The Art of Life Bible - Flipbook - Page 40
John
Spiny Burnet
Sarcopoterium spinosum
Read John 19:1-30, especially 19:2.
The spiny burnet is a thorny plant
exhibiting mound-like growth.
It is very common in scrubland
areas throughout the Middle East.
As with many drought-resistant
plants, the leaves are small and
the flowers inconspicuous. The
thorns of the spiny burnet can
reach a length of up to four inches. In areas where trees are few
and small, the otherwise useless
and unproductive thorny plants,
such as the spiny burnet, have
been an important source of fuel
in cooking fires.
The spiny burnet is one of the
plants traditionally associated
with Jesus’ crown of thorns. Its
thorny, flexible stems would have
been readily available in Jerusalem, and it could easily have been
the plant the Roman soldiers used
in making the mocking crown.
Thorns and thistles are part of
the curse God laid on the earth
for Adam and Eve’s sin (Genesis
3:17-19). It is thus fitting that Jesus
wore a crown of thorns while carrying the painful burden of our sin
as he conquered, once and for all,
the suffering and death associated
with the Fall.
See more about the spiny burnet
on page 387.
18
4 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to
him, so he stepped forward to meet them . “Who are you
looking for?” he asked .
5 “Jesus the Nazarene,”* they replied .
“I Am he,”* Jesus said . (Judas, who betrayed him, was
standing with them .) 6As Jesus said “I Am he,” they all
drew back and fell to the ground! 7 Once more he asked
them, “Who are you looking for?”
And again they replied, “Jesus the Nazarene .”
8 “I told you that I Am he,” Jesus said . “And since I am
the one you want, let these others go .” 9 He did this to
fulfill his own statement: “I did not lose a single one of
those you have given me .”*
10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the
right ear of Malchus, the high priest’s slave . 11 But Jesus
said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath . Shall I
not drink from the cup of suffering the Father has given
me?”
Jesus at the High Priest’s House
12 So the soldiers, their commanding officer, and the
Temple guards arrested Jesus and tied him up . 13 First
they took him to Annas, since he was the father-in-law
of Caiaphas, the high priest at that time .* 14 Caiaphas was
the one who had told the other Jewish leaders, “It’s better
that one man should die for the people .”
Peter’s First Denial
15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, as did another of the
disciples . That other disciple was acquainted with the
high priest, so he was allowed to enter the high priest’s
courtyard with Jesus . 16 Peter had to stay outside the
gate . Then the disciple who knew the high priest spoke
to the woman watching at the gate, and she let Peter in .
17 The woman asked Peter, “You’re not one of that man’s
disciples, are you?”
“No,” he said, “I am not .”
18 Because it was cold, the household servants and the
guards had made a charcoal fire . They stood around it,
warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself .
The High Priest Questions Jesus
19 Inside, the high priest began asking Jesus about his
followers and what he had been teaching them . 20 Jesus
replied, “Everyone knows what I teach . I have preached
regularly in the synagogues and the Temple, where the
people* gather . I have not spoken in secret . 21 Why are
you asking me this question? Ask those who heard me .
They know what I said .”
22 Then one of the Temple guards standing nearby
slapped Jesus across the face . “Is that the way to answer
the high priest?” he demanded .
23 Jesus replied, “If I said anything wrong, you must
prove it . But if I’m speaking the truth, why are you beating me?”
24 Then Annas bound Jesus and sent him to Caiaphas,
the high priest .
Peter’s Second and Third Denials
25 Meanwhile, as Simon Peter was standing by the fire
warming himself, they asked him again, “You’re not one
of his disciples, are you?”
He denied it, saying, “No, I am not .”
26 But one of the household slaves of the high priest, a
relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked,
“Didn’t I see you out there in the olive grove with Jesus?”
27Again Peter denied it . And immediately a rooster
crowed .
Jesus’ Trial before Pilate
28 Jesus’ trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours
of the morning . Then he was taken to the headquarters
of the Roman governor .* His accusers didn’t go inside
because it would defile them, and they wouldn’t be allowed to celebrate the Passover . 29 So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, “What is your charge
against this man?”
30 “We wouldn’t have handed him over to you if he
weren’t a criminal!” they retorted .
31 “Then take him away and judge him by your own
law,” Pilate told them .
“Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,”
the Jewish leaders replied . 32 (This fulfilled Jesus’ prediction about the way he would die .*)
33 Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and
called for Jesus to be brought to him . “Are you the king
of the Jews?” he asked him .
34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”
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