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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to John's Gospel, John Chapter 19. John 19, as we continue to work 
our way through the passion narrative of our Lord Jesus Christ, our 
focus this morning will be on verses 16b to 24. But I do want to begin reading 
in verse 1. We'll read to the verse 24 just to set it in the 
context. So John 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'm 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. And he said to the 
Jews, Behold your king. But 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. Now Pilate wrote a title and 
put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, 
the King of the Jews. 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. 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. 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. 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. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in heaven, we come to a very holy, very glorious, very 
wonderful passage of Scripture this morning. We pray that as 
we approach this we would, with reverence and awe, the thought 
of what our Savior went through on our behalf, the fact that 
He was tried under godless men, that He's delivered up to be 
crucified, that He is ultimately raised the third day and ascended 
to the right hand of God. We call this the gospel. Truly 
it is good news, and we thank you for it. We thank you that 
there is forgiveness of sin to be had in our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for that righteousness 
that is given freely by you to us, received by faith alone. 
And we pray for the proclamation of your truth here and elsewhere, 
that that word would run swiftly and be glorified. We pray that 
you would forgive us now for all sin and unrighteousness, 
cleanse us in that precious blood of the land, and do guide us 
by your Holy Spirit. And we pray this in Jesus' name, 
amen. Well, after Jesus is arrested, 
he first stands trial or a preliminary sort of a hearing before Annas, 
the high priest, and then he's delivered over to the Jewish 
Sanhedrin. Caiaphas leads that, and then they send Jesus to Pontius 
Pilate because they didn't have the authority or the prerogative 
to execute criminal offenders in the body politic at that time. 
So they needed to try and convince Pontius Pilate to give him a 
death sentence. Of course, Pilate hears Jesus. 
At a certain point, Pilate knows that Jesus is from Herod's jurisdiction, 
so he sends Jesus over to Herod. Herod basically mocks him and 
sends him back to Pontius Pilate. So here we have the verdict given 
by Pontius Pilate in chapter 19, specifically at verse 16. And prior to that, there's a 
great deal of tension between Pilate and the Jews. Pilate knows 
that Jesus isn't guilty. Pilate confesses that three times 
in his dealings with Jesus, in 1838, 1904, 1906, and then in 1912. 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. Pilate knew 
as a civil governor, he did not have the authority to kill innocent 
men. He didn't have the authority 
to judicially execute a man that he found no fault in. So the 
Jews here resort to political blackmail. That is precisely 
what they're doing. If you don't do what we say, 
then you're no friend of Caesar. And if you don't do what we say, 
Caesar's gonna hear about it, and you're gonna lose your job 
as the governor in Judea. So a lot of tension, but Pilate 
is prevailed upon by their threats. And as we see in verse 16, it 
says, So we'll pick up the narrative in verse 16b. We'll see the crucifixion 
of the Lord in verses 16 to 22. And then secondly, the division 
of the spoil. in verses 23 and 24. This was a perk of being a Roman 
soldier that when you executed people, you got to take their 
stuff. And they do this according to their own lawlessness and 
according to their own rebellious hearts, but it's in accordance 
with the scripture. We'll see that. But first, note 
the verdict. I just want to again address 
this, because if you read John's Gospel, you're met in the very 
first verse with an amazing statement. It says, in the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And 
then dropping down in 114, you read, And as you continue reading 
John's Gospel, you'll see that this Word is the Lord Jesus Christ, 
the Son of God Himself, who assumed our humanity to come to this 
world to save us from our sins. And if you get that, John 1-1 
and John 1-14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And 
then you see what Jesus does in his earthly life. He preaches 
sound doctrine. He heals sick people. He feeds 
multitudes. He heals blind men. He raises 
a dead man. When we get to a section like 
this, we got to ask the question, how did we get here? How did 
we end up in this place where the only holy, harmless, and 
undefiled man that has ever walked this earth is being treated with 
such contempt and with such enmity and with such rage? Pilate three 
times confesses his innocence. I find no fault in him. And it's met each time with this 
rising cry, away with him, away with him, crucify him. And I 
think if you ask that question, how did we get here? On the one 
hand, it's the sinfulness of man. Man is lawless. Man is wretched. In fact, in 
our narrative, we see that Pilate is sinful, according to John 
19 11. Therefore, the one who delivered me to you has the greater 
sin, which implies necessarily that Pilate was sinning. Pilate 
shouldn't have condemned a just man. Pilate shouldn't have delivered 
up to execution a man who had committed no crime. Pilate is 
wicked. But as well, the greater sinfulness 
of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the one who delivered me to you, 
has the greater sin. Why would they have the greater 
sin? Because they had the prophetic word. They had the Old Testament, 
which announced a man born of a woman would be their champion, 
which announced that that man would also be divine, that he 
would be a son given, he would be a child born, he would be 
the one upon whom the government would be laid on his shoulders. 
They had that. They had that writing, but they rejected him, 
they resisted him, they mocked him, they scourged him, and they 
ultimately cry out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. 
As well, the betrayal by Judas. It was Judas that sold him out 
for 30 pieces of silver. But then you've got the multitudes. 
The multitudes are prevailed upon by the religious leaders. 
Matthew 27 20, but the chief priests and elders persuaded 
the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy 
Jesus. So if you ask the question, how did we get here? Certainly 
the wickedness of man. But John's reader knows even 
more than that. John realizes it's not just man, 
but it's God. The sovereign will of God most 
high. This was the purpose, this was 
the plan, this is why the Word became flesh and dwelt among 
us. The prophet Isaiah says in chapter 
53 that it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to 
grief. Daniel 9 talks about Messiah 
being cut off. Acts 2, the Apostle says, Romans 
8, 32, So when you look there at chapter 
19, verse 16, then He, Pilate, delivered Him, Jesus, to them, 
the soldiers, to be crucified. We know there's a greater purpose 
and plan behind this. It's God Most High. 2 Corinthians 
5.21, God the Father made him who, God the Son, who knew no 
sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness 
of God in Him. So we get to the crucifixion, yes, by the hands 
of lawless men, but it's predetermined and foreordained by a gracious 
and merciful God who does what He does here in order to save 
sinners like us from our rebellion, from our transgression, from 
our wickedness. Jesus is not on that cross because 
of his sin. Jesus is not on that cross because 
of his criminal activity. Jesus is on that cross as a substitute, 
as atonement, as a sacrifice, as announced by the Baptist in 
129, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The 
gospel message is very simple. God sent the Son of His love 
into this world to live for sinners, to die for sinners, and to be 
raised again for sinners, such that every sinner who looks to 
Him in faith receives forgiveness and a righteousness by which 
will stand acceptable in the sight of a holy God. So we got 
here, yes, because a wicked man, but we got here even more powerfully 
because of a gracious and glorious God. So then we pick up the narrative. Verse 16b says they took Jesus 
and led Him away, and then we come to the actual crucifixion 
in verses 17 to 22. I want to look at first the location, 
second the crucifixion, and then third the charge. But the location, 
notice in verse 17, he bearing his cross went out to a place 
called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. Now there's an antitype in this 
particular verse. And what is an antitype? An antitype 
is that for which a type was typological. Not to confuse everybody, 
but a type in the Old Testament is a person, it's a place, it's 
a thing, it's an event that points forward in God's redemptive plan 
to a greater thing. Jesus was a type of the temple. 
Jesus, I'm sorry, the temple rather was a type of Jesus. He's 
the anti-type. Jesus is obviously why there 
was a priesthood in the Old Testament. The sacrificial system in the 
book of Leviticus was typical and it prefigured the work of 
the Lamb of God. Well here specifically notice 
what the text says in verse 17, and he bearing his cross, the 
antitype of Genesis 22.6. So Abraham took the wood of the 
burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son, and he took the 
fire in his hand and a knife, and the two of them went together. 
We've already seen John connect Jesus with the binding of Isaac 
in John 18, 12. It says there, then the detachment 
of troops and the captain and the officers of the Jews arrested 
Jesus and bound him. So all that was written before 
was ultimately foreshadowing the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then notice, and he bearing 
his cross. Now in terms of the practice 
of bearing the cross, I just want to read what's involved 
here. We're not going to get super detailed in the description 
of the crucifixion because the text doesn't, but it does help 
us to understand what's going on. So the cross that he bore 
refers to the cross member, the horizontal beam. The condemned 
criminal bore it on his shoulders to the place of execution where 
the upright beam 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. Remember, they had done this. 
They knew what they were doing. They had perfected this manner 
of execution by way of crucifixion. But as well, there's something 
that we ought to notice when we compare John to Matthew, Mark, 
and Luke. In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we 
learn of a man by the name of Simon the Cyrene that they employed 
to help Jesus carry that cross beam. John doesn't mention it 
here. That doesn't mean it didn't happen. 
That doesn't mean there's a contradiction. But John's emphasis, as we recall, 
is to highlight the sovereignty of God in all of this. Go back 
again to chapter 18. Remember, after his arrest in 
the garden, when Peter takes out his sword and shoots for 
the head of Malchus, the Lord Jesus tells him not to do that 
in 1811. Put your sword into the sheath. 
Shall I not drink the cup which my father has given me? All throughout 
John's gospel, there's been a recurring emphasis on his hour, Jesus' 
hour, and now on this cup. In other words, we can see the 
severity of human suffering when they take this man Simon the 
Cyrenian and help him or use him to help our Lord. The focus 
here is on the sovereignty of God, the plan and purpose of 
God, the predetermined will of the Father, the reality that 
Christ is the obedient son, that he is not going to shrink back, 
that he is going to carry the cross, that he is going to go 
to the very dregs of the cup to drink it for us men and for 
our salvation. And I would suggest then with 
reference to the place name, place of a skull, which is called 
in Hebrew Golgotha. We usually use the Latin term, 
which means place of a skull, but it's Calvary. Either way, 
Calvary or Golgotha means place of the skull. And there's a lot 
of ink spilled on as to why it was called the place of a skull. 
The rock formation perhaps looked like a skull. Some argued that 
Adam was actually buried at that particular site. That was one 
of those odd duck views. I wasn't gonna spend countless 
hours searching out. I'm not saying Adam wasn't buried 
there, but I just don't know and I don't think I'll ever know. 
But I connect it, I know my brother Cam does as well, with that proto-evangel 
in Genesis 3.15, when God promises the seed of the woman would crush 
the skull of the serpent himself. This is the skull place. This 
is where Christ has come to do business. This is where Christ 
is going to deal the death blow to the devil himself. See, sinners 
have big problems. Their own sin, but also the devil, 
that one who roams about like a roaring lion, seeking whom 
he may devour. When we preach Christ and him 
crucified and resurrected, we preach one who is absolutely 
sovereign, one who's absolutely powerful, one over whom the devil 
has no control. So there is good news in that 
power. Christ triumphed. Christ kills the effects of the 
devil. Christ crushes at this skull 
place. I think that's the significance 
of Golgotha. And then note, in terms of the 
actual crucifixion itself, notice in verse 18 where they crucified 
him. not a detailed gory description 
of all the ins and outs associated with crucifixion. We need to 
exercise caution here. There are some churches, there 
are some communities of Christians that celebrate the physical gore 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think R.T. France in his commentary 
on Matthew is very good here. He says, the over-enthusiastic 
attempts to draw out the physical horror of crucifixion which disfigures 
some Christian preaching, and at least one recent movie, find 
no echo in the Gospels. Perhaps the original readers 
were too familiar with both the torture and the shame of crucifixion 
to need any help in envisaging what it really meant. The focus 
is not on the physical torture. Now, having said that, we need 
to understand what is involved in the physical torture. And 
I think D.A. Carson describes, or at least summarizes this well. 
He says, in the ancient world, this most terrible of punishments... 
Listen, again, we're not, you know, Stations of the Cross, 
incense-snorting papists here. but it helps us to appreciate 
the lengths to which the Redeemer went on our behalf to save us 
from our sin. As well, if you're not a Christian 
here this morning, you need to hear the lengths to which the 
Redeemer went to save his people from their sins and to realize 
that, wow, if he did that to save wretches like them, then 
what's keeping a wretch like me from coming to him? That's 
the way you should think. The Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 
1 says, this is a trustworthy statement, a faithful saying, 
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world 
to save sinners and then Paul says, of whom I am chief. I've 
always thought that's great. If he saved the chief, he can 
save the not as chief. If he saved the worst, then he 
can save you as well. But this is what was involved 
in crucifixion. And again, this is just reading 
it. I mean if you were there and you were witnessing it, I'm 
sure the horrors would far exceed anything that I'm about to read. 
So Carson says, 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. Terrible muscle spasm wracked 
the entire body, but since collapse meant asphyxiation, the strain 
went on and on. This is also why the sedecula, 
that was the little block of wood that they placed there, 
not to relieve the suffering, but to prolong it. Not to relieve 
the suffering, but to prolong it. You could fight manfully 
onward. Every time you found that little 
block of wood, push yourself up and get a bit more error. 
He says, this is also why the sedecula prolonged life and agony. It partially supported the body's 
weight and therefore encouraged the victim to fight on. You know, 
even behind this brief description of what was a barbaric practice 
in terms of execution, Deuteronomy 21, 23 says, for he who is hanged 
is accursed of God. I don't think it's accidental 
that the crucifixion was the means and the purpose by which 
our Savior died for his people. So we've got this brief statement 
where they crucified him, but note this statement concerning 
his company and two others with him, one on either side and Jesus 
in the center. By this, he's fulfilling the 
prophetic word. The prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53, 
12 says, and he was numbered with the transgressors and he 
bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. He was numbered with that. It's 
an amazing thing. That's not how we function, that's 
not how we would ever conduct ourselves, but he's numbered 
right along with them. But as well, we see not only 
this prophetic fulfillment, but we see the power of Christ in 
this event. Turn to Luke's gospel at Luke 
23. Luke chapter 23, we get a bit of a glimpse into the company 
themselves. just mentioned by John, again 
not differences in terms of contradiction or tension or whatever, but theology. John wants to emphasize the sovereign 
purpose of God Most High and the hour is fulfilled and the 
cup of wrath is being drank by the Son of God. The synoptics 
kind of give us some more information. Notice in verse 39 of Luke 23, 
then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed him saying, 
if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. But the other, answering, 
rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are 
under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we 
receive the due reward of our deeds. But this man has done 
nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, 
remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus said 
to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in 
paradise. So you've got these two men on either side of the 
Lord Jesus. The fact that Jesus is in the center, the center 
is typically a place of honor or when you're on a cross, the 
place of more shame. Because the multitudes that were 
there for the feast would see him as that one in the middle 
flanked by these two men on the side. These two men on the side 
began the day the same way. The synoptics tell us that both 
of them blasphemed, or Matthew tells us both of them were hurling 
insults. Both of them were mocking our 
Lord Jesus Christ, but at some point, in the midst of their 
time on the cross, the one thief, we call him that, he was a terrorist, 
an insurrectionist, some sort of a murderer, They didn't just 
crucify you for being a thief in the Roman Empire. Oh, the guy stole from Walmart. 
Throw him on the cross. That's not how it happened. The 
thief, it kind of suggests this sort of rigorous, harsh appeal 
in the Roman system to just willy-nilly execute criminal offenders. No. 
Again, Pontius Pilate feels that tension. I find no fault in this 
man. I find no fault in this man. I can't just put him on 
a cross and kill him. That's not legit. But you've 
got these two men blaspheming, but along the way, one of them, 
by God's grace, comes to see who Jesus is. If you look again 
at verse 40, the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do you not 
even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 
And we indeed justly At a certain point, we call it the new birth, 
we call it the work of the Holy Spirit, we call it His eyes having 
been opened by that power, such that He now sees His own sin 
before a holy God, and He sees the glory of the Savior to save 
Him from the wrath of that holy God. So it says, and we indeed 
justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds. He's not 
up there saying, you're crucifying an innocent man. I repent, I 
reject. No, no, no, no. He understands. These are the 
consequences for a life of rebellion. He goes on to say, but this man 
has done nothing wrong. Everybody around Jesus saw that 
Jesus had done nothing wrong except the Sanhedrin. Everybody around Jesus who came 
into that particular orbit all said the exact same thing about 
him except the Sanhedrin. They had an ax to grind with 
him. Pilate was moved by cowardice, they were moved by prejudice. 
They resisted, they rejected, and they wanted to destroy Jesus. So this man has done nothing 
wrong. Then note verse 42. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, 
remember me when you come into your kingdom. You gotta really 
think through the implications of this. The apostles, that means the 
close associates of our Lord Jesus Christ, they had seen Jesus 
heal sick people. They had seen Jesus take a few 
loaves and a few fish and multiply it and feed thousands and thousands 
and thousands of people. They had seen Jesus walk on the 
water. They had seen Jesus raise somebody from the dead. They 
had seen all these things. So for them to say, Lord, it 
makes perfect sense. But what is this thief looking 
at? He's looking at the fellow that's in the center on a cross, 
covered in blood, covered in spit, covered in gore, and he 
calls him Lord. This thief had eyes of faith. Listen to Ryle on this verse. 
He only saw our Lord in agony and in weakness and in suffering 
and in pain. He saw him undergoing dishonorable 
punishment, deserted, mocked, despised, blasphemed. He saw 
no scepter, no royal crown, no outward dominion, no glory, no 
power, no signs of might, and yet the dying thief believed 
and looked forward to Christ's kingdom. He not only confesses 
him as Lord, but he acknowledges the presence of his kingdom. 
Verse 42, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. But 
that notwithstanding, I mean, it's amazing, right? Guy on a 
cross, looking at the next guy on the cross, confessing that 
next guy on the cross as a Lord who possesses a kingdom, and 
casting himself upon his mercy, saying, remember me. What's even 
more amazing is Jesus' response. It's not, it is great that this 
thief called upon Jesus, but what's greater is that Jesus 
can be called upon. Do you see that? At a point in 
time where none of us want to be called upon. We don't want 
to be called upon for help at the best of times during a day. 
I mean, I think we do. You know, call upon me. I'll 
try and help you. But I'm on a cross. I'm covered with spit. I'm bleeding. I've got a crown 
of thorns buried into my head. I've got spikes in my hands. 
I've got spikes in my feet. I've got mocking, rebellious 
people taunting me and blaspheming me. I don't know that my priority 
is, yeah, I really want to help this fellow next to me. Look 
at the priority of the Son of God as He's hanging there on 
the cross. That's the promise of Christ to every sinner that 
looks to Him in faith. Today you will be with me in 
paradise. This man deserved to be punished 
by Roman crucifixion. This man deserved to go to hell 
as a transgressor of God's holy law. But this man, cleansed in 
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving that righteousness 
of Christ by faith, would end in heaven on that very day. Today you will be with me in 
paradise. So the thief and his statement 
is amazing. But the fact that the Savior 
heard it, the fact that the Savior responds, and the fact that the 
Savior promises that today you'll be with me in paradise, I think 
affords great hope to anyone and everyone to say, Lord, remember 
me. Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, please cleanse me in your 
precious blood and give me that righteousness that avails with 
your Father. In other words, Lord, I want 
the benefits that you have purchased through your own life and death 
and resurrection. That's the beauty, the glory 
of God in the gospel of our blessed Savior. He's in Christ, reconciling 
the world to Himself. Trustworthy, a faithful saying, 
worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world 
to save sinners. Don't you love that? Not the 
righteous, but sinners. Not the polished, but sinners. I mean, honestly, brethren, you 
can't get much worse than an insurrectionist or revolutionary 
or terrorist or murderer hanging on a cross in a Roman crucifixion 
scene to sort of highlight you're not a great person. In fact, 
you're one of the worst sorts of people. I think this is offensive 
about the cross, isn't it? Oh, that guy's saved? That guy's 
going to heaven? That guy's got real religion? Yeah. Because it's not about 
that guy, it's about his savior. It's about his God's grace. It's about mercy. It's about 
forgiveness. It's about those things that 
our God abounds in. That's what it's about. That's 
offensive to the carnal mind. Because the carnal mind thinks 
that if I do enough good to sort of even out the scale of bad, 
then God has to receive me in. See, the problem with that is 
there's no evening out the scale. The problem with that is that 
the best of men are worthy of God's wrath and curse both in 
this life and that which is to come. Every one of us has sinned 
against God. Now, some of those sins are obvious, 
like a thief on a Roman cross executed for his murderous rebellion 
in the civil state. Some seem to be more subtle. 
You know, we didn't really go out and, you know, knock over 
a bank. We didn't ever shoot anybody in the head. We've been 
pretty moral. We've been pretty upright. We 
paid our taxes. We cut our grasses. We don't 
yell, or cut our grass. We don't yell at people on the 
road. We're respectable people. Every sin deserves God's wrath 
and curse, both in this life and that which is to come. And 
you see the Lord Jesus here extending mercy and grace and promising 
a kingdom to a guy who had no title to it. It really is an 
amazing scene that our Lord is doing on the cross. And then 
I wanna, we won't get to the division of the spoil with the 
soldiers, but let's look at the charge. in verses 19 to 22. Again, very simple statement 
in verse 18 where they crucified him and two others with him, 
one on either side and Jesus in the center. And then it moves 
on to the base of the cross, moves on to the foot of the cross, 
moves on to that activity that is surrounding the cross. So 
far as the cross is concerned, it's a brief statement, not celebrating 
the physical torture or the gore, simple statement, they crucified 
him. Two others with him, one on either 
side and Jesus in the center. But here in verses 19 to 22, 
you see first the charge in verses 19 and 20, you see then an objection 
to that in verse 21, and then you see the resolve of Pilate 
in verse 22. Again, what's happening at the foot of the cross here? 
What's happening with reference to the human players? Note the 
charge. It says in verse 19, now Pilate 
wrote a title and put it on the cross. In Matthew 27, 37, it's 
called an accusation. Mark 15, 25, it's an inscription 
of his accusation. Luke 23, 38, inscription. Again, not differences in terms 
of contradiction, but coming from theological backdrops. Why title? This is Pilate's last 
great act of defiance. This is between Pilate and the 
Jews, but Pilate unwittingly is confessing truth about the 
Lord Jesus. The official nature of the charge, 
the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. The governor, 
Pilate, was not convinced that Jesus was a rival king to Caesar. He's not They didn't make their 
case. Luke 23, that's what they present 
to Pilate. He's another king. He forbids 
paying taxes to Caesar. That's why you need to execute 
him. Well, they didn't make their case. In fact, in 18, John 18, 
it says, when he asks for an accusation, the official charge, 
well, if he wasn't guilty, we wouldn't have brought him to 
you. Okay, that's the way we do court now? If he wasn't guilty, 
we wouldn't have brought him to you? They never formalized 
the charge, but they do in Luke 23. They say he's a rival king 
to Caesar and he forbids paying taxes. This didn't get Pilate's 
conscience. He does not think this for a 
moment. He has personally interrogated Jesus in terms of the nature 
of Jesus' kingship in John 18, 36 and 37. Jesus affirms that 
he's a king. Jesus affirms that its origin 
is not of this world. Jesus affirms that the vehicle 
by which that kingdom goes forward is truth. So Pilate rightly surmises 
he's not a threat to Tiberius. He's not going to launch a revolt 
against the Roman state. And he's certainly not forbidding 
people to pay taxes. But what is it that Pilate does 
alight on? He alights on that which is most 
offensive to them. Now, I'm not, again, a pilot 
apologist or defender, but you gotta admire his particular course 
along the way. The governor unwittingly proclaims 
the truth concerning Jesus, as Gil says, with reference to the 
title, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, Gil says, which 
both expresses his accusation and asserts him to be so. This is true. The reader of John's 
gospel knows it's true. The reader of the Bible knows 
that he is the king of the Jews. This is all accurate. Now, I'm 
not suggesting Pilate knew that at its fundamental theological 
foundation, no more than Caiaphas did when he preached substitutionary 
atonement by Jesus in John 11, 49 to 52. But they were unwitting 
participants in proclaiming the truth of God. The psalmist says, 
even the wrath of man shall praise you, O God. This is one of the 
evidences of that. So Pilate does what Pilate does, 
and notice, it's teased out a bit, verse 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. 
So the public nature of this, this wasn't done in obscurity. 
This wasn't done off the beaten path. Paul tells us in Romans 
3, 25 and 26 that the father set forth Christ as a propitiation 
through his blood. Again, not in obscurity, not 
hidden behind a wall, but right there near the city so many of 
the Jews that were there for the feast of the Passover could 
see it. It was public. It was out there. Christianity isn't a mystery 
religion in the sense that we just kind of think something 
once happened. No, Christianity is focused around 
the place of the skull, outside the city of Jerusalem, under 
the reign of Pontius Pilate, under the governorship of Pontius 
Pilate, under the reign of Tiberius Caesar. These are not mysteries. These are not esoteric. This 
isn't, you gotta suspend your mind to become a Christian. No, 
you gotta suspend your mind to run from Christianity. When we 
come to a narrative like this, it's important for us to understand 
why in such a public place. For maximum traction. And why 
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin? Again, for maximum traction. I think that the Hebrew, Greek, 
and Latin, the languages of the day, was probably for a warning. If you speak Hebrew or Aramaic, 
you speak Greek or you speak Latin, let this be a warning 
to you. Don't claim to be the king of 
the Jews. Right? Why would Pilate put that title 
up there? Yeah, he's got a dig on the Jews, but he's also got 
a province to run. And if you're another contender 
thinking you're the king of the Jews, this is what you'll get. 
So it's probably for a warning. But I think there's a theological 
dimension in terms of universality. Doesn't matter whether you're 
a Hebrew. Doesn't matter whether you're 
a Greek. Doesn't matter what tongue you 
speak. In other words, in Jesus, Jews 
and Gentiles are welcomed by God's grace through faith in 
our Lord Jesus Christ. And it may foreshadow what Paul 
speaks of in Philippians 2.11, that every tongue should confess 
that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 
So then note the objection in verse 21. Remember we asked the 
question, how did we get here? Lots of men involved, lots of 
sin involved, lots of guilt involved. If we ask the specific sin of 
the Sanhedrin, what was going on with them? Yeah, it was an 
obvious theological debate. They rejected and resisted Christ's 
claims to having been sent by his father. Christ claimed saying 
that, you know, you read Moses, but you don't believe in me, 
but it's Moses that wrote about me. When Jesus says, before Abraham 
was, I am, they take up stones to throw at him. So in its substance, 
it was theology. They rejected and resisted the 
Messiah that was sent by God to Israel to save his people 
from their sins. But as well, they had envy, right? Doesn't Pilate sort of vet that 
in Matthew's gospel? He knew why they delivered him 
up. And it doesn't say that Pilate knew because Jesus was a fake 
and a fraud and a deceit. No, because the Jews were filled 
with envy. Remember that Pilate's wife had 
a dream and she comes to Pilate and says, have nothing to do 
with this just man. I've just had a very troubling 
dream about him and you probably best thing is to see him in your 
rear view mirror. You don't want to be saddled to that. And then 
Pilate himself tries to distance himself by washing his hands 
in front of everybody and absolving himself at the crucifixion of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. These men envied Jesus. They 
wanted to deprive Jesus. I shared that last week with 
my fishing illustration. I might go out fishing with you 
and be jealous of the fish that you caught, which just means 
I want them. Envious means I don't want you 
to have them. I was a troubled young man that 
took my cousin's catch. I let the stringer go and go 
down the river because I couldn't catch anything. He shouldn't 
have any either. These men were envious of our Lord Jesus. But 
now, let's just keep going here. They're petty, petty. but also perceptive. Note verse 
21. There's a big difference there, 
right? Pilate, are you ascribing to him kingship of the Jews? No, no, He just said that He 
is the King of the Jews. Aquinas says, the title, King 
of the Jews, was a praise for Christ, but a disgrace for the 
Jews. For it was a disgrace to the 
Jews that they had their King crucified. As it stands, as it's 
written, as it's displayed there on that inscription, Jesus, the 
King of the Jews. This is how you treat your King? 
And then note Pilate's resolve in verse 22. This is what I meant 
by his last act of defiance. What I have written, I have written. You guys may have tried to politically 
blackmail, well, you didn't try. You did politically blackmail 
me. Look at 1912. It is as crystal clear as can 
be. If you let this man go, you are 
not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king 
speaks against Caesar. This isn't just sort of banter 
between them. The implication is obvious. Pilate, 
if you don't go the way that we think you ought to go, Caesar's 
going to hear about this. Caesar's going to know. Tiberius 
is going to get an earful that you are allowing this enemy of 
Caesar to go unexecuted. They pressured Pilate for this 
verdict. Pilate says, what I have written, 
I have written. I am not going up there to change 
it. I am not going up there to fix it. I'm not going up there 
to better it for you. It is as it is, and again, Pilate 
unwittingly preaches the truth concerning our Lord Jesus. John 
will not let us forget what we're dealing with. John will not let 
us forget how did we get here. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. That Word is the Lamb of God 
who takes away the sin of the world. That Word is the King 
of kings and Lord of lords. That Word is the great high priest. That Word is the prophet. That 
Word is the one in whom alone there is forgiveness, there is 
righteousness, there is benefit with God through faith in our 
Lord Jesus Christ. I just want to make one observation 
and then we'll tease it out next week, just to sort of add to 
what we've seen thus far in what Jesus is going through on the 
cross. What do you think it means when 
they stripped him of his garments and he's hanging there on that 
tree? It means he was naked. Spurgeon has this observation. He says, the person of Christ 
was stripped twice. And although our painters, for 
obvious reasons, cover Christ upon the cross, I'm not saying 
it's good to paint paintings of Jesus. We have the second 
commandment forbids that because Jesus is divine. Can't put divinity 
on canvas. But for the sake of argument 
and for the sake of reality throughout history, people have been drawing 
pictures of Jesus or movies of Jesus or paintings of Jesus. So Spurgeon's, that's the nature 
of his statement. He says, 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 with which they sought to hide their 
nakedness, given them something wherewith they might wrap themselves 
from the cold. But now they part his garments 
among them, and for his vesture do they cast lots, while he himself, 
exposed to the pitiless storm of contempt, has no cloak with 
which to cover his shame. You just can't go any further 
to demonstrate the reality of what John tells us in John 3, 
16. God so loved the world that he 
gave his only begotten son. that whosoever believeth in him 
should not perish, but have everlasting life." How much did God love 
the world? He sent His Son. How much did 
God love the world? He delivered up His Son to this 
shame, to this cruelty, to this mockery, to this torture, to 
this death. Why? Because God so loved the 
world. This is gospel. This is good news. If you are not a believer, believe 
it. Be like that thief on the cross. 
Look beyond all the things that your eyes may tell you otherwise. He's filled with blood. He's 
filled with spit. He's got a crown of thorns on. 
He's dying by Roman crucifixion. This man saw Jesus as a Lord 
who possessed a kingdom and as one who was merciful. because 
that thief cast himself upon the mercy of Jesus Christ and 
that night entered in, well, that day entered into paradise 
with our blessed Lord. That's what Christians are, not 
upright people, not good people, not polished people. Why are 
you Christians the way you are? Because Jesus saved us from our 
sins. We're not going to heaven because of our law keeping. We're 
not going to heaven because we're good. It's just about here that 
every redeemed Christian gags a little bit at the thought of 
them being good enough to go to hell. No, it's not that. Christians 
are Christians because of Christ, because of God's grace, because 
of the power of the gospel, because the Lord Jesus Christ does what 
Jesus does in this very passage and is then raised again the 
third day, such that everyone who looks to him in faith will 
have everlasting life. May God be pleased to encourage 
the saints with a fresh view of our Savior, and sinners with 
a brand new view of the Savior. Look to Him in faith. Well, let 
us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
You for Your Word. We thank You for the glory of 
the Christian gospel, the message of Christ and Him crucified and 
resurrected, and we pray for your blessing upon that word 
as it goes forth throughout the earth. May it go forth conquering 
and to conquer, and may you save from every tribe and tongue and 
people and nation, and may you bless in this place any and all 
who are dead in their trespasses and sins. Awaken them by your 
spirit, cause them to see Jesus as altogether lovely and chief 
among 10,000, and may they by grace believe on him and know 
the joy of being found in him. And we ask this in Jesus' name, 
amen.