The Passion 7

Pilate

 

            In Jesus’ day, any death sentence had to be approved by the Roman official in charge of the administrative district. Pontius Pilate was governor of the province of Judea, where Jerusalem was located. When the Jewish leaders had Jesus in their power and wanted to kill him, they had to obtain Pilate’s permission. So it happened that early one morning Pilate found a crowd at his door demanding a man’s death.

            Pilate’s relationship with the Jews had always been stormy. His Roman toughness and fairness had been weakened by cynicism, compromises, and mistakes. On several occasions his actions had deeply offended the religious leaders. The resulting riots and chaos must have made Pilate wonder what he had gotten himself into. He was trying to control the people who treated their Roman conquerors without respect. Jesus’ trial was another episode in Pilate’s ongoing problems.

“They found no legal reason to execute him, but they asked Pilate to have him killed anyway.”- Acts 13:28 NLT

            For Pilate, there was never a doubt about Jesus’ innocence. Three separate times he declared Jesus not guilty. He couldn’t understand why these people wanted to kill Jesus, but his fear of the Jews’ political pressure made him decide to allow Jesus’ crucifixion. Because of the people’s threat to inform the emperor that Pilate hadn’t eliminated a rebel against Rome, Pilate went against what he knew was right. In desperation, he chose to do wrong.

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Source: The Life Application Study Bible, p2159.

The Passion 6

How Did Judas Die?

 

“Did Judas Iscariot die by hanging or did he die by falling and bursting open?”

 

The relevant passages are: 

 

Matthew 27:5 - “Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

Acts 1:18 - “Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.”

 

“Some people have wrongly assumed that Matthew and Luke (the author of Acts) are contradictory in their account of Judas’ death. Since the Bible is inerrant Judas cannot have died by hanging and died by falling and bursting open. Rather they are two different viewpoints of the same event. For example, if I saw a car hit a pedestrian, I might simply say that the pedestrian died because he was hit by the car. The coroner who came on the scene later but did not actually see the accident might give a graphic description of the injuries to the pedestrian. Both the coroner and I are describing the same event just different aspects of it.

There is no contradiction surrounding Judas’ death but rather two descriptions given by two different authors of the same event. Matthew tells us that Judas died by hanging (death is inferred from the passage). Luke, being a doctor, gives us a graphic description of what occurred following the hanging. The reason for ordering the events as such is twofold. First, if someone has fallen and their internal organs spilled out, they would die and so could not subsequently die from hanging. Second, even when people suffer bad falls, they do not usually burst open and have their internal organs spill out. Skin is very tough, and even when it is cut in the abdominal area, internals do not usually spill out. Thus, it is unlikely that Judas could die in this manner merely from falling.

Gruesome as it is, Judas’ dead body hung in the hot sun of Jerusalem, and the bacteria inside his body would have been actively breaking down tissues and cells. A byproduct of bacterial metabolism is often gas. The pressure created by the gas forces fluid out of the cells and tissues and into the body cavities. The body becomes bloated as a result. In addition, tissue decomposition occurs compromising the integrity of the skin. Judas’ body was similar to an overinflated balloon: as he hit the ground (due to the branch he hung on or the rope itself breaking), the skin easily broke, and he burst open with his internal organs spilling out.

There is no contradiction surrounding Judas’ death but rather two descriptions given by two different authors of the same event.”

Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

This article was written by Dr. Georgia Purdom on May 25, 2009. Dr. Purdom is a speaker, writer, VP of Educational Content, Director of Research, Director Answers for Women Conferences Answers in Genesis.

The Passion 5

Judas’ Death

            Judas took 30 pieces of silver as payment for betraying an innocent man. The leading religious leaders felt no guilt giving the money to Judas; however, in the gospel of Matthew 27:3-10, those same leaders refused to accept those same 30 coins back when Judas realized they were going to KILL Jesus. His admission of sinning was blown off by the leaders saying, essentially that his sin was his problem, and they disassociated themselves from the entire situation. 

            Judas’ severe guilt wouldn’t allow him to keep the coins, so he went back to give the coins back to the religious leaders. When they refused to take them back Judas threw them on the floor of the Temple. Once he left the religious leaders revealed their hypocrisy by stating the following (vv.6-8), “The leading priests picked up the coins. ‘It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,’ they said, ‘since it was payment for murder.’ * After some discussion they finally decided to buy the potter’s field, and they made it into a cemetery for foreigners. That is why the field is still called the ‘Field of Blood’”.

            This whole incident is prophesied in Zechariah 11:12-13, where it says, “I said to them, ‘If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, do not.’ So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter [as if to the dogs]—that magnificent sum at which I am valued by them!’ So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.” **

The other three gospel accounts do not mention Judas after his betrayal; however, Luke, the author of the book of Acts, writes the following in Acts 1:18: “Now Judas Iscariot indirectly acquired a piece of land with the money paid him as a reward for his treachery, and falling headlong, his body burst open in the middle and all his intestines poured out.” This appears to be in direct contrast to what Matthew has to say regarding this event. Scholars reason that, “the apparent discrepancy is that the rope or line that Judas was using broke, and the body fell in such a way as to be disemboweled.”  Frankly, it can’t be proven either way. This is the type of discrepancy that a non-believer would use to discredit the validity and infallibility of scripture. The event had no witnesses so we don’t know exactly what happened, but we know Judas died for surely someone must have found his dead body. I suppose the only way to harmonize Matthew’s account with the verses in Acts is to assume that Judas hung himself and the rope snapped causing him to fall to the ground.  The next installment of The Passion will go on a tangent as we see an experts reasoning of why the account in Matthew is in no way a contradiction to the verses in Acts. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

*In Greek v. 6 reads “since it is the price for blood.”      

** Zechariah 11:12 - Since the type of coin is not stated, shekels can be assumed. The shekel was the standard wage for a day of labor, and the payment was weighed because the shekel was actually a unit of weight.

Zechariah 11:13 - At this point the pre-incarnate Christ intervenes and prophetically refers to the payment given by the religious leaders to Judas for his betrayal (Matt 26:15).

The Passion 4

Jesus Condemned

            The religious leaders of Jerusalem wanted to get rid of Jesus in the worst way. It was the council of leaders who were at Caiaphas’ house attempting to question Jesus, but He wasn’t very talkative. All He did was acknowledge that He was, indeed, the long awaited Messiah; the Son of God. That was enough ... Blasphemy! They cried as many tore their robes. When someone tore their robe it was meant as a public & powerful sign of grief, sorrow and/or anger.

            It was early in the morning following the predetermined trial the day before, that the entire high council, comprised of priests, elders, and teachers of the Mosaic Law tied up Jesus and led Him away to meet with Pilate, the Roman Governor. What the Jewish leaders wished to do was not allowed according to Roman law. Jesus would have to be condemned to death by a Roman leader.

            Crucifixion was a means of death that the Jewish leaders demanded because they believed that such a death brought a curse from God. Therefore, if and when Jesus was crucified He would be seen as a rebel and slave, rather than a king. 

            Matthew & Mark were nearly verbatim in their depiction of the events that took place regarding Jesus condemnation. The Jewish leaders had predetermined the outcome of their trial of Jesus and thus it was no surprise when they bound Him up and sent Him off to face Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor for sentencing.

            The charge of blasphemy would mean little to nothing to Pilate, a non-Jew so the religious leaders invented three other crimes that according to them Jesus had committed. 1) Jesus was encouraging the people NOT to pay their taxes to Rome; 2) He claimed to be a King; and 3) Jesus was causing riots throughout the countryside. Of course, none of these accusations were even remotely true, but the Leaders needed to appease Pilate by conjuring up accusations that would have seemed to be a threat of some sort to the Roman Government.

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resource:  The Life Application Study Bible

The Passion 3

The Questioning of Jesus

            The gospel of John is the only one of the four gospels that has Jesus being led off to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the current High Priest. It was Caiaphas who was already plotting to have Jesus killed. While this was going on Peter was in the process of denying the Lord three times, as Jesus had prophesied. 

            Annas wished to know what Jesus had been teaching the crowds. Jesus basically told him to ask those who heard him, for nothing He said was a secret. One of the Temple guards took exception to Jesus’ reply and slapped Him across the face making the point that His response was disrespectful. The Lord wished to know why He was slapped since what He had said was the truth. It was a brief one question interrogation, after which Annas bound Jesus and sent Him on to his son-in-law the High Priest. 

            While the religious leaders were the cause of His physical pain, Jesus’ disciples also caused Him undo pain and anguish for they all fled to save themselves after He was arrested and taken away. Peter’s denials were the icing on the cake as it were. Jesus was alone on this earth and was about to be separated from His Father in due time. He knew it was coming and was undoubtedly not looking forward to it. 

            We have to go to the gospels of Matthew & Mark to see the details of the questioning by Caiaphas, as neither Luke, nor John mention it at all. The High Priest and the other religious leaders were there to question the Lord. Caiaphas had heard that Jesus had declared Himself the Son of God; Israel’s long awaited deliverer, their Messiah. Caiaphas asked Him directly if He was indeed the Messiah. Mark’s depiction has Jesus simply responding, “I AM”, which is what God told Moses to refer to Him as when he went back down the mount to the people in the Book of Exodus. Because of their intimate knowledge of the Torah* they knew very well what Jesus was saying. Therefore, Jesus’ response acknowledged His deity and equated Himself to Almighty God with just two words. He also tells of the future when the Son of Man will sit down at God’ right hand. With this Caiaphas tore his priestly robes** and cried out “Blasphemy!” Jesus’ admission sealed His fate.

            Peter had proven Jesus right by denying any association with Him three separate times as he was attempting to see what was happening to his Lord. The events that had taken place, along with his denials must have been very traumatic for him. Matthew and Luke tell us Peter “wept bitterly” upon hearing the cock crow. It was then that the full realization of his actions were exactly as Jesus had said and it weighed heavy upon him.

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

*The first five books of the Bible.

**Done out of grief, and/or anger.

The Passion 2

The Betrayal

 

            Jesus was still speaking to His disciples when the Judas led a large group of men who were carrying both swords and clubs arrived on the scene. The Pharisees, who had issued a warrant for Jesus’ arrest, sent this mob of soldiers with Judas. They were there for one reason alone, to seize Jesus and bring Him before the religious leaders. One must wonder exactly what the religious leaders thought of Jesus that they would commission a group of soldiers to arrest one man. Apparently they weren’t sure how His followers would respond to such actions. As it turns out His disciples ran away in fear of being caught.

Matthew & Mark only report that an unidentified disciple sliced off the ear of a servant of a Pharisee. No mention of Jesus healing the ear. Luke, the physician, is the disciple who reports the slicing of the ear AND the fact that Jesus totally restored the ear of the servant by simply touching where the ear had been severed. The doctor added that key detail. Now John’s gospel is interesting, in that while he didn’t report the scene in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus agonized over impending future events, he DID report the betrayal and arrest. John is the one who identifies the unknown disciple (the impetuous Peter) who cut off the ear of the Pharisee’s servant and he even reveals the servants name. He does NOT however tells us Jesus healed the servants ear. Only Luke does that. It is interesting to me that there was no recorded reaction by anyone who was there regarding the miraculous healing of the ear. 

Jesus knew exactly why the mob was there. He knew Judas was His betrayer. In the gospel of Matthew (26:50-56) Jesus speaks to those who came to arrest Him. But first He speaks to Peter, who sliced off the servants ear ... Jesus tells Peter to put away his sword, then asks the following question: v.53 – “Don’t you realize that I could ask my Father for thousands of angels to protect us, and He would send them instantly?” Then the Lord explains why that doesn’t happen with another question: v.54 – “But if I did, how would the Scriptures be fulfilled that describe what must happen now?” You see it was all pre-arranged from the beginning of time. God’s knew His creation would have a propensity to sin against Him, therefore, He provided a solution prior to the existence of the problem. Jesus had at this point accepted what He must do. So He willingly allowed this final scenario to play out as prophesied.

Jesus pointed out to the group of men that they could have arrested Him at any time, but they came at night. Why was that? The religious leaders were concerned that if arrested during the day while Jesus was teaching a crowd of people, His followers may have caused trouble, perhaps even riot. Evil deeds are many times done in darkness as if the lack of light could hide their actions. God sees all, there is nothing that could ever surprise Him.

The gospel of John adds some interesting details to the event. “Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him, so he stepped forward to meet them. “Who are you looking for?” he asked. “Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.) As Jesus said, “I am he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground! Once more he asked them, “Who are you looking for? And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene.” “I told you that I am he,” Jesus said. “And since I am the one you want, let these others go.” He did this to fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of those you have given me.” This is something that didn’t appear in the other three gospels. The mob falling to the ground and the words Jesus spoke were slightly different. Luke’s mention of Jesus healing the servants ear and what John shared reveals His divinity, yet those there to arrest Him were blinded by their mission and didn’t react in any way that was noticeable to the disciples.

Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

The Passion 1

The Passion of Christ refers to the time from Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane to His death on the cross.  The word passion is from the Latin pati, which simply means “to endure” or “to suffer.” I will dig into each event from the garden to the cross as a means of educating, encouraging and edifying the body of Christ. 

 

The Garden of Gethsemane

 

Jesus had led his disciples to an Olive Grove on the Mount of Olives called Gethsemane. He then took Peter, James & John a little further and said to them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here & keep watch with me.” (Matthew 26:38) Then Jesus went off by Himself to pray.  Being in human and not divine form, He was experiencing emotions WE may have experienced. Jesus knew what was before Him which is why His soul was “crushed with grief”. Knowing all that would be taking place, Jesus asked His Father if this agonizing cup could be taken from Him. The Lord ended with the fact that what He truly wanted was His Father’s will.  It was God’s will that His Son would have to go thru a brutal, horrifying death on account of man’s sin. It was the only way to fulfill God’s master plan. 

Is this not the way believers should pray also? Not MY will, but YOUR will be done. His will for us is always right and fair and just and for our greatest benefit every time. Going thru life without Christ is shortchanging yourself in a major way.

If we go to a parallel bible and compare the gospel accounts of Christ in Gethsemane we find that Matthew speaks of Jesus imploring His Father three times to spare Him the fate that awaited him. Mark mentions three times as well. Luke, the Physician, mentions two times, but is the only disciple who wrote down that an angel came to comfort and strengthen Jesus in His anguish. The gospel of John does not mention this scene at all.

 

Sweat as drops of blood – The anguish Jesus was experiencing was so pronounced, so heavy upon Him that as He prayed He sweat drops of blood (Luke 22:44). “...there exists a medical condition that produces the symptoms described and explains Luke’s mention of blood. Hematidrosis is a rare, but very real, medical condition that causes one’s sweat to contain blood. The sweat glands are surrounded by tiny blood vessels that can constrict and then dilate to the point of rupture, causing blood to effuse into the sweat glands. The cause of hematidrosis is extreme anguish.” ^[1]Could this be what happened to Jesus? It is interesting that Luke, the physician, was the only one who brought this up. 

Jonathan Edwards*, reading this passage, asked the question, “Why would God open up for Jesus the horrors of the cross like this here in Gethsemane?” This is Edwards’ answer: “It was so we could see Jesus go to the cross voluntarily, knowing full well what he was about to experience, so that his love for us would be put on display even more.” The key to Edward’s conclusion is that we as followers of the Christ are to do it because we are compelled to and thus want to willingly follow the Great Shepherd. We don’t HAVE to follow Christ, but the opportunity to do so is ALWAYS open to us.

Next we will look at Judas betrayal and the Lord’s arrest. Until then, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

* American theologian whose sermons and writings stimulated a period of renewed interest in religion in America (1703-1758). (WordNet 3.0)

^[1] https://www.gotquestions.org/sweat-blood-Jesus.html

Resource: https://jdgreear.com/what-really-happened-in-that-garden/