Resurrected Christ Appears a Third Time to His Disciples

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 21:1) After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself.

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus had appeared for the second time to all His disciples in a closed room, and had shown "Doubting" Thomas His wounds so that by seeing, Thomas would believe.  He now appeared to His disciples again, this time at the sea of Tiberias which is the Sea of Galilee.  What follows is how He showed Himself to them.

(2) There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples.

John named the disciples who were there, Peter, Thomas, James and John (the sons of Zebedee), Nathanael who was probably the disciple Bartholomew, and two other disciples not named.  Bartholomew or Bar-Tolmai means "son of Tolmai," which makes it probably a surname, with Nathanael his given name.

(3) Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We also are going with you." They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing.

Peter had decided to go fishing and the other disciples went with him.  They boarded a ship or fishing boat and it seems caught no fish all night.

(4) But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

When morning had come and they were still aboard the ship, they saw Jesus standing on the shore, but they did not know it was Him.  Perhaps they were not close enough to see Him clearly, and it may have still been dim light.

(5) Then Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any meat?" They answered Him, "No."

Jesus called out to them, calling them "Children," a term of endearment that would seem to intimate that it was Jesus speaking to them, but it appears they still didn't know it was Him.  He asked them if they had any meat or fish, meaning had they caught any, and they told Him they had not.

(6) And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you will find." They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

Jesus told them to cast their net on the right side of the ship and they would find fish.  Although it doesn't appear that they yet knew it was Jesus who spoke to them, they took His advice and cast where He told them, and they were not able to draw their net back in because of the weight of all the fish that were in it.

(7) Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea.

John was the first to recognize that it was their Lord who had told them where to cast their net, and he told Peter it was the Lord.  When Peter heard that, he put on his fishing garments, as he had been shirtless, in his undergarments only, and jumped into the sea, surely eager to get to Jesus.  You would think that he was previously better attired for swimming, but I'm sure out of respect to His Lord, he put his clothes on.

(8) And the other disciples came in the little ship (for they were not far from land but as it was two hundred cubits) dragging the net with fishes.

The other disciples came to shore in their little ship dragging the net with all the fish.  They had been only about a hundred yards from the shore, a cubit being about 18 inches.

(9) As soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. (10) Jesus said to them, "Bring of the fish which you have now caught."

When the disciples came to land, they saw a fire of coals on the shore with fish laid on it, and also bread.  Jesus told them to also bring some of the fish they had just caught.

(11) Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three, and although there were so many, yet the net was not broken.

Peter went back up to the ship and drew the net onto land.  It was full of 153 large fish, but although there were so many, their fishing net was not broken.  Jesus had preserved their net for them.

(12) Jesus said to them, "Come, dine." And none of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?" knowing that it was the Lord.

Jesus called the disciples to come to where He had fish cooking on the coals and told them to eat.  None of the disciples asked who it was who had told them where to cast their net and was now inviting them to eat, as they all knew by that time it was their Lord.

(13) Jesus then came and took bread and gave them, and fish likewise.

Jesus came to them and gave them all bread and fish.

(14) This is now the third time that Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was risen from the dead.

John made a point to tell his readers that this was the third time that Jesus had appeared to His disciples after He had risen from the dead.  Throughout the Bible, we are told that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, a thing is established.  Therefore, by these three appearances, it was firmly established as truth that Jesus had risen from the dead and had shown Himself to His disciples.

(15) So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs."

After they had dined, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him more than the rest of the disciples did.  Peter had said in Matthew 26:33 that although all men might be offended by Jesus, he would never be offended.  However, Peter had gone on to deny he knew Jesus three times.  But now his love for Jesus made him jump into the sea to be the first to come to Him.  Peter answered Jesus that he indeed loved Him, and that Jesus knew he did.  Jesus then told him to feed His lambs which meant to care for His flock of new Christians.

(16) He said to him again the second time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My sheep."

Jesus again asked Peter if he loved Him, and Peter answered as before that he did love Him, and that Jesus knew that he loved Him.  Again Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep.  Although it appears that Jesus told Peter pretty much the same thing, the word translated as "feed" is actually two different words in the two different passages.  The first time, Jesus told Peter to "bosko" (feed) His lambs, "lambs" probably denoting new baby Christians.  The second time, Jesus told Peter to "poimaino" (tend, govern) His sheep, indicating a sense of guiding and caring for His sheep, Jesus's flock of Christians.

(17) He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?" Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, "Do you love Me?" And he said to Him, "Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You." Jesus said to him, "Feed My sheep."

Jesus asked Peter a third time if he loved Him.  Peter was dismayed that Jesus had to keep asking him whether he loved Him or not.  It's possible that Peter thought Jesus saw something in him which he did not see, something that would lead to another denial of Jesus, and Jesus was about to tell him about it, as He had done when He told Peter he would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed.  He said to his Lord that He knew everything, so He knew that he loved Him.  Jesus said to Peter again, "Feed My sheep."  Jesus had returned to "bosko" His sheep, to feed His flock, His Christian followers.  I believe there was significance in having Peter declare three times that he loved the Lord and he would care for His flock.  For one, he had denied his Lord three times, and Jesus was giving him the chance to now confess Him three times, restoring him to his former position as Jesus's trusted apostle.  Also as discussed before, by declaring his love three times, it was established as a truthful fact.

(18) "Verily, verily, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you wished, but when you are old, you shall stretch forth your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish." (19) This He spoke, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."

Jesus told Peter that when he was young, not that he was old then, but while he was young, he was able to gird himself, that is clothe himself and bind himself with a belt.  But when he was old, indicating Peter would live to an old age, someone else would gird him and take him where he did not wish to go.  Jesus was telling Peter what sort of death he would suffer.  Because we have the knowledge of history, we can know that Jesus meant that Peter's arms would be outstretched and bound to a cross and he would be carried to his death where he would not naturally desire to go.  It's not that Peter would be unwilling to die for Christ, but it was not what he sought, and it stood in opposition to the freedom he had when he was young.  Note that Jesus said his death would honor God.  After Jesus had told Peter this, he told him to follow Him.

In Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible, he stated that ancient writers stated that Peter lived 34 years after this and then was crucified, "and that he deemed it so glorious a thing to die for Christ that he begged to be crucified with his head downwards, not considering himself worthy to die in the same posture in which his Lord did." 

(20) Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at supper, and said, "Lord, who is he who betrays you?" (21) Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?"

Peter then turned around and saw John following.  John wrote that the disciple who followed was the same one who had leaned on Jesus's breast at the Passover supper and had asked Him who it was who would betray Him.  We know this was John, also because he always called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved.  At first glance, it seems egotistical that one should call himself the one Jesus loved, as if Jesus loved him above all others.  John never mentions himself by name, but always as that other disciple or the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Far from being full of himself, I think John felt his self-worth was only in the fact that he was loved by Jesus.  He never says the disciple Jesus loved the most, but only that Jesus loved him, and he knew it and felt it.  

Note that Jesus told Peter to follow Him, and it appears that John did not wait for an invitation, but followed, as well.  When Peter saw John following, he asked Jesus what would happen to John.

(22) Jesus said to him, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me."

Jesus asked Peter what concern was it of his if He willed that John should live until He returned.  Jesus pretty much told Peter that it was none of his business what happened to John.  Jesus had told Peter his concern was to follow Him.  

(23) Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple would not die, yet Jesus did not say to him, "He shall not die," but, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to you?"

It appears that because of what Jesus said and the way He said it that the other disciples thought He meant that John would not die.  However, John makes it a point to tell us that Jesus had not said that at all, but only that if Jesus willed he should not die, that was no concern of Peter's.

(24) This is the disciple who testifies of these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

This statement proves that John was the disciple whom Jesus loved.  John wrote that he himself testified of the things he wrote and knew them to be true as he was an eye and ear witness to what he wrote.  The fact that he wrote "we know" might mean that he was well known as a man of truth and what he wrote could be trusted as fact.

(25) And there are also many other things which Jesus did which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

What a beautiful end to John's Gospel!  He acknowledged that Jesus had done so many other noteworthy things that if every one of them was written down that the world itself could not hold all the books it would take to record them all.  Of course, he used hyperbole, but by this, he told us Jesus Christ did more works and miracles during His short time in ministry on earth than could ever be all recorded.

So ends what I consider to be one of the most beautiful books in the Bible, and also my study of the Gospels.  I took a break from my chronological Bible study to study the four Gospels as I was challenged to read what Jesus said about certain modern cultural things as if to see that because Jesus did not address homosexuality and transgenderism specifically, that meant it was okay.  While Jesus definitely taught us to love all people regardless of their sexual sin (the woman at the well, for example), He made it clear that He was the only way to be saved from our sins and enjoy eternal life in heaven.  We are not to judge people, as we tend to judge by outward appearances, but God judges their hearts.  By showing love and living like Jesus, people will be naturally drawn to Him.  And once they have asked forgiveness and asked to have Jesus within their hearts, His Holy Spirit will meet them where they are and will show them truth as they become new creations in Christ.  Like Peter above, what is it to us what God decides about one we consider to be a sinner?  After all, we are all sinners, but we are to do what Jesus called us to do, follow Him.  And His example is to love them and if we love them and want them to be saved from eternal damnation, we will pray for them to come to Jesus and let Him take it from there.

However, that being said, I do not see that Jesus approved these sexual deviations.  He definitely affirmed God's design for just two sexes, male and female, and His design for marriage that a man and a woman be joined together as one, quoting Old Testament scripture (Matthew 19:4-6).  He also referred to sexual immorality as being something that defiles a person (Matthew 15:19-20) and that nothing unclean may enter into paradise (Revelation 21:27).  Although Jesus didn't speak specifically about all the different laws of God, He made it clear that He did not come to do away with any of them (Matthew 5:17), but He had come to fulfill the law by giving us a way to be saved from our discretions against the law.  And if He didn't do away with the Old Testament laws, then we can refer to the Old Testament to see what God considered sexual immorality, and that included adultery (Exodus 20:14), homosexuality (Leviticus 18:22), bestiality (Leviticus 18:23), sex with mother-in-law, daughter-in-law, or sister (Leviticus 18:11, 12, 17).  Additionally, cross-dressing is forbidden (Deuteronomy 22:5), definitely a sign that transsexual expression is nothing new.  God created male and female only (Genesis 5:2), and science tells us that “Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: “XY” and “XX” are genetic markers of male and female, respectively – not genetic markers of a disorder. The norm for human design is to be conceived either male or female. Human sexuality is binary by design with the obvious purpose being the reproduction and flourishing of our species. This principle is self-evident." (The American College of Pediatricians)  The X and Y chromosomes are what determine male and female, not what one feels.

So, in conclusion, I learned much about the love of Jesus toward all people, but His love did not mean that He approved of sexual deviations.  I will return to my chronological study in the next post.

Resurrection of Jesus and His Appearance to Mary and His Disciples

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 20:1) Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early, when it was yet dark, to the sepulchre, and saw the stone taken away from the sepulchre.

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus had been buried in the new tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and Matthew 27:60 had told us Joseph had rolled a large stone against the opening of the tomb.  Mary Magdalene now came to the sepulchre very early in the morning on the day after the Sabbath and saw that the stone had been taken away.

(2) Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre and we do not know where they have laid Him."

Mary Magdalene had surely looked inside the tomb after seeing the stone rolled away to know that Jesus was not there.  She assumed the Romans had removed His body or perhaps the men who had laid Jesus there in the first place and she ran to Peter and John to tell them.  Joseph and Nicodemus had laid Jesus in Joseph's tomb because it was nearby, and the Sabbath was soon to commence.  Perhaps she thought they had now moved Him to another location.  The other Gospel accounts speak of other women who were with Mary Magdalene and that they saw angels who told them Jesus had risen.  However, those accounts state the women came at dawn or just after sunrise, and here John said Mary Magdalene came while it was still dark.  It seems she must have come first and then returned a little later with the other women.

(3) Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and came to the sepulchre. (4) So they ran both together and the other disciple outran Peter and came first to the sepulchre.

Peter and John both ran to the sepulchre to see for themselves.  John outran Peter and got there first.

(5) And he, stooping down, saw the linen clothes lying, but he did not go in.

John stooped down to look into the sepulchre and saw the linen wraps that had bound Jesus lying on the ground.  However, he did not go into the sepulchre.

(6) Then came Simon Peter following him and went into the sepulchre and saw the linen clothes, (7) And the napkin that was around His head not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.

Then Peter came and he went straight into the sepulchre and also saw the linen wraps lying on the ground.  He also saw the separate wrap that had been wrapped around Jesus's head.  However, it was not lying with the linen wraps, but was wrapped together in another place by itself.  That would suggest that Jesus had not been taken away in a hurry, but that either Jesus Himself or angels had taken time to orderly remove His wraps.

(8) Then the other disciple went in also, who came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and believed. (9) For as yet they did not know the scripture that He must rise again from the dead.

Then John went into the sepulchre also.  He saw the linen wraps and the napkin and he believed.  What exactly he believed, scripture does not tell us.  It says that they didn't yet know and understand the scriptures that said Jesus must rise again from the dead.  Perhaps he believed that what Mary Magdalene had said was true.  But as "believing" usually takes on a deeper sense as truly believing in the Lord, I can't help but wonder if John was sensing that Jesus had risen of His own accord.  After all, Jesus had told His disciples that He would be risen from the dead, even if they did not fully understand the scriptures at that point.

(10) Then the disciples went away again to their own home.

Peter and John then went home.

(11) But Mary stood outside at the sepulchre weeping and as she wept, she stooped down into the sepulchre, (12) And saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain.

Mary Magdalene stayed behind at the sepulchre, weeping outside of it.  She stooped down to look into the tomb.  She saw two angels in white sitting inside the tomb, one at the head of where Jesus's body had lain, and the other at the feet.

(13) And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him."

The angels asked Mary Magdalene why she was crying.  She told them what she had assumed, that they (the Romans or Joseph and Nicodemus) had taken away the body of Jesus and she did not know where it was. 

(14) And when she had said this, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing and did not know that it was Jesus.

Mary then turned away from inside the tomb and saw Jesus standing there, only she did not realize that it was Jesus.  She may have only modestly glanced at whom she thought to be just a man, and also her eyes were full of tears.

(15) Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him from here, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away."

Jesus asked Mary Magdalene why she was crying and who it was she was seeking.  Mary assumed He was the gardener and asked Him if He had carried Jesus's body away and asked Him to tell her where He had taken His body so that she could take it away.

(16) Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned herself and said to Him, "Rabboni," which is to say, "Master."

Jesus then spoke only Mary's name and she turned toward Him and immediately recognized Him as her Lord.

(17) Jesus said to her, "Do not touch Me, for I am not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"

I don't believe Jesus's meaning was that He couldn't be touched at all because He had not yet ascended to His Father in heaven.  We are told in other scriptures that people touched Jesus before He ascended.  In Matthew 28:9, Mary Magdalene and "the other Mary" held Jesus by His feet and worshipped Him.  Jesus told "Doubting" Thomas to touch His side (later in this chapter).  In Luke 24:39, Jesus told His disciples to touch Him and see His nail-scarred hands and feet to know that it was really Him.  I believe Jesus's point was that Mary needn't cling to Him because He wasn't going to His Father just yet, and He had a mission for her, to go tell His disciples that He would be ascending to His Father God who was their Father and God.  This would assure them that even though Christ had died, they were still united to Him and to the same Father God in heaven.

(18) Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and He had spoken these things to her.

Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen Jesus and she told them what He had told her to tell them.

(19) Then the same day at evening, being the first of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, "Peace to you."

The evening of that same day the disciples had assembled together behind closed doors for fear of the Jews.  However, Jesus was able to divinely come in there and stood in the midst of them and spoke to them a greeting of peace.

(20) And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Jesus then showed the disciples His hands and His side partly to prove that it was really Him and not a spirit, and to prove that He had been truly resurrected from the dead with the marks of the nails in His hands and the stabbed place in His side.  He had not yet ascended to heaven in His glorified form.  The disciples were very glad to see their Lord.

(21) Then Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, even so I send you."

Jesus again gave them a greeting of peace, and then told them that He was sending them out on a mission as the Father had sent Him on one.  Nothing had changed because of His death.  In fact, it would be enhanced by His resurrection and ascension back to heaven.

(22) And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

After Jesus told the disciples He was sending them out, He breathed on them and told them to receive His Holy Spirit.  I believe it was symbolic of when God first breathed life into man at the beginning of creation.  He was now breathing new life into them to be renewed to their mission without Him physically, but with His spirit and everything He had taught and shown them.

(23) "Whosever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; whosever sins you retain, they are retained."

Only God and Jesus as God can truly forgive sins.  But Jesus was giving them permission as part of their mission to tell one who had repented and professed Jesus as his Savior that his sins were forgiven and God would honor that.  Actually God forgave first; they would have already been forgiven because he had repented and accepted Jesus, but Jesus would have His disciples doing His work as He had done while He was with them.  On the other hand, if they perceived one had not repented and accepted Jesus, then they could declare his sins were still retained by him.

(24) But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

It seems that all of the disciples had assembled together except for Thomas who was not with them when Jesus came to them.  Thomas is the Hebrew name meaning "twin," and Didymus is the Greek name meaning the same thing.  By his name, one would gather that Thomas had a twin, but the Bible never mentioned who that might be.  In an apocryphal book called The Acts of Thomas, it is suggested that Thomas was called Twin because he looked like Jesus, however as that book was rejected as part of the Bible, we can't really know if that was true or not.

(25) The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Except I see in His hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe."

The other disciples told Thomas afterward that they had seen the Lord, but Thomas did not believe that it had really been Jesus they saw.  He told them that unless he could see Him himself and see the wounds of the nails in His hands and even put his fingers into those wounds, as well as put his hand into Jesus's side where He had been stabbed by the Roman soldier, he would not believe that it had been Jesus they saw.

(26) And after eight days, again His disciples were inside and Thomas with them, Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace to you."

Eight days after Jesus had appeared to His disciples, they were again gathered together behind closed doors and Thomas was with them that time.  Jesus came to them again even though the doors were shut, suggesting it was in a supernatural manner that Jesus appeared to them.  He stood in the midst of His disciples and again gave them a greeting of peace.

(27) Then He said to Thomas, "Reach your finger here and behold My hands, and reach your hand here and thrust into My side; and do not be faithless but believing."

Jesus, knowing what Thomas had said to the other disciples, told Thomas to look at His hands and put his finger into the wounds, and put his hand into His side so that he would believe it was really Jesus who appeared before them and not to remain faithless.

(28) And Thomas answered and said to Him, "My Lord and my God."

It seems Thomas did not have to touch Jesus's wounds, but that he acknowledged Jesus as his Lord.  Not only Lord, but he acknowledged that Jesus was God Himself.  I believe that is the first time any disciple had gone as far as to say that besides John writing it in the beginning of his gospel account.

(29) Jesus said to him, "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed they who have not seen and have believed."

Jesus acknowledged that He knew that Thomas truly believed in Him at that point because he had seen Him.  However, He added that those who believed in Him, having not seen Him physically, were blessed, perhaps the more blessed.  Their faith would seem to be greater because they hadn't seen physical proof but believed God's word.  As 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, not by sight."

(30) And many other signs Jesus truly did in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book.

John revealed that Jesus had done many other works in the presence of His disciples about which he had not written in his Gospel.

(31) But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you might have life through His name.

John went on to reveal his purpose in writing his gospel account the way he did.  He wrote to prove that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing that of Him and believing in Him, one would have everlasting life.  Truly, John seemed to go above and beyond the mere actions of Jesus, to show his readers the deity of Christ Jesus more than the previous Gospels did.  And writing this right after he wrote that Jesus said those who had not seen but still believed were blessed, he gives his readers assurance and confidence that although we were not there to witness Jesus in the flesh, what he wrote is true and we may be saved and have everlasting life if we believe.

Jesus's Crucifixion, Death, and Burial

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 19:1) Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged Him.

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus having been brought before Pilate to receive a sentence of death, Pilate had told the people he had found no fault in Jesus.  However, the people clamored for Jesus's crucifixion, so Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped.  It's difficult to understand Pilate's heart.  At the very least, I find him to be a very weak man.  He found no fault in Jesus, yet he let the people drive him, the Roman governor, to scourge an innocent man and deliver Him to be crucified.  John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible, suggested that he might have delivered Jesus to be scourged so that they would be satisfied with that punishment and then he could release Jesus.  This might have some basis in truth as Pilate continued to say that he found no fault in Jesus (v. 4).  However, it was the custom to first scourge the criminals they condemned to be crucified.  Whatever his reasoning, he still was morally weak for having an innocent man scourged.

(2) And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. (3) And said, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck Him with their hands.

In derision, the soldiers braided a crown of thorns and put it on Jesus's head.  They also put a purple robe on Him and mocked Him as a king.  They also struck Him with their hands.

(4) Pilate therefore went forth again and said to them, "Behold, I bring Him forth to you that you may know that I find no fault in Him."

Then Pilate went back out to the Jews to tell them he was bringing forth Jesus to show how He had been scourged and abused and to tell them again that he found no fault in Jesus.  He found no fault, yet he allowed this to be done to Jesus?  Perhaps his purpose was to show that since he had allowed so much to be done to Jesus, if he had found Him to be the least bit guilty, he would have had no problem crucifying Him.  However, he said he still found no fault in Jesus. 

(5) Then Jesus came forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, "Behold the Man!"

Then Pilate brought Jesus forth, and He was wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and was surely in a worse condition due to the scourging.  Pilate told the people to look at Jesus and see what had been done to Him, hoping this would satisfy the Jews.

(6) When the chief priests and officers therefore saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify! Crucify!" Pilate said to them, "You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him."

However, not at all satisfied, the chief priests and officers cried out to crucify Jesus.  Pilate told them to take Jesus themselves and crucify Him if they thought they must, because he found no fault in Him.

(7) The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and by our law, He ought to die because He made Himself the Son of God."

The charge of sedition was not working with Pilate, so the Jews told him that according to their Jewish law, Jesus ought to die because He had called Himself the Son of God, which they were calling blasphemy.  Their law called for stoning, but they had wanted the governor to sentence Jesus so that He would be crucified, a more horrible method of killing.

(8) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid.

When Pilate heard that, he was afraid.  He was convinced that Jesus was innocent as he could see more and more clearly the design of the Jews.  However, they now brought up a charge of which he did not have a full understanding.  He would bring their wrath if he denied them; however, as he saw Jesus as innocent, he probably wondered if He could truly be divine.

(9) And went again into the judgment hall and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.

Therefore Pilate went back in to try to get an answer from Jesus.  He asked Him where He was from, but Jesus did not answer him.  He was surely trying to determine if Jesus was indeed divine and not of this world.  Jesus had already told Pilate His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36), and Pilate already had enough information to determine Jesus was innocent, yet he had had Him scourged and ridiculed.  Pilate was a morally weak man refusing to do what his conscience knew to be the right thing, so probably nothing more Jesus could say would change his actions.

(10) Then Pilate said to Him, "You don't speak to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You and have power to release You?"

In arrogance, Pilate cautioned Jesus about not speaking to him, as he told Jesus in his puffed-up pride that he had the power to either crucify Jesus or release Him.

(11) Jesus answered, "You could have no power against Me, except it were given you from above; therefore he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin."

Jesus told Pilate that he had no power over Jesus except what had been given to him by God.  Once Jesus had been delivered to be crucified, it was definitely going to be carried out.  And then Jesus went on to answer the question about Pilate's guilt in this matter.  He said that the one who delivered Him to Pilate had the greater sin.  That indicates that Pilate had indeed sinned in scourging an innocent man, but Jesus held the sin of delivering Him in the first place the greater sin.

(12) And from then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar."

After Jesus said that to Pilate, Pilate tried to release Him, being convinced of His innocence and probably desiring not to sin anymore against Him.  However, the Jews cried out against him, telling him he was no friend of Caesar's if he let Jesus go because Jesus had spoken of Himself as being king, so they saw that as against Caesar, returning to their charge of sedition.

(13) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.

When Pilate realized the Jews might make accusations of his treachery against Caesar, he feared more for his own position than he did of condemning an innocent man, and he brought Jesus before the judgment seat, and he sat down as the judge in the place called Gabbatha in Hebrew, the Pavement.  The Greek word translated as "pavement" was "lithostrotos," meaning stoned or mosaic pavement.  "Gabbatha" meant "elevated" or "platform."  The Pavement was evidently an elevated stone or mosaic platform probably where judgments were pronounced.

(14) And it was the Preparation of the Passover and about the sixth hour, and he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"

It was the Preparation Day of the Passover at about noon.  The Jews counted their hours beginning at dawn or six in the morning.  The time was getting short before Passover would begin at sundown, so I suppose Pilate decided it was time to get this deed done.  He told the Jews to behold their king.

(15) But they cried out, "Away with Him! Away with Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar."

However, the Jews cried out to crucify Jesus, to which Pilate asked if they wanted him to crucify their king.  The chief priests answered that they had no king but Caesar.  They rejected their King Messiah, but also denied God as their king, calling Caesar their only king.

(16) Then he delivered Him therefore to them to be crucified. And they took and led Jesus away.

So the weak governor Pontius Pilate delivered Jesus to the Jews, knowing what they were about to do.  They took Jesus and led Him away.

(17) And He, bearing His cross, went forth to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, (18) Where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side and Jesus in the middle.

Jesus bore His own cross and was led to a place called the Place of the Skull, or Golgotha in Hebrew, which means "skull."  It was so called because of the bones of criminals who had been executed that lay there.  That is where Jesus was crucified with two others, one on either side of Him, He being in between them.

(19) And Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Pilate had made an inscription on the cross above Jesus, as the other Gospels put it, saying, "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS."  The latter part of the inscription was meant to be the accusation against Him according to the account in Matthew, but it was a true assertion of who Jesus really was.

(20) This title then read many of the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near to the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Many Jews had the opportunity to read the inscription because Jesus was crucified close to Jerusalem.  Pilate had written the inscription in three different languages, which probably accounts for the slight varying interpretations of all the Gospels.  Matthew had said it read, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  Mark said simply, THE KING OF THE JEWS, however, he did indicate that was the accusation, so he may have been commenting only on that part of the inscription.  Luke said it read, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

(21) Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but that He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'"

The chief priests of the Jews objected to Pilate writing that Jesus was the King of the Jews.  They told him to write it as Jesus had said that He was King of the Jews, not that it was a fact.

(22) Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

However, Pilate answered that what he had written was to stand.  Neither he nor the chief priests realized that it was undoubtedly the will of God that it be written that way.

(23) Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also His robe. Now His robe was without seam, woven from the top throughout.

The soldiers who had raised Jesus up on the cross, apparently four of them, took Jesus's garments and divided them into four parts among them.  However, Jesus's robe or tunic, His outer garment, was made without seams and not easily divided.

(24) They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the scripture might be fulfilled which says, "They parted My garments among them, and for My vesture they cast lots." These things therefore the soldiers did.

The soldiers did not want to tear the robe, but agreed to cast lots for it, not knowing they were fulfilling the scripture in Psalm 22:18, "They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture," His outer garment.  The soldiers had indeed divided his garments among them and cast lots for His robe.

(25) Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

Jesus's mother and Mary Magdalene stood by the cross of Jesus.  It's unclear if Mary's sister and Mary the wife of Cleophas were two different women, or one and the same.  It's doubtful that Jesus's mother would have had a sister named the same as her, however, she could be Jesus's mother Mary's sister-in-law, who would have been called her sister.  Matthew and Mark, in their accounts, spoke of a Mary, the mother of James and Joses.  Mark said specifically she was the mother of James the Little and Joses.  James the Little was one of Jesus's twelve apostles, the son of Alphaeus, who is the same as Cleophas (Alphaeus being Greek and Cleophas, Hebrew).  If Cleophas was Joseph's brother (the husband of Jesus's mother), then Mary his wife would be called Jesus's mother Mary's sister; however, we are not told that.  But we are given one more clue when in Mark 6:3, neighbors asked about Jesus's family, specifically His brothers James and Joses.  This would suggest a very close relationship, if not Jesus's brothers from the same immediate family, probably His first cousins, sons of his earthly father Joseph's brother Cleophas, or Alphaeus.  By the way, this Cleophas is probably not the same person Cleopas in Luke 24:18 as Cleopas is a Greek name short for Cleopater, whereas Cleophas in the Greek is Alphaeus.

(26) When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the disciple standing by whom He loved, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son."

Jesus looked upon His mother Mary and also saw His beloved disciple John standing by her.  He told His mother to behold her adopted son who would care for her in the absence of her son Jesus.  Adam Clarke in his Commentary on the Bible pointed out that John was the only disciple who did not die a premature unnatural death.  It seems God protected and preserved him for the care of Jesus's earthly mother.

(27) Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother." And from that hour that disciple took her into his own.

Jesus also told John to behold his mother, and he did indeed care for her as his mother, taking her into his own home.  Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible wrote that tradition said that Mary lived with John until her death about fifteen years later.

(28) After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst."

This is really an amazing verse.  Jesus was thirsty, but He could have certainly borne that without complaint, but so that the scripture would be fulfilled, and that all who witnessed it would have further proof that He was the Messiah fulfilling every last detail that was written about Him by the prophets,  Jesus said He was thirsty.

(29) 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.

The Roman soldiers dipped a sponge in vinegar and put it on a hyssop branch and then lifted that up to Jesus's mouth.  That indeed fulfilled the scripture in Psalm 69:21 which read, "...in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."

(30) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, "It is finished," and He bowed His head and gave up the ghost.

Jesus was in complete control the entire time.  He asked for the drink to fulfill prophesy, and when that was done, He declared that His work culminating in dying on the cross was finished.  He then proactively gave up the ghost.  He chose to die at that point.  Everything that happened to Jesus was all within His will.  He could have stopped it at any point, but because of His love for us sinners, He chose to go through it all for us.

(31) The Jews therefore, because it was the Preparation, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath Day (for that Sabbath Day was a high day), besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and they might be taken away.

It was the Preparation Day for the Sabbath, and it was a special high one in that the Feast of the Passover commenced on the Sabbath in that year.  It was about 3:00 in the afternoon when Jesus died (Matthew 27:46) and that was the time the Jews started making preparation for their Sabbath.  Jewish law ordered that the bodies of criminals should not hang all night (Deuteronomy 21:23), and because they were anxious to start preparing for their high Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to break the crucified men's legs so that they would die quickly and could be taken away.  To be able to keep breathing when hanging on a cross, one would lift his body up with his legs, so once his legs were broken, he could no longer lift himself to breathe and would die.

(32) Then came the soldiers and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

The soldiers did indeed break the legs of the two criminals who were hanging on either side of Jesus.

(33) But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was dead already, they did not break His legs.  

The chief priests of the Jews would have surely liked to see Jesus's legs broken as an added cruelty, but because Jesus laid down His life of His own accord, He was not to be killed by the breaking of His legs.  

(34) But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side and immediately blood and water came out.

One of the soldiers, just to make sure Jesus was indeed dead, pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water spewed forth.  It is a consensus belief among commentators that the soldier had pierced the pericardium that surrounds the heart and that is where the water flowed from.  By piercing the heart, the soldier would guarantee that Jesus was dead or would have been immediately killed by his action.  The blood and the water would have proved that, but additionally may have been symbolic of water baptism and blood atonement.

(35) And he who saw it bore record and his record is true, and he knows that he says truth that you might believe.

This sounds like it was probably John himself who saw the soldier pierce Jesus's side and probably His heart, proving that Jesus was indeed dead so that there could be no claims of His having just fainted when He was later found to not be in His tomb.  John desired to make it a certain truth by an eyewitness that Jesus had indeed died.

(36) For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled, "A bone of Him shall not be broken."

Even after Jesus had died, the things that were done to Him fulfilled scripture.  Psalm 34:20 reads, "He keeps all His bones; not one of them is broken."

(37) And again, another scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."

Additionally, the scripture in Zechariah 12:10 was fulfilled which reads in part, "...and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced..."

(38) And after this, Joseph of Arimathea, 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 leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus.

Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a secret disciple of Jesus, following Him secretly because he feared the Jews, asked Pilate if he might be permitted to take the body of Jesus.  Pilate indeed gave him permission and he took Jesus's body.

(39) And there came also Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

Nicodemus, another secret follower of Christ, who had first come to Jesus in the middle of the night so as not to be seen, brought a large quantity of myrrh and aloes, a hundred pounds, to perfume Jesus's body in honor and respect for Him.  John Wesley, in his Notes on the Bible, pointed out that while Jesus's apostles had apparently all left Him dead hanging on the cross, these two followers who had formerly only followed Jesus in secret, now came out publicly to care for His body.

(40) Then they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.

Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus's body and wrapped it in linen with the spices as was the custom of the Jews to bury someone.

(41) Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre in which was never a man yet laid.

Near the place where Jesus had been crucified there was a garden in which was a new sepulchre that had never been used.  Matthew 27:60 told us it was Joseph's own new tomb that he had hewn out of rock.  

(42) There they laid Jesus because of the Jews' Preparation, for the sepulchre was near at hand.

Had they had more time, they may have prepared a different place for Jesus to be buried in His own tomb, but because it was near the end of Preparation Day and the Sabbath was fast approaching, they buried Him in Joseph's tomb as it was nearby.  This fulfilled another prophetic scripture in Isaiah 53:9, "And He made His grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death..."  Jesus had died among wicked criminals and was buried in a rich man's tomb, as Joseph was said to be a rich man.  Matthew told us in chapter 27:57 that Joseph was a rich man and a disciple of Jesus.  Mark 15:43 stated he was also a respected member of the council of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking for the kingdom of God.  Luke 23:50 added that he had not agreed to the council's decision regarding Jesus.  He was a good and just man who cared for Jesus's body and gave Him his own new tomb.  

Jesus's Arrest and Peter's Denial of Him

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 18:1) When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the Brook Kidron where was a garden which He and His disciples entered.

In the last chapter, Jesus had prayed a beautiful and sublime prayer.  After that, He and His disciples crossed over the Brook Kidron which was a small stream that flowed to the east of Jerusalem and divided the city from the Mount of Olives.  They went into a garden which was called Gethsemane according to Matthew 26:36.

(2) And Judas also, who betrayed Him, knew the place, for Jesus often met there with His disciples.

Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus also knew about the garden as Jesus often met with His disciples there.  Jesus was not trying to hide from His fate.  He went straight into the lion's den, so to speak, knowing that Judas would come there.

(3) Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

Indeed, Judas came there with a band of men and officers that had been given to him by the chief priests and Pharisees.  The men came carrying lanterns, torches, and weapons.  The lanterns and torches were probably to search Jesus out as if He would be hiding in the place He knew that Judas knew.  And as if they would need an army and weapons to take Jesus!

(4) Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forth and said to them, "Whom are you seeking?"

Jesus, knowing everything that was about to happen to Him, went straight to His captors and asked whom they were seeking.

(5) They answered Him, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus said to them, "I AM." And Judas also, who betrayed Him, stood with them. (6) As soon then as He had said to them, "I AM," they went backward and fell to the ground.

They answered that they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth and Judas stood with them.  Practically all of the Bible translations read that Jesus said, "I am He," but they indicate that they added "He" for better understanding.  Jesus did not say, "I am He."  He simply said, "I AM," and that is what made the men fall backward to the ground.  The power of that name and Jesus's very own infinite power knocked His captors down, proving that they could not take Him by their power, but that Jesus willingly let them take Him.  It's amazing that after being knocked down by sheer words, that some of the band didn't retreat.

(7) Then He asked them again, "Whom do you seek?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." (8) Jesus answered, "I have told you I AM. Therefore if you seek Me, let these go their way."

Jesus asked them again whom they were seeking.  When they said again, "Jesus of Nazareth," Jesus answered that He had told them already that was Him, so if they were seeking Him, He asked that they let His disciples go.  There were probably only Peter, James, and John with Him according to Matthew 26:37.

(9) That the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, "Of them whom You gave Me, I have lost none."

Jesus asked that His disciples go free which fulfilled what He had said in His prayer in chapter 17, that He had lost none of the ones His Father had given Him.  He protected them to His very end.

(10) Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus.

At this point, Peter drew his sword and struck the high priest's servant, Malchus, and cut off his right ear.  

(11) Then Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"

Jesus told Peter to put his sword back into its sheath, and He asked him if He shouldn't do what His Father had willed be done.  Luke 22:51 told us that Jesus then healed the man's ear.

(12) Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus and bound Him, (13) And led Him away to Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas who was the high priest that same year.

The band of soldiers and their captain and officers then took Jesus and bound Him and led Him away to Annas, who according to Luke 3:2 was himself a high priest, but at this point is mentioned as Caiaphas's father-in-law, Caiaphas being the high priest that year.

(14) Now Caiaphas was he who gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people.

Caiaphas was the one in John 11:50 who gave counsel to the chief priests and Pharisees that it was expedient that one man should die for the people that the whole nation not perish.  He had spoken more Godly truth than he realized, as it was indeed expedient for Christ alone to die for the salvation of the world.

(15) And Simon Peter followed Jesus and another disciple; that disciple was known to the high priest and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.

Peter followed Jesus and another disciple who was also following Jesus.  Many commentators have assumed that the other disciple was the gospel author himself, John, as John often spoke of himself in the third person, only he most often referred to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved.  Nonnus, a 5th century Greek poet who wrote a paraphrase of the Gospel of John, said that John was known to the high priest because he carried fish to his house and sold it to him.  However, others say it is not likely that the seller of fish would have any sort of close relationship with the high priest.  They assume it was another disciple, apart from the twelve, who was better known by the high priest than any of the twelve.  That disciple went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.  The high priest that year was Caiaphas, so although the soldiers had taken Jesus to Annas first, he had evidently sent Him immediately to Caiaphas.  Both disciples continued to follow Jesus there.

(16) But Peter stood at the door outside. Then that other disciple who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to her who kept the door and brought in Peter.

Peter did not enter the palace when Jesus and the other disciple did; he stood outside the door.  However, the other disciple went and spoke to the doorkeeper who let the disciple bring Peter inside.

(17) Then said the damsel who kept the door to Peter, "Are you not also one of this man's disciples?" He said, "I am not."

The girl who was the doorkeeper asked Peter if he was one of Jesus's disciples.  He denied it.  By this, it seems unlikely that the other disciple was John, as she would have surely also recognized him as one of Jesus's disciples, too.

(18) And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals for it was cold, and they warmed themselves, and Peter stood with them and warmed himself.

The servants and the officers stood in that area of the palace.  They made a fire because it was cold, and they stood by the fire warming themselves.  Peter stood with them, also warming himself.

(19) The high priest then asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.

The high priest Caiaphas asked Jesus about His disciples and His doctrine.  The council wanted to prove sedition or rebellion against Caesar, so I'm sure they wanted to show that He had many disciples forming a dangerous faction.  He wanted to know about Jesus's teaching, as well.

(20) Jesus answered him, "I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple where the Jews always meet, and in secret, I have said nothing."

Jesus told Caiaphas that He had always spoken openly to the world.  He was constantly in the synagogues and in the temple at Jerusalem speaking openly to the Jews that always met there.  He had no secret agenda; what Caiaphas and his council had heard of what Jesus said, was all there was.  If He had been guilty of sedition, He would have preferred meeting in secret, planning an overthrow of the government, so as He most often spoke publicly with great crowds, they could see and hear that He was not planning a secret takeover.

(21) "Why do you ask Me? Ask them who heard Me what I have said to them; behold, they know what I said."

Jesus asked Caiaphas why he asked Him.  He would not have believed what Jesus said anyway.  He should ask the people who had heard Him, which were certainly at least some of them who stood there with Him.  Jesus had nothing to hide; He urged Caiaphas to ask them what He had said.

(22) And when He had thus spoken, one of the officers who stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, "Do You answer the high priest so?"

After Jesus had asked why Caiaphas asked Him, one of the officers who stood by them, slapped Jesus with the palm of his hand and rebuked Him for speaking to the high priest in that manner.

(23) Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil, but if well, why do you strike Me?"

Jesus answered that if He had spoken anything evil or falsely, the officer should point that out and let Him receive fair punishment, but if He had said nothing untoward, then he had no reason to strike Him.  

(24) Now Annas had sent Him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

This is where John explains that Annas had sent Jesus on to Caiaphas, and that was why He was now before him.

(25) And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore to him, "Aren't you also one of His disciples?" He denied it, and said, "I am not."

So there in the palace of the high priest Caiaphas, Peter stood and warmed himself by the fire among the servants and the officers.  They suspected that he was one of Jesus's disciples, but Peter denied it a second time.

(26) One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with Him?"

However, one of the high priest's servants, who had apparently been with the band of soldiers who came and took Jesus from the garden and had seen him cut the ear off the soldier who was a kinsman of his, asked if it was true that he had seen him in the garden with Jesus.

(27) Peter then denied again, and immediately the cock crowed.

Peter again denied that he had been with Jesus.  The account in Matthew said that he even cursed and swore.  Immediately after he said it, the rooster crowed.  It was just as Jesus had said, that Peter would deny Him three times before the rooster crowed in the morning.  That account in Matthew said that Peter then remembered the words of Jesus and went out and wept bitterly.

(28) Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment, and it was early; and they themselves did not go into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover.

The council of Jews and the soldiers then led Jesus away from Caiaphas to the hall of judgment, or the Praetorium, as it was called, where the Roman governor heard and tried cases.  It was very early in the morning.  The Jews would not enter the house of a Gentile or they would be considered unclean and unable to eat of the Passover, so they did not go in, only the Roman soldiers.

(29) Pilate then went out to them, and said, "What accusation do you bring against this Man?"

Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman governor at that time, therefore went out to talk to the Jews and asked them what it was that they had accused Jesus of doing.

(30) They answered and said to him, "If He were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered Him up to you."

The Jews told Pilate if Jesus had not been a criminal, they would not have brought Him to him.  I believe their point was that they had no need for Pilate to try Jesus as they had already found Him guilty.  They brought Jesus to the Roman governor because he was the only one who could order Jesus executed.

(31) Then Pilate said to them, "Take Him and judge Him according to your law." The Jews therefore said to him, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death."

If they hadn't brought Jesus to him to be tried, then Pilate told them to take Jesus back and judge Him according to their law as they saw fit.  However, they told him that it was not legal for them to put anyone to death, which was what they desired for Jesus.

(32) That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which He spoke, signifying what death He should die.

They had to have Jesus condemned to death by the Roman governor.  That would fulfill Jesus's prophetic words that He would be crucified (Matthew 20:19), as only the Roman government crucified men.

(33) Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus, and said to Him, "Are You the king of the Jews?"

So Pilate went back into the judgment hall where Jesus was being held, and he asked Him if He was indeed king of the Jews.  According to the account in Luke, the Jews had accused Jesus to Pilate of being a rebel and forbidding the people to pay tribute to Caesar, which was of course, a lie.  They told him that Jesus had said He was the king of the Jews.

(34) Jesus answered him, "Do you say this thing of yourself or did others tell you this of Me?"

Jesus replied, asking Pilate if that was a question he wanted an answer to himself, or had he asked it only because others had said that about Jesus.  I believe His point was, had Pilate seen anything in Jesus to make him suspicious that the things the Jews had said about Him were true with respect to Him being a seditious rebel trying to overthrow the Roman government.

(35) Pilate asked, "Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?"

Pilate asked Jesus if Pilate himself was a Jew, meaning to ask why he would have cause to suggest that Jesus was king of the Jews.  He told Him that His own Jewish nation and the chief priests had been the ones to deliver Jesus to him, so he wondered what Jesus had done to make them do that.

(36) Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now My kingdom is not from here."

Jesus did not deny that He was the king of the Jews, but told Pilate that His kingdom was not a worldly one.  If His kingdom was of the world, then His servants would have risen up to save Him from being delivered to the Jews.  Actually, Jesus Himself could have prevented His being delivered to them.  However, His kingdom was not of the world.  It was a spiritual one, and He was choosing to be delivered up in order to save His people from the world.

(37) Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. To this end I was born and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Since Jesus had said He had a kingdom, Pilate surmised He must be a king then.  Jesus answered that he had said rightly that He was indeed a king.  His purpose for being born into this world was to bear witness to the truth of God.  He added that everyone who was of the truth could hear and receive Him and His words.

(38) Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find in Him no fault."

Pilate asked Jesus what he must have considered a rhetorical question, as he didn't wait for an answer, "What is truth?"  I believe he must have felt that it was not worth giving His life for, and he went out to the Jews and told them he had found no fault in Him.  He found Jesus to be an innocent man.

(39) "But you have a custom that I should release to you one at the Passover. Do you therefore want me to release to you the king of the Jews?"

Pilate had found no fault in Jesus, and besides, the Jews had a custom that Pilate should release one prisoner at Passover, so he assumed they would want him to release Jesus.

(40) Then they all cried again, saying, "Not this Man, but Barabbas!" Now Barabbas was a robber.

The fact that the people cried out again must mean that this was not the first time he had asked the people what they would have him do with Jesus.  The account in Mark does include more back and forth dialogue between Pilate and the people.  John, as was his custom, greatly abbreviated the events that had already been covered by the other Gospel authors.  The people cried out for Barabbas to be released to them, a robber and also a murderer according to the other Gospel accounts.  This part of the story always gets to me.  How could people who had such a short time ago lauded Jesus with praise and honor as He came into Jerusalem on the donkey, now be so anxious to have Him crucified?  The account in Mark said that the chief priests had incited the people to call for His crucifixion.

Jesus's Prayer

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 17:1) These words Jesus spoke, and lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son that Your Son also may glorify You."

In the last chapter, Jesus had been preparing His disciples for their future without Him.  He now lifted up His eyes to heaven and began to pray.  He said His hour had come when He would suffer and die, and He asked that the Father glorify Him by supporting Him and carrying Him through the coming greatest of trials so that His actions would in turn glorify and bless the Father.

This has been a difficult chapter for some to understand.  Was Jesus really God?  If so, was He praying to Himself?  And if not, does this prove that Jesus wasn't God?  Jesus is God; that was proven in scripture (John 1:1).  However, Jesus was that part of God's Self that He made man to be born into the world to provide a way for God's creation to be saved.  So He did in effect pray to that part of Himself in heaven that was wholly God and wholly holy wishing His actions on earth to have been according to God's plan and sufficient to save His creation.

(2) "And You have given Him power over all flesh that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him."

Jesus acknowledged that God had given Him power over all mankind that He could give eternal life to as many as God called to Him.  God had prepared that way for people to be saved from eternal damnation, and it was only through Jesus that men could receive eternal life.

(3) "And this is life eternal, that they might know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent."

To have eternal life was to know God intimately, the only true God, and to have an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ which was the only way to know God.

(4) "I have glorified You on the earth; I have finished the work which You gave Me to do."

Jesus had done all He had done on earth to glorify God and to bring people to Him.  He had obediently finished the work God had sent Him to earth to do up to that point, and He was committed to follow through until it was completely finished. 

(5) "And now, O Father, glorify Me with Yourself with the glory which I had with You before the world was."

Jesus asked that the Father return Him to His former glory as One with the Father as He had been since before the world was created.

(6) "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word."

Jesus had manifested His Father's name by making His nature, character, and will known to the men He had sent to Him from out of the world and its worldview.  Jesus acknowledged that they were God's creation, but He had given them to Jesus to bring them to eternal life through His plan.  Jesus assured Him they had received His word and had accepted Him and His gift of salvation.

(7) "Now they have known that all things whatever You have given Me are of You."

Jesus, in His prayer to God, said that the men He had sent to Him had been taught and now believed that everything He did and said was of God Himself.

(8) "For I have given to them the words which You gave Me, and they have received and have known surely that I came out from You, and they have believed that You sent Me."

The reason the disciples now knew God was because Jesus had taught them the doctrines of God that He had given them to know.  They had received those doctrines and knew that Jesus had come from God and had been sent for that purpose.

(9) "I pray for them; I pray not for the world, but for them whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."

At this point in Jesus's prayer, He prayed for those whom God had given Him, those disciples who would preach God's plan for salvation throughout the world.  They had been brought through Christ to salvation and union with God; they belonged to God and Jesus prayed for them that they be strengthened and protected and blessed by God in their mission.

(10) "And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them."

As Jesus and His Father were One, all who had come to Jesus were God's, and all God's belonged to Jesus.  Jesus was glorified in them because they had come through Him to be with God, and they would continue to glorify Him as they preached His gospel to the world.

(11) "And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your own name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We."

Jesus acknowledged that He was about to be no more in the world as He was about to go back to the Father in heaven.  However, His disciples would still be in the world, and He prayed that they be preserved in His name, in the knowledge of God.  He prayed that God defend and sustain them in obedience to Himself and His cause.  Jesus prayed that they be unified in love and purpose, as one Christian unit as God and Jesus were one.

(12) "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name; those whom You gave Me I have kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled."

Jesus said that He had kept or preserved all His disciples in God's name, in the knowledge and worship of Him.  He had preserved all His disciples God had sent Him, except Judas Iscariot, which of course, had been God's plan all along to use him to execute His will and fulfill scripture.  That's not to say that Judas never had a choice, but God chose him because He knew the choice he would make.  Jesus had not preserved him as a disciple because he was never meant to be one but had a different purpose.

(13) "And now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves."

It was now time for Jesus to return to the Father.  All the things Jesus had spoken while He was in the World, He asked to be for the benefit of His disciples that they might have Jesus's joy fulfilled in themselves.  That joy of a successful mission, that He had overcome the world!  That joy that came from knowing the truth about God's purpose in Jesus and that they possessed eternal life, and that they could pass that exciting good news to others.  

(14) "I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

Jesus had given His disciples God's word and they had received it within their hearts.  For that reason, the world hated them because they were not of the world's sinful lusts.  They were not like the world, just as Jesus was not like it.

(15) "I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil. (16) They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

Jesus didn't pray that His disciples should be taken out of the evil world, but rather that God protect them from the evil in the world.  Jesus had already told them that they would be persecuted and even killed (Matthew 24:9), so I believe what Jesus means by keeping them from evil is to protect and preserve them from the wiles of the devil who would seek to destroy their souls and their work.  The disciples were at that time not of the world and He prayed that they remain that way.

(17) "Sanctify them through Your truth; Your word is truth."

Jesus prayed that His disciples be made pure from their sins and made holy through God's word which was absolutely true.  All that had been prophesied and said by God and His word, the scriptures, and in His plan for salvation, would sanctify them as promised.

(18) "As You have sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them into the world."

Just as God had sent Jesus into the world to proclaim His good news that the world could be saved, Jesus was sending His disciples into the world to spread the same good news.

(19) "And for their sakes, I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."

Jesus had no need for sanctification because He had no sin, but by this He meant that He consecrated Himself exclusively for the service of God.  This was His example for His disciples that they might also be sanctified through the truth in God.

(20) "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also who shall believe in Me through their word."

Jesus prayed these things not just for His disciples, but for all followers who would come to believe in Christ through the preaching of His disciples.

(21) "That they all may be one, as You, Father, in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me."

Jesus prayed that all His followers, including those who came through the teaching of His disciples, would be in unity, one unit of brotherhood in Christ.  They should be one in the same love and purpose of God and of Jesus, who was God's plan for the salvation of man, and that the world may come to believe that God had indeed sent Jesus to save the world.

(22) "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one."

The honor which the Father gave to Jesus on earth Jesus bestowed on His followers.  The glory of Jesus shines in the children of God.  By sending Jesus into the world, God provided a single way for His people to be cleansed of their sins and able to approach Him.  By this, they became one, a unified Christian bride of Christ.  There would be unity of faith and purpose in Jesus's followers as there was unity of purpose in God and Jesus.

(23) "I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me."

Jesus dwelled within His followers by His spirit and by His Word, and by His Gospel message and His sacrifice, they could be made perfect in the sight of God.  They would act as one Christian unit following Christ so that the world would know Jesus had been sent by God to make disciples of men, and that God loved them.  Jesus provided atonement for people to be able to approach God and be in His presence and be loved by Him in the way that Jesus in His perfection could be in God's presence and loved by Him.  

(24) "Father, I want that they also whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."

Jesus desired that His followers whom God had sent to Him to be made "perfect" by Jesus's sacrifice, be with Him in heaven, able to see Jesus as He truly is in all His glory.  Jesus, as God, always had that glory before the world was formed but His followers had only seen Jesus the man.  God would return Him to His glory in heaven and He desired that His followers be with Him there.

(25) "O righteous Father, the world has not known You, but I have known You, and these have known that You have sent Me. (26) And I have declared to them Your name and will declare, that the love with which You have loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

Jesus lamented that the world had not known the Father, but of course He knew Him intimately, and He had taught His followers by His words and His actions the nature of God, and He would continue to guide them by the Spirit of truth, that they might be united to God and loved by Him because of an indwelling Savior.

Jesus's beautiful prayer in this chapter is a perfect model for our prayers.  He shows the utmost reverence for God and the tenderest love for man.  I can't help but contrast it to the prayers of the name it and claim it Word of Faith bunch who belligerently declare that they know God's will and demand it.  The only one who ever truly knew God's will was Jesus, and see how humbly He prayed with great respect and reverence.  It's true that Jesus made a way for us to be able to approach God, but we should always remember how holy and almighty and perfect He is, and what an unbelievable and undeserving gift it is that we even be allowed to ask of Him.  But God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus so that we could commune with Him again.

There Will Be Tribulation, But Christ Has Overcome the World

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 16:1) "These things I have spoken to you that you should not be offended."

In the last chapter, Jesus had told His disciples of His love for them, how He desired that they continue in that love and love one another as He had loved them.  He told them that they would be persecuted for His name's sake, but that if they stayed connected with Him as branches to a vine, He would send His Holy Spirit to guide them in all truth.  He now told them that He had told them all those things that they not be offended or discouraged by any persecution they might receive.  By knowing that it would occur, they need not be taken aback and dissuaded from continuing their work.

(2) "They shall put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he does God service."

Jesus told His disciples that they could expect to be put out of the synagogues, and that the time was coming when someone could kill them thinking they were doing a good service to God.  Just as the Pharisees had accused Jesus of blasphemy, they would be likewise accused and condemned as blasphemers.

(3) "And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me."

Jesus explained they would do those things to them because they had not known God and His word nor their Messiah, Jesus Christ.

(4) "But these things I have told you that when the time shall come, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning because I was with you."

Jesus again told them that He had told them these things that they not be shocked when persecution happened, and that they remember Jesus had forewarned them.  He explained that He had not told them these things in the beginning because He was with them.  He was the target of the persecution, but now that He would no longer be with them, they would be the targets because of their relationship with Him.

(5) "But now I go My way to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?'"

Jesus said He was now going His way back to His Father, and none of them were asking Him where He was going.  Peter and Thomas had asked Him before (John 13:36 and 14:5), but they had not pursued it to the point of understanding truly where He was going and why.  And now none of them asked.

(6) "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart."

They did not ask Him for further explanation because they were too deep in sorrow that He was leaving them.

(7) "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you, but if I depart, I will send Him to you."

The disciples had not asked Jesus to explain because they had yielded to their grief, but He wanted to explain anyway.  He said it was good for them that He go away.  If He didn't go away, His Holy Spirit could not come to them.  However, they might wonder why the Holy Spirit would be better than having Jesus Himself.  The Holy Spirit was of Jesus, of God, and could fill all of them at once, and could inhabit others who became followers of Jesus.  Therefore He could be in many places at once, rather than just one human Jesus in one place at a time.  His Holy Spirit would be with them always.  Once He left them, He could send His Spirit to them.

(8) "And when He has come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment."

The meaning of the original word "elegcho" which was translated as "reprove" also means "convict" or "convince" which is probably the best sense here.  When the Holy Spirit came, He would convict the people of their sins, and of righteousness and judgment, as He explains:

(9) "Of sin, because they do not believe in Me;"

First, the Holy Spirit would convict people of their sins, primarily the sin of rejecting Jesus and not believing in Him.

(10) "Of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you see Me no more;"

The Holy Spirit would convince people of Jesus's righteousness when they see He was resurrected back to heaven and sent back His Spirit of Truth that would guide them in righteousness and remind them of Jesus's words.

(11) "Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged."

The people would be convinced of Jesus's righteous judgment in judging and overcoming Satan.  The Holy Spirit would open the eyes and hearts of man to reveal what they had done to the Savior of the world, to the fact that Jesus was indeed from the Holy God in heaven, and that He was the righteous judge against the actions of Satan demonstrated in people.  As Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and came to know good and evil (Genesis 3:22), the Holy Spirit would convict people of good and evil and would direct them to the path of their salvation through Jesus Christ from their condemned states which were the result of Adam's fall.

(12) "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. (13) However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He shall hear, He shall speak, and He will show you things to come."

Jesus said He had many more things to tell His disciples, but they would not be able to bear and understand them at that time.  However, when the Holy Spirit came, after they had witnessed Jesus's death and resurrection and ascension back to heaven, they would be better able to understand the mysteries of Jesus's Gospel of salvation.  The Holy Spirit of truth would tell them the things Jesus wanted them to know because He spoke not from Himself, but directly from Jesus, and He would tell them of things to come.

(14) "He shall glorify Me for He shall receive of Mine and shall show to you."

The Holy Spirit's purpose was to glorify Jesus by taking what was directly from Jesus, His commission and instruction, and communicating those things to Jesus's followers.

(15) "All things that the Father has are mine; therefore I said that He will take of Mine and will show to you."

Jesus asserted to His disciples His authority to give and receive everything as given and received by His Father.  He had every nature and being of His Father.  He and His Father were one, so He had the full authority and pleasure of God to tell the Holy Spirit how to communicate with and guide His followers.

(16) "A little while and you shall not see Me, and again, a little while and you shall see Me because I go to the Father."

Jesus told His disciples that in a little while they would no longer see Him, because of course, He was about to die.  However, a little while after that, they would see Him again when He was risen from the dead, and that was possible because He was resurrected to ascend back to His Father in heaven.

(17) Then said of His disciples among themselves, "What is this that He says to us, 'A little while and you shall not see Me, and again, a little while and you shall see Me'? And 'because I go to the Father'?"

His disciples discussed among themselves what the meaning of Jesus's words could be.

(18) They said therefore, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We cannot tell what He says."

The disciples surely knew that Jesus was about to die soon, in a little while, but that they would see Him again in a little while?  That made no sense to them, so they didn't understand what He meant.

(19) Now Jesus knew that they were desirous to ask Him, and said to them, "Do you inquire among yourselves about what I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again, a little while and you will see Me’?"

Jesus knew what His disciples were discussing among themselves and that they wanted to know what He meant, so He asked them directly if they were discussing His words to them, "A little while, and you will not see Me; and again, a little while and you will see Me.'"

(20) "Verily, verily, I say to you that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice, and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy."

Jesus told them that they would most assuredly weep and lament when they saw Him crucified and laid in a tomb, but the world would rejoice because they thought they had killed and eliminated Jesus.  The disciples would remain sorrowful after His death, but their sorrow would be turned to joy when they saw that He had defeated death and rose again.

(21) "A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she has delivered the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world."

Jesus said that just as a woman in labor had much pain and sorrow, as soon as she had delivered that new life into the world, she no longer remembered all the pain and anguish because of the joy she had for her child.

(22) "And you now therefore have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man can take from you."

Jesus confirmed that He knew they had sorrow at that time, but He would see them again and then their hearts would rejoice and would be filled with joy that no man would be able to take from them from that point forward when they began to understand more fully Jesus's purpose on earth and the fulfillment of that purpose.

(23) "And in that day you shall ask Me nothing. Verily, verily, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you."

Jesus said that in that day, they would have no need to ask Him anything.  For one, they would have a more complete understanding of all that Jesus had said; and they would then have direct access to the Father to ask anything of Him in the name of Jesus, because through Him the way was opened to the Father.  And whatever they asked in Jesus's name, because of Jesus and for His purpose, the Father would give to them.

(24) "Until now you have asked nothing in My name; ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be full."

Jesus explained that up to that point, they had not asked anything in His name, rather, they had asked Him directly.  He would no longer be there to ask directly, but anything they asked in His name, because of Him and for His purposes, they would receive, and that was to increase their joy and confidence in their work.

(25) "These things I have spoken to you in proverbs, but the time comes when I shall no more speak to you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the Father."

Jesus said He had up to that point spoken to them in proverbs or parables, in figurative language.  However, the time was coming when He would speak to them plainly through His Holy Spirit about the nature and purposes of the Father.

(26) "At that day, you shall ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will pray to the Father for you, (27) For the Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came out from God."

At that time, they would ask the Father directly in Jesus's name.  Before then, they did not have direct access to the Father, but Jesus would pray to the Father for them.  However, because of His sacrifice and atonement for their sins, they would then have the ability to go directly to the Father because they had loved and believed in Jesus for their redemption from sin, knowing He came directly from God.

(28) "I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; again, I leave the world and go to the Father."

Jesus had come directly from Father God into the world, and He would leave the world and go back to His Father again.

(29) His disciples said to Him, "Lo, now You speak plainly, and speak no proverb. (30) Now we are sure that You know all things and have no need that any man should ask You; by this, we believe that You came forth from God."

Jesus's disciples told Him that He was then talking plainly so that they understood Him.  They were sure that He knew all things, even men's very thoughts, so that there was no need for them to ask Him anything for He already knew what they wanted.  They could plainly see that He had come from God.

(31) Jesus answered them, "Do you now believe? (32) Behold, the hour comes, yes, is now come, that you shall be scattered, every man to his own and shall leave Me alone; and yet, I am not alone because the Father is with Me."

I believe Jesus's point was to question whether or not they truly believed, because as much as they thought they had strong faith, the time was at hand when they would all scatter and leave Him alone.  Yet He would not really be alone as His Father would be with Him.  Or it could have been Jesus was suggesting that they now believed, but soon they wouldn't.

(33) "These things I have spoken to you that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Jesus had told His disciples all those things that they not be taken by surprise.  They might have peace when they unfolded because they knew the truth and the outcome.  They would have tribulation and persecution in the world, but Jesus had overcome the world and death.  What a beautiful end to this chapter and a blessing of great encouragement to His disciples!

Christ the True Vine Professes His Love to His Disciples

Continuing a Bible study of the Gospels:

(John 15:1) "I am the true vine, and My Father is the farmer."

At the end of the last chapter, Jesus and His disciples (minus Judas Iscariot) had just risen from their table where they had been reclining and listening to Jesus.  He had told them He was leaving them, but He would be back, and He would send them the Holy Spirit to teach them and remind them of all He had taught them.  Jesus continuing speaking to them, telling them He was the true vine, similar as having described Himself as the living bread.  He was the one true vine from which fruit would come.  His Father would be considered the farmer, the one who planted and cared for the vine, as He had planted Jesus in the earth.

(2) "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every one that bears fruit, He prunes it that it may bring forth more."

Every branch or follower in Jesus that did not produce any fruits of righteousness, God would take away.  The branches or followers that bore good fruit, God would prune or refine so that they would bring forth even more fruit.

(3) "Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken to you."

Jesus said that His disciples were now clean and pruned (and Judas removed) through the words with which He had spoken to them.

(4) "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abides in the vine, no more can you, except you abide in Me."

Jesus told them to abide in Him, hold close to His word and teachings, and be closely united with Him in prayer and in Spirit, because just as a branch by itself broken from the vine could not bear fruit, neither could they bear fruit if they were not connected with the true vine that is Jesus Christ.

(5) "I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing."

Jesus reinforced that He was the vine, and they were the branches. Those who abode in Him and He in them would bring forth much fruit of righteousness.  Without Jesus they would be able to do nothing, just as a branch removed from a vine could do nothing of itself, but eventually die.

(6) "If a man does not abide in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned."

If a man does not abide in Christ, he will be cast forth as an unfruitful branch and will wither and die.  Those dead branches will be gathered and cast into the fire and burned, representing hellfire where those who do not wish to abide in Christ will find themselves.

(7) "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done to you."

Jesus had told His disciples in the last chapter that whatever they asked in His name would be given them.  He now qualified that promise with the stipulation that they abode in Him and that His words, His doctrine and commandments, abode in them, and then whatever they asked in His name, for His sake, would be done.  That is the key, what they asked must be for Christ's purposes, which it was more likely to be if they abode in Christ and His words abode in their hearts.  James would later say in James 4:3 that, "You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts."

(8) "In this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit; so shall you be My disciples."

Jesus said His Father would be honored and glorified if they bore much fruit, just as a farmer would be honored by the vine he planted that bore much fruit that displayed the marvelous work of his hands.  And so would they show themselves to be good disciples of Jesus.  They were His disciples already, but by their good fruits, they would show themselves to the world to be good disciples of Jesus and bring glory to Him and to His Father.

(9) "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you; continue in My love. (10) If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love."

Jesus told His disciples He had loved them with the sincere deep love with which His Father had loved Him.  He asked that they continue in His love.  By keeping His doctrine and commandments, they would be abiding in His love, just as He had been true to the Father's word and commandments and abode in His love.

(11) "These things I have spoken to you that My joy might remain in you, and your joy might be full."

Jesus had told them these things that they might know and have the joy that comes with continually abiding in Christ and in His word, and that it might be full.

(12) "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Jesus reiterated the new commandment He instituted in John 13:34, that they love one another as He had loved them.  That's a commandment that we all should live by.  When we remember how much love Christ had for us that He died for us that we might live, we can share Christ's love with others when we realize that but for the grace of God we would have died an eternal death in our sins.

(13) "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

The greatest love a man could have is that he lay down his life for his friends.  Jesus was about to do that for His friends and for the world.  That demonstrated the greatest love there could ever be.

(14) "You are My friends if you do whatever I command you."

Jesus told them that His friends were the ones who did what He commanded.  His closest relationships were with those who did as He commanded and demonstrated His love to others and carried forth His word to a lost world.  That is what He desired from His disciples, His friends.

(15) "Henceforth, I do not call you servants, for the servant does not know what his lord does, but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known to you."

Jesus told His disciples that from then on He would not refer to them as servants, because mere servants didn't know what their lord was doing, but He had told them the most intimate details from God Himself; therefore He considered them friends, intimate friends.

(16) "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and ordained you, that you should go and bring forth fruit and your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give you."

Jesus told them that they had not chosen Him, but that He had chosen them.  He chose them and ordained them as His apostles to go and bring forth lasting fruit.  What a sobering and humbling thought when we consider that it was never within our power to come to Jesus to be saved (John 6:44 and 6:65).  That is why we can have love for sinners, because again, there but by the grace of God, go I.  I could be still dead in sin, looking forward to an eternal death in hell, if God had not started calling me to Him.  We can put ourselves in the place of such sinners and wish for them what we have received ourselves through nothing good of ourselves.

To finish verse 16, Jesus had chosen them as His apostles to go forth and do His work, and that whatever they asked of God in Jesus's name, for the benefit of Jesus and His works, He would give them.

(17) "These things I command you, that you love one another."

All the things Jesus had spoken to them, about them all being branches from the true Vine, His love in laying down His life for them, accounting them as friends, not servants, and having chosen them in the beginning, all those things were bound up in one great commandment, that they love one another as He had loved them displayed in all those things.

(18) "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before you."

Jesus went on to tell them that if they found the world hated them, it was because of their allegiance to Him, and that the world first hated Him. 

(19) "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."

Jesus explained to them that if they were of the world, with the same spirit and selfish desires of it, the world would accept them.  However, because Jesus had chosen them out of the world, and they no longer had those worldly desires, but desired only Jesus and His doctrines and commands, the world hated them.

(20) "Remember the word that I said to you, 'The servant is not greater than his lord.' If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also."

Jesus reminded them that He had told them that a servant was not greater than his lord.  Therefore if they persecuted Jesus, the disciples would not be given better treatment because they were servants, or friends, as they were now called.  They would also be persecuted.  However, if they kept Jesus's word, then they would also keep their word as they were His disciples.  Some commentators have suggested that a better translation of the last part of the verse, which might be more in line with Jesus's meaning in this verse is, "If they have watched My saying, they will also watch yours."  The original word "tereo" that was translated as "kept" as it is most often used can also mean "watch, keep an eye upon," which might mean that Jesus had meant if the world watched His words closely to catch Him in what it considered a contradiction, just as the Pharisees had done, then it would be carefully watching their words, as well.

(21) "But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me."

The world will persecute them and watch to catch them in their words because of Jesus, and because it does not know God who sent Him.  That is a very sad thing.  For the time will come when all people will know the truth, when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess (Romans 14:11), but then it will be too late.

(22) "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin."

If Jesus had not come and told the Jews about Him and His Gospel, they would not have sinned in this matter.  That's not to say they would have no sin, because obviously all had sinned (Romans 3:23), but they would be able to claim ignorance with regard to Jesus being their Messiah.  However, because Jesus had come and told them the truth and even proved it with His many spiritual insights and miracles, and they rejected Him, they had no excuse for that terrible sin of rejecting God's salvation.

(23) "He who hates Me hates My Father also."

Anyone who hated Jesus hated God also.  There was no separating the two.  Jesus was God, and He was God's plan to save the world; Jesus and God were One.

(24) "If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin, but now they have both seen and hated both Me and My Father."

In addition to telling them who He was, Jesus had done many works which no man could do, only God.  If Jesus had not done those works, the Jews may have had an excuse because of ignorance.  But because they had seen His works and still rejected Him, they had seen and rejected His Father also.  They hated Jesus and His Father both.

(25) "But that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, 'They hated Me without a cause.'"

But as those things had come to pass, that they hated Jesus and therefore God because they rejected Jesus and His works that could have only come from God, they fulfilled a prophecy in Psalms (Psalm 35:19 and 69:4), that said they hated Him without a cause.

(26) "But when the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He shall testify of Me."

When Jesus sent the Holy Spirit who proceeded directly from God, He being the Spirit of truth, He would testify of Jesus and confirm everything Jesus had told them.

(27) "And you also shall bear witness because you have been with Me from the beginning."

Jesus told His disciples that they also would be able to testify about Him because they had been with Him since the beginning of His ministry and had a more intimate knowledge of His doctrines and all that He did.

Although this chapter was devoted to Jesus's apostles, it is meant as a lesson to all who follow Christ, as it says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."  In it we learned we need that spiritual union with Christ as close as branches to the vine, and we will have His Holy Spirit within us to guide us and teach us truth.  We must bring forth the fruits of Christianity to show our love for Him and to show the world we are His, and number one among the fruits is the love we must have for one another.  The love we show the world is to profess Jesus Christ and spread His gospel, but we know that the world will persecute us because of Him.  But we can pity those who persecute us because they are lost souls who do not know the truth of what they are doing.  We can love them and pray for them because of Jesus Christ's love for us.