Category: Gospel

Seeing and believing (2)

Yahshua, coming and standing there amongst them says ‘Shalom alechem’, ‘Peace be with you’. It’s the everyday greeting you’d hear on the streets in any Jewish town but here amongst these frightened men it has a much wider and deeper meaning.

Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)

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Cruising the gospel – John 20:19-31

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Brief note:

In the previous installment, I used the Aramaic names for people rather than the modern English equivalents. I’ve done the same again this time because it’s what we normally do with foreign names.

We would not call Jacques Chirac ‘Jack’ and we don’t use an English name in place of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, so why do we call Yohanan ‘John’ and Cephas ‘Peter’? Using the original names reminds us that these people were part of different culture than our own. From now on I shall continue to take this approach.

An amazing day

A fragment of John’s gospel
(Wikimedia)

20:19-31 – In the first 18 verses of John 20 we saw how Maryam Magdalitha (Mary Magdalene) saw and believed; here in the rest of the same chapter we read about Te’oma (Thomas) and how he came to believe. Te’oma (Aramaic) and Didymus (Greek) both mean ‘twin’; John was writing in Greek so he gives both versions for clarity.

For Maryam, hearing Yahshua’s (Jesus’) voice was enough. but Te’oma needed a clearer hint. Notice the gentleness and understanding of Jesus here. There’s no tone of judgement or disappointment in Jesus’ words or in the way he gives Te’oma time to process things and finally what he needs to spark belief. It’s not at all surprising that someone might struggle to believe that after crucifixion and burial, someone might be alive again. In similar circumstances I might have struggled to believe, and so might you. Things were happening at breath-taking speed; this is the evening of the same day Maryam saw Yahshua outside the tomb at dawn.

Notice how the disciples are afraid of the Jews and therefore had the doors closed, perhaps even bolted. They are Jews themseleves, of course, but the Jews they’re afraid of are the leaders who had Jesus crucified and want to stamp out any hint of people still following him. They are surely right to be afraid of these powerful men.

Yet Yahshua, coming and standing there amongst them says ‘Shalom alechem’, ‘Peace be with you’. It’s the everyday greeting you’d hear on the streets in any Jewish town at that time, but here amongst these frightened men it has a much wider and deeper meaning. It’s not just a wish for physical peace and safety, it means peace and safety in the presence of Yahweh, the almighty Father who will protect them. And Yahshua shows them his hands and the wound in his side. And their fear and anxiety turn to rejoicing. We, too, can rejoice in his presence as he stands amongst us when we meet.

Jesus repeats the warm greeting, it’s also a promise, ‘Shalom alechem’ – ‘Peace be with you’. As the Father sent me, so I’m also sending you. They’re not just being given peace, but also a mission! It’s a message to us, today, as well. ‘Peace be with you and I’m sending you’. We can’t take only the peace, we must accept the being sent as well.

He breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’. He breaths on us too and tells us to receive the Holy Spirit. Do we receive him? And do we realise we have the power to forgive sins, or not to forgive? I’m not sure that we are quite so convinced about that! Why did Jesus breathe on them? the word for Spirit is ‘Ruach’ and it it also means ‘breath’. When Jesus fills us with his spirit he is also filling us with his breath. We can see the link in English with words like ‘inspiration’ and ‘respiration’ – both spirit and breath. As followers of Jesus, just as life-giving air flows in and out as we breath, so the eternal life-giving Holy Spirit flows in and out, active and equally life-giving (or even more so!).

But just like you and me, poor old Te’oma wasn’t there when Jesus appeared and said these things. When he does turn up and hears what had happened, he tells the others, ‘I can’t possibly believe that nonsense. I won’t believe such a thing unless I can see his hands and put my finger on the holes where the nails were, and put my hand in the hole in his side. We can’t judge Te’oma for not believing what they had told him. I’m pretty sure we’d be just the same, though possibly less open and honest about it!

But when Jesus does come by again, more than a week later, there’s double proof. Jesus already knows what Te’oma had said, and tells him, ‘Come on then, take a proper look, here are the nail holes and here’s the wound in my side. Put your finger here and take a good look at my hands, and put your hand here in my side and believe! Te’oma said, probably rather tremblingly, ‘My Master and my God’. Notice that this is far more than just believing Jesus died and returned to life. Te’oma knows who Yahshua really is, God himself in a different and unexpected form. I think at this stage Cephas (Peter), Johanan (John) and Maryam Magdalitha understood this, also Yahshua’s mother would have known. But Te’oma fully understands quite early too.

We sometimes think of him as ‘doubting Thomas’, but as soon as he had the evidence there was no room left for doubt!

And Yahshua’s comment right at the end of this gospel is very telling too. You saw and believed, how blessed are those who don’t see yet nevertheless believe. We don’t really need physical evidence, believing happens when something changes in our hearts. This is available to everyone!

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John 20:1-18 – Cruising the Gospel

Seeing and believing

No gardener would know her name, and in that moment she recognises his voice. She cries out ‘Rabboni!’ (‘Teacher!’) and reaches to grab him, perhaps just an arm, more likely a full hug. Her misery and grief fall away immediately, replaced by astonishment and joy. But Yahshua says, ‘Don’t hang onto me because I have not yet gone up to the Father.’

Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)

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Cruising the gospel – John 20:1-18

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An amazing day

A fragment of John’s gospel
(Wikimedia)

20:1-10 – It’s now the day after the Sabbath, and the normal work of the week could begin. But this was not a normal week. Jesus’ disciples, family and friends would have been subdued, grieving, and wondering how things could have gone so wrong, so suddenly. But there were still practicalities to be dealt with and today was the first day when those tasks could be done.

Early, well before sunrise (Sabbath had ended at sunset the day before) Maryam Magdalitha (Mary or Miriam Magdalene) walked to the grave where they had laid Yahshua’s (Jesus’) body, wrapped in strips of cloth with a separate piece of linen for his head. The first thing Maryam noticed, probably from some distance away, was that the heavy stone that closed the grave had been rolled away to one side. Panicking, she didn’t go any closer but must have been horrified; turning round she ran back to Shimon Kepha (Simon Peter) and Johanan (John) and told them the conclusion she must have jumped to, that someone had removed the body and she didn’t know where they’d taken him.

Shimon and Johanan set out running to the tomb and Maryam was right behind them. Johanan ran fastest and bent over and looked in through the low opening and saw the linen strips inside, but didn’t go in. Then Kepha arrived and just went straight into the tomb; he saw the linen strips as well, and also the head cloth. Then Johanan went inside the tomb, saw the same things, and believed.

What’s the significance of this? The author, very likely Johanan himself, explains in verse 9 that they didn’t understand from the Bible that Yashua had to rise again from death. This is not surprising. The Bible mentioned here is what we call ‘The Old Testament’. It was the Hebrew Bible or a Greek translation of it, and the passages that suggested the Son would die and rise again are scattered around in the books of various prophets, the Psalms and elsewhere and are always straightforward (though more so in hindsight). The opportunity for hindsight was only now beginning to open. Yahshua had explained some of this to them. Johanan, who was a close friend of Yahshua and a deep thinker had seen him die and now made the mental leap to understanding that for Yahshua death was a temporary affair. He’d said he’d return from death, and he wasn’t here in the grave anymore, somehow he was alive again! Johanan got it immediately. Kepha, a more down-to-earth and practical person did not, at least, not just yet. The two of them didn’t seem to worry about Maryam in her distress, but no doubt deeply distracted themselves, turned back to the city and the place where they were staying.

10:11-18 – Maryam, still crying in grief, now finally looked inside the tomb herself and saw two people, one sitting where Yahshua’s head had rested and the other at his feet. Seeing the tears rolling down Maryam’s cheeks they asked her why she was crying. The use of the word ‘woman’ here seems to us rather strange, perhaps unkind, perhaps distant and rather aloof. But it was a normal way to address a woman at that time, much as we might still say to a man, ‘What’s the matter, man?’, ‘What’s up, chap?’ or ‘You OK, mate?’ or just ‘What’s the problem? So let’s translate this the way we might say it today. Think in terms of these two angels saying, ‘Why are you crying?’ or ‘Why are you crying, Lady?’ And she tells them, through her sobs, ‘They’ve taken the Master away and I have no idea where they’ve put him.’

Turning round, she saw a figure standing outside the tomb. We know the tomb entrance is low so she’s unlikely to see the person’s face until she is outside, and with tears in her eyes she may not be seeing anything very clearly.

In fact, it’s Yahshua, and he also asks, ‘Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?’ She assumes it’s the gardener who perhaps looks after the nearby olive trees and asks him, ‘If you’ve moved him – tell me where he is and I’ll go and get him’.

Yahshua, seeing how confused she is, says only one word. He appreciates how blurred her vision is so he simply speaks her name.

‘Maryam’.

No gardener would know her name, and in that moment she recognises his voice. She cries out ‘Rabboni!’ (‘Teacher!’) and reaches to grab him, perhaps just an arm, more likely a full hug. Her misery and grief fall away immediately, replaced by astonishment and joy. But Yahshua says, ‘Don’t hang onto me because I have not yet gone up to the Father. Instead, go now to my brothers and tell them that I’m going up to my Father and your Father, to my Elohim (Gods) and your Elohim’. And right away, off she went to tell them.

Why did I write ‘Gods’ in the previous paragraph, not ‘God’? Because ‘Elohim’ is a plural form in Hebrew, the singular is ‘El’ or ‘Eloah’. Plurals are sometimes used to stress importance and power, Queen Victoria used ‘we’ rather than ‘I’ – ‘We are not amused’ instead of ‘I’m not amused’ In the Hebrew Bible ‘Elohim’ is a plural noun but when referring to the Almighty it takes singular verbs, As if Queen Victoria had said, ‘We am not amused’. In Aramaic it is ‘Elah’ or ‘Alaha’ allied to the Arabic ‘Allah’. We shouldn’t miss the significance of this, there’s a hint of threeness here. The Father and the Spirit are ‘up there somewhere’ while Yahshua is still ‘down here’. He plans to return to be with them, and later he will send the Spirit to come to live in and among his followers. Two thousand years later, the Spirit is still here in and among Yahshua’s followers. The Spirit is entirely capable of being ‘up there’ and ‘down here’ simultaneously.

And why did he tell Maryam not to cling to him? Perhaps he’s simply saying that the most urgent thing for him now is to get back to be fully in his Father’s presence because only then can he send the Spirit, someone they need in them as soon as possible. In a hostile and confusing world any delay in the coming of the Spirit will leave the disciples vulnerable and without direction. Maryam can help by taking the news that Yahshua is alive back to them right away. Clinging to Jesus is natural but only benefits one person while leaving the many feeling lost, distressed and confused. I think Maryam understood this right away because she headed back to the city immediately without another word.

It’s also significant that Yahshua appeared to a woman before he appeared to any of the men he’d been teaching for three years. In Jewish tradition scribes taught village boys to read and memorise the Old Testament Law. Girls were not taught these things. And Rabbis (Teachers) would take men as disciples, but not women. Yahshua broke tradition by teaching both men and women, and he now chooses to appear to a woman first. This is a lesson that church understood at the beginning, but forgot for 1900 years and has begun to relearn very slowly over the last seventy or eighty years.

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Matthew 27:32-66 – Cruising the Gospel

Dealing with the body

They took down the body and followed the Jewish practice of spice embalming and wrapping it in linen strips. Very short of time before sunset, they found a newly-carved tomb nearby and laid the body there, Matthew’s Gospel suggests it was Yusuf’s own tomb.

Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)

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Cruising the gospel – John 19:31-42

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Shabta

A fragment of John’s gospel
(Wikimedia)

19:31-37 – Because the following day was Shabta (Aramaic), Shabbat (Hebrew) or the Sabbath (English), it was an important day of rest. Shabta began at sunset on the previous day and ended at sunset too.

19:38-42 – So any tasks that needed to be done on Shabta would have to be completed before sunset the previous day. That’s why the Jewish leaders asked Pilatus to take the bodies down from the crosses before nightfall. Normally, bodies would be left to decay on the crosses and the corpses would be consumed by rats or by birds over the following days and weeks. But if it was necessary to remove them earlier, the Roman custom was to break the legs. It could take up to three days for a healthy, fit individual to die following crucifixion. Because a person on a cross would have to use their legs to lift their body to inhale, soldiers might be ordered to break the legs so the prisoner would be unable to breathe and would die within a few minutes. The Roman soldiers broke the legs of the criminals either side of Yahshua as both were still alive. But a spear in Yahshua’s side proved that he was dead, not just holding his breath and staying very still.

Removing Yahshua from the cross

Yusuf min Arimathea (Joseph of Arimathea) was a secret follower of Yahshua and later, probably by then already late afternoon, he was joined by Naqdimon (Nicodemus), who brought the necessary materials. Both men were members of the Sanhedrin (the Jewish religious council), both followed Yahshua despite the high risks involved, both would have known and been known by the disciples. They took down the body and followed the Jewish practice of spice embalming and wrapping it in linen strips. Very short of time before sunset, they found a newly-carved tomb nearby and laid the body there, Matthew’s Gospel suggests it was Yusuf’s own tomb.

Like those who had seen Yahshua die, Yusuf and Naqdimon must also have thought that this was the end of everything, that for all his amazing teaching and wisdom, this was the end of the ministry of Yahshua bar Yusuf (Jesus son of Joseph, as people generally believed him to be). They would not have understood yet, despite his teaching, that he was also, and far more significantly, Yahshua bar Yahweh! He was, and would remain, the Son of the Eternal Father.

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*This Mormon discussion is interesting as it describes Jewish burial practices in the first century CE in some detail. It’s also downloadable as a PDF.

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Matthew 27:32-66 – Cruising the Gospel

Before Jesus dies

Although used by pre-Roman societies, crucifixion was one of the worst experiences the Romans could inflict on a captured enemy, a violent and vicious criminal or a traitor. Remember the reluctance of the scared Roman Governor and the insistent demands of the angry Jewish High Priest that this terrible execution must go ahead.

Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)

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Cruising the gospel – John 19:25-30

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Torment and shame

A fragment of John’s gospel
(Wikimedia)

19:25-27 – It’s impossible to imagine the horror of death by crucifixion. The shame of hanging naked in front of family, friends and strangers is hard to grasp in a society where nakedness was deemed utterly unacceptable. Add to this the extreme pain of the body’s full weight supported on heavy nails driven through wrists and heel bones (the feet were nailed from the side, one each side of the central wooden post) and the exhausting effort of getting enough air into the lungs – muscles continuously straining (despite the extreme pain) to lift the body enough to breathe. More recent studies suggest that an inability to inhale was not normally the cause of death. Also used by some pre-Roman societies, crucifixion was one of the worst experiences the Romans could inflict on a captured enemy, a violent and vicious criminal or a traitor. Remember the reluctance of the scared Roman Governor and the insistent demands of the angry Jewish High Priest that this terrible execution must go ahead. We discussed those factors last time.

Family

Yahshua’s mother (Mariam), his aunt Mariam and Mariam of Magdala (three Mary’s in total) were there in front of the cross as he suffered, and also one of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, usually thought to be Johanan (John). If that’s correct we’re reading the words of an eyewitness. Yahshua, seeing them there before him and thinking of them more than about himself (as he always did) tells John that from now on his mother is John’s mother and tells her that John is now her son. In this way he is taking care that both of them will be cared for in their sorrow and their longer term needs (both practical and emotional).

The death of Yahshua

Making sure that the Old Testament writings were fulfilled was important and was one way to help people understand that Yahshua was who he claimed to be. It was especially useful as a way of reaching the Jewish teachers of his day. Yahshua was aware of this even as death approached and remained committed to such fulfilment, in this case of Psalm 69:21. So he called out, ‘I’m thirsty’. After drinking from the sponge they held up for him, he said, ‘It’s done’, lowered his head and died.

And the little group of friends, family and followers in front of the cross must have thought this marked the end of his mission, the end of his purpose, and the end of everything. They couldn’t know it yet – but they were so very mistaken.

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What does Jesus mean to me and how do I respond to him?

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ death – Cruising the Gospel

Mark’s account of the crucifixion – Cruising the Gospel

The Governor gives way

Such lofty characters were dangerous and had unexpected powers over ordinary mortals. You did not want to mess with them. The moment he hears that Yahshua might be the son of the Jewish god he becomes seriously scared.

Greek commentary on John’s gospel dated 1190-1200 (Bodleian Library)

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Cruising the gospel – John 19:1-24

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Arresting Jesus

A fragment of John’s gospel
(Wikimedia)

19:1-7 – The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilatus (Pontius Pilate) perhaps thinking he could get away with a lesser punishment than crucifixion, decided to turn Yahshua (Jesus) over to the Roman troops to be ridiculed and severely beaten. In this he was seriously mistaken, the Jewish authorities were not going to accept anything less than the death penalty. Pilatus twice told them that he could find no cause for any legal charge against Yahshua. There was no breach of Roman law here, but the Jewish religious leaders saw a huge and unsufferable offence against their religious traditions. What was a Roman Governor to do in the face of this? His job was to maintain Roman rule, to put down rebellions, make sure taxes were paid and that peace prevailed in his province.

It’s worth mentioning here that Rome had no problem with local kings and kingdoms. Herod was a king, client tribes and kingdoms throughout the empire were tolerated, even officially encouraged. A claim to be ‘King of the Jews’ or ‘King of Judea’ was not in and of itself an offence against Roman law or government. At the time of Yahshua’s trial and official innocence under Roman law, local kings were widespread in Gaul, in Spain, in Germany and in North Africa and the entirety of what is now Turkey. The Roman Emperor ruled over kings and kingdoms, peace (the Pax Romana) was required everywhere and a Roman Governor in each province was held responsible for keeping that peace. Herod Antipas ruled Samaria, but Judea had no king at this moment. Archelaus had ruled Judea, Samaria, and Idumaea but he’d been deposed by Roman direct rule due to poor government and mismanagement. We can, I think, be sympathetic towards Pilatus, who had to prevent violence and uprisings in his Provinces of Judaea and Samaria. If his verdict of Yahshua’s innocence was going to cause a riot or some kind of violence he would have to make a difficult choice, either calm the protest by crucifying this innocent man who claimed to be the Jewish King, or forcefully put down the growing crowds calling for the death penalty. The Bible passages about these events make his dilemma very clear.

Verse 7 is notable. Romans were religious people with gods of their own and temples in every city. Like the Greeks they had traditions and stories about super powerful men being sons of this or that god. Such lofty characters were dangerous and had unexpected powers over ordinary mortals. You did not want to mess with them. The moment he hears that Yahshua might be the son of the Jewish god he becomes seriously scared. He’s just had the man beaten and mocked.

19:8-16 – In verse 8 he goes back to check, and in verse 12 we’re told he wanted to set Yahshua free. So now Pilatus is afraid of an angry crowd that includes senior Jewish religious leaders, and also terrified that he’s dealing with the son of a powerful god. If he allows a riot to develop he’ll be in trouble with the Emperor, if he executes this man he’ll be in trouble with a god! The only way out is to transfer the responsibility to others; and that’s exactly what he sets out to do.

In the end, the Jewish leaders lie to Pilatus to force him to act. They tell him to his face that he is no friend of Caesar if he allows Yahshua to live since anyone claiming kingship opposes Caesar. As I explained above, this is patently incorrect; there are kings in many if not most Roman provinces, ruling with the local Roman governor on Caesar’s behalf. But the direct threat to Pilatus is being spoken openly and he acts in the clearest way possible. He sits on the judgement seat and tells the Jews plainly, ‘Here’s your King‘. He speaks the truth. Their reply is brutal and final, ‘Take him away. Crucify him‘.

And Pilatus hands him over to the Roman troops.

19:17-24– The Roman troops took charge and Yahshua carried his cross to the nearby Golgotha (Skull Place) where he and two others were crucified, one either side of him.

Pilatus’ notice attached to Yahshua’s cross stated the truth – ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’. The chief priests grumbled about these words, telling Pilatus, ‘Don’t write “The King of the Jews”, but “he claimed to be King of the Jews”. Responding grumpily, Pilatus told them, ‘I wrote what I wrote’. Pilatus understood who Yahshua was better than the senior Jewish clerics!

The soldiers took Yahshua’s clothes, sharing them out amongst the four of them. It would be a pity to waste them, perks of the job. They drew lots for his undergarment as it was woven as a single piece and they didn’t want to tear it. He hung naked on the cross until he died.

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John 14:22-31 – Not to the world?