We could turn in your Bibles to John 19, John's gospel chapter 19, continuing in some sense what we looked at this morning concerning the suffering and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. Should be some time before we're in the passion proper in Matthew's gospel. Thought it might be helpful for us tonight to consider John's record of that situation in chapter 19 of his gospel. Our focus this evening specifically will be chapter 19, verses 16B to 24.
We'll consider the setting, the crucifixion, the charge, and the division of the spoil. Several elements that indicate or highlight for us the degree of suffering that our Lord Jesus Christ went through on our behalf. Before we actually read the passage though, it is interesting to notice there's not a long developed description of those sufferings. In other words, the Catholic Church, for instance, Roman Catholicism, makes much of the actual physical sufferings of the Lord Jesus.
And while we ought not to minimize that, we ought not to celebrate it in some ghoulish or gory manner. Herman Ritterboss made the observation, the New Testament has no trace of any passion mysticism oriented to the physical torture of Jesus. Very often in Catholic countries there is sort of these plays or these reenactments. If you've been to a Catholic church before, you'll note that there's stations of the cross on the wall.
And at certain times of the year, we, when I was young, we would walk with the priest and he would basically shake sort of incense at the bottom of that placard and then describe what happened there. Again, it was this passion mysticism. It was this celebration almost of the gore and torture aspect of the passion. So on the one hand, we don't want to minimize the fact that our Lord Jesus suffered for sinners, but the description is very concise, it's very brief, it's very summary statement in 18a.
It just simply says where they crucified him, and of course details are drawn out for us, but we ought not to have sort of a passion mysticism. If you're familiar with the Mel Gibson movie several years ago, The Passion of the Christ, that was a Roman Catholic celebration, essentially, of the torture and the gore associated with the Lord Jesus. I'm not advocating seeing that movie, I'm simply telling you that it was passion mysticism put on the big screen. Again, a violation, I suspect, or I believe, of the Second Commandment.
We are not to depict our Lord Jesus. So just those qualifications, but we will have cause to note some of the aspects of our Lord's suffering this evening. So beginning in chapter 19 at verse 1, So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him, and the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe. Then they said, Hail, King of the Jews!
And they struck him with their hands. Pilate then went out again and said to them, Behold, I am bringing him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in him. Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate said to them, Behold the man! Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him!
Crucify him! Pilate said to them, You take him and crucify him, for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and according to our law he ought to die, because he made himself the son of God. Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid. and went again into the praetorium and said to Jesus, Where are you from?
But Jesus gave him no answer. And Pilate said to him, Are you not speaking to me? Do you not know that I have power to crucify you and power to release you? Jesus answered, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above.
Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. From then on, Pilate sought to release him. But the Jews cried out saying, if you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.
When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Now it was the preparation day of the Passover in 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. Then He delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified Him and two others with Him, one on either side and Jesus in the center." Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. And 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. 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. Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written.
And 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. 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. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother.
From that hour that disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, I thirst. Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled the sponge with sour wine, put it on Hyssop, and put it to his mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished.
And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, thank you for your word and for your church and the opportunity that we have to fellowship together. corporately to worship you, our God.
Give us the mind of Christ now, fill us with your Holy Spirit, illumine our minds and hearts that we might receive these things. And on the one hand, we don't want to go the way of Roman Catholicism with a passion mysticism. but as well we don't want to miss the obvious in this passage that Christ our Lord suffered greatly on behalf of his people. Help us to see these things, help us again to appreciate these things, help us to see the wonder of the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us. And we pray through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Introduction
J.C. Ryle commented on this particular section. He said, he that can read a passage like this without a deep sense of man's debt to Christ must have a very cold or a very thoughtless heart. Great must be the love of the Lord Jesus to sinners when he could voluntarily endure such suffering for their salvation.
Great must be the sinfulness of sin when such an amount of vicarious suffering was needed in order to provide redemption. So may God keep us from a very cold or a very thoughtless heart as we consider holy things recorded for us in John's Gospel, specifically here concerning the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus. As I said, we'll look first at the setting, secondly at the crucifixion itself, thirdly the charge stated against Jesus and then the division of the spoil in verses 23 to 24. Something we ought to observe in this particular narrative.
John wants us to see a couple of things. He wants us to see the absolute sovereignty of God in these outworkings. Again, according to his decree, according to his plan, according to his purposes, God is in control of this situation. And as well, John wants us to see that in the life and the ministry and the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, what we are witnessing is the fulfillment of Scripture.
Christ came to do what God had told him to do via the Old Testament prophecies.
The Setting of the Crucifixion
Let's look first at the setting. Notice the decision is made by a reluctant Pilate. Pilate finds no guilt in Jesus. He says this three times.
Three times this man says, I find no guilt in Him. He wanted to release Jesus. If you look back for just a moment at chapter 19 in the first couple of verses, Chapter 19 verse 1 says, So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him. This was the first scourging.
There were actually two that took place. The second one is recorded by Matthew and Mark, and the second one would be found at this particular place in verse 16. When it says that he delivered him to them to be crucified, then they took Jesus and led him away. They would have administered a very severe beating at this particular time.
Again, that's the one recorded by Matthew and Mark. What we find in verse 1, in terms of the scourging, is Pilate's attempt to appease these unbelieving Jews. Pilate reckons that if he lays a good beating down upon Jesus, not that severe as what will happen in the second one, if he does that, it perhaps will satisfy their desire for vengeance against the Lord Christ, and then he can release him. That's the emphasis in this section dealing with Pilate.
Pilate does not see him as a guilty man deserving death, so he reluctantly folds, he reluctantly knuckles under, he reluctantly gives in to these men and that's where we pick up in verse 16. Then he delivered him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led him away. Verse 17, and he bearing his cross went out to a place called the place of a skull.
This accord, this idea of bearing the cross, accords with the Greek historian Plutarch. Plutarch said each criminal, as part of his punishment, carries his cross on his back. John doesn't mention Simon the Cyrene's help in this particular situation. It doesn't mean Simon wasn't present, it just means that John is highlighting the fact that Jesus bore his cross.
Matthew and Mark indicate that at least for a portion of the trip, Simon the Cyrenian took that portion of the cross. And I think what we ought to appreciate here is what D.A. Carson points out. He says, it is possible to think of Jesus' death in terms of His resolution, His obedience to the Father, His Father's plan.
It is also possible to think of Jesus' suffering, struggle, weakness, and anguish. Both perspectives are correct. Both are in some measure taught in each of the four Gospels. But John, even though he makes room for the suffering, greatly emphasizes the sovereign plan of the father and the son's obedience.
And so he reports rightly that Jesus carried his own cross. So Jesus would have bore this cross section of the particular implement that he would die on. Basically what happens is the cross he bore refers to the cross member, the horizontal beam. reading here because I think this is absolutely crucial to understand what's going on. The condemned criminal bore it on his shoulders to the place of execution where the upright beam of the gibbet was already fastened in the ground.
The victim was then made to lie on his back on the ground where his arms were stretched out and either tied or nailed to the cross member. The cross member was then hoisted up along with the victim and fastened to the vertical beam. So that's what Jesus is doing. He's carrying the cross section.
He goes to that place. They nail him to the cross and then they bring it up and put it into position. And then notice the place is referred to specifically in 17b. It is the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.
It is the Latin term that refers to skull, which we call Calvary. Both refer to the same place where our Lord Jesus did die on the cross. And note the company as we consider the setting. It says he was, verse 18, where they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side and Jesus in the center.
Now we remember from Luke's gospel that one of these men on either side actually got converted. Remember according to the other gospel writers both men were hurling insults upon the Son of God. Both men were blaspheming him but at certain point in time one of the men had saving dealings with our Lord. The man said to Jesus, Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom.
That is an absolutely amazing statement. I think it was Calvin that says that's one of the highest expressions of faith in the entire Bible. You might ask the question why? Well if you saw Jesus walking on the water and he came to your boat, it would be obvious that there was something unique about it.
If you saw Jesus raise that little girl, there was something obviously unique about it. If you saw Jesus take a handful of loaves and a handful of fish and multiply it to feed 5,000 persons, it would be obvious that there's something unique about it. But what did that thief see? What that thief saw was a man who was bloody. a man who was broken, a man who was bruised, a man who looked exactly opposite of any Lord that this world has ever known.
And he says, Lord, remember me. This is an acknowledgment of Christ's mercy. He sees in Christ not only Lordship, but he sees in Christ the potential for him to remember him. And then he acknowledges concerning this one hanging bloody on a cross, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
You see why that is a great expression of faith? It's one thing for us to gaze upon the crown of Christ and confess Him as Lord. It's another thing for us to consider him in all of his blood, in all of his suffering, in all of his gore, and to acknowledge him Lord. So God in his mercy saved one of those thieves hanging on the cross next to our Lord Jesus Christ.
But ultimately this highlights or underscores the prophet Isaiah 53 in verse 12, and he was numbered with the transgressors. His central position probably indicated that he was the most notorious of the lot. You see, I believe there were going to be three crucifixions that day. It was going to be Barabbas that would take the center spot, and it would be his two compadres on either side of him.
But remember the crowd said release Barabbas, but with reference to Christ, away with him, crucify him, crucify him. So Jesus occupies that place of prominence in terms of the center place with reference to these crucifixions.
The Crucifixion Itself
Notice secondly the crucifixion. Again, It's not detailed, it's not highlighted, all of the particulars in terms of the gore are not given to us. I'm going to read a quote in just a moment from D.A. Carson's commentary because it is important for us to understand what's going on in this particular instance.
But in 18, it simply says, where they crucified him. where they crucified him." As I've already quoted, Ritterbaugh says the New Testament has no trace of any passion mysticism oriented to the physical torture of Jesus. But as it is a good thing for us to understand, let me just read this quote again from Carson concerning crucifixion.
The Brutality of Roman Crucifixion
In the ancient world, this most terrible of punishments is always associated with shame and horror." You know, it's very intriguing, too. Psalm 22 is written a long time before the practice of Roman crucifixion. Psalm 22 describes pretty vividly, specifically, what occurs in John 19 here. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
The fact that they pierced the Lord, the fact that they divided the spoiler as garments, all these things prophesied concerning the Son of God are fulfilled by the Son of God in this particular narrative. Back to this, he says, in the ancient world this most terrible of punishments is always associated with shame and horror. It was so brutal that no Roman citizen could be crucified without the sanction of the emperor. Understand that a citizen of Rome could not go to the cross. could not be crucified unless he was especially notorious, unless he was especially bad and the Emperor had to approve that this barbaric form of torture be inflicted upon a citizen of Rome.
It was reserved for the worst. Political offenders, insurrectionists, Barabbas was described as a murderer, robbers, I mean these are vile, vicious men that get turned over to the cross. He says, "...stripped naked and beaten to pulpy weakness." Again, there were two beatings involved. The first, recorded in John 19.1, is simply an attempt to appease the unbelieving Jews, so that they would not call for Jesus' crucifixion.
But with crucifixion, a beating necessarily came. And that's the one where they tie pieces of bone, or rock, or other things that cut the body They tie it into the scourge or into the whip so that when they bury it in the flesh, it pulls the flesh right from the body. This is why it says in the prophet, by his stripes we are healed. What stripes is the prophet talking about?
He is talking about the stripes that were inflicted upon Christ for our sins. Stripped naked and beaten to pulpy weakness, the victim could hang in the hot sun for hours, even days. To breathe, it was necessary to push with the legs and pull with the arms to keep the chest cavity open and functioning. The way of death on the cross was asphyxiation.
They put this little block of wood at the feet of the sufferer so that he could push on that and it would prolong the suffering. That's why when they were all done they'd come and break the sufferer's legs so that his body would give way and he would asphyxiate. That was the means whereby this person was put to death. They wouldn't be able to breathe anymore.
So with that little block of wood, it didn't help the sufferer, it prolonged the suffering. It made them fight and gasp and get their bodies into a position where they could try and receive oxygen. To breathe, it was necessary to push with the legs and pull with the arms to keep the chest cavity open and functioning. Terrible muscle spasms racked the entire body, but since collapse meant asphyxiation, the strain went on and on.
This is also why the sedecula, that's the little piece of wood that's under the feet, prolonged life and agony. It partially supported the body's weight and therefore encouraged the victim to fight on. So it was a long, arduous way to torture people for their crimes against the state, for their crimes against humanity, for their crimes against others. Notice what the Jews specifically highlight as their reasoning for wanting Jesus to die.
He made himself out to be the Son of God. As far as they were concerned, that was blasphemy. As far as they were concerned, the Levitical law prescribed death to those who blaspheme such." Now obviously they were wrong, obviously he was not a blasphemer, this was a drummed up charge to deliver him over to Pilate so that he would order the execution of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Charge Against Christ
Notice thirdly the charge laid against Christ. Verse 19, now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. that 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. This event did not occur in isolation. You know, in Romans 3, Paul says, God set forth Christ as a propitiation.
This was a public display. You see why the Romans would have a vested interest in doing this, why they would put it in Hebrew, why they would put it in Greek, and why they would put it in Latin. They wanted others to realize that their fate was likewise if they violated the law. It was a means by which they warned the citizenry not to do likewise.
This was a publicized, open event wherein our Lord Jesus Christ suffered on behalf of his people. This was not obscure This was not done in a corner. This was not something that was fake and reported by the disciples. There were hordes of people, scads of people around there that day that saw this public spectacle occurring.
And it's published in each of the languages. It's open for anyone to surmise. It's open for anyone to investigate. Notice what the chief priest says.
The chief priest is just amazing. You know, John tells us, or John shows us, the unbelief of Israel in his gospel. So do the other gospel writers as well. Now, this should not promote any sort of anti-Semitism, which has happened over the years, unfortunately, in the history of the church.
John was a Jew. Matthew was a Jew. The difference isn't between... It isn't about the Jews.
It's about unbelief. It's about those who rejected Jesus Christ. You never go to the Bible to substantiate or validate an anti-semitism. That's just ungodly and unholy and unrighteous.
There is not anything in the Bible that gives anybody any warrant whatsoever to do that. All of the early disciples were Jews. The apostles were Jews. They were believers, however.
The notice, the chief priests certainly do not look well in this section. Verse 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. Now Pilate lost the war, didn't he? Pilate didn't want Jesus to die.
I'm not saying Pilate is a model citizen, or a bastion, or a paragon of virtue. I'm not suggesting that at all. But he did see no guilt in the Lord Jesus, certainly no guilt that warranted crucifixion. Pilate reluctantly delivered him up.
But Pilate's not going to back down on this one. He lost the war, but he's going to win this battle. And it's very intriguing, because both Pilate and the chief priests make very interesting theological assertions concerning our Lord Jesus in this situation. So they said, do not write the King of the Jews.
But he said, I am the King of the Jews. What petty men. What petty men. He's being crucified.
Obviously, if everybody's going to interpret this scene with the physical eye, they are going to conclude that he was indeed a blasphemer. But they want to add insult to injury at this particular point. Pilate says, what I have written, I have written. I'm not going to back down on this one.
You got me to deliver him up. which I didn't want to do because I find no guilt in him, but I am not going to change the sign. Jesus, the King of the Jews. Isn't that interesting?
Ungodly Men as Unwitting Prophets
Go back for just a moment to John 11, 49 to 52. We'll see how even ungodly men, unbelieving men, under the providence and sovereignty of our Lord, make theologically accurate statements from time to time. Notice in John 11 at verse 49. actually go back to 45, then many of the Jews who had come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.
Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, What shall we do? For this man works many signs. If we let him alone, like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.
You see Caiaphas is preaching substitutionary atonement here. Again, I don't think he has one wick of the knowledge that he is doing this, but notice what goes on to say. Verse 51, now this he did not say on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for that nation only but also that he would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad." You couldn't get a better description of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. What does Jesus do?
He dies for the nation of Israel and he dies for Gentiles who are scattered abroad. The Lord Jesus truly is the Son of Abraham who has come to be that seed of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." So we have the high priest confessing sound theology. And here in chapter 19 we have Pilate confessing sound theology. George Beasley Murray makes this comment.
The two men most responsible for Jesus' death became the most unwitting prophets of the death of Jesus. So you gotta have the eye of God's sovereignty behind these things. You got to see that the Lord is superimposing, superintending rather, all of these instances. The one declaring that death as the means of redemption for Israel and the nations the other proclaiming it as the occasion of Jesus' exaltation to be King of Israel and Lord of all.
What I have written I have written, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Now
The Division of the Spoil
notice fourthly and finally verses 23 and 24, the division of the spoil. Verse 23, then the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus took his garments and made four parts to each soldier apart. and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 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..." You see, this was a common practice.
The soldiers employed in executing criminals got something for their labor. Certainly they probably would have gotten a paycheck from the Roman government, but this was another perk, if you will, of the job. We take the victim's clothing and we divide it up. Again, it's not like what we consider clothing today.
A shirt, it gets a little hole in it and we throw it away. Linens and clothing was a little bit more valuable and a little bit more precious in this particular time. So they do not tear it, they cast lots for it. Whose it shall be?
Notice what John underscores. Notice what John highlights. This may be a common custom among Roman soldiers when they're killing criminals, but this is according to the divine will and mind and plan of God. This was prophesied in Psalm 22, 18.
This has already been written. John says, 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.
The Seamless Tunic
Now this seamless tunic has been understand in some interesting ways. The seamless tunic has been seen as a symbol because the high priest wore a seamless robe. This tunic is supposed to represent Christ's priestly ministry. Or, this seamless tunic indicates the unity of the church.
Both Jews and Gentiles find their one place in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus. I don't know that that's necessarily what John wants us to get from this reference to the seamless tunic. Jesus wore a seamless tunic. Perhaps we are to think about what happens in John 13.
Another instance that refers to Jesus' clothing. When Jesus takes off his outer garment, and he stoops to the feet of the disciples and he washes their feet." We see Jesus, the lowly servant. We see Jesus, the one willingly submissive to the divine will and the divine plan. In the foot washing, Jesus laid aside his outer garments in an act that anticipated the cleansing that would issue from his death.
Here, He loses his clothes, all of his clothes. The same self-humbling operates, but here to the last degree. He lays aside his glory and by this act in the divine paradox is glorified. Yet while his last earthly possessions are stripped from him, he remains under his father's sovereign care even as his tunic is not torn and destroyed.
That's Carson. And then I alluded this morning to a quote by C.H. Spurgeon concerning the fact that Jesus hung naked on the cross. Again, we have this romantic idea.
You know, he was there, and he was covered, and everything just looked so idyllic and artful. It was a bloody mess. You know, there's an instance of atonement in Gibeah. The Gibeonites come and ask for restitution over a situation that had occurred to them.
And there is atonement that takes place there. And I remember Dale Ralph Davis' comments. He says, maybe Gibeah will shock us back to the reality that atonement is a bloody, drippy, smelly mess. It's not a picture of art that you hang on your wall.
That's why the whole idea of the cross. And I'm not saying if you have a cross on your neck, go get rid of it. But certainly in this context, persons wouldn't have wore crosses around their neck. You just wouldn't have done that.
The cross was like, you wouldn't wear an electric chair, a little symbol of an electric chair around your neck. I really have not ever met, and I've met some whacked out people in my life, no one here of course, but no one that I would ever have seen wearing an electric chair around their neck. That's what it would have been like to wear a cross in the first century. To walk into somebody's house and to see a big cross there would have been akin to seeing a gas chamber, a picture of a gas chamber that is utilized to execute criminal offenders.
You just wouldn't hang that in your house. I don't care how whacked you are. You just don't do those sorts of things. It wasn't this piece of art.
There wasn't bluebirds singing in the background. was a bloody, gory, drippy mess.
Christ Stripped of His Garments
Spurgeon commenting on Jesus naked, the person of Christ was stripped twice. And although our painters for obvious reasons cover Christ upon the cross, There he hung, the naked savior of a naked race. He who clothed the lilies had not wherewith to clothe himself. He who had clothed the earth with jewels and made for it robes of emeralds had not so much as a rag to conceal his nakedness from a staring, gazing, mocking, hard-hearted crowd.
He had made coats of skins for Adam and Eve when they were naked in the garden. he had taken from them those poor fig leaves which they sought to hide their nakedness, given them something wherewith they might wrap themselves from the gold. Now they part as garments among them, and for his vesture do they cast lots. While he himself, exposed to the pitiless storm of content, has no cloak with which to cover his shame." John Calvin says, let us also learn that Christ was stripped of his garments, that he might clothe us with the righteousness, that his naked body was exposed to the insults of men, that we may appear in glory before the judgment seat of God." A.W. Pink, the sinful first Adam was clothed by God.
The sinless last Adam was unclothed by wicked men. That's what's going on in the suffering of our Lord Jesus. So in Matthew 16.21, when he says, I must go to Jerusalem. I must suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes.
I must be killed and I must be raised the third day." This is what he was going to. This suffering, this ignominy, this crucifixion for God's glory and for the good of his people.
Application and the Lord's Supper
So hopefully, we've sort of fleshed out a little bit concerning the suffering of the Lord Jesus. Again, we don't want to engage in a passion mysticism, but on the other hand, we do not want to neglect the great lengths to which our Savior went to save us from our sins. We ought to respond in praise and in worship and in adoration. We ought to consider the bread that we eat and the fruit of the vine that we drink symbolize, represent those elements or those specifics in terms of the body and blood of Jesus.
The bread and the wine stay bread and wine. There is no change, there is no transubstantiation. There is no hocus-pocus that is taking place here tonight, but those things do symbolize, they do represent for us, they do show forth the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. We ought not to treat it lightly, we ought to consider what it is that we're engaged in, we ought to consider the reality that lies behind the symbol, namely, Christ was crucified for sinners, that Christ shed his blood on behalf of his people.
And certainly the purpose for all of this is very clearly specified by the Apostle John in his gospel. In 1935 he says, and he who is seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. We want believers to participate in the supper tonight. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and you are walking faithfully, you are walking consistently, you are not holding on to sin grudgingly or willingly or desiring to offend God or men.
If you are seeking to be a faithful Christian man or woman and you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, then by all means eat the bread. and drink the cup. It is a commanded activity by the Lord. It is a new covenant ordinance to be obeyed by the church until He comes again. By all means take.
If you're not a believer, don't take. If you're not a believer, the bread and the wine is not for you. But if you're not a believer, Christ has been crucified for sinners. And John says very specifically, I am telling you the truth so that you may believe.
The bread may not be for you, the cup may not be for you, but believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and then you can take the bread and the wine and enjoy the very presence of God Most High by His Spirit in the midst of His corporate people. John's Gospel ends on that similar note. 21 is actually an epilogue. 20 is the specific ending and John summarizes this way, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. The same thing Peter confesses in Matthew 16. This is why John writes his gospel, is so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah of God, the One who has come to save His people from their sins, the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
You see, if you're not a Christian, eating this bread and drinking this cup will not make you a Christian. The only way, the only means, the only hope is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and again we consider the sufferings of our Savior, and we do stand amazed at what great lengths He went to on our behalf. God, certainly this was the satisfaction of divine justice. This was indeed the fulfillment of the will and the plan of God, and as well it was the means by which He saves us from our sins.
We thank You for His precious blood. We thank You that You have washed us in that precious blood, and even now as we eat this bread and we drink this cup, we would do so remembering Him, remembering the One to whom these symbols point. Let us never be so caught up in the symbol that we miss the Savior that these things show forth. God, we praise You and thank You for giving us Your grace and Your mercy.
We thank You and praise You for bringing us together now where we can remember our Lord Jesus. And we pray in His name, Amen.