WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.240 Please turn back to John 19, page 905, and let's go back to the cross of Christ. 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:19.719 ! Let's pray as we do that. Our Father, we come before you this morning, if your word opened 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:32.039 before us with the hinge of history displayed here, and we pray that you would help us to 00:00:32.039 --> 00:00:41.420 see and hear and understand that our lives might be changed, because we ask in Jesus' 00:00:41.599 --> 00:00:42.840 name. Amen. 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:49.620 Amen. When I was a little boy, it was our first house. It was the first house that I lived in, 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:54.900 so we lived there until I was 11, so I must have been younger than 11. There was a picture on the 00:00:54.900 --> 00:00:59.180 wall in my bedroom. It wasn't one that I'd put there. It was one that my parents had hung there. 00:00:59.719 --> 00:01:05.439 I don't know why, but it was a 16th century scene. It was a poster of a 16th century scene. It didn't 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:10.460 date back to the 16th century. If it had, I wouldn't be here now. I'd be in a castle somewhere, 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:15.539 but there we are. It was a poster of a 16th century scene, and if you'd asked me, age 10, 00:01:15.619 --> 00:01:22.479 age 9, age 10, what was on that picture in your bedroom, I would have said, well, up close there's 00:01:22.479 --> 00:01:26.119 a man's face, and he's wearing a hat, and his mouth's open, and in the background there are 00:01:26.119 --> 00:01:36.199 some people doing things. One evening, my parents were having a party downstairs. They had guests 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:41.480 over, and there was all kinds of things going on in terms of dinner and clinking of glasses and 00:01:41.480 --> 00:01:46.579 cutlery and all that kind of thing. My bedroom was beside the toilet, and one of their guests came up 00:01:46.579 --> 00:01:53.180 to use the loo. I was lying on my bed doing, contemplating my inner life. I don't know. I was 00:01:53.180 --> 00:01:58.840 nine years old, and the guest put his head around the door. I knew him. He was a friend of my father's, 00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:03.040 and he said, you know, hi, and we had a bit of a chat, and he saw the picture, and he said, 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:15.080 oh, interesting. He said, do you know this picture? And I said, what do you mean? Yes, 00:02:15.099 --> 00:02:19.900 it's a poster in my bedroom. And he said, no, no, no, have a look. What do you see there? 00:02:20.379 --> 00:02:24.780 If you'd asked me, I think I probably said to him, I see a man in the foreground. I see some 00:02:24.780 --> 00:02:34.520 people in the background. And he said, no, look again. What do you see? And I kind of looked a 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:39.020 bit more closely. He said, oh, there's a table there, and so on. And for about 10 minutes or so, 00:02:39.060 --> 00:02:43.920 he said, look again. What do you see there? That person's clothes are torn. What does that tell you 00:02:43.920 --> 00:02:50.800 about them? And after he had pressed me to look hard and to notice the details that the painter had 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:59.020 included in this picture, this familiar picture, this thing that had been right beside me in my 00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:03.860 bedroom for all the years of my life up to that point, it took on a whole different light. 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:11.220 It was peasants drinking and carousing. It was a party scene that, as I say, dated back to the 16th 00:03:11.220 --> 00:03:18.540 century. But once I had seen those details, the whole scene, it came to life. It was a totally 00:03:18.539 --> 00:03:24.439 different picture. Well, this morning, I want to play the role of my father's friends as we come 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:32.759 to this passage in John's gospel. And I want to ask us to look carefully at a scene that is familiar 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:40.099 to many of us, but that has details that John has intentionally included, but that we might have 00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:48.079 missed or that we've breezed past with the familiarity of this in order that we might get a deeper and a 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:52.940 fuller picture, in order that we might never look at the cross the same way again, in order that we 00:03:52.940 --> 00:03:59.660 might see a richer and fuller picture. And it's especially important that we do that in John's 00:03:59.660 --> 00:04:06.880 gospel. John's gospel, his agenda in writing his gospel is explicitly theological. Do you notice that 00:04:06.880 --> 00:04:12.340 as we've gone through his gospel, there are lots of things that he says that aren't in other gospels, 00:04:12.480 --> 00:04:17.500 and there are things that he records about details that are in other gospels that aren't in those 00:04:17.500 --> 00:04:23.800 other gospels? So when it comes to the cross, there is much less detail here than Matthew and Mark have 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:30.000 about the actual historical events. Do you notice that? You could say the physical reality of the cross, 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:34.759 19 verse 18, it just gets one verse, they crucified him. 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:45.100 What John provides is, of course, historical, but he wants us to grasp why it happened more than that 00:04:45.100 --> 00:04:51.280 it happened. He wants to communicate the theological significance of these events. And to do this, 00:04:51.320 --> 00:04:58.620 he provides for us a symbol-laden account of the crucifixion. There are details here that John is 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:05.560 putting in to tell us deeper things about what is going on than merely Jesus Christ dying on the cross 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:12.180 for our sins. Not that that is ever mere, but you know what I mean. He wants to portray Jesus in a 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:17.720 particular light. He is saying things about his identity with the details that he includes, and 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:24.579 he is revealing specifically things that his death accomplished that other gospels don't include. So 00:05:24.579 --> 00:05:32.519 those two categories in mind, his identity and what his death accomplishes, I want us to look. 00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:38.100 I want to ask the question, what do you see? And I want to ask it twice with those two. 00:05:38.100 --> 00:05:43.280 Look at his identity and look at the details John has given about what his death has accomplished. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:46.660 So point number one, what do you see? 00:05:49.840 --> 00:05:56.760 Is he an innocent man being crucified? Soldiers gambling for his belongings? Distressed family 00:05:56.760 --> 00:06:04.280 watching on as he speaks his last words? A final shout as he dies? A soldier puncturing his corpse with a 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:12.759 spear causing a mess as bodily fluid squirts out. Some kindly people taking him to a tomb and anointing 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:19.719 him for his burial. Maybe you say, what do you say? Well, I see maybe something more theological. You 00:06:19.719 --> 00:06:24.779 think, oh, well, he said to me this is theological. So you say, ah, well, I see the Son of God bearing 00:06:24.779 --> 00:06:28.039 the wrath of God in the place of the people of God for the sins of the world. 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:36.080 Yes, okay. But look again. First, let's go to the sign, verse 19. 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:41.620 Put a sign above his head. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. 00:06:42.720 --> 00:06:46.960 Many of the Jews read this inscription for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, 00:06:47.040 --> 00:06:53.620 and it was written in Aramaic and Latin and in Greek. Now, if you were here last week, we discussed 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:58.480 the way that the soldiers in the way that they were acting, and Pilate, in the words that he used, 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:04.980 act and speak better than they know. So we won't take long on this point. But all the political 00:07:04.980 --> 00:07:11.280 maneuvering by the Jews and the Romans culminates here. If you want to see where it's all going, look at 00:07:11.280 --> 00:07:18.660 the sign. And in this three languages, trilingual declaration, we have the truth about Christ. 00:07:18.660 --> 00:07:27.340 Christ. He is the King who rules. What do you see? You see the King who rules. Whoever would pass by 00:07:27.340 --> 00:07:32.700 could see in their own language that the crucifixion of Jesus was His exaltation. The wooden cross had 00:07:32.700 --> 00:07:39.660 become His royal throne, and He is ruling, and He is reigning. Yes, here is a broken and a wretched man, 00:07:40.400 --> 00:07:47.540 but He at the same time is the one before whom every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under the 00:07:47.540 --> 00:07:54.360 earth. Everyone who has ever lived, everyone who has ever had breath in their body will confess 00:07:54.360 --> 00:08:00.740 His lordship. Every single one, every nation, every government, every homeless person, and every 00:08:00.740 --> 00:08:08.560 billionaire, and everyone in between will all acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord because of 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:13.860 this event. That's what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter 2. A great hymn you remember 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:20.939 when it says that He chose to humble Himself to the point of servanthood, and the greatest 00:08:20.939 --> 00:08:25.759 servanthood of all death, and the greatest death of all death on a cross. He could not have gone any 00:08:25.759 --> 00:08:32.360 lower. This event, Jesus chose this. He submitted Himself to this, and what does Paul say? Therefore, 00:08:33.680 --> 00:08:38.460 He has been exalted to the highest place. The reason that He has exalted to the place of lordship 00:08:38.460 --> 00:08:46.100 over all, over every square inch, is that He humbled Himself to the cross. Can you see the King who rules? 00:08:48.180 --> 00:08:54.639 Let's go next to the small pile of clothes at the foot of the cross. Verse 23. Come with me to verse 23. 00:08:54.740 --> 00:09:00.240 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His garments and divided them into four parts, one part 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:08.600 for each soldier, also His tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:14.600 And so they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be. 00:09:15.779 --> 00:09:21.460 Again, John gives us details here that we don't get in the other Gospels. The soldiers gambling for the 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:28.720 outer garments, that's in all the Gospels. They divided into four parts, that's in the other Gospels. 00:09:28.720 --> 00:09:35.920 But John mentions his tunic, the inner garment, and specifically that it was both seamless and woven. 00:09:36.700 --> 00:09:42.200 Now, what's that about? Why do we need those details? Well, John wants us to identify this with 00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:51.120 the garment of the priest. What can you see? Here is the priest who mediates. 00:09:52.920 --> 00:09:57.580 The reference to this tunic being seamless suggests that it was made with great care, 00:09:57.580 --> 00:10:03.720 befitting the way priestly clothing was to be made. Also, in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:13.460 the word woven here is only used to refer to priestly garments. Exodus 28, Exodus 35, Exodus 36, 00:10:13.540 --> 00:10:20.100 the same word is used only in regard to priestly garments. Why has John chosen that word? It's because 00:10:20.100 --> 00:10:24.360 that's the point that he's making. And then, of course, the decision not to tear it, 00:10:24.360 --> 00:10:29.879 that not only fulfills the Scripture, but it alludes to the command in Leviticus 21, verse 10, 00:10:30.100 --> 00:10:36.700 against the tearing of the robes of the high priest. John is telling us that the crucified Christ 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:44.800 is the high priest of God who, by his own kingly authority, offers himself as the once-for-all sacrifice 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:54.120 for the sin of the world. Jesus makes himself the propitiation for our sins. He mediates for us. He 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:59.099 bears the wrath of God in our place so that we can be reconciled to the Father. 00:11:01.939 --> 00:11:05.019 John is showing us here that everything we would expect of the high priest, 00:11:05.539 --> 00:11:11.240 sacrifice, reconciliation, cleansing, forgiveness for sins, intercession, all of the things that the 00:11:11.240 --> 00:11:18.840 Old Testament priest did, it is now accomplished through Jesus, our high priest. And how significant 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:29.860 is it that this garment lies unworn at the foot of the cross? It's no longer needed because Jesus has 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:37.159 fulfilled and superseded the role of the high priest. We no longer need an earthly priest to mediate because 00:11:37.159 --> 00:11:42.339 Christ is our true high priest who, the writer to the Hebrews says, who sat down at the right hand of 00:11:42.339 --> 00:11:46.879 the throne of the majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, the true tent that the Lord set up, 00:11:46.939 --> 00:11:59.480 not man. Do you want to come into the presence of the living God? Do you want to be reconciled with 00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:04.339 all of the things that you know are true about your heart and your life and the way that you've lived? 00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:11.139 Do you want to know that you can be reconciled to the God who made you for himself? 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:23.800 Christ brings you in. He is the priest who mediates. Can you see him? Can you see the priest who mediates 00:12:23.800 --> 00:12:33.180 and he mediates for you? Next, let's follow John as he shifts our focus to the people around the cross, 00:12:33.179 --> 00:12:37.759 the sign above the cross, the clothes at the foot of the cross. Now we go to the people 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:44.299 around the cross. Verse 25, but standing by the cross of Jesus where his mother and his mother's 00:12:44.299 --> 00:12:50.079 sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he 00:12:50.079 --> 00:12:57.639 loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, 00:12:57.639 --> 00:13:03.000 behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home. 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:09.519 This exchange between Jesus and his family, it's his mother, his aunt. In fact, it's probably two 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:16.679 aunts and two close disciples. This event is often taken as an act of familial care on Jesus' part. 00:13:17.139 --> 00:13:24.460 He is ensuring that his mother is looked after when he departs. That, of course, is possible, 00:13:24.460 --> 00:13:30.300 but I think there is much more going on than that. I think what we're supposed to see here is that he 00:13:30.300 --> 00:13:39.460 is the son who succeeds. The son who succeeds. Can you see, Jesus doesn't just say to the disciple, 00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:45.720 please take care of my mother because I'm leaving. But he starts actually by commanding his mother to 00:13:45.720 --> 00:13:52.420 take care of the beloved disciple. But notice specifically, he doesn't refer to her as his mother, 00:13:52.419 --> 00:14:01.740 but as woman. Now, we know John's gospel. That rings a bell with us. That takes us back to chapter 00:14:01.740 --> 00:14:08.099 two when he spoke to her that way at the wedding at Cana when the wine was running out. Now, this 00:14:08.099 --> 00:14:17.219 language, woman, behold, what does he say? Woman, behold your son. This language is actually designed 00:14:17.220 --> 00:14:23.000 to put distance between Jesus and his mother, not in a bad way, but simply to highlight the larger 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:30.480 context of what Jesus is accomplishing. Same thing as chapter two. So here in this moment, 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:39.080 Jesus is not primarily, he's not first and foremost Mary's boy, but he is the unique son of his heavenly 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:44.899 father who through the events that they are witnessing, through him being on the cross, 00:14:44.899 --> 00:14:55.500 creates a new family, the children of God. The son of God on the cross is distinct from the sons of God 00:14:55.500 --> 00:15:03.539 who stand at the cross, and yet in this event, it is the cross that unites them in the same father. 00:15:07.100 --> 00:15:13.279 Look at verse 30. When Jesus cried out, it is finished, it is a cry of victory. We said that last week. He is 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:20.299 declaring his work complete. His work is accomplished, and that work is the work of the true son of God. 00:15:21.379 --> 00:15:26.480 So you remember in the Garden of Eden, Adam was created as the first son of God. He was to live 00:15:26.480 --> 00:15:32.679 in obedience to the Father, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, but he failed, and in his failure, 00:15:32.779 --> 00:15:39.539 he plunged the whole world into sin. God promised to put that right, and so he called Israel to be his 00:15:39.539 --> 00:15:48.599 people and designated the nation of Israel to be his firstborn son, Exodus 4, 22. They were then to live 00:15:48.599 --> 00:15:53.719 as his redeemed people according to his law, but we know what happened. They failed as well. 00:15:56.500 --> 00:16:02.219 But then, in the words of the Apostle Paul, Galatians 4, verse 4, 00:16:02.220 --> 00:16:11.660 For when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 00:16:12.560 --> 00:16:18.300 to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. 00:16:20.860 --> 00:16:26.139 Jesus is the Son of God who succeeds where the other sons failed, 00:16:26.139 --> 00:16:33.019 and it is through faith in Him that we become God's children, and we receive life. You remember 00:16:33.019 --> 00:16:36.879 He said it right back in the prologue, to all who received Him, to all who believed in His name, 00:16:36.919 --> 00:16:42.699 He gave the right to what? Become the children of God, and here it is. This is why it's possible. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:47.819 And when you become a child of God, you receive life. 00:16:47.820 --> 00:16:56.440 You receive full access to the Father, full participation in the family of God, the church. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:03.500 All the benefits of belonging to His family flow down to you because He was the Son who succeeds. 00:17:05.500 --> 00:17:11.120 Look at the cross. Look carefully. Can you see the Son who succeeds? 00:17:11.119 --> 00:17:20.139 Well, keep looking one more time. Look again. One final aspect of Jesus' identity. Go with me to verse 30. 00:17:21.199 --> 00:17:23.479 When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 00:17:23.659 --> 00:17:26.739 It is finished, and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. 00:17:31.339 --> 00:17:36.979 It's a final insult from the soldiers. They stuff this sour wine in His mouth, 00:17:36.980 --> 00:17:43.940 and then He cries out, It is finished. It's one word in the original. You know that. Tetelestai. 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:48.960 It is a cry of victory. I've just said that, but we need to see that John follows it with verse 31. 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:54.860 And what are the details He gives us there? There are details about the rules for the Passover 00:17:54.860 --> 00:18:03.759 celebration. Do you see that? Since it was the day of preparation, the Sabbath is being mentioned. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:09.200 He's bringing us back to the reality of Passover, and so He's showing us that Jesus is the Lamb 00:18:09.200 --> 00:18:17.700 who triumphs. The Passover Lamb who triumphs. So, John is reminding us here, the King who rules, 00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:25.140 the priest who mediates, the Son who succeeds is also the Passover Lamb who triumphs. He fulfills all 00:18:25.140 --> 00:18:29.440 of these things in His person, the Lord Jesus. And the emphasis on the fact that His legs weren't 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:34.980 broken. Do you see that? Verse 31 and following. They press the point even further. He is the perfect 00:18:34.980 --> 00:18:44.039 Passover Lamb who triumphs. All that He had to be in order to fulfill the law, He is. 00:18:46.440 --> 00:18:53.799 And so, we look and we see the victim is really the victor. Think about the words that might bring you 00:18:53.799 --> 00:19:08.759 joy. I do. I love you. You've passed. Not guilty. I'm sure that brings lots of people joy when they hear 00:19:08.759 --> 00:19:18.720 them. These are on me. Great words that bring us joy. It is finished. Tetelestai must be the word 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:26.019 that outstrips them all. It must be the most thrilling word that we can hear. Because when 00:19:26.019 --> 00:19:31.779 Jesus cried out, Tetelestai, it is finished. He is declaring to the whole world that His work of 00:19:31.779 --> 00:19:38.240 fulfilling the Old Testament law, the meticulous demands of the Passover sacrifice has been accomplished. 00:19:39.559 --> 00:19:48.240 And so, with a word, all sin is paid for in full. With that word, Satan is destroyed. 00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:55.880 With a word, death is defeated. With a word, eternal life is given. And with a word, hope then floods the 00:19:55.880 --> 00:20:05.740 universe. Pinned to the cross. The moment when Christ can do nothing is the moment when He has done 00:20:05.740 --> 00:20:12.200 everything. And again, look, don't miss His control. Verse 30, we talked about this last week. Verse 30, 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:18.819 He gave up His Spirit. No one took it from Him. He handed it over. The victim is really the victor. 00:20:18.819 --> 00:20:24.400 Yes, and He is so completely on His terms. 00:20:27.620 --> 00:20:34.460 Look, can you see the perfect Son of God giving His perfect life as a perfect sacrifice for you? 00:20:34.460 --> 00:20:37.960 Can you see the Lamb who triumphs? 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:47.880 God's King, Priest, Son, Lamb. John brings them all together at the cross. 00:20:47.880 --> 00:20:54.560 So, can you see the picture is filling out? Oh, yes, I see that now. 00:20:57.040 --> 00:21:02.940 But as I say, I want us to look again and ask the question a second time as it relates to how John 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:09.520 described what His death accomplished or the details that John includes that point us towards what His 00:21:09.520 --> 00:21:15.920 death accomplished. So, question one, what do you see? Question two, what do you see? 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:22.440 When the soldiers come to remove the bodies, verse 33, what do you see? But when they came to Jesus and 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:27.519 saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side 00:21:27.519 --> 00:21:39.160 with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. The soldier crudely jams his spear up under 00:21:39.160 --> 00:21:45.900 Jesus' ribs and outflows water and blood. For the last century or so, we've been told that this 00:21:45.900 --> 00:21:51.660 significance of this is to offer proof that Jesus was really dead. Medically, we're told this shows 00:21:51.660 --> 00:21:58.340 the heart sack has probably been pierced, or there's some biological or anatomy, anatom something 00:21:58.340 --> 00:22:07.240 thing going on there. Anatomical. Now, this is certainly possible, of course, but given that John has 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:15.059 just told us, verse 33, that Jesus was already dead, I think it's better to see that John emphasizes this 00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:20.539 detail again to make a theological point in line with the rest of his gospel. And so, what he's doing 00:22:20.539 --> 00:22:29.160 here is showing how this death has achieved, first of all, new life. New life. The reference to blood 00:22:29.160 --> 00:22:34.279 relates to what we've just seen about the sacrifice of the Passover lamb. This is the rubber stamp on John 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:39.500 the Baptist's statement in chapter 1 that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. 00:22:41.059 --> 00:22:46.720 Then the reference to water, that recalls, you remember John chapter 7, streams of living water 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:53.519 that Jesus promised those who trust in him. John 7, 37, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:59.039 whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:04.720 And then John explains what that means. Now, this he said about the Spirit, 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:09.740 whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:16.440 was not yet glorified. Chapter 7, he hadn't been glorified. Here he is, chapter 19, he's been glorified. 00:23:18.839 --> 00:23:24.879 The glorification of Jesus. The cross is the epitome of that. We're told that in chapter 12, 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:29.340 that's what we're to look forward to. And that glorification has made possible the coming of 00:23:29.340 --> 00:23:32.800 the Spirit. And what does the Spirit do? The Spirit is the one who gives life. 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:41.220 One commentator says, John is not primarily giving proof here of the death of Jesus, 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:45.240 but proof of the life his death now offers to the world. 00:23:48.860 --> 00:23:51.860 That is why Augustine could say this. I think this is beautiful. Quote, 00:23:51.859 --> 00:23:57.859 just as the first woman, the mother of all living, was formed from the side of the man when asleep, 00:23:58.379 --> 00:24:02.419 so also this second Adam, the son who succeeds. 00:24:03.859 --> 00:24:09.339 I added that. Augustine didn't say that. This second Adam bowed his head and fell asleep on the 00:24:09.339 --> 00:24:14.759 cross that a spouse may be formed for him from that which flowed from the sleeper's side. 00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:16.319 End quote. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:23.740 As the bride of Christ, the church, we are birthed. We are given new life through the death 00:24:23.740 --> 00:24:28.220 of Jesus. As the water and the blood from his wounded side did flow, 00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:34.079 can you see the new life that is offered to you at the cross? 00:24:37.539 --> 00:24:40.720 The death of Jesus means that new life 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:45.319 is on offer. It is held out to all who will trust in him. 00:24:48.019 --> 00:24:52.120 Have you done that? Have you turned from your sin? Have you put your faith 00:24:52.120 --> 00:24:57.600 in the king, priest, son, lamb, and received the new life that he gives? 00:25:00.420 --> 00:25:07.799 All of your sins forgiven, conscience cleansed, all of it, those things that you know to be true 00:25:07.799 --> 00:25:11.460 of your life, the things that lurk in the bottom of your heart, of which you are ashamed, 00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:16.919 the things that you keep in the bottom drawer, as it were, of your heart, and you never want them 00:25:16.919 --> 00:25:22.399 to come out. You don't want anyone to know about them. But the fact that they're there and you know 00:25:22.399 --> 00:25:29.859 that they're there eat away at you from the inside. Guilt and shame, issues of identity and self-worth, 00:25:29.859 --> 00:25:32.719 all of those things, because you know you're a broken person. 00:25:37.579 --> 00:25:43.500 The king, priest, son, lamb deals with them all. 00:25:47.679 --> 00:25:53.299 And so guilt is removed. Shame can be chased out of the room. 00:25:53.299 --> 00:26:03.579 You can be made new. That's what the new life that Jesus gives through his death brings. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:08.139 Put your faith in him. Become one of his children. 00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:15.779 New life, that's not all, because there's one more detail we need to see. 00:26:17.519 --> 00:26:21.259 Again, we're looking at the details that only John mentions when he records this event, 00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:25.059 and that takes us to his mention. Do you notice verse 41 of the garden? 00:26:27.299 --> 00:26:33.079 Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, 00:26:33.779 --> 00:26:39.680 the new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. John draws attention to the garden at the start 00:26:39.680 --> 00:26:46.720 of chapter 18. So the whole passion narrative, you could say, is framed by this image of a garden. 00:26:46.720 --> 00:26:52.380 Why mention that? Why mention the fact that Jesus was crucified in a garden, 00:26:52.759 --> 00:26:58.059 and the tomb, a new tomb, no one else had used it, was in that garden? 00:26:59.940 --> 00:27:07.140 Well, John is showing not only that Jesus' death brings new life, but that Jesus' death brings in a 00:27:07.140 --> 00:27:15.740 whole new world. You see, gardens don't just frame the passion narrative. They frame the whole Bible 00:27:15.740 --> 00:27:22.039 story, don't they? The whole of history started in a garden, Genesis 1, and is headed to a garden city, 00:27:22.380 --> 00:27:27.900 Revelation 21. In the first garden, humanity was plunged into death, and in the second garden, 00:27:27.980 --> 00:27:33.420 we will enjoy life forevermore. And the redemptive mission of God is to bring us from the first to 00:27:33.420 --> 00:27:40.380 the second garden. That's really the story of human history. We failed in the first garden in our first 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:45.300 parents. God promised to put that right, and He is taking us to the second garden. 00:27:47.220 --> 00:27:52.300 John is telling us here with these details that this new world starts in the garden tomb. 00:27:54.900 --> 00:28:01.360 Jesus will lie in the tomb for His Sabbath rest, but Sunday will follow the first day of the new world, 00:28:02.020 --> 00:28:07.620 and new creation will burst out of the tomb. Lord willing, we'll get there next week with chapter 20. 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:14.000 But here's the thing. The cross of Christ is both the end of the old order where sin is in charge, 00:28:14.199 --> 00:28:19.439 and the beginning of the new order where life is one and redemption of the cosmos begins. 00:28:22.119 --> 00:28:25.559 Can you see how the garden points us to the new world breaking in? 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:30.979 New life bursts up, as it were, in the new world. 00:28:30.980 --> 00:28:38.740 So when you think about the significance of the cross of Christ, don't think merely about individual 00:28:38.740 --> 00:28:41.839 forgiveness and salvation. Think about a whole new world. 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:47.880 So what can you see? 00:28:51.960 --> 00:28:57.799 The scene that John depicts here shows us how God's true King, Priest, Son, Lamb has now 00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:01.099 one new life and a new world for all who put their faith in Him. 00:29:04.379 --> 00:29:10.500 Many ways it's a familiar picture for us, but has that familiarity caused us to miss 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:15.700 the depth and the stunning beauty that John brings to life here? 00:29:16.180 --> 00:29:19.599 But here's the thing. He doesn't just do that for our interest. 00:29:20.259 --> 00:29:23.460 He doesn't just tell us these things so that we can say, 00:29:23.460 --> 00:29:28.900 all right, that's a more interesting picture. I think I understand it more. He does it so that 00:29:28.900 --> 00:29:35.819 we will give ourselves to the one who is at the center of it all. We will receive the new life 00:29:35.819 --> 00:29:45.500 in all that it represents, all that it means for us, and we will be a participant in this new world 00:29:45.500 --> 00:29:51.279 that He has won for us. That's why John tells us this. The purpose of his gospel is that we would 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:56.740 believe that Jesus is the Son of God and have life in His name. So we look at the picture, 00:29:56.920 --> 00:30:03.000 we understand the beauty and the depth, and we enter into it by faith. We put our trust wholeheartedly, 00:30:03.139 --> 00:30:12.619 body, soul, everything we are. We give it to Him. That's new life. That's a new world. Let's pray.