John 20:3

John 20:3 says, Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.  They did not just take the word of Mary Magdalene, but went to see for themselves.  We cannot just take the word of others about Jesus but must find out for ourselves.  Peter may have denied knowing Jesus during the crucifixion, but he was now going to the tomb which would again associate him with Jesus.  We can only wonder at the thoughts that had been going through Peter's mind.  He had denied Jesus as Jesus said he would, and now Jesus's body was gone. If we are ever guilty of denying Christ for whatever reason, we must seek His will again.  We, like Peter and that other disciple will not find Him in a tomb, but for us, within our heart. Verse four adds, So they ran both together: and the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.  Whether Peter was just a slower runner, the other disciple, that everyone acknowledges as John, outran him.  We need to recognize that Peter was now running to where Jesus was last seen.  He may not have gotten there first, but that didn't matter.  Others may have gotten to Jesus quicker than we did, but it doesn't matter.  What matters is that we do come to find Jesus where He is.  He will indeed call us to Him, but we must respond.  Verse five continues, And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying : yet went he not in.  Having gotten there first, the other disciple looked in and saw evidence that Jesus had been there, but for whatever reason, he didn't go in.  Some today may get to where Jesus is but stop short of full commitment.  Verse six states, Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre; and saw the linen clothes lie.  Unlike Mary Magdalene and the other disciple, Peter did not stop outside the sepulcher.  He went on in.  We must never let the actions of others determine our actions in relation to God.  We must let nothing stand between Him and us.  Matthew Henry says that we must be willing to go through the grave with Jesus.  Even death cannot separate us from Him if we are His.  Verse seven adds, And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.  Jesus had no need of the burial clothes.  We today have no need to look for them.  We do not need religious relics when we have a living Savior.

John 20:1

John 20:1 says, The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.  She was still expecting to find Jesus in the tomb.  Though John doesn't say it, Jesus had been sealed in the tomb and guards posted to keep Him there, but when the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty.  We see that Mary Magdalene did not wait until daylight.  As soon as she could, which was after the Sabbath, she went to Jesus.  She may have gone for the wrong reason, but she went.  People today would always do well to go to Jesus early, even if for the wrong reasons.  Once they are seeking Him, they can begin to find the truth.  Mary Magdalene discovered the truth that Jesus was not in the grave.  When we as Jesus's followers have questions of faith today, we need to seek Jesus early.  There is no advantage to struggling along on our own.  He will give us the answer based on His truth.  Verse two adds, And then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him."  She didn't wait around to try and figure things out on her own, but ran to two of the disciples, those closest to Jesus, looking for help.  When people have questions about Jesus today, would they feel that they could come to us for answers?  We, as His followers, should be not only able, but ready to help anyone looking for the truth about Jesus. If they come to us running early in the morning or reluctantly at night, we should be ready to share the truth of the gospel with them. Of course, the disciples should have been the first ones there, but even though they weren't, Mary Magdalene came to them.  We are commissioned to go into all the world with the gospel, but it is even better when the world comes to us.  We just need to be ready to meet them, even early in the morning.

John 19:38

John 19:38 says, And then, after this, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave.  He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. We have to wonder why Jesus' closest disciples were not there to ask for permission to bury Jesus, but at least one of His followers was. Sometimes, those who appear to be the closest to God may not be the ones to get done the things that need doing, for whatever reason, but God will have someone in place who will.  There are countries today where followers of Christ follow Him in secret for fear of other religious leaders, but Joseph was a disciple in secret for fear of God's chosen people.  Though he should have declared himself openly a follower of Christ, at least in the crisis he did, and so should we today.  We find no other mention of this Joseph, but he had an important role in the crucifixion of Christ.  Even after Jesus was crucified, Pilate still had to give permission for His body to be removed, but Joseph, if he had fear of asking him, overcame it.  Had the body of Jesus been removed by the soldiers, it would have been buried with the thieves and robbers.  Verse thirty-nine adds, And there came also Nicodemus, who came at first to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myhrr and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.  Nicodemus was another who had come to Jesus in secret, but he was now openly declaring himself a follower.  He was also supplying what was needed to care for the body of Jesus.  We need to be willing to give whatever we can to meet the needs of God's people as we openly serve Him.  Verse forty continues, They took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.  They may have seen this as a normal Jewish burial, but it was far from it.  The body really did not need to be preserved, but it was good they were willing to do so, no matter the personal cost.  Verses forty-one says, Now in the place where He was crucified was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was no man yet laid.   Verse forty-two adds, There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jewish preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.  They needed to bury Jesus quickly because of a religious feast.  Again, the Jews were more concerned with rituals than with a relationship with God.  People today travel to see the tomb of Jesus, but it was never His.  The tomb, like the cross, was soon empty and the exact location is not really important.  It only matters that it was but a temporary place for the body of Christ.

John 19:32

John 19:32 says, Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs, of the first, and of the other that were crucified with Him.  As we know from scripture, one of the thieves was penitent and one was not, but both endured the same agony of having their legs broken.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, that does not exempt us from the consequences of our sins here on earth, but from the consequences in our relationship to God.  The one thief was forgiven and restored to God spiritually, but he still died just as painful of a death as the unrepentant thief.  We cannot expect to accept Jesus as our Savior and suddenly have all consequences of our sins removed in the world. For example, if a person is in prison when they accept Christ as Savior, they are not going to be immediately freed.  Verse thirty-three adds, But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs.  The Scripture said Jesus gave up the ghost, so we should not be surprised that He was physically dead. They did not take His life, but He freely gave it.  We should be just as willing to freely give up this physical life for God.  As with Jesus, it is the spiritual, everlasting life that matters.  Verse thirty-four continues, But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.  They wanted to make sure Jesus was dead and not just pretending, so they pierced His side with a spear.  The blood and water are significant.  Blood brings atonement and water purification, and through Christ we have both. The atonement is forever, but the purification is continual.  Even after accepting Christ as our Savior, we must continue to purify our lives daily.  Verse thirty-five says, And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.  This was not something John had heard, but something he witnessed firsthand.  When it comes to our relationship to Christ, it must be something we experience firsthand.  Until we accept the truth of God personally, we cannot be saved.  Verses thirty-six adds, For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken.  Verse thirty-seven continues, And again

another scripture saith, They shall look on Him Who they have pierced.  Once more, we can be sure that the Roman soldiers were not doing these things to fulfill the scripture, but that the scripture was fulfilled by their doing these things.  They had no significance to to the soldiers but did to one familiar with the scripture.

John 19:31

John 19:31 states, The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabboth day ( for the Sabboth day was a high day), besought Pilate, that their legs might be broken, and they could be taken away.  The Jewish leaders were not concerned about Jesus's suffering on the cross.  They were even willing for Him to endure more suffering, having His legs broken, as long as it did not interfere with their worship service.  The Sabbath was a high day.  It was important to them, and they didn't want the Lord of the Sabbath to interrupt their rituals.  We can wonder how they could have been so blind, but do we ever want Jesus to hurry and get out of the way so we can get on with our rituals?  There is a difference between real worship and going through rituals, and the Jews that day were not concerned with real worship of God.  Had they been, they would have bowed at the foot of the cross.  We today, when we are truly worshipping God, must bow at the foot of the cross.  Some today see rituals, like taking the bread and the wine, as a saving action.  Some see the cross of Christ as an inconvenience to worship.  They do not want to believe that the shedding of the blood of Christ was necessary.  I believe that another reason the Jews wanted Christ dead and buried was so they could truly feel victorious. As long as Jesus was alive, even on the cross, if He was Who He said He was, He might still claim victory.  We may attempt to leave Jesus on the cross today, but as the Jews, especially their leaders should have known, He was never going to stay there. When we come to the foot of the cross today, it is an empty cross pointing us to a victorious Savior.  Though the suffering of Jesus was real, it is His victory we celebrate.  May we never allow the concern for rituals make us attempt to get Jesus out of the way.

John 19:30

John 19:30 says, When Jesus had therefore received the vinegar, He said "It is finished:" and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. It is finished did not mean Jesus' life and redemptive work.  His task, the earthly part of His ministry was finished, and by His death, so was redemption completed.  The suffering and humiliation were finished.  Jesus took all the pain and suffering, but now that was over and victory was claimed.  Jesus came to redeem mankind, and the redemption plan was finished.  Jesus would never again have to suffer like this for us.  He took all of humanities sin for all time with Him to the cross.  Our sins were paid for that day.  We, as His followers, have claimed the gift Jesus gave us that day, but too many in the world allow it to go unclaimed.  It is so sad that they are redeemed but choose to remain lost.  God's chosen people, the Jews, even today see Jesus as having been defeated on the cross.  It says Jesus bowed His head and gave up the ghost.  He was not struggling for breath, and His life was not taken from Him.  Jesus submitted to the will of the Father and voluntarily gave His life.  Those looking on might have thought they were victorious, but they only played a part in redemption.  Often today, those of the world may think they can defeat God's redemptive plan that came through Christ, but they are as wrong as the witnesses to the crucifixion of Jesus were that day. Like Jesus, we may one day give up the ghost, that is, die a physical death, but our spirit lives on.  This life with its pain and suffering will be over, but that is all that is finished.  Jesus was going to the Father, and if we are truly His followers, so will we.  We are called on to have that same faith.  Even in a situation that seems to bring nothing but humiliation and defeat, we must stand firm in faith so that we too can say that it is finished.  We need to be able to say as Paul did that we fought a good fight and kept the faith.  Jesus remained true to His task until He could truly say, "It is finished."

John 19:28

John 19:28 says, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, "I thirst." We do not read of Jesus saying anything while He was being scourged, but now He said He was thirsty.  That would be normal after all He had been through, but it was also a fulfillment of Scripture.  Again, though we can be certain that Jesus knew the scriptures better than anyone, I do not believe this was His checking off a list.  Looking back, John saw the scripture fulfilled by this request.  Psalms 69:21 says, They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.  Verse twenty-nine adds, Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to His mouth. Though Jesus may have known the scriptures, the Roman soldiers likely did not, yet by their actions, they filled the scripture.  They gave Jesus vinegar, not water to drink.  We can also know that the religious leaders would have also known the scriptures and would have done everything they could to keep them from being fulfilled by Jesus.  I believe we can also see another aspect to Jesus saying, "I thirst."  He was taking on the sins of the world and was being cut off from the very living water He came to bring.  Jesus thirsted spiritually.  I believe this was the greater thirst and implication of His statement. Yes, scripture was fulfilled when they gave Jesus vinegar to drink, but I believe He was speaking of a spiritual thirst.  The beating and carrying the cross brought no complaint because Jesus was not being separated from the Father, and now He was.  We tend to complain more about the physical things in life, but we need to be in more distress about the spiritual.  When we are in a bad situation, we need to thirst for the Living Water.  When we are fully in the hands of God, everything will be ok.  Again, we cannot force the fulfillment of the scripture, but we can thirst after the knowledge of God.