The Unreliability of the 4th Gospel - Part 12: Chapter 19

WHERE WE ARE

In Part 1 through Part 9 of this series, I showed that it was very likely that the Gospel of John in general provides a historically unreliable account of the life and words of Jesus.

In Part 10 of this series, I argued that even if, contrary to the reasons presented in the first nine posts, the Gospel of John were assumed to be historically reliable, that would also result in serious damage to the cases for the resurrection put forward by Christian apologists.

In Part 11 of this series, I showed that it is very likely that the contents of Chapter 18 of the Gospel of John are historically unreliable. 

In this current post, I will show that there are several significant historical problems with Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John that cast serious doubt on the historical reliability of the contents of that chapter.  

HISTORICAL PROBLEMS IN CHAPTER 19

Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John can be divided into four main events/sections:

I. Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified (John 19:1-16)

II. The Crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:17-27)

III. The Death of Jesus (John 19:28-37)

IV. The Burial of Jesus (John 19:38-42)

I. Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified (John 19:1-16)

In Part 11 of this series, I pointed to several good reasons to believe that the Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus before Pilate are historically unreliable. I also showed that we have good reasons to believe that the specific account in the Gospel of John of the trial of Jesus before Pilate is historically unreliable. 

Here are some of the historical problems in the part of the account of Jesus' trial before Pilate that is found in the opening sixteen verses of Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John:

• The author presents this story as a short play, indicating that this story is a work of creative storytelling.[1]
• In the Gospel of Mark, Pilate condemns Jesus to be crucified before the Roman soldiers mock Jesus (Mark 15:15-20), but in the Gospel of John, the Roman soldiers mock Jesus before Pilate condemns Jesus to be crucified. 
• In the Gospel of John, Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd after Jesus was flogged and mocked by the Roman soldiers (John 19:1-5), but in the Gospel of Mark, Pilate does not present Jesus to the crowd after Jesus was flogged and mocked by the Roman soldiers (Mark 15:15-20). 
• In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus remains virtually silent before Pilate (Mark 15:1-5), but in the Gospel of John, Jesus converses with Pilate two or three times (John 18:33-38 and John 19:8-11).
• In the Gospel of John, the alleged conversations between Pilate and Jesus occur inside Pilate's headquarters (John 18:28 & 33-35 and 19:8-11), where there are no disciples of Jesus and no Jewish leaders, so it is unlikely that any of Jesus' followers would have known what Pilate and Jesus said to each other during Jesus' alleged trial before Pilate.
• The Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew both indicate that Jesus was interrogated by Pilate outside of the praetorium (Mark 15:15-20 & Matthew 27:26-31), but the Gospel of John states that Jesus was interrogated by Pilate inside the praetorium (John 19:1-5).[2]
•  In the Gospel of Mark, Pilate does not state that he thinks Jesus is innocent (Mark 15:1-15), but in the Gospel of John, Pilate insists three different times, "I find no case against him." (John 18:38, 19:4, and 19:6).
• The accusation of the Jewish leaders that Jesus "claimed to be the Son of God" (John 19:7) is anachronistic, relating to Jewish conflicts with Christians that developed years or decades after Jesus' crucifixion.[3]
• In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is crucified after Passover (Mark 14:12-16), but in the Gospel of John, Jesus is crucified on the day of Passover (John 19:14).
• In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus was crucified at about 9am (Mark 15:25), but in the Gospel of John, Jesus' trial before Pilate ends at about noon (John 19:14), so Jesus would not have been crucified until about 1pm or later.

When the account of Jesus' trial before Pilate in the Gospel of Mark conflicts with the account of Jesus' trial before Pilate in the Gospel of John, that does not necessarily mean that the Gospel of Mark is correct on all of those points and the Gospel of John is incorrect on all of those points.  For one thing, both accounts might be completely wrong and unhistorical (i.e., there might have been no trial of Jesus before Pilate). But this does mean that at least one of these accounts must be incorrect on some of these points of disagreement. 

Since the Gospel of Mark was probably written two or three decades before the Gospel of John, we should view the account of the life and words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark as being more historically reliable than the account in the Gospel of John, other things being equal.  So, when the two accounts disagree, we should view Mark's account as more likely to be correct, other things being equal.

Given that it is very probable that the Gospel of John provides a historically unreliable account of the life and words of Jesus, and given the above list of considerations that raise significant doubts about the historical reliability of the content of John 19:1-16, we may conlude that it is very probable that this passage in the Gospel of John about Jesus being sentenced to death by Pilate is a historically unreliable account of this alleged event.

II. The Crucifixion of Jesus (John 19:17-27)

Here are some of the historical problems with this event/section about the crucifixion of Jesus in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John:

• In the Gospel of Mark, another man carries the cross for Jesus (Mark 15:20-22), but in the Gospel of John, Jesus carries the cross himself (John 19:17-18).
• All four Gospels have Jesus crucified with two other men (John 19:18, Mark 15:27, Matthew 27:38, Luke  23:32-33), but this detail is suspect because of the "Rule of Three" in storytelling.[4]
• The complaint of the chief priests to Pilate (in John 19:21-22) about the sign placed on Jesus' cross is historically dubious: where and when did this conversation take place, and who was present at the time to hear it? It is doubtful that Pilate and the chief priests would be present at Jesus' crucifixion, and it is unlikely that the chief priests would shout such a complaint to Pilate in a public setting.
• All four Gospels have the Roman soldiers gamble for Jesus' clothing (John 19:23-25, Mark 15:24, Matthew 27:35, Luke 23:34), but as the Gospel of John points out (in John 19:24), this was believed to be a fulfillment of an alleged Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 22:18) . In that case, this alleged event might well have been based on the Old Testament passage rather than based on eyewitness testimony or historical evidence.
• In the Gospel of Mark, some of the women who were followers of Jesus were "looking on from a distance"  from the cross (Mark 15:40-41), but in the Gospel of John, the women who were followers of Jesus were "standing near the cross" (John 19:25).
• In the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of Matthew, there is no mention of the presence of any of Jesus' male disciples at the crucifixion (Mark 15:25-41 & Matthew 27:35-56), and they imply that his male disciples went into hiding when Jesus was arrested (Mark 14:48-50 & Matthew 26:55-56).  But in the Gospel of John, the "beloved disciple," who is male (John 13:23-25 and John 21:21-22), is allegedly present at the crucifixion (John 19:26-27).
• In the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Matthew, and the Gospel of Luke, Jesus never speaks from the cross to any of his followers.  But in the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks from the cross to his mother and to the "beloved disciple" (John 19:25-27).[5]
• It is unclear whether the "beloved disciple" is an actual historical person or is a fictional character in the Gospel of John.[6]

Given the previous conclusion that it is very likely that the Gospel of John provides a historically unreliable account of the life and words of Jesus, and given these significant historical problems with the account of the crucifixion of Jesus in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John, we have good reason to conclude that it is very likely that this section of Chapter 19 is a historically unreliable account of the crucifixion of Jesus.

III. The Death of Jesus (John 19:28-37)

Here are some of the historical problems with the account of the death of Jesus in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John:

• In the Gospel of John, shortly before Jesus dies, he says: "I am thirsty." (John 19:28-30), but in the Gospel of Mark, in the Gospel of Matthew, and in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus never says "I am thirsty" from the cross, or anything like that (Mark 15:21-39, Matthew 27:32-54, Luke 23:26-47).
• In the Gospel of John, shortly before Jesus dies, he is given some sour wine (John 19:28-30), and the author of John views this as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy (Psalm 69:22), so this event might well be based on the OT passage rather than on eyewitness testimony or historical evidence. The other Gospels agree that Jesus was given some sour wine while he was hanging on the cross, but this also might well be based on the same OT passage, viewed as a prophecy by early Christians.
• In the Gospel of John, Jesus' last words were: "It is finished." (John 19:30), but in the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus' last words were: “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:33-37 & Matthew 27:45-50). In the Gospel of Luke, the last words of Jesus were: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” (Luke 23:56).
• In the Gospel of John, "the Jews" (the Jewish leaders?) ask Pilate to order that the legs of the crucified men be broken, so that the men would die quickly, so their bodies could be burried before the Sabbath began that evening at sunset, then Pilate orders the Roman soldiers to do this, and the Roman soldiers break the legs of two of the crucified men (John 19:31-37), but none of the other Gospels mention any request to Pilate to break the legs of the crucified men, none of the other Gospels mention that Pilate ordered the legs of any crucified men to be broken, and none of the other Gospels mention that the soldiers broke the legs of any of the crucified men (Mark 15:21-39, Matthew 27:32-54, Luke 23:26-47). Furthermore, in the Gospel of Mark, when Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body of Jesus, Pilate "wondered if he were already dead," and asks a soldier to find out if Jesus was already dead (Mark 15:42-45).  This makes no sense if Pilate had previously ordered that the legs of the crucified men be broken, because Pilate would then expect that the crucified men would all be dead soon after he issued that order. 
• In the Gospel of John, Jesus' legs are not broken, because the soldiers believe that Jesus had aleady died, but this is very unlikely, because Pilate had ordered them to break the legs of the crucified men, including Jesus' legs, and it is very unlikely that Roman soldiers would ignore this order from the Roman governor of Judea on the grounds they thought it was unnecessary to break Jesus' legs (John 19:31-37).
• In the Gospel of John, when the soldiers decide to not break Jesus' legs, one of them pierces Jesus' side with his spear, and blood and water immediately came out of that spear wound (John 19:31-37). But none of the other Gospels mention that a soldier pierced Jesus' side with a spear, none of the other Gospels mention that Jesus had a wound in his side while on the cross, none of the other Gospels mention that blood and water flowed out of Jesus's side, and none of the other Gospels mention that the risen Jesus had a wound in his side, as does the Gospel of John (John 20:19-27). 
• The Gospel of John claims that the spear wound incident was observed by an eyewitness (John 19:35). NT scholars interpret the eyewitness to be the "beloved disciple" who was present at the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John (John 19:25-27), but as noted previously, it is unclear that there was an actual "beloved disciple," and none of the other Gospels indicate that a "beloved disciple" was present at the crucifixion.
• The author of the Gospel of John believed that the alleged decision of the soldiers to not break Jesus' legs was predicted by an Old Testament prophecy (John 19:36, see also Psalm 34:20). That means that this alleged event might well be based on the OT passage rather than on eyewitness testimony or historical evidence.
• The author of the Gospel of John believed that the alleged piercing of Jesus' side with a spear was predicted by an Old Testament prophecy (John 19:37, see also Zechariah 12:10). That means that this alleged event might well be based on the OT passage rather than on eyewitness testimony or historical evidence.

Given the previous conclusion that it is very likely that the Gospel of John provides a historically unreliable account of the life and words of Jesus, and given these significant historical problems with the account of the death of Jesus in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John, we have good reason to conclude that it is very likely that this section of Chapter 19 is a historically unreliable account of the death of Jesus.

IV. The Burial of Jesus (John 19:38-42)

Here are some of the historical problems with this section of Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John about the alleged burial of Jesus:

• Although all four Gospels agree that Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus and placed the body of Jesus into a stone tomb, this story might well be fictional or a legend. First, the Romans did not permit victims of crucifixion to be honorably buried.[7] Second, it would have been very shameful and embarrassing to Christian believers if Jesus had not received an honorable burial.[8] Third, early Christians believed there were Old Testament prophecies about the burial of the messiah.[9] Fourth, the "empty tomb story" was a way to support the theological view that Jesus physically rose from the dead, contrary to gnosticism and Greek antipathy towards embodiment.[10] Fifth, it is unclear whether the town of "Arimathea" actually existed.[11]
• In the Gospel of John, Joseph of Arimathea was a follower of Jesus and there is no mention that Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the council that condemned Jesus to death (John 19:38), but in the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the council that condemned Jesus to death and there is no mention that Joseph of Arimathea was a follower of Jesus (Mark 15:43-45 & Luke 23:50-52). 
•  In the Gospel of John, a man named Nicodemus helps Joseph of Arimathea with the burial of Jesus, but no other Gospel mentions that Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus, no other Gospel ever mentions Nicodemus, and no other Gospel mentions that another person helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus.
• In the Gospel of John, Jesus' body is prepared with a large amount of "a mixture of myrrh and aloes"(John 19:39-40) by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, but no other Gospel indicates that myrrh and aloes (or any spices) were used in the preparation of Jesus body for burial. In the Gospel of Mark, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses watch the burial of Jesus, but Mary Magdalene and another woman return early on Sunday morning with spices to annoint Jesus body, which makes no sense, because (if the account in John was correct), Mary Magdalene would have known that Jesus' body had already been prepared with a large amount of spices. In the Gospel of Luke, at least five women (including Mary Magdalene) followed Joseph of Arimathea and saw Jesus buried in the stone tomb, then the women prepared spices and ointments that they brought back to the tomb on Sunday morning (Luke 23:50-56 & 24:1-10).  Again, it is very unlikely that the women would have prepared spices and ointments for Jesus' body if they had just seen Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus use a large amount of myrrh and aloes to prepare the body of Jesus for burial on Friday evening.
• In the Gospel of Mark, Joseph of Arimathea lays the body of Jesus "in a tomb that had been hewn out of rock." (Mark 15:46).  But in the Gospel of John, Joseph of Arimathea lays the body of Jesus in "a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid" which was located in "a garden" nearby (John 19:40-41). These additional details are suspect, because they make Jesus' burial more honorable and dignified (as with the alleged use of a large amount of spices in John 19:39-40).[12]
• In the Gospel of John, the "new tomb" of Jesus is in "a garden" near the crucifixion site, but it is unlikely that there would have been a private cemetery right next to a crucifixion site.[13]
• In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus' body is simply placed into a linen sheet (Mark 15:46, Matthew 27:59, & Luke 23:53), but in the Gospel of John, Jesus' body is wrapped in linen strips or wrappings (John 19:40 & 20:3-7).

Given the previous conclusion that it is very likely that the Gospel of John provides a historically unreliable account of the life and words of Jesus, and given these significant historical problems with the account of the alleged burial of Jesus in Chapter 19 of the Gospel of John, we have good reason to conclude that it is very likely that this section of Chapter 19 is a historically unreliable account of the alleged burial of Jesus.

END NOTES

1. The trial of Jesus before Pilate is presented as a short play in the Gospel of John, as indicated by the NT scholar Gail O’Day:

John 18:28-19:16a is the supreme example in the Fourth Gospel of the the Fourth Evangelist’s use of dramatic structure, irony, and symbolism in the service of theological interpretation. Jesus’ trial before Pilate is the theological and dramatic climax of the story of Jesus’ hour. 

 

Like the Pharisees’ interrogation of the blind man in John 9, Jesus’ trial before Pilate is structured as a drama. The trial narrative opens with an introductory verse (18:28) that establishes the time and location for the drama. This introduction is followed by seven scenes. 

“The Gospel of John” in The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume IX (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995), p.813. 

The NT and Jesus scholar Raymond Brown agrees with O’Day on this point: 

All the Gospels have Jesus led from/by the high priest to be tried by the Roman governor, but in John this trial is a much more developed drama than in the Synoptics [Mark, Matthew, & Luke]. Careful stage setting is supplied, with “the Jews” outside the praetorium and Jesus inside. Seven episodes describe how Pilate shuttled back and forth trying to reconcile the two adamant antagonists…

An Introduction to the New Testament (New York, NY: Doubleday,1997), p.357.

2. The eminent NT scholar Raymond Brown acknowledges this conflict between these Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus before Pilate:

Then in Mark 15:16 and Matt 27:27 the soldiers to whom Jesus is given over for crucifixion will first lead him away or bring him into the praetorium--a scenario different from John's, where Pilate questions Jesus inside.

The Death of the Messiah, Volume One (New York, NY: Doubleday,1994), p.635.)

3. According to both the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew, when the Jewish high priest interrogated Jesus, he asked if Jesus was the messiah and the son of God (Mark 14:61 and Matthew 26:63).  The eminent NT and Jesus scholar Raymond Brown, however, argues that this question was not asked of Jesus by the high priest, because this question is anachronistic; it reflects a theological conflict between Jews and followers of Jesus that developed in the decades after Jesus was crucified:

Thus there is reason in the Gospels, read perceptively, to think that unlike “the Messiah,”the title “the Son of God” was not applied to Jesus in his lifetime by his followers or, a fortiori, by himself. It was a revealed, early post-ministry insight. This would mean that the high priest’s question phrased in Mark 14:61,“Are you…the Son of the Blessed [= God]?” was not the formulation in a Jewish investigation of Jesus in AD 30/33.

The Death of the Messiah, Volume One (New York, NY: Doubleday,1994), p.482.

But more likely such a rejection of Jesus’ messiahship as blasphemous came after his condemnation and crucifixion, not as the cause for condemnation. It came with the proclamation of the risen Jesus as the Messiah-Son of God. Overall, then, if Jesus was accused of blasphemy in AD 30/33, it is not likely that the sole or even principal basis for that accusation was that his followers hailed him as the expected Messiah of the House of David.

The Death of the Messiah, Volume One (New York, NY: Doubleday,1994), p.535.

But if the high priest did not ask Jesus if he was the messiah and the Son of God, and if Jesus was not condemned at a Jewish trial for blasphemy because of claiming to be the messiah and the Son of God (since these concerns did not arise until years after Jesus had been crucified), then the accusation of the Jewish leaders to Pilate in John 19:7 is also anachronistic and probably unhistorical. 

4. “The Rule of Three” from Wikipedia.

5. In addition to the fact that Jesus does not speak to any of his followers from the cross in the other three Gospels, there is also the problem that most Christian apologists accept and promote the asphyxiation theory, which asserts that crucifixion caused death by preventing the victim from being able to exhale, except when the victim lifted or pushed himself upward on the cross in order to exhale.  But this would mean that crucified victims would not be able to talk, especially after they had been hanging on the cross for an hour. 

6. Some NT scholars believe that the "beloved disciple" is a fictional character.  Also, NT scholars who think the "beloved disciple" was a historical person cannot agree on the identity of that person. Many NT scholars reject the traditional view that the "beloved disciple" was John the son of Zebedee, one of the twelve disciples.  

Not only do the other three Gospels never mention that there was a "beloved disciple", they also do not agree with the descriptions of the alleged events in the Gospel of John involving the "beloved disciple":  

• John 13:21-26: In the Gospel of John, the "beloved disciple" is leaning on Jesus at the last supper, and Peter motions to the beloved disciple to ask Jesus which of his disciples would betray Jesus, and the beloved disciple asks the question.  But in the Gospel of Mark and in the Gospel of Matthew, there is no mention of a "beloved disciple" at the last supper, no mention of a disciple leaning on Jesus, and no mention of Peter motioning to one disciple to ask Jesus who the betrayer was.  Instead, various disciples ask Jesus this question (Mark 14:17-20 and Matthew 26:20-25). In the Gospel of Luke, there is no mention of a "beloved disciple" at the last supper, no mention of a disciple leaning on Jesus, no mention of Peter motioning to one disciple to ask Jesus who the betrayer was, and none of the disciples ask Jesus this question; they all talk to each other about this question (Luke 22:21-23).
• John 19:25-27: In the Gospel of John, the "beloved disciple" and some women, including Jesus' mother, are near the cross, and Jesus speaks to his mother and to his "beloved disciple" while hanging from the cross. But in the Gospel of Mark, the Gospel of Matthew, and the Gospel of Luke, Jesus never speaks to any woman or to any of his disciples from the cross, and Jesus does not say that one of his disciples should act line a son to his mother, i.e. take care of her (Mark 15:25-41, Matthew 27:38-56, and Luke 23:32-49).
• John 20:1-10: In the Gospel of John, when Mary Magdalene discovers that Jesus' tomb is empty, she runs and tells Peter and the "beloved disciple" that the tomb was empty and that she did not know where the body of Jesus had been moved to. Peter and the "beloved disciple" then run to the tomb, and they also find it to be empty. But in the Gospel of Mark, Mary Magdalene tells nobody about finding the tomb empty, and none of Jesus' male disciples go to visit Jesus' tomb on that first Easter Sunday (Mark 16:1-8).  In the Gospel of Matthew, Mary Magdalene is told by an angel that the tomb is empty because Jesus has been raised from the dead, and she goes to tell the disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead but she is met by the risen Jesus on her way, so Mary Magdalene clearly would NOT have been puzzled about where the body of Jesus had been moved to when she told the disciples about finding Jesus' empty tomb (Matthew 28:5-10). In the Gospel of Luke, when Mary Magdalene and some other women find out that Jesus' tomb is empty, two men in dazzling clothes (angels?) tell them that Jesus had risen from the dead.  Mary and the other women go and report this to the eleven remaining disciples. Peter then goes to visit the tomb, but there is no mention of any other disciple going to the tomb with Peter (Luke 24:1-12).
• John 21:1-14: In the Gospel of John, sometime after Jesus was crucified, a number of his disciples including the "beloved disciple" were fishing from a boat on the Sea of Galilee, and they spotted the risen Jesus on the shore. The disciples go to meet Jesus, then Jesus cooks some of the fish they caught and serves them breakfast. In the Gospel of Mark, it is implied that the disciples return to Galilee and see the risen Jesus there, but there is no story about this, and no mention of a "beloved disciple" seeing the risen Jesus (Mark 16:1-8).  In the Gospel of Matthew, the disciples return to Galilee and see the risen Jesus on a mountain top, and there is no mention of a "beloved disciple" being with them on the mountain (Matthew 28:5-10 & 28:16-20).  There is no story in the Gospel of Matthew about the disciples seeing the risen Jesus on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the Gospel of Luke, unlike in the Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew, the disciples are not instructred to return to Galilee to meet Jesus, rather the risen Jesus meets his disciples in Jerusalem on the first Easter Sunday (no mention is made of a "beloved disciple"), and tells them to remain in Jerusalem, which they do. So, there are no stories in the Gospel of Luke about any appearances of the risen Jesus to his disciples in Galilee (Luke 24:46-53).
• John 21:15-23: In the Gospel of John, after the risen Jesus appears to some of his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he has a conversation with his disciple Peter and indicates that Peter will die a martyr's death. The "beloved disciple" is nearby, and Peter asks Jesus, "What about him?" But there is no mention in the other Gospels about the risen Jesus appearing to some of his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, there is no mention in the other Gospels of an alleged conversation between the risen Jesus and Peter near the Sea of Galilee, and there is no mention in the other Gospels of the risen Jesus ever indicating to anyone that Peter would die a martyr's death. 

7.  Reference to a Bart Ehrman post on the empty tomb.

8.  Reference to The Acts of Jesus p.440 on burial of Jesus.

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