A
Study of the Book of John
“That You May Believe”
Sermon
#49
“The Crucifixion of Jesus”
John
19:16-30
This morning we are going to be examining the
crucifixion of Christ. But we have to acknowledge that the cross is not a pleasant
subject. There are today, even among those who would claim the name Christian, those who
would reject the cross. This whole thing about death and atonement by the blood is just
too gory and uncivilized for them. But the truth is that anything that is preached that
doesn’t have at its core the cross of Jesus Christ, is what Paul referred to in his
letter to the Galatians as “another gospel” or
literally a “different gospel” and
bears the curse of God (Gal.
1:6-8).
Although Pilate had tried a number of
different ploys in attempting to avoid doing what the Jewish rulers were demanding,
finally even after admitting that Jesus was in no way guilty of the charges, he
nevertheless gave Jesus over to be crucified. In verse sixteen we read, “Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took
Jesus and led Him away.” The road leading to Calvary was called the Via
Dolorosa, the way of sorrow. But the road to Calvary in reality did not begin in
Jerusalem. This road began in eternity past. The book of Revelation discloses that Jesus
was the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
(Revelation 13:8).
The cross was not an accident, nor an afterthought. Before man was created God already
knew that he would fall. Before man was ever formed, Christ had already volun-teered for
the cross. The cross was in the heart of God for man’s redemption from the beginning.
God’s love was demonstrated by his willingness to allow his only Son to pay the price
for the forgiveness of our sins.
First, The Change At The Cross
(vv. 17-18)
Verse seventeen continues with,
“And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is
called in Hebrew, Golgotha, (18) where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on
either side, and Jesus in the center.”
The gospels tell us very little about the
crucifixion because everyone involved knew the details far too well. Jesus was led to the
place of execution by an armed party of Roman soldiers. The crossbeam of the cross
(normally weighing over a hundred pounds) would have been laid across the torn shoulders
of Jesus to carry to the place of execution. As Christ made his way along the route to
Golgotha he was so weakened from the beating he had received that a bystander had to be
pressed into carrying his cross the rest of the way. We are told that his name was Simon
and that he was a Cyrenian, who was in Jerusalem for the Passover (Mark 15:21). As he was making his way into the city he
was pressed into service. He was compelled by the Roman soldiers to carry the cross the
remainder of the way to Calvary.
When Jesus arrived at the place of execution
he was laid across the beam and spikes were quickly driven through his wrists and then the
crossbar was hoisted into place.
John tells us that his cross was placed
between two thieves who were also being crucified. The enemies of the Lord no doubt
intended this as a final insult. They knew that he had lived a godly life but they were
seeing to it that he died as a common criminal among other common criminals. But in doing
this they were in fact fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12 which said, “And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the
sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”
There were three crosses on the hill that
The Change At The Cross - One man died in
sin, one man died to sin and another man died for sin.
Secondly, The Confirmation Of The Cross (vv. 19-22)
Verse nineteen tells us that the Jewish
religious leadership did not like the placard that Pilate had written to put on the cross
of Jesus. “Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross.
And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS; (20) Then many of the
Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it
was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. (21) Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said
to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said,
“I am the King of the Jews.”’ (22) Pilate answered, “What I have
written, I have written.” John’s use of the imperfect verb tense suggests
that the Jews repeatedly asked Pilate to
change what he had written to read, “He claimed
to be the king of the Jews.” But Pilate responded by saying, “What I have written, I have written” or literally
because of the perfect tense, “What I have
written will always remain written.” Because Pilate had the placard written in
the three major languages of the day, almost everyone would be able to understand one of
the languages. Once again we have a display that Jesus is still in charge. The Jews may
have conspired to have Jesus killed and the Roman authorities may have been maneuvered
into carrying out the sentence, but Jesus was and is King.
The Confirmation of the Cross was that Jesus
is King…
Third, The Cruelness At The Cross
(vv. 23-24)
According to verse twenty-three as the
Roman soldiers waited for him to die they gambled for the Lord’s few merger worldly
possessions. “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified
Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic.
Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. (24) They said therefore
among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,”
that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among
them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these
things.”
Unwittingly
they fulfilled the prophecy of Psalm 22:18, “They
divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” It is
bad enough that they were taking the dying man’s belongings, but to gamble over them
while he watches seems especially cruel. The soldiers saw themselves as doing no more than
engaging in a way of dividing the spoils, but John saw it as one more proof that Jesus was
in control of even the smallest details concerning what was done to him.
The
Cruelness At the Cross and…
Fourth, The Cost of the Cross
First
he obviously endured physical pain – the
physical pain of crucifixion is impossible to exaggerate. Dying on a cross was a long and
excruciating torture. The weight of the body would put great pressure upon the nerves in
the wrist. Hanging in that position would cause the lungs to begin to fill up with fluid.
Only by pushing up against nails in the feet and moving upward on the cross could a breath
be taken. Each such movement caused almost unbearable pain. This could go on for hours,
sometimes even for days. In order to hasten death the soldiers would sometimes break the
legs of the victims. The result was that person on the cross could no longer push himself
up to get a breath and they would die of suffo-cation. Jesus suffered unimaginable agony
on the cross, dying for your sins. But the greatest agony Jesus suffered was not physical.
Jesus suffered not only physical pain but great emotional pain, Those that passed by the
cross mocked Jesus as one who said that he would destroy the temple and then rebuild it (Mark
15:29).They have no idea that even as he hangs on
the cross, he is doing precisely that. His death will remove the necessity of the temple
forever.
The religious leaders were offended that this
one would call himself the Son of God. They said to him, “If you are the Son of God, then what are you
doing on a Roman cross?” They intend to insult Jesus by saying, “he saved others, why can he not save himself.” (Mark 15:31) Unintentionally they tell us why He remained
on the cross. The essence of the gospel is that he came to save others.
They suggest that if he would come down from
the cross they would believe. But, if he comes down from the cross and saves himself he
cannot save them. They need salvation from their sin’s not just deliverance from
their circumstances. They want Him to come down to save himself and he stays in order to
save them. It is not that He could
not come down it was that he would not come down.
As traumatic as the mockery must have been on
the sinless Son of God the greatest agony he suffered was not the emotional nor the
physical but the spiritual pain. Jesus
was crucified at nine in the morning, but by noon darkness came upon the land and it
lasted for three hours (Mark
15:33). It was not an eclipse
but a supernatural miracle. At three in the afternoon He cried out with a loud voice. In
agony Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken
me.” (Mark 15:34) None of the previous suffering even
compares with the anguish Jesus must have felt over even momentary separation from the
father.
The Cost of the Cross upon the Lord was
Physical,
emotional and spiritual and…
Fifth, The Concern From The Cross
(vv. 25-27)
In verse twenty-five we read of Jesus’
concern on the cross, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus
His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
(26) When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He
said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” (27) Then He said to the disciple,
“Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.”
Even on the cross He was always thinking of
others and He is always in control of the circumstances. In verse twenty-six he says, “Woman behold your son!” Clearly Mary was to understand
that from this point on, John would be in the position of a son to her and that he would
take responsibility for her. The implication of these verses is that in obedience to the
Lord’s command John took responsibility for Mary’s care from this time until her
death.
His Concern from the Cross was for his
mother’s welfare and ….
Sixth, The Completion Of The Cross
(vv. 28-31)
John is the only one to tell us of Jesus’
thirst on the cross, verse twenty-eight says, “After
this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” (29) Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting
there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.
(30) So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And
bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”
John says nothing about the manner of Jesus’
last statement from the cross, but the other three gospel accounts tell us that he cried
out in a loud voice (Matt 27:50, Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46).
His last cry from the cross was neither a whimper nor a cry of defeat but shout of
victory. John tells us that just before he yielded his spirit he cried out, “It is finished.” (John 19:30). In Greek it is one word, (tetelestai) and
it is in the perfect tense meaning, “It is
finished and it always will be finished.” The work of atonement for our sins was
completed. Paul describes it this way, “Blotting out the
hand-writing of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross.” (Colossians 2:14). The practice in that day was once a man
was found guilty and confined to prison, the list of his crimes and sentence for each was
written on a piece of paper and nailed to the door of his cell. When the last day of his sentence was complete
the paper was removed and a single word was written across it – “tetelestai, it is finished.” Christ took the
record of our sins, he took it to the cross, and there he paid the penalty that he then
might declare that it is finished, that our debt is paid.
At the end of the three hours of dark-ness,
Jesus uttered his last words from the cross when he said, “Father into your hands I
commit my spirit. Having said this, He breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46)
As Jesus cried out the veil in the temple was
torn asunder. There was a miraculous dividing in two of the thick veil that separated the
Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. This veil symbolized the separation of the
people from the presence of God. When the
veil was split it was God’s dramatic way of saying that for all time, and for all
people that the way to him is wide open. The writer of Hebrews summarizes the effect this
way, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest (literally Holy
of Holies) by the
blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us
draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22) Through Jesus Christ, our new high priest,
everyone who trusts in the sacrifice made on the cross has immediate access to the father.
The soldiers had the opportunity to observe the
crucifixion from beginning to end. They saw it all with their own eyes. They witnessed Him
stripped and nailed to the cross. They watched him in agony as the bystanders verbally
abused him. They heard every word he spoke. They saw the darkness as it enveloped the
land, they heard his cry of anguish as he felt the abandonment of God. They felt the
earthquake (Matthew 27:54). Everything that had happened to him and
Jesus never struck back. They became frightened because this was something they had never
witnessed before. What they had seen led to an astonishing conclusion given in Mark15:39 “Truly this man
was the Son of God.”
Conclusion
In 1
Corinthians 15:54-57 the Apostle Paul writes, “So when
this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in
victory.” (55) “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (56)
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In
his great sermon “Go Down Death,” (found in A Man Called Peter, pp.
262-274) Peter Marshall tells the story about a little boy he knew who was suffering from
a terminal illness. At first he didn’t understand what was happening to him, but as
the months passed, and he had to stay inside while his friends went out to play, the truth
dawned on him. The idea intrigued him and he wondered what death would be like.
One day his mother was reading to him the
stirring tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. She told him of Lancelot
and Guinevere and the beautiful maiden Elaine. She read to him of the final glorious
battle when so many gallant knights met their death.
At length, she was finished and put the book
down. The little boy was silent for a moment. Then he asked the question that had been
playing upon his childish mind, the question his mother was dreading to answer. “Mother,
what is it like to die? Mother, does it hurt?”
Quick tears sprang to her eyes, so she
excused herself to go into the kitchen to compose herself. She knew it was a question of
deep significance. She knew she must find a good answer. For a moment she leaned against
the kitchen cabinet, her knuckles pressed white against the surface, praying to the Lord
for an answer.
And the Lord gave her an answer. In that
moment she knew what she should say. “Kenneth,” she said as she returned to the
next room, “Do you remember when you were a little boy and you would play hard all
day? When the evening came you would be so tired that when you came in, you would lie down
on Mommy and Daddy’s bed and fall asleep."
“That was not your bed. That was not where you belonged."
“But you only stayed there a little
while. In the morning, you were surprised to wake up and find yourself in your own bed.”
“You were there because someone you loved had come and taken care of you. During the
night while you were sleeping, your father came—with big strong arms—and carried
you to your own room."
“Sweetheart, death is just like that.
One night you are very tired and very sleepy. We fall asleep and the next morning we wake
up to find ourselves in another room—our own room where we belong—because the
Lord Jesus has come and with his big arms, he has carried us from our home in this world
to our home in heaven.”
The light on the little boy's face showed that he had understood. And a few days later he fell asleep just as his mother had said. That is what death is like for the believer.