The fellowship of finding another like-minded believer seemed to give both Joseph and Nicodemus the courage and resources they needed to do for Jesus what they could not find a way to do alone, or separately.
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.”
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Gospel of John: Crucify!
I am completely without fault and guiltless from this one’s blood. Take heed, all of you!
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Gospel of John: Bar Abbas
Pilate stood and shouted over the fray, Which of the two do you all want me to pardon and set free to you? Bar Abbas? Pilate bit out his name with a look of contempt, or Jesus who is called Christ? The comparison was obvious: Did they still want to free a villainous murderer, or would they take the nobler option of freeing this gentle holy man who had been falsely accused?
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Gospel of John: Herod’s Court
Though John did not write about the interlude in Herod's court, I am convinced he would have been there. Of course, the story could also have come from Joanna and her husband, Herod's steward Chuza . . .
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Gospel of John: He is a Galilean
Caiaphas waited expectantly. He had been forceful in his insistence that Jesus was an agitator, inciting trouble all over Judea, having started his insurgency in the northernmost reaches of Jewish territory and bringing subversion all the way down to Jerusalem.
