St. John's Gospel

The Resurrection c20: Part 1 vv 1-8 The Empty Tomb

Posted on January 22nd 2012 in St. John's Gospel

The movement from the burial to the discovery of the Empty Tomb is held together by a thin thread of evidence, that of the beloved disciple and Mary Magdalen who were both present at the foot of the Cross, and who knew the location of the empty tomb. The greatest act of God, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, took place in silence and away from the sight of all humanity.

The first discovery on Sunday morning is made by Mary Magdalen who does not enter the tomb but returns to tell the others. Her first reaction is a very human one, ‘they have taken him away’, and shows any sense in the possibility of the resurrection. Despite her incomprehension Peter and John run towards the tomb, and the account recognises the relative importance of Peter with respect to John. As leader of the apostles, Peter enters first, but it is John, the beloved disciple, who makes the connection between the folded cloths and the resurrection of Jesus. Lazarus had come out of the tomb bound in linen sheets. The risen Jesus left the tomb through His own power, the cloths neatly folded on the shelf. St John saw what has been described as ‘the vanquished signs of death’. The beloved disciple moves in a few verses from hearing the unbelief of Mary Magdalen, through to the full faith of seeing and believing. This though is not the full Easter faith which must wait till the risen Jesus has imparted the Holy Spirit to the Apostles that evening.

The account of finding the empty tomb finishes on a curious note that the protagonists in the account failed to grasp. This was that the divine reality of Jesus rising from the dead is contained within the Scriptures. This is not explicitly stated anywhere in the Old Testament. There are merely allusions to the Resurrection: i.e. God is God of the living and not of the dead. Such an in-depth analysis requires the Holy Spirit which had not yet been given at the time of the discovery. The implication is that the body of Apostles, the nascent Church, is the proper place to read the Scriptures and discover its deepest meaning. 

The Passion Part 5: The Death and Burial of Jesus 19:28-42

Posted on January 8th 2012 in St. John's Gospel

The death of Jesus demonstrates the life giving quality of His love that He showed in the Washing of the Feet, the beginning of the Passion Narrative. He did love the Apostles to the end, and therefore St John’s account of the death has a conscious, almost serene quality about it. The fulfilment of the Scriptures (the Old Testament) with regard to the death of Jesus takes place both in the general and in the particular sense. The general fulfilment of the Passion predictions, death according to the Scriptures, is completed with details such as ‘I am thirsty’, (from Ps 69:21) about the giving of vinegar for thirst. This divine thirst also intimates the imminent completion of His mission. This is the cup that, whilst in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus declares that He must drink. This action, along with the words, ‘It is accomplished’, immediately precedes His death. The hyssop used to give vinegar to Jesus points back to the sticks used by the Israelites on the night of their departure across the Red Sea to mark the lintels of their houses. Jesus is the Lamb of God who dies on the same day that the lambs are sacrificed for the Passover.

The giving up of the Spirit is the third, according to the tradition of the Church, of three symbolic actions that mark the beginning of the Church in St John’s Gospel. The first, failing to tear the seamless robe, the giving of His Mother to the Beloved Disciple, and the third symbolic action, the handing-over of the Spirit, all point to essential features of the newly founded Church, is unity, its catholicity, its sanctity.

The reception of the Holy Spirit will become tangible in the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist, symbolised by the blood and water flowing from the pierced side of Jesus. The quick death of Jesus meant that the soldiers did not break His legs as they did to the other two thieves. Instead, they pierced His side and unconsciously fulfilled two prophecies that ‘no bone would be broken’ (of the Paschal Lambs, Exodus 12:46) and ‘they will look upon the one they have pierced’ (19:37; Zechariah 12:10). The emphasis on eye-witness accounts points to the necessary connection between the death of Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit and. with that gift, the sacraments of the Church. The love that lasted till the end has become the source of life for every Christian. The Cross is the source of new life.

The Passion Part 3 - Jesus before Pilate c18: 28-19:16.

Posted on December 11th 2011 in St. John's Gospel

The action quickly changes from the House of Caiaphas to which Jesus has been led, where Peter has just denied knowing Jesus again, to the Praetorium, the Roman fortress in Jerusalem. The brief note of Peter denying Jesus a third time and the cock crowing is not developed. All St John says is that ‘it is now morning’, in sharp contrast to the night setting of Judas’ betrayal.

The trial scene between Jesus and Pontius Pilate lies at the centre of St John’s passion narrative. This section has been crafted into seven brief episodes that alternate between the doorway and courtyard of the Praetorium, the middle being the mock coronation of Jesus as ‘King of the Jews’. Throughout St John’s Gospel Jesus’ antagonists unintentionally speak the truth as to His identity and this sense of irony is found throughout. The constant movement between the Jews outside the doorway to Jesus inside in the courtyard reflects the struggle within Pontius Pilate over the question of truth, one that he will successfully evade with the immortal words, ‘What is truth?’ (18:38) The actions of ‘the Jews’ in demanding that Pilate put Jesus to death, and the vacillation of Pilate allow the prophecies of Jesus to come to fulfilment as to the manner of His death by crucifixion: ‘the Son of man will be lifted up’ (3:14). The account of the Passion shows Jesus, though the passive victim, being in charge of events. The crucifixion, far from being a death with disgrace, will draw all people to Jesus (12:32). The complex manoeuvres by ‘the Jews’ to have Jesus crucified for a civil offence, pretending to be aking, will conclude in their assertion that that they have no king but Caesar (19:16).

The theme of kingship runs throughout the trial. The Jews begin and end the scene on this, and the same is true of Pilate who initially asks Jesus if He is a king. Jesus answers positively but obliquely. He is a king but not one that gains legitimacy from this world, but from God, and hence the world of truth. The kingship of Christ manifests the power of God to guide events, and the direction of events from above, including the part played by Pilate, follows from Jesus’ acceptance of the Father’s will.

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