In order for Eliphaz’s argument to make sense, we need to put flesh upon its skeleton, so that the picture could become clearer. During the days of Jesus’ ministry, we can identify two kinds of criminals. First, there was the criminal or robber who was crucified alongside Jesus. He probably acted alone for many of his wicked deeds, but no doubt there were times when he acted with a group in order to realize common goals. Secondly, there were the Jewish authorities who opposed Jesus at every opportunity. While Rome punished the robber, it cooperated with the corrupt local authorities[1] in return for a kind of orderly occupation of Jewish lands. Read the rest of this entry »
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In John 19:38 we are introduced to a man named Joseph. He was from Arimathaea, which some conclude was ancient Ramah in Ephraim, the birthplace of Samuel (1Samuel 1:1, 21). Joseph was a disciple of the Lord, but a secret one, because he feared the Jewish authorities, namely, the Pharisees, would cast him out of the synagogues (cp. John 12:41-43), if his relationship to Jesus had become known.[1] To be cast out of the synagogues probably meant that one was cast out of Jewish society in general, and therefore excommunicated. So, by coming to Pilate and asking for Jesus’ body to bury, Joseph put himself at risk, in that he was a respected ruler, who had gone public in identifying himself with Jesus, whom the council had judged to be a criminal and a blasphemer. Read the rest of this entry »
After Pilate thought to use pity as a tool to gain popular support for his effort to release Jesus and put down the chief priests’ demand for his execution, which was rapidly formulating into an insurrection, the Jewish authorities expressed no appearance of conceding, but cried out all the more: “Crucify him!” and apparently the people echoed their demands, but why? How could the very same folks who praised Jesus and eagerly embraced him as their Messiah only a few days prior to this, suddenly remove their support in favor of Jesus’ enemies? Read the rest of this entry »
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From the time of Jesus’ arrest in the garden by the Jewish authorities at Jerusalem to the time they turned him over to Pilate by for execution (John 18:28) was a matter of about five to six hours.[1] During this time, John is decidedly brief in his account of what occurred, while Jesus was in the hands of the Jewish authorities. The Synoptics are much more informative. Why would John be so concise in this part of his narrative? I mentioned one reason could be he wasn’t present, and so used only the briefest of facts. After all, unless he was the other disciple with Peter (John 18:16), there were only two who could witness to what took place. Still, John could have added the witness of others, so what can be said of this? Read the rest of this entry »
We are told in John’s narrative that Judas knew of the place where Jesus and his disciples normally spent their nights, when they were in Jerusalem (cp. Luke 21:37). After receiving a band of men (John 18:2-3) who were the deputies of the chief priests and Pharisees, vis-à-vis the Jewish authorities at Jerusalem, Judas then led them to the place where Jesus was. Some scholars try to put Roman soldiers into this “band of men” but that is pure conjecture. There is absolutely nothing within any of the Gospel narratives that would indicate Pilate knew of Jesus before he was turned over to him by the Jewish authorities. Therefore, the men Judas led must have been the Temple guard who also acted as police for the city. Read the rest of this entry »
At this point in Jesus’ discussion with his disciples, he makes a special reference to both his death and his resurrection, saying in a very short time the world will no longer see him, vis-à-vis he will be slain and buried, but they will see him. That is, he will rise from the dead and they will witness the fact that he arose from the dead, but the world will not be given that privilege (John 14:19). Moreover, Jesus also disclosed in what manner his disciples’ greater work (John 14:12) would be manifest to the believer. Because Jesus lives, because he was raised from the dead and declared to be the Son of God, they, vis-à-vis those who have believed him, will also live. Thus, Jesus pointed to their own resurrection or new birth (cp. John 3:3) in the spirit. Read the rest of this entry »
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At this point in our study, Judas had left the upper room, and Jesus testified to all that Now, at this moment, as the betrayer was closing the deal to hand Jesus over to his enemies… NOW, the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him (John 13:31). It is as though the deed were already done and Jesus was already crucified and risen from the dead. The act had been set in motion. Nevertheless. we need to keep in mind that, according to the text, the Father had placed “all things” into the hands of Jesus. Jesus, not the betrayer, was in control. Jesus, not the Jewish authorities, was in control of what was to take place. He was to give his life a ransom for all (1Timothy 2:6); they didn’t take it from him (John 10:17-18). They made a secret, evil plan, but that plan was consumed by a higher, holy plan (viz. Exodus 7:12). We know this, because Jesus had sent Judas out to do the deed, he had conspired with the Jewish authorities to do. The deed was theirs, but Jesus set it in motion by sending Judas out into the night to fulfill his (i.e. Judas’) desire (John 13:27). Read the rest of this entry »
At this point in our study of John’s Gospel, we are introduced to the Hellenist Jews, that is, the Jews of the Diaspora who had come to worship at the feast. We met them earlier, but they respected the authority of their leaders at Jerusalem and repeated what they said about Jesus, accusing him of being demonic (John 7:20; cp. 7:25). In the twelfth chapter of John, however, things are different. It was the Jewish authorities who had told them about Jesus’ miracle in raising Lazarus from the dead (John 12:9, 17-18). As I mentioned in my previous study in chapter seven, the Diaspora Jews were intensely loyal to their Jewish leaders at Jerusalem. Now, however, they had found those same leaders to encourage their trust in Jesus as the Messiah. Therefore, they did what their leaders wanted them to do. They began to trust Jesus and went to Philip, asking to see him (John 12:20-21). Philip then took them to Andrew, who seems to be one if the inner group who controlled who received an audience with Jesus (John 12:22; cp. Matthew 19:13; Luke 18:39). Read the rest of this entry »
Most Bible students (scholars included) believe the, so called, Triumphal Entry occurred just after Jesus arrived on top of Mount Olives, as he came from Jericho (Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 1:1-11), but this isn’t so. Moreover, most Bible students (scholars included) believe there was only one entry into Jerusalem, while he was seated “on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Matthew 21:5) but neither is this so! Actually, Jesus came into the eastern gate of Jerusalem in this manner three times that week. The first time, recorded by Matthew, was from Jericho. The second time, the Triumphant Entry (so called) was from Bethany, and this one was recorded by John (John 12:12-19), but on his way he cursed the fig tree (Mark 11:12-14). When he entered the city, he cast out the money changers from the Temple for the second time (Mark 11:15-19). The first time occurred when he came from Jericho (cp. Matthew 21:12-13), after which he went to Bethany (Matthew 21:17; cp. Mark 11:11). Read the rest of this entry »
We are studying the Gospel of John, and we have come to chapter twelve, to Jesus’ final week before his crucifixion. We are told that many of the Jews knew that Jesus was in Martha’s home and came to see both Jesus and Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead (John 12:9). Whenever the word Jews is mentioned in the fourth Gospel, it nearly always refers to the Jewish authorities. It seems obvious that the people were also Jewish, and they feared the Jews (John 9:22), so it makes sense to interpret the Jews as those in authority. It’s only in places where the nation is clearly meant, such the feast of the Jews (John 5:1; 6:4; 7:2) that the word refers to all the Jews. I am making this point because the Jews who came to visit Martha’s home to visit with Jesus and Lazarus were probably of the group who ruled the nation. They were the Jewish authorities; members of the Sanhedrin, rulers of various synagogues etc. The text is making this point for the reader. Read the rest of this entry »
We need to understand that, among the Jews (John 11:45), who had come to comfort Martha and Mary over the death of their brother, there were those who believed Jesus was the Messiah, but even they misunderstood many things that could only be spiritually understood. There were also men who didn’t believe, but who could be convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. Finally, there were those who, no matter what was said or done, would never believe, unless they were able to pull the strings that made Jesus do what they assumed the Messiah should do. Among those who didn’t believe but could be convinced, at least some of them believed after Lazarus arose, but of the rest, some of them went to the Pharisees in Jerusalem to tell them what Jesus had done (John 11:45-46). Read the rest of this entry »
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As Jesus and those with him walked to the gravesite, he still groaned within himself over what had occurred (John 11:38; cp. verse-33). Jesus prayed and God heard him (John 11:41; cp. John 11:4, 14-15). Now he felt the emotional pain of responsibility for the event that his prayer caused to occur. He may not have had Lazarus specifically in mind, when he prayed to the Father, prior to the sickness that fell upon him, but he did pray to the Father to raise the dead through him, in order that the glory of the Father and the Son might be revealed to those willing to believe (John 11:4, 15). When they arrived at the gravesite, it was seen that it was a cave with a great stone rolled in front of the opening, and Jesus told those standing by to remove the stone (John 11:39). Read the rest of this entry »
One of the oddest things about interpreting the New Covenant text, at least to me, is that scholars seem to expect Jesus’ disciples to understand what Jesus is telling them, even though they don’t have the Holy Spirit, yet. Jesus dwells with them (not in them) and teaches them both by word and example, but the only real thing, which they seem to grasp above all else, is the miracles. They know by them that Jesus has been sent by God and that, without a doubt, he is the Messiah. However differently they believe the Messiah is supposed to act, they, and only they, seem to be willing to let Jesus decide who he is and what he should do. All others want him to prove himself, according to their expectations of what is commonly believed about that mysterious person. Read the rest of this entry »
Bethany was about 30 miles from where Jesus was in Bethabara. Jesus and his disciples traveled by foot over land, so the distance to Bethany, from where Jesus was staying, would have normally taken him about a day and a half on foot.[1] If all this is correct, then by the time Jesus received the message that Lazarus was very sick (John 11:1-3), he was already dead, making it impossible for Jesus to have traveled there to heal him before his death. This is known in that Jesus delayed two days before he set out for Bethany, and by the time he arrived, Lazarus had been in the grave four days (John 11:17). Read the rest of this entry »
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In the previous study we came to understand that the death of Lazarus was actually the result of Jesus’ prayer to the Father. I don’t mean to say Jesus actually prayed for his death, but most likely he asked God to let him raise a dead man to life. The reason behind this was, he considered many of the rulers who actually believe he was the Messiah and a teacher sent by God (John 3:1-2; cp. John 10:19-21), didn’t really believe his message of the Gospel of a spiritual Kingdom, one that cannot be perceived through man’s five senses (John 3:3; Luke 17:20-21). They waited for a righteous general of sorts who would rid Israel of their enemies. Their worldview was God intended to raise up such a physical kingdom, but who could embrace or respect a Kingdom they couldn’t see? What kind of kingdom is that among such powerful nations as Rome? It was in this context that Jesus prayed, prior to Lazarus’ sickness and death, and Jesus knew God always hears such prayers (cp. John 11:41-42) that would bring honor to him and the one, whom he sent (John 11:4). Read the rest of this entry »
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