John chapter 19. 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 and 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. than 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 seek the Lord in prayer.
Father, we read this section of Scripture. It is sobering to us. It is so solemn and serious. Yet God, we know how everything turns out, and it's so glorious and wonderful.
How we thank you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Do forgive us, Lord, for all of our iniquities and transgressions. Cause us to reflect upon this passage, and may it indeed encourage us and strengthen us and cause us to worship and wonder and stand in awe of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his blessed name that we pray.
Introduction
J.C. Ryle, as he comments on this particular section, writes, 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.
I would agree with that a hundredfold, and we ought to enter into this passage with great joy, with great solemnity. I want to look specifically, as I mentioned, from verses 16 to 24 under four considerations. First, the setting where Jesus is. Secondly, the crucifixion itself.
Thirdly, the charge leveled against the Son of God. And, fourthly, the division of the spoil, verses 23 and 24. One thing that you'll notice as we work our way through this, it all happens in accordance with the Scripture. John takes great pains to show us that everything that is done in this particular instance or account has been prophesied.
Christ is the fulfillment of Scripture. Christ is the yea and amen of God most high. He is the surety of a better covenant and the one who has come to be the mediator between God and sinners.
The Setting at Golgotha
Well, let us look at the setting. Jesus was led away according to verse 16. Then he delivered him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led him away.
A reference to the Roman soldiers. Notice that Jesus bore his cross. There's no mention here of Simon the Cyrenian. This is in accordance with the Greek historian Plutarch.
Speaking of those crucified, he said each criminal, as part of his punishment, carries his cross on his back. The cross he bore refers specifically to the cross member, or the horizontal beam. 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. So the criminal would bear the cross beam to that place where there was already the vertical one in place.
And then what would happen is 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. Now, the fact that John does not mention Simon in this instance does not contradict. When we look at the Scriptures, we get a mosaic.
We get various angles set forth from us. We get Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, each recording the same truths, the same facts, but from a different angle or a different facet for us to appreciate. D.A. Carson references or comments, 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 of the son's obedience.
And so he reports rightly that Jesus carried his own cross. If anything, in the Gospel of John, over and over and over again, Christ emphasizes that the Father sent him and that it was his me to do the will of him who sent me. And so John gives us this view of Christ bearing his cross up to that place of execution, that place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. The Latin term is Calvary.
That's the one I believe we're probably more familiar with. Note the company that he kept when he was up there on the cross. In verse 18 it says, where they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side and Jesus in the center. I think John's point here, again, with the backdrop of Holy Scripture in his mind. and in his heart, wants to highlight that this is, in fact, the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 and verse 12.
He was numbered with the transgressors. I believe that center position was supposed to be for Barabbas. But remember this wretched unbelieving, infidelity-ridden group of people said, away with him, away with him, crucify him. I think these men on either side were compatriots of Barabbas.
I think those three men were purposed to be executed on this particular day. The gospel accounts indicate this. Barabbas was the ringleader, the most notorious one, the one that would be central among these three crosses. Well, when they said, give us Barabbas, and they say, away with him, crucify him, he takes this place of prominence in the center to make known or to demonstrate his wickedness on their part.
He was not wicked, it was an affront to be sure, but that's the purpose in view here. Now,
The Crucifixion Itself
notice, secondly, the crucifixion. Verse 18, it says, where they crucified Him. That's it. Yes, there's other details surrounding this particular statement.
We need to realize that the gospel accounts don't focus upon or center in, in all of its bloody agony, the particularities of the crucifixion. Herman Ritterbaugh says the New Testament has no trace of any passion mysticism oriented to the physical torture of Jesus. This is something common in Roman Catholicism, the twelve stations of the cross, where they celebrate each and every instance of the physical torment of the Lord Jesus Christ. But that's not what John the Apostle does.
He gives us this statement and there he was crucified again. There are details surrounding it, but it does not get involved in a two and a half hour passion, mystical oriented, subjective thing for us to gaze upon. However, when we read this statement, it is helpful for us to understand something of crucifixion. Heard me say it before.
This was reserved for the worst in the Roman Empire. Roman citizens were not subject to crucifixion unless they were especially heinous. In other words, it was such a vicious form of punishment, such a vicious form of execution, that if you were a citizen of Rome and you were guilty of a capital offense, you more than likely would not be crucified. There were other more humane ways for them to put you down.
You know, nowadays they use lethal injection. They say the electric chair was too inhumane, so now we give them that deadly injection to make them pass from this life into the next. So the same thing was true then. Maybe there were protesters that said crucifixion was too severe, too heinous.
Now, if there was a Roman citizen that was especially wicked, the Roman emperor could give his consent for him to be executed via crucifixion. But the point is, it was reserved for the worst offenders, the most heinous criminals, the worst of the lot. We would not see in the first century people wearing crosses around their neck or decorating their homes with the cross. It would be unheard of to celebrate that form of execution in such a way.
Now, obviously, as Christians and with our perspective and our understanding of Jesus and the cross, it does make a bit more sense. But I just want to read again from D.A. Carson, where he highlights what's involved in crucifixion. It's a word we all know.
It's a word we all refer to. We talk about the gospel. You know, Jesus lived. Jesus died.
Jesus rose again. What was involved in his dying? What was involved in crucifixion? Carson 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. 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's that little piece of wood that the foot would rest upon, prolonged life and agony. It wasn't a mercy to put that there. It wasn't somehow to help the victim. It was rather to make it last longer, to make the pain endure.
So that little piece of wood that your foot would rest upon and the ability for you to pull on your arms was enough to bring your chest to the place where you wouldn't asphyxiate. It was designed to be the cruelest form of execution that one could imagine. He says that it partially supported the body's weight and therefore encouraged the victim to fight on. So that's what's involved in terms of the crucifixion from the human perspective.
But you notice at this particular juncture, or at the time of physical torment, Jesus doesn't cry out, does he? Jesus never says, wow, this is very painful. This hurts a lot. You can imagine if one of us were subjected to some sort of physical torment or suffering or torture, it would probably elicit from us some complaint, some cry, some please call my lawyer, try to intervene, get me out of this.
Jesus never cried out at that particular juncture. I submit the most heinous thing about the crucifixion was not the manward perspective. It was not the physical torment that was involved.
Dereliction and the Nature of Hell
Jesus cried out at that moment when God the Father had forsaken him. We read that in Psalm 22. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That's what promoted, that's what produced, that's what evoked that cry from the Lord Jesus.
It was dereliction from God the Father. I think Jesus on the cross, or at least those two aspects, should picture and should explain for us what hell is all about. Hell is the physical infliction of pain. Hell is a place of conscious torment, a place of punishment, a place of suffering.
The Bible says there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, there will be wailing there. But it's not only that positive infliction of pain, but it's the withdrawing of anything good from God Most High. That's those two elements that are seen there in the cross. Jesus is physically tormented, and Jesus is deprived of all the goodness of God Most High.
That's what hell is going to be like. Hell is the positive implementation of punishment for sins committed, and it is the withdrawing of any goodness from God. You see, God is present. It is God's wrath that sinners endure in hell.
But it is the absence of the goodness of God. You take the most wretched sinner. You take the most wicked man. You think about yourself if you are unconverted.
Each and every day you experience something of the goodness of God. You may not acknowledge it, you may not praise him for it, you may not thank him for it, you may not be grateful, you may not esteem it, but each and every day, if you feel the sunshine on your face, that is a good gift from God. If you get to put food in your mouth and fill your belly, that is a good gift from God. If you get to take a glass of water and drink it, that is a good gift from God.
So the worst of sinners in this world enjoys the blessing of God. But in that world to come, should you pass into an eternal hell, there will be no goodness from God. There will be wrath. There will be fury.
There will be anger. There will be judgment. There will be those things in his presence. It is a horrifying concept, and one that should cause all of us to shudder, and knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, persuade men to be reconciled unto God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus was crucified.
The Charge Leveled Against Christ
Notice, thirdly, the charge leveled. The charge leveled in verses 19 and 20. Now, Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. It goes on to say 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.
It was near the city. It was not in the city of Jerusalem proper. It was outside the camp, but it was in a very populated area. Everybody would know what was going on.
It would be akin to having a public hanging in the middle of Chilliwack. We'd all know where that was if they did it out on Pressed Road somewhere. We'd all know where that would be, and knowing the heart of men, we'd probably want to go and watch. That's what's going on here.
This did not happen in isolation. God set him forth, according to Paul in Romans 3, as a propitiation through his blood so that God may demonstrate his righteousness at this present time. Notice that it's written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Why?
So that everybody would get wind of the charge. Everybody would understand. Everybody would know and hopefully fear the Roman state. The reason for such linguistic enthusiasm is obvious.
The Romans had a vested interest in publicizing the nature of the crime that resulted in such punishment as a warning to every segment of the populace. As a means to demonstrate that they meant business. That a claim to be a king was a claim that usurped the Roman state. So they make it public.
They put them out there before everybody's eyes. Notice in verse 21, that therefore the chief priest 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.
Pretty, pretty easy to understand. Pilate's had a belly full of these people. Pilate's fed up with these guys. Pilate has said three times, I find no fault in this man.
Pilate sees that he is not guilty of the crime that he is being charged with. They come, and one last ditch attempt, don't say he is the king of the Jews, say he said he is the king of the Jews. Pilate says, no, what I've written, I've written. But
Unwitting Prophets: Caiaphas and Pilate
if you've been reading John's gospel, you'll know that at times unlikely men make very good theological proclamations. If you've read John's gospel, you'll know that men often say things better than they know. If you go back for just a moment to John chapter 11, John chapter 11, as there is this plot being hatched to kill Jesus. Verse 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.
Notice Caiaphas. Here's a man saying things better than he knows. Here is great theology in the mouth of an unconverted man. Verse 49.
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. Now this he did not say on his own authority, 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. Caiaphas didn't mean to say that. Caiaphas didn't mean to preach God's redemptive plan for Jew and Gentile.
Everybody with me? Everybody following? Gotta look at the text. Gotta follow along.
Because this helps us when we get to what Pilate does here. Caiaphas, being high priest, 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. Caiaphas is preaching substitutionary curse bearing, preaching substitutionary atonement. Now, John comments, 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.
Now come back to Pilate in John 19. Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written. He is the king of the Jews. George Beasley Murray.
So, the two men most responsible for Jesus' death became the most unwitting prophets of the death of Jesus. 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.
Division of the Spoil
And then notice, fourthly, the division of the spoil, verses 23 and 24. We saw that in Psalm 22 as well. 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. This was a custom that the executioners took the garments of the condemned criminal. This was the spoil. This was a benefit.
This was a perk to being an execution guard. When your victim was going to pass up onto the cross, you would take his garments. Now, this seamless tunic has been symbolized. Some have said because the high priest wore a seamless robe, this tunic is supposed to represent Jesus' priestly ministry.
Others say that the seamless tunic indicates the unity of the church. Well, we don't have to symbolize it. We don't have to do that with the text. But if we've been reading John's John's gospel, there was an instance prior where Jesus removes his garment and he does this to wash the feet of his disciples.
And I like Carson. He makes this observation. He says 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, as he lays aside his glory, and by this act, in the divine paradox, he 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." And I want you to notice something here. Something that C.H. Spurgeon picked up on.
Well, I'm sure people before C.H. Spurgeon picked up on it. We should pick up on it if we're reading it. Jesus is naked.
They took his garments. Remember horror, terror, shame, humiliation, all those things associated with the cross.
The Naked Savior and Imputed Righteousness
Spurgeon notes that when men have depicted this scene. I don't recommend this. The second commandment forbids this. But when men have depicted this scene, they don't make a naked savior up on that cross.
They usually put a garment over him. Spurgeon says 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 and 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 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.
It's not what the writer of Hebrews tells us, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame. This was an atrocity. This was a wretched, horrible abomination and travesty of justice. An innocent man, a guiltless man, a perfect man is hung naked on the cross where he suffers the wrath of man, but he suffers the wrath of his father.
That's why I think Ryle was constrained to say, 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. We ought to look at this spectacle and stand in amazement and in awe that our Savior loves us so much that He endured this on our behalf. We ought to see in this the heinousness of sin, the gravity and demerit of transgression against God, to see what God thinks about our sin when he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. Reverend, this scene shows us many theological truths for our instruction, for our encouragement, and hopefully for our wonder and amazement and our worship of the triune God.
Notice, he quotes Psalm 2218. John is rigorous in showing how all things associated with Jesus are a fulfillment of the Scripture. This was not Plan B. This was not happenstance.
This was not an unlucky event. It was the predetermined plan of God, fully subscribed to by his son, that he would come into this world, sinners to save, in this particular manner. He would obey the law on their behalf. He would die as a sacrifice and a substitute in their place.
And yea, on the third day, he would rise again and ultimately be exalted into heaven to the right hand of God most high, where he rules and reigns over all things for his church. This is God's plan to save his people from their sins. This is the gospel. This is the good news.
This is what God in Christ is doing. He is reconciling the world to Himself because of the doing and the dying and the rising of His most blessed Son.
Application: Lessons from the Crucifixion
Well, a couple of lessons that we learned from this brief survey.
The Sovereignty of God
First, the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God. I mean, the best proof or one of the proofs of the inspiration of the Bible is no man would have ever invented this. Would he?
If you were going to make God, you wouldn't make him holy. I mean, you might make him a little better than yourself, but you're not going to make him holy, holy, holy, burning and furious against sin. You're certainly not going to design God that's triune. You're not going to have Father, Son, and Holy Spirit equal in power and glory.
Same substance, but each of the three distinct persons equal in power and glory. You certainly wouldn't design a gospel or good news where the Father sends the Son into this world in a lowly state, in a humble state, where the Son says that the foxes have holes and the birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his hand. You certainly wouldn't fashion this spectacle, this particular scene, that goes to the uttermost. I mean, it's almost like we just can't take anymore, and then he's hung before us naked before a watching world in all of his shame.
We would never design this. The best proof of the inspiration of the Scripture is the Scripture, the Scripture itself. Caiaphas prophesies that Jesus would die for the redemption of Israel and the nations. The Jews insist on Jesus crucifixion without providing a charge or evidence that he is in fact guilty.
Pilate is convinced of his innocence but succumbs to the pressure of the mob. Pilate insists on the title King of the Jews. The Savior is numbered with the transgressors. He is crucified, thus fulfilling Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Daniel 9.
The soldiers divide his garments in fulfillment of Psalm You see, Brethren, that your salvation is not incidental. Your salvation is not happenstance. Your salvation is orchestrated in accordance with the eternal decree of God Most High, who cannot be thwarted, who cannot be frustrated, who cannot be stopped. God is relentless in His saving mercies to pursue His people and to rescue them from the sinful bondage that they are in.
When you read this gospel, when you read this crucifixion, you see God behind the scenes. Doesn't Jesus say this too, Pilate? Jesus answered in verse 11, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above. Pilate's this proud, arrogant man.
He sees that Jesus is innocent. But he succumbs to the pressure of the mob. He says, I've got authority. He's throwing his weight around.
Jesus says, you have no authority. apart from my father in heaven. Never forget who's in control here. Pilate might like to think so. Caiaphas might like to think so.
The Jews might like to think so. Everybody might like to think so. But God most high has it all under his sovereign control.
The Glory of Christ's Willing Obedience
Secondly, not only do we see the sovereignty of God, we see the glory of Jesus. Christ willingly suffered these things in obedience to his father. Back in John 10, he says, Therefore, my Father loves me because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from my Father. Christ is a willing Savior for sinners. Christ is not fighting His Father.
Christ is not resistant to His Father. Christ in the garden as the God man says, if it is possible, let this pass from me. Nevertheless, father, not my will, but thine be done. Christ suffers as the surety of a better covenant so that he could save his people from their sins.
Consider Adam and Eve sin. They hid from God. They covered themselves. Christ never sinned, Christ was stripped naked, and Christ is publicly crucified before crowds of people.
John Calvin said, let us also learn that Christ was stripped of his garments, that he might clothe us with a righteousness. That's pithy. That's excellent. That's spot on.
It's not the essence of justification by faith alone, the pardon of iniquity and the imputation of righteousness by faith in Christ. Calvin's spot on. Let us also learn that Christ was stripped of his garments, that he might clothe us with a righteousness, that his naked body was exposed to the insults of men, that we may appear in glory before the judgment seat of God. I've often thought of this.
Jesus says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? All of us in him will never, ever have to say that. There will never be a time in your Christian experience, in your Christian life, in the day-to-day rubric of Christian living, or on that day of judgment where you'll have to say, why hast thou forsaken me? God is covenanted.
God is promised. God is faithful. He will never leave you, and He will never forsake you. That is blessing.
A.W. Pink says, the sinful first Adam was clothed by God. The sinless last Adam was unclothed by wicked men. And that for our sin, that for our redemption.
The Response of Disciples: Worship
We, thirdly, the response of his disciples, the response of his disciples. Yes, we ought to want to go out and do what the Lord calls us to. We ought to look at those beatitudes and pray, God, give me more of a zeal for the poverty of spirit and that holy mourning and that meekness and that mercy and that peacemaking attitude and disposition. God, help me to take a stand in this world and testify and to be persecuted for righteousness' sake.
Those are all fitting responses of the disciples of Christ. You know another fitting response of the disciples? To worship. There's this idea in churches today, you know, we got to give everybody something to do.
OK, here's five things that you can do this week. You know, love your wife, give her a kiss, buy her flowers, be nice to your kid, buy them a bike. And we like that sort of hands on practical approach. And I'm not saying it's bad.
We should be hands on practical approach, men and women, with reference to the Christian life. You know, worship is intensely practical. Worship is uniquely practical. Worship is the response of the disciple when he sees the love of his Savior.
Worship, praise, adoration. Hopefully it's the kind of stuff that as we open up the hymn book next time, we don't just sort of mutter a few things. We concentrate. We wrap our minds around the doctrine.
We sing it in praise to our God. We rehearse those truths, we sing them for the edification of one another, and we sing them for the glory and exaltation of God. That's where we find him in Psalm 22. He's enthroned in the praises of Israel.
If this doesn't promote the praise of Israel, then you are either cold or thoughtless. Worship is practical. Praise and adoration is practical. As much as you should love your wife, as much as you ladies should submit to your husband, as much as all of us should live according to the Beatitudes, all of us should take time to reflect on who Jesus is, to bow in praise, to bow in adoration, and to worship our great God.
Job sets a perfect example of this. Everything is stripped away from him. What does he do? He worships.
Naked I came into this world, naked I shall return. Blessed be the name of the Lord my God. Isn't that amazing? Is Job just a strange guy?
Job, go back to work. You know, fix your life. You've had some problems. You need to rectify that.
Now, first, I need to worship. First, I need to acknowledge not only the good, but the bad comes from the Lord. Just because it's bad doesn't change the character of the Lord. I still need to worship.
I still need to praise. I still need to honor. You know, if you hear a sermon, brethren, the one point of application is that this ought to promote worship. Don't feel like you got gypped.
We got problems with worship. We got problems with giving reverence and awe and homage to God most high. That's the problem. When you read between the lines, what's the issue according to Romans chapter one with man?
He doesn't glorify God as God, nor is he thankful. It is from that vantage point that all of the myriad vices proceed. The fact is, his problem at core is one of worship. He doesn't glorify God as God and he isn't thankful.
Because he doesn't glorify God as God and he's not thankful, he goes out and pursues homosexuality. He pursues murder. He pursues gossip. He pursues slander.
He pursues all manner of lawlessness. What's the point when you honor and glorify God as God and are thankful from that vantage point? Hopefully myriad virtues proceed the point in Colossians three. Get your mind on the things of God.
Focus on the right hand of where of the father, where Christ is. And it's from that place that you then live the Christian life in this world. Husbands to wives, wives to husband, parents to children, children to parents. You see, we must first worship before we'll ever be any earthly good.
That's why we need to come to passages like these, and instead of sitting there with our ink pens saying, what are 15 things or implications I can learn for this for my life? Just stop, put your pen down and praise. It's glorified. Do you love that about Paul?
Sometimes he's writing great theology and then he just launches off into praise. Why does he do that? Because when this doctrine gets in your soul, it has to bust out. When this theology gets in you, it has to come forth.
That's why we preach the Bible and we preach doctrine, so that hopefully you'll burst forth and praise God, not just on the Lord's Day, but Monday through Saturday. When you're reading your Bible, yes, read for tips for helpful living. Please do that. But don't neglect the biggest tip.
Honor God as God and be thankful.
The Purpose of the Crucifixion
And then fourthly, the purpose of the crucifixion. We know this from the rest of the Bible, but John does not leave us on our own. Notice in John 1935, and he was seen as testified and his testimony is true. And he knows that he is telling the truth so that what you may believe This whole thing has been written, this whole thing has been preached tonight.
Not so that you may remain indifferent. Not so that you may leave these doors, go back into another work week, forgetting all about God and Christ and reconciliation. No, it's written, it's preached, it's taught, so that you may believe. John 20, verse 31.
Not all of the Bible, not every book in the Bible sets forth the purpose as clearly for which it was written. John does this. John is very clear. He doesn't want you to wiggle out of it.
He doesn't want you to stroke your beard and say, my, those are interesting things. I'll contemplate that as I have due time. No, he says. And truly, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book.
But these are written. Why? That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ. Don't reject that.
Don't go out of here without that. Don't resist the spirit of God. Don't say, well, you know, that's a nice story and I'd love to have a saving interest in it. But another day, no, listen to the apostle.
These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. And notice and that believing you may have life in his name. What's the implication if you don't believe you don't have life in his name? The stakes are high.
They are eternal. You reject him. You resist him. You don't believe in him.
You have opted for everlasting hell. Believe. According to the Apostle John, according to everything given to him in terms of the spirit and wisdom, in terms of the remainder of the Bible, everything converges on this particular reality. That if you believe, you will have everlasting life.
Christianity alone is a faith. Doctrine to be believed. Everything else is a work. Talk about the Muslim faith, the Catholic faith.
No, there's no faith. There's works. They give lip service to faith. They give lip service to profession and confession.
But in the final analysis, a Muslim, a Catholic, an atheist, a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Shintoist, a whoever-ist, a Mormon, a Jehovah's Witness, they stand before God pleading their merits. That's a horrible place to be. We need to be like the hymn writer who said, nothing in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I claim. We had the privilege of going to Magic Mountain.
Southern California. They call the rides there white knucklers. You see them, you're already wanting to hold on to something. I mean, you're standing in line, especially as I get older.
When I was younger, I didn't think this way. But as I'm older now, I'm thinking, do I really want to do this? I mean, these are massive structures with myriad loops and spins, and you can leave your stomach on one of them. But they call them white-knucklers because when you're on that ride, you're holding on like that.
There's some fools out there, you know, trying to be cool and raise their hands. But you're a white-knuckler. That's how I look at Christianity. Faith is a white-knuckled proposition.
It's not a limp-wristed sort of thing. It's not a, I want to take it or I want to leave it sort of thing. And that's how Christianity oftentimes is presented. It's a good option.
Make you a little happier. Now, you need a white knuckle hold on to Jesus Christ. Nothing in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I cling. The hymn writer also says foul, foul, foul to the fountain fly.
Wash me, Savior, or I die. May that indeed be the confession of every man, woman, boy and girl in this place. May we take John's word and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you would have life in his name. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the crucifixion. And while many would question such a such a statement, God, we know it is through the death of Christ, through his resurrection, that we have life everlasting. We know that this was your predetermined plan to save your people from their sins and how we thank you that Jesus was a willing, willing surety of a better covenant.
How we thank you for our Lord and how we thank you for his his desire to do the will of his father to the very end. And our God, I pray that there wouldn't be any of us that are resisting. There wouldn't be any of us in this room that are stiff-arming the Lord of glory, but we would believe on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We come to you, Father, as you are all-powerful, you are sovereign, you are omnipotent.
We know ultimately that faith is a gift. We pray that you'd open the hearts of men, women, and boys and girls and cause them to believe on the Lord Jesus. And we ask in his most blessed name, amen.