Mary Magdalene at the Crucifixion | Jesus: His Life (S1, E4) | Full Episode | History

the story of jesus is the greatest story ever told where is he for over 2 000 years the story of jesus christ  has touched the lives of billions around the globe jesus felt what we felt he  faced what we face today if we want to understand western history at  all we must understand the story of jesus   now for the first time his story is told through  the eyes of those who knew him best we are with   you mary magdalene is in many senses the ideal  disciple enlighten us tell us what you mean she wanted to be there to the very end   she was at the crucifixion she was at the  resurrection i have seen the lord she is the   one that receives the message i am ascending to  my father as the first witness to the resurrection mary magdalene is arguably  the beginning of christianity jesus saved me from myself he made  this woman who am i without him some horror is a test for  even the strongest and bravest i'm neither and yet i thought he was going to save the world the first time we meet mary magdalene in  the gospels she's possessed by seven demons   so to put it in modern terms uh we might think of  mary suffering from schizophrenia or from bipolar   disorder or maybe even post-traumatic stress  disorder and she comes to jesus to be healed do you hear them yes i do i can't bear it come out of the woman to unclean spirits be quiet i command you to come out  of here don't run into her again in that moment jesus freed her from whatever the  demons were in her life and jesus way of life his   teachings his spirit the way he interacted  with folk it set her free what is your name mary my mother's name that day i became a student  jesus my teacher and everything seemed possible this is a life-changing  moment no question about it   she goes from being a deeply  troubled person that would have   been seen as a social outcast to being a  person who follows a great teacher and preacher she in essence goes from the outhouse to  the penthouse through a spiritual change   mary magdalene has her name because she was  married from a town in galilee called magdala   this was not a little small hole in the wall  town it turns out it was one of the major   fishing villages on the northwest  coast of the sea of galilee what's interesting about this is that it's  very unusual for a woman in biblical times   to be associated with a town that rather than  with her father or with the name of her husband   so we think that she was probably  unmarried or maybe she was widowed   and we think that probably she had some kind  of status in the town of magdala such that   she was known as mary of magdala many people  still see mary magdalene as a sinner part of it is   because back in 591 gregory the great linked mary  to being a prostitute today we know differently luke 8 1 2 3 tells us that mary magdalene joanna  the wife of chuza and susannah and other women   are following jesus around galilee like the male  disciples are and providing for the disciples out   of their own resources the idea that jesus  would have women disciples would surprise   a lot of people because that's not what's taught  in christian tradition we have no other evidence   of a jewish teacher having women disciples  before jesus a farmer went out to sow his seed   as he was sowing some of  the seed fell along the path   the birds from above devoured it the makeup of  jesus followers as we see through mary magdalene   is incredibly inclusive it is welcoming it  brings everyone in he's got women that he   treats with respect he treats them as leaders  as disciples and as equals still other seeds   fell in good soil where it sprang  up and produced a crop a hundredfold enlighten us tell us what you mean so there's  something about jesus and his ministry   that leads to both female and  male disciples which is remarkable in recent years there's been a lot  of discussion about the relationship   between jesus and mary magdalene and if  it was more than just disciple and lord part of this story of jesus and mary together  extends into this kind of fantasy that   they were secretly married but there's nothing  in the bible to substantiate any of these ideas the seed is the word of god he didn't just free us he showed us how to live blessed are those who were  persecuted for righteousness sake   he showed us forgiveness compassion how to be  kind he taught us courage to stand our ground here   how can you who are evil for the mouth speaks what  the heart is he opened our minds and we were happy he warned us it wouldn't last did he know he'd be betrayed by one of our own in the story judas betrays  jesus to the jewish authorities so then they came and it was all over the most  important part of the story of jesus is the   passion narrative mary really comes to the fore  in this story jesus has been sentenced to death   is facing crucifixion for the  charge of being king of the jews i need to find him it's too dangerous not for us when jesus is arrested with the charge of being  some kind of a revolutionary the women disciples   at this point have a lot more freedom they're  not under the cloud of suspicion in the same way   that the men are and it's here where they  can really kind of move in and fill the void the women disciples of jesus come to the  forefront during the passion narrative   because the male disciples are afraid for their  lives they're afraid that pontius pilate who had   taken jesus to be executed would also round  up his followers and execute them as well the main reason that jesus is being crucified   is that he is an ultimate challenge  to every authority figure in jerusalem he's undermined roman order and roman rule and  this is easily enough to sentence a man to death on the other hand he is a challenge  to the jewish high priests   and their religious authority because of  jesus claim to be a king and a son of god i had seen what he could do he could  have stopped this but he didn't why to watch jesus bringing that cross  to golgotha must have been heartbreaking the cross is a serious matter   this is a heavy heavy piece of wood  it is between 100 and 300 pounds the romans get a bystander simon of cyrene   which is in north africa to help  jesus carry his cross up the hill now simon was a pilgrim like lots of  other pilgrims of the day he had no   idea that this was going to be his task and  yet now he is written in the history books   for having a very important  role in carrying this cross scholars believe jesus and simon  must have carried the cross   between 600 and 750 yards it was probably  much longer than that because they had to go   up and down different streets this was not  necessarily a straight shot we are with you then jesus speaks directly to  the women following him that is and he says daughters of jerusalem  don't weep for me weep for yourselves he's predicting the coming  destruction of jerusalem   and the fact that in the future there will be  much more serious things for them to lament over   so at this point in the crucifixion process we  meet joseph of arimathea and nicodemus again   they are prominent jews they are on  the sanhedrin on the ruling council   and maybe they felt terrible guilt for their part  in condemning jesus to death he may have been a   part of the council that ultimately had to approve  of jesus's crucifixion and yet they were secret followers when jesus gets to golgotha it's a place  outside the city walls where people   are crucified and so when jesus gets there  he has to know that his death is imminent i waited for the sky to rain fire or the sea  to sweep us away and i wanted to take out   a sword and cut them all down i could not  be his warrior but i would be his witness   of all of the people who knew jesus mary  magdalene has the courage to see her   discipleship through to the end even though it's  painful she doesn't shirk her responsibilities jesus wasn't the only one crucified that day  and actually in the gospels we hear about two   people specifically who were crucified these men  are identified in the gospels as criminals or   as bandits and what they seem to have  been in fact were political rebels crucifixion in rome is used for common criminals  but also for political criminals and the romans   didn't invent it the romans got it from the  persians darius the great of persia had had   crucified thousands of rebels alexander the  great practiced it and the romans adopted it mary don't look the gospel of john says  that mary jesus's mother is present   at the crucifixion well the last time mary saw  jesus was at capernaum so word must have gotten to   her that he was going on trial but she came to be  at his side because he was actually facing death the only male disciple of golgotha  among all these women is john so above jesus's head is a fixed a  small sign and it says jesus of nazareth   king of the jews and it says it  in greek in latin and in hebrew by putting this sign up there pilate is making  the ultimate mockery of jesus he's saying   this is your king of the jews this is your  king he's hanging on a roman cross and i   think by doing it he's not just mocking jesus  he's in fact really mocking the jewish people i heard her silent screams and felt  her icy pain as though it was my own crucifixion was one of the most horrific forms of  punishment what you would essentially do is lay a   person out on a cross beam and drive nails through  their wrist this would sever the median nerve   and just shoot bolts of pain through the body it  would feel like you're being struck by lightning it was absolutely agonizing we all use the word  excruciating excruciating is the word for it   it is in fact the word that means excrucis from  the cross the word itself points to crucifixion um they were then raised up onto the cross   their feet were supported by a ledge without the  ledge the weight of the body would suffocate the   victim instantly and one of the key things  about crucifixion was to make it last let them all cry i will not break i will  stand strong before my lord jesus of nazareth   the king of the jews hours passed his breath little more than a whisper we waited for silence the most horrifying sound of all the victim could last for a  few hours for a night even days please give me some of your wine if  you look at all four gospel accounts   of the crucifixion of jesus twice  over he's offered something to drink he's offered posca a thirst quenching beverage  which is the ancient equivalent of gatorade he's also offered murdered wine a narcotic which he refuses jesus refuses the murder that  he's offered on the cross   he's saying i'm willingly choosing to die  i do not want anything or anyone to take   this suffering from me this suffering is  redemptive it's the ultimate sign of love you who would destroy the temple  and build it in three days   come down from the cross and save yourself vultures everyone i wanted to  curse them but he never would mocking is a regular part of the  process of degrading somebody in public   and it was an attempt to publicly  shame a person so that their reputation   and their family's reputation could never recover father forgive for they do not know what they do jesus's words from the cross father  forgive them for they know not what they do   are critical as a summary of one of the main  things that jesus came to earth to do in the   first place he was talking about pilate he was  talking about judas who betrayed and his friend   he was talking about the soldiers who were at  the foot of the cross gambling over his clothes   he was talking about the religious  leaders who turned on him   jesus on the cross is forgiving the people  who are murdering him who are torturing him the gospels tell us that at midday the  whole earth is filled with darkness   and the gospel writers are saying this is the  darkest moment for humanity that the son of god   is dying a lonely death on a roman cross jews greeks romans all believed  in the power of weather omens   and almost certainly they viewed this as a  profound sign of divine judgment and disfavor a crucified messiah would have been difficult  for the disciples to comprehend because they were   expecting a messiah that was more triumphalistic  they're expecting a messiah that was going to   usher in sort of the overthrow of their foreign  occupier of the romans if you are the messiah   you are on the route to becoming  the king who rules over everyone i wanted his pain to end  and then he cried out my god my god why have you forsaken me if he had lost faith what hope had i when jesus says means my god my god why have you forsaken me in   aramaic he's actually quoting  psalm 22 about somebody   who feels abandoned by god but shouldn't have been  abandoned by god because he's been faithful to god it's finished and then you have a simple anonymous   uh roman centurion who has this  conversion after the death of jesus surely this man was the son of god now there was no way that they  could deny that they saw something   very special in that moment this was the son of  god he let go and the earth beneath us gave way those who mocked him fell to  their knees but it was too late   he had been killed and all hope was lost according to the timeline in our gospels   jesus dies somewhere at about three in the  afternoon and the sun's going down at five we need to take the bodies down before  the sabbath please and they're suffering   so we are now in a race to get him  off the cross wrapped up and into   the tomb before sundown when sabbath  and also the passover full war begins since the jewish people couldn't work on the  sabbath including the work of burying a body   the body had to come down and  go in the tomb very very quickly if romans were in a particular hurry they might  come along and break the condemned prisoner's legs   that would effectively drop the body  weight of the person on the cross   dislocate the arms and the shoulders make it  virtually impossible to breathe and that point   the person who's crucified would die in a matter  of minutes rather than hours he's dead he's dead   but in jesus's case he's already dead and  there's no need for the breaking of the legs it was also traditional once  the person appeared to be dead   for the soldiers to finish them off  with a spear thrust into the side one of the surprising elements of  the story of the demise of jesus   is that joseph of arimathea goes  to pilate and requests the body   pontius pilate was the prefect of judea he was the  man ultimately responsible for the death of jesus   when joseph of arimathea requests the body he's  taking a risk with his fellow jewish leaders   when he was in the sanhedrin with  them he condemned this man to death   and now here he is requesting the body  from pilate i am joseph of arimathea i have come to ask for the body  of jesus of nazareth to bury he's dead already this is true crucifixion fields were unbelievably  nasty people don't ordinarily retrieve   bodies from there so that request was a  very strange one i think for it to have come   from a member of the ruling elite was  probably particularly confusing to pilot i will allow it pilot had to be wise enough to  know that grave robbing was an international   problem all over the roman empire and one of  the things he surely did not want is the body   of jesus to simply disappear because if that  happened some would say he didn't genuinely die what do you want my name is nicodemus this is joseph of arimathea  we have come to give your son an honorable burial   if you will allow us thank you joseph and nicodemus came from nowhere  their kindness was something to cling to uh in the gospels joseph of arimathea  takes the dead body of jesus down   from the cross but it's the image of  mary the mother of jesus with her son   that has become iconic we have this  image of the pieta in later christian art   of the mother of jesus gently cradling the  crucified and now dead jesus in her arms jesus pain was over hours had just begun oh my god it is good now and his mother i felt like  i would drown in her sorrow joseph of arimathea was a wealthy man and  he offers his tomb his family tomb to jesus we know from the gospels that joseph of  arimathea's tomb was close to golgotha   the gospel of john tells us that the tomb  was in a garden outside the city walls   in accordance with jewish burial practices  which prohibited burial inside the city jewish burial practices involved a   two-stage process there would be  first the cleaning of the body then the family would lovingly  and carefully wrap the body   in a winding sheet in preparation for entombment joseph of arimathea provides the  linen that is used for jesus's shroud hundreds of years later this becomes the  basis for the legend of the turin shroud   the shroud the supposedly wrapped jesus's body   there's more to it than even that because the  even later legends about the holy grail are   connected with joseph of arimithia the so-called  cup that jesus drank for him at the last supper it was hard to watch her final goodbye jesus is buried and the tomb was closed i think the day after jesus's  crucifixion was a painful day   for mary was a day of introspection  it was a day of commemoration a day of waiting until she could go to the tomb  to pay her final respects mary magdalene wants   to visit the tomb of jesus the day after his  death but she can't because it's the sabbath   and it's impossible to do work on the sabbath  without breaking the laws of judaism so she has   to wait as far as the disciples know their leader  is dead they are in hiding jesus warned them that   his fate was to suffer and die but he doesn't say  anything to them about how they're to move forward   after this so you imagine that atmosphere in that  room the consternation the sorrow the confusion i battle new demons now and i worry   without jesus the old ones will return he is  dead and i am broken am i already lost maybe mary magdalene goes to the tomb on easter sunday  morning to anoint jesus's body to weep over him   really to care for him and say goodbye to him i  had to leave that house to remain close to him mary wants to go to the tomb  to anoint jesus's body because   it's not been done before it is  part of her duty it is part of not   just a religious duty but a familial  duty to perform this final service   i think when mary magdalene was going to the tomb  she was expecting to find a dead body expecting to   find the stones still there expecting to just be  able to cleanse jesus's body put the oils anointed   out of respect and out of honor through the  tradition when she gets there the tomb is open it's empty and jesus is nowhere to be seen   this was mary magdalene's lowest moment she goes  to see the man that she left who'd been tortured   and killed and his body's not even  there he should be here who took it she thinks grave robbing has happened  unfortunately in all too common practice   in the ancient world first i couldn't trust  my eyes but it was real my insides twisted   my mind raced i was terrified of what they've  done they have taken our lord as a tune mary magdalene tells the  disciples about the empty tomb   and peter and john the beloved disciple run to the  tomb to find out for themselves if this is true and all they see there are the  wrappings from jesus's body why you should come with us it's  not safe here mary leave me they took him tortured him killed  him and now they've stolen him he is gone and who am i without him mary's weeping in deep grief and  she hears someone call behind her woman are you weeping she sees  two of god's messengers angels   like bookends at either end of the stone's slab   the angels ask her woman why are you crying  and whenever you see angels you're supposed   to think god is at work but mary is so deep in her  grief that even in encountering an angels doesn't   get her out of her funk they have taken away my  lord and i don't know where they have laid him so deep in her sadness is she that even when she  turns away from the tomb and hears a second voice   she doesn't recognize the voice woman why are you weeping who are you looking for and she sees someone who she  mistakes for the gardener   and she says if you have taken away my lord  please tell me where if you have put him mary and it's in that moment that she recognizes  him and realizes that in fact he has risen   that it's true do not hold on to me because i have not yet ascended to the father mary simply calls jesus rabuni my teacher not lord  with a capital l not god with a big g my teacher   but what she comes to learn is that he is the  risen lord that he is the person he claimed to be   all along some people would say that this moment  the resurrection appearance is the most important   moment in the entire gospel this is proving the  truth of jesus's being that he has come back   from the dead he is fully present in incarnate in  the flesh but go to my brothers and say to them   i am ascending to my father  and your father to my god and your god it's a beautiful story and  it's a remarkable story and it makes her   the very first witness to the risen jesus  something that early christians would not make up   because the witness of women was not  considered as viable as the witness of the men the fact that mary was the first person to see the  risen christ says that is the person that jesus   trusted most that this was intended to be the  person to share this news and in fact he gave her   an apostolic call in that moment saying  go and tell the fact that jesus revealed   himself first to mary magdalene after his  resurrection makes her the first apostle between the time that mary magdalene  encounters the risen christ on easter   sunday and the time that she finally proclaims  the news of the resurrection to the disciples   mary magdalene is the church on earth  because only mary magdalene understood   the resurrection so therefore she is one of the  most important people in the entire new testament i have seen the lord i was lost and jesus found me i  am mary of magdala and i am his witness the story of jesus is the greatest  story ever told get out where is he for over 2 000 years the story of jesus christ  has touched the lives of billions around the globe jesus felt what we found  he faced what we face today if we want to understand western history at  all we must understand the story of jesus   now for the first time his story is told  through the eyes of those who knew him best peter is what i would call the ride or die  disciple jesus came into his life and changed   it forever i tell you you are now peter the  rock on this rock i will build my church peter really believed that he was going to be  the faithful disciple but that's not what happens   it's the story of redemption  peter becomes the foundation stone   on which christianity is established my name is peter and i have been given a  second chance to deliver the message of jesus   this time i won't let him down not like  before when i almost threw it all away i have seen the lord mary you're upset sit  down you must listen he has risen from the dead   i didn't recognize him at  first but then i saw his face   it was jesus he told me to come to you to tell him  no all right you disrespect us with your ravings   was it that i didn't believe mary or the  opposite i was afraid she was telling the truth because then i would have to look my  lord in the eye know that i'd failed him me peter the one he'd once called the rock when i first met jesus i had a  different name simon i was a nobody   a humble fisherman from galilee i worked  hard and expected little from life in the gospels peter is the  first disciple called by jesus   jesus reached out to peter perhaps because he  was a fisherman and jesus knew that these were   hard-working people they understand you know what  it means to be hungry or what it means to struggle   what it means to work hard life in galilee in  the time of peter would have been incredibly hard   you're one bad boat ride away from starvation  anything that they catch is going to be taxed by   rome and it would not just be taxation coming from  rome there was always the double tax of people who   were the local tax collectors who would always add  something extra for themselves for someone living   under the roman occupation day-to-day life is  just trying to figure out how do i make ends meet in the gospel of john andrew john the baptist's   disciple introduces jesus to  his brother who is peter brother andrew so he's been fishing  all night unsuccessfully put out into deep water and  let down your nets for a catch master we've been working all  night long but have caught nothing jesus tells him to take his boat out again peter   not surprisingly is reluctant and  yet he goes out because it's jesus so huh don't be afraid from now on  you will be catching people for a man like peter who's barely away  from starvation and here comes this man   who promises a new message a new salvation a  better world when jesus told peter that he was   going to make him a fisher of men peter knew  what that meant because he knew how to fish   jesus was letting him know he was going to  use him to bring people into his following one of the earliest symbols of early  christianity is the fish which actually   makes a lot of sense because many of  jesus's earliest disciples are fishermen   interestingly enough given the prevalence  of the cross today it actually doesn't   become a symbol of christianity until  almost 400 years after jesus's death what did he mean catching people   i couldn't imagine my life changing  why would anyone listen to me there was much i didn't understand  about jesus of nazareth but the one   thing i knew without a shadow of a doubt is  that i would always be his devoted follower some people think that jesus's recruiting  of disciples was rather like the marines   looking for a few good men but in  fact that doesn't seem to be the way he was looking for those who were  willing to come and follow him and listen peter seems to have been looking for something or  at least peter was very ready to learn when jesus   called him a farmer went out to sow his seed as  he was sowing some of the seed fell along the path   simon peter is impressed with jesus and his  preaching he's not like the scribes he's not like   the local religious authorities and peter is drawn  to this exciting new charismatic figure well you   always talking riddles lord my head is swimming  too much wine friend i barely drank a drop i fear that i'll always be two steps behind i  would describe peter as a problem student for   jesus because he asks so many questions he  didn't get basic statements basic teachings   but i think jesus saw in peter a passion a spark  of passion that is exactly what he needed for his followers there's a moment in the gospel of  mark where simon peter and jesus are on the   road together and they're having a little  bit of a debate about jesus's identity   and jesus turns and asks the  disciples who they think he is who do people say the son of man is  what about you who do you say i am you're the messiah you're  the son of the living god blessed are you simon son of john i tell you you are now peter the rock but  on this rock i will build my church jesus   gives simon an aramaic nickname kephos cephus  which means rock or rocky this has significant   symbolism because peter will now become the  foundation stone of the christian movement   peter is a surprising choice  to be jesus's right hand man   he's after all just a fisherman we don't have  evidence that he's well educated we don't have   evidence that he's really multilingual in fact  the later tradition from papias says that he   spoke and preached in aramaic and that mark  had to translate his sayings into greek but jesus's concern is to pick someone that  has the character and the kutzba if you will   the deep courage to be a follower of  jesus even if it could cost one their life i wouldn't just simon from galilee  anymore i was peter with the rock   and over the coming months i  was right there by his side people laughed and spat in his face i shielded him when they  threw punches and hurl stones i was there when they started to listen so when he told me we would enter  jerusalem once more i was worried although we don't know for sure most  scholars believe that jesus and peter   entered jerusalem somewhere between 30 and 33 a.d  during the spring festival of passover it's the   celebration of not only god's promise  but the culmination of the exodus story we're talking about a festival where the whole  point is about god freeing the people from slavery   freeing the jews from servitude by a foreign  power and now who's running judea the romans are and so it's an extremely dangerous place to be jesus's message is dangerous but for jesus  jerusalem is the only place that he can   possibly go it's not only the political but  it's also the religious center of jewish life the symbolism of jesus riding a donkey  into jerusalem should not be lost   this isn't just a guy taking a ride on a donkey this is a reenactment of the jewish  coronation of the king of israel peter's vision of a messiah  is someone who's going to help   overthrow foreign rule in this case roman  rule and reestablish a jewish kingdom i think even peter at that point might have seen  the threat and the danger that jesus was was generating they're heading for the temple some reinforcements  there now it is everything we've been waiting for   the fulfillment of the divine destiny  the start of a glorious new kingdom about how quickly it all changed the last supper rolls around and peter does  not have the exuberance and that he had before   there is a slow and impending weight  that is upon him and the other disciples come let me lord are you gonna wash  my feet no you'll never wash my feet peter is horrified by the idea  of jesus washing their feet   because he's their leader and this  is something that a slave would do no servant is greater than his master nor is a messenger greater  than the one who sent him when jesus is washing the disciples feet  he's saying that he has not come as a kind of   royal military king he's  come as a suffering figure   and he's enacting that role  of servant with his disciples this is my body which is given for you do this in memory of me take it and eat it when jesus brought his ministry  into jerusalem he knows that his death is imminent this is the blood of my covenant  which is poured out for many the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the  wine comes to represent christ's body and christ's   blood the last supper becomes the origin of the  eucharist or the holy communion to christians hearing the messiah speaking about death  and yet he had already witnessed his power   peter's confused how is this possible and how  is this a revolution peter doesn't quite get it asking what he means is difficult to hear him talk that night   why would we need to eat and drink in  remembrance of him children even to think of it i don't think peter expected jesus to be a  messiah who would start a movement so powerful   that it would get him killed i think he  expected jesus to raise up the oppressed   but to push it to the point where the  roman government were so threatened by   him that he had to be crucified  i don't think he saw that coming i have prayed for you that your faith may not fail you lord i am  ready to go with you to prison and death truly i tell you this very night before the  rooster crows you will deny me three times i had no doubt in my mind i'd never deny  jesus i would defend him to the death   with sword with word with deed i  think that peter really believed   that he was going to be the faithful  disciple but that's not what happens after the last supper jesus leaves  the security of the walls of jerusalem   and goes across to the garden of  gethsemane to pray and peter follows him jesus is restless i was worried his words had  disturbed me and i knew that our arrival in   jerusalem would alert the authorities but  he was insistent we have to remember early   jews were not looking for a crucified messiah we  have literature like the psalms of solomon 18 and   19 that has this militaristic davidic messianic  figure that's going to come and retake the land   jesus was very different my soul is overwhelmed  with sorrow to the point of death stay here keep watch this course master jesus tells peter to watch with him to stay awake  with him jesus sees what is coming and he is   traumatized by the possibility of  this impending suffering and death peter doesn't want to participate in jesus's  great moment of anguish because like all of us   he shrinks from these moments of  suffering and to see the leader   who he has entrusted his whole life to now doubt  and suffer is probably too much for him to bear i didn't believe that god could let his son  suffer surely we would we'd all be saved   why couldn't i keep even a simple  promise i didn't heed his predictions simon are you asleep could you not keep watch  for one hour watch him pray the spirit is willing   but the flesh is weak so sorry sorry lord  peter fails this test he falls asleep   when jesus needs him and it's not the last time  that peter's gonna fail either the authorities   send a large crowd armed with clubs and swords to  arrest jesus judas it is judas who betrays jesus arrest him you're treacherous get your soul  back in this place do all the sword will die by peter just cuts off the ear blood is everywhere  but jesus heals the person who wants to arrest him   i thought i was proving myself as i was  being loyal this man that come to arrest   jesus and instead of fight he healed his  enemy and surrendered made no sense to me jesus was teaching him how to be a  non-violent revolutionary take them all my mind's racing you know judas betrayed  jesus everything's happening so fast   the only thing i was sure was i was  not like judas i would not deny him when jesus is arrested peter follows  jesus to the house of the jewish high   priest caiaphas because he wants to see  what's going to happen to his master entering caiaphas courtyard is a  lot like entering the lion's den   if peter is recognized there's nothing  to say that he won't also be arrested i felt fear that night in a way i have never known peter's moving into incredibly dangerous territory because he is fiercely loyal to jesus  he's what i would call the ride or die   disciple but the depths that we will go to  protect ourselves is absolutely extraordinary people recognize peter and they say hold on a  minute aren't you with jesus of nazareth this   man was with him a woman i don't know him and  then somebody else says are you one of jesus's   disciples you're also one of them man i'm not  three times peter denies knowing jesus certainly   this fellow is with him but he is a galilean  man i don't know what you're talking about   and at the moment of that third denial  the [ __ ] crows fulfilling something   that jesus himself had prophesied at  the last supper he's done the very thing   that he told jesus he would  never do deny and desert jesus their eyes lock and jesus looks  directly into peter's soul this   is the last moment where peter ever sees jesus alive jesus has been sentenced to  death is facing crucifixion   for the charge of trying to lead  a rebellion against the romans we know that for 300 years or more until the  roman emperor constantine banned crucifixion   it was the most common form of execution for  public criminals revolutionaries and slaves come we're in danger we must hide when the leader of a rebellion is crucified   there is president that the roman  empire then hunts out followers as well and so peter has to go into hiding   because he was affiliated with someone  who was an enemy of roman authority was i as bad as judas why did i deny him his  fear as cowardice everything that i thought i   knew about myself was wrong i think we should be  incredibly sympathetic towards peter in his denial   yes he denied jesus on the other hand he  did it because he was profoundly scared   i think this denial is one of those moments that  comes out as really really human all of us can   relate to a time when we fell short because  of we were scared and this is peter's moment we waited did nothing while jesus suffered oh don't look mary he's dead after several days mary magdalene is  the first person to see the risen lord those days were her blur and then  mary returned with her news and i   he has risen from the dead i have seen the  lord i went to the tomb a man spoke to me   it was jesus he told me to come to you to tell him  no all right you disrespect us with your ravings   it's not bad enough we must mourn for him without  being taunted to i know what i saw i spoke to him   and i believe in him can't listen to this anymore peter doesn't believe mary magdalene when  she says that she's seen the resurrected lord   why not well peter's a man of his time  and in first century jewish palestine   women were not considered reliable witnesses why is that so cruel why did i  doubt her it was shame it was shame i was lost   could she have been telling the truth or you know  or had they taken his body i know what to believe you need to remember that from a jewish point  of view resurrection doesn't involve visions it   involves a bodily raising of somebody back into a  physical form but that's not the end of the story peace be with you why are you troubled why do doubts rise in your mind look at my hands  and my feet it is i myself in the first century   it's not unusual to imagine that you saw  the ghost of someone that you knew loved   when peter saw the risen jesus he knew  he was seeing something unprecedented   this was not a hallucination or some spiritual  ghost-like being this was a transformed glorified   body that could be touched but also could enter  locked rooms peter must have been in utter awe   everything must be fulfilled that is written  about me and the law of moses the prophets   and the sobs there's nothing more important  in christianity than the resurrection of jesus   sit with me now jesus defeats death so he  defeats sin and his being raised a new life   is about a promise to christians that  they too will be raised on the last day and repentance for the forgiveness i couldn't bear to look at him i  feared i see disappointment in his eyes he only appeared to us that night i've  lost my chance to ask for forgiveness i went back to galilee to my life as a fisherman peter the rock had failed else can i do peter goes back to the fishing life  because that's what he knows that's what is   is familiar but it's not the same person that  we met early on in the gospel in the ancient   world there is no bank account there is no 401k  there is no way to secure any of your possessions   except through the constancy of your  work so without jesus peter has nothing i thought that i could go back to  the man i was before i met jesus   forget everything the one that's simple peter thinks it's all over  there is no sense that that   longed for messiah has fulfilled the  destiny that peter was hoping for him he thinks very carefully back to what has happened no servant is greater than his master this is my body take it and eat it peter had to go through a period of doubt  did this lead him to have doubts about jesus   perhaps most of all it led him  to have doubts about himself he needs to be forgiven for the  role that he failed to play in the crucifixion no no problem is but peter is still struggling  with the fact that he denied jesus judas betrayed but peter  betrayed in a different way i couldn't forget i can go  back as a different man now so one day peter is there and he's  fishing and he looks to the beach it's the lord in that moment peter's life completely changed jesus comes back in full force  in full strength and glory he had come for me and i felt free like  the chains in my mind finally coming loose in the gospel of john jesus and peter speak at  this time jesus gives him a direct commission and he asks him three things it says simon  son of john do you love me more than these   lord you know that i love you and he asked  them again peter do you love me feed my lambs do you love me again peter says  yes lord i love you tend my sheep simon son of john do you love me and what he's saying is is declare it because  you couldn't say it after i was arrested   you couldn't say it when we locked  eyes you could not say it then   say it now lord you know all things  you know that i love you feed my sheep and with those statements feed my lambs tend my  sheep feed my sheep a threefold recommissioning   just as there'd been a threefold denial and peter  is restored to being the leader of the disciples   from that moment i knew i would be able  to do whatever jesus commanded of me   let me give him a second chance let me give him a second chance jesus's great commission as it's called is sort  of a big bang moment for christianity because it's   the moment where it takes off jesus is telling  his disciples that they need to spread the word all authority in heaven and on earth  has been given to me so make disciples   of all nations baptizing them in the name of  the father and of the son and of the holy spirit this is the first missionary movement in religious  history this is the first time anybody says go out   and recruit people in mass and surely i am  with you always to the very end of the age i knew jesus as my teacher he's  my friend who's the son of god   because of him i am restored  i have regained my purpose we see peter a transformed man he has finally  gotten it he comes out renewed more confident   ready to go forward and in fact he does go forward  peter understood that his task was to reclaim   various people for the following of jesus  and to go throughout the empire to do this christianity spreads rapidly  throughout the roman empire   less than a decade after the death of jesus there  were probably 10 000 christians 200 years after   jesus's death there might be close to a million  christians this movement has gone from a group of   followers in rural palestine to some of the  largest cities in the empire and 300 years   after the death of jesus the roman emperor  himself constantine converts to christianity in catholic tradition peter goes  to rome and establishes the first   roman catholic church there becoming  the first pope but is this historical   if you read paul's letter to the romans  written sometime in the late 50s a.d there are   a huge number of followers of jesus already  in roman peter's nowhere to be found despite this the church at rome st peter's still  named after him if you enter into saint peter's   at vatican city you will go and see the words  that jesus speaks to peter there written around   the bottom of the cupola you are now peter  the rock on this rock i will build my church   peter's story ends according to tradition  with him being crucified in rome upside down   because he insists that he's not worthy  to be crucified the same way as his lord peter's story in a sense is all of  our stories we make mistakes we have   flaws and weaknesses but like peter we can  receive forgiveness and get back up again i'm peter the rock and i will  go forth and build his church you

Channel: HISTORY

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Keywords: Jesus: His Life, Mary Magdalene: The Crucifixion, seven demons, torment, resurrection, history, history channel, history shows, history channel shows, jesus his life, history jesus his life, jesus his life show, jesus his life full episodes, jesus his life clips, full episodes, jesus, watch jesus, jesus clips, jesus show history, christianity, easter, crucifixion, resusrrection, Jesus His Life s1 clips, Jesus His Life season 1 episode 4, Jesus His Life s1 e4, Jesus His Life 1X4 clips

Id: aiHg3ldK4H8

Length: 85min 28sec (5128 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 16 2021