Reading the Gospels Together

The Death and Burial of Jesus – Part 7

At this point we need to notice something else about John’s story – there is no mention of darkness covering the whole earth. John has told his readers that Jesus was crucified at noon which was the time when Mark and the other synoptic writers reported that darkness covered the earth from noon until about three o’clock in the afternoon. John does not provide his readers with any further time references – in fact the mention of noon comes during the trial before Pilate. John’s next reference to time is ambiguous as his readers are reminded only that evening is coming and with it both the Passover and the Sabbath. We are again at a point of wondering why John does not mention the darkness or why Mark added it to his story. Certainly the engulfing presence of darkness works well in Mark’s dark story – it is appropriate that at the moment of greatest despair the “lights should go out.” One might argue that talking about the whole world being engulfed in darkness works well for Mark and may be his own contribution. On the other hand John has written the story in such triumph that darkness likely would have spoiled the atmosphere for him. Thus one might argue that John conveniently omitted the darkness to serve his own gospel purpose. We simply can’t decide this one since theological motives are present in both Mark and John. Ultimately it really doesn’t matter in the scope of the whole story.

There are two more things missing in John’s gospel – there is no mention of the curtain in the Temple being torn in two at the point of Jesus’ death nor is there mention of the centurion’s declaration that Jesus was the Son of God (Mark) or innocent (Luke). Nor is there any mention of Matthew’s report that the tombs were opened and the saints rising and entering the city. John knows none of this. In its place John tells of the sparing of Jesus’ bones being broken because he is already dead and of a soldier who pierced Jesus’ side and the flow of blood and water that came from that piercing. If Mark’s story of the tearing of the curtain is symbolic of both the opening of access to God and that God is now “out of the box” and loose in the world, John’s report is not without symbolic value too. As John tells the story it begins with the concern that the bodies of those crucified would remain on their cross and defile the solemn Holy Day about to arrive. Though he did not say so that might have been Mark’s concern as well in the story of Joseph of Arimathea asking for the body of Jesus – though Joseph does not seem concerned about the other two criminals in Mark’s gospel, perhaps because they would survive through the day of Sabbath and present no problem since it was the dead body of Jesus that was of concern. At any rate John tells his readers that it was the Jews who were concerned about all three people who were crucified – they must be removed from their crosses. So John tells his readers that they go to Pilate and ask that the legs of all three be broken thus hurrying their deaths. The soldiers come and break the legs of the first and then the other. At that point the soldiers discover is that Jesus is already dead so they do not break his legs. John tells his readers that this fulfills the scripture regarding the bones of the Passover lamb – not one bone of the Passover lamb’s body was to be broken. Not one bone in Jesus’ body is broken. Furthermore the soldiers pierce Jesus’ body with a spear and again unwittingly fulfill OT prophecy from Zechariah. That blood and water came forth from Jesus’ side presents somewhat of mystery for modern readers of John’s gospel. What does John mean by this, if anything? Some have seen sacramental value in the blood and water – both Holy Communion and Baptism. Others have remembered that Jesus had said that rivers of life would come from within welling up to eternal life. John is not clear in what he means. But we can live with that mystery.

John has not yet mentioned Joseph of Arimathea who now makes his appearance. John describes Joseph as a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because he was afraid of the Jews. We have noticed the presence of disciples who wish to remain secret for fear of the Jews earlier in John’s gospel. To be sure there more than likely were people like that in Jesus’ time but the reference also likely refers to disciples in John’s community – especially if John’s community was in a hostile and bitter relationship with the nearby Jewish community from which they had been expelled. Joseph is an ambiguous character in John’s gospel. John does not mention that he is a part of the council or that he was rich. Still, Joseph does not emerge as a disciple to be admired fully. John has little time for those who seek to remain secret. There is another man who comes with Joseph to bury Jesus. His name is Nicodemus and we have met him twice before in John’s gospel. He was the religious leader who came to Jesus at night early on in John’s gospel story. And he was the one who at least attempted to defend Jesus before his fellow council members by declaring that Jesus deserved a hearing before he was condemned. Nicodemus is also an ambiguous character in John’s gospel. Is he a faithful disciple of Jesus? John leaves that up to his readers to decide. At any rate Nicodemus adorns Jesus with an abundant amount of spices and ointment weighing about 100 pounds. That would have cost Nicodemus a fortune! Joseph and Nicodemus take the body of Jesus and wrap it in a linen cloth along with the mixture of myrrh and aloes and place the body in a new tomb where no one else has been laid. John tells his readers the tomb was in a garden near the place of crucifixion and Jesus was placed there since the hour was getting late and the Sabbath, and with it Passover in John’s gospel, was about to arrive. John does not mention that a stone was rolled across the door of the tomb though that can be assumed since John will tell his readers that when the Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early on the first day of the week the stone had been rolled away.

We have listened to how all four gospel writers tell the story of the death and burial of Jesus. We have noticed that they have a good deal in common with one another – a basic story of Jesus being crucified between two others, of Jesus being verified as really dead, and of Jesus being placed in a tomb with a stone rolled in front of the door. About that all four gospel writers agree. But we have also noted how very different each gospel writer’s story is from the others. That may be troubling to us. We would like a cleaner picture. We are left wondering exactly what happened. How are we to deal with all these discrepancies? Do they somehow violate our confidence in the Bible or in the gospel? They need not do that. In fact, if we can get beyond our own preconceived notions about the Bible and let the Bible say what it wants to say we can gain a great deal from seeing one story unfold in four very different ways. We have been attempting to let the Bible speak for itself – to listen to the Bible literally. And that leads us to this place where we can value the brilliance and contribution of four gospel writers all who are deeply concerned to witness to Jesus, the Crucified Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior of the world. When we let them all speak in their own terms we begin to gain the richness of the message. They proclaim God’s Word to us and that Word changes us, captures us, and frees us. We have one more part of the story to consider – the resurrection of Jesus. Once again we are in for dealing with differences in the story. But we are also open to hear the message of God in these gospel writers. And once we have heard the story from beginning to end we will be in a position to make some conclusions about what we have heard. It’s a wonderful story! It’s a powerful story that is finally the only story that really matters. So we press on.