Systematic Bible Study

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John 19:1-30. Pilate had Jesus flogged, then soldiers put a crown of thorns on his head and clothed him with a purple robe, saying repeatedly, "Hail, O king of the Jews!" Pilate presented Jesus to the Jews, who shouted, "Crucify!" They insisted that Jesus must die because he claimed to be the Son of God.

Pilate was afraid and asked Jesus where he came from, but Jesus merely answered that Pilate would have no power if God did not give it, and the ones who handed him over to Pilate were guilty of greater sin. Pilate tried to set Jesus free until the Jews accused him of being no friend of Caesar, whereupon he sat in the judge's seat and finally handed Jesus over to be crucified.

The soldiers made Jesus carry his own cross to Golgotha, where they crucified him between two others. Pilate had a notice fastened to the cross which read in Aramaic, Latin and Greek, "Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews". The chief priests objected to the last phrase, but Pilate left it.

Four soldiers cast lots for Jesus' clothes, which they divided into four parts except for the undergarment, which fulfilled Psa. 22:18. Standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary of Magdala. Jesus told his mother and his beloved disciple that they were related, so she went to live with him, apparently because Joseph has died.

Jesus knew that Scripture prophecy was now completed/fulfilled, so he said, "I am thirsty", and after being given a sponge soaked with wine vinegar, he said, "It is finished" and gave up his spirit. After Jesus arose, he appeared to Paul, who wrote in Rom. 3:21-5:11 that the death of Jesus justly atoned for sin and began righteous life for all who had saving faith in him (Rom. 3:26, cf. John 3:16).
 
John 19:31-20:9. Because the next day was the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken of those being crucified, so they would die quickly and their bodies could be buried. However, the soldiers found that Jesus was already dead, so they did not break his legs, but one of them pierced his side with a spear, causing a flow of blood and water, which fulfilled two scriptures (Psa. 34:20, cf. Exo. 12:46 & Num. 9:12; Zech. 12:10, cf. Isa. 53:5).

Joseph of Arimathea received Pilate's permission to bury the body of Jesus, which he did with the aid of Nicodemus, who applied a mixture of myrrh and aloe and then wrapped the body in strips of linen in accordance with the Jewish custom. Then they laid the body in a new tomb in a garden near where Jesus had been crucified. Matthew's account describes Joseph as a rich man who had become a disciple of Jesus and the tomb as intended for his own burial, and it says he rolled a large stone (presumably hewn in the shape of a wheel) in front of the entrance. It also mentions that on the Sabbath the Jews asked Pilate to secure the tomb, so Jesus' disciples could not steal the body and claim he had been raised from the dead. Pilate ordered a guard to be posted, who put a seal on the stone (Matt. 27:57-65).

Before sunrise on the morning after the Sabbath, Mary of Magdala went to the tomb and found the stone had been rolled away from the entrance, so she ran to tell Peter and "the disciple Jesus loved" (John), saying "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him." According to Matthew, "we" included "the other Mary", who is mentioned in Matt. 27:56 and described as the mother of James and Joseph (cf. Mark 15:40-47). Matthew also mentions an earthquake and says that an angel of the Lord rolled back the stone, who stunned the guards and told the women that Jesus had risen and could be seen in Galilee (Matt. 28:1-7, cf. Mark 16:1-7).

Peter and John ran to the tomb with John arriving first and looking inside, where he saw strips of linen. When Peter caught up, he went into the tomb, where he also saw the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head neatly folded (cf. John 11:44). John also when inside and finally believed that Jesus had risen from the dead (cf. John 16:17-20, 12:16, 13:7).
 
John 20:10-31. After visiting the empty tomb, the disciples went back to their homes except for Mary, who lingered and looked again inside the tomb, where she saw two angels, who asked why she was crying. She replied that it was because someone has taken the body of her Lord, and she does not know where. She turned around and saw Jesus without recognizing him, who also asked why she was crying. Thinking that he was the person in charge of the tomb gardens, she replied that if he had taken the body would he tell here where.

Then Jesus said Mary's name, whereupon she recognized him and called him "Rabbi", apparently wanting to hug him, but he said not to cling to him, because he had not yet returned to the Father. Instead, Jesus wanted Mary to go tell his brethren that he had risen and would be returning to heaven, which she did.

Later that evening the disciples were gathered in a place with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, and Jesus suddenly stood among them, saying "Peace be with you!" Then he showed them the wounds in his hands and side, and the they were overjoyed. Jesus told them that he was sending them as the Father had sent him, presumably for the purpose of witnessing to the world as mentioned in Acts 1:8 and Matt. 28:19-20. John also reported that Jesus said for the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit, even though that would not occur until after he had been translated to heaven (Acts 1:1-9).

Finally, Jesus reiterated what he had said before per Matt. 16:19 (cf. Matt. 18:18), that they would have the key to heaven, being able to act as agents of God with regard to forgiveness of sins (cf. Mark 2:7, Luke 5:21). The apparent meaning of this pronouncement is found a week later, when Jesus appeared to Thomas (who had doubted his resurrection until he beheld his wounds) and said, "Blessed are those who have not witnessed his resurrection and yet believe he is Messiah" (John 20:29-31, cf. 1Cor. 15:14-20).
 
John 21:1-25. John describes how Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (Galilee). After fishing all night and catching nothing, early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore and called out for them to throw their net on the right side of the boat, and when they did so there were so many fish caught that they could not haul the net in. This prompted "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John, cf. John 20:2) to recognize Jesus and exclaim that it is the Lord, whereupon Peter was so excited that he jumped into the water to wade ashore rather than wait for the boat.

When the rest of the disciples landed the boat, they found a fire of burning coals with fish already on it. Jesus told them to bring some of the fish they had just caught, so Peter dragged the net ashore, which had 153 large fish in it. Jesus invited them to have breakfast and served them bread and fish. John said in a parenthetical way that this was the third appearance of Jesus to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

After they had finished eating, Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love me more than these?" Peter replied, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you", whereupon Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Then Jesus asked Peter again, "Do you truly love me?", and Peter answered the same as before, whereupon Jesus said, "Care for my sheep." Jesus asked a third time whether Peter loved him, and Peter with hurt feelings replied that Jesus knew he loved him, whereupon Jesus said again, "Feed my sheep." Presumably Jesus asked Peter the question three times because Peter had denied him three times.

Finally, Jesus told Peter that when he became older someone would lead him where he did not want to go. John said this indicated the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Jesus concluded by saying, "Follow me." Peter looked at John and asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me", apparently meaning that Peter must die as a martyr. The John in another aside explained that Jesus did not mean that John would not die.

John ended his gospel by referring to himself as the disciple who testifies to the things he has written, and said :We know that his testimony is true. As a sort of post script John added that Jesus did many other things that could have been written about, but the world would not have room for the books it would require.
 
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