Day 311: John 19-21

(The previous post covered the conclusion of the Last Supper and Jesus being taken captive and presented to Pilate.)

John 19
¹ Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.

(Jesus was scourged. This was a brutal punishment that often times led to death before the crucifixion ever happened.)

² And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and arrayed him in a purple garment;
³ and they came unto him, and said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they struck him with their hands.

(Jesus was mocked. This was a great example of the how/why being more important than the what. If the what was more important, these men would have been doing the right thing by stating that Jesus was the King of the Jews. However, their how/why was to mock Him.)

⁴ And Pilate went out again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him out to you, that ye may know that I find no crime in him.

(After Jesus was scourged, Pilate brought Jesus in front of the people again. Jesus must have looked like a completely different person after the massive physical destruction that He had just undergone. Again, Pilate was trying to avoid crucifying Jesus because he knew Jesus had not done anything wrong.)

⁵ Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold, the man!
⁶ When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Take him yourselves, and crucify him: for I find no crime in him.

(The chief priests and officers cried out "Crucify Him..." and Pilate said for them to take Jesus and crucify Him because Pilate found no fault in Jesus. The chief priests and officers showed no compassion on Jesus, even in the physically mangled state He was in.)

⁷ The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by that law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

(The Jews said that Jesus ought to die because He made Himself the Son of God. They were wrong, Jesus is the Son of God because His Nature is Right and Just, not because He made Himself the Son of God. However, despite Jesus never plainly stating "I am the Son of God," the people recognized Jesus' claim.)

⁸ When Pilate therefore heard this saying, he was the more afraid;
⁹ and he entered into the Praetorium again, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer.

(Pilate had been looking for a way to avoid the crucifixion even before he found out Jesus (indirectly) claimed to be the Son of God. Pilate directly asked Jesus His identity, but Jesus did not answer Pilate.)

¹⁰ Pilate therefore saith unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to release thee, and have power to crucify thee?
¹¹ Jesus answered him, Thou wouldest have no power against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath greater sin.
¹² Upon this Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend: every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.

(Again, Pilate tried to avoid crucifying Jesus. However, the people appealed to Pilate's politics.)

¹³ When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment-seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
¹⁴ Now it was the Preparation of the passover: it was about the sixth hour. And he saith unto the Jews, Behold, your King!
¹⁵ They therefore cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him! Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

(The chief priests denied Jesus and claimed Caesar as their king. This was done during the preparation of the Passover, which would begin at sundown.)

¹⁶ Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified.
¹⁷ They took Jesus therefore: and he went out, bearing the cross for himself, unto the place called The place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha:
¹⁸ where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.
¹⁹ And Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. And there was written, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

(Pilate wrote the title JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS on the cross.)

²⁰ This title therefore read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek.

(The title was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.)

²¹ The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.
²² Pilate answered, What I have written I have written.

(The chief priests wanted the sign to say that Jesus said He was the King of the Jews but Pilate said "What I have written I have written.")

²³ The soldiers therefore, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
²⁴ They said therefore one to another, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my garments among them, And upon my vesture did they cast lots.

(John referenced Psalm 22:18. There was prophecy in the Psalms.)

²⁵ These things therefore the soldiers did. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
²⁶ When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!

(Jesus saw John (the Disciple whom He loved) and His mother and said "Woman, behold thy son!" John was approximately sixteen years old at this time.)

²⁷ Then saith he to the disciple, Behold, thy mother! And from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home.

(Jesus told John, "Behold thy mother!" After this, John treated Mary as his own mother.)

²⁸ After this Jesus, knowing that all things are now finished, that the scripture might be accomplished, saith, I thirst.

(John referenced Psalm 69:21.)

²⁹ There was set there a vessel full of vinegar: so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop, and brought it to his mouth.
³⁰ When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.

(Jesus said "It is finished" and gave up His spirit. Jesus waited until the right time (sundown) to intentionally give up His spirit by His choosing. Jesus' death at Passover ought to have pointed the Jews to Jesus being the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.)

³¹ The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the sabbath (for the day of that sabbath was a high day), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

(The bodies were not supposed to hang all night according to Deuteronomy 21:22-23. The Jews wanted to make sure the men on the crosses died before sunrise. They wanted to do this by breaking their legs so that even though they were not dead yet, breaking the legs of the people being crucified sped up their death by causing suffocation.)

³² The soldiers therefore came, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other that was crucified with him:
³³ but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs:

(Jesus was already dead so they did not break His legs. It could take days for a person to die by crucifixion, especially if their legs were not broken. Again, the law of that time was broken and it fulfilled prophecy from Psalm 22:17, the Psalm that prophesied Jesus' crucifixion.)

³⁴ howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and straightway there came out blood and water.

(A soldier pierced Jesus' side and out of the hole came blood and water. Prior to death, the sustained rapid heartbeat caused by hypovolemic shock (caused by decreased blood volume from the scourging) which also causes fluid to gather in the sack around the heart and around the lungs. This gathering of fluid in the membrane around the heart is called pericardial effusion, and the fluid gathering around the lungs is called pleural effusion. This explains why, after Jesus died and a Roman soldier thrust a spear through Jesus' side (probably His right side, piercing both the lungs and the heart), blood and water came from His side.)

³⁵ And he that hath seen hath borne witness, and his witness is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye also may believe.
³⁶ For these things came to pass, that the scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.

(John referenced Psalm 34:20, which was another prophecy about Jesus' crucifixion.)

³⁷ And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.

(John referenced Zechariah 12:10.)

³⁸ And after these things Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took away his body.
³⁹ And there came also Nicodemus, he who at the first came to him by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

(John was aware of the people who were secretly disciples of Jesus. Nicodemus, the Pharisee who sought Jesus in the night (see John 3), brought myrrh and aloes for Jesus' death.)

⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new tomb wherein was never man yet laid.
⁴² There then because of the Jews' Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) they laid Jesus.

(Jesus' body was quickly put into the tomb without being prepared for burial because it was the Passover. The day after Passover was a high Sabbath. The day after that high Sabbath was the weekly Sabbath. The next day was Sunday, the first day of the week. The women could not prepare Jesus' body until sunrise Sunday, which meant Jesus was dead three days and three nights. Jesus said in Matthew 12:40 that He would be in the belly of the world for three days and three nights just like Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights.)




John 20
¹ Now on the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, while it was yet dark, unto the tomb, and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb.

(In the Gospels according to Mark and Matthew, Mary Magdalene came with other women. In John's Gospel Account, he only mentioned Mary Magdalene. She went just before dawn so that she would be already at the tomb when the sun rose. However, she saw the stone moved away from the tomb. Matthew 28:2-4 showed that a great earthquake occurred before dawn when an angel came down from heaven and rolled away the stone.)

² She runneth therefore, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid him.

(Mary ran to Peter and John. John may have only focused on Mary because the point of his account was how he and Peter found out.)

³ Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and they went toward the tomb.

(Peter and John went to the tomb.)

⁴ And they ran both together: and the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the tomb;
⁵ and stooping and looking in, he seeth the linen cloths lying; yet entered he not in.

(John beat Peter to the tomb, but he did not go into the tomb.)

⁶ Simon Peter therefore also cometh, following him, and entered into the tomb; and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying,
⁷ and the napkin, that was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself.

(The napkin from Jesus' head was placed neatly by itself. Some people believe this was representative of a Jewish custom that took place during a meal: Jews would fold up their napkins neatly only when they were finished. The thought was that Jesus laid the napkin neatly to represent His work on earth being finished: Jesus had died, been buried, and rose again.)

⁸ Then entered in therefore the other disciple also, who came first to the tomb, and he saw, and believed.
⁹ For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

(The Disciples still did not understand that Jesus had to raise from the dead.)

¹⁰ So the disciples went away again unto their own home.
¹¹ But Mary was standing without at the tomb weeping: so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb;
¹² and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
¹³ And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
¹⁴ When she had thus said, she turned herself back, and beholdeth Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.

(Mary stayed at the tomb and Jesus was standing there. However, she did not know it was Jesus. He must have looked different from the last time she saw Him: He was healed.)

¹⁵ Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
¹⁶ Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turneth herself, and saith unto him in Hebrew, Rabboni; which is to say, Teacher.
¹⁷ Jesus saith to her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended unto the Father: but go unto my brethren, and say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.

(Jesus said "Touch me not" because He still needed to ascend to the Father. He could have been telling her not to touch Him because the exchange of value with the Father had not yet taken place, the infinite value Jesus received for dying unjustly without ever having sinned.)

¹⁸ Mary Magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples, I have seen the Lord; and that he had said these things unto her.
¹⁹ When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

(Jesus supernaturally appeared to the Disciples.)

²⁰ And when he had said this, he showed unto them his hands and his side. The disciples therefore were glad, when they saw the Lord.
²¹ Jesus therefore said to them again, Peace be unto you: as the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
²² And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

(Jesus breathed on them to receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus had ascended to the Father, presented himself and the proof was His ability to give the Holy Spirit to His Disciples.)

²³ whose soever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them; whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.
²⁴ But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
²⁵ The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

(Thomas had little faith. He stated that he must see Jesus' wounds in order to believe. Actually, having to see is not faith at all. Hebrews 11:1 stated faith was believing without seeing.)

²⁶ And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
²⁷ Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and see my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

(Again, Jesus supernaturally appeared to the Disciples. This time, Thomas was present. Jesus told Thomas to touch His hands and His side so that Thomas would believe.)

²⁸ Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
²⁹ Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

(Jesus said that blessed were those who believed without seeing. This was faith based off of understanding, not experience.)

³⁰ Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book:
³¹ but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in his name.

(The reason John wrote this book was so that the reader would believe that Jesus is the Son of God and have life in His name. These same reasons were stated by John in the first sentence of John's first epistle as the same reason for him writing that work as well.)




John 21
¹ After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and he manifested himself on this wise.
² There was together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.

(John did not refer to himself by name. The author of this book was not Simon Peter, Thomas, or Nathanael...or the other two Disciples, otherwise, John would have said, "myself." Instead, he referred to himself and his brother James as "the sons of Zebedee." At the very least, from this verse we could say that the identity of the author of this book was one of the sons of Zebedee. However, the fact that the other accounts consistently mentioned Simon Peter, Andrew, and John as Jesus' "inner circle," and the author of this book spoke a lot about Simon Peter and Andrew without ever mentioning John's name, ought to confirm John as the author of this book. Why did John not plainly state himself as author? One reason may be that he spent so much time writing about John the Baptist (and referred to him as "John") that he did not want to confuse the reader by using his own name. The second reason may be that John was keeping with the main theme of his Gospel Account: Jesus not plainly stating He was the Son of God. Likewise, John did not plainly state he was the author of this account.)

³ Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also come with thee. They went forth, and entered into the boat; and that night they took nothing.

(Peter and six other Disciples went fishing and caught nothing. Why were they doing the same jobs they did before they met Jesus? Remember, Peter, Andrew, James, and John returned to fishing after they first met Jesus: Matthew 4:18-22. Why did they catch nothing?)

⁴ But when day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
⁵ Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children, have ye aught to eat? They answered him, No.
⁶ And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

(Jesus told them to cast the net on the right side and they would find. They were not able to bring up the net because it was so full.)

⁷ That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea.

(The Disciple whom Jesus loved and Peter were close. In the Book of Acts, Peter and John traveled together. Peter jumped into the water to swim to Jesus. Why did Peter not walk on water as he did earlier?)

⁸ But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits off), dragging the net full of fishes.
⁹ So when they got out upon the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.

(Jesus was cooking!)

¹⁰ Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now taken.
¹¹ Simon Peter therefore went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, the net was not rent.
¹² Jesus saith unto them, Come and break your fast. And none of the disciples durst inquire of him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

(Jesus dined with the Disciples. This proved that Jesus rose physically from the dead. He was able to physically eat. The Disciples were afraid to confirm it was Jesus. Were they embarrassed Jesus "caught" them fishing?)

¹³ Jesus cometh, and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and the fish likewise.
¹⁴ This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.
¹⁵ So when they had broken their fast, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.

(Jesus asked Peter if he loved (agape) Jesus more than these. Peter said he loved (phileo) Jesus. Jesus said to feed His lambs: teach the young believers (children). The Greek word agape was the word love which meant "to give without expecting anything in return from the person you gave to." The Greek word phileo was not actually love but an affection/emotion; something you cannot do intentionally.)

¹⁶ He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Tend my sheep.

(Jesus asked Peter again if he loved (agape) Jesus. Peter answered that yes he did love (phileo) Jesus. Jesus said to tend His sheep: watch over (pastor) the adult believers. Again, Peter answered Jesus' question not by saying he loved (agape) Jesus but loved (phileo) Jesus. In the Greek translation, phileo would not even be translated into the word "love." The fault was the English translation. God has one word for "love" and that was translated rightly by the word agape. Its meaning is closer to our word "charity," but wherever "charity" does not fit grammatically, the word "love" was used. It is not God's fault that the English language has more than one definition of the word love. God had one definition of love and that is the right definition.)

¹⁷ He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

(Jesus asked Peter a third time if he loved (phileo) Jesus. Notice, Jesus now adjusted to Peter and used Peter's words (phileo). This grieved Peter when Jesus asked if Peter phileos Jesus because Peter thought it was the same question three times, however it wasn't. Peter then made a doctrinal statement ("Thou knowest all things...") and that Jesus knew that Peter loved (again: phileo) Him. Jesus said to feed His sheep: teach the adult believers. Notice, Peter thought he had three identical exchanges with Jesus, yet Jesus' response was different to each of Peter's identical answers. Jesus gave Peter the authority over the Disciples to teach all the believers (children and adult) and pastor the adult believers. However, Jesus had adjusted to Peter...)

¹⁸ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

(Jesus addressed Peter's not adjusting to Jesus by making Peter aware that as he matured he would be adjusting to the Holy Spirit. Also, this verse was prophecy concerning the rest of Peter's life including his death by crucifixion...)

¹⁹ Now this he spake, signifying by what manner of death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

(This verse made it appear that John's Gospel Account was written after Peter's death.)

²⁰ Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; who also leaned back on his breast at the supper, and said, Lord, who is he that betrayeth thee?
²¹ Peter therefore seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

(After Peter heard a prophecy concerning how he would die, Peter asked what John was going to do. Again, Peter was still doing what he wanted to do.)

²² Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me.

(Jesus told Peter to not worry about John. Peter was then told to follow Christ. This ought to be Peter's (and everyone’s) focus: do what God is directing you to do. This was Peter's first lesson towards giving up something he wanted in order to do something God wanted.)

²³ This saying therefore went forth among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, that he should not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

(The Disciples turned this saying into John not dying although Jesus never said that he would not die. However, John lived the longest of all the Disciples. He wrote the last book of the Bible and there was no record of his death.)

²⁴ This is the disciple that beareth witness of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his witness is true.

(It was not until the second to last verse in this entire book that John indirectly revealed that he was the Disciple that wrote this account.)

²⁵ And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.

(The New Testament began with four Gospel Accounts of Jesus' time on earth. The fourth of these Gospel Accounts was written by St. John. John was also known as the beloved Disciple. It was believed this account was written about sixty years after Christ's death. John was the youngest of the twelve Disciples. Of all the Disciples, John appeared to be the smartest and able to learn the most Doctrine. Consequently, his firsthand account contained numerous incidents and teachings not included in any of the other three Gospels. John, like Daniel, understood Doctrine to the point he was able to receive visions and revelations as to prophetic events associated with end-time prophecy. John was the author of three epistles and the Book of Revelation. John's main theme was Jesus' being the Son of God, and not being able to state this plainly. John's Gospel presentation was also unique in that he took the time during the narrative of his account to explain the previous causes and eventual results regardless of timeframe. Consequently, we focused on the Doctrine presented in this account.)

Day 312