The Glory of the Cross

The passion narratives in the Gospel of John have a different setting from that of Synoptics. Substantially they narrate the same fact, but then how the fourth Gospel describes the death of Jesus is different. From his symbolic perspective, John wants to focus (give weight) on those events and writes about the glory of Jesus. The cross is a powerful and operative manifestation of the presence of God. It is there where one understands who Jesus is; there is manifested the great love of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit offer to humanity, creating a new situation.

The passion narrative of John, which occupies chapters 18 and 19, acquires a very serene context. He does not present a tragic series of painful events but proposes bright portraits that reveal the sense of all that is happening. The complete passion narrative of John can be organized into five significant sections. A place characterizes each one of them. By physically changing the location of the action, we see the change of the scene.

The first scene is situated in a garden, and the fifth and the last stage, the fifth one, is again located in a garden. Only John says in the place Jesus was crucified; there was a garden, and, in the garden, there was a new tomb where the body of Jesus was laid. At the start of the story, there is the arrest of Jesus that happened in a garden. The word garden is important, and remember that it is the same place marking the beginning and the end of the narrative. Technically it is called inclusion.

If I insist on the word ‘garden’ saying it is significant, it means that the entire event of the passion is enveloped in the symbol of the garden; you understand the symbolic reference. A sign is a thing that brings to the mind another thing. The reader of the Gospel of John, knowing the Bible, understands that ‘garden’ reminds the theme of the ‘original garden’ of Eden. Some things happen that bring back people to their original condition.

So, the first scene is the arrest of Jesus in a garden, and the fifth scene, and the burial is in a garden. The second scene is situated in the palace of Caiaphas, where the high priest Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas, receives Jesus. In this way, John narrates an episode omitted by the Synoptics, a pre interrogative session by one who commanded even as he was no longer in power. The old man Annas was, in fact, the one in charge of all the events. Caiaphas, the high priest, was only a puppet in the hands of the grand old man. At the center of it all, there is the praetorium of Pilate. It is the main scene where the true and proper process takes place in front of the Roman Governor. The fourth episode is at Calvary with some related scenes to the crucifixion and death of Jesus.

To summarizing, the narrative can be divided into five parts: the arrest at the garden, the interrogation at Annas’ place, the process at the praetorium of Pilate, death at Calvary, the burial at the garden. These five scenes are a perfect literary organization.

We begin with the first part. The first scene starts in a garden with the arrest. John, differing from the Synoptics, does not speak about the prayer of Jesus, nor the agony he underwent in Gethsemane. He simply presents a confrontation between light and darkness. Judas disappeared at night and reappeared to deliver Jesus. There are two opposing groups: Jesus and his disciples and Judas and those who accompanied him. Knowing all that is to take place, Jesus tells them: “Whom are you looking for?” These are the first words that the evangelist puts on the lips of Jesus in the passion narrative. We are reminded that the first words pronounced by Jesus in the Gospel of John are addressed to those two who followed him in the beginning, and they were: “What are you looking for?” There is a conscious connection.

Now begins the concluding part, and there is again the same question, “Who are you looking for? They answered him, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ He said to them, ‘I AM.'” The response of Jesus is more than what appears; he presents himself, once again, with the theophoric formula of the name of God Himself, ‘I Am.’ So much so, “as soon as he said, ‘I Am,’ they turned away and fell to the ground.” After this, Jesus asks the same question. They give the same response, and Jesus again said, “I told you that I Am.” What is notable in this reaction is that the enemies turn away and fall.

“When I invoke your name, says a Psalm, those who assault me will retreat and fall.” This is a theological narration. In the very beginning, fulfillment is demonstrated. In front of the revelation of the glorious divinity of Jesus, the enemies retreat and fall. It is they who fail, and they have no strength to choke the light. It is theological anticipation, and then there is the narration of the facts. “I told you that I am. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.” They laid hands on him and arrest him. Peter takes out his sword and tries to fight. He even managed to cut the ear of a servant, and John specifies his name as Malchus. Peter is following Jesus but not in the style of Jesus. He does not accept the way of thinking or acting of Jesus. Like Judas, he reasons in his own way. He would like that his Teacher changes his mind.

They bind Jesus and take him to Annas’ house, the great old man who pulls the strings of politics in Jerusalem. It is a preliminary interrogation. He wants to know Jesus to decide what to do with him. After which, he will tell the authority, Caiaphas, what he must do. The narration of this episode is very well constructed in several passages, constructed in a parallel way that tends towards a center.

In the beginning, we find the moment of passage and entrance. Jesus is brought into the house of Annas. Two disciples followed him, Peter and one more. The other disciple, being known to the High Priest, entered while Peter remains outside. The other disciple speaks to the gatekeeper and lets Peter also enter the house. This detail is important because the other disciple, in all probability, is John himself, the evangelist, who reveals himself as an important person in Jerusalem, known by the High Priest. Being connected to that environment, he can enter the palace peacefully and requests to let in Peter, who is unknown; otherwise, he would have been left outside.

Now, we see Peter at this point warming himself because it is cold. They had lit a fire, and together with the servants, Peter warms himself. This happens outside. Again, in the end, the sense that Peter was there warming up returns. It is cold. It is in such an external frame, while Peter is cold, he denies Jesus.

It is the tragic moment of denial. It is an authentic betrayal that Peter reserves for Jesus; he denies knowing him. They ask him if he was the disciples of that man, and he replied, “I am not.” We notice the difference here. When Jesus was questioned, he answered, “I Am.” When Peter was questioned, he replied, “I am not.” The ‘not being’ is the refusal of ‘being,’ of the light, of revelation.

For this reason, Peter is cold and needs to warm himself. These are realistic details in John that have a solid theological sense. Within this frame of the drama of the disciple who denies being a disciple, there is the interrogation.

Annas began to question him about his teaching. Jesus answered. A servant strikes him. Jesus replied. Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas. We note the parallel and a concentric structure. In the center of everything, there is a slap. It is one of the few painful events that John narrates. It is a strong symbolic gesture. At the center of the slap given by the high priest’s servant to Jesus is the figure of Jesus despised and condemned. The center of the symbolism of the slap is within the frame of the words of Jesus: “Why ask me? Ask those who heard me what I said to them. They know what I said.” ‘I have not spoken in secret. I spoke openly to the world. Why do you have to question me?’

The plot lies in the fact that, at the same time, they question the disciples outside. They question Peter. Peter knows what Jesus said, but he denies it. Who strikes Jesus? Inside, one servant of the Annas physically strikes Jesus. Outside, the disciple is striking Jesus because he practically denies knowing the message that Jesus taught. “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong, but if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”

It is interesting to note that Jesus does not show the other cheek, or rather if they give another slap, he accepts it but does not suffer passively or silently. He does not react with violence but responds with his serene wisdom and puts the one who struck him in front of his responsibility. ‘Why do you strike me? If I said something wrongly, you must show me the wrong. If I am right, why do you use violence?’ This phrase is much more critical than it appears because it is a word addressed to that group of Jews that refused Jesus.

The evangelist says, in synthesis, that if the revelation of Jesus is wrong, show where he is wrong. On the other hand, if this is coherent with the Scripture and God’s revelation, why do you not accept it? Both the disciples and his opponents can remain without accepting the revelation of Jesus. Not to accept Jesus means to strike him. The scene changes. There is no account of the meeting at the house of Caiaphas. The high Priest decides because Annas has determined to kill him and orders him to be taken to Pilate.

The third great scene of the passion is set in the praetorium of Pilate. It is a very long and detailed narrative, much more detailed than that of the Synoptics. In this case, there is also a careful and precise literary structure. Seven scenes occur with a continuous alternation inside – outside. We can divide these seven portraits into three, a center and another three. In the first part, we have Pilate and Jews outside, Pilate and Jesus inside, then Pilate speaks to the Jews outside, then at the center, there is the coronation of Jesus. It is very important. We are in the center of the center. We have said that the passion is narrated in five scenes.

We are commenting on the central scene, and at the center of the main scene, there is the king’s coronation. A crown of thorns is placed, a purple cloak, and he is greeted as king of the Jews. It is a mockery on the part of the soldiers, yet it is the reality. He is the king of the Jews. For this reason, John sets apart this scene and places it at the center. Taking clues from the scourging and focusing on those gestures of kingship understood as a mockery, but ironically, it is the profession of the truth. On the other side, we find an external scene – Pilate with the Jews again; an internal scene – Pilate with Jesus, and the last external scene with the condemnation.

These are important moments in which Pilate speaks with Jesus. The topic is kingship. ‘Are you indeed a King? They accuse you of being a king of the Jews. You say this on your own, or others speak to you about me. Others said it or what do I know… are you or are you not a king?’ According to his style, John uses theological language; Jesus says, ‘I am king. For this I was born, for this I came into the world to give witness to the truth.’

The kingship of Jesus is to give witness to the truth. As soon as he hears such theoretical speeches, Pilate, a pragmatic Roman man, leaves him asking ‘what is truth?’ without waiting for an answer. If he had waited, probably Jesus could have told him: ‘The truth is me,’ just as he told the disciples during the last supper: “I am the truth.” The truth is not an idea. It is not a formula; it is not a philosophical system but a person. Jesus is the truth, the fullness of the revelation of God. He is king for this reason. He came to the world to make God known.

Pilate realizes Jesus is not a dangerous person and would like to free him. Pilate had him scourged just to satisfy the authorities who accuse him. After this, he presents him, ‘here is the man.’ Pilate intended to say, ‘look at this miserable man, are you afraid of such a person?’ But in the Johannine irony, Pilate is showing the real man. Here is the man. He is genuinely the fulfillment of humanity according to the plan of God. But the authorities accuse him, saying that he made himself the Son of God. Pilate, in front of this discourse, gets frightened.

He goes inside and talks to Jesus again. ‘Can I know where you are coming from?’ It is a fundamental question. Where does Jesus come from? Where does the water of Cana come from? From where does the wine that Jesus offered come from? Where does the water for the Samaritan woman come from? From where is the bread taken to feed the people? Where does Jesus come from? Jesus does not answer. Pilate is a bit exasperated. ‘Do you not answer me? Do you not know that I have the power? I can have you crucified, or I can let you free.’ ‘No. You would have no power over me, tells Jesus, if it had not been given to you from above. You are a delegate of the emperor; you command because the emperor has given you the power to command. But above all, it means you are fulfilling something because God, the one who commands, lets you do it. If it were not so, you would have no power over me.’

Pilate in his heart would have liked to free him, but he is fearful. He is afraid to disturb his career. The reason that made him decide is that the Jews yell at him, saying, ‘if you free him, you are not a friend of Caesar.’ Whose friend are you? Pilate must choose. He wants to be a friend of Caesar. Therefore, he cannot be a friend of Jesus. He decides to abandon him into their hands. They take him out and seat him on the throne. They make fun of him. They made him sit on the stone-carved throne, the ‘lithostrotos,’ and presented him saying, ‘behold your king.’ They shouted; the high priests shout saying, “We have no other king except Caesar.”

This is apostasy. The religious authorities who have God as their only King admit recognizing the emperor of Rome as the only king. They lose all. It is the moment of heresy. The sixth hour. It is the hour in which Jesus sits tired as by the well of Samaritan woman. It is the tragic moment in which Pilate abandons him into the hands of the Jews. Now they take him away to crucify him.