They came up to him saying, Hail King of the Jews, and struck him with their hands.
! Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing him out to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime.
So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, Behold the man.
When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him.
Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.
John 19, verses 7 to 13 from the New Living Translation.
The Jewish leaders replied, By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.
When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.
He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, Where are you from?
But Jesus gave no answer.
Why don't you talk to me, Pilate demanded.
Don't you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?
Then Jesus said, You would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above.
So the one who handed me over to you has a greater sin.
Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leader shouted,
If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.
Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.
When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again.
Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the stone pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.
It was about the sixth hour.
He said to the Jews, Behold, your king.
They cried out, Away with him.
Away with him.
Crucify him.
Pilate said to them,
Shall I crucify your king?
The chief priests answered,
We have no king but Caesar.
So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus and he went out,
bearing his own cross,
to the place called the place of a skull,
which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
There they crucified him.
And with him two others,
one on either side and Jesus between them.
Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.
It read,
Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.
Many of the Jews read this inscription,
for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city.
And it was written in Aramaic,
in Latin,
and in Greek.
So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate,
Do not write the king of the Jews,
but rather,
This man said,
I am the king of the Jews.
Pilate answered,
What I have written,
I have written.
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus,
they took his garments and divided them into four parts,
one part for each soldier,
also his tunic.
But the tunic was seamless,
woven in one piece from top to bottom.
So they said to one another,
Let us not tear it,
but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.
This was to fulfill the scripture which says,
They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
So the soldiers did these things.
But standing by the cross of Jesus
were his mother and his mother's sister,
Mary, the wife of Clopas,
and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother
and the disciples whom he loved standing nearby,
he said to his mother,
Woman, behold your son.
Then he said to the disciple,
Behold your mother.
And from that hour,
the disciple took her to his own home.
Jesus, knowing that all was now finished,
said to fulfill the scripture,
I thirst.
A jar full of sour wine stood there.
So they put a sponge full of the sour wine
on a hyssop branch
and held it to his mouth.
When Jesus had received the sour wine,
he said,
It is finished.
And he bowed his head
and gave up his spirit.
Since it was the day of preparation
and so that the bodies would not remain
on the cross on the Sabbath,
for that Sabbath was a high day,
the Jews asked Pilate
that their legs might be broken
and that they might be taken away.
So the soldiers came
and broke the legs of the first
and of the other
who had been crucified with him.
But when they came to Jesus
and saw that he was already dead,
they did not break his legs.
But one of the soldiers
pierced his side with a spear,
and at once there came out blood and water.
He who saw it has borne witness.
His testimony is true,
and he knows that he is telling the truth
that you also may believe.
For these things took place
that the scripture might be fulfilled.
Not one of his bones will be broken.
And again, another scripture says,
They will look on him
who may have pierced.
After these things,
Joseph of Arimathea,
who was a disciple of Jesus,
would secretly, for fear of the Jews,
ask Pilate that he might take away
the body of Jesus.
And Pilate gave him permission.
So he came and took his body.
Nicodemus also,
who earlier had come to Jesus by night,
came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about 75 pounds in weight.
So they took the body of Jesus
and bound it in linen cloths with the spices,
as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Now in the place where he was crucified,
there was a garden,
and in the garden,
a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
So because of the Jewish day of preparation,
since the tomb was close at hand,
they laid Jesus there.
Amen.
So as we reflect this evening
upon the death of Christ,
hopefully we've seen from his word,
we've sung of the effects of that death,
and we've seen that on that last Friday of Jesus's life,
that his life,
the purpose of his life was his death.
And as we reflect for a few minutes this evening,
and the remaining time that we have,
we're going to think on those things.
And so before we do,
let's ask the Lord to bless our time together.
Lord, we thank you for your word,
we thank you for the reminder
that comes from scripture of the work of Christ,
and especially the work of Christ on the cross.
And as we reflect these many years later,
we give you thanks.
And Father, may you work in our hearts' faith
because of these things.
And we ask this in his name.
Amen.
So I want to turn our attention
before we begin to the section that Deanna read,
John 19, 28 through 30.
And in the time that we have together,
I just want to talk and reflect a little bit
on something that she read.
It's the reality of the death of Christ.
And we see it most clearly in those first couple verses.
And as we do so,
I want us to think about the phrase
that we probably all know
and have even maybe said
in anger at someone because of their laziness.
It's that phrase,
the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
We don't know where that phrase comes from.
Some people think it's Edmund Burke,
the explorer, who said,
all that's necessary for evil to triumph
is for good men to do nothing.
Some people think it's the development
of some kind of proverb over the ages.
And yet others think it's Bernard of Clairvaux,
who's a French theologian,
whose song we'll sing in a minute.
But in that phrase,
which's been taken on the lips of everyone
from Mohammed to John Wesley,
we see in that phrase
that there's this slide
into eternal obscurity or even worse.
And in it,
the participants either unwillingly,
but definitely unwittingly,
they don't even really know
how they got there on that road.
But in the life of Jesus,
we see the exact opposite,
especially when we reflect
on what happened on this Friday so long ago.
You see,
in the life of Jesus Christ
and really in his death,
we see a road that is paved
directly to the cross.
But it's not a road to hell,
it's a road to heaven.
It's built brick by brick,
stone by stone,
paved directly to heaven
by the suffering,
by the blood,
by the death of Christ
to glory.
It's real
and it's purposeful.
His death
gives us life.
And as we reflect this evening on that,
we're gonna talk about those things.
It's real
and it's purposeful.
The road to heaven
and the road to hell.
Even when I put those two together,
they kind of stand in contrast.
It might even be provoking,
like which road am I on?
Is there another way?
Which road are you on?
You see,
the person of Jesus
forces us to choose
in one of those ways.
And if you've remembered,
over the last couple months,
we've been walking
every time I've spoken
through the Gospel of John
with the statements of Jesus.
And there's this question
that lingers among those statements.
Who is Jesus?
Or who am I
when he is speaking?
But there's this second question
that's at sometimes
explicit
when Jesus is speaking
to people.
And sometimes
it's hidden in the background
and John brings it forth
as the writer.
What are you going to do
with Jesus?
What does it mean
for you
to have faith in him?
What do you think
about him?
It kind of evokes
this idea
of it's a dividing line.
It's a plumb line.
It's the diversion
of these two roads.
What do you think
about him?
What do you think
about the death
of Christ?
If it's one
of rejection,
is it one
of neutrality
that kind of slides
into rejection?
Is it one
of apathy?
Which really isn't
apathy at all
as Jesus tells us.
Or is it one
that really
we're embarrassed
to say
it's one
of quietly
dismissing it
because we're
modern people
that keep
modern company.
But that kind of
begs the question
that it can't be real,
can it?
But it is real.
It's real
because the gospel
of John
says it's real.
It's real
for these reasons.
You can't
have the death
of Christ
and still
have Jesus.
And that's often
what we think.
You see,
it's palatable
to our minds
and even our senses
to want Christ.
You know,
there's certain benefits
if we try to
separate those
two things.
We get all
these great sayings.
We get all
of these
great examples
to follow
in different
situations.
We get
his teaching,
but you don't
get any of that
without his death
because they're
bound together.
And there have
been attempts
over history,
even in our
day,
to kind of
disentangle
them.
But when we
do that,
we don't make
his sayings
useful
or his example
helpful.
Instead,
what we do
is we call
him a liar.
And when we
do that,
we think
that we can
have him
on our terms.
We think
that all
of those
great things
that he has
done
and all
those great
things that
he has said,
that we can
have all
of those
things.
And then
when we
come to
a section
like John
19,
we think
that's all
fantasy.
after this,
Jesus,
knowing that
all was
now finished,
said to
fulfill the
scripture,
I thirst.
It seems
pretty innocuous.
It seems
like a very
throwaway
statement.
But in
that,
we see
this culmination
of all
those events
that led
up to
this moment.
We see
in that
the sum
of Christ's
humiliation.
We see
that everything
has been
marching
towards
this fact
of him
being made
low,
that began
when he
came to
this earth,
and that
continued
on in
this last
week of
Jesus.
Mockery.
Humiliation
by being
interrogated
by his
opponents,
or questioned
by even
his closest
followers.
Humiliation
humiliation
that negated
the fact
that God
was here
in his
glory
in human
form.
Humiliation
in that
he was
betrayed
by both
his enemies
and denied
by his
closest
allies.
Humiliation
in being
judged
in court
and then
in the
court of
public
opinion.
Humiliation
in his
being
scourged.
humiliation
in his
marching
to the
cross.
Humiliation
in this
final act
of his
death.
But even
in his
death,
it was
humiliation.
It was
the very
last thing
that could
be done.
It was
the escalation
of all
these things
that had
been building.
You see,
even in
his death,
it was
not easy,
but it
was marked
by suffering.
And we
know this
from the
words that
he spoke.
We know
this because
he exclaims,
I thirst.
And then
in that,
he's not
offered that
same wine
that we know
of from the
other gospels
that people
tried to
hand him
on his
way to
the cross,
that wine
mixed with
myrrh that
would have
made his
suffering easier.
No, it's
not that wine
at all.
Here, it's
just simple,
sour wine.
And it
was this
weird turn
of events.
The same
hyssop that
now offers
him this
sour wine
was the
same hyssop
that was
dipped in
blood.
And for
Israel, it
marked the
doorpost,
saving them
from death,
saving them
from suffering.
And now,
it's extended
to him to
prolong his
suffering.
the blood
on the
frames of
the door
and the
Passover
were offered
by hyssop.
And now,
suffering is
offered to
Christ on
that same
hyssop
branch.
Even in
his death,
humiliation.
Even in
his death,
suffering.
It's real
because it's
the logical
end of all
of his life,
of this
humiliation
that began
in him
coming to
the world.
And now,
on this
final day,
it's real
because
scripture bears
witness to
it.
When we
read of these
events of
the cross,
we're often
confronted with
this idea
of injustice.
And we
think how
unfair
that the
Savior that
was sinless
died,
that sin
held him
there.
And we
can slowly
kind of slip
into this
idea that
this is an
accident,
this is
unfortunate,
and this,
did they
really know
any better?
They were
just confused.
It's
definitely
not
deliberate,
but it's
anything but
that.
The death
of Christ
is for a
purpose.
The death
of Christ
demonstrates
the
intentionality
of God
working in
redemption.
God
is for a
life.
But it's
not just
his death,
it's also
his life
that demonstrates
this.
If you
remember the
miracles of
Jesus,
he often
conducts them
and then he
reminds his
friends or the
person that
has received
this miracle,
he says to
them,
don't tell
anybody,
for my
hour has
not yet
come.
Or he'll
say this
again,
when he heals
or brings
people back
from the
dead,
he'll do
something a
little bit
different and
he'll slip
away in the
crowd even
though they
press in
amongst him
and they
want to
take him.
They're seeking
to capture
him.
He does all
of this so he
can be in
this moment
right here
in John
19.
And all
along,
Jesus has
reminded his
followers of
this,
life.
That no
one takes
his life
from him,
but he
lays it
down of
his own
accord.
He has
the authority
to lay
it down
and he
has the
authority to
take it
up again.
And that's
the charge
that he
receives from
the father.
Christ's
death is
not by
accident.
Christ's
death is
with a
purpose.
his life
is leading
all to
this moment.
His life
is paving
the way
to the
cross.
Even in
these last
moments,
we see
something
where we
see that
purpose of
his death.
We see
the purposefulness
of his
words.
The last
words of
Christ
show that
to us.
Even in
this request
of sour
wine where
he says,
I thirst.
It's
fulfillment
of the
promise
of Psalm
69.
David
utters
those words
and Jesus
in his
suffering,
his mind
kind of
steeped in
scripture,
he utters
these words
from Psalm
69 because
he responds
to seal
the promise
of scripture.
He's given
wine not
out of
pity,
but out
of mockery
is what
Mark tells
us to
prolong
his life,
to prolong
his suffering
for
entertainment.
Even in
his words,
even in
his dying,
there's
humiliation
and suffering.
And he's
able to
cry out
then with
these famous
words after
his thirst
goes away
with,
it is
finished.
And when
he says
this,
it's not
out of
resignation,
it's not
out of
defeat,
it's not
out of
completion
of the
task
of dying.
It's
more than
that.
It's all
of redemptive
history,
that's all
of time
coming to
this moment
in his
death.
The promise
that was at
the beginning,
at the very
beginning,
that man
would crush
the head
of the serpent
and that his
heel would
be bruised.
It's a
fulfillment of
that promise.
It is
finished.
It's the
picture of
all of
these
saviors of
Israel that
we heard
about in
Judges,
except they
leave so
much wanting.
It's that
promise
fulfilled.
It is
finished.
It's the
picture of
all these
kings who
are not
so just
in the
life of
Israel.
That is
finished.
It's this
picture even
in the
worship of
Israel,
the day
of
atonement.
All of
these things
are pointing
forth to
Christ in
this moment.
It's the
promise in
Isaiah that
his wounds
would offer
healing.
It's this
promise over
and over
again of
this very
moment and
this very
point in
time.
And so it's
more than
just words.
it's more
than just
blood.
It's more
than the
blood of
bulls and
goats as
we see in
Leviticus.
It's more
than that
because it
never has to
happen again
and it
never does
because those
things promised
a thing they
couldn't fully
do because they
were pointing
always to
this moment
right here.
it's a
conclusion of
the charge
the father
gave the
son.
Not by
accident,
not by
happenstance,
but on
purpose.
It's a
road paved
to the
cross to
death of
the Lord
Jesus Christ
who gave
himself for
our sins to
deliver us from
this present
evil age
according to
the will of
our God
and father.
It's planned
and purposed
by God.
What's the
purpose of
his death
though?
What does it
accomplish?
The purpose
of his death
is this.
It does
something that
sacrifices
never could
do,
right?
It's for
the last
time.
There's no
more need
for sacrifice.
There's no
more need
because it
is finished.
It is
finished
because in
the death
of Christ
we find
the love
of God
but we
find it
in being
met
with the
wrath of
God
against
sinners.
There's
pardon for
sin,
not for
brokenness,
not for
anything
less,
but full
on rebellion
against
authority.
Not authority
of that day,
not authority
of the highest
kind,
but authority
of the
ultimate
kind of
all
eternity.
It's that
kind of
rebellion.
And in
that,
the pardon
is extremely
great.
For the
creator
has now
become the
redeemer.
We talk
often of
Christ-centered
Christianity,
and that's a
good thing.
But there's
nothing less
than that.
In fact,
it's more
cross-centered.
It's
leading all
to this
moment,
because this
is the
heart of
the gospel.
The gospel
doesn't
happen unless
we have
the death
of Christ
for sinners.
Because in
this,
the Son
lays down
his life
for sinners
and turns
away the
wrath of
God,
so that
we might
have life.
And in
that,
John will
write later,
that in
that,
that is
a picture
of love.
And so
that's why
we can talk
about this
gruesome
event,
this injustice,
and speak
of it fondly,
for it has
purchased
pardon.
And how
do we know
it worked?
Because three
days later,
we get our
confirmation.
So,
this evening,
and for all
time,
slide not
into hell,
but instead,
remember that
you are
carried,
and you
are marched
down the
road to
glory,
not by
you,
but by the
blood,
suffering,
and death
of Christ.
That is what
carries you.
May we
delight in
his glory,
and may
we see
the real
purposeful
death of
Jesus,
and worship
the king,
so that
we may
know the
love of
God.
Let's pray.
Lord,
we're
thankful this
evening for
the reflection
upon
Christ's
death.
May you
work in
our hearts
to remind
us of this,
to carry it
forward with
us,
and Father,
may we
worship you,
and may we
rejoice at
his sacrifice.
We ask this
in Christ's
name.
Amen.