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When we come back we will continue picking out verse by verse up at John 19:38
Okay, last week we left off reading where Joh cited Old Testament prophesies telling us that the Messiah would not have a bone broke but that they would pierce Him.
This was after telling us that Jesus had given up the Spirit and that the Jews had sought to have the crucified taken down before sunset.
Verse 38.
John 20.10
June 7th 2015
Milk
John 19:38 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.
39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner 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 sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.
42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Okay back to 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.
All we know about Joseph of Arimathea was that he was a man who sustained a good scriptural character.
Mark 15:43 says he was an “honorable counsellor,” and that he “waited for the kingdom of God,” he was “a good man, and a just;” and we know from Luke 23:51 that he did not consent to the ways and purposes of the Sanhedrim though he appears to have been part of them.
In Christianity, there can be some real onus placed on men of power and men who have wealth.
Like ANYTHING in the faith its all about the heart of the individual and not the external abundance of lack.
In other words just because a person is well off does not make them less of a Christian and just because they are poor and lacking does not make them more.
The danger of abundance is the fact of its effects on the human heart but again poverty can corrupt the human heart as well.
I just spent several days in negotiations with a man of tremendous wealth. I woke on the day of my departure and said to myself:
“This is not a good man.”
Joseph of Arimathea though wealthy, had not let his abundance corrupt him but was instead a follower of the Lord.
I find it wholly courageous, in fact, that the Sanhedrim led by the High Priest wrongly put Jesus to death but Joseph of Arimathea was not afraid to do right and care for Him afterward.
Certainly the Sanhedrim knew he had done this. So while he apparently feared them and did not follow Jesus openly, he did NOT let this fear stop him from treating the Lord justly and assuming responsibility for His body.
However, take note that plans were not made beforehand what to do with His body once He was dead.
To me this suggests that Jesus own body would have been subject to some sort of general treatment – like someone of the masses or a common criminal – and would have been due to the fact that he was not wealthy.
Isn’t it interesting that even in His death the care of his corpse was left to the goodness of others.
One final note on Joseph of Arimathea. We really don’t know where Arimathea is or was primarily because there were several cities of that name in Judea.
Most people believe that it was the same place that is known as Rama – which was a short distance from Jerusalem.
So that was Joseph of Arimathea.
(Verse 39)
39 And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.
So, once again we have another “ruler of the Jews,” coming forward and caring for Jesus – and one who did NOT follow Him but did seek Him out and apparently believed on Him.
Back in John 7:50 he defended Jesus against the hatred of the Jewish council so he too, like Joseph of Arimathea, could see and hear truth as it was given them.
Nicodemus, we remember, came to Jesus by night and was taught of Him. It was in this setting that Nicodemus was taught about the importance of being born again.
I believe this teaching had a profound effect on Nicodemus so much so that in my estimation he was born from above and proved it by following Jesus all the way past death and then proved his love for the king by participating in the care of his body.
By caring for the body of the Lord, by the way, these Jews showed they cared for Him. To a Jew burial was a very big deal and to treat it casually was to believe the deceased was not worth anything.
But to take the time to care for His body was definitely and indicator that they believe He, though dying like a common criminal, was anything but.
John also tells us that Nicodemus brought with him . . .
“and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.”
Myrrh and aloes were used to preserve bodies from putrefaction.
Some people have questioned that a hundred pounds’ weight of myrrh and aloes was true overkill and would have been enough to embalm two hundred dead bodies.
Two points on this –
First, instead of ekaton, a hundred, some critics have proposed to read ekaterwn- a mixture of myrrh and aloes, of about a pound EACH instead of a hundred pounds each.
But additionally, we might also consider that great quantities of spices were used for embalming dead bodies and they were bestowed almost as a sign of respect.
In other words the more important the person the greater the quantity.
It was said by Aristobulus that five hundred servants bearing aromatics attended the funeral of Herod and Josephus reports that a truckload of spices were used at the funeral of Gamaliel (the elder).
So it could have been an error in transcribing or it could have been a show or sign of great respect on the part of Nicodemus.
If Nicodemus had been born from above as a result of Jesus teaching as I am inclined to think, then a thousand pounds of aloes could have been considered normative. (verse 40)
40 Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Apparently this manner was to fold the spices in with the cloth that would surround the dead so as to keep the body smelling fresh and to keep insects away.
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.
It was not uncommon for wealthy men to own their own gardens and in them they would often have their own tombs carved out of the side of the walls.
This seems to be the case of Joseph of Arimathea.
Again, since Jesus was numbered with the transgressors it appears that the destiny of His body would have been the same as theirs but having paid the dept and had victory, having been able to say, “it is finished,” he was no longer of that group and had his body therefore treated very differently that those who hung on crosses with Him.
Instead, and according to yet another prophecy regarding the Messiah written some seven hundred years prior He was to have the burying-place of a rich man.
It says:
Isaiah 53:9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death.
I believe that part of the design of this was that it set His resurrection apart from the common grave and didn’t allow for the conjecture of foul play – meaning it would be a lot easier to claim someone stole His body from a common grave and deny that He had risen but with is tomb being a place where no man had even or ever been laid, that was sealed by Pilate with a watch of guards, the proof of resurrection was better not worse.
As stated, we really don’t know much about Joseph of Arimathea but we do know when the Lord gave up His life the man stood up and was willing to be counted.
Last verse of chapter 19:
42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.
Okay, let’s continue and read some of our text in chapter 20 beginning at verse 1.
Now one thing before we go onto chapter 20.
We read this account in Matthew 27. It says at verse 62:
Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate,
What this is saying is that as soon as it got dark it was the next day to the Jews, and they went to Pilate then.
If we think of it in western terms they would have gone to Pilate the next day or the next morning but that would be absurd for them to wait to put a watch on the tomb then.
But in ancient Hebrew the next day began when the sun went down, which would have been “after the day of preparation for the Sabbath” and “after Jesus had died” the sun had gone down, the next day had begun and they went to Pilate
(verse 63 of Matthew 27)
63 Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.
We know that Jesus taught this.
Using Matthew to represent the content of Mark and Luke we read (in Matthew 16:21)
“From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.”
Later in Matthew 17:22 it says:
“And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men:
And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.”
In Matthew 20:18 Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,
19 And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.
So the idea that Jesus would rise again was taught by Him and apparently it was remembered by His enemies but forgotten by His disciples – something I will never understand.
In any case the leaders knew it and so they came to Pilate and (again) said:
“Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again.”
One of the charges against Jesus was that “He deceived the people,” and it seems that they chose to refer to Him by this title thinking that his death had fully confirmed it against His person.
So they continued to Pilate saying:
64 Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, “He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.”
In other words, command men to come and stand guard to ensure that no funny games take place at the hands of his disciples and some of them come and try and take Him away.
We only need it until Sunday (the first day of the week) because He claimed He would rise in that time.
They said, “Ensure this so that, “The last error shall be worse than the first.”
In other words, do this to prevent another act of deception occur (them stealing His body) making the “last deception” (the stealing of the body) worse than the first deception (His pretending to be the Messiah).
65 Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.
In that day the Jews had a guard (or a watch of Roman soldiers) who overlooked the temple from what was known as the tower of Antonia, on the north-west of the temple.
Pilate either referred to these men or to the watch that were assigned to His crucifixion.
Because crucifixion sometimes lasted many days, the band had been probably granted or allotted to them during that time, and they were still at the direction of the chief priests.
So Matthew says
66 So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.
Some suggest that Pilate sealed the stone with some sort of Roman insignia others suggest the stone was sealed either by the Roman watch or the Jews themselves.
We don’t know neither do we know how the stone was sealed but it was probably sealed by the manner in which they rolled the stone into or over the entrance of the tomb.
Some suggest melted wax sealed the stone by I doubt it very much and think this is just imagination at work.
Daniel was cast into a cave and according to Daniel 6:17 it was sealed with the King’s signet which could have been by fastening the stone in its place with cords, and bringing them together and uniting them with wax.
This is how letters and books were anciently sealed so it is possible that on the sepulchre of Jesus there was impressed the seal of Pilate.
Then again the stone could have been fitted over the mouth of the tomb and sealed with clay or cement and Pilate sealed that.
Whatever it was the tomb WAS sealed and a watch was granted.
We have to look at the wisdom of God at work here.
Had all this been done by Jesus friends or family it could easily have been said that the whole thing was a ruse meaning they only pretended to put Him inside and only pretended to seal the tomb and then later stole His body as a means to perpetuate resurrection.
But it was His enemies that took over and ensured the security of the tomb and took the time to have guards oversee the site with Roman security.
He was also buried in a tomb alone so no other chicanery could be concocted using other bodies, etc.
With His very enemies taking every possible precaution to secure Jesus in the tomb there could be only one explanation that the tomb was empty on the third day – God.
Not friends. Not followers. Not men.
So now let’s begin reading in chapter 20 at verse 1 of John.
20:1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
2 Then she runneth, 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 sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
Okay back to verse one:
1 The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
Now, John’s account is apparently abridged and omits much that the other gospels include.
For example John merely sys that Mary Magdalene came early when it was yet dark and saw the stone taken away, right? And then all John says is that she then ran to tell Peter and John.
But listen to Matthews version:
Matthew 28:1 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
2 And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:
4 And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men.
5 And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
6 He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.
8 And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word.
9 And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.
10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
John has all of it happening to Mary Magdalene and includes very little of these other details.
WHAT CAN WE SAY?
First of all there are two views when taking reports into account and sizing them up for veracities sake.
The first view looks to consistencies in the various stories (which COULD support collusion in some peoples minds) and the second looks to inconsistencies (which COULD spell translate to someone is lying in other peoples minds).
In other words IF the four accounts were perfect and exact I would question them – who on earth reports the exact same thing ESPECIALLY if the reporters are all writing from memory?
But if they four accounts contradict each other then there is always the charge that they are in error.
So in either way believers are challenged.
I think the only solution to this problem is a reasonable approach. Let me explain.
Have you ever been involved in a situation where a lot of people are present and something happens – like someone steps in the room and starts shooting?
It is chaos and while there will be consistencies that come out of the stories there will also be inconsistencies. THEY ARE EXPECTED.
It’s not that the inconsistencies make the event false. A man did walk into the post office and he did shoot his gun.
But they simply show that a lot was going on and a number of people reported on some things in different ways but not all things in the same.
Police officers know when a crime has been rehearsed and planned when those involved give the same exact retelling of the event – using even some of the same words because THAT is not natural.
When it comes to the resurrection – when people started running and telling and reporting and new was spreading there were different people coming and going and the various accounts prove this.
Secondly we know that the accounts were never meant to be exhaustive. They are representative and relate the fact each writer chose to represent. Like the Genesis account there is as much missing as there is present.
Finally, we CAN take all the account information from all of the reports and present a chronology. Within the chronology there are the essentials.
For example, if a man came into a postoffice and shot the postmaster and the postmaster died those would be the essentials of such a horrible story.
Whether he took large strides to the counter or short one, whether three people witnessed it or four, whether it was three fifteen or three twenty two are all side issues to the essentials – the postmaster lost his life to a mad gunman.
Taking a chronological look at the order of events we can say the following about the listed elements of the story.
Jesus is buried, as several women watch (Matthew 27:57-61; Mark 15:42-47; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42).
The tomb is sealed and a guard is set (Matthew 27:62-66).
At least 3 women, including Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, prepare spices to go to the tomb (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1).
An angel descends from heaven, rolls the stone away, and sits on it. There is an earthquake, and the guards faint (Matthew 28:2-4).
The women arrive at the tomb and find it empty. Mary Magdalene leaves the other women there and runs alone to tell the disciples (John 20:1-2).
The women still at the tomb see two angels who tell them that Jesus is risen and who instruct them to tell the disciples to go to Galilee (Matthew 28:5-7; Mark 16:2-8; Luke 24:1-8).
The women leave to bring the news to the disciples (Matthew 28:8).
The guards, having roused themselves, report the empty tomb to the authorities, who bribe the guards to say the body was stolen (Matthew 28:11-15).
Mary the mother of James and the other women, on their way to find the disciples, see Jesus (Matthew 28:9-10).
The women relate what they have seen and heard to the disciples (Luke 24:9-11).
Peter and John run to the tomb, see that it is empty, and find the grave clothes (Luke 24:12; John 20:2-10).
Mary Magdalene returns to the tomb. She sees the angels, and then she sees Jesus (John 20:11-18).
Later the same day, Jesus appears to Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Corinthians 15:5).
Still on the same day, Jesus appears to Cleopas and another disciple on their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-32).
That evening, the two disciples report the event to the Eleven in Jerusalem (Luke 24:32-35).
Jesus appears to ten disciples—Thomas is missing (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25).
Jesus appears to all eleven disciples—Thomas included (John 20:26-31).
Jesus appears to seven disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-25).
Jesus appears to about 500 disciples in Galilee (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Jesus appears to His half-brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7).
Jesus commissions His disciples (Matthew 28:16-20).
Jesus teaches His disciples the Scriptures and promises to send the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:44-49; Acts 1:4-5).
Jesus ascends into heaven (Luke 24:50-53; Acts 1:6-12).
Are there incongruencies between the accounts. Yes. And I’m glad there are. They lend to authenticity which I appreciate.
Okay, back to John chapter 20, speaking of Mary Magdalene, says:
2 Then she runneth, 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 sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.”
Interestingly enough the Jews thought that the Lord’s disciples were going to take Jesus body away and here the disciples – at least one of them – thought the Jews had taken Him away.
3 Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.
4 So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
I know I wrote that this was included partly in the name of brotherly competition between John and Peter but John could write it this way to explain why he was the one who stooped down and looked into the tomb and not Peter – he got there first.
And what exactly did John the Beloved see? (verse 5)
5 And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
Now, when I was engaged with that other religion of my first four decades I remember looking at artistic renditions of the empty tomb and they would always depict Jesus walking out of this seven to ten foot arch cut out of the side of pristine wall and a stone rolled to the side that was in the shape of giant white disk of marble – which would have weighed in at several tons minimum.
It seems that the historical reality of the whole thing was tombs cut out from the rock had very, very small openings, small enough where a boulder two men could move could cover it.
And entering into such a tomb a man might have to get on his knees but then once inside the tomb would be much bigger – maybe even big enough to stand in.
We have some support for this in John’s explanation as he wrote that upon arrival he stooped down and looked in.
This then helps bring some reason to the stone and it being rolled in place and then away.
So after John stoops and looks in the Beloved writes:
6 Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
7 And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
Now, there was floating around not to long ago a nice little story that said the symbolism of the napkin being folded related to the ancient Hebrew practice of folding their napkin before exiting the table which would signify that He was coming back.
This story was told and retold especially around Calvary chapels. It’s just not so. And here’s why.
First of all we don’t know from the Greek if the napkin was a napkin at all. It can be translated into towel, or head cloth or a few other words that do not mean table napkin.
Secondly, the term for folded could mean Twisted or crunched up or any number of other activities on the cloth.
Third, there is no historical custom of Jews folding their napkins and this folding signifying they were coming back and finally, and perhaps most importantly, the jews did not use napkins at the dinner table but instead appealed to washings.
The whole point in John mentioning the head cloth or covering was to simply describe the scene and to say that the head towel was seen in a different place than the grave clothes.
After impetuous Peter went into the sepulchure John followed: (verse 8)
8 Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
And verse 9
9 For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
10 Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
Verse nine is troubling. Were going to talk about it more when we continue next week – after all the chief priests even knew that Jesus had said He would rise again, why not Peter and John?
Questions and comments.
