CHAPTER 19 – PART 2
THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE SON OF GOD
"Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works – a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and then thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day."
- Flavius Josephus [37-100AD], The Antiquities of the Jews, 18.3.3
"Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by being cursed for our sake since scripture says: Anyone hanged is accursed, so that the blessing of Abraham might come to the gentiles in Christ Jesus, and so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." Galatians 3:13-14
" 'And He came to the place of a skull.' Some say that Adam died there, and there lies; and that Jesus in this place where death had reigned, there also set up the trophy. For He went forth bearing the Cross as a trophy over the tyranny of death; and as conquerors do, so he bare upon His shoulders the symbol of victory."
-Homilies on the Gospel of John, LXXXV.1, St. John Chrysostom.
"Here was opened wide the door of life, from which the sacraments of the Church have flowed out, without which there is no entering in unto life which is true life. [...] Here the second Adam with bowed head slept upon the cross, that thence a wife might be formed of him, flowing from his side while he slept. O death, by which the dead come back to life! Is there anything purer than this blood, any wound more healing!" - The Gospel of John, 120.2 St Augustine
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The Crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth is the fulfillment of John's statement in John 13:1: "Jesus, knowing that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father, having loved those who were his in the world, loved them to the end."
Please read the 22 Psalms and Isaiah 53 before continuing. These passages contain the description of Jesus' Passion written centuries before the event. The type of death pictured in Isaiah 53 and Psalms 22 is typical of a crucifixion; a form of capital punishment that did not come into practice under the Jewish system until hundreds of years later when Rome conquered Judah and made it a Roman province they called Judea [63BC].
Please read John 19:17-22
Verses 17-18 "They then took charge of Jesus and carrying his own cross he went out to the Place of the Skull, or, as it is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him with two others, one on either side, Jesus being in the middle."
As is his custom John does not repeat much of the information found in the Synoptic Gospels concerning Jesus' Crucifixion and death. He does not include the information that:
¨ Jesus was redressed in His own clothes [Matthew]
¨ The women who mourn for Him along the walk of sorrows [Luke]
¨ Simon of Cyrene helped carry the cross [all three]
¨ St. Mark's information that it was the 3rd hour, 9AM, when they crucified Him [Mark 15:25]
¨ The offer of the drink of wine mixed with sedatives before He was crucified [Matthew & Mark]
¨ The mocking of the crowd [all three]
¨ The repentance of the good thief [Luke]
¨ The other various sayings from the cross recorded in the Synoptics [all three]
¨ The reactions of the crowd around the cross [all three]
¨ That it turned dark from the 6th to the 9th hour =12 noon to 3PM [all 3]
¨ The suggesting that He is seeking deliverance by Elijah [Matthew & Mark]
¨ Jesus' final last cry (which could be John's "It is finished") [all three]
¨ The tearing of the Temple Veil [all three]
¨ The cosmic signs at the moment of Jesus' death [eclipse, earthquake, tombs opened]
¨ Reaction of the centurion [all three]
¨ Repentance of the crowd going home [Luke]
¨ Pilate's investigation to affirm Jesus is indeed dead [Mark]
¨ The wrapping of His body in a new linen shroud [all three]
¨ The presence of the women of Galilee at the tomb [all three]
¨ The purchase of the spices by the women [Luke]
.
Some scholars have speculated that the omission of the encounter with Simon of Cyrene stems from the Gnostic heresy that was prevalent in the later part of the 1st century which taught that Simon of Cyrene was crucified in Jesus' place. However, this omission and the absence of the other events of the crucifixion listed above are completely in character with the fourth Gospel's intention of not repeating other major events that are covered in the 3 other Gospels to include:
¨ Jesus' birth and Baptism by John,
¨ The temptation of Christ by Satan,
¨ The call of the Apostles in the Galilee,
¨ The Beatitudes,
¨ The Lord's Prayer,
¨ The events at the Mt of Transfiguration,
¨ Jesus' various parables,
¨ Most of His miracles,
¨ The apocalyptic judgment on Jerusalem
¨ The institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper
¨ Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane
¨ Jesus' trial before Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin
John does not revisit what he feels has been adequately recounted in the other three Gospels. He expects that we are familiar with the information and that what he adds will expand and clarify our knowledge.
John does include other information from the Crucifixion not found in the Synoptic Gospels:
¨ Jesus carried His own cross
¨ That there were inscriptions in three languages on the titulus [plaque place on the cross],
¨ The detail that Jesus' inner garment was seamless,
¨ Jesus' words to His mother and "the beloved disciple",
¨ His announcement of His thirst
¨ The offering of sour red wine with a hyssop branch,
¨ His final saying just before His death
¨ The giving of His Spirit upon His death
¨ That none of His bones were broken
¨ The spear of the Roman soldier thrust into His chest and the flow of blood and water.
¨ That a disciple was an eyewitness to these events
True to St. John's focus on a spiritually oriented Gospel, the Crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah is built around 7 symbolic events that are unique to John's Gospel:
JOHN'S 7 SYMBOLIC IMAGES OF THE CRUCIFIXION:
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1. The Multi-language titulus |
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2. The Seamless Garment |
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3. Mary, "the Woman" of Genesis 3:15 and the mother of the New Israel |
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4. The Hyssop and the Wine |
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5. His Death and the Gift of His Spirit |
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6. His bones unbroken |
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7. The Water and the Blood |
The Aramaic name of the crucifixion site is gulgulta meaning "skull". Luke does not identify the site by this name; the identification as Golgotha is only found in Mathew 27:33; Mark 15:22 and here in John 19:17. Luke gives the name of the site as Kranion in 23:33; it is the Greek word for "skull". The name calvary comes to us from the Rheims New Testament translation of the Latin Vulgate calvariae locus, which is the Latin translation of the Greek kraniou topos, "place of the skull." Matthew 27:32 and Mark 15:21 explicitly state the site lies outside the city; John says it is near the city in verse 20. We know it was close enough to the city for the on-lookers to read the trilingual plaque place on His cross, probably as they looked on from the top of the city wall.
Today the Crucifixion site known as Golgotha as well as the site of Jesus' tomb are enclosed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built initially by Queen Helena in the 4th century but destroyed and rebuilt several times. At the time of Jesus' crucifixion Golgotha was located outside the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem. It was forbidden that the holy city be contaminated by the presence of the dead and therefore no one could be buried or executed inside Jerusalem which was considered to be "the camp of God" [see Leviticus 24:14-23]. It has been speculated that the hill of Golgotha got its name from a skull-like appearance but it is more likely that the name came from the fact that it was an ancient rock quarry that was also a burial site. Archaeologists excavating beneath the floor of the church have found ancient graves dating back centuries before the birth of Christ.
It has long been a Christian tradition that Golgotha was the site of Adam's burial dating back as far as Origen [3rd century] and St Ephraim the Syrian [4th century]. St. Jerome, the 4th century Biblical scholar rejected this connection. However, St. John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople wrote in the 4th century: " 'And He came to the place of a skull.' Some say that Adam died there, and there lieth; and that Jesus in this place where death had reigned, there also set up the trophy. For He went forth bearing the Cross as a trophy over the tyranny of death; and as conquerors do, so he bare upon His shoulders the symbol of victory." Homilies on the Gospel of John, LXXXV.1, St. John Chrysostom. If you visit the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, below the site of Jesus' crucifixion you will be shown a large rock streaked with red and you will be told that this small cave was Adam's tomb and the blood of Christ dripped from above on to Adam's bones so that he too could be redeemed from his sins.
"where they crucified him..."
At the 3rd hour, 9AM our time, on Friday Nisan the 15th the gates of the Temple opened for morning prayer, for the liturgical ceremonies and sacrifices of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and for the sacrifice of the first perfect daily Lamb of the Tamyid Sacrifice, which was then offered up on the Altar of Yahweh:
"Then the sacrificing priest, surrounded by his assistants, fastened the lamb to the second of the rings on the north side of the altar'in the morning in the western [..] cornor. [...] The elders who carried the keys now gave the order for the opening of the Temple gates. [...] The opening of these gates was the signal for actually slaying the sacrificial lamb." The Temple: Its Ministry and Sacrifices, page 110.
This sacrifice was so important that the entire day was structured around the sacrifice. The 1st century historian Josephus recorded that the day the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the Temple on the 9th of Ab, 70AD, the priests continued to prepare the Tamyid sacrifice as the Temple was burning down around them.
The Daily Time Divisions of the Tamyid Sacrifice
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FIRST HOUR |
DAWN |
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The first lamb is brought out and tied to the altar at dawn Mishnah: Tamyid 3:2-3:3 |
The high priest prepares the altar [see: Exodus 29:39; Leviticus 6:1-6; Mishnah: Tamyid 1:2]
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THIRD HOUR |
9AM |
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The first lamb is sacrificed at 9AM* Mishnah: Tamyid 3:7 |
9AM is the first hour of prayer [see Acts 2:15] Temple gates open "Shacharit"(morning) |
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SIXTH HOUR |
NOON |
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The second lamb is brought out and tied to the altar at noon Mishnah: Tamyid 4:1 |
Noon is the second hour of prayer [Acts 3:1; 10:9] "Minchah" (gift-offering)
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NINTH HOUR |
3PM |
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The second lamb is sacrificed at 3PM* Antiquities of the Jews 14.4.3 (14:65); Philo Special Laws I, XXXV (169) |
3PM is the third hour of prayer [Acts 3:1; 10:9] "Ma'ariv" (evening: our afternoon is the Jewish evening= next day began at sundown) [3 hours of prayer see Mishnah Berakhot] |
The throat of the Tamyid [meaning 'standing' as in perpetual] lamb is slit and the blood is collected in a golden cup and poured out on the altar. The lamb is skinned and its body is roasted on the great bronze Altar of Yahweh as a whole burnt offering. [Taymid is pronounced tah-meed]
As the Tamyid morning sacrifice was being offered at the Temple and while the crowds of the faithful were entering the Temple gates for the sacrifices of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus, the True perfect Lamb of God, was being offered up for crucifixion on the altar of the cross as His blood is poured out for the sins of the world. Please see the document "The Tamyid Sacrifice and the Daily Time Divisions in the Old Covenant" in the Resources section.
As a form of capital punishment crucifixion was probably first employed by the Persians. It was adopted by the Greeks and then by the Romans who turned crucifixion into a terrible art.
This form of execution was not used for freemen of Rome or provincial citizens of the Empire. The punishment is so severe that it has given us the word "excruciating". The usually procedure was that the condemned man was tortured in some way before the formal execution, normally by flogging to the point of blood flow, which was intended to weaken the victim and hasten his death. The condemned criminal then carried a crossbeam to the place of execution where a vertical stake or a tree shorn of its branches was already in place. The soldiers in charge of the execution then laid the man on the crossbeam, tied as well as nailed the man's hands or wrists to the beam, and then fastened the beam to the vertical stake or tree'either on the top forming a T or part way down, forming the familiar cruciform. This must have been the shape of Jesus' cross since the Gospel writers indicate that an inscription was fastened above Jesus' head on the cross [Matthew 27:37; Luke 23:38]. A small wooden block was usually nailed either half way up the vertical post to support the body of the man [sitting] or at the feet with the knees bend so that the victim could push against the wooden support in order to take a breath. The death was very painful and very slow, rarely taking less than 36 hours. The first century historian Josephus called crucifixion "the most wretched of deaths" [The Jewish Wars]. He records many crucifixions in his books and also mentions that some of the victims were known to survive more than 3 days on the cross.
The intention of this form of capital punishment was to be a public display for the purpose of humiliation, but for the Jews it was also a sign of "one who was cursed". "If a man guilty of a capital offence is to be put to death, and you hand him from a tree, his body must not remain on the tree overnight; you must bury him the same day, since anyone hanged is a curse of God, and you must not bring pollution to the soil which Yahweh your God is giving you as your heritage." Deuteronomy 21:23 [also see 1 Samuel 31:9-10; Acts of Apostles 5:30-32; Galatians 3:13-14].
"they crucified him with two others, one on either side, Jesus being in the middle."
Matthew tells us that before crucifying Jesus the guards attempted to give Him wine mixed with gall, a narcotic to dull the pain, which he tasted but refused. Mark tells us the wine was mixed with myrrh. It is likely the mixture contained both, one to dull the pain the other to bring on a stupor or semi-sleep state which would hasten death. The historicity of the Gospel account is confirmed by the 1st century historian Josephus who records that wealthy women of Jerusalem provided wine mixed with narcotics for those destined for crucifixion. This passage recalls Psalms 69:21 "to eat they gave me poison, to drink, vinegar when I was thirsty."
Question: Matthew and Mark include the information that Jesus is crucified between two bandits or insurrectionists; Luke calls them criminals. What passages from the prophet Isaiah does this information recall? Hint: see Isaiah chapter 53.
Answer: These passages recall Isaiah 53:9a, "He was given a grave with the wicked..." and Isaiah 53:12 "Hence I shall give him a portion with the many, and he will share the booty with the mighty, for having exposed himself to death and for being counted as one of the rebellious, whereas he was bearing the sin of many and interceding for the rebellious."
Verses 19-22 Pilate wrote out a notice and had it fixed to the cross; it ran 'Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.' This notice was read by many of the Jews, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the writing was in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. So the Jewish chief priests said to Pilate, 'You should not write "King of the Jews", but that the man said, "I am King of the Jews".' Pilate answered, 'What I have written, I have written.'"
It was a common practice for a criminal's name and his crime to be written out on a whitened wooden plaque, which the officer in charge carried to the execution site. Only the fourth Gospel records that the plaque, known as the titulus [Greek], was written out in three languages. This is the first of this Gospel's 7 symbolic images.
According to legend and tradition in the 330's AD Queen Helena, the mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, rediscovered the true cross of the Crucifixion, as well as the crosses of the two robbers, and the titulus that hung over Jesus' head. The crossbeam of one of the robber's cross, a fragment of the true cross, and the titulus were taken back to her palace in Rome. Through the misadventures of time the location of the titulus was lost. Queen Helena's palace had become the Church of the Holy Cross [Santa Croce] in Rome. But during a renovation of the church in the Middle Ages the titulus was rediscovered hidden in a recess in one of the walls in the Sanctuary where it can be seen on display in Rome today. Only a potion of the titulus survives. An analysis of the titulus has revealed:
¨ It is made of a type of walnut that was common in the Near East
¨ It measures 25.3 centimeters by 14 centimeters at its widest points and is 2.6 centimeters thick.
¨ The wood was originally painted white [this conforms to the Roman practice of whitening such a publicly displayed plaque
¨ The letters carved into the wood show traces of what appears to be very dark red coloring which has darkened with age to black in some areas [emphasizing the carved letters with red or black paint was a Roman practice].
¨ There are three lines of writing in Hebrew [or possible Aramaic; not enough of the plaque survives to be certain which language], Greek and Latin. All three language fragments are written from right to left. This is the standard practice for Hebrew but very unusual for Greek and Latin. This extremely peculiar detail attests to the artifact's authenticity since a forger would not risk creating the titulus with in such an unconventional style for fear that it would be called a forgery. The inscriptions also do not agree with the order of languages recorded in John 19:20, a detail a forger would be unlikely to alter.
That the scribe wrote the Greek and Latin inscriptions from right to left [instead of left to right, which is the tradition of those languages] is one of the great mysteries of the titulus. Some scholars have suggested that the scribe was Jewish and wrote out the Hebrew inscription correctly as he had been commanded'written first because the audience was almost entirely Jewish; but then, having written the Hebrew or Aramaic inscription from right to left he hurriedly and incorrectly wrote out the Greek inscription backwards and was thereby committed to also write the Latin in the reverse as well. Those reading the Latin in Greek inscriptions in the crowd would have been amused by this error but they still could have read the inscriptions.
There is very little left of the Hebrew inscription. Only the bottom half of the letters survive, however, it can be detected that Jesus' name, if only the bottom letters, is preserved in this line of text. If the inscription is Aramaic it would probably read Yeshua Nazoraia Malka Diyehudaye [but in reverse order]. A very interesting suggestion for a Hebrew translation has been offered by the Jewish scholar Shalom Ben-Chorin based on the Greek translation in John 19:19. In that Greek Biblical translation the inscription in 19:19 is given as "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews". The half letters that are visible gave just enough information to allow the scholar to conclude that Nazareth was spelled Nozri. When he wrote it out as it would have been written in the 1st century, the Hebrew text was MdhyH klMV rzNH hsY [writing, as the Jews did, from right to left]. Separating out the separate words and putting them in our more familiar left to right order something rather remarkable appears: Ysh HNzr VMlk Hyhdm [Hebrew was written without vowels until the Middle Ages]. With vowels as it would be written today in our left to right order it would be = Yeshu HaNozri VMelek HaYehudim [Jesus the-Nazri of-King the-Jews]. As you can see, the first letters in each word form the letters of God's holy covenant name YHVH. This is the tetragrammaton, the sacred 4 consonants that spelled the Covenant name of God [w and v are the same letter].
THE INSCRIPTIONS ON THE TITULUS as they may have been written:
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Hebrew |
MdhyH klMV rzNH hsY |
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Greek |
SoiaduoI tos cyeilcaB suelisaN o suoseI |
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Latin |
MuroeaduI xeR svnirazaN suesI |
Is this the authentic titulus of the Crucifixion? If it is authentic, was the man given the task of writing out the inscriptions a Jewish scribe who was a follower of Jesus the Messiah? Did he purposely hide the tetragrammaton in the inscription as his testimony that he believed Jesus to be who He said He was? It is interesting that the unusual spelling of Nzr [Nozri] for Nazareth has only been discovered in one other inscription an ancient list of priestly families which includes the name of a priestly family living in Nazareth in the first century AD. It is also interesting that even today Jews call Christians the "Nozrim". [for more information see The Quest for the True Cross, by Carsten Thiede and Matthew d'Ancona.
Question: Why did Pilate refuse to alter what was written on the titulus? What is ironic about this incident?
Answer: He may have been expressing his displeasure at being forced to executing a man he had wished to release by insisting on this wording that would be sure to infuriate the chief priests and Pharisees. It is ironic, of course, that despite the protests of Jesus' enemies that the claim on the plaque was true and was proclaimed by a pagan Roman gentile.
Question: What is the significance of the multi-language declaration which is sign #1 of the symbolic images?
Answer: It is the proclamation of His Kingship symbolically written in the common tongue, the international language, and the language of the world super-power. Jesus is the universal King of Kings.
Please read verses 23-27
Verses 23-24 "When the soldiers had finished crucifying Jesus they took his clothing and divided it into four shares, one for each soldier. His undergarment was seamless, woven in one piece from neck to hem; so they said to one another, 'Instead of tearing it, let's throw dice to decide who is to have it.' In this way the words of scripture were fulfilled: 'They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothes.' This is what the soldiers did."
After they nail Him to the cross Jesus prays for those who have crucified Him:
"Father forgive them; they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34.
The Jewish leaders and the soldiers mock and jeer at Him. This is the first of the 7 last utterances of Jesus from the cross:
JESUS' LAST 7 STATAEMENTS FROM THE CROSS
Scripture Passage |
Jesus' statement |
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#1 Luke 23:34 |
"Father forgive them; they do not know what they are doing." |
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#2 Luke 23:43 |
"In truth I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise." |
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#3 John 19:25 |
" 'Woman, this is your son.' Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.'" |
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#4 Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34 |
"Eli, eli, lama sabachthani." [Mark uses the Aramaric "eloi"] which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" |
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#5 John 19:28 |
"I am thirsty." |
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#6 Luke 23:46 |
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."* |
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#7 John 19:30 |
"It is fulfilled (finished)."* |
*it is difficult to know which of these two statements came last.
Question: What is the significance of Jesus' prayer on behalf of His enemies? Hint see Psalms 109:4-5; Isaiah 53:12 and Numbers 15:27-31.
Answer: Under the Old Covenant there could only be forgiveness for unintentional sin. Jesus is forgiving His enemies and praying to God to forgive them. Jesus' love and mercy is an example for all of us. The agape, self-sacrificing love to which Jesus calls us, requires us to follow His example in forgiving and praying for those who hurt us.
The other Gospels mention the soldiers rolling dice to divide Jesus' garments, but only John makes a distinction between the outer clothes and the seamless tunic that was not to be divided. John also provides the link to another piece of historical information; Roman crucifixion squads consisted of a group of four soldiers. It was their task to see to the crucifixion of the criminals assigned to them and they had the right to take possession of any clothes belonging to the condemned. Usually victims were crucified naked but in the case of crucifixions in Judea the Romans may have made an exception considering the Jewish sensitivity to naked bodies. That the Romans cast lots to divide up the garments is also a detail that is verified in historical accounts of Roman crucifixions. This is the second symbolic sign and can be seen as fulfilling Psalms 22:18 "..they divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing."
Question: What is symbolically significant about the seamless, linen garment? See Exodus 28:4 and Leviticus 16:4.
Answer: Jesus' seamless garment is theologically symbolic of the seamless tunic woven in one piece that a High Priest worn when making a sacrifice. The High Priest dressed in his priestly robes was the symbol of man fully restored in God's image. Jesus is not only our King but also as our High Priest offering the pure and holy sacrifice of Himself to God the Father. Both Exodus 28:4 and Leviticus 16:4 in describing the high priestly garment use chiton in the Greek translation [Hebrew ketonet] in reference to the priestly tunic and describe it as "a woven piece". The word seamless [arraphos] is not found in the Greek [Septuagint] translation but Flavius Josephus describes the ankle-length tunic of the high priest as one seamless woven cloth: "Now this vesture was not composed of two pieces, nor was it sewed together upon the soldiers and the sides, but it was one long vestment so woven as to have an aperture for the neck [..]; it was also parted where the hands were to come out."[Antiquities of the Jews 3.7.4]
St John wants the reader to understand that Jesus is not only our King but He is also our eternal and perfect High Priest, offering the pure and spotless sacrifice of Himself. This is the vision of Christ in the heavenly court that St. John will see in Revelation 1:13 "And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp-stands and, in the middle of them, one like a Son of Man, dressed in a long robe tied at the waist with a belt of gold."
In Hebrews 8:1-3 the Holy Spirit inspired writer affirms Jesus role as our High Priest: "The principal point of all that we have said is that we have a high priest of exactly this kind. He has taken his seat at the right of the throne of divine Majesty in the heavens, and he is the minister of the sanctuary and of the true Tent [meaning Temple or dwelling] which the Lord, and not any man, set up." Christ's sacrifice is superior, His sanctuary is superior, and the covenant brought by the mediation of Christ is superior to the old, imperfect Covenant that relied on animal sacrifice.
It was about at this time that Matthew [27:44], Mark [15:32], and Luke [23:39-41] record that one of the robbers crucified with Jesus begins to revile Him while the other defends Him and asks to be remembered. This is Jesus' #2 statement from the cross when He promises the repentant robber "Today you will be with me in Paradise." [Luke 23:43].
Verses 25-27 "Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdala. Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, 'Woman, this is your son.' Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.' And from that hour the disciple took her into his home."
The four Gospels all list the women who stood with Mary near the cross:
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Matthew 27:56;28:1 |
Mark 15:40, 47; 16:1 |
Luke 23:49-50; 24:10 |
John 19:25-26 |
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-Mary His mother -Mary Magdala -Mary mother of James and Joseph -The mother of the sons of Zebedee |
-Mary His mother -Mary Magdala -Mary, mother of James and Joses -Salome |
-Mary His mother -Mary Magdala -Joanna* -the mother of James
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-Mary His mother -His mother's sister ? -Mary of Clopas -Mary Magdala |
*Joanna is the wife of Cuza, Herod Antipas' steward. Luke's account of what transpired between Jesus and Herod may have been reported to him by Cuza or Joanna.
Mary of Magdala is named in all 4 accounts. But there is a problem concerning the 3rd Mary in all four Gospels. It seems obvious that Matthew and Mark are referring to the same woman, with the shorter form of her son Joseph's name used in Mark. Both Gospels mention this family in other passages. Mathew lists them in 13:55 as "James and Joseph and Simon and Judas," while Mark 6:3 has "James and Joses and Judas and Simon." Since this second Mary is identified as their mother it affirms the Catholic tradition that Mary the mother of Jesus was not the mother of these men who are called His "brothers" elsewhere in Scripture but they are "brothers" in the Hebrew sense of "kinsmen". It also seems reasonable to assume that Luke's "Mary of James" [James the Apostle called the "lesser" to distinguish him from James Zebedee and James of Jerusalem] is the same woman who is the mother of these other disciples. But here is the difficult part: Who is the Virgin's Mary's sister in John's account? Since there were no grammatical helps in the ancient texts, we do not know if John's passage intends us to understand that an unnamed sister of Jesus' mother was present or if Mary [wife?] of Clopas is His mother's sister/kinswoman? That Mary of Clopas is Mary's "sister" or kinswoman is the way Catholics usually interpret this passage. In his 2nd century History of the Church, Hegesippus [ca. AD 150] identifies Clopas as the brother of Joseph, Jesus' legal father, which would of course make her a kinswoman by marriage. However, other scholars point to the omission of the name of the mother of John and James Zebedee, a woman named Salome, and suggest that John's passage should read: "His mother' sister [Salome], Mary of Clopas, etc." It is in character for John not to mention any of his family members [notice that his brother James, one of the Apostles, is never mentioned in the fourth Gospel]. Salome, the mother of James and John Zebedee was a faithful disciple [see Matthew 20:20-23 for Salome's request to Jesus concerning her sons]. If the Virgin Mary's sister/kinswoman is Salome that would make the sons of Zebedee kinsmen of Jesus. This a link that is never mentioned in the writings of the Fathers of the Church who, when writing about either James of Jerusalem, or Simon the second Bishop of Jerusalem, or St. Jude, always mention their kinship relationship to Jesus. This is one of those difficult questions to which we can not know the complete answer!
This is #3 of Jesus' 7 last statements. He places the care of His mother into the hands of the only Apostle who is close to the cross and in doing so gives His mother to His Church. Mary is our inheritance! The gift of His mother is the first of the 3 gifts Jesus gives the New Covenant Church from the Cross.
This is also the third of John's symbolic elements.
Question: In using the same title with which Jesus addressed His mother at the wedding at Cana in John 2:4 ["Woman"] what is the deeper symbolic message that John wants us to see and how is that connected to the gift of Mary as the mother of His Church? Hint: see Genesis 3:15 and Revelation 12:1-6
Answer: He calls her "Woman" because that is her title. Only two women in Salvation History have had this title:
1. The "woman" Eve, called "woman" by Adam in Genesis 2:23 because she who was "taken
from man" or more literally "encompassed by man" would become the mother of Adam's physical descendants; and
2. Mary, the New Eve, is the promised "woman" of Genesis 3:15 who was prophesized to
give birth to the One who would "crush the head of the Serpent" and do battle with his "seed." Jesus is the "seed" of "the Woman" Mary. It is Mary who is the sign promised by Jeremiah in 31:22 "For Yahweh is creating something new on earth: the Woman shall encompass a man." And in continuing in verses 31-34 which in 31 begins "Look, the days are coming, Yahweh declares, when I shall make a new covenant with the House of Israel...". The words "new covenant" are only used here in Jeremiah 31:31 in Old Testament and only at the Last Supper during the words of Consecration in the New Testament. As the New Eve of the New Creation in Christ, the Virgin Mary becomes the mother of the spiritual children of the New Israel, the Catholic Church. In that sense each of us, who have faith and follow Jesus' commandments, have become children of Mary, who is symbolically represented as Mother Church just as the "beloved disciple" represents the New Covenant believer. See CCC #501; 726; 964; 2618; 2679
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MARY, the new Eve |
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE |
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THE CHURCH, the New Israel |
NEW COVENANT BELIEVERS |
Mark 15:33 "When the 6th hour came there was darkness over the whole land until the 9th hour." [12 noon to 3PM Hebrew time].
This cosmic event fulfills the prophecy of the prophets Joel and Amos. [Peter will quote Joel 3:1-5 at Pentecost].
"On that Day'Declares the Lord Yahweh'I shall make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight." Amos 8:9
In the Temple, the liturgical ceremony and sacrifices for first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread are coming to an end, and the second lamb of the Tamyid sacrifice is led out, tired to the altar and given a drink from a golden cup.
It is at this point that Jesus cries out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:24. Mark tells us it is the ninth hour- 3PM.
This is the cry that begins Psalms 22. It is a cry of distress but not one of despair. In Psalms 22 this lament if followed by expressions of joyful confidence in a final victory. It is called a "toda", or "thanksgiving " Psalms. In verse 14 the psalmist cries out "My strength is trickling away, [literally = "I am poured out like water"] my bones are all disjointed, my heart has turned to wax, melting inside me. My mouth is dry as earthenware, my tongue sticks to my jaw." Then the psalmist turns from his lament to praise of Yahweh in verse 22 and then in verse 27 he joyously cries: "The whole wide world will remember and return to Yahweh, all the families of nations bow down before him." And then concluding in verse 30-31 "...their descendants will serve him, will proclaim his name to generations still to come; and these will tell of his saving justice to a people yet unborn; he has fulfilled it!" Jesus offers Himself in sacrifice as prophecy is being fulfilled and will continue to be fulfilled down through the centuries.
Please read verses 28-30
Verse 28 "After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: 'I AM THIRSTY'.
Jesus is the High Priest of the New Covenant offering Himself as a spotless Lamb of sacrifice for those whom God has given Him.
"After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed, and so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled..."
Question: How is it that Scripture has been completed or fulfilled? Hint: look back to the previous verses and Genesis 3:15.
Answer: He has fulfilled the promise of the restoration of the children of God prophesized in Sacred Scripture beginning with Genesis 3:15. As a woman brings forth children so shall the New Covenant Church bring forth offspring, born from above "in the image" of God who will form a relationship of loving care that will bind these New Covenant children to their "mother" the Church, as symbolized by Mary. Fr. Brown in his commentary writes: "The revelatory formula 'Here is [your mother]...", on which we have commented, is truly appropriate in this scene, since Jesus' mother and the Beloved Disciple are being established in a new relationship representative of that which will bind the Church and the Christian." Fr. Brown goes on the say that at the wedding at Cana, Mary was Jesus physical mother but now she is "most truly his mother in this 'hour' of God's plan when she brings forth Christian children in the image of her son."
In speaking of the "completion" or "fulfillment" of Scripture Jesus uses the verb teleioun, instead of the more commonly used verb in this context, pleroun. Teleioun is a verb, which Fr. Brown points out in his commentary on John's Gospel, is not otherwise used in the New Testament in reference to Scripture being fulfilled. Fr. Brown does not suggest any explanation but perhaps the use of this particular verb is to draw our attention to Jesus' last statement from the cross, which will use this verb form.
"He said, 'I AM THIRSTY.'" Only John mentions Jesus making this statement.
Question: Why is He suddenly thirsty now? Why didn't He take the drink of vinegar [sour red wine] when He was first offered it just before He was nailed to the cross?
Answer: He didn't take the narcotic because He must show that He accepted in obedience all the suffering of God's "Cup of Wrath" and because He made an oath that He could not drink wine until He comes into His kingdom. Now He accepts the drink of wine because it is time!
It is difficult to know in which order to place Jesus' last two statements.
"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Luke 23:46 [it is possible this is the last statement even though I have listed it as the 6th]. These words seem to be taken from Psalms 31:5 "..into your hands I commit my spirit, by you have I been redeemed."
Verses 29-30 "A jar full of sour wine stood there; so putting a sponge soaked in the wine on a hyssop stick, they held it up to his mouth. After Jesus had taken the wine he said, 'It is fulfilled [ =literally Teltelestai]'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit."
His spirit is the second gift to the Church from the cross; the first was Mary as our mother.
Only John includes the information that the "vinegar" was cheap, red wine. Only John includes the information that it was a hyssop stick that was used to give Jesus the wine. This is symbolic element #4.
We have already discussed that Jesus' Passion began in the Upper Room when He held His body separated from His blood, in His own hands and offered to His disciples what He had promised in John chapter 6 "His flesh and His blood" to eat and drink to eternal life. The cup of His precious blood was the 3rd ritual cup of the Passover meal, the Cup of Blessing [1Corinthians 10:16].
We have already mentioned that there was a 4th ritual cup that closed the Passover meal called the Cup of Acceptance. It is after consuming this communal cup that the host of the Passover supper would cry out: 'Teltelestai" "It is fulfilled [finished]". Since Jesus made an oath that He would not drink wine until He came into His kingdom He could not have taken the 4th cup, and therefore, He could not have closed the Passover sacrificial meal in the Upper Room.
Question: Why does John draw our attention to the fact that it is a hyssop branch that the Roman guard uses to give Jesus the sour wine? What is the symbolic importance of this detail? Hint: see Exodus 12:22; Numbers 19:18; Psalms 51:7; Hebrews 9:18-20
Answer:
1. When the first Passover Lamb that had been sacrificed and its blood poured out in the threshold of the houses in Egypt, it was a hyssop branch that was used to smear the blood of the first Passover Lamb on the lintel and door posts. It was under this sign that those firstborn, inside the house eating the roasted lamb were saved. The smeared blood from the threshold [Exodus 12:22] to the lintel and to each doorpost made the sign of the cross.
2. In the ratification of the Sinai Covenant Moses, the mediator between God and the people symbolically united them by using a hyssop branch to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the altar, which represented Yahweh, and then on the people, creating one family united in the "blood" of the Covenant. [Hebrews 9:18-20]
3. The passage in Numbers tells of the use of hyssop in ritual purification for those who were contaminated by a dead body who were literally "dead" to their community until purified on the third and seventh days with hyssop and holy water. The blood of Jesus has purified us and saved us from spiritual death and has given physical death no power over us. In our baptism we experience our first resurrection and at the end of time we look forward to our second resurrection. We have been saved from the curse of the double-death in Genesis 2:17 "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for, the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die, die." [in the literal Hebrew the word "die" is repeated.] In disobeying God and abusing His blessings man became "disgraced" and the absence of grace brought not only physical death, but the curse of spiritual death.
4. The Psalms speaks hyssop in the purification of sins: "Purify me with hyssop till I am clean, wash me whiter than snow." [Psalms 51:7]
Just as the hyssop was used in the ratification of the Old Covenant in the blood of the sacrifice, now the hyssop branch is symbolically used in the ratification of the New Covenant by the blood of Christ. It is His precious blood that will transform and unite the New Covenant people into God's Holy Covenant Family!
Question: Only John mentions the drinking of the wine from the cross and the last words of Christ which are the same last words as those of the host of the Passover meal when the 4th Cup, the Cup of Acceptance, has been consumed. What is the symbolic significance?
Answer: This is the 4th Cup of the Passover. Jesus is coming into His Kingdom; all is fulfilled , as he announced in verse 28 and so now He takes the Cup of Acceptance and calls out that IT is fulfilled or finished. In this statement: "Teltelestai" Jesus is using the same verb that He used when He spoke of Scripture being fulfilled in verse 28.
What is the IT that has been fulfilled or finished? Many Christians would answer that Justification and Redemption are fulfilled in His sacrificial death, but in Romans 4:25 St Paul tells us "...our faith, too, will be reckoned because we believe in him who raised from the dead our Lord Jesus who was handed over to death for our sins and raised to life for our justification." St Paul never thinks of the death of Jesus as separated from His resurrection. "Justification" is the entering into the life of the risen Savior. In Romans 6:4-5 he writes: "So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, we too should begin living a new life. If we have been joined to him by dying a death like his, so we shall be by resurrection like his; realizing that our former self was crucified with him.." [also see Romans 8:10]. The point is the sacrifice is only the first step'the desired result is the restoration of communion with God and that restoration was completed upon His glorious Resurrection. Therefore, it isn't Christ's work of justification and redemption that has been completed.
Question: What has been completed in His sacrificial death? What is the IT that has been finished?
Answer: When John first saw Jesus he said Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." The Old Covenant was imperfect because no animal offered for sacrifice would be perfect enough to completely remove sin. Every imperfect Old Testament animal of sacrifice was only a foreshadow of the true Lamb who would be sacrificed for the forgiveness of sin. This is the New Covenant that God promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34 when God promised "..I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind." What is finished or fulfilled? The 4th Cup has been consumed; the Old Passover liturgy, which began in the Temple with the last imperfect Old Covenant lamb sacrifice and which continued in the imperfect sacrificial meal of the lamb in the Upper Room has ended and the perfected New Passover in Christ and the perfected new Eucharistic meal has begun! In the first Passover God redeemed His people from slavery to a foreign power. Now God has brought about the New Passover in which Christ our Passover Lamb had delivered the people for slavery to sin and death. On Resurrection Sunday we will no longer be slaves to sin and death which will no longer have power over us. It is the Old Covenant that is fulfilled in the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb. It is as St Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7 "For our Passover had been sacrificed, that is, Christ; let us keep the feast..." It isn't enough that Jesus died; He must be consumed if He is the Passover Lamb of the New Covenant! We must feast on Jesus who is the Bread from heaven and the better wine of the New Covenant wedding feast, hidden under the form and appearance of unleavened bread and red wine which becomes for us nothing less than the resurrected Jesus Christ, body, blood, soul, and divinity!
Question: On the cross when Jesus drank the wine and said the last words of the Passover meal He took the 4th Cup of Acceptance. It was a cup of suffering that He accepted in obedience to the Father, and now He drank the last drop of that suffering as He willingly gave up His spirit but when did the Apostles and disciples take the 4th Cup and when do we take the 4th Cup of Acceptance?
Answer: All New Covenant believers, past, present and future take the 4th Cup of Acceptance when, in obedience to the will of God, we follow His commandment to take up our own crosses and follow the Savior:
¨ Matthew 10:38 = "anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me." and 16:24
¨ Mark 8:34 = "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me."
¨ Luke 9:23 ; 14:27 = "No one who does not carry his cross and come after me can be my disciple."
It is what Jesus said to James and John Zebedee in Matthew 20:20-23 when He asked them "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" When they replied that they could Jesus' response was "Very well; you shall drink my cup...." The brothers did indeed "drink the cup" in faith and obedience...James was martyred about the year 44AD and John valiantly "carried his cross" for Christ until he was a very old man.
St. Polycarp, disciple of the beloved St. John, and Bishop of Smyrna spoke of this same "cup" when facing martyrdom in his 86th year prayed "O Lord God almighty, the Father of Your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of You, the God of angels and powers, and of every creature, and of the whole race of the righteous who live before You, I give you thanks that You have counted me worthy of this day and this hour, that I should be counted in the number of Your martyrs, in the cup of your Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life..." The Fathers of the Church, page 73
"...and bowing His head He gave up His spirit." The last breath of Jesus is the first moment of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit! This is His second gift to the Church from His Cross.
The second Tamyid Lamb had been sacrificed to Yahweh at 3PM.
Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews 14.4.3: The Tamyid Sacrifice:
"..the priests [....] twice each day, in the morning and about the ninth hour [3PM], offer their sacrifices on the altar...."
Then the blood of the lamb is poured out on the altar and its body is laid on the fire as a high priest lights the golden altar of incense that stood in front of the veil before the Holy of Holies'the sacred space that represented the presence of God.
It is at this moment that Jesus breathes out His Spirit. He is the true Passover Lamb and the true Lamb of the Tamyid [Standing] sacrifice. For centuries the Jews had been commanded, since the time of the Sinai Covenant, to sacrifice perpetually two perfect Lambs. The first lamb sacrificed at 9AM and the second at 3PM. Now Jesus, perfect in two ways, perfect in His humanity and perfect in His divinity is the true Standing [as in perpetual] Sacrifice. This is the way St John sees Christ in the heavenly court presenting Himself before the throne of God in Revelation 5:5-6 "..but one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed, and so he will open the scroll and its seven seals.' Then I saw, in the middle of the throne with its four living creatures and the circle of elders, a Lamb standing that seemed to have been sacrificed.." A sacrificed lamb doesn't "stand" but Jesus stands before the throne of God as the true perpetual [tamid] sacrifice; the on-going application of His full and complete sacrifice on the cross, offering Himself for the sins of man.
The Synoptic Gospels all record a great symbolic event: the tearing of the veil in the Temple that covered the Holy of Holies:
"And suddenly, the veil of the Sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, the rocks were split, the tombs opened and the bodies of many holy people rose from the dead."
-Matthew 27:51 [also see Mark 15:37; Luke 23:45; Isaiah 25:6-8 and 1Peter3:19]
The high priest whose duty it was to burn the incense on the golden altar must have been an eyewitness to this event of the tearing of this great tapestry – which was about 80 feet high and several inches thick – torn from the top to the bottom. The veil that separated sinful man from the Holy and Righteous God has now been removed. God has accepted His Son's sacrifice for the sins of man. Christ has become the bridge between man and God.
Please read verses 31-36
Verse 31 "It was the Day of Preparation, and to avoid the bodies remaining on the cross during the Sabbath – since that Sabbath was a day of special solemnity – the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken away."
Notice how John has clarified the term "Day of Preparation" to mean the day before the Sabbath [Saturday] which should eliminate the confusion about that designation in verse 14. He is also pinpointing the day of Jesus crucifixion as Friday, the 6th day of the week, on the day of the week in Creation when man was created. Jesus suffered on the cross 6 hours for the sins of man on the 6th day.
The Sabbath of Passover week was, in Jesus' time, declared to be a Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Sabbath. But in modern Judaism what is called Shabbat HaGadol is now the Sabbath immediately preceding Passover week, not the one that falls within the 7 day feast of Unleavened Bread. This is one of several changes in Jewish tradition made after Jesus' resurrection. Another major change would be the reinterpretation of the day to celebrate the Feast of Firstfruits. Instructions for the celebration the this feast is found in Leviticus 23:11-14. According to the Law that feast would always fall on a Sunday since it was to be celebrated the day after the Shabbat HaGadol of Passover week. But after Jesus' resurrection this feast day was changed to be celebrated the day after the first day of Unleavened Bread which would be on Nisan the 16th , and then the Feast of Weeks was adjusted to be celebrated 50 days later. Every one of the Sacred Feasts are given specific days of the year for the annual celebration except Firstfruits and Feast of Weeks [Pentecost]. Those dates would change with each year because each was planned to fall on a Sunday, the day after a Sabbath. With the change in the celebration of Firstfruits and the 50 day count from Firstfruits to Weeks, now neither feast regularly falls on a Sunday [see Leviticus 23:15-20]. If Yahweh had intended those 2 feasts to be celebrated on specific dates in the year He would have assigned them dates as He did all the other feasts. It will become obvious why the Jews readjusted these feast days. The date change must have gone into effect soon after Jesus' Resurrection because Josephus, born about 37 years after the Resurrection, records the adjusted dates for these feasts in his books. Please see the chart "The Seven Sacred Feasts of the Old Covenant."
Verses 32-34 "Consequently the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with him and then of the other. When they came to Jesus, they saw he was already dead, and so instead of breaking his legs one of the soldiers pierced his side with a lance.."
It was a Roman custom to sometimes hasten death by the breaking of the victim's legs so that taking a breath by pushing against the foot support was no longer possible causing shock, followed by suffocation and death. It was for this reason that crucifixion was also known to the Romans as "broken legs" [Cicero, Philippicae XIII.12 (27)].
Verses 35-37 "...and immediately there came out blood and water. This is the evidence of one who saw it – true evidence, and he knows that what he says is true – and he gives it so that you may believe as well. Because all this happened to fulfill the words of scripture: 'Not one bone of his will be broken'; and again, in another place scripture says: 'They will look to the one whom they have pierced.'"
Question: What does this passage confirm about Jesus' nature and about His death?
Answer: This passage confirms #1: that Jesus was truly flesh and blood. And #2: that He truly died.
Dr. William Edwards in an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association wrote: "Clearly the weight of historical and medical evidence indicates that Jesus was dead before the wound to His side was inflicted and supports the traditional view that the spear, thrust between His right ribs, probably perforated not only the right lung but also the pericardium and heart and thereby ensured His death. Accordingly, interpretations based on the assumption that Jesus did not die on the cross appear to be at odds with modern medical knowledge." William D. Edwards, M.D, "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ", Journal of the American Medical Association, March 21, 1986.
Question: That the Romans did not break Jesus' legs recalls what passage found in the Psalms?
Answer: Psalms 34:19-20 "Though hardships without number beset the upright, Yahweh brings rescue from them all. Yahweh takes care of all their bones, not one of them will be broken." The prophecy was fulfilled and the regulations of the Passover lamb were kept in that Jesus' legs were not broken [see Exodus 12:46 and Psalms 34:20].
That Jesus' bones were not broken is the 6th symbolic element of John's account.
Question: What is the symbolic connection to the Passover lamb of the sacrificial Passover meal? Hint: see Exodus: The ordinances for the Passover 12:43-46
Answer: Included in the instructions for the eating of the Passover lamb was the warning: "nor may you break any of it bones." This is another symbolic connection between the flesh of the Passover lamb that had to be eaten and the flesh of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb whose flesh must be eaten in order to "celebrate the feast" [see 1 Corinthians 5:7].
Question: What is the second Old Testament passage that John references: "They will look to the one whom they have pierced." ? What does John want us to recall about this O.T. passage?
Answer: This is a passage from the prophet Zechariah writing in approximately 480BC: Zechariah 12:10-11 "But over the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem I shall pour out a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look to me. They will mourn for the one whom they have pierced as though for an only child, and weep for him as people weep for a first-born child. When that day comes, the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadad Rimmon in the Plain of Megiddo." Zechariah, writing over 400 years before the birth of Jesus prophesies the death of a messiah-like figure that will open a fountain of salvation: 13:1 "When that day comes, a fountain will be opened for the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to wash sin and impurity away." This prophecy was fulfilled in the sacrificial death of Jesus of Nazareth when the piercing of Jesus, the 'son' of David, was the opening of the fountain of Divine Mercy!
This prophecy is related to John's 7th symbolic element: the outpouring of the blood and the water from the side of Jesus:
"...and immediately there came out blood and water."
Jesus first gift from the cross was His mother, the second was His last breath, which is the first moment of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and His third gift is the water and blood.
Question: What is the symbolic significance of this last gift? What Old Testament symbolism might apply? Hint: see Genesis 2:21-23; Exodus 17:1-7; Numbers 20:1-11..
Answer:
1. The Fathers of the Church interpreted the flow of the water and the blood as the birth of the Bride of Christ from His side just as God took the bride of Adam from his side. The first Adam refused to defend to the death his bride when she was tempted by Satan but Jesus, the New Adam, sacrificed His life on the cross so that His Covenant Bride, the Church, would live. It is in the water and the blood that Christ's Bride is united with Him: in the Sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist [see Ephesians 5:23-32]. "Here was opened wide the door of life, from which the sacraments of the Church have flowed out, without which there is no entering in unto life which is true life. [...] Here the second Adam with bowed head slept upon the cross, that thence a wife might be formed of him, flowing from his side while he slept. O death, by which the dead come back to life! Is there anything purer than this blood, any wound more healing!" The Gospel of John, 120.,2 St Augustine.
2. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 St Paul connects the water supernaturally flowing from the Rock,
which nurtured the Children of Israel in their wilderness journey, with the spiritual drink that flows from Christ in the Eucharist. The Old Testament event is recounted in Exodus 17:1-7 and a separate episode of supernatural water flowing from the Rock in Numbers 20:11. Paul identifies the Rock of Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 as Christ. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible offers the information that in the Aramaic translation of the Numbers passage that both blood and water gushed forth from the Rock [see Ignatius Study Bible- St John, page 54 quoting the Palestinian Targum on Numbers 20:11]. The "Rock" that gave physical life to the Children of Israel now gives supernatural life to the New Israel, the Universal Church. [also see Deuteronomy 32 the Song of Moses or the Son of Witness in the New Jerusalem translation in which Yahweh is given the title Rock 5 times].
John wants us to understand that the blood, a symbol of the sacrifice, shows that the Lamb of God has truly been sacrificed for the salvation of the world, and he wants us to understand that the water, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, shows that the sacrifice is a rich source of grace. It is what Jesus promised in John 7:37-38 at the Feast of Tabernacles when He cried out "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture says, 'from his heart shall flow streams of living water.' "
Question: What 3 elements has John identified as coming from the dead body of the Savior? See verses 30 and 34.
Answer: the Spirit, water, and blood. St. John writes about these three elements that came from Jesus' dead body: the Spirit, the water, and the blood, as three witnesses in 1 John 5:7: "So there are three witnesses, the Spirit, water and blood; and the three of them coincide." These three testimonies converge: blood and water join with the Spirit to bear witness to the origin and the mission and the sacrifice of the Son who gives life!
Please read verses 38-42
Verses 38-39 "After this, Joseph of Arimathaea, who was a disciple of Jesus – though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews – asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission, so they came and took it away. Nicodemus came as well – the same one who had first come to Jesus at nighttime – and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds."
Only John provides insight into Joseph of Arimathaea's fear in proclaiming himself a follower of Jesus. Luke 23:51 provides the information that Joseph had not consented to the sentence of the Sanhedrin against Jesus. Now both Joseph and Nicodemus, members of the Sanhedrin, bravely come forward as disciples to ask Pilate for the Master's body. Mark tells us that Pilate is astonished that Jesus has died so soon [Mark 15:44] and even questions the centurion in charge of the execution. Nicodemus is a wealthy man for he provides an extremely expensive mixture of herbs and spices that would amount to about 75 of our pounds. It seems an extraordinary amount so perhaps John's 100 pounds is symbolic. 10 is the number for perfection of order so 100 could be seen as indicating an abundance of this mixture in the perfect amount for the King of Kings. Perhaps all John's numbers are symbolic. See CCC#596
Some scholars dispute the historical accuracy of this episode. They contend that Pilate would not have released the body of a criminal and that Jesus would have been thrown in a common grave. However, Ulpian, a Roman jurist of the 3rd century wrote: "The bodies of those who are capitally punished cannot be denied to their relatives. At this day, however, the bodies of those who are executed are buried only in case permission is asked and granted; and sometimes permission is not given, especially in the cases of those who are punished for high treason. The bodies of the executed are to be given for burial to any one who asks for them." [Vincent's p. 289]. Given Pilate's reluctance to execute Jesus it is perfectly understandable that he would be inclined to release Jesus' body since it was within his power according to custom, to do so.
Verses 40-42 "They took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, following the Jewish burial custom. At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in this garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparation and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there."
The plural "linen wrappings" may indicate a burial shroud as well as a sudarion or napkin to used to cover the face of a dead person. The Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Christ, is about 14 feet long and less than 4 feet wide. A "sudarion" which is believed to be the napkin placed over Jesus' face when He was removed from the cross is in the possession of the Vatican .
The Navarre Commentary suggests that after taking Jesus' body down from the cross that those preparing His body for burial would have washed His body before perfuming it with the herbs and wrapping His body in the linen shroud. This is the common practice for a Jew who has died a natural death but it is not the practice for a Jew who has died violently. The blood must accompany the body to the grave! In Israel today after a terrorist attack you may notice many people wearing orange vests collecting blood and tissue after bomb explosions. These collected body fluids and tissue are buried with the bodies of the victims. It is interesting that the blood-splattered body of the figure of the man on the linen shroud known as the "Shroud of Turin" has not been bathed, but he had been covered with herbs, resins, and spices in the preparation for burial. [myrrh is a resin].
Only John's Gospel notes that the tomb where Jesus' body is placed is in a garden. The garden is identified as being very near the site of execution which agrees with the location of the sites of both Calvary and the tomb within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher . The Church Fathers have written movingly of the mystical connection between the Son of God's burial in a garden after having redeemed mankind from that first sin which was committed in a garden.
The Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John all observe that this is a new tomb, never used before this time. The fact that the shroud was fresh and the tomb new indicated a pious burial but it was also not permitted for the corpse of an executed man to be placed in a tomb already in use where the condemned man's body would have defiled the bones of the upright. St Augustine, focusing on the piety of the burial of the Savior observes that "Just as in the womb of the Virgin Mary none was conceived before him, none after him, so in this tomb none before him, none after was buried." The Gospel of John, 120.5
Matthew's Gospel records that "when Preparation Day was over", which was sundown Friday, the day Jesus was crucified [the beginning of the Sabbath for the Jews], the chief priests and Pharisees went to Pilate to demand a Roman guard be placed on Jesus' tomb to prevent His disciples from stealing His body and claiming that Jesus had been raised from the dead. Pilate agrees and the priests and Pharisees not only put a guard on the tomb but they place seals on the stone that covered the entrance. See Matthew 27:62-66.
St. John Chrysostom writing about the request of the priests and Pharisees to have Jesus' tomb sealed noted that the delegation from the Sanhedrin told Pilate: "We remember these are the words, that that deceiver said, when he was yet alive/' (He was therefore now dead). 'After three days I rise again.' Command therefore that the sepulchre be sealed, (He was therefore buried), least his disciples come and steal him away.' So that if the sepulchre be sealed, there will be no unfair dealing, for there could not be. So then the proof of His resurrection has become incontrovertible by what you have put forward. For because it was sealed, there was no unfair dealing. But if there was no unfair dealing, and the sepulchre was found empty, it is manifest that He is risen, plainly and incontrovertibly. See you, how even against their will they contend for the proof of the truth?' St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew
Resources used in preparing this chapter:
1. Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, St. John Chrysostom
2. The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah
3. The Navarre Bible Commentary – St. John
4. The Ignatius Bible Commentary – The Gospel of John
5. The Works of Cicero: Philippicae XIII.12 (27), Cicero
6. The Works of Josephus, The Jewish War
7. The Anchor Bible Commentary – The Gospel According to John
8. The International Critical Commentary
9. The Blood and the Shroud, Ian Wilson [The Free Press Publishers, 1998].
10. Caesar and Christ, Will Durant, [MJF Books, 1971].
11. "The Hunt for the Fourth Cup", Dr. Scott Hahn, This Rock Magazine, September 1991.
12. Dictionary of the Bible, John L. McKenzie, S.J.[Bruce Publishing Company, 1966].
13. Ante-Nicene Fathers: Origen, vol. 9
14. The Quest for the True Cross, Carston Theide [Doubleday, 1999].
15. The Fathers of the Church, Mike Aquilina, [Our Sunday Visitor Publishers, 1999].
16. "On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ", William D. Edwards, M.D, Journal of the American Medical Association, March 21, 1986.
17. Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament, volume II
18. Catechism of the Catholic Church [* = Scripture quoted or paraphrased]
|
19:19-22 |
440* |
19: 31 |
641* |
|
19: 21 |
596* |
19: 34 |
478*, 694*, 1225 |
|
19: 25-27 |
726*, 2618* |
19: 36 |
608* |
|
19: 25 |
495 |
19: 37 |
1432* |
|
19: 26-27 |
501*, 964, 2605 |
19: 38-39 |
595* |
|
19: 27 |
2677*, 2679* |
19: 38 |
575* |
|
19: 28 |
544*, 607, 2561*, 2605 |
19: 42 |
624*, 641* |
|
19: 30 |
607, 624*, 730*, 2605* |
|
|