Passover, Easter: Gospel of John The Resurrection

John 20

 Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. 

 "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put him!" 

Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. 

The other disciple outran Peter and got there first.  He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side.  Then the other disciple also went in, 

and he saw and believed -- 

for until then they hadn't realized that the Scriptures said he would rise from the dead. 

Then they went home. 

 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels sitting at the head and foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. "Why are you crying?" the angels asked her."Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don't know where they have put him."  

She glanced over her shoulder and saw someone standing behind her.

 It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. 

"Why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?"

 She thought he was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him." 

"Mary!" Jesus said.She turned toward him and exclaimed, "Teacher!" 

 "Don't cling to me," Jesus said, "for I haven't yet ascended to the Father. 

But go find my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, 

my God and your God." 

 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, "I have seen the Lord!" Then she gave them his message.

That evening, on the first day of the week, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them!

 "Peace be with you," he said. 

As he spoke, he held out his hands for them to see, and he showed them his side.

 They were filled with joy when they saw their Lord! He spoke to them again and said,

 "Peace be with you.

 As the Father has sent me, so I send you." 

 Then he breathed on them and said to them,

 "Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive anyone's sins, they are forgiven. If you refuse to forgive them, they are not forgiven."

  One of the disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin ), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he replied, "I won't believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side." 

Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. He said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas,

 "Put your finger here and see my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!" 

"My Lord and my God!" Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, 

"You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who haven't seen me and believe anyway."  

Jesus' disciples saw him do many other miraculous signs besides the ones recorded in this book.  But these are written so that you may believe that 

Jesus is the Messiah, 

the Son of God, 

and that by believing in him

 you will have life.

---be blessed---c

Passover, Easter: Gospel of John Holy Saturday

THE Holy Saturday was a very somber day for Jesus disciples.  Some scriptures below must have filled the minds of His followers.  Looking back on THE Holy Saturday, the day marked the end of one Covenant and the complete newness of The Covenant of Salvation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.

John 14

"Don't be troubled. You trust God, now trust in me. There are many rooms in my Father's home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly."

 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me."

...In just a little while the world will not see me again, but you will. For I will live again, and you will, too.  When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.  "I am leaving you with a gift -- peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives."

 "So don't be troubled or afraid." 

"Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, because now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. 

 I have told you these things before they happen so that you will believe when they do happen."

John 15

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ... Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me." "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing....  

... I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn't confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 

You didn't choose me. I chose you.

 I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. I command you to love each other.  "When the world hates you, remember it hated me before it hated you. The world would love you if you belonged to it, but you don't. I chose you to come out of the world, and so it hates you."

."Do you remember what I told you? 'A servant is not greater than the master.' Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you! The people of the world will hate you because you belong to me... They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me hates my Father, too. 

 If I hadn't done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be counted guilty. But as it is, they saw all that I did and yet hated both of us -- me and my Father.  This has fulfilled what the Scriptures said: 'They hated me without cause.'  "But I will send you the Counselor -- the Spirit of truth."

John 16

"I have told you these things so that you won't fall away....

...it is actually best for you that I go away, because if I don't, the Counselor won't come. If I do go away, he will come because I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convince the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 

The world's sin is unbelief in me. 

 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. Judgment will come because the prince of this world has already been judged.

 I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world."

John 17

..."During my time here, I have kept them safe. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold. And now I am coming to you. I have told them many things while I was with them so they would be filled with my joy. 

 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not.  I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They are not part of this world any more than I am. Make them pure and holy by teaching them your words of truth. 

As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.  And I give myself entirely to you so they also might be entirely yours."

"I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony. My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father -- that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me. 

"I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are -- I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one. 

Then the world will know that you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me. Father, I want these whom you've given me to be with me, so they can see my glory. You gave me the glory because you loved me even before the world began! 

"O righteous Father, the world doesn't know you, but I do; and these disciples know you sent me." 

"And I have revealed you to them and will keep on revealing you. I will do this so that your love for me may be in them and I in them." 

--be blessed---c

Passover, Easter: Gospel of John for Good Friday

John 19 NLT

....Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, because Jesus had gone there many times with his disciples. The leading priests and Pharisees had given Judas a battalion of Roman soldiers and Temple guards to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons, they arrived at the olive grove. Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him.

 Stepping forward to meet them, he asked, "Whom are you looking for?" 

 "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. 

"I am," Jesus said. Judas was standing there with them when Jesus identified himself, and as he said, "I am," they all fell backward to the ground! 

..." since I am the one you want, let these others go." He did this to fulfill his own statement: "I have not lost a single one of those you gave me." Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant. 

But Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath. Shall I not drink from the cup the Father has given me?" So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up. 

First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. Caiaphas was the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, "Better that one should die for all." Simon Peter followed along behind, as did another of the disciples. That other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, so he was allowed to enter the courtyard with Jesus. 

Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his followers and what he had been teaching them.

 Jesus replied, "What I teach is widely known, because I have preached regularly in the synagogues and the Temple. I have been heard by people everywhere, and I teach nothing in private that I have not said in public. Why are you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me.

 They know what I said."  

One of the Temple guards standing there struck Jesus on the face. "Is that the way to answer the high priest?" he demanded.  Jesus replied, "If I said anything wrong, you must give evidence for it. Should you hit a man for telling the truth?"

Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas, the high priest. ...

Jesus' trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning.  

Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor.

 His accusers didn't go in themselves because it would defile them, and they wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the Passover feast.

So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, "What is your charge against this man?"  "We wouldn't have handed him over to you if he weren't a criminal!" they retorted. "Then take him away and judge him by your own laws," Pilate told them.

"Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone," the Jewish leaders replied. This fulfilled Jesus' prediction about the way he would die.

Then Pilate went back inside and called for Jesus to be brought to him. "Are you the King of the Jews?" he asked him. 

...Then Jesus answered, "I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world."  Pilate replied, "You are a king then?" "You say that I am a king, and you are right," Jesus said. "I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true." 

"What is truth?" Pilate asked.

 Then he went out again to the people and told them, "He is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release someone from prison each year at Passover. So if you want me to, I'll release the King of the Jews." But they shouted back, "No! Not this man, but Barabbas!" (Barabbas was a criminal)

John 19 NLT

Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal purple robe on him.

 "Hail! King of the Jews!" they mocked, and they hit him with their fists. Pilate went outside again and said to the people, "I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty."

 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. 

And Pilate said, "Here is the man!"  When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, "Crucify! Crucify!"

"You crucify him," Pilate said. "I find him not guilty."

  

The Jewish leaders replied, "By our laws he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God."  When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave no answer. 

 "You won't talk to me?" Pilate demanded. "Don't you realize that I have the power to release you or to crucify you?"  Then Jesus said, "You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who brought me to you has the greater sin."

 Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, "If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar. Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar." 

 When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). 

 It was now about noon of the day of preparation for the Passover. 

And Pilate said to the people, "Here is your king!" 

 "Away with him," they yelled. "Away with him -- crucify him!"

"What? Crucify your king?" Pilate asked.

"We have no king but Caesar," the leading priests shouted back. 

Then Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.

 Carrying the cross by himself, Jesus went to the place called Skull Hill (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 

There they crucified him. 

There were two others crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 

And Pilate posted a sign over him that read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." 

 The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.

...When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 

So they said, "Let's not tear it but throw dice to see who gets it." This fulfilled the Scripture that says, "They divided my clothes among themselves and threw dice for my robe."So that is what they did.

  Standing near the cross were Jesus' mother, and his mother's sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. 

When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, "Woman, he is your son." And he said to this disciple, "She is your mother." And from then on this disciple took her into his home.  

Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures he said, "I am thirsty."  A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 

 The Jewish leaders didn't want the victims hanging there the next day, which was the Sabbath (and a very special Sabbath at that, because it was the Passover),

 so they asked Pilate to hasten their deaths by ordering that their legs be broken. Then their bodies could be taken down.  

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was dead already, so they didn't break his legs.

  

One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out. 

This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account; it is presented so that you also can believe. 

These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, "Not one of his bones will be broken," and "They will look on him whom they pierced."

... The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before.  And so, because it was the day of preparation before the Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Good Friday--be blessed---c