The Fall of Peter (John 18:1-12)

As noted in a previous post, after returning from my first intensive course at the Trinity House Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, & Cultural Studies, I have decided to start writing a series of posts on John's gospel, starting with some of my own thoughts about chapters 18 & 19. I'm starting with those two chapters primarily because of a group discussion our class had on those two chapters, and I want to share my own thoughts while our group discussion is fresh in mind. Below are some of my own thoughts.

John 18:1-12 follows a neat chiastic arrangement:

A)  vv. 1-3 -- "band of soldiers" and "officers of the Jews"
    B)  vv. 4-5 -- "ego eimi" ("I AM")       
        C)  v. 6 -- John's observation: soldiers and officers fall down from "ego eimi" ("I AM")
    B')  vv. 7-9 -- "ego eimi" ("I AM")
A')  vv. 10-12 -- "band of soldiers" and "officers of the Jews"

In this section we find many literary connections between Judas's actions and Peter's. Judas is mentioned twice as "the one who betrayed him" (vv. 2, 5) just as Peter is mentioned twice as the one having a "sword" (vv. 10, 11). We also find Judas bringing in backup to arrest Jesus, and they bring lanterns, torches, and weapons with them--a triple emphasis (v. 3). Peter attempts to stop Jesus' arrest with his sword, and there we find another triple emphasis: he draws his sword, strikes with it, and cuts off the right ear of the High Priest's servant, Malchus (v. 10). In the middle of all this, we find another triple action, only it's from the words of Jesus (vv. 5-8). Three times the divine words ego eimi ("I AM") are highlighted, and the central reference comes from John, the author, who says the soldiers fell down to the ground by the Word of God. Interestingly, just as Judas was mentioned twice at the beginning as the one who betrayed Jesus, in the following pericope (18:13-27) it is Peter whose words of betrayal are explicitly stated twice, saying ouk eimi ("I am not", vv. 17 & 25). All these judicial witnesses of two's and three's in a garden can hardly be accidental on John's part.

In this scene, Judas is portrayed as a subtle serpent entering the garden to tempt and trap Jesus, the second Adam. But Jesus knows the will of His heavenly Father (v. 4), and so he doesn't give into the serpent's temptation. Jesus also knows He has complete control over the situation. He manifests His great power with the breath of his mouth, knocking down his enemies. It is only after this manifestation of divine power that find Jesus doing something shocking. He knows His enemies have arrived with lanterns, torches, and weapons to seize Him, but He doesn't defend himself. Instead He defends His disciples by giving up his own life for them: "If you seek me, let these men of mine go." (v.8 ESV). By doing this, Jesus manifests himself as the greater Adam. Jesus does what the first Adam should have done in the Garden. Jesus protects his Bride by laying down his life for Her. 

However, the narrative doesn't end there. According to the way John records this series of events, it seems like Peter had not been paying much attention to what Jesus was saying, or to the fact that some soldiers fell down by His word. Peter, instead, seems to remain focused upon the soldiers with lanterns, torches, and weapons. His response to all of the commotion is to war with the serpent in the garden, seizing authority not given to him by God, by drawing, striking, and cutting off the ear (apparently aiming for the head) of the high priest's servant. By going to war with the serpent, Peter is also portrayed as ignorant of what Jesus' divine mission is. If anyone in this narrative understands the divine mission, it's the soldiers who just fell down on the ground from the mere breath of the Lord. But John doesn't tell us anything more about those who fell down. It is clear enough that those who fell down had perceived Jesus to be the one in complete control. All John continues to tell his readers is that Peter attacks the high priest's servant, Malchus, as though the divine affirmation of Jesus' authority wasn't good enough.

Peter also seems to expect the other disciples to join in with him in the attack. This is like Judas, who brought a band of soldiers with him because he expected resistance from Jesus and his disciples. And so, when Peter attacks Malchus, the high priest's servant, Peter is not thinking Christ's thoughts after Him. He is thinking Judas's thoughts after him. By striking Malchus, Peter is betraying his own High Priest, Jesus. By striking Malchus, Peter is striking Yahweh's servant. Interestingly, the name Malchus means "the kingly one," which again highlights the fact that by disregarding Jesus' voluntary surrender, Malchus is obeying the word of the Lord and Peter is symbolically striking the Kingly One. Malchus' actions are in line with the Father's will, whereas Peter's actions are not. In this regard, Jesus' response to Peter's actions are very telling: "Put your sword into its sheath, shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?"1 (v. 11).

By highlighting Judas' betrayal at the beginning of this garden scene, there is no surprise that Jesus would be arrested and taken away. The real surprise of John's narrative is Peter betraying Jesus. Judas enters this garden with a band of soldiers because he knows Jesus often met there with his disciples, walking and talking with them in the cool of the day. But it is Peter who falls into temptation in the garden. It is Peter who thinks his eyes are open, discerning good from evil. It is Peter who is deceived by the craftiness of the serpent.

1.  Another translation of Jesus' words (however unlikely) could be: "Throw the knife into the grave! The cup that the Father has determined to give me, shall I not drink it?"

The World Beholds its King: Literary Structure and Movement in John 18-19

This past month I attended my first intensive course at the Trinity House Institute for Biblical, Liturgical, & Cultural Studies. The course was titled How To Read the Bible, which involved multiple lectures, tons of fellowship, and a full week of morning, noon, and evening worship all centered on Christ and His Word. As I've been reflecting upon that training, one of the things I valued most about the course was its two-hour group discussions for certificate students each day. Those discussions involved specific assignments of biblical texts --sometimes multiple chapters together-- and one of them was on chapters 18 & 19 of John's gospel. Those conversations with Dr. Leithart, James Jordan, and the other students were extremely helpful, which spurred further thoughts of my own worth sharing.

In his classic (and unfortunately forgotten) work, The Genius of John: A Composition-Critical Commentary on the Fourth Gospel, Peter Ellis lays out the chiastic framework recorded by the apostle John in chapters 18 & 19 (See below):

A)  18:1-2
    B)  18:13-27
       C)  18:28-19:16
    B')  19:17-30
A')  19:31-42

Working with this chiastic composition in mind, multiple parallels stand out to me. The first and most obvious parallel is A and A'. Both scenes take place in a "garden" (18:1; 19:41 ESV). This mention of a garden is what provides a clear inclusio for the literary structure of chapters 18 & 19. Even though this section begins and ends in a garden, the first garden where Jesus is arrested is likely not the location of the second garden, because the second garden is where Jesus body was buried in a tomb. But the garden scenery is very important thematically nonetheless. And so, according to John's own structure, we know that Jesus moves from arrest to burial, from the garden out into the world and then back to the garden. 

Upon closer examination of the chiasm above, this movement from garden to tomb has many other striking parallels.

First, in sections A through A', the history that John records moves from Jesus' arrest (A) to his trial (B) to his torture (C) to his crucifixion (B') to his burial (A'). Secondarily, and in a fashion of mockery, the story moves from Israel's election of Jesus (A) to his examination (B) to his coronation (C) to his procession (B') to his installation (A') as Israel's King. And last of all, but just as strikingly, John records a movement which symbolizes the Tabernacle, Courtyard, and World boundaries and Jesus' presentation in the midst of all of them. Scene A moves from his election in the garden, then out into to "courtyard" (18:15), followed by his coronation in the midst of the world--in Pilate's "headquarters" (18:28), and then proceeding back to the land where a cross-shaped tree of life awaited him on a hill, and then back into the garden where he would finally be installed as King of the world in a tomb. The movement looks like this (below):

A)  18:1-2                      Arrest          Election           Garden (Holy Place)
    B)  18:13-27               Trial            Examination     Land (Courtyard)
       C)  18:28-19:16       Torture         Coronation      World (Outside the Courtyard)
    B')  19:17-30             Crucifixion     Procession       Land (Tree/Courtyard)
A')  19:31-42                 Burial           Installation       Garden (Tomb/Most Holy Place)

These aren't my final thoughts on the matter, but the parallels are striking. Why is it that John records movement from a garden to a "courtyard" and then to Pilate's house, skipping Jesus' trip to Ciaphas' house altogether (vv. 24 & 28)? To me that seems intentional on John's part in order to move from garden to courtyard to world as those typological boundaries of the Tabernacle are laid out in Scripture. (See my previous posts here and here regarding that imagery.) All of my accumulating posts about tabernacle/temple typology can be found here. 

Is all of this merely a coincidence?

The Trinity in John's Gospel

Father, Son and Spirit: The Trinity and John's Gospel by Andreas J. Kostenberger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a superb book. It is very well organized and easy to read. The apostle John loaded his gospel with helpful literary insights and allusions to the unity and plurality of God, which would have been familiar to first century Jews and proselytes to Judaism. This book helps draw out all of those literary insights and allusions. There are also a good number of important translational insights. And to top it all off, there is an entire section devoted to the theology of evangelism & mission derived from John's gospel.

View all my reviews

Lutheranism 101: Are Lutherans Cannibals?

In Lutheranism 101, a question arises out of concern for their traditional view of eating the Lord's "real body and blood." This question is framed this way: "Are Lutherans Cannibals?" The author responded this way:

Because Lutherans teach that Jesus is really present with His body and blood, they have been accused of cannibalism. Rest easy; it isn't true. A cannibal eats physical flesh with his teeth. While we teach that Jesus is bodily present, we do not teach that He is physically present. Things are physical when they take up space; we believe that Jesus is really present with His body and blood but in a mode that doesn't take up space. Can He do that? Yes!1

Now, let's try to break down the meaning of these claims. As far as I can tell, it seems like his argument goes something like this: "Lutherans are not cannibals because cannibals eat physical flesh. But Lutherans don't teach that they are eating Jesus' physical flesh. They're eating Jesus' non-physical flesh." Now, if I'm correct in viewing the meaning of his statements this way, I'm still not quite sure what non-physical flesh is, exactly. I mean, I understand the difference between physical and non-physical as a concept, and I even understand that Jesus' body and blood was very physical in substance, but I'm still not quite sure what the author of Lutheranism 101 means by that. Of course the author tries to explain himself. He says that Lutheranism does not teach that Jesus is physically present. Check. He also says that things are physical when they take up space. Check. But then he says, "we believe that Jesus is really present with His body and blood but in a mode that doesn't take up space."

But what does the author mean exactly by "in a mode that doesn't take up space"? In his usually fantastically brilliant, earth-shattering manner, this author answers that very question. He writes:

After rising from the dead, Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room and showed them His hands and His side (John 20:19-20). How did He get into the locked room? The Bible doesn't specify, but somehow He moved His body through the walls or locked door without displacing the barrier and creating a hole. As He went through, His body didn't take up space (we call this His "incomprehensible mode"). During the Lord's Supper, the bread doesn't change in size with Jesus' body present; His body is present without taking up space. One can't eat something that isn't physically present, so, no, Lutherans aren't cannibals.2 

There you have it. Problem solved. Mystery discovered. This is Lutheran biblical exegesis at it's finest. Jesus says "This is My body," and that means he is "really present" in the bread and wine "in a mode that doesn't take up space." What other biblical proof is there for believing in this special  mode? Well, that's easy! Jesus walked through the walls or the locked door without displacing the barrier and creating a hole! And the author knows this for certain. And because he knows this for certain, we can be certain too, even though he admits that "The Bible doesn't specify" how Jesus got into the locked room. 

Did you catch that slight of hand too? 

Let me rewind and show that again. The author begins by admitting that the Bible does not specify how Jesus got into the locked room, but nevertheless (mysteriously!) this author knows how Jesus got into the locked room. And because this author knows how Jesus got into the locked room (i.e. he walked through the locked door), John 20:19-20 becomes a proof-text for believing that Jesus is "really present" in the bread and wine "in a mode that doesn't take up space."

Now, what really bothers me about this strained exegesis of Scripture is that this Lutheran author knows his traditional interpretation is not comprehensible, but their precious long-standing tradition is held to anyway. They even have a name for how Jesus walks through walls: they call this his "incomprehensible mode." 

In previous posts, I showed that this very same author loves to talk big about how dangerous it is to add or subtract from God's Word, and how important it is to listen to exactly what Jesus says; but this particular Lutheran tradition encourages people to do the very opposite by throwing away their rationality. And perhaps there is no more appropriate proof-text, other than John 20:19-20, to show off this blatant inconsistency. (Remember, the author of Lutheranism 101 used this as their proof-text for Jesus' "incomprehensible mode" in the Lord's Supper.) Notice what John 20:19-20 says: 

On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Notice that it mentions absolutely nothing about how Jesus got into the locked room. It just says that the doors were locked and that "Jesus came and stood among them." Now, if I were a betting man, I would bet $100.00 that in a room filled with traditional indoctrinated Lutherans, 75% of them would interpret this verse as though Jesus had to walk through the walls or the locked door. But if I were in a room filled with Calvinists, I would bet $100.00 that 75% of them would see a third alternative -- namely that Jesus simply appeared before them without needing to walk through anything, and without needing to "displace the barrier" of anything. From the text itself, it reads as though Jesus simply appears out of thin air. Jesus appears and disappears elsewhere in John's gospel, both times after Jesus has been raised with his glorified body, but there is no mention of Jesus walking through anything. Moreover, in Luke 24:13-43, Jesus meets two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and after a while he sits down to eat and break bread with them; and suddenly, after breaking the bread, Jesus disappears. Then suddenly, when these disciples flee to their friends in Jerusalem, Jesus suddenly reappears again (all within a few verses too). 

Now, let me ask this question: What Lutheran scholar would seriously argue that Jesus had to walk through all the walls and trees and people and locked doors on his way from the road to Emmaus to Jerusalem in order to reappear with the other disciples? If someone is going to argue that arbitrarily --when the text simply mentions that he disappears and reappears suddenly-- they might as well argue that Jesus broke the bread and jumped into it through this silly incomprehensible mode, and his disciples carried him all the way back to Jerusalem. That way, they could argue that Jesus was "really present" in the bread too.

All of these Lutheran arguments are mysterious because they're nonsense. I mean, if they really believed that Jesus walked through the walls of the locked room, and that somehow this teaches us that Jesus' body and blood is "really present" in a non-physical mode, what they're really saying is that they believe Jesus' body and blood could share physical space. But that's not what they're saying. They're saying that Jesus manifests his body and blood in a non-physical mode which doesn't take up space. But where in Scripture do you find a rational basis for believing that? They might argue, in the words "This is My body, This is My blood" (Actually, Jesus doesn't say, "This is my blood," but I digress.) But that commits the fallacy of begging the question. They are assuming what needs to be proven rationally. Then they might respond, "But John's gospel shows that Jesus walked through locked doors!" To which I would respond, no John's gospel doesn't say that. Nor does Luke's gospel. Then they might argue, "but we know there are sufficient reasons to believe this because we even have an official, confessional name for it: it's called the incomprehensible mode."

My response would be something to this effect: If they can't prove their case  rationally from the Bible, then why insist that the Bible is their source for this incomprehensible mode? And if they don't expect their precious doctrine to be proven rationally, then why do they bother proving anything about it at all? Again, it seems like the author of Lutheranism 101 is well exercised in mental gymnastics and potentially dabbles in Jedi mind tricks from time to time, but those tricks are subtly deceptive and foolish, and Christians should be trained by their pastors and teachers to know better than this. Christians should have more assurance from the Word of God than this irrational Lutheran indoctrination about "the real presence" of Jesus and how His body and blood is really present in a non-physical, incomprehensible mode that doesn't take up space.

I've got an alternative idea to all of this eating-Jesus-for-dinner talk. Why don't Lutherans argue that Jesus is "really present" in the bread and wine, and that through faith Christians really do eat the body and blood of Christ, but only in a literal spiritually-present sense. Oh, yeah. I forgot. Lutherans wouldn't believe that because that's what Calvinists teach. 

1.  Scot Kinnaman [General Editor], Lutheranism 101 [St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2010] p. 150

2.  Ibid. p. 151

Not every man really lives

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, "yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world." When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:21-32)

I know this is going to be a difficult post for me to write. Ever since I found out that my uncle Ed died this morning, I haven't been able to stop thinking about what I would write; yet now that I've started, I know it's not going to be easy. There are too many thoughts running through my mind. I'll do my best to be brief. 

I'm not that old, nor am I considerably wise for my age, but I know one thing for sure: All human beings have at least one thing in common. All human beings will die. It's an inescapable fact of life. Life is so busy and our immediate needs are so constant that we're often too focused upon living, even to the point of forgetting this one sure thing in life. Life necessitates death. All men know this. There's no way of avoiding it no matter what religion you believe, and so no one has a legitimate reason for pretending as though death is not important. As C.S. Lewis once commented in response to the recent death of his wife, "It is hard to have patience with people who say 'There is no death' or 'Death doesn't matter.' There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn't matter."1  Death matters a lot. It mattered a lot to C.S. Lewis when he lost his wife. It matters a lot to me after losing my uncle Ed. It mattered a lot to Martha and Mary after losing their brother Lazarus too.

Even though I would like to write about the entire story of Lazarus, I'm not going to in this post. Instead I want to focus upon the central point of that pericope. As noted in bold type above, Martha and Mary both believed Jesus could have healed their brother. "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died," they both cried. In other words, their faith in Jesus was exceptionally great. They both knew Jesus alone had the authority and power to heal their brother. And they didn't look to anyone else. Martha even states explicitly that whatever Jesus would ask of God, God would give to him, which implies her belief in a harmonious unity between God the Father and the Son. What the Father wills, the Son obeys. What the Son asks of the Father, the Father grants. There is no disharmony between the will of the Father and the Son. If Jesus had willed to come earlier, Lazarus would have lived. If the Father had willed for His Son to come earlier, Lazarus would have lived. The only thing mistaken presumption of Martha and Mary's faith is that Jesus could only heal the living. But Jesus did not come merely to heal the living, and the Father did not send his Son into the world merely to heal the living. 

Martha clearly believes in a bodily resurrection of her brother Lazarus too. And if Martha is emphatic about this doctrine, it's reasonable to presume that her brother and sister were aware of it too. But Martha (and perhaps, Mary too) doesn't seem to understand that Jesus is the resurrection and the life until Jesus asks her if she believes it. "Do you believe this?," Jesus asks her. "Yes, Lord," she says, "I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world."  This is the central focus of this passage. Yes, it's amazing that Lazarus is eventually raised from death to life again. Yes, it's wonderful that the glory of God was revealed in this manner. But the central focus of the Lazarus-resurrection narrative is not Lazarus. It's not the faith of Martha and Mary either. It's that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. It's that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, whom God sent into the world so that men may believe in him alone and never die. "Whoever believes in me," Jesus said, "though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."

There are a few noteworthy aspects of this conversation between Jesus and Martha. First, Jesus teaches that all men will die. In fact, he takes this for granted when he says, "Whoever believes in me, though he die...". According to Jesus, all men will die physically. That's a fact of life. Secondarily, Jesus is teaching that not every man really lives. Only those who live and believe in him shall never die. Life, therefore, is more than mere self-preservation, and all men know this in their heart of hearts. As I was speaking with a friend of mine on the phone today, trying to vent some of the sadness I felt just thinking about the loss of my uncle, he reminded me that God has placed a startlingly clear sense of self-preservation in the heart of all men, whether they believe in Jesus or not. People live as though they are their own gods who control their own destinies and are slaves of no one, but deep down inside they know they're not God and they also know their destinies are in their own control too. That nagging sense of self-preservation haunts them because they know every single choice they make in life has eternal consequences. They know they are culpable for thinking they are the god of their own life and death, unwilling to bow the knee to Jesus as Lord over all in life. They know that death is inevitable. They know there is a life now that exists and will end some day. And so they preserve their own life to whatever degree they want. For the Christian there is more though. 

This brings us to the third and final point I wish to draw out of this central passage of John 11:21-32. For the Christian, our lives are not our own. Jesus taught this throughout his ministry. Mary and Martha understood this when they called Jesus "Lord." Christians know they are bought with a price -- a price that is going to be paid by someone eventually, either by ourselves without Jesus or through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Son of God who loves us and gave himself for us. In other words, Christians know they are slaves who have been bought with the life and death of Jesus. Christians are not free from slavery in every sense of the term. Slavery, in some sense, is an inescapable concept. It's never an option of whether one will remain a slave or not. It's always a matter of whose slave we will be. Will we be slaves of our Master whom the Father has sent into the world? Or will we be slaves of sin, saying within our hearts "there is no God"? For the Christian, death to one's self is essential to becoming a slave. Because we have been united to Jesus who died for us, death becomes the precursor to resurrection as well. And since death becomes the precursor to resurrection, death is also the precursor to real life. Not only do we know that we will rise again bodily in the resurrection on the last day, but we know who will be raising us from death to life and by what power we will be raised. We know it will be our Lord and God who raises us because he already has raised our dead hearts to life that we may know it is He who bought us with his life and death. And because He has purchased us as his own, when our perishable bodies die, they die with him. And just as his body was raised as one more glorious, so will ours. What Jesus has begun in our perishable bodies he will raise up to be imperishable. What He has sown in weakness, He will raise in power. We can be confident, even as the Apostle Paul taught, that "If we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his." (Romans 6:5) 

I am thankful my uncle Ed knew Jesus was the resurrection and the life. Now he is washed clean. Now he is clothed in white garments. Now he is feasting at a much better table. Now he really lives. 

1.  C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

The Genius of John

In The Genius of John: A Composition-Critical Commentary on the Fourth Gospel, Peter F. Ellis attempts to identify the author of the fourth gospel. He writes:

Whoever the author of the Fourth Gospel was, one thing is certain: he wanted to remain anonymous. He wanted only to be known as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He speaks about himself in 13:23 as the one who at the Last Supper "was lying close to the breast of Jesus"; in 19:23-26, 35, as the disciple who stood beneath the cross, was given the care of Jesus' mother, and witnessed the death of Jesus; in 20:2-10, as the disciple who ran with Peter to the tomb on Easter morning and, upon seeing the burial cloths, believed; in 21:7, as the disciple who alone recognized the stranger on the shore as Jesus; and in 21:20-23, as the disciple about whom Jesus said to Peter: "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"

It is probable that he is the "disciple... known to the high priest" who spoke to the maid and had Peter admitted to the court of Annas (18:15-16). It is quite probable that he was one of the two unnamed disciples of John the Baptist who followed Jesus at the beginning of his public life (1:35-39), and equally probably that he was one of the two unnamed disciples who accompanied Peter in the boat on the Lake of Galilee after the resurrection (21:2). 

What is certain is that the Gospel itself declares the Beloved Disciple to be "the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things..." (21:24).1

How many times have you studied John's gospel and overlooked these details?

1.  Peter F. Ellis, The Genius of John: A Composition-Critical Commentary on the Fourth Gospel [The Liturgical Press; Collegeville, MN; 1985] p. 2

Your Comfort and Salvation

I recently came across a quote from John Bunyan (author of The Pilgrim's Progress) during my morning devotions, and it made me think about Jesus standing before the throne of his Father the day after he was crucified. And so I decided to post it the day after Good Friday:

  Christ stands as our advocate alone before God's bar and pleads before the Father. Whatever can rightly be charged upon us, he accepts the whole charge upon himself, acknowledging the crimes to be his own. And this, he must do. If he hides the sin, or lessens it, he is faulty; if he leaves it still upon us, we die. He must then take our iniquity to himself, make it his own, and so deliver us. Having thus taken the sin upon himself, as lawfully he may and lovingly he does -- "for we are members of his body" (it's his hand, his foot, his ear that has sinned) -- it follows that we live if he lives; and who can desire more? What comfort this is in a day of trouble and distress for sin! 

  As a sacrifice, our sins were laid upon him (Isa. 53). As a priest, he bears them (Ex. 28:38). As our advocate, he acknowledges them to be his own (Psa. 69:5). Having acknowledged them to be his own, the quarrel is no more between us and Satan, for the Lord Jesus has adopted our quarrel, and made it his. O blessed God! What a lover of mankind you are! And how gracious is our Lord in thus managing matters for us? The Lord Jesus after having thus taken our sins upon himself, and presented God with all the worthiness that is in his whole self for us; in the next place he calls for justice, or a just verdict upon the satisfaction he has made to God and to his law. Then the proclamation is made in open court, saying, "Remove the filthy garments"--from him that has offended--"and I will clothe you with pure vestments" (Zech 3). Look then to Jesus if you have sinned. Look to Jesus as an advocate pleading with the Father for you. Look to nothing else for he knows how, and that, by himself, to deliver you; yea, and he will do it in the way of justice, which is a wonder; and to the shame of Satan, which will be God's glory; and also to your complete deliverance, which will be your comfort and salvation.1

1.   John Bunyan, Works, 1:161-162

Psalm 22: You Lay Me in the Dust of Death

Psalm 22

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are the words of my groaning to you so far from helping me? O my God, I cry out to you by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I have no rest.  

Yet you are holy,
 you who are enthroned on the praises of Israel. In you our fathers trusted;
 they trusted, and you rescued them. To you they cried and were delivered; 
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.  

But I am a worm and not a man,
 a reproach of men and even despised by the people. All who see me laugh me to scorn; 
they hurled insults at me. They shake their heads, saying: “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; 
let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”  

But you are the one who pushed me out of the womb, making me trust even from the time I was at my mother's breasts. Upon you I was cast from the womb,
 and from my mother's belly you have been my God. Do not be far off from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.  

Many bulls encompass me; 
strong bulls of Bashan surround me. They open wide their mouths at me, 
tearing and roaring like a lion. I am poured out like water,
 and all my bones are out of joint.
 My heart has become like wax,
 melting within me; my strength is dried up like broken pottery,
 and my tongue sticks to my jaws. 

You lay me in the dust of death.  

For dogs encompass me;
 a company of evildoers encircles me; 
like a lion they have pierced my hands and feet. They count all my bones, and 
they stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them,
 and for my clothing they cast lots.   

But you, O Lord, do not be far off from me!
 O you my help, come quickly to my aid! Deliver my soul from the sword,
 my precious life from the power of the dog! Save me from the mouth of the lion, from the horns of the wild ox with which you have answered me.  

I will declare your name to my brethren. In the midst of the congregation I will praise you. You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
 All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; 
and stand in awe of him all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred 
the affliction of the afflicted,
 and he has not hidden his face from him,
 but has heard, when he cried to him.  

From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
 my vows I will perform before those who fear him. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
 those who seek him shall praise Yahweh,
 and may their hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh, 
and all the families of the nations
 shall worship before you.  

For dominion belongs to Yahweh,
 and he rules over the nations. All the prosperous ones of the earth shall feast and worship, and all who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even the one whose life cannot be kept alive. Posterity shall serve him, future generations shall be told about Yahweh, and they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn that he has done it!

The opening words of Psalm 22 are probably the most familiar words of all the Psalms. After Jesus cried out from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46), one can hardly view this Psalm as though it were merely David's expression of suffering. It must, in fact, represent the suffering of some one much greater than David, some Davidic King more ultimate than himself. These opening words also set the tone for the entire Psalm. This King feels a need to exclaim the horrors of separation and alienation from God. The picture painted for us is extremely real suffering and real trust through suffering. This King "cries out" repeatedly, day after day, night after night, but finds no rest and no peace of mind.

This King knows who he's crying out to. He knows that Yahweh dwells in the midst of His covenant people, making him accessible to all who draw near. And yet, we are left wondering why, if Yahweh is indeed enthroned on the praises of Israel (praises from those Fathers who trusted in Him, were rescued by Him, and were not put to shame because of Him), God seems to be completely absent when the King of Israel cries out to Him. What is there for him to learn through such suffering? (Heb. 5:8)

This King knows he is in a lowly position among all the creatures of the earth. Far from being perfectly spotless and blameless, he is a filthy "worm" who bears the reproach of men. The people despise him; they laugh him to scorn and hurl insults at him, mocking him during his trial of extreme suffering (Matt. 27:39-44). The message of this King is known by his mockers too. They know he trusts and delights in Yahweh. They know he believes Yahweh is his deliverer too. And so they toy with his delights; they jest about his confidence in Yahweh. In their eyes, he is not the rightful King of Israel. Their heads shake in denial (Matt. 27:39).

Yet we see that this "worm" is not ashamed of his delight in Yahweh. He knows Yahweh was with him from conception and birth. The Spirit of Yahweh was at work within him even from his first memory outside the womb, even upon his mother's breast. "From my mother's belly You have been my God," this King declares. Therefore, when real trouble is near, and no one on earth is there to help deliver him, he is not ashamed to cry out toward heaven to this God whom he has always known: "Do not be far off from me! ...There is none to help!" He knows there is no one other to help him in this time of great trouble. In fact, as we approach the center of this Psalm, we learn that this great trouble -- whatever it is -- leads to death. For all practical purposes, this King already feels dead simply because God has forsaken him; simply because he cries and cries without any rest. Later on, this King will cry out these exact same words of help again, only he will cry out to God after being laid in the "dust of death." In other words, the next time he cries out to God for this same help, we get the feeling that God has never really been far off from him. Even though the Psalm begins with the feeling of God forsaking him, we learn that God was his "help" through all of that deadly suffering. And because God was his help through suffering, he can trust that God is his help after death as well.

Towards the center of this Psalm, we find a much more vivid picture of deadly suffering; we find a picture of one who is suffering as though he were in a den of beasts, trapped and tied down with no hope of escape except through death. This King feels like he is "encompassed" by "many bulls." And not just any bulls; these are notoriously strong ones from the land of Bashan. They surround him and taunt him, leaving no way of escape. They open their mouths wide, "tearing and roaring" like ferocious lions. Now we can imagine why this King has reason to feel troubled. This King is completely debilitated within this den of beasts. He is physically and emotionally drained with his bones dislocated like a man stretched upon a rack, while his heart and its resolve melts away like wax as he drifts closer to the reality of death. His strength is brittle like dried-up pottery that crumbles to pieces. He thirsts intensely, leaving his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth (John 19:28). The only one he has to cry out to is Yahweh himself. The only one who can deliver him is  Yahweh himself. 

Yet notice carefully that this King knows who has done all of this to him. This King knows that Yahweh has done this to him. He says "You lay me in the dust of death." Part of the reason why he knows Yahweh has done this to him is because he has cried out to Yahweh repeatedly, day after day, night after night, and Yahweh has responded by placing him in a den of beasts.

Dogs also encompass this King, and behind them is a surrounding "company of evildoers" who are going to make sure there is no escape for him. Like a lion, they have pierced his hands and feet (John 20:20-28; Zech. 12:10). Not only has be been bound, but he is being viscously attacked while the company of evildoers look upon him with malicious satisfaction at his sufferings. They even divide his garments and gamble over who gets the best pieces of his clothing (John 19:23-24). While this King lays in the dust of death like dry, crumbled potsherds, his enemies haggle over the value of his bloody garments.

Yet notice how great the faith of this King is! Even though there is no doubt of real trouble and no earthly deliverance from these evil beasts, he nevertheless cries out to the God of Heaven whom he knows can deliver from the dust. He cries out: "Do not be far off from me! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!" At this point, the King cries out for Yahweh to draw near because he knows Yahweh has never been too far off from him, even after entering the dust of death. He knows who his help truly is. He knows Yahweh is present to deliver his soul from the sword of his enemies, from the beasts which surround him -- the power of dogs, the mouth of lions, and horns of oxen "with which you have answered me." Why does this King believe that Yahweh can deliver him? Because he knows that Yahweh answered him; he knows that Yahweh wasn't totally silent concerning his cries. Yahweh was the one who placed him in a position from which to deliver him. Therefore, because Yahweh placed him in the dust, this King trusts that Yahweh can deliver him from the dust. 

This King knows that Yahweh "has not despised or abhorred 
the affliction of the afflicted,
 and he has not hidden his face from him." This King knows that Yahweh
 has heard his cries all along (Heb. 5:7). Therefore he will not cease to declare the praise which is due to Yahweh. In the midst of the congregation he will talk about Yahweh to his brethren and even sing Yahweh's praise (Heb. 2:12). And those who hear the word of this King, those who share this same faith, those who likewise trust and acknowledge the sovereignty of God in all affairs of life -- even His sovereignty through suffering -- they are exhorted to give Yahweh the praise which is due to his name. "All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him; and stand in awe of him all you offspring of Israel!"

Notice carefully the expression of confidence this King shares and the source of his confidence: "From You comes my praise in the great congregation." This King is sure that he will praise Yahweh publicly among his brethren because Yahweh is the source of his praise. But not only will he praise Yahweh publicly, he will also pay his vows publicly by bringing his thank-offering to Yahweh (Lev. 7:16). In the House of Yahweh his afflicted brethren "shall eat" this thank-offering meal "and be satisfied." Also, notice that this thanksgiving meal within God's house becomes an opportunity for others to "seek Him" and to learn of Yahweh's goodness. His confidence is that "All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh, 
and all the families of the nations
 shall worship before you." Why is he confident that this will happen? Because He has known God from his mother's womb. He has known Yahweh, the covenant keeping God, from his mother's womb. He has known the God who placed him in a den to be torn apart by wild beasts while his enemies haggled over his garments. He has known the God who answered his cries by laying him in the dust of death. He also knows the God who answered his cries by drawing near to him, delivering him from death. In Deuteronomy 4:7, the people of Israel proclaim: "What great nation is there that has a god so near to it as Yahweh our God is to us?" And in this Psalm, the King knows the answer to that question. He knows there is no other god like Yahweh, which is why he has confidence that when Yahweh draws near to any nation, all the families of those nations shall worship Him. Yahweh is worthy of such worship.

Why is Yahweh worthy of such worship? Because "dominion belongs to Yahweh,
 and he rules over the nations." Because dominion belongs to Yahweh, there is hope for all future generations that are told about Yahweh and seek after Yahweh. "They shall come and proclaim" his dominion. They shall come and proclaim the gospel of "his righteousness to a people yet unborn." They shall come and proclaim the gospel of God's Kingdom on earth. Because Yahweh has laid this King in the dust of death and delivered him from it, redemption is actually accomplished. It is finished once-for-all through Yahweh's resurrection from death. And because it is finished -- redemption is accomplished -- there is prosperity, feasting, and worship for all his saints.