Bible in One Year Day 105 (John 19 - 21, Proverbs 6:25 - 35)

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Day 105:  It is Finished 

Agape Bible Study 

John 19 - 21 

dawn Friday Morning	2. Roman governor	18:28-19:16
	3. Herod Antipas                    Jesus returned to Roman governor	Lk 23:7-12
F          c	II. THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE SON OF GOD	19:17-37
E          o	A.  Jesus' crucifixion	19:17, 18
A          n	B.  Pilate's inscription	19:19-22
S          t.	C.  The Roman soldiers cast lots	19:23-25
T	D.  The gift of Mary to the Church	19:25-27
Friday (3 PM-9th hour)	E.  The Last Cup and His last words	19:28-29
	F.  Christ gives up His Spirit	19:30

Some of the Old Testament prophesies concerning the death of Jesus of Nazareth which are fulfilled in John's Gospel

Aspects of Jesus' Death in John's Gospel	Old Testament Reference
A result of obedience to the Father – 18:11	Psalms 40:8
Announced by Christ – 18:32 [3:14]	Numbers 21:8-9
Betrayed by a friend – John 13:18	Psalm 41:9
Died in place of His people – 18:14	Isaiah 53:4-6
Died with evildoers - 19:18	Isaiah 53:12
Was an innocent victim – 18:39; 19:5, 7	Isaiah 53:9
Was crucified – 19:18	Psalms 22:16
Garment divided – 19:24	Psalm 22:18
Side pierced – 19:37	Zechariah 12:10
No bones broken – 19:33-37	Exodus 12:46; Psalm 34:20 (21)
Was buried in a rich man's tomb – 19:38-42	Isaiah 53:9
Believers healed by the Christ lifted up on the cross – 3:14-17	Wisdom 16:5-7 (referencing Numbers 21:4-9)
Michal Hunt copyright 2001

Please note: The entire 8-day festival, which consisted of the feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, and Firstfruits, were known either as "Passover" or "Unleavened Bread" for the entire week long period of the festival in the first century AD (Matthew 26:2, 17; Mark 14:1; Luke 22:1. Modern Jews and the Mishnah (book of Jewish religious practices completed in the early 3^rd century AD) usually refer to the entire 8-day period as "The Passover," just as St. John does in his Gospel account (John 2:13, 23; 6:4; 11:55 [twice]; 12:1; 13:1; 18:28, 39; 19:14).  St. John never uses the term "Unleavened Bread."

A review of the events of the night Jesus was arrested:

In John 12:1, St. John set the timetable of events leading up to the Passover sacrifice on Nisan 14^th: Six days before the Passover, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus was whom he had raised from the dead.  Six days later (as the ancients count with no 0-place value) is Thursday.  The ancients counted time and days the same way they counted (and we count) objects; for example Jesus was in the tomb three days according to the Gospels from Friday to Sunday, as the ancients count and not as we count today.  Jesus' crucifixion took place the next day on Friday, Nisan 15^th.  This account agrees with the Synoptic Gospels and with John's statement in John 19:31 that Jesus' crucifixion took place on a Friday, the "Day of Preparation" for the Sabbath (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54).  In the Mishnah, the day prior to the Passover is always called "the eve of the Passover" and not preparation day.

Jesus arranged for a room for the Passover meal, and He sent the Apostles Peter and John to make sure that all the necessary preparations were made (Matthew 26:17-19; Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:7-13).  This is not to suggest that they would be responsible for cooking the lamb.  The Passover lamb or kid would be sacrificed at the Temple between 3 and 5PM on Nisan 14^th, and then the body of the victim would be taken to the site of the meal where it would be roasted on a spit of pomegranate wood (Mishnah: Pesahim, 7:1) for the sacrificial meal, which began at sundown.  There were other necessary preparations that needed to be arranged before the Temple sacrificial ceremony, which began at 12 noon.  These arrangements included the preparation of the tables and the couches for reclining, having enough holy water available for the ritual purification, and providing for the wine that was necessary for the four ritual communal cups and additional drinking of wine during the meal; additional consumption of wine was allowed until the 3^rd ritual cup.  In addition, the room must be inspected to make sure that no leaven was to be found on the premises (Mishnah: Pesahim, 11-1:3). Leaven was symbolic of sin, and for the 7 days of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, all leaven was to be removed from every house in Jerusalem.  From this point forward in the Gospels and in Acts of Apostles, Peter and John will be paired together.  This pairing helps us to identify the "beloved", "the unnamed Apostle," as John Zebedee.

Thursday at noon Jesus and His disciples would have attending the great liturgical ceremony at the Temple in Jerusalem.  The Passover sacrifice would proceed immediately after the afternoon Tamid service, which was an hour earlier in order to provide enough time for all the lambs and kids that would be sacrificed.  

After each Passover lamb or kid was sacrificed, the blood was collected in cups and poured out on God's holy altar of sacrifice in the courtyard of the priests.  This sacrifice of the Passover victims in the Temple was the last legitimate old covenant animal sacrifice.  

The Passover sacrifice in the spring of 30AD signaled the end of the old Sinai Covenant sacrificial system.  

The next sacrifice would be the only true and pure sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, and it would take place in concert with the Tamid, the foremost of animal sacrifices for the covenant people.  

The sacrifice of the Tamid foreshadowed the Passion of the Christ for all the centuries the covenant people were waiting for the Messiah.  It was the only sacrifice that required a single, unblemished male lamb offered with unleavened bread and red wine with the exception of the lamb sacrificed on the Feast of Firstfruits (also offered with unleavened bread and red wine), the feast which fell during the Sunday of the 8-days of Passover/Unleavened Bread.  All other sacrifices, including the Passover victim which could be a lamb or a kid, required either multiple lambs offered at one time, or rams, ewes, or cattle.

The Sacrificial Meal of the Passover lamb or kid was structured around 4 cups of sacramental red wine shared communally by the faithful assembled for the meal (Mishnah: Pesahim, 10:2-7) .  According to the Law, only members of the covenant family could attend and eat this sacrificial meal (Exodus 1247-51), however, membership in the covenant was extended to anyone who submitted himself to circumcision (male) and to ritual immersion and promised fidelity to the covenant commands and prohibitions.

The Celebration of the Ancient Seder

1. The meal opened with prayers and the drinking of the first cup (mixed with a little water) called the Cup of Sanctification.  This was followed by the first ritual hand washing and the eating of the first dipping of the bitter herbs (Mishnah: Pesahim 10:1-2).
2. The second cup was the Cup of Forgiveness (mixed with a little water), which is poured out but not passed.  Then came the four ritual questions, the story of the first Passover, and the singing of Palms 113-114 before this cup was blessed, passed, and consumed (Mishnah: Pesahim 10:3-10:6).
3. After the drinking of the second cup came the second ritual hand washing followed by the eating of the unleavened bread, bitter herb, fruit mixture (charoset), and the lamb.  The lamb or kid was to be completely consumed, with no bones broken, and afterward no more food was to be eaten (Mishnah: Pesahim 7:11). Hands were washed a third time and then the most important cup, the climax of the meal, the Cup of Blessing (also called the Cup of Redemption) was mixed with a little water, poured, blessed and passed communally (Mishnah: Pesahim 10:7; 1 Corinthians 10:16).  This cup represented the blood of the sacrificed victim that was poured out on the altar at the liturgical service and which symbolized the "sign" under which the Israelites were saved on the night of the first Passover. 
4. At the conclusion of the meal the 4^th cup was poured out (Mishnah: Pesahim 10:7).  It was the Cup of Acceptance (mixed with a little water), which sealed and united those present to Yahweh through the Passover Sacrifice, continuing the people's acceptance of the covenant for another year. The assembly sang the remainder of the Hallel Psalms 115-118, the faithful drank the 4^th cup and the host announced out: "It is finished [fulfilled]".

Luke's Account of the Last Supper Luke 22:14-20
Verse 14: When the time came he took his place at table, and the apostles with him.  And he said to them. 
Verse 15: 'I have ardently long to eat this Passover with you before I suffer';
Verse 16: 'because, I tell you, I shall not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.'
Verse 17: Then, taking a cup, he gave thanks and said, 'Take this and share it among you because from now on,  
Verse 18: 'I tell you, I shall never again drink wine until the kingdom of God comes.' 
Verse 19: Then he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.
Verse 20: He did the same with the cup after supper, and said, 'This cup is the New Covenant in my blood poured out for you.'

Question:  What connection do you see between what Jesus said about the cup of His blood in verse 20 and the blood of the sacrificed lambs and kids at the Temple that afternoon?

Answer: The connection is between the sacrifice of the Passover victims and the "pouring out" of the cups of the blood of the lambs at the Temple and Jesus' words concerning His sacrifice and the "pouring out" of His blood for us in the Eucharistic cup of the New Covenant.  The sacrifice of Eucharist is a true, unbloody sacrifice.

Question: In this passage from Luke's Gospel, how many cups of wine are mentioned? 

Answer: Two cups in verses 17 and 20.  Luke is the only Gospel writer to mention two cups.  The first cup Luke mentions is probably the Cup of Forgiveness and the second, the Cup of His precious blood, is the Cup of Blessing: Paul writes in 1 Corinthians: Is not the Cup of Blessing we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ; and is not the bread we break a sharing in the body of Christ?  Because the loaf of bread is one, we many though we are, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf (1 Corinthians 10:16 [New American translation]).

Question: What statement does Jesus make in verse 18 after the passing of the cup, which most scholars assume is the Cup of Forgiveness, and before the passing of the third cup, the Cup of Blessing?  What is the significance of this statement?

Answer: He declared that He will never again drink wine until the kingdom of God comes.  It is significant that He makes this statement before He passes the Cup of Blessing.  Luke wants us to understand that the Cup of Blessing is no longer wine but is the very blood of Jesus the Lamb of God. 

In the Synoptic Gospels, this statement comes after the passing of His precious blood.  Since St. John does not comment on this difference, as he does not throughout his Gospel when he thinks the other Gospels have adequately related an event, it is likely that Jesus made this declaration twice: before and after passing the Cup of His precious blood.    This statement is significant because it means Jesus could not have taken the 4^th Cup, the Cup of Acceptance, which must be drunk in order to close the sacrificial meal.  Each of the Synoptic Gospels record that the Psalms were sung and then the assembly left for the Mount of Olives without officially ending the Passover meal by consuming the 4^th Cup and without the host closing the meal with the ritual statement "It is finished" [fulfilled or completed].

Question:  Why is it significant that the Passover meal had not ended, and what is the connection to Jesus' sacrifice?  Hint: what happened when Jesus separated His body from His blood in what appeared to be bread and wine?

Answer:  The separation of the body from its blood is the beginning of death.  Jesus did not close the Passover meal as an end of the Old Covenant sacrificial system because His death would be the end of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New Covenant "in His blood", which He promised in Luke 22:20. 

The question is, "Where does Jesus sacrifice begin and what is the connection between His sacrifice and the Passover?"  If Jesus' death is the fulfillment of the Passover sacrifice then His Passion must begin in the Upper Room when He says "This is My Body and this cup is the Blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant".  When body and blood are separated death begins!  Jesus' Eucharistic Sacrifice as the true Passover Lamb of the New Covenant begins in the Upper Room, but it is not "finished" there!  That is why Jesus would not have uttered the closing words of the Sacrificial Meal: "It is finished!"  The Passover can't be finished, or completed, until the true sacrifice is fulfilled.

The true sacrifice of this feast is what Jesus promised in John chapter 6 in the Bread of Life Discourse when He said: Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise that person up on the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in that person (John 6:54-56).

Question:  What was the purpose of the sacrifice of animals in the Old Covenant?  Was it primarily the death of the animal or is there something more?  

Answer: In Leviticus 17:11 God states the reason for animal sacrifice: For the life of the creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you for performing the rite of expiation on the altar for your lives, for blood is what expiates for a life.  But in Psalms 51 the Holy Spirit inspired writer says: Sacrifice gives you no pleasure, burnt offering you do not desire.  Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit, a broken, contrite heart you never scorn.  The blood of the sacrifice as atonement for sin is only the first step.  The desired result of sacrifice is the restoration of communion with God.  It is the covenantal union-the restoration of the family bond, the child of God reunited with God the Father-this is the desired result.  This is the desired result of the Passover sacrifice and sacrificial meal in particular.  The sacrifice was the first step but the desire was the mystical bond with God through the eating of the sacrifice in a sacred meal.  Christ is the Passover victim slain for our sins, fulfilling the Old Covenant Passover. At the first Passover in Egypt the victim was slain, the blood was "poured out" into the threshold, the blood was smeared on the door with a hyssop branch, the blood making a cross from the threshold to the lintel and from doorpost to doorpost.  Then the covenant people went into the house and they ate the sacred meal of the victim of sacrifice!  It was not enough to make the sacrifice-the flesh of the victim had to be consumed (Exodus 12:7-10).  It isn't enough for Jesus to die a sacrificial death-He must be consumed if He is the true Lamb of the Passover of the New Covenant people!  We must feast on the flesh of Jesus, the Bread of Life, hidden under the form and appearance of unleavened bread, which becomes for us nothing less the Jesus the Christ, the true Lamb of the New Covenant Passover who provides for us, through His sacrificial death, a true union with the Trinity in the mystical bond of the New Covenant family of God.  This is what St Paul meant when he wrote to the Church at Corinth: For our Passover has been sacrificed, that is, Christ; let us keep the feast....(1 Corinthians 5:7).  Let us then fulfill our covenant union with God and feast on the flesh and blood of Christ, the Lamb of God!

But what about that 4^th Cup that Jesus did not take in the Upper Room?  For the Host of the sacrificial meal to not take the last cup and to not make the final pronouncement would be like a priest celebrating Mass and forgetting the closing benediction.  Jewish scholars rightly point out, if there was no 4^th cup, it couldn't have been the Passover meal.  But this 4^th cup was a cup Jesus vowed He would not take until "I come into My Kingdom" (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; and Luke 22:18).  It is a cup He cannot take until His sacrifice is complete. But there is another cup that Jesus did vow to take.  It was the symbolic cup that He accepted in the Garden of Gethsemane in His "Prayer of Agony" after Jesus and His disciples left the Upper Room of the Last Supper to pray in a garden on the slopes of the Mt. of Olives. 

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus, the second Adam, faced a covenant ordeal just as the first Adam faced a covenant ordeal in the Garden of Eden when sin first entered the world.  In Jesus' covenant ordeal, His faithfulness to God will result in destroying the separation from God brought about through the disobedience of the first Adam (Romans 5:14; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49). 

Question:  What prayer does Jesus make three times in the Garden of Gethsemane?  Hint: see Matthew 26: 39, 42, and 44

Answer: In the garden at Gethsemane Jesus prayed three times: My Father, [...] if it is possible, let this cup pass me by.  Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it.

In the books of the Old Testament Prophets, God's holy prophets used four reoccurring image clusters to express Yahweh's relationship, or lack of relationship, with His covenant people.  The drinking of wine is one of these image clusters that express the joy of the drinking of wine as the image of the bond of a faithful covenant relationship.  

When the covenant people rebelled against God and misuse His blessings, the prophets expressed this rebellion in images of becoming drunk with wine.  The rebellion imagery is followed by judgment imagery in the drinking of the "Cup of Yahweh's Wrath", and finally the image of repentance and restoration which is the covenant people rejoicing in the best "New Wine" of the restored covenant.  The cup that Jesus sorrowed over in the garden is the "Cup of God's Wrath" which we all should drink, judged dead in our sins, but which Jesus will drink for our justification through His Passion and sacrificial death.

The true Passover sacrifice to redeem God's people from slavery to sin began in the Upper Room but it will end on the Cross.

As is John's practice, the "Prayer of Agony" in the garden and Jesus' trial before the Sanhedrin, covered in the Synoptic Gospels, are not repeated in the 4^th Gospel.

Crowning with Thorns (Maarten van Heemskerck)

John 19:1-11 The Trial of Jesus before Pilate continues:

Pilate ordered his soldiers to have Jesus scourged in the apparent hope that this sufficiently terrible punishment would satisfy the Chief priests and Pharisees (Luke 23:16).

The Romans had three forms of bodily punishment.  These are associated with beatings with fists, canes or whips. The first is known as fustigatio or beating with fists, the second as flagellatio or flogging, and the third as verberatio or scourging; all in ascending gradation.  The most fearsome whip was the flagrum that was used in gladiatorial combats as well as an instrument of punishment.  It was a whip with thongs tipped with dumb-bell shaped metal pellets that ripped and shredded flesh.   Beating was used as a form of corrective punishment in itself but more severe punishment was a part of the sentence for one condemned for a capital offence.  The figure of the man on the Shroud of Turin had been beaten all over his body by a Roman flagrum. 

The beating and the crown of thorns were historical acts that had been prophesized by the Old Testament prophets as well as by Jesus Himself.  The prophet Isaiah wrote in his prophecies of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh:

• I have offered my back to those who struck me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; I have not turned my face away from insult and spitting  (Isaiah 50:6-the Greek Septuagint translates this passage as: I gave my cheeks to be slapped...)
• As many people were aghast at him-he was so inhumanly disfigured that he no longer looked like a man... (Isaiah 52:14).
• He was despised, the lowest of men, a man of sorrows, familiar with suffering, one from whom, as it were, we averted our gaze, despised, for whom he had no regard.  Yet ours were the sufferings he was bearing, ours the sorrows he was carrying, while we thought of him as someone being punished and struck with affliction by God;  whereas he was being wounded for our rebellions, crushed because of our guilt; the punishment reconciling us fell on him, and we have been healed by his bruises (Isaiah 53:4-5).

The Roman soldiers made a "crown" – a sign of "kingship," to mock the man who the Jewish crowd, several days earlier (Sunday), had claimed to be "King of the Jews" (John 12:13).

They made it with thorns (Matthew 27:29. The declaration of the soldiers in John 19:3: This, then, is the King of the Jews!  is verbally identical in the Greek with Matthew 27:29.  The soldiers were probably imitating the crown of laurel leaves worn by the Roman Emperor, but thorns in the Old Testament were figuratively used to describe the results of sin.  

When man fell from grace God cursed the soil of the land and said: Accursed be the soil because of you!  Painfully will you get your food from it as long as you live.  It will yield you brambles [thorns] and thistles (Genesis 3:18), and in Hosea 10:8 the prophet wrote when judgment is visited upon the covenant people for breaking Yahweh's covenant: thorns and thistles will grow over their altars.  

The Roman soldiers completed this mock coronation with a "purple robe," another sign of kingship, and they cried out "Ave" ("Hail") as they would to Caesar, as they slapped Jesus in the face.

Question: John wants to draw our attention to the irony behind these events.  What is it that is so ironic about the treatment Jesus received from the gentile Romans who not only acknowledge the Roman Caesar as their king but also worship him as a god?

Answer: Despite this tragic parody of the Romans, the truth is that only Jesus of Nazareth is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

Pilate had gone into the Praetorium to order that Jesus be taken away to be scourged, and now he came out to the courtyard to make another appeal to the Jews to let the scourging be the end of Jesus' punishment.  Pilate showed a strange reluctance to condemn Jesus, and for a second time Pilate declared: "I find no case against him." 

Perhaps Pilate's reluctance was generated by an unwillingness to cooperate with the Jewish authorities, or perhaps it was because Pilate had spoken with his wife who told him of a dream she had about this innocent man, or perhaps it was because the cold heart of a Roman soldier had been moved in the presence of God.   

It cannot be overlooked that Pilate's wife must have had some influence.  St. Matthew recorded: Now as he was seated in the chair of judgment, his wife sent him a message, 'Have nothing to do with that upright man; I have been extremely upset today by a dream that I had about him' (Matthew 27:19).  Tradition has given her the name Procula Claudia.  A non-canonical apocryphal Gospel, the Gospel of Nicodemus, describes her as a convert to Judaism.  Greek Orthodox Christians as well as Coptic Christians place Procula Claudia and Pilate in their Catalogue of the Saints.  Perhaps Procula Claudia had been a Jewish convert, like the wife of the previous Roman governor, Saturninus (Antiquities of the Jews, 18.3.5). It is also possible that she had not only known of Jesus but had heard Him preach.  In any event, pagan Romans were extremely superstitious and the fact that his wife had a dream about this man could have made Pilate reluctant to condemn Him.

Pilate called out "Ecce homo" ("Here is the man"), by which he meant, "See the poor fellow!" Scholars identify this statement as a classical Latin expression of pity.

Question: What is Pilate's motive in exhibiting Jesus in this way before the Jewish authorities?  What is the result?

Answer: He is making an attempt to move the priests and Pharisees to compassion by exhibiting a beaten, disfigured, and disgraced Jesus. Pilate's statement that he found Jesus to be innocent only enflamed the anger of the crowd.  Instead of moving them to compassion, the Jews called for Jesus' crucifixion-a form of capital punishment only available in Judea under Roman justice. 

Question:  Why did Pilate tell them to Take him yourselves and crucify him when he knew the Sanhedrin did not have that power?  The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus reports in Antiquities of the Jews that from the time the Romans took control of Judea, only Rome had the power to execute offenders of the Law.

Answer: Most historians and Biblical scholars believe Pilate, in his frustration, is taunting the Jewish authorities as he did previously in John 18:31, although he now adds "and crucify him".  Pilate knows that the Sanhedrin cannot legally do this.

Question: How many times has Pilate pronounced Jesus "not guilty"?

Answer:  This is the third time Pilate has pronounced that he can find no just cause for a death sentence to be imposed on this man (John 18:38 and 19:4).  St. John, like St. Luke (3:4, 14, & 22) is careful to record that Pilate had confirmed Jesus' innocence three different times during the trial.

Question: Now the chief priests give an unexpected response to Pilate's taunt.  For the first time they actually lay out the charge against Jesus.  What do they tell Pilate?

Answer: They tell Pilate that Jesus has blasphemed by claiming to be the Son of God and that according to Jewish law Jesus must be put to death (Mishnah: Sanhedrin 7:4-7:5).  It was the Roman practice to respect the customs and laws of their conquered provinces and the Jewish authorities remind Pilate of this obligation on his part as Rome's representative.

Question: What is ironic about the call of the priests for strict observation of Jewish law?  Hint: see Leviticus 24:16, Deuteronomy 17:7 and Mark 14:56.

Answer: They are unable to legally convict Jesus according to the Jewish law.  First, the Jewish authorities did not call a legal assembly of the Sanhedrin.  For a capital case, twenty-three judges must be present, and the trial must be open to the people (Numbers 35:24-25; Mishnah: Sanhedrin 6:1; 7:4-7:5).  Next, even though Jesus is condemned by the Sanhedrin for blasphemy by claiming to be the Son of God (also see John 8:53 & 10:36), Leviticus 24:16 directs that a blasphemer should be stoned to death (although the Mishnah directed that the offender is to be stoned first and then hung: Mishnah: Sanhedrin 6:4).  However, the chief priests knew this ordinance of the Sinai Covenant could not be enacted in Jesus' case because two or three witnesses against the accused must agree on the guilt and provide evidence in their testimony (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15).  Only those who bore witness in agreement against the legally condemned person could cast the first stones (Deuteronomy 17:7; Mishnah: Sanhedrin 6:4).  The witnesses brought forward to testify against Jesus did not agree (Mark 14:56), and therefore, there were no witnesses qualified to cast the first stones.  The Sanhedrin, unable to convict Jesus under Jewish law, was content to let that responsibility lie with Pilate.  This article of the Law of the Sinai Covenant explains Jesus' challenge to the crowd in the case of the adulterous woman in John 8:7-11.  Perhaps it is not so much a case of none of them being guilty of sin as none of them being able offer themselves as witnesses against her because none of them had actually seen her commit an act of adultery.  If that was the case, there was no one present who was qualified to cast the first stones.  The punishment for offering false testimony was excommunication (Numbers 15:30; Deuteronomy 19:16-21).

Question: When Pilate heard the Jewish authorities call for Jesus' crucifixion why was it that his "fears increased"?  What has caused Pilate to be afraid?

Answer: The cause of Pilate's fear is not clear. 

• It could be his superstitious nature. To a Roman familiar with Greek and Roman culture and religion, the title of "Son of God" would indicate a divine man with supernatural powers.  Certainly Pilate heard of the miracles Jesus had been working the past 3 years, and his wife had already indicated that this man had some power over her dreams.  St. John Chrysostom, a Bishop and a Roman citizen of the 4^th century, commented on this possibility as the reason for Pilate's fear in his commentary on this passage: his wife's dream should have been sufficient to terrify him (Homilies on the Gospel of St John, LXXXV.1).
• Or, perhaps the root of his fear is political.  The only "Son of god" a Roman could acknowledge was the current Caesar.  If he allowed another to carry a title that rightfully belonged to Caesar, it would be a violation that could be viewed as traitorous, a charge his enemies could report to Rome. 
• It is also possible Pilate feared in refusing to honor the Jewish authority's request to order the death of a man the Jews found guilty of blasphemy under Jewish Law that Pilate was violating respect for the local religious laws and practices, which were protected under the Roman provincial justice system.  
• And finally, it is possible that, having realized that the chief priests and scribes were determined to obtain Jesus' death that Pilate had become afraid that now he would not be successful in his plan to prevent the death of Jesus by releasing Barabbas.

Re-entering the Pratertorium for the 3^rd time Pilate questioned Jesus a final time.

Question: What did Pilate mean when he asked Jesus where He came from?  Hint: see John 1:11-13

Answer: Some would say Pilate could simply be asking, "Where is your hometown," but most Biblical scholars indicate that the Greek text suggests Pilate is instead asking "What is the secret of your origin?  Who are you really?"  After all, Pilate knew Jesus came from the Galilee which is why he tried sending Jesus to Herod Antipas for judgment (Luke 23:8-12).  The question of Jesus' origin has already been asked 6 times in John's Gospel:

• The question was first asked by the members of the wedding party at Cana in 2:9
• Then by the Samaritan woman in 4:11
• Followed the Apostles and the multitude in 6:5
• This question was also asked three different times by the Jewish leaders in 7:27f, in 8:14, and in 9:29. 
• Now, for the seventh time in St. John's Gospel, Pilate asks Jesus about His origin.

Pilate is faced with the mystery of Jesus' origin, which is the theme of John's entire Gospel!  John 1:11-13: He came to his own and his own people did not accept him.  But to those who did accept him he gave power to become children of God, to those who believed in his name who were born not from human stock or human desire or human will but from God himself.

Question: Jesus' silence before Pilate and before Herod Antipas in Luke 23:8-12 is the fulfillment of what Old Testament prophecy?

Answer: Isaiah 53:7: ...he never opened his mouth, like a lamb led to the slaughter-house, like a sheep dumb before its shearers, he never opened his mouth.

Jesus' demeanor of complete control and presence of mind must have unnerved this Roman governor so used to men acting subservient or cringing in fear in his presence because, as he reminded Jesus, he had the power over life and death.  

Question: When Pilate told Jesus that He was completely in his power what was Jesus' reply?

Answer: Jesus told Pilate he [Pilate] had no real power: Jesus replied, 'You would have no power over me at all if it had not been given you from above...  Jesus' power came "from above"; the word in the Greek is anothen. It is the same word Jesus used in speaking of re-birth with Nicodemus in chapter 3.  Jesus told Pilate that no one could have power over Him unless it was willed from heaven; any power over Jesus must come from God.  

John 19: 12-16: Jesus is condemned to be crucified

Pilate exited the Praetorium a third time to return to the courtyard.  Jesus' words had a profound impact on the Roman administrator, and he was determined to release the man he had already pronounced innocent.  The Greek word expressing Pilate's desire to release Jesus can be translated as "was anxious," or "was eager," or "was striving."  In Acts of Apostles 3:13, St. Peter comments on Pilate's intentions when he says to the Jewish crowds that it was ...Jesus whom you handed over and then disowned in the presence of Pilate after he had given his verdict to release him.

Question: But what threat did the Jewish authorities use to counter Pilate's desire to free Jesus?

Answer: They threatened Pilate with Caesar's judgment.  

Pilate seated Jesus on the judgment seat at the place St. John identified by two names: Lithostrotos, which in Greek means "the pavement" (a name also used in the Septuagint translation in 2 Chronicles 7:3 for the pavement of Solomon's temple) and the Aramaic name Gabbatha, meaning "mound or high place," which may not refer to the "pavement" area specifically but in general to the location of the judgment seat on the height of the Antonia fortress which overlooked the Temple area or to an upper hall in Herod's palace.

John 19:14b-16:  'Here is your king,' said Pilate to the Jews.  But they shouted, 'Away with him, away with him, crucify him.'  Pilate said, 'Shall I crucify your king?'  The chief priests answered, 'We have no king except Caesar.'  So at that Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified."

Question: How does Pilate taunt the Jewish leaders one last time?

Answer: By asking, "Shall I crucify your king?"

Question:  What do the Jewish leaders call out to Pilate and what is the horrible implication of their reply?

Answer:  The chief priests answered, 'We have no king except Caesar.' In the Sinai Covenant, Yahweh set Israel aside to be a holy nation who would worship Him as their only God and their true King.  In the Old Testament, Yahweh was Israel's true King  (see Deuteronomy 33:5; Numbers 23:21; 1Kings 22:19; Isaiah 6:5), but when the people of Israel wanted to be like their neighbors and asked the prophet Samuel for a king of their own, God allowed Israel to have a human king who, like David, was anointed to rule as His representative.  Now the Jews shouted out that they had no King, and by inference, no god, except the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar who was acknowledged as the son of a god (Augustus) by the Roman people. Their statement,  We have no king except Caesar, is a major breach of the Covenant!  It is a violation of the Ten Commandments!

John 19:16: So at that Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

It is important to remember that the Jews collectively are not responsible for Jesus' death.  No human agency had power over Jesus.  This was God's plan.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:  The Jews are not collectively responsible for Jesus' death: The historical complexity of Jesus' trial is apparent in the Gospel accounts.  The personal sin of the participants (Judas, the Sanhedrin, Pilate) is known to God alone.  Hence we cannot lay responsibility for the trial on the Jews in Jerusalem as a whole, despite the outcry of a manipulated crowd and the global reproaches contained in the apostles' calls to conversion after Pentecost.  Jesus himself, in forgiving them on the cross, and Peter in following suit, both accept 'the ignorance' of the Jews of Jerusalem and even their leaders.  Still less can we extend responsibility to other Jews of different times and places, based merely on the crowd's cry: "His blood be on us and on our children!"  a formula for ratifying a judicial sentence.  As the Church declared at the Second Vatican Council: 'Neither all Jews indiscriminately at that time, nor Jews today, can be charged with the crimes committed during his Passion....  The Jews should not be spoken of as rejected or accursed as if this followed from Holy Scripture.'  All sinners were the authors of Christ's Passion (CCC# 597).

John 19:17-22

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 27:31; Mark 15:20).
• There were women who mourned for Him along the walk of sorrows (Luke 23:27)
• Simon of Cyrene helped carry His cross (Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:21; Luke 23:26).
• Jesus final warning to the crowd (Luke 23:28-30).
• St. Mark's information that it was the 3^rd hour, 9AM, when they crucified Him (Mark 15:25).
• The offer of the drink of wine mixed with sedatives before He was crucified (Matthew 27:33-34; Mark 15:23)
• The mocking of the crowd (Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-37)
• The repentance of the good thief (Luke 23:39-43).
• The other various sayings from the cross recorded in the Synoptics (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:34, 43, 46).
• The reactions of the crowd around the Cross (Matthew 27:47-49; Mark 15:35-39).
• That it turned dark from the 6^th to the 9^th hour =12 noon to 3PM (Matthew 27:45; Mark 13:33; Luke 23:44).
• The suggesting that He was seeking deliverance by Elijah (Matthew 27:49; Mark 15:45).
• Jesus' other statements from the cross and His final, loud cry*, which could be just prior to John's recorded statement: "It is finished/fulfilled" (Matthew 27:46, 50*; Mark 15:34; Luke 23:34; 46*).
• The tearing of the Temple Veil (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
• The cosmic signs at the moment of Jesus' death: eclipse, earthquake, tombs opened (Matthew 27:51-53).
• Reaction of the centurion (Matthew 27:54; Mark 15:39; Luke 23:47).
• Repentance of the crowd going home (Luke 23:48).
• Pilate's investigation to affirm Jesus is indeed dead (Mark 15:44-45).
• The wrapping of His body in a new linen shroud (Matthew 27:59; Mark 15:46; Luke 23:52-53).
• The presence of the women of Galilee at the tomb (Matthew 27:61; Mark 15:47; Luke 23:55).
• The purchase of the spices by the women (Luke 23:56).

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 the fourth Gospel:

ST. JOHN 'S 7 SYMBOLIC IMAGES OF THE CRUCIFIXION

1. The Multi-language titulus
2. The Seamless Garment
3. Mary, "the Woman" of Genesis 3:15 and the mother of the New Israel
4. The Hyssop and the Wine
5. His Death and the Gift of His Spirit
6. His bones unbroken
7. The Water and the Blood

The Aramaic name of the crucifixion site is gulgulta meaning "skull." St. Luke does not identify the site by this name; the identification as Golgotha is only found in Matthew 27:33; Mark 15:22 and here in John 19:17. St. 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 that Pilate ordered to be place on Jesus' cross, probably as they looked down upon scene of Jesus' crucifixion from the top of the city wall.

At the time of Jesus' crucifixion, Golgotha was located outside the walls of the holy city of Jerusalem. It was forbidden to contaminate the sanctity of the holy city by the presence of the dead. Therefore no one could be buried or executed inside the walls of Jerusalem, which was considered to be "the camp of God" (Leviticus 24:14-23). In the years that followed Jesus' crucifixion and the subsequent destruction of the city walls in 70 AD, new walls were built that expanded the size of the city. The current city walls were built in the 16^th century AD by order of the Ottoman sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent.

Today the Crucifixion site, known as Golgotha, and the site of Jesus' tomb are enclosed within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. It is a church that was originally constructed in the 4^th century AD after Queen Helena, the mother of the first Christian Roman Emperor, had visited Jerusalem and with the help the Bishop of Jerusalem, identified the sites of Jesus' death and burial. During the course of Jerusalem's turbulent history, the church was destroyed and rebuilt several times.

St. Mark records: They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it. Then they crucified him, and shared out his clothing, casting lots to decide what each should get. It was the third hour when they crucified him (Mark 15:24-25).

At the 3^rd hour (9AM our time) on Friday, Nisan the 15^th, the gates of the Jerusalem Temple opened 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 had just been sacrificed and offered up on the Altar of Yahweh.

The sacrifice of the Tamid lamb, the most important of all the sacrifices of the Sinai Covenant, is uniquely linked to Jesus' sacrifice on the altar of the cross. The sacrifice of the two lambs, offered as a whole burnt offering, one at 9AM and the second at 3PM, was so important that the entire day was structured around the sacrifices. 

SCHEDULE OF THE TAMID SACRIFICE AND THE TEMPLE LITURGICAL SERVICE
JEWISH TIME	ROMAN TIME
FIRST HOUR	DAWN
After the high priest prepared the altar, (Exodus 29:38-42; Leviticus 6:1-6; Mishnah: Tamid 1:2) the first male lamb is brought out and tied to the altar at dawn (Mishnah: Tamid 3:2-3:3).
THIRD HOUR	9AM
The first lamb is sacrificed (Mishnah: Tamid 3:7; Edersheim, The Temple, chapter 7, pg..108)	The Temple gates open for the communal "Shacharit" (morning) prayer service (Acts 2:15). Individual morning prayer may be recited until noon (Mishnah 4:1).
SIXTH HOUR	NOON
The second lamb is brought out and tied to the altar at noon (Mishnah: Tamid 4:1).	The lamb is given a drink from a gold cup and is tied to the altar until the time of sacrifice (Mishnah: Tamid, 3:4B).
NINTH HOUR	3PM
The second lamb is sacrificed (Antiquities of the Jews 14.4.3(14:65); Philo Special Laws I, XXXV [169])	3PM is the second hour of prayer (Acts 3:1; 10:9) "Minchah" (gift-offering); also called the hour of confession.(2)
M. Hunt, copyright 1995

Crucifixion (Fra Angelico

The Crucifixion

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 was so severe that it has given us the word "excruciating." The usual procedure followed a set format in which 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. A crucifixion 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 recorded many crucifixions in his books and also mentioned 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).

Question: Saints Matthew and Mark include the information that Jesus was 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.

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, claimed to have 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 became 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. Writing from right to left was the standard practice for Hebrew, but it was 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.

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 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 indeed 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 (Aramaic), the international language (Greek), and the language of the world super-power (Roman). Jesus is the universal King of Kings.

 John 19:23-27

After they nail Him to the cross Jesus prayed for those who crucified Him: Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). The Jewish leaders and the soldiers mocked and jeered at Him. This was the first of the seven last utterances of Jesus from the cross:

JESUS' LAST SEVEN STATAEMENTS FROM THE CROSS

Scripture Passage	Jesus' statement
#1 Luke 23:34	Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.
#2 Luke 23:43	In truth I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.
#3 John 19:25	'Woman, this is your son.' Then to the disciple he said, 'This is your mother.'
#4 Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34	Eli, eli, lama sabachthani." Mark uses the Aramaic "eloi," which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
#5 John 19:28	I am thirsty.
#6 Luke 23:46	Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.*
#7 John 19:30	It is fulfilled (finished).*

*it is difficult to know which of these two statements came last.

Question: What was the significance of Jesus' prayer on behalf of His enemies? 
Answer: Under the Old Covenant there could only be forgiveness for unintentional sin. Jesus was 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 four Gospels all list the women who stood with Mary near the cross:

Matthew 27:56;28:1	Mark 15:40, 47; 16:1	Luke 23:49-50; 24:10	John 19:25-26
-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	-Mary His mother -His mother's kinswoman (sister) + -Mary of Clopas -Mary Magdala

*Joanna was the wife of Cuza, Herod Antipas' steward.

John 19:28-30: After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: 'I am thirsty.' 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'; and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

John 19:28: After this, Jesus knew that everything had now been completed and, so that the scripture should be completely fulfilled, he said: 'I AM THIRSTY.'

In this moment, Jesus presents Himself as the spotless Lamb of sacrifice, offered in atonement for the sins of the world so that mankind can be restored and welcomed back into fellowship with God. In the Temple liturgy the second lamb of the Tamid was given one final drink before it was sacrificed, in atonement for the sins of the covenant people and restoration of their fellowship with God.

Question: How is it that Scripture has been completed or fulfilled (John 19:28)? Hint: look back to the previous verses and to the promise in 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 and likeness" of God. These spiritual children 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 on the Gospel of St. John 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 elevated to her intended role: His mother, the symbol of the New Israel, was denied a role at Cana because his hour had not yet come. Now that his hour has come, she is given a role as the mother of the Beloved Disciple, i.e., of the Christian (Anchor Bible Commentary: The Gospel According to John, page 913).

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, 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 same Greek verb form (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon; Brown, 908, 927).

John 19:28b: 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 during the Last Supper that He would not drink wine again until He came into His kingdom (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:18-19). 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 that this is the last statement even though I have listed it as the 6th. These words are from Psalm 31:5: ..into your hands I commit my spirit, by you have I been redeemed.

John 19:29-30: 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 altar of the cross; the first gift was the Virgin 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.

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 3^rd of the four ritual cups of the Passover meal (the Feast of Unleavened Bread), the Cup of Blessing (1Corinthians 10:16). During the Last Supper two of the four cups are mentions in Luke 22:17 and the cup of His Blood in verse 20.

In the prescribed ritual of the sacred meal of the Passover victim, there was a 4^th ritual cup that closed the meal and sealed the covenant for another year. This cup was called the Cup of Acceptance. It was after consuming this final 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 (Matthew 26:29; Mark 14:25; Luke 22:17), He could not have taken the 4^th cup at the Last Supper. Therefore, He could not have officially, according to custom, 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 used to give Jesus the drink of sour wine? What was the symbolic importance of this detail? Hint: see Exodus 12:22; Numbers 19:18; Psalm 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 sons inside the house eating the roasted lamb were saved. The smeared blood extending 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), the same words Jesus used in the Last Supper when He offered those assembled His Precious Blood (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; and Luke 22:20).
3. The passage in Numbers 19:18 recorded the use of hyssop in ritual purification for those who were contaminated by a dead body. Such ritual contamination left the covenant member literally "dead" to their community until they could be purified on the third and seventh days (a double resurrection) 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 the Sacrament of Christian baptism we experience our first resurrection through re-birth in water and the Spirit, and at the end of time we look forward to our second resurrection when body and spirit are rejoined. 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 to emphasize the seriousness of the covenant prohibition, but the violation of the command not to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree literally condemned Adam and all his descendants to a double death. 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, referred to in Scripture as the "second death" (Revelation 2:11; 20:6; 21:8). Jesus' Precious Blood is the cleansing agent, which the hyssop and holy water of the Old Covenant symbolized. It is His Precious Blood that purifies us from all sins: Purify me with hyssop till I am clean, wash me whiter than snow (Psalm 51:7).

Just as the hyssop was used in the ratification of the Old Covenant in the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrificial victim on the altar and the people to form one covenant family, in the climax of Jesus' crucifixion the hyssop branch was symbolically used in the ratification of the New Covenant in the blood sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. It is His Precious Blood that transforms and unites the New Covenant people into God's Holy Covenant family-the Universal Church!

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 4^th Cup, the Cup of Acceptance, has been consumed. What is the symbolic significance?

Answer: The wine Jesus drank from the hyssop branch was the 4^th Cup of the Passover. In the offering up of His perfect sacrifice, Jesus came into His Kingdom; all was fulfilled, as He announced in John 19:28, and therefore He took the Cup of Acceptance and called out that "It is fulfilled or finished." In this statement: "Teltelestai" in John 19:30 Jesus used the same verb that He used when He spoke of Scripture being fulfilled in John 19:28.

What is the IT that has been fulfilled or finished? (THE OLD COVENENT HAS BEEN FULFILLED WITH THE SACRIFIC OF THE PERFECT LAMB) Many Christians would answer that justification and redemption are fulfilled in His sacrificial death, but in Romans 4:25 St. Paul wrote: ...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. In his fourteen letters, St. Paul never writes of the death of Jesus as separated from His resurrection. "Justification" is the entering into the life of the risen Savior (CCC# 1987-95). In Romans 6:4-5 St. Paul wrote: 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 that 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, the answer is that 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? Hint: see Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 1:29; Hebrews 10:4-10, and CCC 1964.

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 (CCC 1962-64). Every imperfect Old Covenant animal of sacrifice only foreshadowed 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 said: I shall forgive their guilt and never more call their sin to mind. What is finished or fulfilled? The 4^th 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 Passover victim in the Upper Room has ended and the perfected New Passover in Christ and the perfected sacrifice of the 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 has delivered the people from slavery to sin and death. On Resurrection Sunday man was longer a slave to sin and death; sin and death no longer have power over men and women who embraced the Risen Lord as the promised Redeemer-Messiah. It is the Old Covenants that are fulfilled in the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb: Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete [fulfill] them (Matthew 5:17). ). It is now 3 PM and Jesus has suffered on the cross 7 hours on the Cross as the ancients counted from the third to the ninth hours Jewish time (9 AM to 3 PM = Mark 15:25 and Matthew 27:46, 50); one hour for each of the seven days of the old Creation event and for each of the seven Old Testament covenants that He fulfilled on the sixth day of the week on which man was created (Gen 1:26, 31)! See the chart on Yahweh's Eight Covenants. Resurrection Sunday will be the beginning of a New Creation (Rev 21:5-7).

And in that fulfillment we celebrate that precious Body that hung upon the altar of the Cross as St Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:7: For our Passover had been sacrificed, that is, Christ; let us keep the feast... Jesus 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!

On the cross when Jesus drank the wine and said the last words of the Passover meal, He took the 4^th Cup of Acceptance. It was a cup of suffering that He accepted in obedience to the Father, and He drank the last drop of that suffering as He willingly gave up His spirit.

Question: But when did the Apostles and disciples take the 4^th Cup and when do we take the 4^th Cup of Acceptance?

Answer: All New Covenant believers, past, present, and future take the 4^th 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: The way of perfection passes by way of the Cross. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle (CCC # 2015).

• Matthew 10:38: ...anyone who does not take his cross and follow in my footsteps is not worthy of me. (also see Matthew 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.

In the Temple, the second Tamid Lamb had been sacrificed to Yahweh at 3PM. The Jewish priest-historian, Flavius Josephus wrote about the afternoon sacrifice of the Tamid lamb: ...the priests [....] twice each day, in the morning and about the ninth hour [3PM], offer their sacrifices on the altar (Antiquities of the Jews 14.4.3). Then the blood of the lamb was poured out at the base of the altar and its body was laid on the altar fire in the courtyard while inside the Sanctuary a high priest lit the incense on 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 was at this moment that Jesus breathed out His Spirit. He was the true Passover Lamb and the true Lamb of the Tamid [Standing] sacrifice.

For centuries the Jews had been commanded, since the time of the Sinai Covenant, to sacrifice perpetually two perfect male lambs. The first lamb sacrificed at 9AM and the second at 3PM. The Passover victim did not have to be a lamb; it could be a kid or a lamb. The Tamid was the only communal sacrifice that had to be a single, perfect male lamb: one offered in the morning and the second in the afternoon. Now Jesus, perfect in two ways, perfect in His humanity and perfect in His divinity took His rightful place as the true Standing [as in perpetual] Sacrifice. In the late 1^st century AD this is the way St. John saw 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 continually before the throne of God as the true perpetual [tamid] sacrifice; the on-going application of His full and complete sacrifice on the altar of the cross, offering Himself perpetually until the end of time as we known it, at the altar of the Heavenly Sanctuary for the sins of man.

Holy Lance (Fra Angelico)

John 19:31-36: The Pierced Messiah

Notice how John has clarified the term "Day of Preparation" to mean the day before the Sabbath (Saturday). This statement should eliminate the confusion about the designation of that term in John 19:14. St. John has also identified the day of Jesus' crucifixion as Friday, the 6^th day of the week, on the day of the week in Creation when man was created (Genesis 1:26-31). Jesus suffered on the cross 6 hours (from the third hour to the ninth hour/ 9AM to 3PM: Mark 15:25, 34-36), dying for the sins of man on the 6^th day of the week (Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54-56). In the afternoon, the Jewish "evening" since they day ended at sundown, Jesus was taken down from the cross.

It was a Roman custom to hasten death of a crucifixion victim by 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)].

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; #2: that He truly died; #3: that the inspired writer was an eyewitness to these recorded events.

Question: That the Romans did not break Jesus' legs fulfills what prophecy found in the Psalms? See Psalm 34:19-20.
Answer: Psalm 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.

That Jesus' bones were not broken is the 6^th symbolic element of John's account.

Question: What is the symbolic connection to the Passover victim of the sacrificial Passover meal? See Exodus 12:43-46
Answer: The prophecy was fulfilled and the requirements concerning the Passover victim were kept in that Jesus' legs were not broken: Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, 'This is the ritual for the Passover: [..]. It must be eaten in one house alone; you will not take any of the meat out of the house; nor may you break any of its bones' (Exodus 12:43-46). This is another symbolic connection between the flesh of the Passover victim 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 St. John references: They will look to the one whom they have pierced (John 19:37)? What does John want us to recall about this Old Testament passage? See Zechariah 12:10-22; 13:1. When was this prophecy written?
Answer: This is a passage from the prophet Zechariah, writing in approximately 480BC: 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 12:10-11). Zechariah, writing over 400 years before the birth of Jesus, prophesied that the death of a messiah-like figure would open a fountain of salvation: Zechariah 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, a descendant of the great King David, was the opening of the fountain of Divine Mercy!

This prophecy is related to John's 7^th symbolic element: the outpouring of the blood and the water from the side of Jesus:...and immediately there came out blood and water.

Question: What were Jesus' three gifts from the cross to His Church?
Answer: Jesus first gift from the cross was His mother, the second was His last breath, which was the first moment of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and His third gift was 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: The Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist through which the Church is born and also nourished; the fulfillment of Jesus statement at the Feast of Tabernacles in John 7:38 when He cried out to the worshipers in the Temple: Let anyone who is thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink, and the breaking open of His heart symbolizing the revelation of the Old Testament in the light of the Gospel of salvation in the New Covenant-the Old Covenant which offered temporary salvation through the blood of animal sacrifice, and the New in which rebirth through water and the Spirit is the way to salvation in the blood of Jesus the Lamb of God (see Luke 24:25-27 and 44-48.

1. The Fathers of the Church interpreted the flow of the water and the blood as the birth of the Bride of Christ from the side of Jesus who was in a sleep of death, just as God took the bride from Adam's side as he was in a death-like sleep (Genesis 2:21-23). 
2. 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 (as He promised in John 7:38 and as the prophets Ezekiel and Zechariah prophesized in Ezekiel 47:1-12 and Zechariah 14:8). 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. St. Paul identified "the Rock" of Exodus 17 and Numbers 20 as Christ in 1 Corinthians 10:1-5. 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 the Ignatius Study Bible: The Gospel of 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).
3. Church Fathers and theologians like St. Thomas Aquinas also saw the breaking open of Jesus heart and the resulting flow of blood and water as a symbol of the breaking open of the word of God in Sacred Scripture with the prophecies of the Old Testament and the rites of animal blood sacrifice fulfilled in Christ who makes the way open for believes to come to Him through the Gospel of salvation and rebirth into the New Covenant through baptism by water and the Spirit.

All of these interpretations are in accord and reflect the fullness of Christ's perfect sacrifice. In this descriptive passage St. John wants the readers and hearers of his Gospel 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 the faithful 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 at the Feast of Tabernacles, about six months before His crucifixion, 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' (John 7:37-38).

Question: What 3 elements has John identified as coming from the dead body of the Savior? See John 19:30 and 34.
Answer: His 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, the mission, and the sacrifice of the Son who gives life!

John 19:38-42: The Burial of the Christ

Only John provides insight into Joseph of Arimathaea's fear in proclaiming himself a follower of Jesus of Nazareth. Luke 23:51 provides the information that Joseph had not consented to the sentence of the Sanhedrin against Jesus. After Jesus' death Joseph of Arimathaea and the Pharisee Nicodemus (John 3:1, 4, 9, 7:50), both members of the Sanhedrin, bravely came forward to ask Pilate for the Master's body. St. Mark records that Pilate was astonished when he heard that Jesus had died so soon, and he even questioned the centurion in charge of the execution (Mark 15:44). Nicodemus, a wealthy man, provided an extremely expensive mixture of 100 litra of herbs and spices, an equivalent of about 75 pounds. It seems an extraordinary amount so perhaps John's 100 litra 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

The plural "linen wrappings" may indicate a burial shroud as well as a soudarion or napkin 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 soudarion, 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/spice mixture 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 image of the crucified man on the linen shroud known as the "Shroud of Turin" had not been bathed but had been covered with herbs, resins, and spices in preparation for burial (myrrh is a resin).

Only St. John's Gospel notes that the tomb where Jesus' body was placed was in a garden. The garden is identified as being very near the site of execution which agrees with the location of the sites of Calvary and the tomb, both 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 victoriously redeemed mankind from that first sin which was committed in a garden.

The Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Luke, and St. John all observe that this was a new tomb, never used before Jesus burial. 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 observed: 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 (Augustine, The Gospel of John, 120.5).

St. Matthew's Gospel records that when Preparation Day was over, which was sundown Friday, the day Jesus was crucified (sundown was the beginning of the next day, which was the Saturday Sabbath), 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 agreed and the priests and Pharisees not only put a guard on the tomb but they place seals on the stone that covered the entrance (Matthew 27:62-66).

The historical evidence is undisputed: Jesus of Nazareth was executed by the Romans in the spring of 30AD. Three days later, as the ancients counted, He was raised up from the dead. What evidence do we have of His Resurrection? The eyewitness account of John Zebedee and the accounts of St. Matthew who witnessed His appearance to the Apostles on Resurrection Sunday and His Ascension 40 days later and St. Peter's testimony as recorded by St. Mark. The Jews altered their feast days to keep them from linking to the Resurrection and the birth of the New Covenant Church, and the timid band of Apostles and disciples who were fearful and cowering on the day of Jesus' crucifixion were suddenly energized and fearless, spreading Jesus' Gospel of salvation from Jerusalem to the corners of the know world in the 40 year period from 30AD to 70 AD. Something beyond human explanation and reason happened to effect such a remarkable change in the history of mankind. Even the 1^st century AD Jewish priest/historian, Flavius Josephus, born 37 years after Jesus' Ascension wrote in his history of the Jewish people: 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).

John 20:1-10

Question:  What day of the week was it and why was this day significant to Jews?  Why will it become significant to Christians?  Please give 3 answers.  Hint: see Genesis 1:4-5 & 2:1-2; Leviticus 23:5-14 and Acts 20:7 & Revelation 1:10.

Answer:

1. It is Sunday which was also the first day of Creation [Saturday was day 7 therefore day #1 had to be Sunday].  Resurrection Sunday is the first day of the New Creation in Christ!
2. According to the schedule of the 7 Sacred Feasts this day is the Feast of Firstfruits which in Leviticus 23:5-14 was celebrated the day after the Sabbath of Passover week.  
3. This day was to become the New Covenant Sabbath: the day set aside for man to commune with God.  It is the Lord's Day, the day of worship for New Covenant believers.

Question: Why is it that as Christians we no longer keep the Old Covenant Sabbath, Saturday?

Answer: The Old Covenant is fulfilled.  All creation has been redeemed and it is now the time of the New Covenant "Day of the Lord."  Palm Sunday, the Resurrection, Jesus' second appearance to the 11 Apostles, and Pentecost are all on Sundays.  After Pentecost it became the custom for the New Covenant Church to worship on the first day of the week [see Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2; Revelation 1:10; also Matthew 28:1].  As Catholics we still observe the Old Covenant custom of the day beginning at sundown and so our Sunday Vigil Mass takes place at sundown on Saturday [although many priests have forgotten this connection and fail to change the Mass times in the Spring and Summer to coincide with the setting of the sun and the beginning of the next liturgical day].

Jesus Christ is the Resurrected Firstborn Son of God.  He is the true Lamb of the Sacrifice and now in our New Covenant liturgical feast we unite ourselves to His sacrifice and in turn receive Him in what has the appearance of cake of unleavened wheat and wine [which was also offering along with the sacrifice of the lamb at the feast of Firstfruits]. He is food for our souls and we are commanded to consume no other food before partaking of Christ. See Revelation 14:4. "These are the ones who have kept their virginity and not been defiled with women; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they, out of all people, have been redeemed to be the firstfruits for God and for the lamb.  No lie was found in their mouths and no fault can be found in them."

Mary and the Resurrected Jesus (Ivanov)

When Mary Magdala first came to them, the disciples did not believe her words that Jesus was not in the tomb.  Didn't it occur to them then that He had been resurrected?  It hadn't occurred to Mary as you will see in verses 11-13.

Question: Did they really have no understanding that Jesus would rise from the dead? Had Jesus not prepared them for this event?

Answer: They knew but they didn't understand.  St. Matthew tells us in 27:62-66 that even the chief priests and the Pharisees knew of Jesus' claim that in three days He would arise from the dead.  It is the reason they requested that Pilate must place a guard and seal the tomb.  Then too, Jesus also prophetically predicted His Resurrection repeatedly in His attempt to prepare His disciples:

Jesus' Prophecies of His Resurrection:

GOSPEL	VERSES
Matthew	12:38-40; 16:21; 17:9, 23; 20:18, 19; 26:32; 27:63
Mark	8:31-9:1; 9:10, 31; 10:32-34; 14:28, 58
Luke	9:22-27
John	2:18-22; 12:34; chapters 14-16

Jesus not only predicted His Resurrection but He also emphasized that His Resurrection from the dead would be the prophetic "sign" to authenticate His claim that He is the Messiah!

GOSPEL	VERSES
Matthew	12:1-8; 16:21; 17:9, 22, 23; 20:18, 19; 26:32
Mark	9:10
Luke	9:22-27, 44
John	2:18-22 "The Jews intervened and said, 'What sign can you show us that you should act like this?'  Jesus answered, 'Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'  The Jews replied, 'It has taken 46 years to build this Temple: are you going to raise it up again in three days?'  But he was speaking of the Temple that was his body, and when Jesus rose from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and what he had said."

John 20: 11-18

Verses 11-13 But Mary was standing outside near the tomb, weeping.  Then, as she wept, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet.  They said, 'Woman, why are you weeping?'  'They have taken my Lord away,' she replied, 'and I don't know where they have put him.'

Question: Why was she weeping? 

Answer: She believes Jesus' body has been stolen. She has not remembered the promise of His resurrection.

This is the second reference concerning having to stoop to enter the tomb.  If you visit the tomb of Jesus at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher today in Jerusalem, you still have to stoop...you are forced to bow low in reverence as you enter the Holy place.

The Greek word for "messenger" is angelos.  It can be used for human messengers or heavenly messengers.  These "messengers" evidently looked quite human to Mary.  She does not realize that they are spiritual beings in human form.

Verses 14-15 "As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realize that it was Jesus.  Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?  Who are you looking for?'  Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.'"

This encounter is very tender and moving but it is also tenderly humorous since Mary does not realize that she is speaking with her Lord who she has mistaken for the gardener. Notice in verse 13 how Mary speaks of Jesus as "my Lord" instead of "the Lord", and "I" instead of "we".  If we truly accept Jesus as our Savior He must be more to us then "the Savior".  Like Mary we must seek that very personal intimacy and call on Him as "my Lord" and "my God."  Biblical scholars speculate that this exchange is in Greek until Jesus calls her name in the common tongue.

Jesus calls her by her Aramaic name: Mariam, and immediately, in hearing the sound of His voice calling her name, she recognizes Him!  [the Hebrew would be Miryam].

Question:  Does Mary's immediate response to the call of her name remind you of any particular teaching Jesus gave in John's Gospel?  

Answer:  Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd whose sheep know His voice.

Mary responds in Aramaic by calling Jesus "Rabbuni", which means master or teacher but is considered a more dignified title than rabbi.  

John 20: 19-23

Question: What day of the week is it and what is the time of day [remembering Jewish traditions].

Answer: It is Sunday afternoon.  The "even time" of the day is toward the close of the day.  The next day for the Jews begins at sundown, so evening is in the mid-to-late afternoon.  The time is probably about 3PM, the time of the third hour of prayer.

Question:  Why are the disciples afraid and what is significant about the way Jesus comes to them, in what was probably the Upper Room of the Last Supper?

Answer:  They are afraid because the Sanhedrin may arrest them and try them for blasphemy just as they condemned Jesus.  He comes to them supernaturally.  Locked doors cannot stop Him.

Question: Jesus' greeting to the disciples is the customary greeting of the Jews.  What is familiar to you about Jesus' greeting to His followers?

Answer: These are the very words the Priest uses, as he stands in "persona Christi", in the Person of Christ, as he greets the congregation. 

"The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord".  In this greeting Jesus has reassured the Apostles, who must have been feeling ashamed of their conduct after His arrest, and He has lovingly reestablished the intimacy they had previously enjoyed with Him.

Question: Why does He show them His wounded hands and His pierced side? 

Answer:  To show them His wounds dispels any impression that they are seeing a ghost or imposter.  They are truly seeing the risen, glorified body of Jesus Himself. 

Question: This is the ordination of the Magisterium of the Church.  What is significant about how Jesus will "send" the Apostles?

Answer: He is sending them with the power and the authority of God the Father.

"Receive the Holy Spirit", in the Greek text the article is missing.  Some scholars suggest the missing article indicates that in this case Jesus' breath was not the giving of the personal Holy Spirit, as they would receive with the rest of the New Covenant Church at the Feast of Pentecost 50 days later, but was instead an "effusion" of His Spirit.

Question: But why does Jesus breathe on them?  What is the significance of this act?  When did God breathe on man in the first creation?

Answer: In Hebrew and in Greek the word for "breath" is the same word as "spirit." God first breathed into Adam to give him physical life and now Christ breathes His Spirit into the Apostles to give them spiritual life.  He is sending them forth, in the power of the Holy Spirit, who will make all things "new" again just as He did in the first creation [ see Genesis 1:2].  The prophet Ezekiel envisioned this day when he wrote of the Messianic restoration of Israel: "He said to me, 'Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man.  Say to the breath, "the Lord Yahweh says this: come from the four winds, breath; breathe on these dead, so that they come to life!" '  I prophesied as he had ordered me, and the breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet, a great, an immense army."[Ezekiel 37:9-10] Man, formally dead to sin has been resurrected in Christ and this faithful remnant of the Old Israel has become the nucleus of the New Israel, the New Covenant Universal [catholic] Church that will become an immense army of disciples converting the world through the spread of the Gospel.

"If you forgive anyone's sins they are forgiven; if you retain anyone's sins, they are retained."

Question:  The Sacraments of the Church are visible signs instituted by Christ to confer grace.  What Sacrament is Christ instituting here in verses 22-23 and why?  How is the Old Covenant system of sacrifice and repentance transformed in the New Covenant?

Answer: Jesus is instituting the Sacrament of Penance [Reconcilliation].  Under the Old Covenant the sinner placed his hands on the animal, confesses his sins before the priest, and the animal died in his place.  Now Christ is the Lamb of sacrifice but we still must have confession and repentance before sins can be forgiven and communion with God restored.  In verses 22-23 the priests of the New Covenant carry the Son of God's authority to forgive or retain sins.  The concept of private confession of sins has never been a part of the sacramental system of the Old or New Covenant. Even though it is a healthy spiritual practice to confess our shortcomings to God in our daily prayers, it is necessary to bring those venial sins [unintentional sins] before the Lord in the Penitential rite of the Mass in order to receive forgiveness, and any mortal sins must be confessed to an ordained priest of the New Covenant Church, who is a successor of the first ministerial priesthood in Christ, to whom we confess as though we are confessing to Christ Himself.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that Jesus is the physician of our souls and our bodies.  He both healed the sick and forgave their sins and He has willed His Church, in the power of God the Holy Spirit, to continue His work of healing and salvation.  In this sacrament the sinner places himself before the merciful judgment of God who heals and purifies hearts and souls.  CCC#1422 "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."  Also see CCC# 1423-1498.

Question: So you may ask the question, how do we really know Jesus meant for us to confess to a human priest and not just to Him?

Answer: You will agree that in verse 22 in speaking to the Apostles Jesus has given the Church the power to forgive individual sins and the power to retain individual sins.  Well, how can the Church exercise this power to make decisions about particular sins unless those sins are openly confessed to Christ through His priesthood?  We have to specifically confess specific sins!

John 20: 24-31
Verses 24-25 "Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples said to him, 'We have seen the Lord,' but he answered, 'Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.'"

Here John refers to the "Twelve" as a "perfect unity" of Apostles just at St. Paul did in the Corinthians passage.  Poor St Thomas is always remembered for this remark which must have come from his discouragement and his fear.  He seems not to be remembered for his courageous statement in John 11:16 when he declared he was prepared to die with Jesus, and he would die for Jesus.  According to the history of the Church, Thomas was martyred at the altar of his Church in India.  He had faithfully carried the Gospel to what was then the end of the earth!

How many times have we been guilty of the same unbelief when we reject the teaching of Mother Church in favor of secular values and morals?  How many Catholics in government have stated that Church must be separated from State and since the law of the land allows abortion how can they stand against it?  Do they need to see the nails in His hands?  How many of us question the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist or the perpetual virginity of His blessed mother...do we need to see the wound in His side?  To believe in the name of Jesus Christ is to accept all that He taught and to be obedient to the teaching of His Church.  There is no such animal as a "liberal Catholic". Liberal and conservative are political terms.  There are orthodox, true doctrine Catholics, or there are bad Catholics.  Catholicism is not a cafeteria style religion.  It is an all or nothing religion.  Place your finger in His wounds and like Thomas cry out "My Lord and My God!

Incredulity of Thomas (Caravaggio)

Verses 26-28  "Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them.  The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them.  'Peace be with you,' he said.  Then he spoke to Thomas, 'Put your finger here; look, here are my hands.  Give me your hand; put it into my side.  Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.'  Thomas replied, 'My Lord and my God!' [the literal Greek is "become not unbelieving"]

Question: What day is it? 

Answer: It is the next Sunday.  Did you remember to count the series as the ancients counted with no 0-place value?  The 7^th day of Creation was Saturday.  Sunday is both the first and the eighth day.  The number 8 in the symbolism of numbers represented salvation, regeneration and redemption.  It became the number of the New Covenant people.  All early churches were built 8 sided; this includes the early church that was formed at Peter's house in Caperanum and all the Byzantine Churches of the 4^th-6^th centuries.  Whenever archaeologists find an ancient foundation that has 8 sides they know they have found a Christian Church marking a holy site associated with Christ.

Question: How is Jesus' entry into the room similar to His entry a week earlier?

Answer: He did not use the doors to enter.  This testimony proves that Jesus was not prematurely pronounced dead and later revived.  He is not bound by the laws of physics! 

The literal Greek "become not unbelieving" gives us a better sense of Thomas' spiritual condition. He had not yet fallen into unbelief but his doubt about the Resurrection put him in danger of falling into unbelief.  What you believe matters!

Question: How does Thomas respond to Jesus' challenge?

Answer: By acknowledging Jesus as His Lord and God.  The literal translation is "the Lord of me and the God of me."  Both Peter and Thomas knew how to humble themselves and to repent.  Judas was lost because he would not repent and turn to Christ.  Thomas' profession of faith is one of the strongest statements affirming the deity of Jesus in Sacred Scripture!

Verse 29 "Jesus said to him: 'You believe because you can see me.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

In Hebrews 11:1 it is written that "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things unseen...".   Thomas' faith would have had more merit if he had accepted the testimony of the other Apostles instead of the exceptional proof he received through seeing and touching Jesus' wounds.  St Paul wrote to the Church in Rome: "So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes from the preaching of Christ." [Romans 10:17].  It is that preaching of Christ that is passed from the Apostles down to us in the Church today.

Question:  What is our obligation when receiving this testimony passed by the Apostles to their successors and down through the centuries to us?

Answer: When we accept that testimony we must not only believe but we must practice what we believe.  Jesus' statement "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe" is a benediction our Lord has pronounced on all the future generations of believers!

Question: What does John's statement in verse 30 suggest to you?

Answer: These other signs are not recorded in this book but in other books.

Question: What is the significance of John using the word "signs" instead of "miracles"?

Answer: The use of "signs" has been a major theme of this Gospel.  Jesus performed supernatural acts that had greater significance beyond the miracle.  Each miracle was a sign that pointed to a theological truth and John has built his Gospel around 7 theologically significant public signs that point to Jesus' divinity and His claim that He is the Messiah:

The Seven Public Signs of Jesus in St. John's Gospel
#1  2:1-11	The sign of water turned to wine at the wedding at Cana
#2  4:46-54	The healing of the official's son
#3  5:1-9	The healing of the paralytic
#4  6:1-14	The multiplication of the loaves to feed the 5,000
#5  9:1-41	The healing of the man who was born blind
#6  11:17-44	The raising of Lazarus from the dead
#7  20:1-10	The Resurrection of Jesus

*Jesus performed 8 miracles in John's Gospel, 6 of which are not recorded in the Synoptic Gospels.  The 8^th miracle is a private revelation for the Apostles when Jesus walked on the water of the Sea of Galilee and calmed the storm.

Jesus' final, and most significant public "sign" of His divinity is of course, His Resurrection, the key event of Christian faith.

Question: Why is Jesus' Resurrection the key to Christian faith?

Answer:

1. It is the fulfillment of His promise that He would rise from the dead, therefore verifying that everything He told us about Himself is true: He is the eternal Son of God.  We can be confident, therefore, that He will accomplish everything else that He has promised. 
2. Jesus' bodily Resurrection provides us with the evidence that He is the living Christ, not just a false prophet, or a ghost, or an imposter, but that He is the ruler of God's eternal kingdom.
3. We are assured of our own bodily resurrection.  Death is not the end-Jesus has given us the promise of eternal life.
4. Jesus' divine power that has brought Him back to life is now available to us to supernaturally by bringing our spiritually dead selves back to life in Christ. 
5. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the basis for the Church's witness to the world that Jesus is exactly who He says He is and that He can fulfill all He has promised!

During the forty days between His Resurrection and His Ascension Jesus appeared to His disciples and the Apostles many times.  St Paul reports that He even appeared to more than 500 disciples at the same time [1 Corinthians 15:6].

"Meanwhile the eleven disciples set out for Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had arranged to meet them.  When they saw him they fell down before him, though some hesitated. Jesus came up and spoke to them.  He said. 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptizing them in the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all the commands I gave you.  And look, I am with you always; yes, to the end of time." Matthew 28:16-20 [please note that this encounter with Jesus may come after the meeting and breakfast with Jesus on the Sea of Tiberius in John chapter 21].

John 21:1-8

Most modern Biblical scholars believe the fourth Gospel was intended to end with 20:21 and that chapter 21 was added later, perhaps by another author. However, chapter 21 is quoted by many early Church fathers like the Roman priest/ apologist Tertullian and it is included in the commentary on the Gospel of John by the great early-mid 3^rd century Biblical scholar and theologian Origen without any question of its authenticity. No copy of this Gospel has ever been found without the addition of chapter 21.

A number of arguments can be made in support of the continuity of this chapter with the rest of the Fourth Gospel:

• Since St. John begins his Gospel with a Prologue, it follows that he should end his Gospel with an Epilogue. The Prologue set the stage and the Epilogue closes the curtain on the events of the fourth Gospel.
• The encounter with Jesus in the Galilee supports Matthew and Mark's accounts in which Jesus instructed the Apostles to meet with Him in the Galilee after His resurrection.
• Chapter 21 completes Peter's reconciliation with Jesus and his re-commissioning as the Vicar of Christ. Without this addition Peter is left in disgrace and his position of authority over the Apostles in question.
• Some scholars date John's Gospel before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.  With St. Peter's martyrdom occurring sometime between 64 and 67AD, Peter's death may have been the reason John included this material concerning Peter's affirmation of his love for Christ, the re-commissioning of Peter as the leader of Jesus' flock and the prophecy of Peter's death.
• The Epilogue also completes the Gospel narrative by showing a triumphant Jesus who clarifies the mission of the Church, and brings the call of Peter and the disciples full circle back to the Galilee.
• The Epilogue also gives some final clues to the identity of "the beloved disciple."

Question: Only John's Gospel mentions the lake called the Sea of Tiberias.  Where is the Sea of Tiberias?  What are its other names?

Answer: The Sea of Tiberias, known as the Sea of Galilee [Matthew 4:18; 15:29; Mark 1:16; 7

:31; John 6:1] and also as the Lake of Gennesaret [Matthew 14:34; Mark 6:53; Luke 5:1] or Chinneroth as it is referred to in the Old Testament, is located in the north of Israel.  This lake area, called the Galilee, was one of the great population centers in New Testament Palestine.  The natural resources of the area in ancient times supported a large population and a number of industries.  Modern scholars have estimated that the 9 major cities on the Sea of Galilee had a population of about 15,000 each.   Circa 20AD, about 7-8 years before Jesus began His ministry, Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, built a new administrative capital on the southwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee.  Herod Antipas dedicated his new city in honor of the Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar calling the city Tiberias.  Herod Antipas not only named his new city for the emperor but also renamed the lake in the emperor's honor.

Since the lake was only renamed several years before Jesus' ministry began it is not unusual that the other Gospels to refer to it by the older Aramaic and Hebrew names.  This older designation, some scholars believe helps to identify the date when the Synoptic Gospels were written.  These scholars place the date of the Synoptic Gospels to within a decade of Jesus' resurrection.  In John's case, writing 30 years after Jesus' Ascension to a mostly Greco-Roman Christian church in Asia Minor, it is reasonable that he would use the Roman name for the lake.

Question: This is the third time John has mentioned "Tiberias" in his Gospel.  What were the other two occasions and what happened in those accounts?  Hint: see 6:1-15 and 6:23ff.

Answer: In chapter 6:1-15 of John's Gospel Jesus feeds the crowd of 5,000 men, not counting women and children, and the Apostles who assist in feeding the crowds collect 12 large baskets of fragment [klasmata in the singular] of the bread. It is a truly amazing sign of His divinity and the super abundance of His blessings.  This sign precedes the second mention of Tiberias which comes just before His famous "Bread of Life Discourse" where Jesus explains the future gift of Himself, body, blood, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist.  In chapter 21 Jesus makes breakfast for the 7 Apostles using fish and bread.  The nouns "fish" and the "bread" are singular – just as the bread scraps in the John 6: 13 are in the singular.

John mentions "Tiberias" three times.  Three is one of the "perfect" numbers in Sacred Scripture.  In the Old Covenant it signified completeness and importance, especially theological importance.  A series of three also unites and expands the meaning of the three repeats and the significance of the passage in context with each other.

Question: What connection could John be drawing between the events in John 6:1-15 and following, in 6: 23 and following, and the events that follow in 21:1?  What is similar about the passages and what is theologically significant?  Read 6:1-15; 6:23-33, & 47-51; and 21: 13, 15-17

Answer:  All three episodes involve the subject of eating.  In the first event Jesus abundantly feeds the crowds of people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes to nurture their physical bodies.  In the second event He speaks of God feeding the children of Israel on their journey to the Promise Land and promises a much greater miracle in feeding those who desire eternal life by giving them "bread from heaven" in His very flesh [sarx] and blood [haima]. Now in this episode in chapter 21 Jesus feeds the 7 Apostles bread and fish and afterward commands Peter to feed both the "lambs" and the "sheep" in verses 15 and 17.  The theological connection is unity of the Church [symbolized by the "one" bread], the gift of the most holy Eucharist and the Church's command to spiritually nurture God's New Covenant people on their journey to the Promised Land [heaven] with the very body and blood of the Savior.

John gives us another clue to this connection between these 3 different events in the number of Apostles who are present in chapter 21.

Question: How many Apostles does John record are present? What is the significance of this symbolic number?  How many are identified by name or by family and how many go unnamed?   What is significant about the way John has listed the Apostles?  Refer back to the events in John 6:5-10.

Answer: The total number of Apostles present is 7.  He names 5 [Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, and the sons of Zebedee [who are John and James] and leaves 2 unnamed. In the feeding of the 5,000, which prefigured the superabundance of the most holy Eucharist, Jesus used 5 loaves and 2 fishes.  Five is the number of grace and two the number of God the Son: 5 plus 2 = 7.  In chapter 21 John gives another grouping of 5 and 2 to yield 7.  Seven is the number of full, completion, spiritual perfection, and it is the number of God the Holy Spirit.  All of these numbers are repeated in chapter 21 as well as the food, loaves and fishes [see 21:13].

"Nathaniel from the Galilee"

Question: When did we last hear about Nathaniel?

Answer: The only other time Nathaniel is mentioned in the New Testament is by John in 1:45-51 when Philip brought him to Jesus and Nathaniel's initial unbelief was overcome by a demonstration of Jesus' superhuman knowledge causing Nathaniel to proclaim Jesus the Messiah.  Some scholars believe that Nathaniel was not one of the 12 Apostles but was instead one of the 70 disciples.  Other scholars point to this unique gathering of Apostles and suggest that Nathaniel is listed by his surname as Bartholomew in the Gospel accounts and in Acts [Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14; Acts 1:13].  Bartholomew is from the Aramaic bar talmai, or "son of Tolmi, a patronymic.

"the sons of Zebedee"  This is the only time in John's Gospel that he will refer to his family; it is fitting that he does so now--at the very end of his account.  By the time John wrote his Gospel his brother James had been martyred about 20 years [beheaded in 42AD by Herod Agrippa.  See Acts 12:2].

Question: Can you guess who the two unnamed disciples might be? The remaining Apostles are Matthew the Levite, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Jude son of James, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, and Philip from Bathsaida.

Answer: We cannot know for certain, but I suggest Nathaniel's friend Philip and Peter's brother Andrew.

#1: Philip: Philip and Thomas are mentioned more often in John's Gospel than any of the other Gospels.  Philip comes from Peter and Andrew's hometown of Bathsaida [John 1:44].  It was Philip who brought Nathaniel to Jesus. 

#2: Andrew: Andrew is not only Peter's brother but is also a part owner in the fishing company owned by Peter and the sons of Zebedee.  John also records that it was Andrew who brought Simon-Peter to Jesus telling his brother "We have found the Messiah.." [John 1:41-42]

Another clue may be that only these 7 Apostles figure prominently in John's Gospel.  In his Gospel John has not named any of the other choices, and in the list of the Apostles in Acts 1:14 these 7 are all listed first: "Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew [Nathaniel] and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Jude son of James." 

Question: What 3 spiritual gifts had Jesus given the Apostles on Resurrection Sunday in the Upper Room?

Answer: The gifts of the effusing of His spirit, the gift of His power and authority to forgive or bind sin, and the opening of their minds and hearts to the prophetic passages of the Old Testament.  This is what called them to obedience and faith to travel to the Galilee to meet with Him at the very place where He first called them. 

Perhaps they went fishing because they had been waiting all day for Jesus and even though it was now night they were all too anxious to sleep.  If this was the case it makes sense that Peter, always a man of action, might decide to be proactive while they continued to wait on the Lord by fishing, just as they had fished that last night before Jesus called them to be "fishers of men" [Luke 5:5].  Or perhaps this episode is meant to show that they still had a choice: to take up their old way of life or to choose to follow Jesus.

The information that they still owned their own fishing boats also points to the fact that these may have been men who were not formally educated in the Law of the Old Covenant, but they were by no means poor.  They had been absent from the fishing business for 3 years and yet they still have their fishing business to come back to if they so desired.

John includes the information that it is night when they go fishing.  This is an accurate historical detail. Night fishing is still a custom of fisherman on the Sea of Galilee today.  At night the fish are attracted to the phosphorus glow of the algae on the water's surface, and fish caught at night are fresher for sale in the morning. 

Some scholars point out that it is John who first sees Jesus because, being the more "spiritual" disciple, he is looking with the eyes of faith.  Another possibility is that the much younger man simply had better eyesight than his older companions, or he was at a vantage point where he had a better view of the Savior standing on the shore.

It was the custom to remove one's outer long garment and to wear only a breechcloth when fishing.  Gentiles usually fished naked.  The Jews were particular about public nakedness and so it is unlikely that the men were fishing without any clothing at all but were probably wearing their loincloths.  That Peter dressed before jumping into the water out of modesty and reverence for his Master.  He tucks or ties his outer garment so that he will have the freedom to swim.

Question: Why doesn't John jump into the water and swim to Jesus?

Answer: Perhaps John is acknowledging Peter's precedence as he did in 20:3-8.

Question: Verse 6 speaks of a huge quantity of big fish.  Why does John include this information?  What does the huge quantity of big fish symbolize?

Answer: The huge quantity of fish in verses 7-8 is symbolic of the abundance of God's blessings to the Church and prefigures the abundant harvest of souls these "fishers of men" will bring into the Church, symbolized by Peter's boat.

Question: What other episodes in John's Gospel recalls the promise of the super abundance of blessings in the New Covenant?

Answer:  It also recalls the generosity of Jesus at the wedding at Cana in 2:6; the miracle of the loaves and fishes in chapter 6; the promised spiritual blessings of the "Living Water" in 4:14 and 7:37; the life which the Good Shepherd promises to give in 10:10; and the blessings the Holy Spirit which is promised to pour out on the New Covenant in the Last Supper discourses in chapters 14-17.

Question: Why doesn't Peter wait in the boat until they sail into the shore?

Answer: Some scholars point to what they consider to be Peter's previous acts of impulsive behavior.  But Peter had been waiting all day and all night for Jesus' arrival.  His actions speak of a man who is overcome with joy over a reunion he had been awaiting with great anticipation. This is not the action of a man who had planned to return to his former way of life but a man who is so overjoyed to see his Lord and his God that he cannot bear to be separated from Him one moment longer!

John21: 9-17

Question: Does this encounter remind you of a similar encounter some of these men had with Jesus recorded in Luke 5:1-11.

Answer: Each of the other Gospels records the story of the call of Peter, Andrew and the sons of Zebedee, James and John.  John does not record this event in his Gospel but he clearly expects us to be familiar with that event and now connects those stories to this last encounter with Christ. There are more parallels between this event in John and Jesus' call of the fisherman in Luke 5 than in the other Gospels. Please read Luke 5:1-11.

Question: After reading the story in Luke's Gospel what similarities do you see with this episode?

Answer:

John 21:1-8	Luke 5:1-11
Lake of Gennesaret [Sea of Galilee]	Sea of Tiberius [Sea of Galilee]
7 disciples fish all night	The men had been fishing all night (vs 5)
When it was light Jesus was standing on the shore watching the boat	It is morning.  Jesus passes two boats by the water's edge; fisherman mending their nets
Jesus calls to the fisherman in Simon-Peter's boat and asks if they have caught anything.  They answer 'no'.	Jesus gets into Simon-Peter's boat and asks him to put the boat out into deeper water. Jesus teaches the crowds from the boat
Jesus tells them to throw the net out to starboard and tells them they will find something. (vs 6)	Jesus tells Simon to put out into deep water and put out the nets
They threw out the nets and could not haul it in because of the quantity of fish.(vs 6)	Simon tells Jesus they have fished all night without success but they will do as He requests
In spite of there being so many the net was not broken (vs11)	They net such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear
Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net ashore, full of big fish, 153 of them (vs11)	The other boat [with James and John] comes to help and the filled both boats to sinking point.
Simon Peter swims out to Jesus (vs 7)	Simon-Peter falls to his knees saying "Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man."
Jesus re-commissions Peter a second time in vs 15-17	Jesus says to Simon, 'Do not be afraid; from now on it is people you will be catching.'
Peter professes his love for Jesus vs 17 and commands him in vs 19 "Follow me."	Then, bringing the boats back to land they left everything and followed him.

It is significant that this time the net does not break!  It is Jesus Christ who is in charge of the catch!

The Fathers of the Church saw Peter's boat as symbolic of the universal Church.  She may be tossed on stormy seas but it is Jesus' will that she should prevail and bring in an abundant harvest of souls.  Did you know that the main body of a Catholic Church is called a "nave"?  This word is Latin for "boat".

John 21:15-17: When they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do*? He answered, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.'  Jesus said to him, 'Feed my lambs.'  A second time he said to him, 'Simon son of John, do you love me? He replied, 'Yes, Lord, you know I love you.'  Jesus said to him, 'Look after [shepherd] my sheep.'  Then he said to him a third time, 'Simon son of John, do you love me?'  Peter was hurt that he asked him a third time, 'Do you love me?'  and said, 'Lord, you know everything" you know I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.' [*the words "others do" are not in the Greek text].

It is not clear what Jesus means when He asks Peter "do you love me more than these?"  There are three possible interpretations:

1. Does Peter love Jesus more than the other Apostles?  or
2. Is Jesus is gesturing to the boat with the catch of fish and is Jesus asking Peter if he loves Him more than Peter's old way of life?
3. The third possibility is preferred by the New Jerusalem translation scholars who include the words "others do", interpreting Jesus' question to be: is Peter's love for Jesus greater than the other Apostle's love for Jesus?

However, all of the interpretations agree that Peter is being asked by Jesus to declare his ultimate loyalty.  Perhaps Peter was remembering Jesus' testing of the strength of his loyalty when he, in writing to the ordained ministers of the Church in 1Peter 5:1-4 urges them to "give a shepherd's care to the flock of God that is entrusted to you; watch over it, not simply as a duty but gladly, as God wants..[..].  Do not lord it over the groups, which is in your charge, but be an example for the flock. [..]."

Note that Jesus calls Peter the "son of John"--  Ben Yehohanan in the Hebrew.  The Hebrew name Yehohanan means 'Yahweh's mercy'. Jesus calls Peter the son of a man named John three times in this passage [vs. 15-17], but this is actually the 4^th time Peter is identified as the "son of John" in this Gospel.  When Jesus was first was introduced to Simon in John 1:42 Jesus addressed him as "Simon, son of John". 

But in Matthew 16:17 Jesus refers to Simon-Peter as the "son of Jonah".  Ben Yonah in Hebrew means 'son-of-dove'. This is not a discrepancy.  In Matthew's Gospel Jesus is using a symbolic reference to the 8^th century Galilean prophet Jonah.  Five times previous to the reference in Matthew 16 Jesus has compared His impending death and resurrection to the prophet Jonah's 3-day entombment in the great fish.  If you recall the story of Jonah you will remember that Yahweh sent the prophet Jonah to the capitol city [Nineveh] of the world superpower [Assyria] to tell the people of Nineveh to repent and turn to Yahweh.  Jesus will send His prophet Peter, 'son of the dove' – the Holy Spirit – to the capitol city [Rome] of the world superpower [the Roman Empire] and from Rome Peter will bring the Gospel to the world, calling all the families of the nations to repentance and to come to salvation in Christ Jesus!  [Peter will become the first Christian Bishop of Rome circa 42AD].

Question: Where are Jesus and Peter sitting during this very moving exchange? See verse 9?

Answer: Around a charcoal fire.

Question: What was the only other time that this Gospel mentions Peter near a charcoal fire?  What is the significance? See John 18:18

Answer: After Jesus' arrest Peter denied Jesus three times as he was standing near a charcoal fire.  Now he has the opportunity to undo that wrong by expressing his love and devotion to Jesus three times. This is the only other time a charcoal fire is mentioned in the New Testament.

This triple profession of love by Peter forgives the triple denial and invests Peter as the chief Shepherd of the Good Shepherd's flock. A triple repetition oath is a common Semitic practice and recalls Abraham's triple covenant formula with Yahweh in Genesis 23:3-20.  The dialogue of Peter's triple repetition investiture uses several Greek synonyms.  Two different nouns are used for sheep, two different verbs are used for "feed" or "tend", and 2 different verbs for "know", and "love." 

• The words used for love are apape [agapas], a self-sacrificing, spiritual love, the kind of love God has for humanity and the kind of love Jesus has commanded us to have for each other; and phileo [philo/phileis], which is the love of family or friends. 
• The two nouns used for sheep are arnion, translated as "lamb" and probaton [probata] sheep.  Arnion is only used this one time in the New Testament with the exception of the Book of Revelation where it is used 30 times.  Some scholars translate this word as "little lamb".  It is a word not often used in Greek texts.  Otherwise the word for lamb used in John is amnos in 1:28 and 36, and in the Gospels and other books of the New Testament the noun aren is used for lamb and probaton [probata] for sheep.
• The verb boskein [boske] is used both literally and figuratively for feeding animals [providing nourishment], while the verb poimainein [poimaine] includes shepherding duties toward the flock such as guiding, guarding, and ruling, whether literally or figuratively.  A quote from the Jewish historian Philo employs both verbs "Those who feed [boskein] supply nourishment...but those who tend [poimainein] have the power of rulers and governors." Philo, Quod Deterius Potiori Insidiari Soleat, viii #25.
• The other verbs are oida [odias] and ginoskein [ginoskeis], ="to know".  The word ginoskein is often used in the Greek in the context of covenant knowledge = intimate knowledge of God in the covenant relationship.

John 21:18-25: Jesus to St. Peter: 'In all truth I tell you, when you were young you put on your own belt and walked where you liked; but when you grow old you will stretch out your hands, and somebody else will put a belt round you and take you where you would rather not go.'  In these words he indicated the kind of death by which Peter would give glory to God.  After this he said, 'Follow me.'"

Some scholars believe the fourth Gospel was written several decades after Peter's death, but other scholars, including the Navarre theologians and Dr. Scott Hahn, believe John's Gospel was completed before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD and therefore was written within a year or two of Peter's death.  Perhaps in writing this passage Peter's martyrdom was still a painful reminder of this prophetic warning John witnessed some 37, or so, years earlier.

Question: The first time Jesus called to Peter to "follow me" was after the huge catch of fish on the Sea of Galilee three years earlier.  Now He uses the same words again but this time there is a double meaning to the command "Follow me"; what is the significance and what is the irony of this double meaning?

Answer: Peter will indeed "follow" Jesus and spread the Gospel message across the known world, but he will also follow Jesus, not only in imitation of His life but also His death.

Peter, the first Pope [Papa] of the Universal [Catholic] Church will demonstrate his agape love for Jesus when he is crucified upside-down in Rome circa 67AD because he said he was unworthy to be crucified in the same position as his Lord [scholars debate the exact date most accept that it was sometime between 64 and 67AD].

John 21:20-23: Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them-the one who had leant back close to his chest at the supper and had said to him, 'Lord, who is it that will betray you?'  Seeing him, Peter said to Jesus, 'What about him, Lord?  Jesus answered, 'If I want him to stay behind till I come, what does it matter to you?  You are to follow me.'  The rumor then went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die.  Yet Jesus had not said to Peter, 'He will not die,' but, 'If I want him to stay behind till I come.'

Question: Of what does this amusing exchange remind you?

Answer: It reminds me of when my children think a sibling isn't doing her share or the burden of work or the blessings of the profit isn't divided evenly.  The Apostles are so human...they are ordinary men with human faults and frailties that God used in extraordinary ways.

These two disciples, Peter and John, have been compared and contrasted in chapters 20 and 21.  They have formed a bond through this experience that will link them throughout Acts [see 3:1, 3, 11; 4:13; 8:14] as they shepherd the New Covenant Church.  In this passage Jesus had decreed the fate of both men: one to suffer and die and the other to suffer and live.

The information that the "beloved disciple" lived a long time also helps to identify John as the "beloved disciple."  All John's brother disciples were martyred for their Savior.  Only John died a natural death.  St. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, a disciple of John's disciple Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna, reports that John lived into the reign of the Emperor Domitian who died in 96AD.

John 21:24-25: This disciple is the one who vouches for these things and has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true.  There was much else that Jesus did; if it were written down in detail, I do no suppose the world itself would hold all the books that would be written.

John's Gospel closes with this last encounter with Christ on the shores of the Sea of Tiberias. During the last 40 days Jesus spent on earth with His disciples He continued to teach them and to prepare them for the paths He had called them to follow on their faith journeys. He did not promise them that they would not face turmoil, suffering, and death, just as He does not promise us that belief in Him will exempt us from suffering and struggle in our lives. But He did give them, and us, the assurance of His deep abiding love and the promise of the peace that comes from faith in Him.  It is only through Him that we will experience peace in a world filled with violence and injustice, and we can have faith in His promise that if we obediently persevere to complete our faith journeys that we will be united with Him for all eternity.  Maranatha!  Come, Lord Jesus!

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A Daily Defence

DAY 105 Peter in Antioch and Papal Infallibility 

CHALLENGE: “The pope can’t be infallible. Paul opposed Peter at Antioch ‘because he clearly was wrong’ (Gal. 2:11, NABRE).” 

DEFENSE: This involves a straw man argument. The Church holds the pope engages the Church’s infallibility “when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful—who confirms his brethren in the faith—he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals” (CCC 891). 

To proclaim a doctrine “by a definitive act” means he has to use language that indicates the matter is permanently settled. To define a matter means to completely end it (Latin, definire, “to define,” from de-, “completely,” and finis, “end”). 

Peter was not attempting to do this at Antioch. Indeed, he wasn’t proclaiming a doctrine at all. He simply stopped eating meals with Gentiles in order to keep harmony between Jewish and Gentile Christians (Gal. 2:12). 

He knew that Gentile Christians did not need to be circumcised and become Jews. It was through him that God made this point (Acts 10), he defended it more than once (Acts 11:1–18, 15:7–11), and Paul acknowledged that Peter knew this (Gal. 2:15–16). 

Paul thought that, in context, Peter’s attempt to accommodate Jewish sensibilities sent the wrong signal, and he criticized him on that ground, but the fact remains that Peter was not proclaiming a teaching—much less claiming to settle the matter definitively. 

A pope’s choice of lunch companion does not engage the Church’s infallibility. To work, this objection would have to vastly expand the number of situations in which papal infallibility applies—way beyond the situations the Church claims it applies in. It therefore commits the straw man fallacy by attacking a position the Church does not hold. 

Paul held that Peter made a mistake in this situation, but popes can make mistakes—except in the content of their teaching when they definitively proclaim a doctrine of faith or morals. That didn’t happen here. 

Further, since the greater charism of inspiration entails the lesser charism of infallibility, if the Antioch incident meant Peter couldn’t exercise the Church’s infallibility, it would also prevent him from writing 1 and 2 Peter as inspired Scripture. 

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist