Yesterday was Good Friday and I happened to preach from John 19.1-16, the second half of Jesus’ interaction with Pilate. Today, being by myself, I have been listening to some talks/sermons. I was listening to Resurrection and the Task of the Church by N.T. Wright. He made some interesting points there.

He points out that John 20 begins early in the morning with Mary Magdalene. He indicates that this is the sign of the new creation, a new first day. But what was happening in the week before?

John opens his Gospel with a clear hint of Genesis 1 with the words “in the beginning.” This has been recognized and understood by many Christians in the past. But what Wright says is that the seven signs in John’s Gospel should be taken to be somewhat parallel to the seven days of the original creation. He does not state what the seven signs are, but I think they should be:

1. Changing Water to Wine
2. Healing the Official’s Son
3. Healing the Invalid at the Pool
4. Feeding the Five Thousand and Walking on Water
5. Healing the Man Born Blind
6. Raising Lazarus from the Dead
7. The Crucifixion

The above list may seem strange in two ways. First, I have linked the Feeding of the Five Thousand and the Walking on Water because this seems to be how John has arranged his material. The discussion on the Bread of Life comes after the walking on the water. Since John anyway has arranged his material thematically, there is no explanation for this split between the actual feeding and the discussion about it unless John wants us to view the entire episode as a single sign.

Second, I have placed the crucifixion as a sign. We would not normally consider this option. But if, as Wright suggests, John’s Gospel is a recounting of creation, then John 19.30 should be viewed as being parallel with Genesis 2.2, just as God finished his creation on the seventh day, so also Jesus finished his work with the seventh sign.

But if the Easter account in John 20 is supposed to be a herald of a new creation, the first day of the new creation, then, what was happening before that? As in any weekly cycle, the day before the first day of the week is the seventh day of the previous week. And in Genesis 2.2 we read that God rested on the seventh day after finishing his work. So also, Jesus ‘rested’ in the tomb after finishing his work.

But if the first Holy Saturday were the day of rest for Jesus after finishing his work and bringing God’s purposes for creation to completion, then what was happening the day before? The day before was the first Good Friday, the sixth day of the week. And if we go back to Genesis 1.26-27 we see that this was the day on which God created humans to be his image bearers. This also happened to be the day on which Pilate brought Jesus out after having his flogged and proclaimed, “Here is the man.” In other words, just as God commissioned the first humans on the sixth day to tend to his creation, so also Jesus, the truly human one was displayed on the sixth day and went ahead to do what Adam failed to do.