning Lazarus’ death while also having prophetic impetus for Jesus’ own
resurrection and the resurrection of those who believe (John 11:24).
·
Lazarus event had many parallel motifs with one
of Ezekiel’s last sign acts: the loss of his wife. (Ezekiel 24:15-27).
·
This saying also has import for the metaphorical
resurrection of the nation of Israel I they will only believe (Ezekiel
37:1-14).
·
“Can these bones live? (Ezekiel 37:3) vs Jesus
asking Martha a question regarding her belief in his abilities to raise Lazarus
(John 11:26). Both are cautious in their responses. Finally, in both cases, the
command to the dead to rise is given by God. Jesus’ actions mirror those of
Yahweh (John 5:21)
John 13
John 13 Jesus washes his disciples’ feet:
There are two main directions for the interpretation of this
passage: 1) Symbolic of spiritual cleansing (v8-10), a sacramental
interpretation. 2) A standard of humble service (v12-17), a moralistic
interpretation.
It was the day before the Passover and Jesus knew that it
was time for him to leave this world. During this last supper, Judas had
already decided to betray Jesus. Jesus knew this as well. During the meal he
began washing his disciples’ feet. The disciples were very surprised because
this is something which the slaves do, and that Jesus was behaving like a slave
in doing this. Initially Peter resisted.
Jesus washed the disciples’ feet, including that of Judas.
Washed Judas may have been, cleansed he was not. “You are clean, though not
every one of you.” (13:10). Not all election is to salvation (6:70 “Have I not
chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!”).
Jesus’s blunt prediction that one of the assembled disciples
was going to betray him (v21) evoked stunned silence (v22).
V27: When Jesus told Judas “what you are about to do, do
quickly,” the disciples thought Judas was being asked to buy what was needed
for the Feast, or to give something to the poor.
Jesus wants us to serve each other. It is very important
that leaders serve, too. We should be humble. We should not be too proud to
serve other people. Jesus, God’s Son, did the job of a slave on behalf of his
disciples. We should always be willing to serve each other in any way.
John 14
I Am the way, truth and life (John 14:1-14):
·
The primary means of securing life in Ezekiel is
by burning from wickedness (3:19; 13:22; 18:21-32; 33:9-19), and by keeping,
observing and walking in God’s statutes, ordinances and commandments (18:8-28;
20:11-21; 33:15-19). Life in Ezekiel is to keep Go’s word or else know His
wrath (Ezekiel 20). Thus there is a strong relationship between God’s word and
life for the individual.
·
There is no less of a strong connection between
Jesus as the Word, Life, and Living Water in John. John’s use of “I Am” here is
forward-looking and makes direct connections to the work of the Spirit in the
new covenant (John 14-17, 26; Ezekiel 36:26-27; 37:14; 39:29).
·
Jesus is the truth, because he embodies the
supreme revelation of God – he himself ‘narrates’ God (1:18). “No one comes to
the Father except through me.”
·
Jesus words of encouragement: “My Father’s house
has many rooms…” and he is preparing a place for his disciples and followers
(John 14:2). In Ezekiel, Yahweh too is preparing a new temple (Ezekiel 40-42)
and a spacious land for the nation of Israel (Ezekiel 47-48).
John 15
Here Jesus is teaching his disciples using the vine and the
branches as metaphor. Both v1-8 and v9-16 speak of ‘remaining,’ the first of
remaining in the vine/Jesus, the second of remaining in Jesus’ love. Both hold
up fruitfulness as the disciple’s goal. Both tie such fruitfulness to prayer.
Both sections are built around a change in salvation-historical perspective,
ie. both depend on a self-conscious change from the old covenant to the new;
under the image of the vine, Israel gives way to Jesus.
In the OT, the vine is a common symbol for Israel, the
covenant people of God. Israel was far less fruitful than ought to have been
the case. In contrast to such failure, Jesus claims, “I am the true vine,” the
one that brings forth good fruit. The true vine, then, is not the apostate people,
but Jesus himself, and those who are incorporated in him. The imagery itself
suggests incorporation, mutual indwelling, fruitfulness.
I AM the true vine (John 15:1-8):
·
OT vine parallels: Ps80:8-16; Isa5:1-10;
Jer2:21; Ezek15:1-15; 17:1-21; 19:10-15; Hos10:1; 14:7). The vine is a symbol
of Israel (Genesis 49:2; Isaiah 5:7; Psalm 80:8, 16-18; and there are 1st
century Judean coins depicting a bunch of grapes).
·
The vine imagery in Ezekiel 15 deals with the
nation. Both Ezekiel 17 and 19 focus heavily on the judgment on the
monarchy/Davidic line. Jesus is the new David figure and corporate head of the
nation. Jesus was Israel as Israel ought to have been: a choice vine, producing
fruit consistent with his identity.
·
In Ezekiel 15, Ezekiel shows how useless the
vine/nation had become. Unlike Isaiah’s metaphor, this is not a “vineyard” but
rather a vine that is worthless. This is why Jesus compares himself to a vine
and not a vineyard as is typical in Jeremiah and Isaiah.
·
There is a motif of a worthless vine fit for the
fire in both: John 15:2, 6; Ezekiel 15:4, 7.
·
For John, Jesus thus becomes the fulfillment of
the covenant for Israel in that he is the true vine, namely, the corporate head
of Israel, who keeps covenant perfectly.
·
When we believe in Jesus, we are like the
branches of a vine. The good work that we do on his behalf is like the fruit.
God the Father is like the gardener who looks after the vine. The gardener
wants the branches to produce much fruit. He does whatever is necessary for
this to happen.
·
God “cuts off every branch in me that bears no
fruit”: Sometimes, he must cut off parts of the branch. Otherwise, if he leaves
a branch to grow, it will grow too long. It may produce leaves instead of
fruit. Or, the branch may grow in the wrong direction.
·
God prunes every branch that bears fruit, so
that each branch will be even more fruitful. So, like the branches, we need God
to remove everything that is wrong in our lives. We need him to guide us back
when we follow our own way instead of his way.
·
Fruitfulness is an infallible mark of true
Christianity. Our ‘fruit’ means the good results that we achieve on behalf of
Jesus and on behalf of God’s kingdom. Genuine followers of Jesus will produce
much ‘fruit’ in their lives. In order to produce ‘fruit’, we need to have a
close relationship with Jesus. He is like the vine. We must take our strength
and energy from him. We do this when we spend time with him, pray about
everything, read the Bible often, and obey him always. We cannot do his work if
we separate ourselves from him.
·
V6 is a warning about what happens to false
Christians. V7 we are immediately reminded of the promise for all of us who
remain in a close relationship with him. He will do whatever we ask for in his
name. And because we are united with him, our prayers will not be selfish. We
will want to ask for only those things that he wants, too. His desires will
become our desires. V8: And the things that we do on his behalf will bring
great glory to God.
·
Personal application: I have to regularly
connect to Jesus, the true vine, in order to do the work of God and produce
‘fruit’.
John 17 Jesus Prays
Here Jesus prays. This prayer is a summary of the entire
Fourth Gospel to this point.
Principal themes:
·
Jesus’ obedience to his Father
·
The glorification of his Father through his
death/exaltation
·
The revelation of God in Christ Jesus
·
The choosing of the disciples out of the world,
their mission to the world, their unity modelled on the unity of the Father and
the Son and their final destiny in the presence of the Father and Son.
This prayer contributes to the climax of the movement that
brings Christ back to God.
V1-5: Jesus prays for his glorification
·
Verses 1-3 Already Jesus had made reference to
his ‘time’ (for example, John 2:4; 12:23). That time had come, because that
night, soldiers would arrest him. And a few hours afterwards, he would die on a
cross. This had to happen. It was the only way to save people from the results
of their sins. And when he became alive again, he defeated death. Then all who
believe in him will have new life. This new life continues after death, too.
·
V4: There is only one true God, who we must know
so that we receive eternal life.
·
V5: Jesus had always existed. Jesus did not
remain in heaven. Instead, he was born on the earth as a man, to save us. His
life, death and resurrection all brought glory to God. Here, Jesus asked God to
give to him again the glory that they had shared in heaven. God granted this
request. When Jesus returned to heaven, he took a position of honour and
authority, next to God the Father.
V6-19: Jesus prays for his disciples
·
V6-12: In John’s Gospel, the ‘world’ refers to
everybody and everything that opposes God. It does not mean just the physical
earth. Jesus’ disciples lived on the earth. They had physical bodies. But they
did not belong to the ‘world’, because they had new spiritual life. Jesus had
shown to them what God is really like. And they believed in Jesus. So they
belonged to God.
·
V13: Although Jesus knew that his death was very
near, still he talked about the complete joy that he had. We can have this joy,
too. People may hate us. But we can be sure that God loves us.
·
V14-16: The ‘world’ refers to everything and
everybody that opposes God. And people who oppose God cannot belong to him.
They belong to the devil, whether they realise this or not. The devil is God’s
enemy. Therefore, people who belong to the devil hate Jesus. And they hate
those people who belong to Jesus. That is why many people hate Christians.
·
V17-19: Jesus prays that his disciples may be
sanctified. The word ‘holy’ referred to something or somebody who was separate
from other things or people. This was so that God could use the thing or the
person for his special purposes.
V20-26: Jesus prays on behalf of all Christians:
·
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, his
disciples told many people about him. The good news about Jesus spread quickly.
So this last part of Jesus’ prayer is on our behalf particularly.
·
He prayed that all Christians would love each
other as one family. This can happen only when we are in a close relationship
with God. Like Jesus’ symbol of the vine (John 15:1-17), we must remain in a
close relationship with him. And we must love other Christians.
John 19 Jesus Sentenced and Crucified
V1-3: Romans whipped people to punish them. This was a very
cruel punishment, because the Romans tied sharp pieces of metal to their whips.
Perhaps Pilate thought that this punishment would be bad enough to satisfy the
Jewish leaders and the crowd, and thus dissipate the clamour for his
crucifixion. Pilates’ soldiers insulted Jesus by dressing him up as a king
using a purple robe and a crown of thorns.
V4-5: Jesus looked very weak. Pilates dramatically presents
Jesus as a harmless and rather pathetic figure.
V6: The chief priests and their officials cannot be so
easily placated.
V7-8: This is the first time the Jewish leaders told Pilate
that Jesus claimed to be God’s Son. This made Pilate afraid, with two possible
reasons: 1) Perhaps he was afraid that Jesus was God’s son. 2) The Emperor
called himself a son of a god, so it was a serious crime for anybody else to
claim to be the son of a god.
V9: Pilate seeks to alleviate his own fear by questioning
Jesus about his origins.
V10: Jesus’ silence irritates Pilate. Pilate governed Judea
on behalf of the Emperor and have final judicial authority over what happens to
Jesus. Pilate interprets Jesus’ silence as at best stupidity, at worse a
baiting sullenness.
V11: In fact, God was in control of everything that was
happening and Jesus knew this. Pilate only had the authority to order Jesus’
death because God had given this authority to him.
V12-13: The Jews shouted “If you let this man go, you are no
friend of Caesar.” What they mean is that because Jesus said that he was a
king, if Pilate let Jesus go free, Pilate was not loyal to the Emperor. Their
words frightened Pilate: he might lose his job or get killed as punishment. The
Jews have exposed the desperate weakness of Pilate’s authority. So he gave in
to their demands.
V15-16: Most of the Jewish leaders hated the Romans, but
they hated Jesus even more. Although he was their real king and Messiah, they
rejected him. When Pilate asked the question “Shall I crucify your king?” he drove
the chief priests to their own blasphemy, “We have no king but Caesar.” The
Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly insist that the only true king of Israel is God
himself, so by saying this, they are not only rejecting Jesus’s claims, they
are disowning the kingship of the Lord himself.
V17-18: ‘Golgotha’ was probably a hill outside of Jerusalem
where the Romans crucified many people. Perhaps it has the same shape as a
skull.
V19-22: The Romans often wrote notices that described the
person’s crimes. Pilate put the notice “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the
Jews” on Jesus’ cross, in three main languages, so that everybody could read
it. People think that kings should be strong and powerful. But on the cross,
Jesus seemed very weak. So most people would think the notice was a joke. The
Jewish leaders considered that it was an insult to them, but Pilate refused to
change the notice. Pilate could be motivated by a desire for revenge: to
humiliate those who have humiliated him. Yet, Pilate’s malice serves God’s
ends: Jesus is indeed the King of the Jews. The cross is the means of Jesus’
exaltation. Even the trilingual notice may serve as a symbol for the
proclamation of the kingship of Jesus to the whole world.
V23-24: By custom the clothes of an executed criminal were
the perquisite of the executioners. The clothes were easy to divide, but not
the robe, which was made with just one piece of cloth. Therefore the soldiers
casted lots to decide which of them should have it. There was a prophecy about
this in Psalm 22:18.
V25: The Greek syntax suggests a contrast between the
soldiers and the women here introduced. While the soldiers carry out their
barbaric task and coolly profit from the exercise, the women wait in faithful
devotion to the one whose death they can still understand only as tragedy.
V26-27: “The disciple whom Jesus loved” is introduced, and
this was probably John (cf 13:23-23). Although Jesus had brothers some
Christians think that the word ‘brothers’ refers instead of Jesus’ cousins,
because the Greek word for ‘brothers’ can also mean cousins. At that time,
these brothers were not Jesus’ followers, and it seems that only one disciple
had stayed with Jesus by the cross. Jesus used the words “here is your son….
Here is your mother,” which are reminiscent of legal adoption formulae. So
Jesus told John to look after his mother. This reminds us that all Christians
belong to one family. Therefore, we should love each other like family.
V28: Jesus’ death on the cross was the most important part
of God’s plan to save people. Before Jesus died, he said
he was thirsty. There are three other places in the Scriptures that could refer
to Jesus’ words: Psalm 22:15 physical thirst, Ps 69:21 cheap wine that the
soldiers gave to Jesus, Ps42:2 spiritual thirst. Perhaps all three verses
referred to Jesus’ words: he was physically thirsty, but all our sin had
separated him from God, so his spiritual was thirsty for God too.
V30: After drinking the cheap wine, Jesus said “It is
finished.” Jesus was speaking about the work he had come to do on the earth.
Death on the cross was a slow process. In the end, the body would sink down and
the person would be unable to breathe. When Jesus turned his head down, he
would not be able to continue to breathe. Jesus was ready to die.
V31-32: The Mosaic law did not allow the Jews to let a dead
body hang upon a cross for more than a day (Deut 21:23). The Law did not allow
them to work on the Sabbath, and it was work to take the dead bodies away, so
the Jewish leaders wanted to take the bodies away before evening, as the
Sabbath started on Friday evening. Usually it took days for people to die on
the cross, and to make crucified people die more quickly, the Romans would
break their legs.
V33: The soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs because they
could see that he was already dead. When Jews sacrificed lambs at the Passover,
the Law did not allow them to break any bones (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12).
Jesus was the final sacrifice for everybody’s sins, and the author John wanted
to emphasise this.
V34: Blood and water flowing from Jesus’ body was medical
evidence that Jesus was really dead. There is also spiritual symbolism. The
flow of blood and water from Jesus’ side may be a ‘sign’ of the life and
cleansing that flow from Jesus’ death. The blood of Christ is the basis of
eternal life in the believer, and purifies us from everything, while water is
symbolic of cleansing (Jn3:5), life (4:14) and the Spirit (7:38, 39).
V38: Joseph from Arimathea and Nicodemus were both Jewish
leaders. Joseph could ask Pilate for Jesus’ body because Joseph was an
important man. Both men followed Jesus secretly. This is the first reference to
Joseph from Arimathea in this gospel, but Nicodemus was mentioned earlier (Jn
3:1; 7:50-51).
V39-41: Myrrh and aloes were two kinds of spices which the
Jews put on dead bodies to stop the bad smell of the bodies. Spices were very
expensive, and Nicodemus bought 30kg, which was a very large amount. It was the
amount that people used on a king. Nicodemus considered that Jesus was a king.
The new grave Jesus was put in belonged to Joseph himself (Matthew 27:59-60).
Joseph wanted to show that he, too, respected Jesus greatly.
V42: Joseph and Nicodemus had to fish their work quickly, as
it was nearly evening, at the start of the Sabbath.
·
During the sentencing of Jesus, we see how
little power Pilate really has. Pilate only had the authority to order Jesus’
death because God had given this authority to him.
·
When the Jews shouted “If you let this man go,
you are no friend of Caesar,” Pilate feared he might lose his job or get killed
as punishment. The Jews have exposed the desperate weakness of Pilate’s
authority. So he gave in to their demands. Meanwhile, when Pilate asked the
question “Shall I crucify your king?” he drove the chief priests to their own
blasphemy, “We have no king but Caesar.”
·
Pilate put the notice “Jesus of Nazareth, the
King of the Jews” on Jesus’ cross, in three main languages, so that everybody
could read it. People think that kings should be strong and powerful. But on
the cross, Jesus seemed very weak. So most people would think the notice was a
joke. The Jewish leaders considered that it was an insult to them, but Pilate
refused to change the notice. Pilate could be motivated by a desire for
revenge: to humiliate those who have humiliated him. Yet, Pilate’s malice
serves God’s ends: Jesus is indeed the King of the Jews. The cross is the means
of Jesus’ exaltation. Even the trilingual notice may serve as a symbol for the
proclamation of the kingship of Jesus to the whole world.
·
When Jesus told John to look after his mother,
this reminds us that all Christians belong to one family. Therefore, we should
love each other like family.
·
Before Jesus died, he said he was thirsty. He
was physically thirsty, but all our sin had separated him from God, so his
spiritual was thirsty for God too.
·
The Mosaic law did not allow the Jews to let a
dead body hang upon a cross for more than a day. The Law did not allow them to
work on the Sabbath, and it was work to take the dead bodies away, so the
Jewish leaders wanted to take the bodies away before evening, as the Sabbath
started on Friday evening. To make crucified people die more quickly, the
Romans would break their legs. The soldiers did not break Jesus’ legs because
they could see that he was already dead. When Jews sacrificed lambs at the
Passover, the Law did not allow them to break any bones (Exodus 12:46; Numbers
9:12). Jesus was the final sacrifice for everybody’s sins, and the author John
wanted to emphasise this.
·
Blood and water flowing from Jesus’ body was
medical evidence that Jesus was really dead. There is also spiritual symbolism.
The flow of blood and water from Jesus’ side may be a ‘sign’ of the life and
cleansing that flow from Jesus’ death. The blood of Christ is the basis of eternal
life in the believer, and purifies us from everything, while water is symbolic
of cleansing (Jn3:5), life (4:14) and the Spirit (7:38, 39).
·
From this passage, we see Jesus has fulfilled
what was said about the Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures. We also see
that people’s malice can sometimes be turned into something which serves God’s
ends. The cross is the means of Jesus’ exaltation. This is paradoxical. But
life itself is full of paradoxes. As Christians, we also got crosses to bear in
our lives and may encounter paradoxes that can shake our faith, but if we
persevere, we will fight the good fight and finish the race.
John 20 The Resurrection of Jesus
The dramatic ‘It is finished’ did not mean everything
connected with the ‘lifting up’ of the son was finished, but only that Jesus’
suffering was finished.
The ultimate glorification of the Son with the Father is
accomplished through the paradoxical glorification on the cross.
The culminating faith that brings the disciples out of the
era of the Mosaic covenant and into the era of the saving sovereignty of God
mediated through the son is based on the sheer facticity of the resurrection
(20:8, 24-29).
Peter and John at the empty tomb:
V1: All four gospels introduce their respective resurrection
accounts by specifying the “first day of the week” rather than the “third day”
after the crucifixion.
V2: The robbing of graves was a crime sufficiently common
that Mary Magdalene drew the conclusion that Jesus’ body was stolen.
V3-5: The beloved disciple ran faster than Peter: the
ancient explanation was that he was younger than Peter, therefore more swift.
The strips of linen were lying in the tomb: thieves would not have left behind
expensive linen and even more expensive spices.
V6-7: Peter may have arrived second but he impetuously
rushed right into the tomb. He saw not only the strips of linen but the burial
cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. This cloth was folded up by itself,
separate from the linen. Some have thought that the burial cloth still retained
the shape of Jesus’ head, and was separated from the strips of linen by a
distance equivalent to the length of Jesus’s neck, and that Jesus passed
through his grave-cloths, spices and all, in much the same way that he later
appeared in a locked room (v19, 26). However, the description in this verse
tells us that it did not retain the shape of the corpse, but that it had been
neatly rolled up and set to one side by the one who no longer had any use for
it.
V8: The beloved disciple saw and believed: the themes of
seeing and believing is introduced and reach their climax in V29.
V9: Neither Peter nor the beloved disciple at this point understood
from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Jesus appears to Mary:
V10: This verse is transitional. On the one hand, Peter and
the beloved disciples are dismissed: they went back to their homes. On the
other hand, Mary returned to the tomb.
V11-16: Mary was crying. Even when she saw the angels, she
did not stop. She did not understand what had happened. She had expected to see
Jesus’ body in the grave. But it was gone. She certainly did not expect to see
Jesus alive. Perhaps her tears made it difficult to see. Perhaps it was still
dark. She did not recognise Jesus until he said her name. Then she recognised
him. He used the Aramaic form of her name. And she answered him in Aramaic. It
was the familiar language that Jesus and his disciples spoke. John wrote his
Gospel in Greek. But he recorded the actual Aramaic words that Jesus and Mary
used. The question of the angels, “why are you crying?” is not designed to
elicit information. It is gentle reproof: by this time Mary should not have
been crying.
V17: A highly disputed verse. ‘Touch me now’, ‘Do not hold
on to me’, ‘Stop clinging to me’. Carson suggests this can be paraphrased this
way: ‘Stop touching me (or, Stop holding on to me), for (gar) I have not yet ascended to my Father (NIV’s “returned” is too
weak)’. In other words, “I am not yet in the ascended state, so you do not have
to hang on to me as if I were about to disappear permanently. This is a time
for joy and sharing the good news, not for clutching me as if I were some
jealously guarded private dream-come-true. Stop clinging to me, but (de) go and tell my disciples that I am
in the process of ascending (anabaino)
to my Father and your Father.”
V18: Mary did what she was told.
Jesus appears to his disciples:
V19: How large a group of disciples is not certain, but we
know Judas and Thomas were not present. The reason the doors were locked was
their fear of the Jews, but the function of the locked doors in this narrative
is to stress the miraculous nature of Jesus’ appearance amongst his followers.
V20: Jesus proves that his appearance is that of the
crucified Master, now risen from the dead, by showing them his hands and side.
The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord: he had come to them and
turned their grief to joy, just as he had promised (14:18; 16:20-22).
V21: Two times, Jesus said, ‘I give peace to you’ (V19, 21).
This was the peace that he had promised in John 14:27 and 16:33. Jesus’ death
had made it possible to receive this peace, because he had taken the punishment
for everybody’s sins. He had made it possible for God to forgive everybody who believes
in Jesus. Everybody who believes in Jesus can receive this peace.
V22-23: Jesus sent his disciples to tell everybody about salvation.
It was their responsibility to tell people about God’s forgiveness. But they
could not do this work alone. They needed what Jesus had. They needed God’s
help. They needed him to guide them. They needed his power and authority. So
Jesus gave to them the Holy Spirit. It is our responsibility to tell people
about the gospel too.
Jesus appears again to his disciples, including Thomas:
V24-25: Thomas wanted physical proof that Jesus was alive.
He refused to believe it unless he saw Jesus himself. Many people think of
Thomas as the disciple who doubted. This is not really fair. He was brave and
loyal (John 11:16). But he needed to see before he could really believe (see
also John 14:5). And he was honest about this. If we have doubts about our faith,
we need to be honest, like Thomas. Then we can look for answers to our
questions. When we find answers, our faith will be much stronger.
V26-27: Again, Jesus came to the disciples in a room where
they had locked the doors. But his body was also real and physical, that was
why he asked Thomas to touch his hands and his side.
V28: Thomas did not continue to doubt. Immediately, he had
complete faith in Jesus. In fact, Thomas was the first person to call Jesus
‘God’.
V29: The Holy Spirit changes us
inside our hearts. Although we have not seen Jesus physically, we believe in
him.
The purpose of the Fourth Gospel:
V30-31: To John, the miracles were always like signs that
pointed to the truth about Jesus. That was why John wrote his Gospel. He was
not recording just events in history. He writes in order that men and women may
believe certain propositional truth, the truth that the Christ, the Son of God,
is Jesus, the Jesus whose portrait is drawn in this gospel. This faith is
directed toward the goal of personal, eschatological salvation: that by believing you many have life in his
name.
Summary of personal applications:
·
Rather than clinging on to Christ in our grief
like Mary did, we should go out and spread the gospel.
·
Jesus sent his disciples to tell everybody about
salvation. It was their responsibility to tell people about God’s forgiveness.
Jesus empowered them with the Holy Spirit to do this. The same applies to us. It
is our responsibility to tell people about the gospel too.
·
If we have doubts about our faith, we need to be
honest, like Thomas. Then we can look for answers to our questions. The Holy
Spirit changes us inside our hearts, Although we have not seen Jesus
physically, we believe in him. And by believing, we may have life in his name.
Summary of John vs Ezekiel
According to John, belief in the “gate” and “Good Shepherd” (John 10) would bring spiritual Light (John 8:12; 9:5) and sustenance (Bread of life, John 6:35) to those who
accepted him. Jesus offered himself as the
Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), and as the Resurrection and the Life (John 11). For those choosing to accept
Jesus’ sacrifice and to abide in the true Vine
(John 15), streams of Living Water
flowing forth from the believer awaited them (John 4:10; 7:38). This abiding in
the Vine while on earth would
translate into an eternal abiding with Jesus in heaven (John 14:1-3).
Abiding in the covenant with Yahweh and following the way of Yahweh’s commandments brought life and not death (Ezekiel 20:11, 13,
210. Those who caught a glimpse of the Light
of Israel (Ezekiel 1:27-28), and would listen to the truth plainly displayed through the words and visions of the
prophet could be assured that in the context of exile, even for a charred and
worthless vine (Ezekiel 15:1-8),
there was hope (Ezekiel 18:23, 32). Yahweh would resurrect them from their metaphorical graves (Ezekiel 37:1-14) to
a blessed and rejuvenated land (Ezekiel 47:13-48:35) with a new temple (Ezekiel
41:1-43:5) and a new “good” Shepherd
to lead them (Ezekiel 34, 46). Then the people could come to the door of the new temple and bask in living water that brings life to the deadest of lands (Ezekiel
47:1-12).
References
Adams, Marion. “John tells the Good News about Jesus: An
EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary on the Goespel of John.” https://www.easyenglish.bible/bible-commentary/john-ma-lbw.htm
Carson, D. A. The
Gospel According to John. Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 1991.
Peterson, Brian Neil. John’s
Use of Ezekiel: Understanding the Unique Perspective of the Fourth Gospel. Minneapolis:
Fortress Press, 2015.
