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Tag: Gospel

The Gospel is Good News to all who will humbly accept Jesus and listen to His teaching.

We refer to the four books of the Bible which tell the story of Jesus Christ as the Gospels. These books are named for their authors: Matthew, a Jewish Apostle; Mark, a disciple of the first generation who recorded accounts of Peter and the Twelve; Luke, a gentile Physician and disciple of the first century; and John, one of the Twelve Jewish Apostles chosen by Jesus.

  • Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – Simon Peter

    Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – Simon Peter

    The Gospel of John

    • What does a DEATH have to do with GOOD NEWS?

    Read any obituary of a famous teacher, even a celebrity leader of men and you will discover one thing: They left behind everything. Now the legacy of this body buried or scattered to the dust of the earth must decay.

    We memorialize men and women, especially the same many idolize in life. Those who loved any breathing soul speak of the dead in the past. Some ask, ‘IF there is a God, what hope does this departed soul have now?‘

    The Apostle John answers these deep longings of the souls of mortal man.

    More specifically, the LORD GOD reveals the only Good News about death and life is through the Lord Jesus Christ – born of man, buried like all who must suffer death.

    By His words we have hope, but by His death we have redemption from sin and judgment.

    For by Jesus’ RESURRECTION in BODY and SPIRIT, followers of the Way of Jesus in life will follow Him to certain resurrection of the body and of our soul.

    Do you desire an eternal after-life in the Presence of the LORD our GOD? Find it in the Good News of Christ Jesus.

    Witnesses to Jesus’ Resurrection

    In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

    The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

    The Good News of John 1:4-5 NASB

    John presents man as either belonging to one of two things: the darkness or the light. There is no in between. The darkness is associated with death, while the light is associated with life. – BlueLetterBible intro to John

    No Gospel addresses ‘LIFE’ more than John and no book of the Bible more than the 150 Psalms.

    Roger Harned – talk of Jesus .com

    We now return to John’s witness of Jesus in a third appearance to Disciples along the shore of the Sea of Tiberias after His resurrection.

    Trusting that you read Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – the Eleven, a Passing Witness, recall the 1st. century A.D. events disciples of the Way of Jesus encountered even before John wrote his Gospel — after A.D. 85 & before A.D. 100.

    Remember to see John’s Gospel with eyes of a 1st. century believer who already knows that Peter was martyred for Christ perhaps decades earlier.

    Peter’s witness of Jesus’ Resurrection

    No Disciple of Jesus impacts the Church more than Simon Peter. After paying little attention to interactions between Peter and Jesus, today we will look closer into this loving relationship of discipleship.

    Previously in Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – the Eleven, a Passing Witness. the Apostles had seen Jesus in the flesh twice, except Thomas only once, in Jerusalem. John names five present now and mentions two others, but not by name.

    Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” – John 21:3

    It’s now close to daylight after a night catching no fish.

    John 21:

    7 The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”

    Peter and John who humbly refers to himself as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’, along with his older brother James have been Jesus’ three closest Disciples. During three years of the Lord’s earthly teaching Jesus had often shared understanding He does not reveal to others.

    In his Gospel the beloved Disciple speaks of their close friend Simon Peter who has already been martyred for Christ with loving compassion; not eulogizing or elevating Peter in any way, but giving honest witness to Peter’s actions and failings in life.

    John’s empathy for Peter’s heart after denying the Lord is clearly evident. The Disciples remembered how Jesus had prophesied Peter’s denials before the cock crowed at dawn that fateful evening prior to His arrest. Peter of course had denied that it could ever happen.

    Peter, now with his former boldness, dives into Lake Tiberius and swims to shore (just two hundred cubits, about 100 yd. or 90 m.) away from Jesus who is broiling fish over a fire.

    The other six Disciples return in small boats with the catch of ‘the multitude of fishes’ [KJV], which they then account as a total of 153 large fish filling a net that remains untorn by the huge catch.

    Three Questions of Restoration

    Remember, John witnesses this to Christians after Peter’s faithful death for the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is what John testifies:

    15 Now when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”

    (We will examine Peter’s answers separately.)

    16 He said to him again, a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

    17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”

    The common language of the Apostles in addition to their local Aramaic is Greek. English translations lack subtle detail connecting context in these scriptures.

    Simon son of Jonas – Σίμων Ἰωνᾶ

    Andrew and Simon’s father is John, or Jonas.

    • John, Peter’s other friend of Jesus’ inner circle besides his own brother James, calls him Simon Peter or simply Peter.
    • however Jesus calls him only Simon or the Lord addresses John & James‘ friend rather formally as: Simon son of Jonas.
      • Could Jesus also be reminding the Disciples of His many prophesies connecting His Resurrection to the Prophet Jonah?

    Note what Jesus asks Simon, yet note subtle differences in Simon’s responses which show the depth of wounds of Peter’s guilt before he understands Jesus’ tender requests.

    (Again recall that John tells this to readers who already know that Peter has died for his faith in Jesus.)

    Jesus’ questions to Simon Peter

    English also clouds our understanding of overlapping Greek meanings of love.

    1. “Simon, son of John, do you [e] love Me more than these?”
    2. “Simon, son of John, do you [g] love Me?”
    3. “Simon, son of John, do you [i] love Me?”
    [notes] Here is an instance where NASB & other notes may help.
See the Greek text referenced below.
    1. ἀγαπάω – agapaō – Strong’s G25
      • egō polys hoytos
    2. ἀγαπάω – agapaō – Strong’s G25
      • egō
    3. φιλεῖς – phileō – Strong’s G5368
      • egō

    Three similar questions to Simon from Jesus in John 21: v.15, v.16 & v.17, but not quite the same.

    • Do you agapaō me more than these?
    • Do you agapaō me? (No comparison this time to the six Disciples who came to shore in the boat with the fish.)
    • Do you phileō me?
    Is your, “yes Lord” really your “yes?”
    Let's move on to Simon's responses. (Will his responses match?)
    1. “Yes, Lord; You know that I [phileō] love You.”
      • Jesus had asked, “Do you agapaō Me more than these?”
      • Do you [love] Me more than these (six) Disciples love Me?
      • Simon only confirms his phileō for Jesus.
    2. “Yes, Lord; You know that I [phileō] love You.”
      • Jesus now focuses on Simon asking simply, “Do you agapaō me?”
      • Simon simply repeats his previous response of “I [phileō] You.”
    3. “Lord, You know all things; You know that I [phileō] love You.”
      • Jesus has already asked Simon, “Do you [agapaō] me?”
      • Simon had twice responded, “I [phileō] You.”
      • Perhaps to contrast Simon’s answers to His other two questions the Lord now asks him, “Do you [phileō] me?

    What does Jesus mean by “love?”

    Having some understanding of the Greek words for LOVE is a pre-requisite for our 21st century understanding.

    Let’s begin with Simon Peter’s answer to Jesus.

    phileō love:

    It is the verb meaning:

    • to approve of, like, sanction, treat affectionately or kindly,
    • to welcome, befriend

    Are you only this to Jesus?

    To your fellow followers of Christ who also call Him Lord is your witness mere approval of Jesus?

    ‘What a ‘friend’ we have in Jesus,‘ we once sang.

    • Is that what the Lord asks of Simon Peter?
    • Is Christ not so much more than ‘a friend’ to those who follow Him?

    ‘..All our sins and griefs to bear!” continues the old hymn proclaiming Jesus a friend, but urging us to take everything to God in prayer.

    Simon has just witnessed Jesus’ Sacrifice for our sins on the Cross.

    • What friend can bear your sins other than Jesus?

    “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

    John 15:13 KJV – Jesus proclaiming His own death to the Disciples, of agapē love

    Simon Peter, once again emboldened by Jesus resurrection, offers no rock of confidence in his measured response to His Lord and Savior.

    Jesus was not asking Simon Peter for his renewed friendship. So what was the Lord asking him?

    agapē love:

    It is the noun for:

    • affection, good will, benevolence, brotherly love,
    • charity or a feast of charitability (like a generous family meal of Thanksgiving),

    All active, rather than passive acceptance of another. Jesus first question asks Peter to stand firm in His love of their friends.

    Jesus asks in effect,

    “Do you think (Simon), that because you greeted Me first (perhaps with an expected kiss of phileō just as Judas Iscariot had in Gethsemane), — do you therefore believe that you agapē Me more that those who did not jump from your boat to reach Me first?

    (And recall what John had witnessed of Peter when they first ran to the empty tomb.) Peter lost that physical race with John, but it did not matter who was first or who came to Jesus last. What did matter was the Lord’s commands.

    On the night in which He was betrayed Jesus gave them a new command.

    Commandment of Jesus Christ CHURCH "love one another

    In case you missed it, Church..

    from earlier in our series on the Gospel of John, April 29, 2020 A.D.

    John 13:

    33 “Little children, I am still with you a little longer…

    (It is this same endearing greeting of their Master the Disciples have just heard from Peter’s boat.)

    34 “I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

    • Which LOVE do you suppose Jesus uses in this NEW COMMANDMENT to the Disciples?
    agapaō:

    It is the verb root of agapē love. Yet its own root may also share in actions associated with the verb phileō. (We won’t take time to dwell on this.)

    • of persons
      • to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly
    • of things
      • to be well pleased, to be contented at or with a thing

    Three times Jesus uses agapaō in His New Commandment to the Apostles and then the Lord continues by applying agapē love as evidence to others that these are His disciples.

    “By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.”

    John 13:35 – The New Command of Jesus – agapē

    Jesus’ New Commands to Simon Peter

    We have examined with some detail the context of Jesus’ questions to Simon that John witnesses in his Good News to believers long after Peter’s own death.

    NEXT: We will continue in John 21 with the Lord’s Commands to Peter and hear John’s empathy for Peter shared with saints of the 1st century A.D. Church.

    To be continued...
  • 11 Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – the Eleven

    11 Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – the Eleven

    HE IS RISEN!

    ‘HE IS RISEN, INDEED,’ goes a traditional response.

    Christ Born & Witnessed, Crucified, Risen, Ascended..

    If you haven’t been following this series you will likely ask, “Why is he talking of Easter during this Advent season of Christmas in the year of our Lord, 2020?”

    My dear brother or sister in Christ,

    Allow me to ask you a question:

    manger with shadow of cross falling across

    Do you talk of Jesus OR ‘christmas’?

    Christians and non-Christians alike will focus on the ‘.COMmercial‘ obligations of this ‘holiday’ season so much more than the CHRIST of ‘christmas.’ And in fact, (in case you haven’t heard) Jesus, Emmanuel or God With Us was most likely NOT born DECEMBER 25.

    (Forget the ‘.com‘ technical choice of my Christian Social Witness – talkofJesus.com for my personal & shared talk of Jesus Christ.)

    Has Christmas not become MORE important than EASTER in the witness of the 21st c. Church?

    How like the world we have become.

    Many 21st c. ‘christians’ also witness the risen JESUS of the resurrection, celebrated by eggs and bunnies impersonalized and separated from the Person of God, without witness of the Person symbolized, He who died for sinners and defeated death!

    Yes, JESUS IS born as a man-child like no other. Yet our witness must remember the shadow of the Cross on a newborn’s manger and the glory and hope through CHRIST’s resurrection.

    Continuing Witness to Jesus’ Resurrection!

    Our journey through Scripture in this year of our Lord 2020, continues in the Good News of John. We have just begun to revisit the personal witness of many who testify to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

    As a reminder to contemporary readers of John’s Gospel:

    • Jesus was crucified around the year AD 30
    • John writes his Gospel to the churches in about AD 85

    Witnesses to Jesus Risen! – Mary Magdalene

    Some who witnessed the risen Jesus fifty years earlier still lived!

    As we continue in John’s Good News and Mary’s announcement of Jesus’ resurrection, we begin to hear his Gospel through the ears of others. See Jesus with their eyes and experience the risen Christ through their personal touch and interaction with the risen Lord Jesus.

    Mary Magdalene came and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

    John 20:18 NASB

    What command had the risen Lord given Mary?

    “..go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”

    John and Simon Peter have already run to the empty tomb where the crucified Body of Jesus had been placed prior to celebration of the feast of the Passover and observing of the Sabbath. Then they returned not yet having seen the Lord.

    John 20 continued

    It had been morning when the women had first seen the empty tomb before summoning John and Peter.

    19 Now when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week..

    .. and when the doors were shut where the disciples were together due to fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

    20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side.

    So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

    (Not Twelve, but the Eleven – one)

    We mentioned previously that Judas Iscariot, Jesus’ betrayer has hanged himself. John will mention shortly that Thomas also is not present.

    And just one additional reminder: 
the eleven Disciples, Jesus and His family are all Jews.
Though their common language is Greek or locally Arabic,
the Complete Jewish Bible [CJB] (used here occasionally) gives flavor of Jesus as the Messiah of Israel.

    21 “Shalom aleikhem!” Yeshua repeated.

    “Just as the Father sent me, I myself am also sending you.”

    22 Having said this, he breathed on them and said to them,

    “Receive the Ruach HaKodesh!

    The Holy Spirit & Forgiven Sins

    “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” translates the King James and most versions read, “the Holy Spirit.”

    What follows should sound familiar if you have followed the great commission of Jesus to the Twelve Disciples given earlier in His earthly ministry and all returned to Jesus amazed.

    23 If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

    What an astounding authority Jesus has given to the Apostles through the Holy Spirit!

    Many Jewish disciples will know it well from the Psalms of David. Gentile Christians to whom John now also witnesses may know it from Paul’s letter [ca. AD 56.] to the Romans [4:7].

    לְדָוִד מַשְׂכִּיל אַשְׁרֵי נְֽשׂוּי־פֶּשַׁע כְּסוּי חֲטָאָֽה׃

    אַשְֽׁרֵי אָדָם לֹא יַחְשֹׁב יְהוָה לֹו עָוֹן וְאֵין בְּרוּחֹו רְמִיָּה׃

    Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

    Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.

    Psalm 32:1-2 WLC, KJV

    The Lord has instructed His Disciples on how they must judge their fellow saints and others with unfailing grace and mercy in His Name, especially forgiving those who also follow Jesus as their Lord and their God.

    Ministry of the Twelve (then Eleven)

    Eleven now and again Twelve Apostles after Mathias replaces Judas Iscariot

    Although John reveals much of the Holy Spirit, he does not reiterate what is already well known of the ministry of the Twelve prior to Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection. (Remember John writes this decades later to his beloved fellow saints of the church.)

    Jesus had previously given the Twelve a taste of this awesome power over sin in the lives of others.

    Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.

    Luke 9:28-29
    Most of the following is also witnessed in Luke's Gospel Chapter 9:

    Matthew 10:

    Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

    Now the names of the twelve apostles are these:

    1. The first, Simon, who is called Peter,
    2. and Andrew his brother;
    3. and James the son of Zebedee,
    4. and John his brother;
    5. Philip
    6. and Bartholomew [son of Talmai];
    7. Thomas [not present for Jesus’ first appearance]
    8. and Matthew the tax collector;
    9. James the son of Alphaeus,
    10. and Thaddaeus;
    11. Simon the Zealot,
    12. and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him [who hanged himself].

    Matthew 10:5 continues:

    These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them:

    “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans; but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

    (Of course Christ commissioned these to go to all of these after His resurrection.)

    “And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

    It is Jesus’ urgent appeal to the Jews through the Twelve – Matthew 10:7 NASB
    Matthew 10: continued Complete Jewish Bible [CJB]

    7 As you go, proclaim, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is near,’ 8 heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those afflicted with tzara’at, expel demons…

    12 When you enter someone’s household, say, ‘Shalom aleikhem!’ If the home deserves it, let your shalom rest on it; if not, let your shalom return to you. But if the people of a house or town will not welcome you or listen to you, leave it and shake its dust from your feet!

    Yes, I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the Day of Judgment for the people of S’dom and ‘Amora than for that town!

    16 “Pay attention! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves, so be as prudent as snakes and as harmless as doves.

    Be on guard, for there will be people who will hand you over to the local Sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as a testimony to them and to the Goyim.

    19 But when they bring you to trial, do not worry about what to say or how to say it; when the time comes, you will be given what you should say. For it will not be just you speaking, but the Spirit of your heavenly Father speaking through you.

    Therefore when Jesus appears in Person to the eleven Apostles after His resurrection from the grave, He had already taught them what He is about to say.

    John 20 continued

    If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them;

    if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

    John 20:23 CSB – Jesus’ authority given to the Apostles through the Holy Spirit

    Next:

    John is not making a list of miracles so that the Eleven (who will soon add Mathias as replacement to Judas Iscariot) can convince their first century A.D. followers that Christ IS Risen indeed!

    You will find many of these miracles of the Holy Spirit witnessed in the Acts of the Apostles.

    (Again, when John wrote his Gospel these had already taken place.)

    If you have been following John’s Gospel closely you may have noticed my intentional oversight of some detail about the Disciples. Thomas, who was not present with the other eleven will appears next [vs. 24-29].

    We will begin with Thomas next time.

    Also, John has much more to say about Peter and we will once again want to add more detail about other Apostles and especially John.

    30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book.

    To be continued...
  • Crucifixion! – Scripture Fulfilled

    Crucifixion! – Scripture Fulfilled

    Crucifixion! – The Spirit of Grace

    .. this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Acts 2:23
    And how is this the Spirit of Grace?

    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that He might suffer and die on a Cross for sinners like us, that we should not perish, but have everlasting life.

    Roger Harned – talkofJesus.com – on Christ’s Crucifixion & John 3:16

    The Apostle John presents the Good News of Jesus Christ in light of the love of God the Father.

    Yes, the LORD of Old Testament Scripture to which John will point IS the Almighty God who must judge sin! Yet John testifies of Jesus who reveals God as the Father, the One of relationship who willingly shows mercy for the sake of the Son and saves sinners like you and me by grace.

    about the Author the Gospel of John - photo of quill and pen & computer talkofJesus.com

    A brief reintroduction to John

    John had unique access to witness the questioning of Jesus by the High Priests of Jerusalem. At the beginning of our journey through the Gospel of John we introduced the Apostle, this youngest Son of Zebedee who we now know was also known in the house of Herod.

    It is important to note here that the Apostle John later became the last surviving Disciple of Jesus Christ, living more than fifty years more until nearly the next century.

    John wrote the gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia Minor when he was advanced in age (Against Heresies 2.22.5; 3.1.1) – source

    מָשִׁיחַ מָשִׁיחַ talk of jesus dot com

    John’s Good News is NOT a News Alert to our phone, a BREAKING NEWS HEADLINE interrupting our life at home or even a well-researched story for an Ephesus News Courier.

    The Apostle, therefore, has not written the Gospel of John as events unfolded at the horrific scene of the crime of Jesus’ Crucifixion.

    In Conclusion

    The beloved Apostle and recognized authority of witness to these historical events some decades ago will soon assure the reader of John’s Good News (Gospel): Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

    .. but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

    John 20:31 ESV

    John now begins the conclusion of his Gospel even before the climax of the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection.

    Intermingled with John’s conclusive evidence, he includes reporter-like facts (which we will address in a later post), but his purpose now is to reveal why Jesus did some of what the Lord came to accomplish.

    Every mention of Scripture (of course) refers to the Old Testament. John links the events of Jesus’ crucifixion to Old Testament prophesy.

    John 19:

    Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe. 3 And they kept coming up to him and saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” and were slapping his face.

    Isaiah 50:

    6 I gave My back to those who strike Me,
    And My cheeks to those who pull out My beard;
    I did not hide My face from insults and spitting.
    7 For the Lord God helps Me,
    Therefore, I am not disgraced;
    Therefore, I have made My face like flint,
    And I know that I will not be ashamed.

    14 It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about noon…

    17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.

    23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.

    This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled, John tells us.

    Scripture includes more than the Law, which Jesus promises will be satisfied; but also the Psalms (or songs of worship), historical scrolls and also writings of the Prophets who Jerusalem’s religious leaders seldom heeded and like now, rarely taught.

    Here is this Scripture, a Psalm most descriptive of Jesus’ crucifixion.

    Psalm 22:

    READ ALL of Psalm 22, if you dare. And looking upon the scene of the Place of the Skull, with Jesus’ Blood pouring forth from His broken Body on the middle Cross, know His suffering for our sin endured for the grace of God’s love.

    18 אֲסַפֵּ֥ר כָּל־עַצְמוֹתָ֑י הֵ֥מָּה יַ֝בִּ֗יטוּ יִרְאוּ־בִֽי׃

    18 They divide my garments among them,
    And they cast lots for my clothing.

    This is what the soldiers did, John tells us.

    John 19:

    28 After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.”

    Psalm 69:

    21 They also gave me a bitter herb in my food,
    And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

    30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

    31 Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath…

    32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him.

    33 When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead.

    John 19:

    Jesus’s Side Pierced

    34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.

    Isaiah 53:

    The Suffering Servant

    Yet we ourselves assumed that He had been afflicted,
    Struck down by God, and humiliated.
    5 But He was pierced for our offenses,
    He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
    The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him,
    And by His wounds we are healed.

    John’s Testimony is True

    Christ on the Cross from movie The Passion of the Christ

    Jesus replied [to Pilate]. “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

    “What is truth? ” said Pilate.

    John 18:37b-38 CSB

    The Apostle here answers Pilate’s earlier question before he pronounced the sentence of DEATH ON A CROSS for Christ Jesus.

    John 19:35 He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth.

    John 19:

    36 For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken.

    37 Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.

    Psalm 34:

    But the Lord rescues him from them all.
    20 He protects all his bones,
    Not one of them is broken.

    Zechariah 12:

    12:10 וְשָׁפַכְתִּי עַל־בֵּית דָּוִיד וְעַל יוֹשֵׁב יְרוּשָׁלִַם רוּחַ חֵן וְתַחֲנוּנִים וְהִבִּיטוּ אֵלַי אֵת אֲשֶׁר־דָּקָרוּ וְסָפְדוּ עָלָיו כְּמִסְפֵּד עַל־הַיָּחִיד וְהָמֵר עָלָיו כְּהָמֵר עַֽל־הַבְּכֽוֹר׃

    Here is John’s Gospel GOOD NEWS of Scripture fulfilled.

    “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced;

    and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.

    Zechariah 12:10 NASB

    The Spirit of Grace

    John began his Good News speaking of grace. He begins his conclusion by quoting Zechariah’s imagery of the Spirit of grace and of supplication.

    judge's gavel - quote: And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment

    For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

    John 1:16-17 NASB

    Yet rather than supposing that we know what grace is, let’s look at grace through John’s eyes.

    Technical NOTE on Strong's Concordance linked here.
H-#'s = Hebrew equivalent & G-#'s = Greek equivalent

    χάρις – charis

    Even Pilate would share some understanding of this Greek concept of grace.

    • that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness: grace of speech
    • of the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues
      • (This, of course, is that love of the Lord Jesus which John frequently shares freely as grace.)

    John later greets his fellow beloved believers in his second letter (mailed in about A.D. 90–95):

    Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

    About 5-10 years earlier in about A.D. 80–90 John would have had his Gospel delivered to these same saints of the churches where he quotes Zechariah (from about 520 BC, five centuries after David and before Christ), whose name means: “The LORD remembers.”

    “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace..,” John encourages from Scripture, as one who witneesed and had mourned for his beloved friend Jesus near the foot of the Cross.

    chen – חֵן

    The Hebrew meaning of grace from Zechariah understood by Jews is:

    • favour, grace, elegance, kindness, acceptance, (even beauty, preciousness or gratitude)
      • But Noah found favor H2580 in the eyes of the LORD.
      • The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor H2580 in My sight and I have known you by name.”

    You are fairer than the sons of men;
    Grace H2580 is poured upon Your lips;
    Therefore God has blessed You forever.

    Psalm 45:2 – A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.

    The Spirit of Supplication

    .. and of supplication, which John adds from the prophet Zechariah,

    Do we even know what that is?

    ἱκετηρία –hiketēria

    • an olive branch
    • supplication

    Hebrews 5:

    In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.

    tachanuwn– תַּחֲנוּן

    • earnest prayer:—intreaty, supplication.
    • supplication for favour

    Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;

    And give heed to the voice of my supplications!

    Grace by God in the Person of Christ Jesus

    John began his Gospel by hope in the Messiah who was hung on a Cross.

    No one has ascended into heaven, except He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes will have eternal life in Him.

    John 3:13-15 NASB

    As Jesus gave up His Spirit while John and other witnesses sat beneath the Bloodied Cross with the corpse of their Messiah and Savior they must have wondered why.

    John 3:35–36 “.. The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand.

    The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

    “It is finished.”

    Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit…

    They will look at the one they pierced.

    The Gospel of John 19:30b,37b NASB
    To be continued...