The Crucifixion

John 19:1-42

We have seen that all authority is God's, and yet we have seen people act according to their own will. This is a strange mixture today of willfulness and fearfulness. Pilate says he has authority, yet acts only according to the mob's rule. He is fearful of the ramifications; from the Jewish leaders and from his Roman government.

The Jewish leaders are fearful of Jesus' following, worried that they will lose power and prestige, and so strangely they appeal to the Roman government for assistance. These people who were told by God that they needn't have a king, give up their freedom to be ruled by foreigners.

This passage today is filled with people and places that we can find historically and geographically, and the gospeler gives us reference points to the Old Testament passages we can remember and in the middle of all this we have Jesus accepting these deeds...why? In the end, he 'gives up his spirit.' He accepts the actions of others, and yet has the power to decide. The other two men are still alive. Jesus says he has finished what he set out to do; he accomplished the task that was necessary, and he sees that his mother is in community and will have the support of this 'disciple that he loved,' and then he says "it is finished."

These two men that had followed at a distance; Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, now work together to bring Jesus' body to a tomb. Joseph had been afraid of consequences, and yet now, he is not. Joseph openly assists the women in the burial-now when it is supremely obvious that Jesus and his followers are out of favor-no matter. Nicodemus, who had questions, and sought answers, must have been satisfied with them, for now he also works openly for Jesus. Now that it is finished.

But there are more days for us to read. What more is it that happens in this story of who God is, and how He loves the people? How is there deliverance from this death? We heard people ask about Jesus' ability when he had previously healed a man born blind, when wondering if he could have prevented Lazarus' death, and then raising Lazarus from the tomb. What will God do now that Jesus is the one in the tomb? Jesus, this son of whom He is proud; Jesus to whom we should listen; Jesus who spills his own blood for the Passover that we might be marked as children of God and the danger pass-over our lives, and we might live.

What happens next? Where do we go from here?
See you tomorrow.
-maggie