Session 72 | John 19:38-2:4
*John 19:38-42 | After the Cross: the Burial*
Verse 38 --
What we know about Joseph of Arimathaea:
He was likely from Ramathaim (1 Sam. 1:1) which is also (more typically) called Ramah (1 Sam. 1:19). This was also the home of Samuel.
He was a secret disciple. Note that this has nothing to do with whether one can or should be secret about their salvation. A disciple in Jesus' day was simply a person who followed Jesus' teachings.
He was a rich man (Matt. 27:57).
He was an honourable counsellor who waited for the kingdom of God (Mark 15:43). The term counsellor“member of the Sanhedrin."
He was a good man, and a just (Lk. 23:50). Thus, one who lived faithfully by Jewish law.
We can presume (though not confirm) that this was the other disciple, which was known unto the high priest from John 18:16, and was at the arrest then went into the trial.
Whether or not he was the other disciple, he was certainly a Sanhedrin at the trial. We know this only from Luke, who records that he had not consented to the counsel and deed of them“secrecy" had ended at the trial.
His secrecy being already past, Joseph now boldly besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. Since Pilate gave him leave (permission), it appears that Pilate trusted him, but also (and of more consequence) that Pilate was not, at this point, concerned about someone stealing the body. It was not until the next day that the chief priests demanded guards (see Matthew 27:62-66).
Verse 39 --
Nicodemus had come to Jesus by night (Jn. 3) and had also stood to defend Jesus' rights under the law, and because of this being accused of being a follower (Jn. 7:50-52).
Nicodemus brought myrrh, which is a gum from the sap of a tree, with medicinal and aromatic properties. He also brought aloes, the wood of the aloe tree, usually in small shavings, used for aromatic purposes.
Verse 40 --
The body of Jesus was wrapped in linen clothes (that is, strips of linen cloth, not an article of clothing).
This is the same manner of wrapping as when Jesus was born (Lk. 2:7). At His birth, it foreshadowed Jesus as the sacrificial lamb (swaddling cloth was used to ensure straight limbs for the sacrificial lambs).
At His death, the linen clothes associated Him with the rich in his death, a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9.
Verse 41 --
It is noted that it was a new sepulchre because, unlike in modern times, a Jewish sepulcher (tomb) was used multiple times and for multiple bodies. After the body decayed, bones would be placed in a sarcophagus.
Verse 42 --
Matthew 27:60 notes that the sepulcher belonged to Joseph.
It is possible that one of the reasons Pilate so quickly released the body of Jesus is because the sepulchre was nigh at hand, which served to satisfy the need to remove the body quickly because of the Jews' preparation day.
John 20:1-10 | The Resurrection: Peter and the Other Disciple
Verse 1 --
While the KJV the word week in the singular, it is a plural noun, and thus could be the first [day] of the weeks. The Greek is σάββατον [sabbaton].
“feast of weeks*" *is the 50-day period beginning the first day of the week after Passover, until the day after the seventh sabbath, which is then the feast of Pentecost.
“first day of weeks" is the “Feast of First Fruits," and it was on this day that Jesus became the first fruits of the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:23).
Note that the only exception to the plural sabbaton being the weeks“weekly" is in mind. Here and all other uses “weekly" is nonsensical.
Early in the morning, when it was yet dark, Mary Magdalene came (along with others, not mentioned in this gospel), and made the discovery of the rolled stone.
Verse 2 --
The fourth Gospel tells an abbreviated version of the story.
Matthew tells of the earthquake which moved the stone, and the words of Jesus to the women that He is not here: for he is risen, as he said (Matt. 28:5).
Luke says that they were perplexed (Lk. 24:4) and afraid (Lk. 24:5).
Perhaps this is the reason that they report that they have taken away the Lord rather than He is risen!
Verses 3-4 --
It is almost universally understood that that other disciple (v. 3) is John. One must wonder why the academic scholarly community has totally refused to acknowledge that the exact words are used in John 18:16, where almost certainly the Apostle John is not the disciple. If we allow scripture to interpret itself, then there is good evidence to see these disciples as the same person. Since we speculated that the other disciple in John 18:16 could have been Joseph of Arimathea, then could Joseph have been the other disciple here? Or could this have been Lazarus? Either would work, though the John 18:16 other disciple* *is almost certainly not Lazarus (whose life would have been in danger).
Luke's gospel only mentions Peter running into the sepulcher, no other disciple being mentioned. However, Luke emphasizes only the eleven (see Lk. 24:9, where Mary speaks to the eleven, and to all the rest.") Could this be yet another indication that the other disciple was not one of the eleven, but one of the rest?
There appears to be something out of the ordinary in the fact that the other disciple did outrun Peter (v. 4). We assume both Peter and John to be of equal physical ability, both being fishermen from the same village and presumably in the same age category. We also presume Lazarus to be a young man about Jesus' age. Perhaps, then, what is unique is that the older man, Joseph, did outrun Peter. He would have been most eager to investigate* his own tomb*.
In the end, there is much speculation, but speculation in indefinite matters is better than blind adoption of a status quo message.
