Easter: Eyewitness Bible Series
EASTER SUNDAY – RESURRECTION
April 12, 2020 • Mary Magdalene
This episode covers approximately the week after Jesus was raised from the dead. When reading the relevant passages from the four Gospels, the exact order of events is a little unclear. One possible ordering of events is: the tomb is visited by women, the stone is rolled away, the tomb is found empty by the women, the tomb is found empty by Peter and John, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, Jesus appears to other women, report of the soldiers, Jesus appears to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who report to the apostles, Jesus appears to the ten apostles, and Jesus appears to Thomas and the rest of the apostles. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus buried Jesus on Friday afternoon. They did not have time nor expertise to bury the body properly. Perhaps it was the job of the women to prepare a dead body. In any event, the women were not involved and went home to prepare spices and perfumes. They rested on Saturday in accordance with the Law of Moses. At first opportunity, dawn on Monday, Mary Magdalene and other women took spices and perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus. They arrived either as the angels were rolling away the stone in front of the tomb or just after they had done so. When the women looked into the tomb, they found it empty. While they were in a stupor, the angel(s) told them Jesus had come back to life, just as he said he would. The women ran to tell the eleven apostles, who were in disbelief. However, Peter and John ran to the tomb and also found it empty. When Peter saw the headcloth was folded by itself, he ascertained that things were askew, but was not convinced Jesus had risen from the dead. At some point, Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb and Jesus appeared to her. He instructed her to tell the apostles to meet him in Galilee. Jesus also appeared to the other women. That same day, Jesus appeared to two of his disciples walking on the road to Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They could not recognize him in his resurrected body, but he eventually revealed himself. Importantly, he explained how the scriptures in the Old Testament testified about him. The two returned to Jerusalem and told the apostles. Jesus appeared to ten of the apostles without Thomas, and later appeared to all eleven of them. So Jesus rose from the dead as he foretold. How would that change things?
BLACK SATURDAY – THE LAST DAY
April 11, 2020 • Joseph of Arimathea
All four Gospels record events from the last week of Jesus’ life. Reading about this time period in a parallel Gospel account is very helpful, mindful that each writer has his own information sources and goals, and the Holy Spirit inspired them. Matthew and John were eyewitnesses of this time period, while Mark got his information from other sources, with Peter probably being his primary resource. During his last week, Jesus generally entered Jerusalem in the morning, taught the people and jousted with the authorities during the day, and then retired from Jerusalem in the evening to the Mount of Olives. Although the order of events is not perfectly clear, it is likely that Jesus’ last week begins with his triumphal entry, an event recorded in all four Gospels. Possibly the next events are the cursing of the fig tree, and the cleansing of the Temple when Jesus challenged the moneychangers. Another well-recorded event is known among scholars as the Olivet Discourse, when Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives and gave a long discourse about the future events, especially the future of Jerusalem. Matthew 24-25 is the most detailed of the recordings. Jesus tells at least five parables, and ends with the well-known story of the separation of the sheep and goats when the Son of Man comes. All four Gospels portray the Last Supper, but John 13-17 provides the most details of the evening. At the end of the Last Supper, Jesus leads the apostles to Garden of Gethsemane, located on the western slope of the Mount of Olives. Jesus prays in the garden and prepares his apostles for the end, then Judas and a contingent of up to two hundred men arrive to arrest Jesus and take him back to Jerusalem for trial. Although the order is not absolutely certain, events probably transpired as follows: the trial before Annas, the trial before Caiaphas while Peter denies Jesus in the courtyard, the trial before the Sanhedrin, the first trial before Pilate, the trial before Herod Antipas, the second trial before Pilate, the approximately six hours of crucifixion, and the burial of Jesus.
GOOD FRIDAY – PETER AND PILATE
April 10, 2020 • Peter and Pilate
Luke writes about the Last Supper, as well as Jesus’ arrest, trial crucifixion, death, and burial in only two chapters. He writes about those events in rather terse language and doesn’t provide many details; you can read the two chapters in less than ten minutes. You will have to read the accounts in the other Gospels to get a much fuller description of what happened in those twenty-four hours. Without giving exact chronological timing, Luke issues a forewarning of Jesus’ death by telling of Judas’ agreement to betray Jesus to the Jewish leaders. Luke does not make it clear whether the betrayal happened because Satan entered into Judas or because of the payment of money, or both. Luke only briefly describes the Last Supper and some of Jesus’ conversations. You have to read the account in John to have an appreciation of the momentous events that happened at that time. Peter was likely one of Luke’s information sources for what happened the night of Jesus’ arrest. Perhaps that is why Luke includes Jesus’ prophecy about Peter’s denial of Jesus and the later fulfillment of that prophecy. However, Luke does not identify Peter as the one who cut off Malchus’ ear, as John did. Throughout history, Pilate has been either vilified or exonerated of his actions that resulted in the crucifixion of Jesus. He was no doubt a violent man, but was he evil or just doing his job as a Roman official? The Jewish leaders knew they could possibly end Pilate’s career by causing a big enough riot, so his desire both to keep his position and to do a good job were sufficient to cause him to end the life of Jesus. It is tempting to think of the crucifixion of Jesus as a special event. In fact, crucifixion was a common capital punishment of the Romans, Persians, Carthaginians, and other cultures, often used to punish political or religious agitators, pirates and slaves. As an example, in the aftermath of the slave rebellion led by Spartacus, about 11,000 rebelling slaves were crucified by the Roman Generals Crassus and Pompey.
MAUNDY THURSDAY – VINE, BRANCHES, FRUIT & LEAVES
April 9, 2020 • Philip The Apostle
What would you do if you had only twenty-four hours left to live? Spend it with your family, go skydiving, ask forgiveness of any you have offended, go to work? Jesus chose to eat Passover dinner with his twelve closest friends. The first few of his last hours consisted of eating the ritualistic Passover feast and giving his final instructions and farewell message. According to John, the evening started with Jesus ritualistically washing the feet of his apostles, a task normally reserved for household slaves or servants. This act signified that the apostles were to be servants as they acted as the messengers of the Gospel. Following this act of humility, Jesus prophesied several things, including: Judas would betray him, Peter would deny him three times, Jesus would go to be with the Father, and Jesus would send back the Holy Spirit. John 14-17 comprise some of the most detailed and mysterious of all of Jesus’ teachings. Even though the apostles had gone through three years of intense training, these teachings stretched them to the maximum. Starting in John 14:9, Jesus talks about “being in,” “remaining in,” or “abiding in,” as per John 14:9, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” That terminology permeates much of the teaching. In fact, Jesus said in John 15:6, “He that abides in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. Without me, he can do nothing.” There are few times when Jesus expressly commands something, but he does so in this farewell talk. In John 15:12, Jesus commands the apostles to love one another, just as he has loved them. He follows that up by telling them that they are his friends if they do whatever he commands them to do. In John 16, Jesus gives the apostles fair warning and encouraging words about what will happen to them after he is gone. He ends that section with a very encouraging statement: “I have overcome the world.” Note that he did not say he “would” overcome the world, but that he already had. John 17 is a long prayer for his followers. John 17:3-4 are two of the most informative verses in the Bible. They provide a definition for eternal life, and they provide a good summation statement of Jesus’ work and purpose on earth.
SPY WEDNESDAY – JUDAS
April 8, 2020 • Judas
Jesus chose Judas to be an apostle. Apparently, Judas was taught the same things as the other apostles and had the same types of experiences. It seems likely that Jesus loved Judas and valued him as much as any of the other apostles, at least until near the end. Luke never met Judas. What Luke knew of Judas likely came from the testimony of the other apostles and from the stories he heard. We don’t read much about Judas before his betrayal of Jesus. It’s easy to suppose the Gospel writers so detested his betrayal that they were not interested in saying anything nice about him, but they also say very little about half of the apostles, so it may be that Judas was just like those apostles. We are not told in the Bible when Judas started drifting away from Jesus. Perhaps he expected Jesus to overthrow Rome to establish an earthly kingdom and was disappointed when Jesus made it clear his kingdom was spiritual. Or perhaps it happened when Jesus called for his disciples to be fully committed and Judas realized he did not want that. Or perhaps it was some difficult teaching of Jesus or a time Judas was embarrassed by Jesus’ words or actions. We don’t know why or when, but we do know that the actions of Judas helped result in the death of Jesus. Luke 14:15 references a feast in the kingdom of God. Since Jesus launches into one of his parables in reply, it is easy to overlook or misunderstand the reference. The statement was made after Jesus mentions the resurrection of the righteous. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the righteous, but they perceived they were the only righteous ones. Jesus’ parable not only discounts their likelihood of attendance, but also opens up the resurrection door for the all the people the Pharisees had rejected—the Gentiles, the poor, and the physically disabled and disfigured. Luke 14:25 says that large crowds were with Jesus when he told them about the high cost of following him. Surely that kind of talk must have discouraged several in the crowd. John 6:66 records a time when Jesus clarified how hard it was going to be to follow him, and many of his disciples turned away and left for good. Unlike many modern leaders, Jesus did not make it easy or cheap to be his disciple; he was interested in having only dedicated followers who were willing to count the cost, and to pay it.
HOLY TUESDAY – ANDREW
April 7, 2020 • Andrew
In order to get a fuller picture of the last week of Jesus’ life, you have to read all four Gospels, where each writer emphasizes different events and details. One of Luke’s special points was the opposition of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders to the ministry of Jesus. In Luke’s account, Jesus knew the physical manifestation of the Jewish leaders’ emphasis, the Temple, would soon come to an end. The Temple, built by Herod, was a magnificent building, but Jesus knew that it would be demolished in about forty more years. Jesus also knew the spiritual manifestation of the Jewish leaders’ emphasis, ritual and rule-following, would soon come to an end. Without the Temple, many of their religious rites would automatically disappear. While their emphasis on man-made rules might not disappear, it would be shown to be useless. The story of the widow’s mites (small coins) is well-known. As you think of the story, consider that Jesus’ mother was a widow. Jesus would have known the sacrifice the woman made. He must have already been thinking about his mother and what would happen to her after his death. Imagine the other details of life that Jesus must have considered as he faced his impending death. Like all of us, he surely felt he had more to do than time in which to do it. As you read the different Gospel accounts of the last week of Jesus’ life, you have to be struck with his desperate efforts to teach his enemies as well as his friends. Jesus so badly wants to help everyone that he uses his precious time to convince everyone of his truth. However, with time running out, he talks with his followers about the future times and gives them his parting teachings and encouragements. He never sugarcoats their impending trials, but he does let them know that he won’t be victorious in the future…he is already victorious!
FIG MONDAY: SEVEN MIRACULOUS SIGNS
April 6, 2020 • Lazarus
The video for this episode concentrates on a selected set of miraculous signs by Jesus. These are: Changing water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-11) Healing the official’s son from a distance (John 4:46-54) Healing the paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-5) Feeding the five thousand (John 6:5-14) Jesus walking on the water (John 6:16-24) Healing the man blind from birth who washed in the Pool of Siloam (John 9:1-7) The raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45) Each of these miracles seems to be carrying multiple themes. Jesus isn’t just changing water to wine—he’s also showing that a new way to worship God has arrived, and this new way is better than the old. The healing of the official’s son shows the importance of faith, and that Jesus in not limited by normal limitations. The healing of the paralytic shows that Jesus is ruler of the Sabbath, the feeding of the five thousand that Jesus gives true life, and walking on the water that Jesus is the ruler of all nature. The Bible doesn’t say where the blind man was when he met Jesus, but more than likely he was a fair distance away from the Pool of Siloam, which is located at the end of the tunnel built by King Hezekiah and is downhill from most of Jerusalem. As he gained his sight, the man would have been able to see the Temple Mount about one-half of a mile uphill to the north. He must have been amazed! In John 9:1-2, Jesus upends the notion that people’s sins always make them materially or physically disadvantaged. This would have been a direct threat to a common teaching of the day that disadvantaged people were that way because of sin, while advantaged people were that way because of righteousness. The resurrection of Lazarus shows that Jesus rules over death and can bring life into any situation. The one thing all these miracles have in common is this: they all point to the fact that God is to be glorified in every situation because he is the Master of All.
Palm Sunday - The Need
April 5, 2020 • Donkey Owner
In varying amounts of detail, the Triumphal Entry is described in all four gospel accounts. Only Matthew and John were present at the event, and all four gospel writers had different purposes in choosing the details of their story line. Although the Triumphal Entry is traditionally taken to have happened on the Sunday before the crucifixion of Jesus, experts vary on the exact day it happened. John wrote that Jesus arrived in Bethany six days before the Passover, and indicates the entry happened the next day. Based on the placement of the passages in the other gospels, it could be interpreted that the entry could have happened as late as two days before Passover. John says that people were going to see Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Matthew indicates a donkey and its colt were to be brought to Jesus, while the other three gospels mention only a colt. Luke indicates the colt had more than one owner. Mark and Luke have Jesus saying the colt will be unridden. All of the writers have a common goal of relating the event and crowd’s reactions to at least two scriptures: “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” Zechariah 9:9 “Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord: we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord.” Psalm 118:26