John (Chapters 12-21)

Understand the Context (John 12:1-19) 

Recall when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the Jews attending fell into two groups: the most numerous and predictable was those who celebrated the miracle and believed in Jesus. The second group of Jews left Bethany to report the work of Jesus to the Pharisees (John 11:45-46). The chief priests and the pharisees met to discuss what actions might be taken terminate Jesus’ work for fear that He might acquire such a following that the Romans would come and take away their employment and the entire nation (vs. 11:48).  Caiaphas, the High Priest that year, suggested that it might be “expedient” that one man (Jesus) should die for the sake of the whole nation (vss. 11:50-51). So, Jesus and the Apostles went to Ephraim near the wilderness until the Feast of the Jewish Passover (vss. 11:53-54). The chief priests and the pharisees published word that anyone who knew where Jesus was should tell them so, they could arrest Him (vs. 11:50). 

Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany for a meal at Simon the leper’s house. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were in attendance there as well as Jesus’ Apostles. Martha was serving and Lazarus was at the table with the others. Mary approached Jesus to anoint Him for His burial.   

Verses 12:12-19 describe the events associated with Jesus Triumphant entry into Jerusalem (Matt 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-40). This day was infamous as the fulfilling of Daniel’s prophecy in 9:25 that fixed the time between the commandment to rebuild Jerusalem and the coming of the Messiah as 69 weeks of years.  Multiplying 69 time 7 days per week and 360 days in a prophetic year yields 173,880 days; the number of days between Artaxerxes commandment for Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem recognized as the Messiah of God (Neh 2:6, Dan 9:25). The people laid their clothes and palm branches on the road in front of the donkey carrying the King as He came (Zech 9:9, Psa 118:25, 26). Note that verse 16 says that not even the disciples understood the significance of this event, but remembered after He was glorified. But we fully understand the comments from the Pharisees saying that it was now obvious what Jesus’ influence could do. It was clear to them as “the whole world is going after Him” that He must die.  

Honored (John 12:1-3)

Jesus and the Apostles were staying away from crowds near the Jordan River very close to the wilderness. Jesus knew that He would not actually attend this Passover because He would be in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb by then. Nevertheless, there were specific passages of Scripture that must be fulfilled over the next few days. His Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem would take place the next day (John 12:12-19). While they were likely at Simon the leper’s house, Mary, Martha and Lazarus were present at this meal. Specifically, Martha was serving, Lazarus was seated at the table and Mary was preparing to anoint Jesus for burial (vs. 2). Notice also that verse 12:1 identifies Lazarus as the one Jesus raised from the dead.   

Now, we see Mary coming toward the table where Jesus was sitting.  She had a jar containing a full pound of expensive ointment of spikenard in her hands. She anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped His feet with her hair. As the other dinner guests watched, Mary’s love and reverence for Jesus was obvious. But this was not just a typical foot washing that was the custom for all guests coming to dine at one’s home. It was usually relegated to a servant, and the lowest of the servants at that. We will learn in the next paragraphs, this was an anointing for Jesus burial.

This event should not be confused with the Luke 7:36-50 event. Luke 7 was during the Galilean Ministry while John 12 is in the Latter Judean Ministry. The Simon of Luke 7 was a Pharisee while the Simon of John 12 was a leper. The Mary of Luke 7 was a noted sinner while that was neither Mary nor Martha. Many of the Jews at Simon’s house had heard of the raising of Lazarus, but in Luke 7, the event had not yet occurred (John 12:9). Here, the chief priests conspired on how they might kill Lazarus as well as Jesus. And finally, in Luke 7, there was just a foot washing while in John 12, Mary anointed Jesus for burial John 12:7).  

Questioned (John 12:4-8)

Here, we have the revealing of the inner being of Judas Iscariot. As he observes, along with more than a dozen others, the great love and reverence Mary has for Jesus, he reveals that his heart went directly to what the precious ointment could have brought in revenue.  Rather than its use as a tool for anointing for their Leader, he preferred cash in the treasurer’s bag which he kept. John quotes him as saying, “the ointment could have been sold for 300 pence to help the poor.” (vs. 5).  That was about $45 in those days or between $300 and $400 in our time. John posits Judas’ statement saying he only made his comment because he carried the purse, and he was a thief; that is, he felt a personal or shared ownership of what was in the purse. There was no sincere concern for the poor nor for their needs.  

Jesus set things straight in an instant. He said, “Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.” Jesus was being clear that Mary had set this ointment aside for this anointing some time before; she had marked it for this use and none other. Jesus knew the end from the beginning of time. He knew Mary’s plan and how she had set up the supplies in order to accomplish that plan. Indeed, it was against this very day that Mary bought and planned to use the ointment. And, oh by the way, the cost was no consideration for Mary. There was no cost too high for anointing her Savior for His burial. After all, He gave so much to them that cost should not enter the discussion. What price could be placed on His returning her dead brother to her alive?   

Then Jesus set one more thing in the proper perspective for Judas. He said, “The poor always you have with you; but me ye have not always.” Two very significant statements are made here to establish a massive comparison. First, there is no end to the presence of needy people. Utopian experiments have taken place throughout human existence. In every case, the result was a class of have’s and a class of have not’s. Only capitalism has resulted in a functional middle class. When I served in the Philippine Islands for four years during the Viet Nam conflict, their “democracy” had two classes: the poor and the politicians. Jesus knew it would not be cured short of the coming of His Kingdom. However, the second consideration was that Jesus knew it was only six days from the Passover He would not live to celebrate. 

Understand the Context (John 12:20-50)

God’s universal plan to offer justification from all sin through His grace a was not just a New Testament concept. God revealed His plan to Abraham in Genesis 12:2-3 saying, “2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Notice the emphasis at the end of the quoted verses on “all families of the earth be blessed” not just Jewish families. In verse 15:6, God adds the entrance criteria to the covenant by saying that Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto righteousness for him.”8 It should be easy to see the very short jump to Paul’s admonition, “For by grace ye are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God, 9 Not of works lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9).

In the verses under study, Jesus is faced with an opportunity to show He had come as the Savior of the universe, not just for the Jews. The opportunity came as the Greeks requested to meet with Jesus (John 12:20-21). Notice, He transitions immediately to the fulfillment of His entire mission to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The “seeking and saving” had no qualifiers on it; that is, not to seek and save Jews or Gentiles, Greeks or Samaritans, but all. He illustrates the fact that a corn (or wheat) kernel must be buried in order to feed many. It will be buried alone but grow to provide fruit to serve many at its harvest (John 12:24). He states that anyone who loves their life shall lose it but anyone who give his life in the secular world shall certainly find it eternally in the spiritual world.

The idea of dying to provide life applied to Jesus as well as all His followers.  Just as Jesus gave His life to provide glory for the Father, He received justification for those who are His own. God spoke audibly from Heaven to emphasize His approval of Jesus work in this way. When God spoke, those around Him could only say it may have been thunder. 

In the next metaphor, Jesus used the shining of a light to show the illumination of the truth into the darkest of places of our lives. For example. Isaiah 9:1-2 says, “1 Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. 2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine” (NLT). Isaiah talks of the temporary nature of the darkness and despair for two tribes of Israel. He assures them that God will allow them to be broken (humbled) but not destroyed. And God includes in their rescue the salvation of Galilee of the Gentiles. They will experience glory, they have lived in darkness but will see a great light and, in turn, they will shine. The darkness and light deals with the status or condition of the soul relative to God.  The promise given is made in Genesis, the prophecy of fulfillment is in Isaiah but the implementation is in Jesus Christ as the light of the world. Jesus can take the darkest souls and add the light of the truth. That truth can bring light to that dark soul as the person receives the light of the Gospel.

Introduced (John 12:20-22)

The Greeks typically relied on knowledge, understanding and wisdom rather than spirituality, but frequently, the word is used for Gentiles, in general. Here we see Greeks who came for the purpose of worshipping at the Passover Feast. There is no information at this point to know if they came solely to be a part of the worship at the Feast or if they came to the Feast because they heard that that Jesus and/or Lazarus would be there. The wording in the King James states, “they came up to worship.” They could certainly have been Jewish converts. We know there was always an open door to the “strangers among us” to become a part of God’s promise to Abraham regarding “all the families of the earth” (Lev 17, 19, 20, 22; Gen 12:2-3, 15:6). The process required demonstration of the strangers accepting the Law of Moses and presenting themselves at the Mikvah Pool where they could enter the water as a stranger but leave as Jew. 

These Greeks wanted to meet Jesus and came to Philip to make that request. They knew Philip came from Bethsaida of Galilee and said to him directly that they would like to see Jesus (vs. 21). Philip approached Andrew and together approached Jesus with the request (vs. 22). Recall that Philip had brought Bartholomew to Jesus and Andrew had brought Peter to Jesus so, both had a habit of introducing people to Jesus. It would be conjecture to guess why the Greeks wanted to meet Jesus, but if they were being true to their background, they would have seen Jesus as a great Jewish prophet who could be the source of vast knowledge, wisdom and understanding regarding faith in the Jewish religion.

Dies (John 12:23-26)

Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether Jesus was deep in meditation when Philip and Thomas approached Him or if the request with which they approached Him made Him think of another application. This is certainly one of those times. Jesus may see the approach of these Greeks as a trigger from God that it is time for Him to shift into the final few days of His time on earth. We know that Jesus foreknew all that was about to happen to Him and because of Him. He surely proved that when He prayed at Gethsemane that God would “take this cup from me” (Matt 26:39). Jesus knew the Prophesies of Nehemiah 2:6 and Daniel 9:25 much better than we do, and therefore knew that on this Nisan 10, when He, as the Paschal lamb for the entire universe, would be presented at Jerusalem. There He would allow His disciples to openly name Him as the Messiah of God for the first time. Nehemiah received the commandment to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and Daniel said it would be 49 weeks of years between that commandment and the coming of the Messiah. Jesus knew that was only a day away.  

With His complete awareness of these facts on His mind, the request for a visit from these Greeks may have been the final trigger for Him to announce to the others that the time was now at hand. It was the appointed day and hour for the Son of Man to be glorified by the Father and for Him to bring glory to the Father.  

In verse 24, Jesus acknowledges His understanding that it meant death, specifically, it meant His death. He explained it to Philip, Andrew and the others present by using an agricultural metaphor of how a kernel of corn or seed of wheat is simply a kernel or seed until it is planted and dies. But through that death, it multiplies to feed thousands and through them, millions.  

Verse 25 has always been a verse that is difficult for many people to accept. The Greek language helps a lot with this verse. The first of the contrasting statements is “He that loveth his own life shall lose it” (John 12:25a). Love here is the Greek phileo. Generally, it means brotherly love (like Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love), but here, it looks like having a love that might appear as worshipping love. In other words, that a person has such an extraordinary love for self, that he forgets that Christians are here to allow our body to be used of Christ to seek and to save that which is lost. That is, self-love beyond that matters more than Christ’s mission is improper and must be terminated or lost. 

On the other hand, a life lived for Christ here is one that shows the filling of the Holy Spirit and enjoys the attribute of eternal life. It is one that focuses on what we can do for Christ rather than what we can do for ourselves. The word “hate” here is the Greek miseo which literally means to love less. Recall the statement Jesus made “If any man come to me, and hate (miseo) not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). Jesus does not mean that His followers must hate everyone in their lives; rather, He means that we must care for them less than we care for Him. Verse 26 sums the idea by saying that He and His servant are so close that they appear to coexist. It is like Jesus described His Father, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Jesus concludes that it is this kind of follower that His Father will honor (vs. 26). Paul says, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). 

Glorified (John 12:27-28)

Jesus confesses the troubling of His innermost being. He is disturbed to the core by the events he sees in His mind’s eyes. He sees ahead to His complete innocence, yet He will wear the universal sin of all mankind. He will experience the love of the Father as He does that which He sent Him to do. He will make all things new. He will eliminate the condemnation for sin by wearing the sin, Himself. So, while He will experience the love of the Father in doing what He was sent to do, He will also experience the Fathers total and complete hate and intolerance of the sin He will wear. And drives His question: “What shall I say, Father save Me from this hour?” He continues, how can I say or even think that when “it was for this cause came I unto this hour.” He says, “It is specifically for this cause that I came here, at all.” Later. We will read of Jesus saying, “Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt” (Mark 14:36). Jesus hates sin because He and the Father are one and the same, yet He sees Himself taking all sin upon Himself to pay for it and neutralize any charge or condemnation due us (Rom 8:1). He detests the picture He sees of Himself in the very near future, but He once again yields His total self to the Father saying, “Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.” 

Jesus acknowledges that He has found the only correct response to the test of this moment and says, “Father, glorify thy name!” (vs. 28). And the calming, loving voice comes from the highest being in the universe, Jesus' own Father saying, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” God has glorified Himself is sending Himself to pay for the sin of all humankind, and He has glorified it again because it is His only begotten Son, who by His own free will, will take the cross of sin for every person He created in the beginning and make it possible for all of them to return home to Him. Oh, the glory God must feel in the pride He has for His Son! He sent Him to seek and o save that which was lost and look, here He comes; marching toward Calvary to bring His Dad’s possession home again! Halleluiah over and over again! 

Draws (John 12:29-33)

The voice meant everything to Our Lord, and He no doubt heard every word of it, but to those it was not intended for, it only sounded like thunder. All the people who were standing near to that place heard it and stated as much, but there were that precious few who were stirred to the spirit and said, “An angel spoke to Him.” Oh, if they had only known it was the voice of God speaking to His beloved Son!” Jesus explained to them saying this voice did not come from Heaven for himself but for those gathered around.  It must have come to His mind concerning His first official day of ministry. He came out of Galilee down to the Jordan River, just a little bit north of the Dead Sea to Bethabara. There, as He came down the hillside, John said, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of all mankind.” Jesus went into the water to be baptized by John and when it was completed, He came up out of the water and the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove landed on Him as the Father from Heaven spoke and said, “Behold my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:13-17). Some thought it was thunder that day as well, but Jesus cherished the words of the Father then and now as the only words He needed to hear. 

But the message of what Jesus had to say was not quite over. He continued, “Now, is the judgement of this world: now, shall the prince of this world be cast out” (vs. 31). We know from our personal experience that the prince of this world continued to roam to and fro around this world seeking whom he might devour, but Jesus was nearing the time when the effectiveness of that worthless prince will be cut to nothing. It is like the trip to the zoo to see the roaring lion. He could make loud noises and show his mighty teeth and claws, but the certainty of the thick bars makes all his ranting and raving of no threat at all. Jesus is about to make all the ranting and raving of the devil of no more affect than the caged beast in the local zoo. Oh. He will still tempt and sometimes succeed in causing one of God’s people to stumble, but again, the words of Paul echo forth for all time, “There is now therefore no condemnation to those who in Christ Jesus!” (Rom 8:1). The devil can show his teeth and growl like a fool, but my Savior has already won the victory for our souls for all who believe.

Understand the Context (John 13:1-14:6)

Now the study moves closer to the end of Jesus’ ministry on earth. Chapter 13 opens with John’s comment, “Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he would love them through all eternity” (John 13:1, NLT). Jesus had His apostles make ready for the celebration of the Passover meal on Thursday because He knew He could not appear in the Temple on the Monday after His resurrection. During the Passover meal, Jesus took its original meaning of celebrating God’s passing over every home with the blood of the lamb on its doorposts. All others across Egypt would lose their first born of man and beast. Instead, Jesus established the Lord’s Supper or Communion Meal with the meaning of the intimate relationship between God and His people. The bread of the Passover was explained as His body which was given for all humankind and the third cup of wine in the Passover (blessing, salvation, redemption) was explained as His blood (see Figure 1:  Four Cuos, Below). Jesus promised not to drink of the fourth cup (cup of praise) until He did it with them in Heaven. He said, “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come” (1 Cor 11:26). 

 At this point, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and John reveal discussions by the apostles for what positions they might hold in the near future. They talked of which of them might have precedence among the others and what rewards they might have earned during their discipleship under the Lord. Returning to the Gospel of John, Jesus changes the topic to that of loving one another. He performs the task of washing the feet of the others. His teaching was simply, if I who am your Lord and teacher can humble Himself to do this task, it is an example for how you should lead as well. He says, “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them” (vs. 17). 

 It is interesting that Jesus waited until after the foot washing to show the identity of His betrayer. Many believe this set of statements show the beginning of His Farewell Discourse; that is, His statement of leaving and encouragement to persevere after He does so. There was a significant split between those who believed and were prepared to acknowledge Jesus, and those who feared losing everything in this life. The sincerity of belief can be measured by one’s willingness to openly own that belief and are willing to pay the consequences for stating that belief. Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven” (Matt 10:32-33 & Luke 12:8-9). The choice is personally revealing. 

Honor through Love (John 13:31-35)

After Judas left the Upper Room of the Passover Meal, Jesus began talking of His coming glorification and how God would be glorified in Him (vs. 31).  The Greek word for glorify is doxazo. It means to render or esteem someone as lifted high, full of honor, or magnified. It also carries as sense of completeness. In terms of the mission Jesus said He came to earth to do; that is, “to seek and to save that which was lost” it drives in the direction of finishing that task (Luke 19:10). When Jesus accomplishes that by abolishing the sin debt of humankind forever, He said “It is finished” (John 19;30). The root, Greek word for Jesus’ comment is telos. It means very simply, “the debt is discharged.” It was a common statement in Jesus’ time. It would be scribbled or printed on every debt that has been paid off. Now, consider the complicated verb structure of the Greek language as it applies every verb available to the word, telos. It comes out as tetelestai and means every debt that has ever existed has been, is and is forevermore abolished forever and completely forgotten. Paul says, “There is now therefore no condemnation to those in Jesus Christ” (Rom 8:1). Jesus will get glory for Himself in doing this, but the Father will be glorified in the fact that He did it and both will be glorified in bringing that which was lost and without hope back into the Father/child relationship we had in the beginning. Further, we will enjoy the closeness of that relationship without the guilt from the past. “What a day, glorious day that will be!” 

But first, He speaks to us as His little children, saying that He has very little time left (vs. 33). He says that we will look for Him, but as He said to the Jews, “where I am going, you cannot come at this time, but I have something to say to you” (vs. 33). He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (vs. 34). The Greek word for love used here is agape. It is different from the phileo love which is a brotherly love, and eros which is the erotic love. It is much deeper than the kindly affectionate, fond or friendly love of philóstorgos.  It is that form of love which one decides to have for another. It is deep, committed and dedicated. It is not the “touchy-feely” kind of love, but it is that kind of love that speaks to willing dedication to another’s welfare. It is the highest and most noble form of love. When Jesus leaves the Apostles, they are to remember how He loved (agapeo) them and gave His life for them. Jesus continues that this kind of loving for one another is exactly how others will recognize who we are and to whom we belong (vs. 35). We will be unique in our demonstrated caring for one another. 

Honor through Loyalty (John 13:36-38) 

Before we look at Peter once again overstating his case, let us first remember that he was the first man to recognize and state the identity of Jesus, the Christ. When Jesus asked whom they say He was, it was Simon Peter who said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt 16:16, Mark 8:29 & John 11:27). When Jesus said He was going, and the Apostles could not follow until later, Peter said, “Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake” (John 13:37). Peter certainly loved Jesus and fully intended to say what he said, but fear can do strange things to a person’s most highly held convictions. The man Peter was willing to die for is the Man being judged for His life just a few short yards away. Peter felt confusion at those moments, and we might have done the same. I wonder how many times we have refused to stand up for Christ when those around us ridiculed Him or His church, or took His name if vain. Peter was a true believer and a few short years later, he would insist on being crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy of dying like his Savior. He died as a leader of the faith, full of faith and full of strength.

But Peter would have weakness in a few short hours, and Jesus already knew it. Jesus says that before the rooster crows, Peter will have denied Him three times. Frequently, it is wiser to simply speak the truth without self-exaltation to make a point. We all know what happened later Thursday night. We know Peter will follow Jesus at a distance as He is tried by the kangaroo courts predetermined to find Him guilty.  Jesus had to be turned over to the Romans to be murdered just like they determined several weeks earlier. They only modified their determination to kill Him by adding Lazarus to their target list. They wanted Jesus killed because He threatened their standing with Rome, and Lazarus because he might testify to how Jesus brought him back from the dead that day. Anything that could add numbers to those thousands already following Jesus would be a greater threat to Rome. Peter wanted to be loyal to his Lord. He wanted to be faithful, but he denied he ever knew Jesus once, twice and even three times. But in the rooster’s obedient response to crow at Peter’s third denial, Peter remembered that Jesus said it would happen exactly that way. Jesus said Peter would deny he ever knew him. Peter’s realization as the rooster crowed brough devastation. Peter had sunk to a new low. “I denied I ever knew Him, and worse, it happened just like He said it would.” Peter experienced the truth that he is only as strong as he would allow the Savior to make him.   

Understand the Context (John 14:7-9) 

John 14:1-6 was covered in the previous study, but a fast review might help the transition to today’s study as we finish Chapter 14. Jesus promised that we had nothing to worry about concerning our future beyond this life. He said He was leaving to prepare a place for us in the Father’s house and that He would return to take us to where He was. This is certainly consistent with the picture of three-phased resurrection model revealed to us by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:20-24. Paul says, “20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. 21 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” (KJV).  So briefly, what Jesus refers to as the “First Resurrection” in Revelation 20:5-6, and combining what Paul and John said above, the First Resurrection began at the raising of Jesus (First Resurrection:  Part 1), continues with the Rapture of the Saints “afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming” (First Resurrection, Part 2), and completes with Jesus’ Second Coming, “This is the First Resurrection” (Part 3). That will complete Jesus’ commitment to “I will come again to take you to where I am” (John 14:3). As Jesus finished His discussion in verses 4-6, recall from last session that Thomas asked, “Lord, we know not where you are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus responded, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me. If you have known Me, you have known the Father” (vss. 6-7).  

However, that was not the end of the discussion as far as Phillip was concerned, and it transitioned us to the study for this session. He told Jesus that if He would just show us the Father, that would suffice for them (vs. 8). Jesus’ response set aside any doubts people should have about the doctrine of the Trinity. Jesus said, “Have I been so long with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father, and how sayest thou then, shew us the Father?” (vs. 9). 

Understand the Context (John 14:10-31) 

 Jesus here is explaining that there no difference in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit because they are one in the same in spirit, essence, purpose and being. When we pray, we pray by the power of the Spirit, to the Father, in the authority of the Son. They only differ in how God decides to show Himself in that particular context. For example, at the baptism of Jesus, Jesus came up out of the water and was physically present on the shore, the Holy Spirit was physically present in the form of a dove that landed on Jesus and the Father was physically present in voice from the sky saying, “Behold My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” (Matt 3:16-17, Mark 1:10-11, Luke 3:21-22 & John 1:32-34).

John provides a brief description of the awesome power of the Holy Spirit He will send to believers as their Comforter after He returns to the Father (vss. 12-15). Jesus starts by stating that what He is saying is doubly true (that is, “verily, verily”). He says that for those who believe on Him, the works they have seen Him do are the same works they will be able to do. Then He adds to that, as a matter of fact, they will be able to do greater works than those because He is going to the Father. Beginning at that point in time, anything a believer asks in the name of Jesus Christ, He will do because it brings glory to the Son. Finally, He repeats that anything the believer will ask in the name of the Son, Jesus will make sure it happens.

Verse 15 introduces our focal verses on Jesus’ promise to provide another Advocate when He departed. He says, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (vs.15). While the Greek word eán is certainly a conditional participle, it comes out sounding like Jesus is saying that one must keep His commandments to demonstrate one’s love for Him.  In fact, it should sound more like “You will find yourself keeping my commandments because of your love for me.”  The indwelling Holy Spirit Jesus causes us to change from our natural self-will to a supernatural God's-will to please Him; that is, we are newly driven to see “God’s will be done.” Verses 14:16-29 are the focal verses for today; see comments below for that discussion.  Jesus concludes Chapter 14 with, “I don’t have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, but I will do what the Father requires of me, so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let’s be going” (vss. 30-31, NLT). Notice again, Jesus is denying self-will in favor of "God's will be done." He is internally DRIVEN to meet His destiny on the cross for all humankind! 

The Counselor (John 14:16-19)

John 14:16 comes directly to the core of this study. Jesus has already said that He would be lifted up, that He would suffer and die, and that He would be going soon. He acknowledges that it was necessary that He provide a holy, supernatural replacement to take His place on earth to continue the mission of having God dwell among humankind “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). He knows it cannot be another Being who appears to be temporary; The people just lived through finding out He was not permanent.  This time, It must be One who will be with them forever. Verse 16 says, “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” First, Jesus says He will personally convey that request to the Father. Notice in the second phrase of verse 16 that Jesus knows the Father “SHALL give you another Comforter.” So, Jesus is confident that the Father will approve this request specifically because He knows from Whom it comes. The Comforter (Greek Paráklētos: Intercessor, Consoler, Advocate and Comforter) is certain to come, He is assuredly coming, and with Jesus’ nearing His departure, the Comforter is literally, at the door. Jesus says the Comforter will “abide with you forever.” Many of those hearing these words had the privilege of meeting and living near or with Jesus. They were devastated that His stay was nearing its end. The good news is that Jesus promises that while He was here for a short time, the Comforter will abide with them, forever. Verse 17 continues the basic description of the Comforter. Jesus says the Comforter is the Spirit of truth, but He cannot be received by the world because the world cannot see Him, neither can they know him. 

The next two phrases in verse 17 are sometimes missed in this discrete section of the promised coming of the Holy Spirit, but they show one of the most important characteristics of the Spirit we can know. Jesus tells the Apostles that even though the world cannot receive, see or hear the Holy Spirit, the Apostles already know Him because He is currently with or alongside them, but He will soon be present inside them. This understanding is important for knowing that the Holy Spirit now indwells all believers (see Acts 2:4). But, it is also important for understanding the state of the world after the Rapture of the Saint takes place (1 Thess 4:13-18, 1 Cor 15:51-57, Rev 4:1). The indwelling Holy Spirit will be taken from the earth when all the believers are taken up, but that does not completely remove the Holy Spirit from the earth.  We know that God is omnipresent. Rather, the Holy Spirit will be “the alongside One” again and this is how “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne (in Heaven), and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palms in their hands, and (could cry) with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb” (Rev 7:9-10). These will be saved out of the Tribulation Period as the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, the two evangelists and the alongside Holy Spirit continue to deliver the Gospel of Christ after the Rapture and during the seven-year Tribulation Period. Jesus summarizes what He said to the Apostles by repeating it again, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you” (John 14:18). In other words, Jesus was saying, “So, I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you after I am raised.”  Jesus saw the Apostles on Resurrection Sunday and stayed with them for forty days (Acts 1:3). Indeed, He did not leave them comfortless then, and in 50 days, at the Pentecost, He would deliver the Promised Comforter (Acts 2:1-4).

The Counselor (John 14:20-21)

Verse 19 picks up the same theme as Jesus discusses the final hours before His passion, death, burial and resurrection. He says, “Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more.” Once He is taken off the cross and is buried by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, no one will see Him (John 19:38-42). However, the Apostles and several of the women who ministered to them will see Him because they will see the Risen Savior on Sunday, “But you will see me: because I live, ye shall live also.” Jesus will spend forty days ministering to various people in various locations across Israel. Paul tells us that Jesus ministered to “more than 500 at one time” (Acts 1:9-12 & 1 Cor 15:8). This is likely not an exaggeration because Jesus fed 5,000 and 4,000 at separate times near the northwestern side of the Sea of Galilee counting only the men attending. Jesus did most of His ministry in Galilee to minimize His exposure to the Jewish leaders determined to end His life. A crowd of over 500 would be no challenge in Galilee.

In verse 20, Jesus assures them that they will see Him, they will be with Him, they will know He is in the Father, and they are in Him and He is in them. This speaks of the spiritual closeness we experience with Jesus since that day we prayed to receive Him as Savior and Lord. It is not unusual for a Christian to speak with Jesus throughout the day and especially when challenges and praises arise. Psalms 18:24b states, “and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” This is the closeness we have with Jesus.   

Verse 21 reverts somewhat to the earlier theme of those who love the Lord will keep His commandments (14:15). The beginning of the verse says, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” First, we know the commandments because the God who wrote them resides in us as His Holy Spirit. Peace with the Lord is found in eliminating any disagreement we might have between what His commandments say and what we will do. In other words, following the will of the Father becomes somewhat natural as we grow in the Lord. Disobedience brings conflict, and conflict with God brings lack of peace. We are driven to resolve that absence of peace as quickly as possible by the indwelling Spirit. That is how Jesus can say, “he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father.” It is that “peace which passeth all understanding” spoken of by Paul in Philippians 4:7. Jesus says that inside that kind of relationship, His love for us is generated, and allows us to see and feel His presence; that is how, “Jesus will manifest himself to us.”  

The Teacher (John 14:22-26)

Verse 22 starts with a clarification from John. He wants the readers to know that, while Judas is the one asking a question to the Lord, he is not Judas Iscariot. This Judas is the brother of James, not the son of Simon. Judas asked Jesus, “Lord, how is it that thou will manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?” Jesus uses verses 23 and 24 to respond. In verse 23, He presents how things work for the disciple who loves Him and verse 24 shows how things work for those who do not love Him. The person who loves the Lord will keep His words which will cause the Father to love him, which will result in the Father and the Son to take up residence within him and establish their abode within. The person who refuses to keep the Father’s words demonstrates his contempt for the Father.  These are not the words Jesus spoke but the words of His Father which sent Him.  

Jesus offers a word of explanation in verse 25. He says that His answer was based on His still being alive and present with the others. He continues that when the Comforter (the Holy Ghost whom the Father sends in Jesus’ name) comes, He shall teach us all things, and He will bring all things to remembrance including everything Jesus has spoken to us. The role Jesus is describing for the Holy Spirit is that of the teacher or counselor. Recall that the Holy Spirit is also the indwelling Spirit. That means the communication between God and His created beings will be done internally.   

Here is an illustration. When riding a young or marginally trained horse, the rider must pull the reigns firmly to get the horse to do what the rider wants. The reigns are tied to a bit that is placed inside the horse’s mouth, so any movement on the bit results in a physically uncomfortable experience for the horse. The more the horse wants to battle against what the rider wants, the more sore the horse’s mouth will be after the ride. The horse with an excessively strong self-will may be so sore by the time he gets back to the stable, that he cannot even eat his evening oats. 

But the well-trained horse only needs to feel the reign on the side of his neck to know what the rider wants and he will do it.  The ride is a joy for both the horse and the rider. The rider works very slightly to guide the horse while the horse anticipates the rider’s every need and does it by the touch of the reign. 

The indwelling Holy Spirit communicates God’s will by a still, small voice. There are no earthquakes or rumbling rocks from God to correct his path. The spiritual person hears the voice of the Lord through the light tugs, even whispers of the Holy Spirit from within. The Spirit knows everything there is to know about God’s will for our lives and He just keeps us moving down the path with little reminders from time to time. The only part of the walk with the Lord that gets tough is when the Christian has made up his mind that he no longer wants to do it God’s way; believing he has a better way than God’s way.   

Understand the Context (John 15:1-25)

Chapters 15 through 17 of the Gospel of John pick up immediately after Jesus departs with the eleven Apostles (Judas absent) for the Garden of Gethsemane where He will be arrested. His departure from the Last Supper it triggered by the words, “Come, let’s be going” (John 14:31b). The discussions Jesus has with His Apostles in these chapters are not captured in the synoptic Gospels. They are the words of a man who knows He is on His way to the cross to pay for the sin of all humankind. Parts of what He says have to do with the man He is and the love He has for those with Him. Other parts are the words of the Savior sent from God to save humanity. Jesus is a man of destiny and He is on His way to meet what has been planned for Him from the very beginning of time. It was God’s plan; His Father’s plan. It was His cross to bear. 

In these 25 verses, Jesus introduces the idea vicarious living. He uses the Greek word meno (pronounced men–o) and is interpreted as abide or abiding. It means to “to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):—abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), thine own (Strong’s Exhaustive). In Jesus’ application, He will talk of “abiding in Him.” That is, to dwell in what and who He is rather than continuing in what we have been. Paul says, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). Here we see Christ in our place on the cross vicariously dying for us and then we living a life for Him vicariously taking His place here. Abiding in Christ is the only way to accomplish what Paul said. 

Briefly, John describes how we abide in Christ in four ways in verses 1 – 25. First, we abide in Christ the same way a branch of a grape vine abides in the vine. Separate from the vine, there is no source of life or survival. We produce fruit because of the nourishment coming from the vine. If we produce fruit, we are pruned in order to produce even more. If we do not produce fruit, we are purged off to allow productive branches to grow more. 

Second, we abide or live in His love. We are to continue in that love as a source for knowledge or example of how to love others. He says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (vs. 13). Others will recognize us as His followers by our love for one another.

Third, abiding in Christ means that we know His word and keep it. We study to show ourselves approved of God; needing not to be ashamed; rightly dividing the Word of Truth (2 Tim 2:15). Knowing His Word and doing His Word means we are willing to hear and understand.

And fourth, continuing in His love (abiding in Him) in the midst of the certain persecution we will experience as His children. Because they hated and rejected Him, they will hate and reject us. Nevertheless, Jesus marched toward the cross despite their hate and rejection. Those who love Him will love us because we are His; and those who hate Him will hate us because we are His. We have a life to live for Him; let us not be deterred.  

Pruned (John 15:1-8)

Jesus explains these concepts by saying that He can be viewed as the grapevine and His Father as the gardener (vs. 1, NLT). He describes two kinds of branches He finds in the vineyard. There are the branches which produce no grapes, and there are branches that produce fruit. In the illustration, Jesus says the branches that produce no fruit will be cut off from the vine while those that product fruit will be pruned or dressed to produce even more fruit (vs, 2). The natural purpose of the vine is to convey the nourishment of the soil to the branches in order to produce grapes.  

In nature, there are also two different kinds of branches. The normal branch is one that receives nourishment from the vine and grows to produce more and more fruit from that nourishment. But the other kind of branch looks the same and acts the same, but when it is time to produce fruit, it will not. It is called a sucker branch. It bring in just as much nourishment from the vine as a normal branch and it develops leaves and buds as if it is no different. But it will never produce fruit under any circumstances. During my days on a crop-growing farm, we were taught to spot the sucker branches and cut them off. The nourishment they used would be much better used on the branches that would produce fruit for the customers.  Those branches will be trimmed back (“cut off”), so the nourishment will be maximized for branches that produce. The branches that are cut off will be discarded and burned (vs. 2). Further, the branches that produce grapes will be trimmed and dressed so they will produce even more grapes.  

The Lord explains verse 3 that we have already been cleaned, dressed and pruned so that we can have maximum production by the words that He has spoken to us. He encourages us that we must abide in Him and He in us. That is, the vine and branches must work together to produce grapes. This should be a convicting message to those who think they can win souls for Christ by themselves. Just as the branch cannot produce fruit separated from the vine, a well-intended Christian cannot produce Christian conversions separate from Christ. This is addressed specifically at the end of verse 5 saying, “without me ye can do nothing.” However, when the vine and the branches work together, they can produce much fruit (vs. 5).  

Verse 6 shows some of the application of this passage saying that if a person does not dwell in the Lord, that person will be cast out and whither just as the unproductive branch in the illustration. On the other hand, verse 7 states that if a person does dwell in the Lord, that person can ask what he or she wishes and it will be done for them. Finally, there is a general encouragement that the Father is glorified when there is much fruit produced. Verse 8 states that the disciples of Christ will also be glorified in the production of much fruit. 

Joy (John 15:9-11)

John quotes Jesus as saying that He has loved us in exactly the way the Father has loved Him (vs. 9a).   This is no small comment. The Son and the Father hold a relationship that is different from all others. They are, in fact, one being seen in two different ways. Some have said that it is a contradiction to say that God created all things in Genesis 1 and that Jesus created all things in John 1. The only way this would not be a contradiction would be that the Father and the Son are actually the same person. So then, when we consider how we ought to love Jesus the same as He loves the Father, it must be in a way that it transcends any differences brought about by any kind of separation. This is a special kind of love that eliminates differences and favors unity. 

John uses the same Greek word for love in each of his many uses of that word in this set of Scriptures. It is the Greek word agape. It is that kind of love that is decided on for its use. It is not the eros or erotic love that is experienced through lust.  Nor is it the phileo or friendly, brotherly kind of love one would feel through ones love of family members or dear friends. Neither is it the storgekind of love characterized as emphatic love or empathy for another person. The agape love is the most noble, highest form of love.  It is love that is specifically selected and purposely applied; not of feeling, yearning or touching.  It is used throughout the Scriptures as a Godly love, that is, God chose to love us, it has nothing to do with feelings, chemistry or relationship.  

He implores us to continue in the umbrella of that love (vs. 9b). He does not want us to consider that love one moment and forget it the next.  He prefers that we walk in it or dwell in it. He wants His love to become an integral part of our beings. If we can continue in His love, we will naturally create that same experience of love for those around us. Many of us can remember the feeling that something had changed significantly in that moment immediately after we decided to say yes to Jesus’ invitation. We did not have to make a bunch of new commitments to what we would do or not do. It seemed the changes in us were some part of a natural difference between what was and what was becoming. If we spoke the same words we once considered normal, they sounded harsh or tough to us. When we went to some of the places we used to enjoy, they were no longer as enjoyable. We were drawn to new places where a different kind of people congregated. They were people more like the new people we became than like the person we used to be. This is what it is like to “continue in His love” as He commanded. 

 The most familiar verse in Scriptures showing that kind of love is John 3:16 where the Apostle John says, “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” God made a conscious decision to love us; He was not compelled, enamored or infatuated. He decided to love us that much because of Who He is, and because we were created in His image.  It is not an easy concept to grasp that Jesus loves us in the same way that God loves Him. It is complicated by the fact that Jesus and God are the same person; just different images or revelations of the same being. When we consider that we were created in His image, it becomes easier to understand. He is asking us to behave more like the Being in whose image we were created. 

Verse 10 says, “When you obey my commandments. You remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in His love. Jesus is explaining how we are to walk or dwell in His love. He says, “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow (vs. 11, NLT). This great joy is experienced whenever God decides to love us and our response is to decide to love (agape) Him in return. Could that be why it seems natural for a person to expect a loving response when he or she declares love? The overwhelming joy here is that God made the initiating declaration of His love for us. How we return His declaration openly reveals our relationship to Him. John tells us in 1:11-12, “11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”  Yes, that is how we can experience His joy in us, and that our joy can be full (vs. 15:11.) 

Love (John 15:12-17)

Not only are we to have great joy at the love God has for us, but we are to understand this “decision made” kind of love to be God’s model of the love we must share for others. In verse 12, John quotes Jesus as establishing a requirement (“This is my commandment’) that we decide to love (agape) one another even as He has decided to love (agape) us. Jesus speaks an example of the depth of that kind of love in verse 13 as He says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” We know that Jesus is only hours away from being taken prisoner, and shortly after that, being crucified for us, so exactly who are these friends that Jesus is willing to die for? 

Verse 14 sets about answering that question for us. Jesus says, “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” In other words, we illustrate or reveal our commitment to Jesus by doing the things He has asked us to do. It is not the same as earning His love by what we do, but rather, showing His love for us through the way we act. We are friends of Jesus when we display the change of heart we have experienced through our heart-felt belief and confession with our mouths that Jesus died and was raised again from the tomb (Rom 10:9-10). These are the ones whom Jesus shows He has no greater love for than to lay down His life for them (John 15:13). It is the ultimate display of self-less love to sacrifice all one has because of it. 

Continuing in this theme, Jesus says He will also change the way He addresses these people He is willing to die for. In verse 15, He says, “I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me” (NLT). Jesus has spent His ministry communicating with these eleven men, everything the Father has told Him. As we look at the Father’s closing words to Him, we should ask, “Do these words apply just to the eleven, or do they apply to all followers of the Son?” These words are given to all Christendom just as certainly as Jesus gave Matthew 28:18-20 (the Great Commission) to all Christendom and is the Commandment of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, for each of His believers.   

One of the distinctives of our faith is the “priesthood of the believers.” That is, we believe that all believers are commissioned to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people, everywhere, teaching them the Good News that Jesus Christ has come to seek and to save that which was lost from the Father (Luke 19:10). Further, that Jesus has paid the full and complete ransom required to free all people from the sentence of separation from the Father, which is death because of their sin. Paul says if they will believe in their hearts and confess with their mouths that Jesus died and was raised from the grave, we will be eternally saved from the penalty of death for our sins (Rom 10:9-10). There will be no further condemnation for sin for those who are in Christ Jesus (Ron 8:1). 

In verse 16a, Jesus says, “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you.” We must ask, “Okay, so when were we chosen and ordained to this commission from Christ? Paul says, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph 1:4). All three members of the Holy Trinity are eternal beings. (Recall we studied Genesis 1:1 and found that the Hebrew word, Elohim, was a plural noun for God and was not one (El) or two (Eloah). Further, it was a plural that required a number if representing more than three. It is not given a number anywhere in the Scripture; therefore, it means three, specifically.) So, the pre-existent Messiah was present at the Creation,  John tells us He created everything that was created and that nothing was created without Him (John 1:3). So, we were chosen and set aside for His service (ordained) from the beginning of time.  

To what then, were we ordained for? Verse 16 continued that we were ordained to “go and bring forth fruit, and that our fruit should remain: that whatsoever we ask of the Father in my name, He may give it you.” This is consistent with the Great Commission given by all four evangelists in Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16, Acts 1:8 & John 20:21. Proof once again that the Bible must be understood through Systematic Theology; that is, everything from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 must be understood as a unified, God-breathed truth, which is consistent throughout. Jesus finishes with, “These things I command you, that ye love one another.”  

Understand the Context (John 20:1-18)

Consider this: What would it mean for Christianity if there was no resurrection? The Apostle Paul, who was the same Saul of Tarsus who was previously a member of the Sanhedrin and specifically designated as the lead persecutor of Christians and the Christian Church, said it like this, “12 Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: 14 And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain” (1 Cor 15:12-14).  That is the bottom line, if Christ is not raised from the dead, there is no Christianity. Paul goes on to say that if Christ is not raised, we are dead in our sins and are of all men, most miserable (1 Cor 15:17 & 19). It is Jesus’ resurrection that shows God’s acceptance of His sacrifice for our sins. If God did not accept that sacrifice, instead of Jesus ending blood sacrifice forever with His “offering once and forever” the weight of our sin is still upon us (Heb 9:12). It matters not if the opponents of the doctrine of resurrection also refuse Christ existence, the divine creation and the divine incarnation, if God has not accepted Jesus’ sacrifice, Paul cannot add, “For there is now, therefore, no condemnation to them in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). But, when Jesus announced from the cross “It is finished” (Greek tetelestai), it was in fact the end of condemnation for sin, forever. After that, Jesus said, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” and gave up the ghost (Luke 23:46). Unlike the repetitive sacrifices of the Old Testament, Jesus offered one sacrifice and sat down at the right hand of the Father (Heb 10:12). Hallelujah!  

The resurrection proves the validity of all the claims of Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior and the Initiator of the New Covenant, “16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin” (Heb 10:16-18). 

The morning of Christ’s resurrection gave testimony that no one believed or anticipated that He would be raised from the dead. If they had any plan in mind to create a resurrection story, it certainly did not look like it. The women did not come with fresh clothing for the Risen Savior; they came with spices to finish the proper burial initiated by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea when they took Jesus’ body off the cross and laid Him in the tomb. Mary thought someone took the body and was asking whom she thought was the gardener where they had taken Him. Peter and James went running to the tomb from their hiding place with the other Apostles only after Mary told them she had seen the Savior alive. Thomas said he would not believe until he could touch His wounds even after the other ten Apostles and the women testified to His resurrection. No, there was no thought of Jesus being raised from the dead that morning. 

Examined (John 20:1-10)

The first ten verses of John 20 tell the whole history of that third day after Christ’s death on the cross. It was Sunday, the first day of the week. Combining all three narratives, the three women (Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James and Salome) start for the tom with other ladies following behind with the spices to complete Jesus’ burial. The three find the stone had been rolled back and Mary Magdalene goes to tell Apostles (Luke 23:55-24:9; John 21:1-2). Mary the mother of James & Joses draw nearer the tomb and see the angel of the Lord (Matt 28:2). She goes back to join the women following with the spices. Meanwhile, Peter & John (warned by Mary Magdalene) arrive, look in & go away (John 20:3-10). Mary Magdalene returns weeping, sees the two angels and then sees Jesus (John 20:11-18). She goes as He bade her to tell the Apostles. Mary (mother of James & Joses), meanwhile, has met the women with the spices and, returning with them, they see the two angels (Luke 24:4-5, Mark 16:5). They also receive the angelic message, and, going to seek the Apostles, are met by Jesus (Matt 28:8-10; Scofield, 1996, p. 1043). 

Verse 5 mentions the grave clothes lying where Jesus was, empty, inside the tomb. Many believe “those grave cloths” that Peter and John saw that day were the Shroud of Turin (see below). The cloth was still folded as if Jesus was there but there was no one inside the cloth. Further, the cloth or napkin that was on Jesus’ head was not with the shroud but in a different place (vs. 7). These two statements about the shroud and the napkin offer significant evidence that no thief took the body. They would certainly not have taken time to fold the grave clothes while carrying Jesus’ body out of the tomb. The “other disciple” mention by John was John, himself. The Scripture says he looked and believed that Jesus was raised. Verse 9, however, states, “For as yet they knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.” They evidently had forgotten the numerous times Jesus told them He would rise again while He was still with them (Luke 9:22, 18:33, 24:7, 46; Matt 16:21, 17:23, 20:19, 26:32, 27:63; Mark 8:31, 9:9, 31, 10:34, 17:9; John 2:22, 10:17-18, 20:9).

The statement of John 20:10 has always puzzled me. Why after learning that Jesus had risen from the dead would they return to their own homes. I find a better reference in Mark 16:7 where Jesus tells the Apostles He would meet them in Galilee. The John 20:10 reference could have meant the Apostles returned to the home in Galilee to meet Jesus there as He told them. 

Questions (John 20:11-13)

John 20:11-13 is a good validation of the comments above concerning the lack of belief that Jesus was to rise again on that third day. Looking at the timeline suggested by Scofield under the second bullet, “Examined,” verse 11 must be set at that period where Mary Magdalen has returned weeping over the fact that she has no idea where the body of Jesus was or whom took it away. The Scripture says she “stooped down and looked into the sepulcher.” I have a feeling she was not expecting the scene described in verse 12. It starts by saying she saw two angels, dressed in white and sitting, one at the head and one at the feet of where Jesus was placed by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea after His death on the cross (John 19:38-42). They may have been sitting on each end of the folded Shroud that Jesus departed from at His resurrection. Mary was able to reaffirm that Jesus was certainly not in the sepulcher, but there must have been a significant shock when she saw the two angels. Again, she was weeping because she thought the body of Jesus had been carried away and she did not know where to find Him. 

So, verse 13 has the angels speaking to Mary as she looked into the sepulcher. They say to Mary, Woman, why weepet thou?”  Mary is becoming well practiced in stating her problem by now, so she repeats one more time, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him” (vs. 13). Mary was still operating outside the assumption that there was a resurrection which the Lord had promised. Her words clearly imply that she believes someone moved His body; it had nothing to do with the Savior, rather some other being has taken Him and she grieves because she has no idea where He is or how to find Him. She knows the other ladies carrying the spices to complete Jesus’ burial ritual are very close by now, but she is without a body to prepare.    While she grieves the loss of the Leader she loved, the One who rescued her from a far different life into serving near the Savior, she also feels a sense of failure. 

Understand the Context (John 15:26-16:33)

My wording of the top bullet in the context slide is done to eliminate some of the ambiguity introduced in John’s choice not to delineate between disciples and apostles. Luke separates the two terms by saying, “And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles” (Luke 6:13). Jesus had thousands of followers. Those, by definition would be disciples, but only twelve of those would be called apostles. Many times, the writers of the four Gospels force their readers to determine whether the ”disciples” are the twelve or they are the thousands. The Gospel according to John never uses the word “apostles,” so in every case, the reader must determine through context which he means to say. In Chapters 15-17, Jesus had left the upper room where he ate the Passover with eleven of the apostles and started walking toward the Garden of Gethsemane. He arrives there in Chapter 18, so all of this study and the next, are in the context of words spoken during the walk between the upper room and Gethsemane.  

He reminds the apostles that they have been with Him from the beginning of His ministry and have heard everything He has spoken and seen everything He has done. As is the case with today’s apostles (missionaries), their assignment is to go tell what they had seen. While the task to go tell is common to all believers, the twelve were witnesses of the specifics of what He did during His ministry here. The power for us to conduct all ministry assignments comes from the Holy Spirit. Recall Jesus said that they already knew the Holy Spirit because He was the alongside One now, but would be the Inside One soon (John 14:17 & Day of Pentecost, Acts 2). Jesus enlightens that the Holy Spirit would fill, guide, empower and glorify.  

He also explains that there are two times He will leave them soon. The first would be through His arrest, death and burial, but He would be resurrected to serve them for another 40 days. The second departure would be longer. He would ascend to the Father to prepare our place. 

Convicts (John 16:7-11) 

Jesus’ remarks in John 16:7 are somewhat difficult to understand. He is talking with eleven men who have given up their vocations, families and homes to follow Him for the last three and a half years. They love Him more than any brother could be loved. They have depended on Him for almost everything and have learned how to minister to others by doing what He does. Now He is saying that it is better for us that He goes away. I would have trouble believing that regardless of what He was sending in His place. “Nevertheless,” Jesus says, “If I depart, I will send him (the Comforter) unto you.” Jesus has already said He is leaving and that it will be because of arrest and death. These are words that do not come with any options. So, the promised Comforter is the only choice He gives us. With a different mindset, one could think of it as Jesus, the One who walks with us is leaving but the Comforter, the One who lives inside us, is coming instead. Solomon said to us, “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother” (Prov 18:24). Certainly, One who lives within us is closer than a brother.” 

Verse 8 picks up with Jesus telling us what this Comforter will do for us. “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement” (vs. 8). He explains that He will reprove the world of sin because they do not believe in Jesus (Vs. 9). This is the pain, discomfort or anguish we feel when we try to live a life without God. We feel terribly lonely because we were created by God with a feeling of emptiness that can only be remedied by the occupancy of God within us. Daily life is relegated to “standing in front of the refrigerator knowing we are hungry but having no idea what we want to eat.” We are incomplete, empty, less than a full person because we are less than God created us to be. There is something missing. 

In verse 10, He continues that the Comforter will reprove us “of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see me no more.” The apostles lived life within an arm’s reach of God in flesh. They knew what living righteously meant because the example of perfect righteousness was right there in front of them. Recall that glance Jesus made in Peter’s direction after Peter denied Him the third time (Luke 22:61)? The pain of seeing the beaten face of the Lord just after he denied Him for the third time was so devastating that Peter immediately ran off and wept bitterly (Matt 26:75).  

And third, the Comforter will reprove the world because “of judgement, because the prince of this world (Satan) is judged” (vs. 11, author’s parentheses). The most harsh, complete and thorough defeat of all history would be accomplished on the cross less than 24 hours away for the Lord. How is that so? Satan had done everything he could to tempt Jesus into not going to the cross, or have Him killed before He could go there, but he failed. Jesus was an innocent man and He knew it, yet He was going to experience the most vicious of death sentence available. In that innocence, Jesus said, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matt 26:39, 42). He had sweat drops of blood which was indicative of the most severe stress a human could take (medically: hematidrosis). But Jesus said, “Nevertheless, not my will but thy will be done.” Shortly thereafter, Satan convinced the Roman soldiers to ignore Pilate’s specific desire to release Jesus and nearly beat Him to death (Luke 23:14-24). When Jesus announced “It is finished” just a few seconds before He died, that announcement ended sin as the separating mechanism between God and humankind (John 19:30). Instead, Paul could write, “There is now, therefore, no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1). Satan was defeated, but he can still entertain himself with the loss of millions of people because he has successfully blinded their eyes to the salvation Jesus made available to them if they would just believe. 

Understand the Context (John 17:1-26)

In Chapter 16, we left the Lord’s Passover Meal in the Upper Room with His eleven apostles as they walked toward the Garden of Gethsemane. John documents Chapter 17 as the longest prayer of Jesus anywhere in the Scriptures and mentions Gethsemane at the beginning of Chapter 18. Therefore, this prayer is one the Lord prayed enroute to the Garden, but not in the Garden. The other piece of evidence is that Jesus does not mention the cup He is about to drink in this prayer. We know He mentions that in the prayer at Gethsemane. Jesus has full knowledge that “His hour is now at hand.” This is significant in that there were three times the crowds tried crown Jesus while He was ministering in Galilee. Each of those times He departed Israel temporarily to elude the event. But this time, just a few days before eating the Passover with His apostles, Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem fulfilling Old Testament prophecy and allowing the crowd to name Him Messiah. Jesus mentions it is now time for the Father and the Son to be glorified. In this world, it was an ending. In Jesus’ world, it was a return to the glory the Father and Son once had together. 

There were four areas of Jesus’ glory within which the apostles were involved. First, the fact of His glory whenever a new believer received eternal life. His mission was to “seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Mission completion, at the holiness level, is glory. Jesus also received glory as He shared the Father’s Word with all disciples. He shared some of His concerns over His disciples and asked for the Father’s protective care over them as He prepared to leave them behind. 

The fourth in the list ways Jesus’ glory was associated with that of the disciples was His considering the future for the next generation of disciples. He remembered His impending departure and thought ahead of His request to protect the disciples He just prayed.  He thought of those men and women His disciples would lead to Him and was concerned for their protection as well. 

Sanctify (John 17:13-19)

 The Scriptures use the Greek word hagiázō for the English “sanctify, here. It means exactly what we have learned the word sanctify usually means, a verb meaning to make holy. Jesus says He knows the time has come for Him to return to the Father. He knows His prayers are about things He speaks in the context of this world. Foremost, He prays that His joy would remain in His disciples. In the context of this prayer, Jesus is addressing the eleven even though His prayer certainly applies to all of us. Jesus wants the joy of expecting the Savior, His resurrection and heavenly intercession to bring real joy to them and us. He would that that might feel that joy of fulfillment in Him. He knows that because His apostles have received the Word of God into their beings, the world will see it in them and hatt them for it even as they hated their Christ before them. All of us have experienced the hate of the world and the love of fellow believers. We know how it feels to be from the world but no longer of the world (vs. 14). Paul says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Cor 5:17). All believers in Christ will feel the rejection of the world because Satan runs to and fro across this world seeking whom he might devour (1 Pete 5:8). Jesus knows the solution for their protection is not to take them out of the world but to protect them while they serve in this world. In the King James for verse 17:15, the ending should be “from the evil one” rather than “from evil.” We know the source of the evil. 

So, Jesus prays to the Father that He would make them holy (sanctify them) in place. He asks the Father to use His Word because the Word is where real truth is found (vs. 17). Jesus tells God that He understands that He must send these to do business in this world just as the Father has sent the Son (vs. 18). Jesus finishes with the solemn truth that He has made Himself the Holy Sacrifice that they required in order to be made holy through God’s truth (vs. 19) 

Unite (John 17:20-23)

As mentioned earlier, Jesus sees ahead of the eleven for whom He prayed that night. He sees us in His prayers as He says He is not just praying for those but for those who will believe through their word (vs 20). Verse 21 is certainly a prayer needed for this time in history. The world looks at denominationalism much differently than we do. We know we are in separate groups because of the specific beliefs and interpretations of the Scriptures. Unfortunately, much of our division comes because of the ego of humankind rather than sincere differences about God. There are real Christ followers who wish to worship loudly and those who wish to worship quietly. Neither is more correct than the other, but the separation is needed for us and will appeal to new believers of each group. Some worship on the first day while others worship on the seventh day. We believe we are celebrating the resurrection day and the others believe they are celebrating the Sabbath. We are commanded by God, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Pet 3:15). Verse 21 contains Jesus’ prayer that we would all be one as the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father and each of us are in one another. It is a unity that Christ is praying for and that we would hold our differences to be between us when talking with those outside the faith. Keeping a person from the fires of Hell is much more important than determining whether the Lord’s Supper is transubstantiation, consubstantiation or symbolic. 

Jesus says here that a key part of our combined belief ought to be that God sent Jesus Christ into this world to save us from the penalty of our sin (Luke 19:10, John 17:21). Jesus says that He is passing the glory that the Father has given Him to the apostles and disciples so that all of us can truly be one just as the Father and the Son are one (vs. 22). In verse 23, Jesus prays that He wants us to be one even as He is in us, the Father is in Him, that we may be made perfect (complete, together) in one. He specifies that this will be so in order for the world to know that the Father has sent the Son and loved them just as much as the Father loved the Son.  

Understand the Context (John 18:1-11)

Genesis Chapter 3 begins, “Now the serpent was more subtil (sic) than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen 3:1, KJV). It set into motion the historic account of the fall of Humankind. But first, it introduced the initiator of the fall, the fallen one, the angel referred to as Lucifer by the prophet Isaiah saying, “12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isaiah 14:12-15). The serpent successfully entices Eve and she entices Adam to eat of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve would be punished by being cast out from the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:23). The serpent would be punished by being on its belly and eat dust of earth forever (Gen 314). But further, his head would be at enmity between him and the seed of the woman and that seed would bruise his head in time (Gen 3:15). In John 18, we see the offspring of Mary (the seed of woman) being arrested and condemned to death by crucifixion. Some of His last words from the cross would be “It is finished” (Greek tetelestai) ending the penalty of sin for all humankind forever (Rom 8:1). There is the bruised head upon the serpent. 

Serpent did all he could do to prevent Jesus from His sacrifice on the cross. He tried to have Mar and Joseph shunned by the Galilean society. He tried to have Herod kill all the children where Jesus was born. He tempted Jesus in the wilderness before He started His ministry. He had the Romans try to beat Jesus to death to keep Him off the cross. But Jesus said, “No one can take my life unless I lay it down (John 10:17-18). John depicts this battle more intensely than the other evangelists. He selects differently what to leave in and what to take out of the narration.  

Show of Force (John 18:1-3)

John refers to Jesus’ words in His prayer on the way to the Cedron Brook (John 17). But instead of going to the intense prayer in the Garden as the other three evangelists do, John skips the prayer and goes directly to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. Matthew, Mark and Luke place the prayer in the Garden to have three phases and ends just before Jesus recognizes the coming of Judas. Verse 2 provides the information that Judas knew of this place through prior visits there with Jesus and the other apostles. The verse uses the word “ofttimes” while we would probably say “frequently” to establish Judas’ many visits to this place. 

But this time is in stark contrast to those visits where men of the clothe would gather for rest, prayer and relaxation. Men with the joint responsibility for learning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Master to spread that Gospel after the Master had departed. Verse 3 informs that Judas had been given a ban men and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees. We learned earlier that it was the chief priests and the Pharisees (Caiaphas in particular) who prophesied that “it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” (John 11:30).  Then, after Jesus raised Lazarus, “the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death” (John 12:10). So, it should be no surprise that the chief priests would conspire together with the Pharisees to kill Jesus.  

The Sanhedrin often expressed concern with taking Jesus in a very public way for fear of what the Jewish people might do. Jesu appeared to have thousands of followers and the crowd that supported Him in declaring Him Messiah on His triumphant entry into Jerusalem reenforced that fear. So, the chief priests gave Judas a ban of soldiers to support arresting Jesus, developing false charges of sedition against Rome in claiming to be the King of the Jews. The first objective was to take Him prisoner without having to deal with a great number of His followers. Further, He would have to be transported from the point of arrest to the offices of the high priests for the initial interrogations.  

Positive Identification (John 18:4-9)

Notice here that John does not write that Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss as the other three writers do. John shows Jesus as neutralizing the necessary identification step by separating Himself from the apostles with Him and approaching Judas and the ban of soldiers alone and in an unthreatening manner. Verse 4 has Him walking up to them and asking, “Who seek ye?”  Verse 5 is equally straight forward as the ban responds to His question, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus responded with the same degree of peaceful negotiation saying, “I am He.” John notes here that Judas is with them. I can imagine the leaders of the ban looked toward Judas to get confirmation of Jesus’ identity. Verse 6 shows us a little of a supernatural impact of this arrest. It says “As soon then as He had said unto them, I am He, they went backward and fell onto the ground.” If I were a member of this ban, I might begin to have some second thoughts about arresting this man. Other Gospel writers add that Peter cut off the ear of the High Priest’s servant, Malchus (John 18:10). Luke (being a physician) adds that Jesus took the amputated ear and placed it back in place and healed it (Luke 22:51).   

Picking up with verse 7, the officers of the ban had to make certain this man was Jesus of Nazareth to satisfy whatever arrest warrant they might have. Jesus helped by reinitiating His question of “Whom seek ye?” And the leaders of the ban spoke out saying, “Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus reply, ”I have told you that I am He: if therefore ye seek me, let these go their way.”  

Verse 9 provides reason for why Jesus said, “let these go their way.”  John explains that it might be fulfilled that He lost none of those who God gave Him” (John 17:12). This was somewhat of a challenge because verse 3 told us that the ban came with Judas having lanterns, torches and weapons. The fact that the ban was all armed while Jesus and His apostles only had two swords among them, speaks of the gross mismatch of power to cause this arrest to take place. After Peter drew his sword, it is a small wonder that members of the ban called the action resisting arrest and become violent. I can only imagine the reason might have been that the high priests were concerned that a response on their part might be all that was needed to lose the peaceful arrest and transportation of this very important prisoner. 

Understand the Context (John 18:12-19:15)

Last week we studied how Jesus was taken prisoner at the Garden of Gethsemane by a very unusual coalition of Roman soldiers and Temple guards.  They were assigned to the traitor, Judas Iscariot by the high priests for the identification and arrest of Jesus of Nazareth (John 18:1-11). Jesus would face six trials of one sort or another in the early hours of Friday morning. The legal process used for Jesus was a complete breach of justice in any criminal process, especially in connection with capital punishment. The high priests decided that Jesus must be put to death weeks or even months earlier (Matt 26:1-5, Mark 14:1-2, & Luke 22:1-2). It seems the leaders feared the number of followers Jesus was gathering was so large it was a major threat to Jewish control and Roman leadership. Briefly, it was counter to the entire purpose for Rome allowing the Jewish religion to exist; that is, control of the people and maintenance of order. So, the Jewish religious leaders decided that He had to be killed. Caiaphas, the High Priest, stated that it was expedient that this one man should die to save the whole nation (John 11:49-50). 

The arrest took place about 1:00 AM Friday morning in the secluded Garden of Gethsemane under the cover of total darkness. The priests hoped they might be able to take Jesus without having to deal with His thousands of followers. At 1:30 AM, Jesus would stand in front of a man who had no formal position at all. His name was Annas, and he was the son-in-law of current High Priest, Caiaphas. Annas was located in the Palace of Caiaphas because his father-in-law assigned a suite to him. Annas had become quite wealthy, however, as he owned and operated the dishonest concessions in the Court of the Temple which Jesus cleansed twice in His earthly ministry (Ref: trials of jesus timeline - Bing images).  

 As Jesus was led away, John followed Him because he was known by the High Priest and thought he was safe from arrest (John 18:15).  Peter followed closely after them. It was at the door of the Court of the High Priest where the maid keeping the door first asked Peter if he was one of Jesus’ followers. Peter denied he knew Jesus.  As Peter warmed himself in the court outside the Palace of Caiaphas, he was asked twice more if he was one of Jesus’ followers. As Peter denied Jesus the third time, he would hear the rooster crow and recall Jesus’ statement at the Passover Meal.  Peter went away and wept bitterly (Matt 26:74-75, Mark 14:65-66, Luke :22:61-62). 

Jesus was taken to the dwelling place of Annas by 1:30 AM. Annas was the former High Priest of about 16 years and had a great deal of informal power. He and his people interrogated and abused Jesus before they turned Him over to Caiaphas, the current High Priest and son-in-law of Annas. Jesus was imprisoned at Caiaphas’ Palace until sun rose about 5:00 AM signifying that the meetings held under the cover of darkness were done, now for the official trials. From 5:00 to 6:00 AM, all of the Sanhedrin, scribes pharisees, sadducees and high priests officially met together to plan how to get Rome to kill Jesus. His trials before Pilate are the focal passages of today's study. 

The Transfer (John 18:28-32)

 At 6:00 AM, Jesus was led from the Palace of Caiaphas to the Roman Hall of Judgement to present their charges to the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate.  Verse 28 documents that transfer and the height of hypocrisy by the Jewish religious leaders. They had just spent from 1:30 to 5:45 AM beating, abusing, mocking and humiliating a member of their own faith. They had decided weeks earlier that He had to die, and now they were trying to get Him to say something they could use to have Rome commit the murder. However, they could not personally enter Pilate’s Judgement Hall for fear they would be spiritually defiled and be unable to participate in the upcoming Passover celebration.  But, they believed they were still ceremoniously clean after beating and falsely accusing an innocent man. They knew the charges of blasphemy, sedition against Roman and claiming Herod’s kingdom as His own were totally false and baseless. Yet, they still thought they could claim holiness before their God for Passover. 

So Pilate, wanting to maintain the peace with the leaders of the Jewish religion, went out to them and inquired as to what charges they had against “this man.” (vs. 29). The defensiveness of the Sanhedrin showed in verse 30 as they rejected Pilate’s attempt to justify their actions against the innocent Jesus. Their lack of professionalism was blatant. They labelled Jesus a malefactor (Greek: kakopoiós or criminal, evil doer). They said if He were not a criminal, they would not have delivered Him. Pilate sensed the weakness of their case against Jesus and suggested they try Him instead, but they revolted and admitted the real reason He stood before Pilate. Their comment that He had to be a criminal or evil doer, or they would not have brought Him before Pilate would be proven as more hypocrisy in the next verse.  They admitted they brough Him to Pilate because they were “not allowed to put any man to death.” A simple criminal or evil doer would hardly have earned capital punishment. John’s summary in verse 32 is accurate as he stated that what the Sanhedrin wanted was the fulfillment of the kind of death Jesus said He would die. Jesus prophesied His arrest, abuse and crucifixion several times earlier in His ministry. Would they not be shocked to learn that each of them was merely a pawn in the Master’s hand to fulfill a prophecy made thousands of years before? Isaiah detailed Jesus’ suffering in Chapter 53. King David detailed the method by which He would die, the words He would say from the cross and even the gambling for His robe in Psalm 22. Oh, how small were these self-believing great men! 

The Trial (John 18:33-38a)

Verse 33 presents Pilate leaving the place where he met the high priest’s group, at their request, and returned to the Judgement Hall intended for the Governor’s meetings with visitors. Having heard so much about Jesus of Nazareth, Pilate decided he would meet him one on one (with all the appropriate guards and protection, of course). Pilate wanted to “cut to the chase.” He wanted to hear the issue first hand. The religious leaders wanted this man dead, and they wanted Pilate to order it. So, Pilate looks at Jesus and asks Him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 

That is what the leaders reported Jesus had said.  Pilate wanted to know the truth. Jesus must have been somewhat amused by the question of verse 33.  He asked Pilate if he was asking this question because of his personal desire to know or was he asking because of what the religious leaders said. Pilate sees that cutting to the chase was not going to be as easy as he thought. He asks Jesus if He thinks he is a Jew. That is, “Do You think I can read their minds? The Jewish leaders of your land have singled you out from all the other members of the Jewish community and have requested that I end your life. What is it that you have done?” 

Returning to Pilate’s first question, Jesus responds that His kingdom is not of this world.  It has nothing to do with threatening anyone’s domain in this world. Jesus says, “If my kingdom was of this world the thousands of people who are following me and are here for the Passover, would be attacking this proceeding to save me from it. But My kingdom is not of this place, and therefore, my followers are not storming the Judgement Hall.

Pilate analyzes Jesus’ words and says, “Are you a king, then?” (vs. 37). Jesus responded that it is Pilate that is saying He is a king. But Jesus says, He was born for the purpose of delivering the truth. That was the reason He came into this world. And He is in this world for the purpose of describing that truth. Everyone who is looking for the truth hears Jesus’ words and recognizes the truth. Pilate, like many people who do not have the Spirit of God within them, answers the only way he can. He asks Jesus in response, “What is truth?” Pilate hears at least two sides of every case he was appointed to judge and hears the parties tell their perspective views of the truth. What he is really saying is, in his opinion, truth is not a term with a single definition. People argue with him everyday regarding their opposing views of truth and he (Pilate) is expected to define the specific truth that is real for the described circumstances.

Understand the Context (John 19:16-42)  

We now examine the final scenes of Jesus’ work to seek and to save that which was lost. Meantime, there is a strong battle between good and evil in the background of every scene of these final minutes of Jesus life. The song goes, “On one side, march the forces of evil. All the demons, all the devils of hell. On the other, the angels of glory, And they meet on Golgotha’s hill.” But that is the end of today’s study. The work of Satan is to make sure Jesus never lives to die on the sinner’s cross. He wants Jesus dead from the fight of the arrest, but it never happened. He wanted Him dead from the torture of Annas and Caiaphas as they worked mercilessly on Him from 1:30 to 5:45 Friday morning, but Jesus survived all of it. Satan wanted Him dead from the flogging that would have killed any other man, but Jesus lived to carry His own cross to top of Calvary.

The Romans knew the crucifixion was the most painful torture and death available, but from the onset of its terrors, Jesus fulfilled more Scripture to make sure those who studied His death later would know that He made it happen exactly the way it was prophesied. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22 were the primary sources. They signaled the fulfilment from its beginning. Jesus said, “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me. That is the first verse of Psalm 22 and the trigger for where to look for more. It goes on the document every one of the experiences Jesus would have on the cross, yet the cross was not known of until hundreds of years after the Prophet Isaiah and King David penned the Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22. 

When Jesus said, “I thirst,” He was fulfilling Psalms 22:15. As He endured the jeers, taunts and challenges, He fulfilled Psalms 22:6 as being despised and rejected of men. He experienced the piercing of hands and feet (Psa 22:16). He poured out His soul in death, and He was numbered with the transgressors but buried with the rich (Isaiah 53:9, 12). “The earth shakes with the force of the conflict” and that earthquake ripped the veil in the Temple from top to bottom as the 7-layered fabric (4 inches thick) separating God from humankind was eliminated as it was ripped from the top to the bottom – “It is finished” indeed! Jesus finally submitted to death as He released His spirit to the hands of His Father.  Nicodemus received permission from Pilate to take Jesus’ body off the cross before the sunset signaled the start of the Sabbath and the Day of Preparation for the Passover. He and Joseph of Arimathea hastily prepared the Body and laid Him in Joseph’s new tomb (Isa 53:9). It was finished!

Raised (John 19:17-22)

That is the setting; now for the detail. We enter the scene on Jerusalem’s streets. The man, Jesus, beaten and bruised, a man who can hardly carry His own weight is forced to drag the weight of the cross upon which He would die. He was to drag the cross up the hill of the place called the skull, the hill of Golgotha, Calvary. It was the place where our dear Savior dies. There were two others crucified that day. The two thieves would be placed on the left and the right of Jesus’ cross on that hill. Pilate decided he needed to personally identify the Man on the center cross. He wrote a sign “Jesus of Nazareth, The king of the Jews” (vs. 19). The Scripture says the words were written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin so there would be no error in knowing why this man died. The sign was common to all those sentenced to this death. It told people of exactly what crime a person did to earn this horrible death. This sign was different because the Governor wrote it personally. 

 But even in death Jesus offended the Jews of the Sanhedrin. They went to Pilate to protest the sign and asked Pilate instead to write, “He said he was the King of the Jews.” Pilate was full of frustration and guilt as he knew very well that he was crucifying an innocent man. He hung there that day as a political display of the victory of the Sanhedrin over Pilate. It was He that was bullied into submission to those religious fanatics - or, so it seemed. Jesus defeated sin that day as He made it to the cross despite Satan’s massive attempts to kill Him before the cross. Jesus had come to seek and to save that which was lost. In a few minutes, sin would die here.

Planned (John 19:23-24) 

But the 250 Scriptures Jesus fulfilled that day were not yet finished. As the soldiers crucified Him, they parted His garments and gambled for his seamless robe. Again, the appearance of Roman (or Satanic) victory was short-lived as the Bible scholars realized that King David had said “They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture” over 1,000 years earlier.  The Hebrews who wrote these prophecies had no idea about this gross form of torture and death. They wrote what they wrote under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God. Isaiah wrote of how the prophecies and the facts fit together when he said, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isa 53:5). Jesus had entered once into the Holy of Holies with His own blood – that blood of the flawless, sinless lamb. The writer of Hebrews made sure we knew that blood sacrifice ended with the blood of this lamb. He wrote, “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:  But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” (Heb 10:11-12).  

 It is strange that the writers of the study guides we use for the sake of their outlines chose the word “planned” as the title for this part of the study. As mentioned earlier, neither Isaiah nor David would have known anything about death by crucifixion hundreds of years before Christ. The earliest reports of crucifixion took place around 522-521 BC associated with the Persians. These dates were certainly after King David (1000 BC) and Isaiah (700 BC) were long dead. So, the detail of the process of crucifixion had to be divinely inspired. Even the beatings and treatment prior to the crucifixion would have been hideous in those days. So, it is safe to take the prophecies as written by Isaiah and King David as having to be told to them by a source that transcends time. David was a warrior, and a fierce one as told in the Scriptures, so he may have seen vicious impalings which might have been as ugly as crucifixion, but Isaiah was a Prophet.  There was no way his mind could have seen such ugliness to write it down.

The Shroud of Turin (John 19:23-24)

 We studied the Shroud of Turin over the Easter celebration, but it validates so much of what we read of the Roman crucifixion, it is hard to leave alone for today’s study. While there are still skeptics who see the Shroud as a simple relic of the church, the truth of what happened to the man in the shroud speaks too loudly to be contrived. The burial cloth was mentioned in John in verses 20:5-6. The Shroud of Turin is a 14 foot linen cloth designed to cover both the front and the back of the person being buried, as this one does. The actual image is almost impossible to see in the natural lighting, but the image here is enhanced for viewing. It appears as a negative image of the person therein and has been used to produce busts and statues of this man. 

The things we learned from Scripture are all shown on this cloth. It is easy to see the marks from the crown of thorns, the spear wound in His side used to verify His death and the nail wounds used to hold the man on the cross. He was clearly nailed to the cross through His wrists and not His hands, while the wrists are, in fact, an extension of the hands for conversation. If the nails were in the hands, the weight of the body would have allowed the victim to fall off the cross. The wrist, however, provide the gap between very strong tendons to hold the man throughout the normal 3 or 4 days of crucifixion before death. The Scripture speaks of the Roman flogging of Jesus and the Shroud shows the man in it has been flogged over even inch of His body. 

Sometime around 1350, there was a fire in the church where the shroud was stored, and it was damaged. The custodians of the cloth replaced the brunt cloth on the edges by weaving in newer cloth. When the Shroud was Carbon tested, the sample was taken from the replacement cloth and certainly tested for 1260-1390 AD which accurately testifies as to the age of the cloth used to repair the Shroud after the fire. Of course, the skeptics said it was proven to be a medieval fraud. But literature testifies that the Shroud was retested using the original cloth and it came out to date between 300 BC and 400 AD. So, the C14 testing was accurate in both cases. It found that the repair cloth dated from the fire and the original clothe dated back to the time of Christ.

Honored (John 19:25-27)

Verse 25 offers a look at the setting below the cross of Jesus before hearing what Jesus had to say there. The view is of a group of women. The word group is used here because the dozen different Bible commentaries I use, nor the 15 versions of the Bible can tell whether there are four women here or three. We are certain about the first and the last women mentioned: His mother is certainly Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene are clear. The other words say, “and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas” could be either one or two women. The words may say that Jesus’ Mother, His Mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Cleophas) and Mary Magdalene were there, or John could be saying that His Mother, her sister (Mary, the wife of Cleophas), and Mary Magdalene were there. In the former case, there are four of them. In the latter case, there are three Mary’s. In either case, John left his mention until verse 26, “the disciple standing by, whom He loved.” John frequently mentions himself as “the disciple Jesus Loved” throughout his Gospel.

It is truly uncanny that a man having suffered through as much as Jesus of Nazareth suffered would have the presence of mind to recall much of anything while He was dying on the cross, but Jesus did. Being beaten and abused from 1:00 AM to 5:45 AM by Annas’ and Caiaphas’ gangs of supposedly religious people. And then taken to Pilate, Herod and Pilate again with more beatings and abuse. And then losing about one-third of His bodily blood supply on the Roman scourging floor. Jesus’ head must have been far from clear. Nevertheless, listen to the memory of the Man.  First, He asks the Father to forgive all those there because they did not know what they were doing. Second, He tells the repentant thief that he will be with Him today in Paradise. Third, the conversation below, “Here is you son;” and “Here is your Mother.” Fourth, “I am thirsty.” Fifth, “Why hast thou forsaken Me?” Sixth, “Into thy hands I commend My Spirit.” And seventh, “It is finished.”  In His third saying, He remembers to reassign care for His Mother to the apostle John. John took responsibly for Mary from even that moment (vs. 27). 

Understand the Context (John 20:19-31)

The apostle John has drawn a tight parallel between the concepts of seeing and believing. He starts with John the Baptizer recalling that he was told, “Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God” (John 1:33-34). John said of Him earlier in the same paragraph, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (vs. 29). Next, John recounts Jesus’ first miracle saying, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him” (2:11). In John 9:37-38, John recalls, “And Jesus said unto [the healed blind man], Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him” (author brackets). And of course, at the resurrection of Lazareth, “Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him” (John 11:45). In each case, the skeptics saw and became believers.  

 Mary Magdalene, as much as she loved Jesus, could not believe He had risen, so at the tomb of Jesus, she believed someone had taken His body away. She ran to tell the apostles, but Peter and John did not believe what she said, so they went to the tomb and saw it empty with His graveclothes still there (John 20:1-10).  The apostles remained hidden in the room even though Jesus had told them He would rise again (Mark 8:31, 10:34; Luke 18:33, 24:7). They still would not believe what they saw when Jesus appeared to them in the room. They thought they were seeing a ghost (Luke 24:37). 

But the epitome of all seeing and believing was when Thomas refused to accept the words of the other apostles that they had seen Jesus and said he would not believe unless he could put his fingers in His hands and side. When he saw the scars on Jesus’ hands and side he declared, “My Lord and My God!” (John 20:28). 

Demands (John 20:24-25)

As stated early in the previous slide, Thomas was not with the other 10 apostles when Jesus came to visit them (vs. 24). Notice that John still refers to the apostles as “The Twelve” (vs. 24).  In Acts 1, Peters attempts to meet with the other apostles and name a twelfth apostle to replace Judas. They selected a man named Mathias who is never mentioned again. Jesus picked a twelfth on the road to Damascus and that one (Saul of Tarsus) became known as Paul, the Apostle, wrote profusely for the Scriptures and led at least three missionary journeys to start new churches for the Lord. Note the difference between man’s choice and God’s choice apostles. 

So, the other apostles provide Thomas with a debrief of what happened that evening beginning with the words, “We have seen the Lord” (vs. 25). I can only imagine the excitement and power with which the apostles told Thomas of this meeting. They certainly must have shared the Great Commission Jesus gave to them. They must have talked with them about how Jesus allowed them to see the wounds on His hands and in His side. 

But the Bible seems to show a hard interruption by Thomas here (vs. 25). Before the apostles can share all they wanted to tell Thomas, he wanted to make sure they understand exactly where he stood on the resurrection of Jesus. “Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe. Thomas’ demands for what it would take for him to believe are his attempts at setting the limits for which he established for his belief criteria. In my experience, however, God is the One who sets the criteria, and we must learn that Lord means Lord, and God knows exactly whom is in charge at every minute of every day. Accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord has exactly the opposite look than Thomas setting criteria. 

Understand the Context (John 21:1-25)

The post-resurrection appearances of Jesus in or near Jerusalem, settled the issue of His return to the living for His apostles and many other followers. Two of those followers would have been the disciples He met on the road to Emmaus. Jesus spent the rest of His 40 days teaching, training, tasking and bringing into remembrance of the apostles the things He had shown them during His three-and-a-half-year ministry. Recall that Jesus was raised on Sunday morning and celebrated the Passover on the following Monday, Nisan 14, 32 AD. The celebration of Pentecost was exactly fifty days after Passover. Acts 2 documents the Pentecost was the day Jesus fulfilled His prophecy of “sending another Comforter,” the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:3 says that Jesus showed Himself after His resurrection for forty days, so there was a ten day wait between the Ascension of Christ (Acts 1) and the giving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2).

The activities within the Scriptures for today are all contained within those forty days. Recall that Mary Magdalene and the other women were told to remind the apostles that Jesus would meet them in Galilee. First, however, He would make at least three appearances on the way. He met twice with the apostles: once with all but Thomas and once with Thomas included. He made another appearance to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. 

The apostles returned to their fishing backgrounds in Galilee. One time they fished the whole evening and early morning but caught nothing. As they were bringing the boat in for docking, Jesus yelled from the shore for them to cast the nets on the other side of the boat. Even in their frustration of failing all night long, they followed His instructions. Just as in the beginning of His ministry, the catch was so great, it almost sank the boat. Peter recognized Jesus and jumped into the water and swam to Him on the shore. 

Jesus had prepared a fish breakfast for them.

He spoke with Peter and asked him three times if he loved Him. Peter replied in the affirmative and Jesus told him to feed His flocks all three times. Peter seemed to switch the topic to discuss whether John would die young or not. Jesus said it wasn’t for him to know, and then refocused his attention on his own ministry and its requirements.  

Do You? (John 21:15-17)

In John 21:15-17, the topic focusses on the discussion between the risen Jesus and His apostle, Peter. As they were finishing that fish dinner, Jesus looked at Peter and asked, “Simon, son of Jonas, loveth thou me more than these?” It was Peter who just denied he even knew Jesus three times. Peter responded in the same verse, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.: In our language, there is nothing of note going on here, but if we look into the Greek of the conversation, there is a significant difference between the words for love the two men used. Jesus used the Greek word agapeo while Peter used the word phileo. Jesus had asked Peter if he had a great love for Him even greater than all these others. It was at the Passover meal that Peter said he wanted to follow Jesus wherever He was going and that he would lay down his life for Jesus. Jesus responded that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed. And in the courtyard of Pilate’s judgement Hall, he fulfilled Jesus’ saying. Peter’s response to Jesus’ question used the Greek phileo for love. Peter said, “Lord you know that I am very fond of You.” Not hardly the response fitting Jesus’ question. Jesus then asked Peter to feed His lambs (vs. 15).  

In verse 16, Jesus asked again, “Do you love me greatly?” Peter responds again, “Lord, you know I am very fond of you.” Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep; symbolically older or more mature animals than the young lambs. In verse 17, Jesus asks a third time, but this time using the same Greek word Peter was using, “Peter, are you very fond of me?” Peter answered, “Lord, you know all things; you know I am very fond of you.” Jesus matched Peters word for love as if He were asking Peter if he would truly even go that far. Nevertheless, Jesus repeats the tasking, “Feed My sheep.”  

With the sorrow of denying the best friend a man could have not just once but three times, Peter is asked about his love for Jesus three times, and regardless of his fear of ever overstating his feelings again, he responded at a lower level of love than Jesus asked. Was it because Peter no longer felt he could trust himself to make a full-hearted statement to Jesus? After all, it was Peter who said, “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death” (Luke:22:33). 

Peter’s comment that Jesus knew all things was accurate. Jesus saw the future for Peter and knew that he would become the leader of His work. Very soon, Peter would preach the first post-ascension sermon and see 3,000 souls added to the Kingdom that day. Sometimes a servant needs to be brought down in life to reach the clouds of service for Him. A lady I know nothing about published a devotional on October 13, 2011, entitled “Faith Isn’t Faith Until It’s Been Tested.” (Proven Paths Ministries, Nicole Vaughn, 2011). Peter spoke big at the Passover Meal, but the tested and proven Peter led 3,000 to Christ in one sermon in Acts 2. Which faith was greater? 

Will You? (John 21:18-19)

Now, Jesus continues His talk with Peter. Scholars differ on the meaning of what Jesus said here, but it is clear He is telling Peter that caring for himself while he is young is experience he would have. He will buckle his own belt, go to the places he wished to go and do the things needed for himself. But there will be a day when he is old and will stretch forth his hands to meet another who will have to buckle his belt for him. The other person will have to carry him from one place to another even if he does not want to go there. 

Verse 19 explains that Jesus spoke these words showing how Peter would die for the glory of God, and He finished by telling Peter to follow Him. Peter was killed in 64 AD by crucifixion. Peter requested to be crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to die like his Savior died.   Tradition states that he was granted his request. 

The Last Supper took place in 32 AD and Peter was crucified in 64 AD, some 32 years later. If Peter would have been 25 years old at the Last Supper, he would have died at age 57. Today, that age would be considered young, but in 64 AD, it was beyond the life expectancy of about 50 years. At a minimum, one would not expect a 57-year-old man to be wheelchair bound or incapable of dressing himself. This is especially true when one considers that the apostle John would serve another 30 to 34 years at Patmos and return to complete one Gospel, 3 letters and a major Book of Prophecy before he died in his nineties around 98 AD.    Jesus knew exactly how long both apostles would live and that John would out live Peter by about three decades and die of natural causes.