We're all used to lots of symbols, aren't we? Used to a world where symbols convey so
! much information without having to use many words. So we see a little red circle with a
! line through the middle and we know it's the tube. We see a little silhouette of a
piece of fruit with a bite taken out and we know, huh, that's apple. That's expensive products
made by some poor person in the Far East for a big company in America. And we perhaps never
think to question why is there a round circle with a line through it for the tube? Why is
there an apple with a bite taken out of it for the apple computer company? There's a
chance that we don't think about it. In the same way we're all used to seeing people wearing
crosses around necklaces in earrings. And we know it's a symbol of Christianity but maybe
we don't think quite why. Where does it come from? Why is that the symbol? And maybe we
don't even think how bizarre it is to have a cross as a symbol. The very early Christians
hiding in the catechums of Rome, fearful of persecution and arrest by authorities. He's a
different symbol. He's the symbol of a fish. Now it wasn't primarily because Jesus hung
around with fishermen, although he did. It's actually because of an acronym. In Greek, the
words for Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour. In Greek, the initial letters spell Ichthus,
which is the Greek word for a fish. So the fish was like a secret code they could use for
each other. And perhaps a little bizarrely, we still see it on bumper stickers of cars today.
But that's where it comes from if you ever wanted to know. So why did the fish get replaced by
a cross? After all, if we saw people going around with models of electric chairs on their
necklaces or a hangman's guillotine, we'd think it was weird, wouldn't we? And yet the cross,
far more than a guillotine or a hangman's noose, was a terrible, terrible means of execution.
The Roman philosopher and politician, Cicero, wrote a little bit before Jesus was born, said
this, the very word cross should be far removed, not only from the person of a Roman citizen,
but from his thoughts, his eyes and his ears. So how did this disgraceful instrument of execution
come to be the symbol of the Christian faith? Well, as we look at it, we get to the heart of the
matter. We see why it's a symbol of the Christian faith, because it epitomises the message at the
heart of Christianity. So that's why I thought it would be good to look today at this little account,
this eyewitness account of Jesus' death on the cross. Written by John the disciple, the disciple
whom Jesus loved, the disciple who gets to care for Jesus' mother in this excerpt we read here.
And I want us to ask three questions as we read through this story. We're actually going to ask
them twice. The three questions are this, why is this happening? Who is in control? And so what?
So what difference does it make? And I want us to look at those twice. First time through,
we'll look at it very superficially, as bystanders in the crowd, just seeing what's happening.
But then we're going to go back again and look at them more deeply, with the clues that John,
who writes this, is giving us, to help us see underneath the surface what is going on.
So first of all, why is this happening? Well, we pick up the story in verse 16, and we read that
Pilate delivered Jesus over to them to be crucified. So why is Jesus being crucified? Well, if you've read
the story this far, you'd know why it is not happening. It's not happening because Jesus is
guilty of some crime. He's already had two trials, one a mock trial in front of the religious leaders.
But even in that, it's just across the column there, in verse 23 of chapter 18, Jesus says,
If what I said is wrong, bear witness about what is wrong. But if what I said is right, why do you strike me?
No witnesses can be brought to say what Jesus had said or done was wrong. He was innocent.
And then three times after his trial with the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, Pilate announces,
I find no guilt in him. You can see that at the end of chapter 18, verse 38. You see at the start of chapter 19,
verse 4, and again in verse 6, the chief priests cry, crucify him, crucify him. Pilate said to them,
take him yourselves and crucify him. I find no guilt in him. So Jesus is not being killed because he's guilty
of anything. On the surface, Jesus is being killed because of political conspiracies.
You need to know a little bit of the historical background of the day. The Roman Empire had taken over
and occupied Judea. But they'd done a bit of a deal with the Jewish religious authorities.
So the religious authorities still had some power, some influence. They could still run their religion
out of the temple in Jerusalem. But it was always on a bit of a fine knife edge.
They had to behave themselves. And so a few chapters earlier, the leader, Caiaphas the high priest,
had said of the trouble Jesus was causing by attracting crowds, if we let Jesus go on like this,
this is chapter 11, verse 48, everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away
both our place, that is the temple, and our nation. If Jesus gets any more popular, we will lose our power.
The Romans will take it from us. And so they want to get rid of Jesus.
That's their political conspiracy. At the same time, Pilate, the Roman governor, had a really tricky job.
Judea was well known as a place where there had been lots of rebellions and uprisings in the centuries before.
It was always a pretty tense place. And so he had to try and keep control.
If not, he would lose his job. And that is why the Jewish leaders back him into a corner with their political manoeuvres.
If you notice, if you look up just above the section we read, they say to Pilate,
look, this is why Jesus is claiming to be a king.
So at the top of the column there, in verse 12,
everybody makes himself a king opposes Caesar.
So Pilate, if you're not getting rid of this king, then you're no friend of Caesar.
You will lose your job.
And so Pilate, although he wanted to let Jesus go,
because of his own self-interest, wanting to hold on to his job,
because of the political manoeuvrings of the Jewish authorities,
says, OK, crucify him. You take him, you do it.
And you see those political games continue.
Did you notice that sign that Pilate wrote to go above the cross?
The sign with a charge on it?
It's there in verse 19.
Pilate wrote,
Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.
What's he doing?
He's basically thumbing his nose at the Jewish authorities.
He's saying, you want a king? Well, this is your king.
Humiliated, dying on a cross.
He's a loser like you are.
It's Pilate playing political games again.
And the Jewish leaders get upset and say, no, change the sign.
Pilate just says, no.
What I've written, I have written.
Pilate may have lost the battle, but he's making sure they know he is really in control.
So why is Jesus dying?
Well, on the face of it, because of a political conspiracy,
because of human pride in politics.
That then leads us to the second question, doesn't it?
Who is in control here?
Well, it's not Pilate, is it?
He had to give up his control.
His writing that inscription, the king of the Jews,
was his last little gambit to try and show he had some power.
In some sense, it looks like the religious leaders are in control,
but even they aren't so much in control,
because they can't get that charge changed to something they'd be happy with.
Who else is there?
Could the soldiers be in control?
Well, in a sense, yes.
What have they done?
They've nailed Jesus to a cross,
they've hoisted it up and shoved it in the ground,
so it's standing up.
And now they're just getting on with their day,
gambling over his clothes.
It sort of looks like they're in control,
and there's Jesus sitting there,
hanging there above them,
looking down as his clothes are gambled for.
Powerless to do anything, it seems.
So maybe the soldiers are in control.
So thirdly, what difference does this make?
Why does this matter?
Is all that's happening here,
another innocent man,
unjustly dying,
at the hands of a tyrannical regime,
and at the hands of religious despots?
We see that kind of thing on television every night, don't we?
So one of my neighbours said to me recently,
what's so special about this case?
Isn't it just another innocent man
in a world of suffering?
Well, let's go back and look at those questions again.
But this time looking at them,
aware of all the information
that John, who's writing this,
is putting before us,
so we can try to understand
the true answers to these questions.
So first of all, why is this happening?
We look at verse 24 for a moment.
We get a clue to why it's happening here.
So they, that's the soldiers,
said to one another,
let us not tear it,
this seamless garment,
but cast lots for it,
to see whose it shall be.
This was to fulfil
what the scripture says.
They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
So the soldiers did these things.
These Roman soldiers
had no idea of this prophecy.
These were words written
a thousand years earlier,
describing, in Psalm 22,
describing an innocent man suffering,
forsaken by God,
oppressed by people around him,
yet going on to praise God
at the end of the psalm.
The soldiers had no idea
they were fulfilling a prophecy
by playing dice for Jesus' clothes,
and yet here we get a hint
of what is going on.
A plan is being fulfilled.
Promises are being fulfilled.
So why is it happening?
It's happening to fulfil
what God had promised
thousands of years earlier.
We see that not only here,
but throughout the story
of John's Gospel.
If you take one of these Gospels
at the end,
one of these accounts
of Jesus' life,
read through it.
You'll see throughout it
you get hints,
or even better than hints,
clear clues,
that Jesus is fulfilling a plan.
So for example,
back in chapter 10,
he said,
I am the good shepherd,
the good shepherd lays down
his life for his sheep.
Or even before that,
in John chapter 3 verse 15,
he'd given a clue
as to how he would die.
He said,
when I am lifted up,
whoever believes in me
would have eternal life.
In John chapter 3 verse 16,
the very next verse from that,
he gives this clear declaration
of why he'd come into the world,
what plan he was fulfilling.
He says this,
For God so loved the world
that he gave his only Son,
that whoever believes in him
should not perish,
but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son
into the world
to condemn the world,
but in order that the world
might be saved through him.
So why is this happening?
Jesus is dying
to save a world.
It's not power politics.
Jesus isn't a victim
of someone else's pride and gains.
Jesus is willingly
fulfilling the mission
the Father gave him.
Now why is that?
He, the innocent one,
the one who had never
done anything wrong,
is dying to take the punishment
for people like me and you
who fail to live up
to our own standards,
let alone God's standards.
Who fail to treat God
as ruler in the world he made.
Who try to live
as if we're independent of God.
And why is Jesus doing it?
He's doing it to show us
two things.
First of all,
to show us God's great love.
That God is so loving.
He does not want
people he has made
to perish in hell forever.
But also,
God is so loving.
He cannot just ignore
our sin.
He cannot just ignore
our rebellion.
God is loving,
so he has to punish
the things we've done wrong.
If God didn't punish
the evil and the injustice
and the pain
that we cause in this world,
then how could we say
he's loving?
People often ask me,
how could a loving God
punish sin?
Let me ask you
a different question.
How could a loving God
just overlook sin?
If he did,
he wouldn't be loving,
would he?
He'd be indifferent,
which is the opposite
of loving.
See, because God is love,
he sends his son
into the world
so whoever believes in him
may not perish
but have eternal life.
He's so loving,
he must judge,
he must condemn
all that is wrong.
He's so loving,
he wants to forgive.
And so this is where
the rescue plan comes in.
This is why Jesus is dying,
it's to fulfil
the rescue plan
that was promised
in the Old Testament
and unfolds in the New.
So that's what is happening.
That's why this is happening.
Jesus is showing us
God's love.
Love to rescue us.
Love to condemn sin.
So then who's in control?
Is it the soldiers?
Is it Pilate?
Is it the religious authorities?
No.
Look carefully.
John gives us
three pieces of evidence
to show that it's really
Jesus in control.
Look down to the end there,
bottom of the page,
verse 26.
Here's Jesus
hanging on the cross
and when Jesus saw
his mother
and the disciple
whom he loved
standing nearby,
he said to his mother,
women,
behold your son.
Then he said to the disciple,
behold your mother.
From that hour
the disciple took her
to his own home.
I don't know about you
but when I'm in pain
I'm really bad
at looking out
for other people.
I get very obsessed
with what's causing me
discomfort.
I get very irritable
with everybody else.
Maybe that's just me.
But what does Jesus do?
As he dislocates
his shoulders
every time he breathes,
as he hangs there
with nails
through his hands
and feet,
he looks out
on and loves
his mother
and cares for her.
It's a sign
that he's really
in control.
But secondly,
look at verse 28.
After this,
Jesus knowing
that all was now
finished,
said to fulfil
the scripture,
I thirst.
He's so in control
that even at that moment
as he reaches
the end of his life,
he can do one
little detail
to fulfil another
scripture,
to fulfil another
promise laid out
in the Old Testament.
Then the greatest
piece of evidence,
the third piece of evidence
is there in verse 30.
When Jesus had received
the sour wine,
he said,
it is finished
and bowed his head
and gave up his spirit.
Notice the words,
it is finished.
Not I am finished,
but it is finished.
It's the cry of a student
when they get to the end
of their final exam
or final piece of coursework,
it's finished!
It's the cry of a couple
who for 25 years
would pay off their mortgage
and finally it's done.
It's finished!
We own this place!
It's the cry of a prisoner
who's finally let out
having served his sentence.
It is finished!
It's the cry of the
relieved marathon runner
who after 26.4 miles
of agony
crosses the line
with joy on her face.
It is finished!
What is finished?
What is finished
is the work
God the Father
had given the Son
to do.
What is finished
is the work
of rescuing
rebels like me
and you.
What is finished
is fulfilling
the promise
that I read earlier
in chapter 3
verse 16.
That God so loved
the world
that he gave
his only Son
that whoever
believes in him
should not perish
but have eternal life.
That is finished.
So that anyone
who believes in him
will not be judged
themselves
but will have
eternal life instead.
So let me ask again
what difference
does this make?
And we rattle through
very briefly
five things
we cannot say.
Five things
we cannot say.
We cannot say first
that God doesn't care
about the injustice
of the world.
He does.
He cares deeply.
He came down
in the presence
of his Son
and suffered
injustice himself
so he could put
an end to it all
one day.
Secondly we cannot say
all religions
are basically the same.
Every other religion
is all about
what human beings
have to do
to impress God
or to get forgiven
by God
to earn life
from God.
Christianity
is completely opposite.
It's not about us
trying to get up to God
it's about God
come down
to rescue us
in the presence
of his Son.
Thirdly we cannot say
my life isn't worth
anything
no one cares about me
my life's a mess.
If you trust in Jesus
see how much
your life is worth
that the eternal
Son of God
the one
through whom
everything was made
as John said
right back at the
start of this book
took on human flesh
lived a human life
and died on a cross
to rescue you.
You cannot say
you are worthless
if you put your
trust in Jesus
and he has paid
a supremely
valuable price
for you.
Fourthly
you cannot say
oh if there is a God
I'm sure I'll be alright
because I'm a nice person
or I've been baptised
or I go to church
I'm open minded
I'm fair
we cannot say that.
If you can be accepted
and forgiven by God
by our own actions
if any of us
can be accepted
because of what we've done
then why would it be
necessary
for Jesus Christ
the Son of God
to die in our place?
So we cannot say
I'll be alright
on my own
without Jesus
we cannot say
all religions
are the same
we cannot say
my life is worth nothing
we cannot say
God doesn't care
God doesn't understand
and the final thing
we cannot say
is
oh it doesn't really matter
we cannot say
it doesn't really matter
God has gone
to these great lengths
to open a way
for people like me
and you
to be forgiven
that we may not perish
we may not spend
eternity in hell
cut off from God
but instead
we may have a life
that begins now
a whole life
the life we are
meant to have
John
at the end of the next chapter
will write these words
these things about
Jesus are written
that you may believe
that Jesus is the Christ
the Son of God
and that by believing
you may have life
in his name
so you cannot say
this doesn't matter
because it's through
Jesus' death
that we can
have life
so that is why
the cross
is the heart
of the matter
it's the centre
of the Christian message
Christianity is not
about what we do
it's what God has done
it's the heart
of the matter
because in the cross
we see the heart
of God
his hatred
of all that is evil
all that pollutes
all that damages
the people he's made
and the world he's made
but also we see his heart
in his great love
for lost people
and it's the heart
of the matter
because how we respond
to the death
of Jesus Christ
on the cross
will determine
not just our life now
but all eternity
for us
so how do you
respond to Jesus
let me pray
let me get a couple
of minutes for questions
if there are any