1. What stood out to me from this chapter?
Pontius Pilate is a fascinating part of this story. He questions Jesus, finds no fault in him. He is caught between a rock (or more aptly THE ROCK) and a hard place. Should he sentence an innocent man to death to please the people and prevent an uprising, or should he release Jesus? He in turn does the most diplomatic thing to do - please the people, kill Jesus, but wash his hands of the guilt and place the guilt of it on the Jews who were demanding it. One detail that is really intriguing about his actions is how he places the sign above Jesus that reads THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS. In the Gospel of John, chapter 19, he shares that the leaders of the Jews actually objected to this sign. They wanted it to read, "He claimed to be the king of the Jews," but Pilate left the sign as it was. This little tidbit almost leads me to believe that Pilate had some level of faith in Christ. We will never truly know.
2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?
Well, this part of Jesus's life, death and resurrection are recorded by all four of the gospel writers. Each account varies slightly in that different details are included. This makes total sense though since the four writers would have had four different perspectives of the events in the chapter - whether witnessing them firsthand or recording down what they heard from firsthand witnesses. It is really interesting to read this account in each of the four gospels. The others can be found in Mark 14-16, Luke 22-24, and John 18-20,
3. What does this mean for my life?
It's always easy for me to read this story and get really angry with the Jews and the soldiers for betraying and killing Jesus. But when I take a closer look and try to imagine myself in the crowd, I wonder if I might also be one to yell, "Crucify Him!" It would have been easy to be self-righteous and go along with the crowd in doing so. One thing I know for sure, even if it wouldn't have been my voice that led to his crucifixion, it would have surely been my sin. One of the lines in a favorite modern hymn, "How Deep the Father's Love For Us," reads like this, "It was my sin that held him there, until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life; I know that it is finished."
4. What questions do I have about this passage?
So the Jewish leaders, the chief priests and Pharisees, convinced Pilate to seal the tomb and secure it by posting a guard. This makes the resurrection story even more believable, because if it didn't happen the way the Bible says, there would have been plenty of witnesses. I mean, it would have been obvious if the disciples had overcome this troop of soldier guards, out smarted the Pharisees, and stolen Jesus's body. Besides, the Bible itself basically says the disciples were gathered together in hiding - mostly because of fear. My question is, even after all this and after the resurrection happens, "WHY DIDN'T THE JEWISH LEADERS BELIEVE?" That is crazy.
Looking forward to finishing up the gospel of Matthew tomorrow. I'll be moving on to the gospel of Mark after that. I hope you'll join me. God bless, and keep digging in.
In Christ,
Dan
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This passage is so familiar to Christians that I think sometimes it loses its impact. I remember watching "The Passion of the Christ" for the first time and just bawling because I had never really pictured what it truly was like- just the Children's Bible very tame version. And experts say even the Passion was tamed down a little bit! We forget that Jesus was on the cross, suffocating, for hours. We forget that not only was he suffocating but He was still being tortured (pierced by a spear, verbally abused, etc.) It is a sight that we don't want to see. We don't like to see Jesus that way. But we have to see Him that way before we can truly appreciate what happens next.
ReplyDeleteI also love the end of the passage from verses 50-54 when the temple curtain was torn in two from TOP to BOTTOM! What?!?!? Crazy! That curtain, however, was there to separate the High Priests from everyone else. But when Jesus died, that curtain was no longer necessary as He became the high priest for everyone. But I do wonder what it means that all of the saints who had died were raised and walked around the city. There is so little detail about that, but it is kind of creepy to think!
Great thoughts on the temple curtain. Because of what Jesus did, we could finally be forgiven of our sin and approach God freely by grace.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the part about dead people walking around the city was also kind of crazy and weird. :)