Thoughts on the scourging of Jesus

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For a number of years, and heightened by the film, The Passion of Christ, something has nagged me about the common depictions of the way Christ was treated between the time of his arrest and the crucifixion.  Like Lt. Columbo, there was something bothering me.

Having done my share of laundry over the years, I am very aware that blood is one of the hardest stains to remove.  (One of the awesome things about God is that, contrary to the blood of people and animals, the blood of Jesus removes all the stains of sin.)

So I was trying to harmonize three things: that the back of Jesus was torn apart over and over by the scourging of Roman soldiers, using whips with sharp objects embedded in them; that sometime after the scourging, they put Jesus’ garments back on him again; that his garments were divided amongst the Roman soldiers.  Maybe it is just me, but I would have no interest in a blood-soaked garment that had been pressed against the gory results of the severe scourging of Jesus, as is commonly believed.

What was done physically to Jesus after His arrest?  In general:

1) The Jewish leaders order Him to be struck.  In various accounts, He is slapped, punched or spit upon.  Some of the punches might have swelled and disfigured His face.  But it was done by the Jews, not the Roman soldiers.

2) He is led to the judgment hall to be delivered to Pilate.

3) In Luke’s account only, He is sent to Herod because Jesus is from Galilee. The Jewish leaders accompany and accuse Him there.  Herod’s soldiers are the ones who mock Him and put the purple robe on Him, not the Roman soldiers.  In Luke, when Pilate pronounces final sentence, he releases Barabbas and he sends Jesus to Golgotha with Simon being required to carry the cross.

4) In the other three gospels, it is the Roman soldiers who mock Jesus.  But the only physical action taken against Him by them is putting the crown of thorns on His head, spitting on Him and hitting Him with a thin reed (like they were knighting Him).

Specifics of the Gospel accounts:

Matthew and Mark are fairly consistent parallel accounts after He has been tried and convicted by the Jewish council.  They bring Him before Pilate.  Pilate questions Jesus.  He seeks to release Jesus as the prisoner he was accustomed to release at Passover.  The crowd asks Barabbas to be released and demand that Jesus be crucified.  Pilate scourges Him.  Jesus is delivered to the soldiers. The soldiers mock Him, put His own clothes back on Him and lead Him away to Golgotha with Simon carrying the cross.

In Luke, they bring Him before Pilate, who briefly questions Jesus.  Pilate then sends Him to Herod.  Herod questions Him and He does not answer.  Herod’s soldiers mock Him and put the purple robe on Him (but no mention of anything done physically to Jesus by them).  He is sent back to Pilate.  Twice, Pilate tells the Jewish leaders that he finds no fault in Jesus, but he will chastise Him and let Him go.  It is not specifically mentioned that Pilate actually does chastise Him, but it is not out of the question that he actually did it.  At the crowd’s insistence, Pilate releases Barabbas and he sends Jesus to Golgotha with Simon being required to carry the cross.

In John, they bring Him before Pilate and Pilate questions Him.  Pilate seeks to release Jesus and the crowd demands Barabbas instead.  Pilate scourges Jesus.  Then the soldiers mock Him.  John’s account says that they struck Jesus with their hands.  Pilate then presents Jesus to the crowd again and proclaims His innocence.  When the crowd calls for Him to be crucified, Pilate tells them that they should do it.  The Jews respond that He deserves to die under their law because of His blasphemy, claiming to be the Son of God.  Pilate continues to try to negotiate on behalf of Jesus.  When the Jews continue to demand the death of Jesus, Pilate sends Him to Golgotha.

The language used to describe the scourging:

Matthew 27:26-27 – Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.  Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers.

Mark 15:15-16 – And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.  And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.

In both passages, the verb for “scourged” is the Greek word “phragelloo.”  It is presumed that this is where we get the English word, “flagellate”.  These are the only two times that the word is used in the New Testament.  In these passages, there is no separate Greek word for “he”.  It is assumed from the verb.  The verb is in the active voice which means the subject of the sentence did the action.  If Pilate had commanded him to be scourged rather than doing it himself, a different voice would have been used.

Luke 23:16 – I will therefore chastise him, and release him.

Luke 23:22-26 – And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.  And they were instant with loud voices, requiring that he might be crucified. And the voices of them and of the chief priests prevailed.  And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.  And he released unto them him that for sedition and murder was cast into prison, whom they had desired; but he delivered Jesus to their will.  And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.

The two mentions of the verb “chastise” is the translation of the Greek word “paideuo.”  While it can be used in cases of scourging, the sense of the word is related to the training or correction of children.  It also describes correction by striking another, probably more like our spanking (though not necessarily on the same part of the body).  Again there is no separate word for “I” and it is assumed from the verb.  And again the verb is in the active voice.

John 19:1-3 – Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him.  And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands.

John used a different Greek word, “mastigoo,” for “scourge”.  It is used seven times in the New Testament and translated as scourge every time.  But this time, we actually have a subject in the Greek text.  This time it directly says that Pilate was the subject of the sentence.  It is also in the active voice.  Pilate clearly is indicated as the one who did the scourging.

In none of the Gospel accounts is it ever mentioned that the soldiers scourge Jesus.

In one account they punch Him, but never rip His flesh with whips.

After I studied each of the Gospel accounts that described the scourging of Jesus I had three additional insights.  The first was fruit from continuing to pray and meditate about the subject.  The Holy Spirit laid on my heart that there is a reason why so much attention has been given to the believed brutality of the scourging of Jesus.  Satan is subtle and often uses ideas that sound godly to distract believers and seekers from what is important.  Among the things that Satan hates and wants to distract us from are the Word of God, the name of Jesus, prayer and the cross.

Lee Strobel wrote about how agonizing it is to be crucified.  Not only have nails been pounded into the flesh to attach it to pieces of wood, but hanging there, gravity pulls at your body and begins to tear the nails through the flesh.  In homage to Jesus, people have tried to replicate the event, but they aren’t able to last anywhere close to the time that Jesus hung on that tree.  And they were in sound and rested condition when they began the attempt.  The agony of hanging on the cross was so unlike any before experienced, a new word was invented for it: excruciating.

It was not during His scourging that Jesus said “It is finished” (i.e., paid in full).  It was on the cross.  Whether a Christian or a seeker, one is well-served by keeping the cross of Calvary in sight, not the scourging.

The second insight came when the phrase came to mind, “by his stripes we are healed”.  So I went back to Isaiah 53 and read these familiar words in verses 4 & 5:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All the punishments that Jesus suffered after his arrest until the tomb are contained in this prophesy.  The descriptions in the four Gospel accounts and their slight variations show that all of these were fulfilled: Jesus was buffeted and bruised, He was chastised, He was scourged, and His ultimate wounds came on the cross.  It was by these, but especially the ones on the cross, that our healing was complete.

I was lead to look at the Hebrew word that was translated as “stripes” in Isaiah 53:5.  There are three variant spellings of the word in English, the most common is “chabbuwrah“.  It appears seven times in the Old Testament and is translated as stripes (3 times), and one time apiece as hurt, wounds, blueness and bruise.  My Strong’s lists its recognized meanings as bruise, stripe, wound, blow.  In other words in this case, stripes is more than just the results of the whip.  It encompasses all that the body of Jesus suffered at this time at the hand of man.

The most recent insight occurred as a result of participating in the Ladies Bible Study at my church.  We are studying Beth Moore’s teaching: “Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit.”  During the week when the lessons were on joy, part of the material was to read Acts 16:16-40, to show that part of the reaction of Paul and his fellow Christian prisoners to their shackles and imprisonment was to rejoice.

Verses 22 & 23 leapt out at me.  This topic came back to mind, even though I had not been thinking about it when I had started the lesson.

And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.  And when they had laid many stripes on them, they cast them into prison, commanding the jailor to keep them safely. 

Did you see it?  The magistrates commanded to beat them.  The language is in contrast to all four Gospel accounts about the scourging of Jesus.  Why, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit did Matthew, Mark, Luke and John write (and the KJV translators give the translation) that indicates Pilate was the one doing the scourging?  But here we clearly see Luke writing that the common practice of superiors commanding subordinates to do the scourging had occurred.  Surely there is a reason for the difference.  There are no accidents in the word of God.

So the choice is, do we believe the popular account or do we believe the Bible?

God bless you all as we remember the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord,

Lois

Special Types of Witnesses

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1st Corinthians 15, Apostle John, Apostle Paul, ascension of Jesus, baptism of Jesus, beloved Son, book of Acts, Christ, Christianity, Christians, empty tomb, evidence, eyewitness, followers, Gospels, hostile witness, Jerusalem, Jesus, Jews, John the Baptist, Josh McDowell, martyr, Messiah, persecution, Peter, resurrection, road to Damascus, Roman Empire, Roman guard, statement against interest, transfiguration

In a future post, I will be describing some of my favorite sports moments. But I am going to include one of them in this post because it fits the topic.  It was actually an accomplishment that I did.  It happened in basketball, which is ironic because it is probably my worst sport.  I am short (about 5’4½”), don’t handle the ball particularly well, and I don’t have a sense of the field of play the way I do in football or soccer.  But there is one very important fact about this event: I didn’t see it happen.

My friends must have been desperate for an extra player when they asked me to join them for a half court pickup game in the Teagle gym.  During the game, one of my teammates was the last person to touch the ball as it was heading out of bounds in the corner to the left of the basket.  I was the closest to the ball and unchallenged for it.

I have the quick reflexes of a hockey goalie, and they kicked in as I closed in on the ball.  At the last possible second before it or I would be out of bounds, I dove and got my hands under the ball.  The only way I could save it was to fling it upwards in the general direction of the court, hoping one of my taller and stronger teammates could get to it first.  Then I hit the floor and skidded, coming to rest out of bounds against the curtain that separated our court from the next one.

As I shook off the impact of hitting the floor and got to my feet, it was strangely quiet.  The first thing I saw was that everyone was standing around.  I assumed the ball went out of bounds again, and they were waiting for me to get back onto the court before the inbounds play.  They stood there with dumbfounded expressions.  One of my teammates told me, “You swished it.”

I accused them of kidding me, but they all insisted it was true.  Even the guys on the other team agreed that it went in.  And the game resumed with us having one more basket than before.

I eventually believed them for three reasons.  First, they didn’t have enough time to get their stories straight.  Second, a group of guys that age are not good enough actors to keep a straight face under those circumstances.  But the most important was that the guys on the other team were hostile witnesses.  And they were making statements against interest.  Confirming that it went in hurt their chances of winning.  So I am firmly convinced it happened, even if I didn’t see it.

Now we will go to a different kind of court, one where witnesses are examined and evidence is weighed.

Here is a summary of the story of Jesus’s resurrection and the empty tomb He left behind.  First, Joseph of Arimathaea persuades Pilate to release His body to him.  He wraps His body in linen cloth and puts it in a new tomb he had recently created by hollowing out a cave into rock.  Nicodemus put certain spices on the linen cloths according to their burial customs.  They are followed to the tomb by some of the women who had been ministering to Jesus and His disciples.

The disciples of Jesus are disheartened, fearful and in hiding.  They are supposed to stay in Jerusalem for the Passover.  But they expect the authorities to find them and arrest them at any time.

Meanwhile, the Jewish authorities remember (far better than His disciples did) that Jesus had said He would rise from the dead.  They go to Pilate and ask him to give them a Roman guard.  A Roman military guard was made up of 4 to 16 men, deployed in a square formation, and were known for their ability to hold off a far larger force.  Pilate grants their request.  The guard goes to the tomb, puts a Roman seal on it and position themselves in front of it.

The day after the Sabbath, some of the women go to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with more spices.  As they walk there they wonder who will be able to roll the large stone away from the tomb so they can do this work.  When they arrive, they find that the stone has been moved away and they encounter an angel who tells them that Jesus is risen and is not there.  Eventually Peter and John arrive and find that there is no body in the cave, but the linen burial cloths have been left there.

Then Jesus appears to many people during this time.  The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the church in Corinth, gives an excellent summary of these events.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.  After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.  And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. – 1^st Corinthians 15:3-8  [Note: Cephas is the Greek name for the Apostle Peter.]

At this point a number of questions might come to mind.  For instance, what revived the spirits of a disheartened group of disciples who had good reason to believe their cause was defeated with the death of their leader?  When He was arrested and crucified, they were still struggling to understand much of His teaching, especially His purpose and objective.  What enabled them to turn a movement in a small area of a conquered region, into a force that swept through the whole world, despite its initial leaders being a small group of men with relatively little education (except for Paul), influence, power or funds?  Furthermore, how do we know that Paul’s statements are true?

If we recall the evidence regarding my amazing basketball shot, some of it applies here as well.  The followers of Christ, in spreading their witness about Jesus, were speaking statements against their own personal interest.  While many Jews became added to the number of followers in the early years after the ascension of Jesus, the Jewish leadership never accepted that Jesus was the Messiah.  They vigorously persecuted their Jewish brothers and sisters who followed Jesus.  Indeed, it was as part of that mission that Paul (at that time called Saul of Tarsus) was heading to Damascus.  Until the vision and message from Christ on that road to Damascus led him to convert, Paul’s actions against the followers of Christ included imprisonment, voting for their death at trials, subjecting them to whatever punishments were allowed under the Law in synagogues throughout the region, even in areas distant from Jerusalem, and forcing some to recant their beliefs.

And while the Romans at first may have seen this situation as an internal dispute between the Jews which did not concern them unless it threatened the peace, that changed as the number of followers continued to grow, especially when non-Jews, even Romans, began to convert in significant numbers.  Teaching and witnessing about a king named Jesus who is the son of the one true God, threatened the religious customs of the Roman Empire and the authority of Caesar.

Thus the persecution of Christ’s followers multiplied greatly.  The book of Acts records the martyrdom of Stephan and the Apostle James.  The historical record shows that all of the Apostles except John (who died of old age in exile) died a martyr’s death.  That record further shows that Christians were routinely sent to death in the Coliseum and that Nero blamed the Christians for the fire he set that burned Rome.  It took three centuries before Christianity was officially accepted by Roman authorities.  Until then, it wasn’t very safe to be found proclaiming the Gospel.

The following is a link to an article by Josh McDowell that gives an extensive list of evidence, facts, proofs, counter-arguments to the claims of skeptics, and evaluations by historians on the validity of the testimony which supports the existence of Jesus and His historical resurrection after His crucifixion.  Historical accounts by Jews and Romans who opposed Christianity (i.e., hostile witnesses) are included in the article with explanation why it is strong evidence.  There is also archeological evidence that shows that Paul’s letter quoted above was circulated at a time when it can be expected that many of the people who saw Christ after His resurrection were indeed alive.  And many other points are made, and made better than I could hope to do.  And yes, at the end of his article, a challenge is made as to what you believe.

http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html

Why is all of this so important?  A little further in 1^st Corinthians, Paul explains it: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.  (1^st Corinthians 15:14)

Jews and Christians agree that God has promised a Messiah for His people.  The disagreement that divides is over the identity of the Messiah.  Paul, a most learned Pharisee before following Christ, has stated it clearly: if Jesus is not risen from the dead, then He is not the Messiah; He is not the Christ.  He is just another false claimant to the title.  There would be no need to continue to follow His teachings. Instead, all should pray that the Messiah would come soon.

Confronted by such an important spiritual question, I must conclude based on all that has been set forth in this series of posts, that we have reliable eyewitness accounts of people who have seen God.  In times of His choosing, God reveals Himself in physical form to people.  At other times, the effects of God’s presence in the world are evident.

I have left the most important witness for last: God Himself on two occasions.  In three of the four Gospels, Jesus takes only Peter, James and John with Him to a hilltop where His appearance is transfigured and He converses with Moses and Elijah.  At the end of that event, a voice comes out of a cloud and calls Jesus His “beloved Son”.  Also, those same three Gospels testify that when Jesus is baptized, a voice comes out of heaven with that same description of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit also comes upon Jesus at that time.  (In John’s Gospel, it is also mentioned that the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus when He was baptized.  This Gospel quotes John the Baptist bearing witness at this time that Jesus is the Son of God.)

On the first occasion, three people witnessed.  On the second occasion, an untold number of witnesses were there, whoever had come to be baptized at that time.  And many people from all around were coming to be baptized.  They heard a disembodied voice that could not be manufactured with the technology of that time.

Will you follow God?  If so, then understand that to truly follow, it matters little that God is on your side; it is far more important that you endeavor to be on God’s side.  What other way is there to follow?

God bless,

Lois

Related articles

• God Demands a Response to Jesus

Eyewitness Accounts

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You have been waiting long enough for me to resolve the apparent contradiction at the end of my last post.  I spent more time than usual polishing this series of posts, and the amount of material required me to divide it into more posts than I originally envisioned.

The Lord’s physical encounters between Him and man either greatly diminished or ceased entirely for many centuries after the death of Moses.  Perhaps it was because of the Jews frightened reaction not only to the sight of the Lord (Exodus 24, mentioned in my previous post), but also to Moses whose face shone so much after he personally communed with God that he had to put a veil over his face.

But then, we have the writings of the New Testament.  Now if we search diligently through these writings, we find two quotes that at first would seem to continue the contradiction.  Both are found in John’s Gospel.  In John 1:18, he reiterates words similar to what we saw in the Old Testament: “No man hath seen God at any time”.  Yet John clearly believed in the deity of Christ and saw Him on a daily basis for a number of years.  Why would he say this?

The answer is in a clarification that is made when he quotes Jesus in John 6:46: “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.”  Aha, the answer to the apparent contradiction is the Trinity, that God is a triune God, one God in three persons.  If and only if the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have existed as one God throughout all time, could Moses report that no man can see God and live, and John report that no man has seen God, and yet both also report that they have seen God.  Moses did not specifically know that he saw the Son of God.  John did.  God reveals his knowledge progressively, building knowledge upon prior knowledge, scripture upon scripture.

Many centuries after Moses, God choose a place and time to lift the veil between Him and the Jews.  At the same time, He becomes a light to Gentiles in a way previously unknown.  This was done in connection with the numerous sightings of Jesus Christ, the witness of those sightings, and the testimony that He is the Son of God.

Large crowds by the standards of the day (often called multitudes in the Bible) witnessed the teaching and miracles of Jesus.  In previous posts, I have talked about Jesus feeding thousands of people on more than one occasion.  The number of men was 5,000 on one occasion and 4,000 on another. Women and children were also present, so a number in the vicinity of 10,000 is not out of the question.

Furthermore, Jesus did not stay in one place.  He carried His ministry as far north as Sidon in Phoenician Syria (modern day Saida in southern Lebanon) and as far south as most of Judea, including all of the west bank and a few miles east of the Jordan River on the east bank from the modern day Golan Heights to the modern day country of Jordan around the Dead Sea.  In addition to Jews, he was seen by Syrians, Phoenicians, Samaritans, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and people from a number of other nearby countries who traveled to and through Jerusalem and vicinity, primarily for trade.

At this time, shepherds were at the low end of the social ladder.  It is not likely that they would have left their work to see a newborn baby.  Here is the angelic message that drew them.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. – Luke 2:9-14

A few weeks later, Jesus was brought to the temple in Jerusalem in fulfillment of the Law regarding first born sons.  Two devout elderly people met Jesus, Mary and Joseph there.  Simeon and Anna the prophetess gave testimony that this child was the long-awaited Messiah and redeemer.

Shortly before Joseph was warned in a dream to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt to escape from the desire of King Herod to kill the newborn King, there was another witness: distinguished visitors from the east who brought three gifts to the foretold King of the Jews who had been born in Bethlehem under a particular star.  Their witness is not diminished by the fact that we don’t know their exact number or a more specific place of origin.

With the exception of an incident at the temple in Jerusalem when Jesus amazed the elders with His knowledge at age 12, we don’t have any specifics of the life of Jesus from His exile to the start of His ministry at approximately age 30.  We can surmise that He was seen by only a small number of people near His home during that time and that there was no mention of His divinity in this period.  But then, there began a series of events that catapulted Him from humble obscurity to being seen by many thousands and becoming (as many would agree) the single most influential person to walk the face of the earth.

John the Baptist was the first to give witness to the spiritual identity of Jesus as an adult.  This John testified that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and the Son of God.  As a result, some of John’s disciples left John and began to follow Jesus.  After John baptized Jesus with water and Jesus went into the desert to fast for forty days (and be tempted by the devil), Jesus formally began His ministry: recruiting disciples, teaching throughout Galilee, performing His first miracle (turning water into wine during the wedding feast at Cana) and announcing His ministry (and the beginnings of the fulfillment of prophecy) at His home synagogue in Nazareth.

The following people also saw a physical (as opposed to spiritual) Jesus and bore witness to His deity:

Philip and Nathanael of Bethsaida: In the first chapter of John’s Gospel, starting with verse 43, Jesus called Philip to be His disciple.  Philip immediately went out and witnessed to Nathanael about Jesus, saying, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (verse 45)  When Nathanael expresses doubt, Philip brings him to Jesus.  After a short conversation between Nathanael and Jesus, Nathanael tells Him, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.” (verse 49)

Simon Peter: In three of the four Gospels, Jesus first asks His disciples who people say that He is.  They tell Him the different opinions that they have heard.  Then Jesus asks them, who they say that He is.  Simon, as usual, is first to reply.  In Matthew 16:16, he tells Jesus: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

I once heard an elder in a Protestant church declare that Jesus never said that He is the Son of God.  It is a sad commentary to the extent of Bible illiteracy in the church, even extending to some of the leaders.  For Jesus testifies to His divinity on a number of occasions.  His response to Peter is one of those times: “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (verse 17)

In the eighth chapter of John’s Gospel (verses 12-58), Jesus has a lengthy discourse with a group of Jews.  Among the things He said to them relating to His deity: “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.” (verse 23); “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.” (verse 56); “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” (verse 58).  Throughout this chapter, Jesus is testifying to His origin (from His heavenly Father, not from earth) and that His Father bears witness to Him and honors Him.  Finally, He tells them that He not only preceded Abraham, He is the “I am.”  This simple phrase has little significance to most people now, but the Jews of His day (and many even today), were quite aware that Jesus was describing Himself by the name that was too holy to even speak, the name by which God revealed Himself to Moses.  That the Jews understood His meaning is evidenced by the fact that immediately after He said it, they attempted to stone Him for speaking blasphemy.  Unfortunately they failed to understand the most important part: that it was true.

After the arrest of Jesus, both the high priest and Pilate separately ask Jesus if He is either the Son of God or the King of the Jews.  In some of the Gospel accounts, His answer could be colloquially translated as, “You said it!”  In Mark 14:62, the answer of Jesus is more emphatic: “I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”  There’s that simple phrase, “I am”, again.  It was upon hearing that answer that the high priest declared that there was no more need of witnesses against Jesus. He deserved death for His blasphemy.

There were two unlikely witnesses to the deity of Jesus during His crucifixion.  Two criminals were crucified with Him.  At first both mocked Him.  But then one repented, and after rebuking the other criminal, the following exchange took place between him and Jesus (Luke 23:42-43): “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.  And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

There was also a Roman centurion in charge of the procedure.  Having witnessed the manner in which Jesus conducted Himself during that horribly painful means of death (it is where we get the word “excruciating”), seeing to the needs of His mother, showing mercy to the repentant criminal, forgiving those who did this to Him, the centurion declared at the end: “Truly this man was the Son of God.” (Mark 15:39)

I spoke in previous posts about being able to see God through the effects of His actions.  There were a series of amazing events that took place on the same day as the crucifixion of Jesus.  Any one of them might be considered a coincidence.  But all of them together on the same day?  There was a solar eclipse for three hours, an earthquake, the veil of the temple before the holy of holies was torn in two and “graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matthew 27:52-53)

There is one final set of witnesses: the empty tomb and those who saw Jesus after His resurrection.  We will look at those in my next post.  Because they are the most important witnesses of all, they are the ones most often attacked.  Therefore, they require special attention.  And I will address this in my next post.

God bless,

Lois