"I have written what I have written!"

Text of devotional meditation at the meeting this past Wednesday night. The textual basis is John 19:1-37, which I did not read for consideration of time. A slightly expanded form of this material was once a Good Friday sermon preached in church:

In the history of history, writing has always played an important role. As an aspiring writer myself, it struck me how many references to writing we find in the Passion Narrative according to John. No less than nine times in John chapter 19, we read about something that was written, or about something that happened that fulfilled Scripture (which was written), or about the reason why something written had been written.

The first reference to writing comes in verse 7. The Jewish leaders insist to Pilate that in their law—their written law—that Jesus has committed a crime worthy of death. But the problem is that, in the situation of Roman domination, the Jewish authorities didn’t have the authority to put Jesus to death. Pilate decides eventually to give in to their request, thinking—quite naturally—that putting one innocent man to death would be far better than sparing him and inciting a revolt in the process.

The next four references to writing in the Gospel all have to do with the inscription that Pilate orders to be made and nailed to the top of Jesus’ cross. This was a usual practice in those days, but this inscription is unusual, because the criminal is unusual. Pilate has written here, “The King of the Jews.” Since the place where Jesus was crucified is near the city, lots of Jews get to read this, which is, after all, the point. So the Jewish leaders say that Pilate should write instead, “This man said he was the King of the Jews.” Pilate says that he has written what he has written.

Next come three notices, in verse 24, verse 28 and verse 37, that something happened in the course of Jesus’ time on the cross that fulfilled a specific prophecy in the Old Testament. In this way, the New Testament demonstrates that, the life and ministry of Jesus was both something very new and something very much in line with the promises of God throughout the history of God’s dealings with the people, or throughout the history of history. And God inspired the story of Jesus to be written in this way so that this continuity in the midst of innovation would be clear to those who are paying attention.

The final reference to writing comes in verse 35, and it is perhaps a bit more oblique than the others. The Gospel writer tells us that the one who testifies to these things—whose memory is preserved in this written document—is a reliable witness, and that his testimony can be trusted. The ends of the last three chapters of John’s Gospel have similar references, in fact, to certain things having been written about Jesus for a specific purpose. John 19:35 says that the one who saw these things is reliable, and that is why these things have been written. Because his testimony is true, you—the reader can read what has been written and come to believe. John 20:30-31 tell us that Jesus did lots of other things in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But the ones that are written are written for a specific purpose, that you—the reader—can come to believe that the Messiah, is Jesus, the Son of God, and that through believing you may come to have life in his name. And John 21:24-25 make the boldest statement of all. After another note that the one who testified to these things is reliable, the writer makes the startling suggestion that all the other things that Jesus did could have been written down, but that there wouldn’t be enough room in the entire world for the books that would have to be written.

So where does this leave us on a Wednesday night, far away from the spectacle of Good Friday? What do we read as we pass by the Cross? What has been written for us? Why was the story written in this way? In the history of history, writing has always played an important role. And this is no less true in the writings testifying to the life of Jesus, God’s ultimate move toward humanity to save us from the fate that we deserve through our sin. Through his death, Jesus won the victory over sin. Through his resurrection, Jesus won the victory over death. So why was it written this way? We might still ask God, why did your son have to die so that we might live? Why couldn’t it be, as Jesus himself prayed in the garden, that this cup could pass from him? Why couldn’t God have written something else?

The answer? “I have written what I have written!” AMEN.