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TITLE: Where Were James and John? SCRIPTURE: Matthew 27:11-54
Where were James and John when Jesus was crucified?
James and John were the two brothers whose mother earlier asked Jesus to allow them to sit at Jesus' right hand and left hand when Jesus came into his kingdom.
At least that's the way Matthew reports it.
Mark leaves out the mother and has the two young men asking Jesus directly for the privilege of sitting at his right and left hands.
If you have ever attended formal staff meetings, you know what James and John were asking.
In those meetings, the chief executive sits at the head of the table, flanked by his or her most important lieutenants.
The rest of the staff diminishes in stature as they move further from the head of the table.
Then there are the people who don't even warrant a place at the table -- whose chairs line the wall.
In meetings like that, there are often small but important symbols of power.
The boss's chair is probably taller than the rest, and the lieutenants' chairs the next tallest.
The boss might have a carafe of coffee, and the lieutenants might be privileged to share it.
They drink out of china cups.
The rest of the staff has the paper cups that they brought into the room.
So it isn't any mystery what James and John wanted.
They wanted honor.
They wanted power.
They wanted to sit on Jesus' right and left so that Jesus would turn to them for help with big decisions.
They wanted the other disciples to have to look up to them.
James and John, along with Peter, had been Jesus' inner circle -- and James and John were looking to keep it that way.
But when Jesus entered into the most important phase of his work on this earth, James and John were nowhere to be found.
Matthew tells us that when Jesus was arrested, "all the disciples deserted him and fled" (26:56) -- all of them -- Peter, James and John, and all the rest.
They cut and ran.
After Jesus is arrested, Matthew never again mentions James or John by name.
The Gospel of John tells us that the disciple whom Jesus loved was present at the cross [John 19:26-27], and some scholars think John was that disciple.
Whoever that disciple was, he was more courageous and faithful than the rest.
So who got the honored seats on Jesus' right and left when Jesus started his most important work?
Two thieves!
Matthew says,
"Then two bandits were crucified with him,
one on his right and one on his left" (27:38).
So while James and John were off hiding somewhere, two bandits occupied the places of honor beside Jesus.
Most artwork pictures Jesus on a tall cross and the two bandits flanking him on two shorter crosses -- the place of highest honor and the two next-highest places.
There is lots of irony in Jesus sharing his crucifixion with two bandits, isn't there!
But it was fitting.
Jesus spent much of his life in the company of sinners and other marginal people.
He always got along well with such people.
Now they joined him in his dying hour.
Another question!
Where was Peter when Jesus was crucified?
Peter was the leader of the disciples -- the most prominent of all the disciples.
Earlier, Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him, but Peter said, "Never!"
But the last mention of Peter in Matthew's Gospel is when a cock crows and Peter suddenly remembers his triple denial.
Matthew says, "And (Peter) went out and wept bitterly" (26:75).
That's the last time Peter's name is mentioned in Matthew's Gospel.
There are other ironic touches surrounding Jesus' crucifixion.
You will remember, of course, that Peter had two names -- Simon and Peter.
Did you know that it was Simon who carried Jesus' cross to Golgotha?
Did you know that it was Simon who helped Jesus along that terrible road?
It was Simon, but not Simon Peter.
It was Simon of Cyrene who carried Jesus cross -- Simon of Cyrene.
Eugene Boring, who wrote a commentary on the book of Matthew, says:
"That a stranger named Simon is forced to carry Jesus' cross
emphasizes the abandonment of Jesus' own disciples,
especially the one named Simon" (Boring, 489).
Another question!
Where were the rest of the apostles when Jesus was crucified?
We don't know.
We know only that they deserted Jesus -- that they fled.
You can't really blame them, though.
They had pinned all their hopes on Jesus.
They had thought that he was the one.
They followed him along dusty roads from one village to another in the expectation that they would occupy seats at his table when he came into power.
But then they had seen him arrested, and they could tell what was coming next.
The story was over.
And so they ran.
They ran for cover.
I should acknowledge, however, that not everyone abandoned Jesus.
There were three women at the foot of the cross when they killed Jesus.
Matthew identifies them as Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph.
He identifies the third woman at the foot of the cross as the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
The sons of Zebedee, of course, were James and John.
The mother of James and John had asked Jesus earlier to allow her sons to sit at his right and left hands in his kingdom.
Now she saw Jesus begin the most important part of his work -- with a bandit on his right hand and another bandit on his left.
I wonder what she thought.
And Joseph of Arimathea was there.
Joseph was one of the Jewish rulers, but unlike most Jewish rulers he was a follower of Jesus.
After Jesus died, Joseph came to Pilate requesting permission to bury Jesus' body, and Pilate granted permission.
Joseph and Nicodemus, another Jewish ruler, anointed and buried the body of Jesus -- buried it with honor -- buried it as if Jesus were a member of their family (27:57-60; John 19:38-42).
But the twelve -- the ones whom Jesus had handpicked to be his disciples -- were nowhere to be found.
I would like to make a couple of observations about that:
First, when the going got tough, the disciples lit out for the hills.
As I said before, I can't blame them.
I doubt that I would have done better.
They didn't know the end of the story.
They didn't know about the resurrection.
They thought the story was already finished.
They had watched the big screen flash "The End" -- and then headed for the exit.
Second, as we now know, the story was not over.
Jesus' crucifixion was followed by his resurrection.
That's when something really surprising happened.
After the resurrection, Jesus met with the eleven -- Judas had committed suicide, so there were only eleven.
And this is what I find surprising.
Jesus didn't have a bad word to say to those disciples.
He didn't say, "Shame on you!"
He didn't say, "You were never any good."
He didn't say, "You are all cowards."
Listen to what he did say.
He said:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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