Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• 2. The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread 23:4-8
  Verse 4 introduces the seven annual festivals.In one sense the Passover (Heb. Pesah, v. 5) was the most important feast (cf. Exod. 12:1-28). It commemorated God's deliverance of Israel from Egyptian slavery by a powerful supe...
• The Servant exalted 52:13-15
  52:13 "Behold, My Servant"marks a new section in the development of Isaiah's argument, but it also calls the reader to fix his or her attention carefully on the Servant (cf. 42:1). The Servant would prosper in the sense of fu...
• The Servant cast off 53:7-9
  Isaiah continued the sheep metaphor but applied it to the Servant to contrast sinful people and their innocent substitute. Here it is not the sheep's tendency to get lost but its nondefensive nature that is the characteristic...
• 1. Conflict with the people ch. 26
  This section consists of four parts: a summary of Jeremiah's Temple Sermon (vv. 2-6), the prophet's arrest and trial (vv. 7-16), the elders' plea for his life (vv. 17-19, 24), and the incident involving Uriah and his executio...
• B. Jeremiah's hope 3:19-40
  3:19 Jeremiah prayed that the Lord would remember his affliction and bitterness (cf. Job 13:15).3:20-21 He himself remembered something that gave him hope.3:22 The prophet remembered that the Lord's loyal love (Heb. hesed) ne...
• The parables of one taken and one left behind 24:40-41 (cf. Luke 17:34-35)
  Having explained the importance of the signs leading up to His return and the responses to those signs, Jesus next explained the respective consequences of the two responses.Many Christians who have read these verses have ass...
• 3. The trials of Jesus 26:57-27:26
  Matthew stressed Jesus' righteousness for his readers by highlighting the injustice of His trials."The breaches in law are so numerous as to be unbelievable . . ."1026". . . even the ordinary legal rules were disregarded in t...
• The soldiers' abuse of Jesus 27:27-31 (cf. Mark 15:16-20; John 19:16-17a)
  27:27 The soldiers in view were probably Pilate's troops. The Praetorium or courtyard may refer to the one in Herod's palace near the Jaffa Gate or more probably the one in the Antonia Fortress.1059All the soldiers of the coh...
• The crucifixion and mockery of Jesus 27:32-44 (cf. Mark 15:21-32; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:17b-27)
  Matthew's emphasis in his account of Jesus' crucifixion was on the mocking of the onlookers.27:32 Jesus was able to carry the crosspiece of His cross until He passed through the city gate (cf. Mark 15:21 John 19:17). Normally...
• B. The Servant's endurance of suffering 14:53-15:47
  Jesus' sufferings until now had been anticipatory. Now He began to experience pain resulting from His trials and crucifixion. As the faithful Servant of the Lord who came to do His Father's will, His sufferings continued to i...
• Jesus' second appearance before Pilate 15:6-15 (cf. Matt. 27:15-26; Luke 23:13-25; John 18:39-19:16)
  Mark's brief account of Jesus' arraignment and sentencing concentrates on Pilate's offer to release Jesus or Barabbas.15:6 Evidently this custom served to improve relations between the Roman ruler and his subjects. Dictatoria...
• The Roman soldiers' mockery of Jesus 15:16-20 (cf. Matt. 27:27-31; John 19:16-17a)
  15:16 Praetorium is a Latin loan word that describes a Roman governor's official residence (cf. Matt. 27:27; John 18:28, 33; 19:9; Acts 23:35). The Roman soldiers escorted Jesus to the courtyard (Gr. aule, cf. vv. 54, 66) of ...
• The crucifixion of Jesus 15:21-32 (cf. Matt. 27:32-44; Luke 23:26-43; John 19:17b-27)
  15:21 Probably only Mark mentioned Simon's sons because the Christians in Rome knew them or knew of them (cf. Rom. 16:13). Evidently Simon became a believer in Jesus. Mark mentioned very few people by name other than the Twel...
• 4. Jesus' first appearance before Pilate 23:1-7 (cf. Matt. 27:2, 11-14; Mark 15:1b-5; John 18:28-38)
  Jesus' trial now moved from its Jewish phase into its Roman phase.497It did not take long for Pilate to determine that Jesus was innocent of any crime worthy of death. Notwithstanding the record stresses how difficult it was ...
• 5. Jesus' appearance before Herod 23:8-12
  Luke alone recorded this aspect of Jesus' Roman trial. He probably did so because Herod Antipas found no basis for condemning Jesus either. Thus Luke cited two official witnesses to Jesus' innocence for his readers' benefit (...
• The mockery of Jesus' crucifixion 23:33-38 (cf. Matt. 27:33-43; Mark 15:22-32; John 19:18-24)
  23:33 Luke alone called the site of Jesus' crucifixion "the place called the skull"(Gr. kranion) rather than referring to it by its Aramaic name, Golgotha, and then translating it. This was undoubtedly an accommodation to his...
• Outline
  I. Prologue 1:1-18A. The preincarnate Word 1:1-5B. The witness of John the Baptist 1:6-8C. The appearance of the Light 1:9-13D. The incarnation of the Word 1:14-18II. Jesus' public ministry 1:19-12:50A. The prelude to Jesus' ...
• 3. The response to John the Baptist's witness 1:35-42
  The writer now turned his attention from John the Baptist's witness to Jesus to record the reactions of some men to Jesus' witness. Two of John the Baptist's disciples left him to follow Jesus when they heard John's testimony...
• 3. Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus 3:1-21
  John now presented evidence that Jesus knew people as no others did and that many believed in His name (2:23). This constitutes further witness that He is the Son of God. John summarized several conversations that Jesus had w...
• 4. John the Baptist's reaction to Jesus' ministry 3:22-30
  The writer next noted the parallel ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus in Judea. John the Baptist readily confessed Jesus' superiority to him even though they were both doing the same things. This was further testimony t...
• 1. Jesus' return to Galilee 4:43-45
  John again bridged the gap between important events in his narrative with a transitional explanation of how Jesus moved from one site to another (cf. 2:12; 4:1-3). John typically focused on clusters of events in Jesus' minist...
• The violent response of Jesus' critics 8:48-59
  8:48 Since the Jews could not refute Jesus' challenge they resorted to verbal abuse (cf. 7:52). Perhaps they called Him a Samaritan because He had questioned their ties to Abraham. This may have been a Samaritan attack agains...
• 5. Jesus' triumphal entry 12:12-19 (cf. Matt. 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:29-40)
  The importance of this incident in Jesus' ministry is evident from the fact that all four Gospel evangelists recorded it. Matthew and Mark placed this event before Mary's anointing of Jesus in Simon's house (vv. 1-8). However...
• The explanation of Israel's unbelief 12:37-43
  12:37-38 The majority of the Jews did not believe on Jesus despite the many miracles that He performed that indicated His messiahship (cf. 1:11). John again attributed Israel's unbelief to God's will, though he balanced that ...
• A. The Last Supper 13:1-30
  John recorded more of what Jesus said and did in the upper room than any of the other Gospel evangelists. Much of this was a discourse on the disciples' future. Jesus prefaced this instruction with other lessons for them.John...
• 3. Annas' interrogation of Jesus 18:19-24
  John's version of Peter's denial is quite similar to those of the other Gospel writers, but His revelation of Jesus' interrogation by Annas is unique. None of the other evangelists mentioned it.18:19 Clearly Annas was the (un...
• C. Jesus' civil trial 18:28-19:16
  John reported much more about Jesus' trial before Pilate than did any of the other Gospel writers. He omitted referring to Jesus' appearance before Herod Antipas, which only Luke recorded (Luke 23:6-12). He stressed Jesus' au...
• 1. The Jews' charge against Jesus 18:28-32 (cf. Luke 23:1-2)
  John began his version of this civil trial by narrating the initial public meeting of Pilate and Jesus' accusers.54318:28 "They"(NASB) refers to all the Jewish authorities (cf. Matt. 27:1-2; Mark 15:1; Luke 23:1). They led Je...
• 4. The sentencing of Jesus 19:1-16 (cf. Matt. 27:22-26; Mark 15:12-15; Luke 23:20-25)
  There is quite a bit of unique material in this pericope. This includes the details of the Roman soldiers' abuse of Jesus (vv. 1-5) and the situation that Pilate's learning that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God instigated (...
• D. Jesus' crucifixion 19:17-30
  The unique material in John's account of Jesus' crucifixion includes the controversy about the superscription over Jesus' cross (vv. 19-22) and several references to the fulfillment of prophecy (vv. 24, 28-29; cf. vv. 36-37)....
• 3. The inscription over Jesus' cross 19:19-22 (cf. Matt. 27:37; Mark 15:26; Luke 23:38)
  John evidently included the controversy about the inscription over Jesus' cross because it underlines the Jews' deliberate and conscious repudiation of and the true identity of God's Son.19:19-20 Normally the judge of a perso...
• 1. The removal of Jesus' body from the cross 19:31-37
  This pericope is unique to the fourth Gospel.19:31 The "day of preparation"was Friday, the day before the Sabbath (Saturday, cf. v. 14; Mark 15:42). The Jews considered sundown the beginning of a new day. In this case the new...
• Bibliography
  Allen, Ronald B. "Affirming Right-of-Way on Ancient Paths."Bibliotheca Sacra153:609 (January-March 1996):3-11.Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers. Edited by Alexander Roberts and James D...
• The apostles' appearance before the Sanhedrin 5:17-33
  The popularity and effectiveness of the apostles riled the Sadducees just as Jesus' popularity and effectiveness had earlier.5:17-18 The high priest "rose up"(Gr. anastas, cf. v. 34) taking official action as leader of the Sa...
• The supernatural deliverance of Peter 12:1-19
  "Peter's rescue from prison is an unusually vivid episode in Acts even when simply taken as a story about Peter. Because it is not connected with events in the chapters immediately before and after it, however, it may seem ra...
• Ministry in Thessalonica 17:1-9
  17:1 Paul, Silas, Timothy, and perhaps others left Philippi and headed southwest on the Egnatian Road. Luke evidently stayed in Philippi since he again described Paul's party as "they"instead of "we"(cf. 20:5-6). Paul and Sil...
• The riot in the temple 21:27-36
  21:27-28 The Jews from Asia, possibly from Ephesus, were obviously unbelievers. They charged Paul with the same kind of crimes the unbelieving Jews had accused Stephen of committing (6:11, 13-14). The Jews permitted Gentiles ...
• Paul's defense before Claudius Lysias 22:23-29
  22:23-24 Claudius Lysias could not understand why the Jews reacted as they did. If he did not understand Aramaic, his confusion would have been even greater. He could not tolerate a riot, so he decided to get the truth from P...
• Paul's defense before the Sanhedrin 22:30-23:10
  "The irregular structure of Luke's account of Paul's defense before the Sanhedrin evidently reflects the tumultuous character of the session itself. Three matters pertaining to Luke's apologetic purpose come to the fore: (1) ...
• The preliminaries of the hearing 25:23-27
  25:23 Festus used this occasion to honor Agrippa and Bernice before the local Caesarean leaders. There were five commanders based in Caesarea each with responsibility for 1,000 soldiers. They all had the same authority as Cla...
• 1. Renouncing sin 1:8-2:2
  John continued a structural pattern that he established in the previous section (vv. 6-7) in which he used pairs of clauses to present a false assertion followed by his correction.1:8 This second claim (cf. v. 6) is more seri...
• 1. The first commission to write 1:9-11
  1:9 John now addressed the seven churches to which he sent this epistolary prophecy directly. He described himself to his readers as their brother in Christ and a partaker with them in three things. These were, first, the rel...
• The vision of the system 17:3-6
  17:3 The angel carried John away in the Spirit to a wilderness area (cf. 1:10; 4:1; 21:10). This wilderness may refer to the desert near literal Babylon,558or it may anticipate the desolate condition of the harlot.559There he...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Jesus Sentenced
  Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote Him with their hands....
• I. The Cruelties And Indignities.
  The cruelties and indignities in John 19:1-3 were inflicted within the palace,' to which Pilate, with his prisoner, had returned after the popular vote for Barabbas. John makes that choice of the robber the reason for the sco...
• II. Pilate Tries Another Expedient, Equally In Vain.
  In John 19:4-8 the scene changes again to without the palace, and shows us Pilate trying another expedient, equally in vain. The hesitating governor has no chance with the resolute, rooted hate of the rulers. Jesus silently a...
• An Eye-Witness's Account Of The Crucifixion
  And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified Him, and two other with Him, on either side one. and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wr...
• The Title On The Cross
  Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross.'--John 19:19.THIS title is recorded by all four Evangelists, in words varying in form but Mike in substance. It strikes them all as significant that, meaning only to fling a...