Time: between 9 AM and noon (I will discuss the time discrepancies later)
Pilate has released Jesus to be crucified.
The Roman soldiers lead Jesus to an area known as Golgatha, which means the Place of the Skull. There, he will be crucified. The soldiers encounter a man en route named Simon of Cyrene. They force him to carry the cross of Jesus.
Note, the Gospel of John states that Jesus carried his own cross with no mention of Simon helping out. John could just be providing a general summary of the event, whereas the Synoptic Gospels are focusing on it with extra detail. Likewise, both Simon and Jesus could be carrying the cross.
Jesus is offered wine mixed with myrrh, but he refuses. The general consensus is that it was offered to him in contemplation of the execution in order to dull the pain of the nails being driven through his hands. Thus, by refusing it, his senses would be clear and he would be conscious of all this happening to him.
The Romans then crucified Jesus. Jesus is hung up and says "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.". In such extreme conditions, Jesus expresses love, forgiveness, and hope for the very people destroying his body.
The Roman soldiers cast lots to see who would get Jesus' garment.
They installed a sign on the cross that read "Jesus of Nazareth, The King Of The Jews". The chief priests objected to this sign and told Pilate that it should read "he claimed to be the king of the Jews". Pilate declines to change the sign and in fact, takes ownership and responsibility saying "what I have written, I have written".
Again, this shows what an ambivalent character Pilate is. Perhaps this gesture was in mock homage to either Jesus or the Jewish leaders. Perhaps he was reasserting Roman control over the situation when the Jews had forced his hand. Perhaps he even was asserting an ambivalent expression of faith in Jesus - on one hand, he felt forced to do this, but on the other, knew that there was something very special about Jesus.
Jesus is crucified in between two criminals. One mocks Jesus while the other rebukes the mocker. The same criminal then asks Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into his kingdom.
Jesus turns to the man and says "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise". Then is popularly understood to refer to salvation and heaven. However, there is a debate whether it means that the man will immediately go to heaven or from the soul sleep theorist, that from his perspective, his next conscious thought is that he will be in heaven.
Jesus sees his mother and the "disciple whom he loved". This probably referred to Lazarus, thus making him and Mother Mary eyewitnesses to the crucifixion. Jesus instructs the disciple with an important duty - look after his mother.
Jesus is thirsty and states this. He also states "why have you forsaken me", citing Psalm 22, which is a psalm of lamenting the distance between God and man.
The Roman soldiers a put a vinegar-soaked on a hyssop stalk and lift it near Jesus. Jesus drinks and declares, "it is finished".
Between about noon and mid-afternoon, darkness fell on the land. Finally, Jesus states "Father into your hands I commit my spirit". This is only recorded in Luke, whereas the other Gospels suggest that this last utterance was unintelligible.
After saying this, Jesus dies.
Back in the city, there were two major miracles that coincided with Jesus' death. First, the curtain in the temple is torn in two from top to bottom.
Second, a major earthquake happens, which breaks open nearby tombs. In a similar fashion to Lazarus coming back to life, dead people of faith emerge from their tombs and make appearances throughout the city. We know nothing of who they were, were they patriarchs or were they people who had recently died. However, we know the effect of this on the Roman soldiers in charge of guarding Jesus. They declare: "surely, this was a man of God".
Later, a Roman soldier comes around to break the legs of the condemned criminals to hasten their deaths. He comes to Jesus and seeing that he is dead, stabs him with a spear to ensure that he is actually dead. John 19:36 highlights that this fulfills a requirement in that the bones of the lamb were not to be broken.
John 19 also states that when the side of Jesus was pierced, out came blood and water. John 19 is silent as to why water came out, but it emphasizes in verse 35 that the man who saw it says it happened. Thus suggests the man really was surprised by what came out and that it was literal water.
Stabbing Jesus with a spear is only recorded in John 19. This chapter is also silent as to another famous legend - the Holy Grail. There is no mention of a cup that contained the blood of Jesus as it flowed out.
After the death, Nicodemus (from John 3) and Joseph of Arimethea take away the body of Jesus. Pilate is surprised that Jesus has already died. It was the Jewish Day of Preparation, i.e., Friday, and sunset was drawing near. So, they did not have a lot time to prepare the body for burial. They did wrap Jesus in linens and spices. According to the NIV translation, the spices were about 34 kilograms of myrrh and aloes.
They put the body of Jesus in a tomb that had never been used before. They then roll a large stone in front of the tomb.
The next day, the Jewish leaders request that an extra guard and seal be placed in the tomb. This is because they knew that Jesus predicted his own resurrection and suspect that the disciples will steal the body of Jesus and claim that he was resurrected. Pilate agrees and orders a guard and seal on the tomb.
One final note on the day and time of these events - we cannot read these accounts with our modern understanding and standards of time. Otherwise, it is not make any sense at all.
John 19:14 states that Pilate finished interrogating Jesus at noon whereas Mark 15:25 states that Jesus was put on the cross at around 9 AM. Clearly, there is an irreconcilable difference. However, I would state that these accounts are based on at least two different eye witnesses at a time when they did not have clocks.
So, one person looking at the sun's position in the sky would say it is 9 AM whereas another might say it was noon. Likewise, the accounts only used intervals of 3 hour. So, a discrepancy of three hours is understandable since they are based on differing subjective estimates of what time it is. This is similar issue whether the Roman soldiers gave him a purple or scarlet robe in mock homage.
Also, some people believe the events happened on Wednesday because Jesus was to be in the tomb for three days and three nights. The issue being whether days were inclusive, regardless o the time of the day (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) or whether it represented 72 hours in the modern concept. However, John 19 makes it clear that it was a Preparation Day, which was the weekly Sabbath routine, i.e., Friday. Luke 23:56 also states that the Preparation was for the weekly Sabbath.
No comments:
Post a Comment