April 24, 2016 John 19:23-42
Download discussion questions: John 19_23-40 buried
This passage describes the central event of history, as summarized in the Apostles’ Creed: “He was crucified, died, and was buried.”[1] John provides some details omitted by the other Evangelists, and he omits some that they included. Continue reading
April 24, 2016 John 19:23-42
Download discussion questions: John 19_23-40 buried
What was it like for John to remember and write down his eyewitness account of Jesus on the cross? What kind of details did he include, and why? How did he record the aftermath of the execution of the One who loved him? Download the handout and consider both the historical narrative and the personal impact on you from this passage.
One of the goals of our discussion group has been to improve our ability to learn from the Bible individually and together. With that end in mind, the Observation, Interpretation, and Application questions in the handout are generic, not specific to this passage. Use the inductive method (including more suggested questions on the back of the handout) to explore this passage and sharpen your skill for understanding Scripture.
Download discussion questions: John 19_4-22 crucified
[Sixteen inches of show at our house, a downed tree of significant size, and a power outage at the church building – the result was that I was not at our group this week. I’m not sure how many others were. This blog entry consists of my own thoughts about the passage without the benefit of our usual lively discussion.]
Pilate’s part in the story God is telling through John continues from the previous passage. For the third time the Roman governor tells the Jewish leaders that he finds no guilt in the Man they have brought to him (19:6; cf. 18:37 and 19:4). John continues showing Pilate’s attempt to avoid executing an obviously innocent prisoner. The guilt is on others – the Jews who brought Him and specifically on Judas the betrayer, “the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin” (v. 11). Pilate was not guiltless, but John makes it clear that he did not bear the primary responsibility. Continue reading
Download discussion questions: John 19_4-22 crucified
The continuing confrontation between the Jews, Pilate, and Jesus continues, with escalating stress on the Roman governor. Try to approach this familiar story with fresh eyes to see what God might show you about our crucified King.
One of the goals of our discussion group has been to improve our ability to learn from the Bible individually and together. With that end in mind, the Observation, Interpretation, and Application questions in the handout are generic, not specific to this passage. Use the inductive method (including more suggested questions on the back of the handout) to explore this passage and sharpen your skill for understanding Scripture.
Download discussion questions: John 18_24-19_5 Pilate
“Why did John include so much detail about Pilate?” was the question that started our discussion. This passage and the next several verses spend considerable time describing the time Jesus spent in the custody of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. John gives a brief description of the interaction between Jesus and Annas, the de facto high priest. John says nothing about the time Jesus spent with Caiaphas, the “official” high priest. Instead, he describes more about Peter’s denial (v. 24-28) while Jesus was with Caiaphas. When it comes to Pilate, John writes extensively (over seven hundred words regarding Pilate and about a hundred words about Annas). Why? What’s so important about Pilate?
As usual, our group had a number of ideas. John may have wanted to show without a doubt that Pilate was not the villain of the story. Try as he might (as discussed below) the powerful Roman could not pacify the Jews. John makes it clear that his own countrymen were the human force behind the arrest and execution of Jesus. Another suggestion was to show what one member of our group described as a “confluence of evil.” John has said much about the growing opposition of the Jews to the ministry of Jesus. Perhaps the lengthy description of Pilate’s role was to show that the influence of the corrupt religious community was accompanied by an equally unjust political power. Or maybe the interaction Pilate had with Jesus displays how many people (all of us?) can hear Jesus and still reject Him. All of these comments in our discussion group combined under the general heading of God’s providential working to accomplish His purpose. John shows his readers that even the influence of Rome is turned to God’s sovereign rule.
Opinions differed (not unusual in our discussions) about Pilate’s attitude and how it might (or might not) have changed during his conversation with Christ. Some suggested a continuous, consistent thread of ambition and self-protection in everything Pilate did and said in this passage. Others saw a shift from uninterested annoyance at being bothered by the Jews (v. 29-31a) to concerned curiosity about why this mob wanted the death penalty (v. 31b-33). When the conversation turned to truth, Jesus offered Himself as the source of that truth. Then Pilate seemed (like many others since his time) to try to divert the uncomfortable topic away from the personal to the philosophical, “What is truth?” in verse 38. He repeatedly tells the Jews that Jesus is not guilty (18:38b, 19:4b). He even has the innocent prisoner scourged (or “flogged”) and abused by the soldiers, perhaps in the hope that such brutal but non-lethal punishment would satisfy the Jews. One in our discussion suggested that “Behold the man” (19:5) was in the sense of “Look at Him! Isn’t that enough?”
Another question raised in our group related to the Jewish leaders. Why were they so concerned to take Jesus to Pilate? John reported several previous incidents when the opponents of Jesus were ready to kill Him by stoning (5:18; 7:1; 8:59; 10:31)? Why all the fuss about a Roman trial, especially when they were concerned about the ceremonial issues of Passover (18:28)? We also talked briefly about the irony and hypocritical actions of seeking an illegal execution while trying to preserve ceremonial purity. On previous occasions when the Jews wanted to arrest Jesus, Matthew’s Gospel reports that they hesitated because they feared the people (Matthew 21:26, 46). Maybe the leaders’ strategy was to make Rome responsible for the execution of such a popular figure. They wanted Him eliminated, but they didn’t want the responsibility and the consequences of the possible backlash from the crowds that were beginning to sympathize and follow Him.
Finally we considered how Jesus responded to Pilate. He challenged Pilate’s information about the charge against Him (18:34). The last time Jesus had challenged His questioner He had been slapped by a guard (18:22), but that didn’t affect His boldness with Pilate. He replied to Pilate’s question (“What have you done?” in v. 35) with a provocative statement about His kingdom. What could be more dangerous in a conversation with a Roman official than to suggest sedition or the treasonous idea of another government taking over? The charge Pilate had already heard elsewhere was that Jesus was a new candidate for king, and Jesus did nothing to discourage that accusation. Pilate recognized the implication: “So You are a king?” (v. 37). Instead of debating political offices Jesus tells Pilate about His mission (a recurring theme in Jesus’ words): to testify of the truth. Then Jesus gives the Roman an opportunity, an opening for a conversation that is more personal than political: “Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (v. 37b). One comment in our discussion was that this was a “teaser” or a comment to pique Pilate’s interest, to give him an opening to ask more about Jesus and His mission and what a “kingdom not of this world” might mean. Jesus’ words were inviting without being insistent. He was not going to force the conversation into His way onto Pilate, but He offered a provocative comment for Pilate’s response. And Pilate turned that opening into a philosophical detour. He avoided a personal connection. We can learn from Jesus’ example under the most stressful circumstances. He calmly responded to the situation and offered comments that would stir an open heart. He offered an opportunity to take the conversation in a more personal direction without applying pressure for Pilate to respond in a certain way.
The application part of our discussion focused on the kingdom that Jesus contrasted with the kingdom of this world, an especially relevant topic in this election year. There is no clear formula, but the balance seems to lie somewhere between the extremes of avoiding politics altogether and depending on the political process to change society. The consensus of our group seemed to be that how we engage and love individuals is more important than our impact on the political process. Changing laws about abortion or homosexual rights may attract more attention and publicity. But how we relate to a pregnant teen, or to a woman who has had an abortion, or to a friend struggling with same-sex attractions – those are the areas that will most clearly display the “kingdom not of this world” that Jesus came to establish.
Download discussion questions: John 18_24-19_5 Pilate
John includes a significant amount of detail about the interaction between Jesus and Pilate. Why would this be important for John to record this? What was Pilate’s opinion of Jesus, and how did that opinion change through their conversation?
Download the handout and see what you discover about this familiar climatic episode.
Download discussion questions: John 18_1-24 Annas
For a relatively short passage (twenty-four verses, about 500 words in English, fewer in Greek) this passage contains a surprisingly large cast of characters. Many played a part, some named, some anonymous, multiple groups, at least fifteen distinct participants. I imagined the roll of credits at the end of a movie naming all the characters. With that many characters and given the relational nature of John’s storytelling, it makes sense to look at the encounters among the different persons. What we can learn about the individuals from how they engage others in the various situations? Continue reading
Download discussion questions: John 18_1-24 Annas
And so it begins. Jesus is arrested and starts the final part of His journey through various trials to His final trial on the cross. How does He react? How do those around Him react? After chapters of motivating miracles and contemplative theological discourses, the text suddenly becomes a stream of one stressful situation after another. Download the handout to see what we can learn from this passage about the stresses in our own lives.
Download discussion questions: John 17_1-18_1 Prayer
One of the challenges each week as we have been working our way through the Gospel according to John is the selection of each successive passage. The goal has been to include enough context (a particular event or a discourse of Jesus) to form a cohesive section we can study. At the same time, it is important to remember we have only about an hour for our discussion, so the length of the passage needs to be limited.
This weeks’ passage is longer than usual, but it represents a unit that would be difficult to divide and impossible to discuss if it were broken into several parts. Jesus’ prayer might be considered the culmination of His earthly ministry as He prays to His Father about what He has done and what He desires for His disciples. His prayer exposes what was on His heart just before His arrest.
This powerful passage stands on its own. I have not included any discussion questions, but I expect our time together will be rich as we look at this prayer on Palm Sunday.
Download discussion questions: John 16_21-33 plain words
Our discussion began with an invitation to the mothers in the group to comment on verse 21. The consensus was that the pain of childbirth was real and intense. The responses clearly revealed that none of the women who had borne a child had any trouble remembering the experience. But the significant pain, though remembered, was immediately eclipsed by the joy of seeing and holding a newborn. Jesus’ words were not intended to suggest that the anguish and grief we experience is to be minimized or ignored. Rather He was saying that no matter what we experience the joy in store for us surpasses the pain.
That joy is to be full, the joy of Jesus Himself (cf. John 15:11). The joy is the result of the relationship with the Father as we experience the freedom to approach Him in our prayers in the name of Jesus (16:24). One person in our group noted that the disciples had not asked the Father for anything in Jesus’ name (as He points out, v. 24) because Jesus was with them. They could just ask Him directly.
Now, He was preparing them for His departure. He began instructing them about the ministry of the Holy Spirit (14:16-17, 26; 15:26-27; 16:13-15). Now He introduces a new idea about their relationship with the Father, that they will be able to approach the Father directly: “I do not say to you that I will request of the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you” (v. 26b-27a). We discussed the question of Jesus’ role as the mediator. How does that statement relate to His role of reconciling us with the Father? The basis of our direct approach to the Father is based on that very work of reconciliation. Our direct access to the Father grows out of His (the Father’s) love for us. That love is based on our relationship with Jesus, our mediator, and our faith in Him: “because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father” (v. 27). As we have seen repeatedly (and will continue to see in John 17) Jesus’ emphasis has been on His mission as One sent by the Father, and His passion was to accomplish that mission and glorify the Father. The core belief that Jesus points to as our basis for direct access to the Father is our belief in the relationship between the Father and the Son.
At this point in the passage (v. 29) the disciples make what seemed to most of our group to be an odd statement. Their reaction might be paraphrased as, “Now we understand. Now we really believe.” We discussed what might have changed. Was there anything in Jesus’ words in this passage (or recent passages) that was significantly different from what He had been saying throughout the Gospel of John? We didn’t find anything that seemed dramatic to us, except perhaps for Jesus words about direct access to the Father. But even that idea doesn’t seem to explain the disciples’ sudden enlightenment. One person suggested that maybe the Holy Spirit was already at work to clarify the disciples’ thinking. Another participant pointed out that, while the Spirit’s work is certainly possible, there is no mention in the text.
Then someone noted that maybe the disciples were not as clear on what Jesus was saying as they thought. In verses 21-28, Jesus clearly and intentionally mentions the Father eight times. (In the previous passage, John 16:6-23, He mentioned the Father three times. In verse 17 of that passage, the disciples were clearly confused about His comments referring to the Father.) Yet when the disciples assert their sudden understanding, they described their belief that Jesus “came from God” (John 16:30). Jesus has continually tried to teach them about His unique relationship with the Father, carefully choosing His words. In John 16 the only time Jesus uses the word “God” is in verse 2 when He describes false service to God as the result “because they have not known the Father or Me.” Jesus was accentuating the distinct Persons of the Trinity rather than a generic conception of God.
British theologian Leslie Newbegin points out how central that understanding was in the early church:
When the Christians of the early centuries faced the task of saying who Jesus is in terms of the ‘lords many and gods many’ of the classical world, they could only do it by means of the Trinitarian’ model. It is significant that when the word ‘God’ is spoken in discussions such as the present, few Christians think immediately of the Trinity. The operative model is not trinitarian but unitarian. [1]
Whatever the disciples thought they understood, they seemed to still be missing that critical difference between a vague God and the distinct Persons of the Trinity. Jesus recognized the deficiency in their belief (v. 31) and predicted that they would soon desert Him. But He also told them that they should have peace in Him (v. 33a). That sequence (a prophecy of inconstancy followed immediately by reassuring words) sounds a lot like Jesus’ words to the over-confident Peter (John 13:37-14:3). The disciples’ overconfidence results in a similar solemn response and immediate encouragement from Jesus. Perhaps that solemn warning was important in light of the tribulation He knew the disciples would be facing.
The word tribulation (thlipsin, θλῖψιν) is the same word used of the anguish in childbirth in verse 21. This passage begins and ends with Jesus encouraging His followers to judge difficulties in light of the anticipated joy of the relationship with Him and His Father. Jesus is the model for that approach. He knew that in a matter of minutes His closest followers would abandon Him, fleeing in terror, and they would leave Him alone. He also knew that His deepest support and joy and fulfillment was not dependent on any human circumstance. His joy came from His relationship with the Father. That was the essence of His assertion that He had overcome the world (v. 33b). We face tribulations (difficult circumstances, disappointing relationships, physical discomfort, emotional pain, etc.). Like the moms in our group, we don’t deny the pain or pretend it doesn’t hurt. We overcome those hardships as we consciously and intentionally find our deepest joy in our relationship with the Triune God.
[1] J. E. Leslie Newbigin, Christian Witness in a Plural Society (London: British Council of Churches, 1977), 7.