Perhaps for John’s audience, such a prospect generated a redoubled commitment to deal with temptation and sin right away. Better to respond to the first prick of conscience before it becomes complicated.
Gospel of John: Witness to Death
Swoon theories are like urban myths. When examined, the actual facts disprove the myth, but the myth keeps getting repeated. So, the writers of the gospels—and especially John—were careful to document the reality of Jesus’ physical death and his physical resurrection.
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Gospel of John: His Last Breath
Why did Jesus cry out the first line of Psalm 22? I found two very different ways of understanding this moment, and it all rests on the nature of the Trinity.
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Gospel of John: The Sayings of Christ
John must have been there to hear everything Jesus said, and those words must have sunk deep into John’s soul. Over the centuries, these words were gathered lovingly by the church to become the Seven Sayings of the Cross.
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Gospel of John: First Sight
One of the Gospel of John's continuing themes is the weaving of the first three chapters of Genesis with the telling of Christ's story. Because of this, I have woven more overtly those chapters with these crucifixions scenes.
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Gospel of John: A Street Called Straight
After John's chiasm come seven vignettes that describe the crucifixion of Christ. This is the segue.
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Gospel of John: We Have No King
Justice was the bedrock upon which Pax Romana was built. Pilate felt had done all he could to free this righteous and just man, standing on Gabbatha waiting with tranquil dignity for his judgement. Pilate could do no more.
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Gospel of John: Hail Caesar
The chiasm outlined by Jo-Ann A. Brant has a classic seven-point structure. A Exterior: John 18:29-32, Jesus is brought to Pilate with a demand for execution; Pilate refuses B Interior: John 18:33-38, Pilate asks about Jesus’s royal claim C Exterior: John 18:38-40, Pilate finds Jesus innocent, but the temple elite choose Barabbas … Continue reading Gospel of John: Hail Caesar
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Gospel of John: Where Are You From?
John notes when Pilate heard -why- the temple officials wanted to put Jesus to death, he was “far more afraid.”
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Gospel of John: Son of God
The inward movement of John's chiasm reached its climax in this shedding of the Lamb’s blood. Now would come the process by which the innocent Lamb of God would be offered up to die and become accursed, hanging on a “tree.”
