In the book that I am working on in John's Gospel, I intend to devote no less than four chapters to the Passion narrative. The first chapter will deal with preliminaries, beginning at the end of chapter 11, up to and including the Last Supper, And then, beginning with chapter 18, the arrest of Jesus, he's brought to Annas, the high priest, the denial of Peter, and then, above all, the trial before Pilate. I mentioned that there were 39 verses in that trial. I counted again, I got only 34. But Tyler appears later after the crucifixion.

[01:03]

In any case, it's a lengthy, much longer treatment than we find in the synoptics. The next chapter will be the crucifixion and all those things that happen at the crucifixion where Jesus speaks from the cross in John's Gospel. And then the resurrection and the appearances after the resurrection. And so I want to focus this evening primarily on the trial before Pilate with a few segments noted in the rest of the Passion narrative. John tells us that Jesus went with his disciples across the Kidron Valley, east of Jerusalem, to a garden. which is obviously the Garden of Gethsemane. In keeping with his downplaying of the humanity of Jesus, he omits any reference to his agony in the garden.

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What John does tell us is that Judas led soldiers there to arrest Jesus. The service that Judas offered makes a lot more sense in the accounts of the synoptics. The authorities from the temple who intended to arrest Jesus probably did not know him very well at all, and no doubt would have difficulty identifying him. If they met him on the street, they would not know him. In the Synoptics, it spends most of his time in Galilee. Judas solved their problem by saying, I know where we disciples go with him when he's in Jerusalem. I will take you there, and I will identify him by embracing him. And there'll be no mistakes. John does not say anything about this.

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Judas is with them. that Judas does not kiss his master or anything like that. On the contrary, Jesus voluntarily offers himself to them. Who are you looking for? Jesus of Nazareth. I am he. Then the soldiers fell back. Then he says again, who are you looking for? And so he offers himself willingly in John's Gospel. So the soldiers, their officers, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him. They took him then to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. There's a very sketchy account of a kind of hearing, preliminary trial before Annas, nothing about the subject of the trial, nothing about the accusations as we have in the synoptics, and in John there is no trial at all before Caiaphas.

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It is clear that these matters are of little interest to John's Gospel. Then in chapter 18 verse 28, they took Jesus from Caiaphas, he mentions he went there but there's no trial, to Pilate's headquarters. And so we have this lengthy section about the trial before Pilate. It is, quite simply, from a theological perspective, the center of the fourth gospel, because it is the center of the passion story. and the passion story in every gospel is the center. The Diamond Rising of Jesus constitutes obviously the historical center, but the meaning of these events is revealed prior to them in the interaction and dialogue between Jesus and Pilate.

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Scholars have long noted the careful literary structure of this section of John's Gospel, and they have generally recognized here an example of a literary device called a chiasmus. Now, I myself have, you know, not very usually impressed by supposed literary structures, some of them very complicated, which the evangelist is supposed to have used. However, this one seems to be too obvious to ignore. The word chiasmus is derived from the Greek letter chi, which is written like a large X and thus suggests a crossing pattern. And so the Oxford English Dictionary defines a chiasmus as a grammatical figure by which the order of the words in one of two parallel classes is inverted in the other.

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So you have one, if you have five members, there's one, two, 3 is the hinge scene, and then 5 and 6. 1 corresponds to 4 and 5. 1 corresponds to 5. 2 corresponds to 3. And 2 is in the middle. In this case, we have 7 members. When applied to the seven scenes of the trial before pilot, this means that scenes one and seven will be related, as well as two and six, three and five. But it calls special attention to scene four, which is a kind of hinged scene, transitional scene. Such a literary structure has the advantage of providing a sense of symmetry and also of highlighting certain elements in the narrative. In the case of the trial of Jesus before Pilate, it is evident that John modified the sequence of events deliberately in order to achieve this effect, this chiasmatic effect.

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And so, for example, in his account, The scourging and mocking of Jesus, which in the synoptics belongs in the most logical place, immediately before the way of the cross and the crucifixion. But not in John's Gospel. It is moved back and becomes that hinged scene between the first three and the second three. And then only comes the crucifixion. This seems to mean that John was deliberately constructing this to bring out the meaning of certain elements in the dialogue with Pilate. It is also interesting to note that scenes 1 and 7 occur outside Pilate's headquarters Scenes 2 and 6 occur inside his headquarters, and scenes 3 and 5 occur outside his headquarters.

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It's a little bit too obvious to be ignored. All right, scene 1. This scene comprises verses 28 to 32 of chapter 18, describes the transfer of Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the headquarters of Pilate. Pilate, as Roman procurator, normally resided at Caesarea, on the coast, on the Mediterranean sea coast. He had come to Jerusalem for this major feast, not because he was interested in the religious dimension of it, but to take personal charge of the Roman garrison, the Roman soldiers, because he knew that the Passover was a volatile time. when there were likelihood of disturbances and perhaps even rioting. And they remembered the glories of the exodus and so forth and then reflected upon their subjugation under the Romans.

[10:23]

And of course the one thing that Rome would not tolerate in the provinces was rioting. Rome stood for order. And their co-operators and legates were given orders, keep peace at all costs. And Pilate knows they've got a dossier on him back in Rome, and he wants to make a good impression. So he's up there to make sure that there's no trouble. The Jewish authorities remain outside the headquarters when they come to ask Pilate to condemn Jesus. They bring him there as a prisoner. They remain outside the headquarters because they will be ritually defiled if they were in contact with this pagan building and therefore could not celebrate the Passover, which was still coming. At some point, these authorities are joined by a crowd.

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Jesus is handed over to Pilate But he must come out to the outer courtyard to discover the reason for their bringing a prisoner to him. He said, what accusation do you bring against this man? The Jewish authorities do not respond directly to Pollitt's question, but declare simply that it should be obvious that they would not bring someone to a Roman court unless he had committed a Roman crime. Pilate cannot resist the temptation to remind them of their limited powers as a subjugated people. He says, take him yourselves and judge him according to your law. But they want his death, and that requires woman cooperation. You can be sure the last thing they wanted to do was go to see Pilate.

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But when you want something bad enough, and you need Pilate to do it, then you swallow your pride. This revealed the depth of their fear concerning the threat to their interests, which seemed to be posed by Jesus. In scene 7, we have a similar question brought up about why he is brought as a prisoner. Here he is being charged. In scene 7, Pilate declares him guilty and orders him to be crucified. They ask for his death in scene 1. In scene 7, he grants them his death. Scene 2. Pilate returns now to the interior of his headquarters where Jesus is held captive and asks him if he is, in fact, the King of the Jews.

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At this point, no one has claimed such a title for Jesus, but Pilate has apparently deduced this, that this is, in fact, the charge against him. He would not be there if he had not been perceived to challenge Pilate's authority. Jesus does not entirely reject the notion that he might be a king. And in fact, both John and his readers, as well as ourselves, know that he is king of heaven and earth. But he is not a king in any political sense. He says in verse 36, my kingdom is not of this world. There is no doubt, however, that the deeper issue here does concern kingship, but only in the larger sense of power. Pilate is representative of the mighty Roman Empire and wields a power that seems invincible.

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The presence of his soldiers and the opulence of his palace proclaim this kind of power. Jesus, a bound and helpless prisoner, also possesses a power, however, which easily eclipses the power of Rome, and in fact of all human authority. I think this is the issue that John wants to draw. Who has power? Who has the power that really counts? And you have this dramatic contrast between Pilate sitting in judgment and Jesus bound, a prisoner. But Jesus has the power of unselfish love. And so this crucial scene addresses this central issue in John's Gospel.

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Does Jesus come to bring a divine power that is little more than another example of the power we know coming from wealth and influence? Or did he bring a radically new kind of power which is most often expressed in suffering and humility and self-effacement? but which surprisingly conquers every other kind of power, so much so that it isn't even a contest. Pilate asked Jesus, so then you are a king? Jesus seems to respond directly to Pilate as he says, you say that I am a king. Of course, Pilate had not said that. He just said, are you a king? But John wants Jesus to claim some kind of kingship and some form of power, even though it is far from the kingship and power of Pilate.

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And then Jesus states positively the sense in which he is a king and does possess power. A crucial verse in the Gospel. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world. to testify to the truth. It states that the whole purpose of the incarnation is that Jesus may be the one in whom the ultimate and only indispensable truth is revealed to us human beings. This is not, of course, philosophical or scientific truth. For Jesus is neither a philosopher nor a scientist. Rather, it is a truth that is represented by the teaching of Jesus, indeed by the very person of Jesus.

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This truth is the revelation, the surprising revelation, that all real power, all power that effects lasting results, is found in unselfish loving that Jesus offered throughout his life in which he will now express perfectly in his sacrificial death. The second scene in the trial before Pilate presents therefore a dramatic contrast between the obvious power of Pilate and the less apparent but much more real power of Jesus. We had a funeral one time, and we have a wake service in the evening before, at which the abbot or the crier preaches. And then the funeral mass, we have usually one of the conferors who knew this person well, has the homily for the mass.

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And one time we had a sermon in the crier, who was professor of moral theology in the seminary also, he made a statement that struck me, you know, as if so true. He said, things are not what they seem to be. We look at the human dimension of this person who is dying. He was a good man, you know, but then he got weak, and then he got sicker, and then he got sicker still, and he died. And so apparently, you know, just, you know, a little comet appears in the heavens and disappears again. Doesn't leave a trace. You know, one of my professors used to say, who cares now who was who in 1892? And these princes of Israel who marched down the center aisle of the basilica and down the corridors of the monastery, part of another college, right through the seminary,

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It's amazing how quickly they're forgotten. There's a lesson there. Things are not what they seem to be. As a matter of fact, there's another story going on here. The story of growing closeness to the Lord, becoming stronger instead of weaker. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, No wonder we do not lose faith, because even though our body grows ever more feeble, whatever that means, there is within us a new life, springing up unto eternal life. Things are not what they seem to be. The faith vision, the faith understanding of life, and the rational understanding of life are very, very different. Yes, the loving power of Jesus is inevitably directed to the benefit of others.

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It is not surprising that Jesus should continue. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice. The whole purpose of my coming was to reveal the truth. the power of unselfish loving, found in the Father, revealed by me, and those who belong to the truth listen to my voice. To listen to the voice of Jesus means to accept and trust his words, to trust his testimony about the truth, about what is the real truth, and to guide one's life in accordance with his teaching. Jesus used similar language when he compared himself to a good shepherd. A good shepherd calls his own sheep by name.

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They know him. He who belongs to the truth listens to my voice in instinctive recognition of the authenticity of the teaching of Jesus. He goes ahead of them, the sheep follow him because they know his voice. These are his own sheep whom the Father has entrusted to his care. The Creator therefore has placed within us, all of us, a chord that responds to the call of Jesus. Deep inside every human being is a chord which is meant to vibrate when it hears the word of Jesus. Unfortunately, layers and layers of insulation are put over this and our sensitivity is destroyed. That's why we never give up on another human being, no matter how much they resist the message of Jesus. You keep waiting for that vulnerable day when the void will get through and touch that cord and there'll be a resonance there.

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That's why it's so important to keep preaching. You know, one day the audience is sleeping, the next day they're bored, the next day they're distracted, and then you get them on the fourth day. Well, not literally, but we have to wait for the vulnerable moment, the vulnerable to the presence of God. Very often at the times of difficulty, or times of grief, or times of sickness, when our usual defenses no longer are adequate, they have the best chance to say, it's not all over, this is not the end of the world. God foresaw all of this. One of the most important elements in pastoral ministry is to recognize opportunity. Recognize. That means you've got to be in touch with where people are, otherwise you don't know what's going on out there.

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To recognize the opportunity for grace, for the Word. By the grace of God, we take the risk of trusting the message of Jesus and commit ourselves to his wisdom. And in that sense, we belong to the truth. That is, we place ourselves under the guidance of his word. This means that though we recognize the reality of Pilate's kind of power, we acknowledge as supreme the power that Jesus possesses. As a matter of fact, political power and the power of wealth are not at all evil in themselves. They become evil and oppressive only when they are not placed in the service of unselfish loving. All of this makes no sense at all to Pilate. His only reaction is the ambiguous query, what is truth?

[25:39]

John's rather sympathetic presentation of Pilate suggests that this question should not be taken as disdainful or cynical. Rather, Pilate simply asks the only inescapable question, what is truth, and so many, like himself, are too busy and too distracted or too practical to wait for an answer. In that sense, Pilate is more a tragic figure than a rogue. The corresponding sixth scene in the charismatic scheme is also concerned with power, but by this time Pilate is no longer in charge. Pilate is frightened. He threatens Jesus with power, but Jesus says, you'd have no power unless it was given to you by God. So both 2 and 6, both scenes, are about power.

[26:45]

One reinforces the other. Scene 3. Pilate is a shrewd and experienced politician. It takes him less than a minute to conclude that Jesus is no threat to him. The very fact that the Jewish authorities charge him with a crime is proof enough that he is not a revolutionary because there is nothing that those authorities would like more than to have a good revolution and drive out the Romans, and Pilate knows that. Nonetheless, Pilate also knows that the Jewish leaders can easily foment a riot, and that is something that would not look good on his record in Rome. Pilate desperately wants to solve this problem without public disorder. His last ploy is to offer to release Jesus in keeping with the custom of amnesty on a festive occasion.

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Under normal circumstances, they would have gladly accepted this offer, but they will now settle for nothing less than the death of Jesus. They resolutely refuse to be distracted from that objective. On a deeper level, of course, they too are making a faithful choice because they too are rejecting the truth that is brought by Jesus. They think that God's truth must be passed through their narrow religious channels. They cannot risk the flood that Jesus has come to unleash. And so they reject Pilate's offer. Not this man, but Barabbas. At this point, Padat realizes that he is no longer in charge of the situation. The Jewish determination has put him on the defensive, and so he yields to their request.

[28:55]

Theme four. In this crucial hinge scene, Pilate orders Jesus to be flogged, and he is also subjected to the taunts and ridicule of the soldiers. Though consisting of only three verses, the import of this scene is very significant. We have already noted that John disregards historical considerations as he moves the flogging and taunting from his normal location to this place. It is also noteworthy that this is the only scene where Pilate is not personally present. His attitude changes after this scene as he becomes more and more defensive and even fearful But most of all, this scene is a dramatic and shocking example of the weakness and vulnerability of Jesus.

[30:01]

He is not only subjected to extreme physical pain, scourging was no joke, but he also suffers the psychic torture of mockery and ridicule. This is, in many ways, the lowest point of the Passion stories. Even the crucifixion is almost secondary to this. The toddler of Jesus takes the form of a mockery of his supposed royal pretensions. And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe. They kept coming up to him saying, Hail, King of the Jews. All the while, the love of Jesus was never more evident, and his true kingship was never more clearly displayed. The divine power of love rarely looks like human power, just as the fragility of human power is often not recognized until it's too late.

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Scene 5. Pilate said to them, here is the man. In this scene, Pilate goes outside again to tell the Jews that he finds Jesus innocent of the charges brought against him. He says, look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him. But this time he brings Jesus with him. It has often been assumed that Pilate had Jesus scourged and then presented publicly in a futile attempt to placate his enemies. It would be as if he were saying, is this punishment not enough? Showing Jesus scourged, bleeding, you know, crown of thorns on his head. This interpretation is historically plausible. But John is far more interested in its theological and symbolic meaning because Jesus, beaten and bruised, is being presented as well as to the crowd and his pitiful condition is intended to remind us of the cost of unselfish loving.

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When Pilate says, here is the man, he is making a statement whose implications reach to all times and all places. It is as if he had said, this is When Paddock says, here is the man, he is making a statement whose implications reach to all times and all places. It is as if he had said, this is what real love can cost. And though an unbelieving world may be repelled by this, it will soon be evident that the final outcome is victory and glory. Now fortunately, for most of us, unselfish loving does not take us to this extreme. God is merciful to us, and we can love unselfishly without having to go through this kind of torture.

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But it does remind us that if it costs us to love unselfishly, it is something that Jesus asked only after having done it himself. The Jewish authority, who for John represents the unbelieving world, cannot recognize the divine power in this pathetic figure. And so they must destroy what they cannot understand, crucify him. Once again, we remind ourselves that they do not do this because they are Jews, but only because they have not been able to accept the message of Jesus. Having rejected the light, they have no choice but to enter the darkness. Their successors in this regard belong to every race and every nation. There is nothing ethnic about this rejection of Jesus. From the perspective of the Jordanite community, Jesus has clearly established his divinity

[34:57]

And this should supersede all legal obligations, all legal objections. In the story of the blind man in chapter 9, we recall the issue was clearly stated. The Jews appealed to Moses. The former blind man, now seeing the true nature of Jesus, said, that is amazing that you do not know where he is coming from. There is admittedly a certain logic on the side of the Jews in this story. because they clamor for the penalty prescribed for blasphemy, and this does appear to be blasphemy. The problem is that this logic is set on its head by the miraculous power and the wisdom of Jesus. This spells tragedy for those who refuse to accept the evidence or the credentials of Jesus and his divinity. The reaction of Pilate is surprising. When he hears them cry out for crucifixion, he says he was more afraid than ever.

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It is unlikely that the historical pilot was really frightened. But for John, he represents the powerful secular person who cannot be completely sure that unselfish love is of no value. There's always that concern that maybe there's some truth in this. The sixth scene. This scene finds Pilate inside his headquarters once again, and it corresponds to the second scene where the subject of discussion was kingship and power. We must assume that Jesus was brought back into the headquarters, where, still dressed as a map king and covered with wounds, he is asked by Pilate, where are you from? As in the second theme, the subject is power. Therefore, when Jesus remains silent, Pater says to him, do you refuse to speak to me?

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Do you not know that I have power to release you and power to crucify you? Those who rely on secular and violent power believe to the very end that such power solves all problems. They dare not entertain the possibility that some other power may exist. Raymond Brown notes this important distinction. He writes, Pilate has spoken of his physical power over Jesus. He can take away the life of Jesus. Jesus speaks to him on another level, on the level of truth and of genuine power. There is something almost surreal about the image of Jesus, battered and beaten, replying calmly to this far from idle threat of Pilate, and saying, you would have no power over me unless it had been given to you from above.

[38:21]

All power is from God, and the use of power will be judged by God. The supreme power and the greatest gift of God is the power of unselfish love. All other power, secular or religious, is meant to be in service of this. In this scenario, therefore, pilot and religious authorities represent a power that has been torn loose from the love that was meant to guide it. Only the power of Jesus' love, not appearing vanquished and ridiculous, will prove victorious and liberating in the end. Scene 7, comprising verses 12 to 16 of chapter 19, corresponds to the first scene, where Pilate also comes out again to speak to the Jewish authorities.

[39:26]

This time, however, He comes out not to hear them ask for the death of Jesus, but to grant their request for the death of Jesus. Pilate grants their request, not because he thinks Jesus is guilty, but because they threaten to denounce him to the emperor. They say to him, if you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar. This kind of pressure does not, of course, excuse Pilate, for he is in fact abdicating his most solemn responsibility, which is to see that justice is done. People who lack religious values often find it acceptable to weigh human life on the scales of convenience. I recall when Stalin met with Roosevelt and Churchill at Yalta. toward the end of the Second World War.

[40:28]

And Roosevelt or Churchill, one of them, brought up this rumor, this persistent rumor, that the Russians had slaughtered 10,000 Polish army officers and buried them in the Katyn forest, and Stalin said to them, oh, what are you making such a fuss about that? There were only 10,000. Since then, they found the graves. They found the places where they were buried. But if you don't have respect for one life, you don't have respect for any life. Having made his faithful decision, Pater proceeds to render judgment But first you must proclaim to the Jews and the whole world, here is your king. John wants Pilate to say this because it is true, even though no one there is aware of it.

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When they cry out, away with him, crucify him, Pilate again says, more than he knows, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priest answers, we have no king but Caesar. thereby rejecting Israel's most fundamental belief in the supremacy of God in human history. The seamen wrote a terribly simple statement, then they handed him over to be crucified. The love of Jesus will now be displayed definitively in his total giving of himself for the sake of others. Lifted up on the cross, he is glorified. This is the glorification of Jesus, the manifestation of his love. Without the vision of faith, this would be pure folly and utter defeat.

[42:37]

With the vision of faith, however, it is pure wisdom. and total victory. Things are not what they seem to be. Then comes the crucifixion. There they crucified Him. And Paul said, put a plaque, a board above the cross. This is Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, in three languages. They object. Paul insists. It was proclaiming the kingship, the royal power of Jesus to all the world, comprised under those three languages, Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. They took off his garments, the seamless tunics, symbolic of his priesthood, because the high priest of the Old Testament wore a seamless tunic.

[43:42]

also symbolic of unity because it was not to be divided, the oneness of the true Church. Then in the swing scene on the cross is the exchange between Jesus and his mother and the beloved disciple. This scene is the central and pivotal act at the crucifixion. There is no doubt that Mary and the beloved disciple were historical characters, but it is equally clear that they are presented here also in a symbolic way. We are alerted to this by the unusual way in which Jesus addresses his mother as woman, just as he had done in Cana. And this in turn takes us immediately to the only other place in the fourth gospel where he is called woman, as I mentioned. John seems to see this episode as a sign of how Jesus prepares for the future when he will no longer be physically present to his disciples.

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His mother will then represent the church as the community that will give spiritual birth to subsequent generations of his disciples. As such, she will assume the role of Second Eve, the woman. the original woman, the mother of all the living, as Genesis calls her in 3.20. And so Mary becomes the spiritual mother, the second Eve, of all those who believed in her Son. In this sense, she is properly called Mother of the Church. In a similar manner, the beloved disciple, representing all faithful Christians, is told to accept Mary as his mother, just as the faithful followers of Jesus must henceforth look to Mary and Mother Church for spiritual nourishment. From this perspective, we can understand also why Jesus resisted the initiative of his mother Athena.

[46:00]

What concern is that to you and me, he said. We are told that he did so because his hour had not yet come. In other words, Mary's role in salvation must await the final days of Jesus when his hour will have arrived. At that time, She will participate in his suffering, which will become her birth pangs as she assumes her ultimate role as spiritual mother of all Christians. mentioned one other passage in the resurrection story. There's some similarity synoptic, but there's something very special about John's resurrection story and that is the role of Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene, after reporting her discovery of the open tomb to Peter and the beloved disciple, returns to the tomb and is weeping there.

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Finally, she looks into the tomb and discovers that two angels are there, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying. The angels ask her why she is weeping, and she replies, they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. At that point, she turns around and sees a man standing nearby whom she does not recognize, She thinks he is the gardener, and she asks him if he knows what has become of Jesus. We recall that there are angels in the tomb in the synoptic accounts also, and they announce that he is risen. In John, however, this discovery of the resurrection of Jesus does not come from the announcement of an angel by way of information, but comes through a personal encounter between Jesus and Mary. Jesus said to her, Mary, this name must have been spoken in such a loving way that she could have no doubt about the identity of her friend.

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She then replies in an equally personal way, for John takes the trouble to tell us that her Wabuni was in Hebrew, to emphasize this familiar, intimate quality. Quite instinctively then, Mary embraces Jesus, but he asks her gently to let go of him. He has not really returned to her world, as if there had been no crucifixion and death. He belongs now to another world. He has appeared only to let her know that he is alive and that all is well. In this mystical community of John, the recognition, the encounter with God occurs in a personal recognition, in a personal meeting, not through the information from someone else. Emphasizing the importance of the experience of God

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through the ministry of the sacrament.

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