Narrative Commentary for
Good Friday, 18 April 2014
Lectionary Commentary:
John 19: 31 Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation
Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that
Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken,
and that they might be taken away. 32 Therefore the soldiers came, and broke
the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him; 33 but when
they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his
legs. 34 However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and
immediately blood and water came out. 35 He who has seen has testified, and his
testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe. 36
For these things happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of
him will not be broken.”[a] 37 Again another Scripture says, “They will look on
him whom they pierced.”[b]
38 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 Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him
permission. He came therefore and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus, who at
first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about a hundred Roman pounds.[c] 40 So they took Jesus’ body, 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. In the garden was a new
tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid. 42 Then because of the Jews’
Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand) they laid Jesus there.
Footnotes:
a. John 19:36 Exodus
12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20
b. John 19:37 Zechariah
12:10
c. John 19:39 100 Roman
pounds of 12 ounces each, or about 72 pounds, or 33 Kilograms.
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Commentary on John
19:31-42 by Thomas B. Slater
The references to the
day of Preparation and the Sabbath connoted the holiness of these days on the
Jewish calendar.
It was imperative that
this business be completed so that the bodies of the dead might not condemn the
land (Deuteronomy 21:22-23). However, for the fourth evangelist the parallels
with the Passover Lamb are irresistible. Jesus becomes the new Passover Lamb
and so removes the sins of the world. While the original Passover Lamb led to
the liberation of a people from bondage, the new Passover Lamb liberates the
world from sin.
We have here competing
forms of piety and both types of piety are zealous. On the one hand, there is
the piety of tradition, the respect and the love for the old. Often it is not
piety at all but comfort and fear of change. This piety places its deity in a
box. There are no surprises. The second opens itself up to revelation, to God
acting in a new way for a new day. This form of piety expects change; it
embraces change. It is not that one is correct and one is incorrect. Knowing
when one is appropriate and one is not constitutes the real problem. When our
concern for tradition or love of novelty exceeds our concern for human beings,
then our motives, if not also our actions, are inappropriate.
Pilate orders that their
legs be broken so that they might die sooner. Jesus is already dead at this
point. One of the soldiers pierced Jesus in the side to make sure that he was
dead. Blood and water flowed from Jesus’ side. The blood of Jesus “shall never
lose its power.” The blood symbolized the sacrificial death of Jesus on behalf
of sinful humanity. He did not seem to die. He actually suffered and died on
our behalf. This topic would become a major topic of debate within Johannine
Christianity: did Jesus die or die he merely seem to die? Much of 1, 2, and 3
John concerns this very detail and its implications for the ongoing life of the
community. The Gospel of John joins Paul (1 Corinthians 10:16) and Mark 14:24
in asserting and affirming the death of Jesus as a means toward grace.
The water from Jesus’
side reminds us that water is crucial for human existence. This passage echoes
earlier passages in John. In John 4 Jesus speaks of himself as living water
that shall become “a well of water springing up to life eternal” (verse 14). In
John 7:38, Jesus says, “The one who believes in me, as the Scripture says,
‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living waters.’” Jesus embodies
eternal life, symbolized by the water that flowed from his side. Thus, the
death of Jesus reminds us that true salvation incorporates both the body and
the spirit.
Again we note the
concern to note the fulfillment of Scripture. This connoted the importance for
Johannine Christianity to show that the signs of the messiahship of Jesus were
there. Some people simply refused to acknowledge it. Sometimes in life we do
good, not amazing, but still good. What is amazing is that someone else gets
mad! And they are not mad because we did anything wrong, but because it was
indeed good and they did not do it!
Reflections on John
19:38-42
Joseph of Arimathea is a
secret disciple. When it seems as if the movement has been squashed into the
sands of history, he comes out of the closet of his fears. Often fear presents
itself as prudence or caution in order to gain respectability. It hides behind
tradition. It warns that the devil one knows is better than the devil one does
not know. It proclaims no gospel and warns that anarchy and innovation are two
sides of the same coin.
Caution is good, but
when our fears govern our actions we have lost before we have even begun to
act. Fear is like farmland depleted of its nutrients. The same crop has grown
there for so long that eventually the land has lost its ability to produce.
Today our fears take many forms: ethnicity, socioeconomic status, human
sexuality, political persuasion. Our fears keep us from seeing other human
beings as human beings. They keep us from living our faith.
Nicodemus, on the other
hand, represents the life of faith. In the first instance (John 3:1-2),
Nicodemus came by night to meet with Jesus. Obviously, a person of his status
meeting an itinerant Galilean preacher openly would have caused heads to turn
at every level of Judean society. Nicodemus has been moved, but he is still
reluctant to be seen with Jesus. The second time Nicodemus appears (John
7:50-51) he not only publicly speaks up for Jesus, he does so before his
contemporaries.
At the very least, it is
obvious that Nicodemus wants his peers to treat Jesus fairly according to the
Law of Moses (Deuteronomy 1:16-17). In the third instance, Nicodemus provides
for a (very expensive) proper burial for Jesus. The amount of spices used to
prepare Jesus for burial implied that Jesus had a royal status. Nicodemus’
faith grows in each instance from inquirer, to advocate, to disciple. This is
true faith, not mere belief.
Faith is not a one and
done enterprise. It must grow and develop. If it does not, it will become stale
and meaningless. If Nicodemus had not taken the first step and gone to Jesus by
night, the subsequent steps would have been much more difficult for him. We are
no different. If we do not live what we say we believe, our faith cannot grow
and develop and become stronger as we go along our Christian journey.
The linen clothes
symbolized purity. For example, the high priest wore linen on Yom Kippur
(Leviticus 16:4; Ezekiel 10:1-8). Angels also appeared in linen dress (e.g.,
Daniel 10:5-6). Thus, this image connoted the purity of Jesus and that he had
been given a proper Jewish burial. His body was placed in a tomb that had never
been used, i.e., if the tomb is empty there can be no confusion whose body is
missing. It also enabled them to bury Jesus on the day of Preparation, a holy
day in the Jewish calendar.
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John Wesley’s
Notes-Commentary for:
John 19:31-42
Verse 31
[31] The Jews therefore,
because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the
cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought
Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Lest the bodies should
remain on the cross on the Sabbath — Which they would have accounted a
profanation of any Sabbath, but of that in particular.
For that Sabbath was a
great day — Being not only a Sabbath, but the second day of the feast of
unleavened bread (from whence they reckoned the weeks to pentecost:) and also
the day for presenting and offering the sheaf of new corn: so that it was a
treble solemnity.
Verse 34
[34] But one of the
soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and
water.
Forthwith there came out
blood and water — It was strange, seeing he was dead, that blood should come
out; more strange, that water also; and most strange of all, that both should
come out immediately, at one time, and yet distinctly. It was pure and true
water, as well as pure and true blood. The asseveration of the beholder and
testifier of it, shows both the truth and greatness of the miracle and mystery.
Verse 35
[35] And he that saw it
bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye
might believe.
His testimony is true —
Valid, unexceptionable.
And he knoweth — And his
conscience beareth him witness, that he testifieth this for no other end, than
that ye may believe.
Verse 36
[36] For these things
were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be
broken.
A bone of it shall not
be broken — This was originally spoken of the paschal lamb, an eminent type of
Christ. Exodus 12:46.
Verse 37
[37] And again another
scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced.
They shall look on him
whom they have pierced — He was pierced by the soldier's spear. They who have
occasioned his sufferings by their sins (and who has not?) shall either look
upon him in this world with penitential sorrow: or with terror, when he cometh
in the clouds of heaven, Revelation 1:7. Zechariah 12:10.
Verse 38
[38] And after this
Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the
Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate
gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus.
Joseph of Arimathea
asked Pilate — And Nicodemus also came - Acknowledging Christ, when even his
chosen disciples forsook him. In that extremity Joseph was no longer afraid,
Nicodemus no longer ashamed.
Verse 41
[41] Now in the place
where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre,
wherein was never man yet laid.
In the place where he
was crucified — There was a garden in the same tract of land: but the cross did
not stand in the garden.
Verse 42
[42] There laid they
Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was
nigh at hand.
Because of the
preparation — That is, they chose the rather to lay him in that sepulchre which
was nigh, because it was the day before the Sabbath, which also was drawing to
an end, so that they had no time to carry him far.
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