Before I write about today's scripture let me say a quick word about the next chapter. Chapter 20 is the chapter of Christs resurrection. You can read it whenever you like obviously, but you may prefer to read it on Sunday morning. Just something to think about - your call!
Chapter 19 is the chapter where we face the beating, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus. It is not my favorite chapter in the Bible, but it is the chapter where my debts are paid and I am set free. 2 Corinthians 5:20 NRSV says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." The amazing grace and love of God.
I can not read chapter 19 without seeing the "Passion of the Christ" by Mel Gibson in my mind. The movie was awful, graphic and bloody, and probably could not convey the real terror or horror of that day. The Roman guards were angry men away from home in a hot hostile place. When a local was turned over to them for beatings they took their anger and rage out on them. Jesus was turned over to these men for their vicious attacks. Pilate seems to want to find a way to release Jesus, but because of political expedience he does not, and Jesus is beaten and then sent out to carry his own cross to Golgotha. Perhaps Pilate's last attempt to salvage some distance in this atrocity can be seen in the sign he has placed over Jesus, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."
The scene at the cross is devastating. Mary watching her son die is more than I can bare, but then Jesus rises on the painful nails to catch his breath to entrust his mother to his beloved disciple John. After Jesus has died the soldiers come to break the legs of those crucified to hasten death. I have come to understand that crucifixion is a death by suffocation, as the pain inflicted from the nails and the hanging becomes to much to bear and the crucified suffocates. Breaking their legs would make it impossible for the crucified to support their weight off their arms to catch their breath. When they come to Jesus he is already dead, and to make certain they plunge a spear into his side. John testifies that when they do this blood and water flow out. I read a report written in the Journal of American Medicine by a doctor that hypothesized this indicated that Jesus heart ruptured and the blood and water were from the area around his heart resulting from that rupture. This doctor surmises that Jesus died of a broken heart.
Two unsung heroes complete this account, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus the Pharisee come and remove Jesus body, prepare it for burial and lay the body in a borrowed tomb. These men both had great position and great wealth - they had much to lose by stepping up to care for the dead body of this itinerant preacher. Bless them for caring for this detail in this horrible hour.
And so, the life of Jesus of Nazareth is over. He had saved others, but he could not save himself. The forces of darkness rejoice, his followers scatter and his dead cold body is sealed in a borrowed grave. End of story?
About Me
- Pastor Bill
- I am a committed follower of Jesus Christ, a happy husband, father and grandfather!
8 comments:
Good Friday morning to all,
I too Bill after viewing the "Passion" felt anger......I remember saying that the first pharisee I see is really going to get it from me....then I thought of 2 things, 1] I wouldn't recognize a pharisee if I saw one, and 2] this had to happen to fulfill the prophesy. I remember viewing the "passion" with a friend and after the movie I said that the movie didn't end the way I thought it would. My friend looked at me in shock and I could see that he and I were not on the same page as I thought [chapter 20] would be included in the movie.
After thinking about it on my way home I realized that the movie had to end after chapter 19.
I have read chapter 20 about a dozen times this week......I guess I need to have that GOOD NEWS feeling more than the guilt. Perhaps this is the human side of me.....Praise GOD
Good Friday. How I struggle with this day. My feelings and thoughts go through the full spectrum of emotions. I don't know how I am to feel this day.
The unfair, unjustified, brutal beating that Jesus took gives me feelings of sadness because it should not habe happened to Him and feelings of rage to those who did it, and feelings of doubt as to which side I would have been on if I had been there.
Aren't my expectations today much the same as their's was then? Don't I look for Jesus' return to take the pain, suffering, sockness, injustice and corruption away just as they looked to Jesus to do the same as they shouted, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the King of Israel" on Palm Sunday, but shouted, "Crucify Him!" on Friday because their expectations were not meet immediately?
My feelings continue with the undiscribeable love that Jesus has for everyone, especially when He called out to God, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." I can't even imagine Christ's love, my mind is so limited. How could He forgive the ones who were crucifying Him? I long to learn to love that way.
But joy also takes over on this day that we remember. The joy that Jesus promises as He promised one of the sinners hanging next to Him. "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." Joy also felt with Jesus's words, "It is finished.", knowing that only His first round of work was finished and that with the tearing of the temple curtain that the old conenant was finished, but the new covenant had just begun.
Fear also enters my mind as I think about the earth being darkened for three hours as Jesus suffered and died for my sins. Sadness and remorse takes back over in that I caused Jesus to be separated from God as I am reminded by His words; "My God, My God. why have You forsaken me?"
So many feelings with such a limited mind, yet knowing that God knows each of these feelings gives me great comfort.
OH Lord, how am I to feel this day? Hold me Lord and comfort me until You return. Come Lord Jesus! Come quickly!
Hi!
It is Jen (& Jeff Braun). I'm glad you have a blog! Can't wait to read your archives!
This chapter shames me - I am ashamed that Jesus took such a brutal beating in my place - I deserve it, He did not.
My wife and I also watched the "Passion of the Christ." (She refuses to ever watch it again) I can't describe how hard we cried.
I have a question regarding Pilate.
Was his hesitancy to crucify Jesus personal or political?
It seems he did everything he could to be spared having to take responsibility for the decision.
Was it due to the political strife and fallout that could haunt him for his part in the sentencing of Jesus?
Jesus gave Pilate the opportunity to state his faith (chapter 18) when Pilate asked Him if He was the king of the Jews.
Jesus asked him "Are you speaking for yourself about this, or did others tell you this concerning Me?”
His flippant reply "Am I a Jew?" probably sums up his beliefs.
Add another person to the list of having denied Jesus.
I often wonder if he became a Christian after the crucifixion. Was anything ever written about Pilate's fate?
"The Passion of Christ" could have easily been titled "The Compassion of Christ."
He forgave those that crucified Him, forgave a thief while hanging in pain, made sure His mother was to be cared for after His death and gave John someone to comfort him as well.
( I wonder if Jesus was making sure John was taken care of as well - after all, who better to comfort a man on earth than a Mommy?)
Jesus once again showed His love and compassion by focusing on everyone but Himself during the most brutal death process imaginable.
I will end this post the same way I started it.
I am ashamed.
(but forgiven)
Happy Resurrection Sunday to everyone! Raquel is sick so I am forced to stay home this morning. I'm really missing worship today so I reread the gospel accounts (all four) of the last supper and death and resurrection. Has anyone else noticed how much the details differ? I'm trying to sort out the days (if he was crucified on Friday and resurrected before dawn on Sunday, how can that be three days and three nights like Jonah? Likewise if he was crucified on the day of preparation of the passover then how could he have shared the passover meal with his disciples as indicated in Mathew, Mark and Luke?). I'm also wondering about the morning of the resurrection. Who was there that morning? Mary, Mary and Mary, or Mary, Mary and Salome? and how many angels did they see? The details are perplexing. Do we just assume that there is some difference in the way that each disciple remembers the events?
God bless you all, I'm thinking of you and missing our worship time together.
Hi Friends,
The following is a long explanation of the 3 days controversy regarding the day of the crucifixion:
The Bible does not specifically state which day of the week Jesus was crucified. The two most widely held views are Friday and Wednesday. Some, however, using a synthesis of both the Friday and Wednesday arguments, accept Thursday as the day.
Jesus said in Matthew 12:40, "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Those who argue for a Friday crucifixion say that there is still a valid way in which He could have been considered in the grave for three days. In the Jewish mind of the First Century, a part of day was considered as a full day. Since Jesus was in the grave for part of Friday, all of Saturday, and part of Sunday—He could be considered to have been in the grave for three days. One of the principal arguments for Friday is found in Mark 15:42 that notes that Jesus was crucified "the day before the Sabbath." If that was the weekly Sabbath, i.e. Saturday, then that fact leads to a Friday crucifixion. Another argument for Friday says that verses such as Matthew 16:21 and Luke 9:22 teach that Jesus would rise on the third day; therefore, He wouldn't need to be in the grave a full three days and nights. But while some translations use "on the third day" for these verses, not all do and not everyone agrees that that is the best way to translate these verses. Furthermore, Mark 8:31 says that Jesus will be raised "after" three days.
The Thursday argument expands on the Friday view and argues mainly that there are too many events (some count as many as twenty) happening between Christ's burial and Sunday morning to occur from Friday evening to Sunday morning. They point out that this is especially a problem when the only full day between Friday and Sunday was Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath. An extra day or two eliminates that problem. The Thursday advocates could reason: Suppose you haven't seen a friend since Monday evening. The next time you see him it is Thursday morning and you say, “I haven’t seen you in three days” even though it had technically only been 60 hours (2.5 days). If Jesus was crucified on Thursday, this example shows how it could be considered three days.
The Wednesday opinion states that there were two Sabbaths that week. After the first one (the one that occurred on the evening of the crucifixion, Mark 15:42; Luke 23:52-54), the women purchased spices--note that they made their purchase after the Sabbath (Mark 16:1). The Wednesday view holds that this "Sabbath" was the Passover (see Lev 16:29-31; 23:24-32, 39 where high holy days that are not necessarily the seventh day of the week are referred to as the Sabbath). The second Sabbath that week was the normal weekly Saturday. Note that in Luke 23:56, the women who had purchased spices after the first Sabbath, returned and prepared the spices then "rested on the Sabbath" (Luke 23:56). The argument states that they could not purchase the spices after the Sabbath, yet prepare those spices before the Sabbath—unless there were two Sabbaths. With the two-Sabbath view, if Christ was crucified on Thursday, then the high holy Sabbath (the Passover) would have begun Thursday at sundown and ended at Friday sundown—at the beginning of the weekly Sabbath or Saturday. Purchasing the spices after the first Sabbath (Passover) would have meant they purchased them on Saturday and were breaking the Sabbath.
Therefore, this view states, the only explanation that does not violate the biblical account of the women and the spices and holds to a literal understanding of Matthew 12:40, is that Christ was crucified on Wednesday. The Sabbath that was a high holy day (Passover) occurred on Thursday, the women purchased spices (after that) on Friday and returned and prepared the spices on the same day, they rested on Saturday which was the weekly Sabbath, then brought the spices to the tomb early Sunday. He was buried near sundown on Wednesday, which began Thursday in the Jewish calendar. Using a Jewish calendar, you have Thursday night (night one), Thursday day (day one), Friday night (night two), Friday day (day two), Saturday night (night three), Saturday day (day three). We don't know exactly when He rose, but we do know that it was before sunrise on Sunday (John 20:1, Mary Magdalene came "while it was still dark" and the stone was rolled away and she found Peter and told him that "they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb"), so He could have risen as early as just after sunset Saturday evening, which began the first day of the week to the Jews.
A possible problem with the Wednesday view is that the disciples who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus did so on "the same day" of His resurrection (Luke 24:13). The disciples, who do not recognize Jesus, tell Him of Jesus' crucifixion (24:21) and say that "today is the third day since these things happened" (24:22). Wednesday to Sunday is four days. A possible explanation is that they may have been counting since Wednesday evening at Christ's burial, which begins the Jewish Thursday, and Thursday to Sunday could be counted as three days.
In the grand scheme of things, it is not all that important to know what day of the week Christ was crucified. If it were very important, then God's Word would have clearly communicated the day. What is important is that He did die, and that He physically, bodily rose from the dead. What is equally important is the reason He died—to take the punishment that all sinners deserve. John 3:16 and 3:36 both proclaim that believing, or putting your trust, in Him results in eternal life!
What a powerful chapter. It should have been me, not you, Jesus. You did no wrong.
I really enjoyed going back and reading all your comments on this chapter. You all said very diverse things. It is great to be so open and thorough amongst friends.
I think about how it would have been back then, when they didn't know for sure that Jesus would rise from the dead. I've heard the crucification story so many times, but I always knew Jesus rose from the dead because I learned about Easter (the Resurrection) long before I learned about the gruesome and brutal death Jesus had. The people back then must have thoguht he was really dead. The people who wanted him dead were thrilled, as they had "won" the power struggle, but the people who cared were deeply saddened. I really wonder how it was for them.
Praise God that we have the next chapter. Our God is alive - he has no grave. I love how that correlates with Isiah 53 also - "he was buried in a rich man's tomb" coincidence? ha. Prophesy.
God Bless and Happy Easter,
Marshall N.
Pilate is a figure that intrigues me. Had he heard about Jesus before this all unfolded? what did he think about him? What did he think afterwards when he heard the claims of the disciples of Jesus' resurrection? Did he care, or was this just another day, another case for him?
Does Joseph of A make his discipleship public by his actions regarding Jesus' body?
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