May turn in your Bibles to John chapter 19. John chapter 19. Last week we looked at Matthew chapter 9 in our continuing series on the Gospel of Matthew. We noted where the disciples of John the Baptist asked the Lord Jesus, why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples, they don't fast.
The disciples of John had witnessed this feast given by Matthew in his own house for Jesus, who had just saved him from his sins. So the disciples of John say, how come they're feasting rather than fasting? And the Lord Jesus gave this response. In Matthew 9, 15, he said, can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. I thought it would be good for us this morning to look at that statement, the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. The crucifixion of the bridegroom and then, God willing, next Sunday morning, the resurrection of the bridegroom. But I do want to begin reading in chapter 19, beginning at verse 16.
I know we're sort of jumping right into it, but I do want to just focus on the crucifixion. We'll have cause to refer to what has preceded in the course of the message. So beginning in chapter 19 at verse 16, then he, this is Pilate, delivered him, this is Jesus, to them, this is the Roman soldiers, 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 the 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. 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.
And 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 his hip, 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. Let us pray. Thank you, Father, for your word, and thank you for the Savior.
Thank you for the Lord Jesus. what he went through on our behalf. And God, I pray that we'd understand this is simply not an example for us to follow, an example of love or an example of kindness, but it was substitution. It was sacrifice. It was Christ standing in the place of his people to bear the wrath of God Almighty.
May we appreciate this reality. May it cause us to worship. May it cause us to marvel. And may it cause us to rejoice in your loving kindness and in your goodness.
God may it cause sinners to believe, to see what a gracious, what a glorious, what a powerful Savior that we have. And we ask in Jesus' name, Amen.
Introduction
Well, this morning we're only going to focus on verses 16 to 24. I did want to read to the end of the account where Jesus says, it is finished. And by that statement, He means the redemption of God's people. He means the task that had been given to Him.
It's not a cry of misery, but rather it is a triumphant victory cry. It is a shout that He has accomplished all that the Father gave Him All that was prophesied concerning Him, the Lord Jesus carried out to the uttermost, all that was stipulated of Him in the covenant God made with His Son. But as I said, we want to focus on verses 16 to 24 under four considerations. First, we'll notice the setting.
Secondly, the crucifixion. Thirdly, the charge. And fourthly, the division of the spoil. The division of the spoil, something we ought to notice in this particular passage.
J.C. Ryle, just by way of introduction, commented about this particular text. He says, he that can read a passage like this without a deep sense of his 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 or substitutionary suffering was needed in order to provide redemption. This is a wonderful account, it is a wonderful description, not so as to satisfy some sick obsession with death, but it's rather the theological significance that the Bible attaches to the death of Christ. As I've already mentioned, He stood in our place, He bore the wrath of God, You see, the Lord God Most High is holy, and He must punish sin. He either punishes the person of His Son, or He punishes the sinner.
The only way of escape for us is by looking to Christ in faith, believing the Gospel, and knowing what it is to be justified freely by His grace alone. So what Christ does here is not simply an example. It's not simply a story for one time out of the year when we get this sentimental feeling or we get some emotions risen up in us. What we find in this passage is the satisfaction of the justice and the righteousness of God in the punishment of His Son who bore our iniquity on the tree and who bore the wrath and fury of His Father for us.
It is truly an amazing passage that I hope we along with Ryle will say we must have a very cold heart or a very thoughtless heart if we don't see our great debt to such a great Savior in this passage.
The Setting: Delivered, Led, Crucified
Let's look at the setting, verses 16 to 18b.
Delivered Up by Sovereign Design
Notice, first, he was delivered up. Verse 16 makes that point conspicuous. Then, he, it's talking about Pilate, who heard this particular account. Remember, the Jews did not possess lawful authority to engage in capital punishment.
They had to seek out the Roman magistrate. They had to seek out this political leader. And as a result, now he is delivering up Jesus in order to be crucified. But the careful reader will remember verse 11.
I know we didn't read it here, but there is a statement in verse 11 about really who is in control of this particular event. Notice in verse 11, Jesus answers to Pilate, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given you from above." You see, Jesus never lost sight of the fact that the Father was in control of this whole proceeding. Jesus was never confused. Jesus was never caught off guard.
Jesus was not in a state of chaos. Jesus willingly resolved to do all that the Father had sent him to do. And in this statement concerning Pilate delivering him up to the Roman soldiers in order to be crucified, hopefully we appreciate the sovereignty of God behind the scenes. It was prophesied in Isaiah 53 verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord.
Speaking of God the Father, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. Acts chapter 2 and verse 23, the Apostle Peter, he's preaching on the day of Pentecost and he says, him, talking about Christ, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified and put to death. We find in verse 16 a record of the human instrument, the fact that Pilate delivered Jesus over to be crucified.
But brethren, we need to understand that behind that human instrument lies a sovereign God who is orchestrating all things for His own glory and for the good of His people. It was prophesied that Christ would be delivered up. It is interpreted that way by the Apostle Peter. The fact is this doctrine of God's delivering up the Son ought to afford great comfort and great encouragement to the believer.
Paul uses this statement in Romans 8. He says that He, God, who did not spare His own Son, Jesus, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? We don't read this passage as humanists. We don't read this passage with a sick fascination into all things execution.
We read this passage theologically, meditatively, contemplatively, and in a manner that is consistent with the saint of Christ, rejoicingly. The Father has brought to pass all that was planned in terms of the redemption of his people. Christ is delivered up according to his determined purpose and foreknowledge.
Led Away to Execution
Notice, secondly, in terms of the setting, he's led away. Jesus is led away from Pilate's Praetoria. They, there again, are the Roman soldiers. They took him and led him away.
It's probably at this point where Jesus experienced a second scourging. Luke and John record the first scourging, the first whipping. In Luke and John, they record the first whipping, which sort of served as this. It was an attempt to appease the Jews.
We'll whip him. and then we'll let him go just to satisfy your longings for his punishment." That was the first scourging that Jesus experienced that wasn't as severe. It wasn't as damaging to the body. It wasn't as brutal as this second scourging. You see, when the statement was made or when the decree had been given that crucifixion was to take place, that's when the second scourging took place.
And the second scourging was much more brutal. It was much more vicious. It was much more violent and much more excruciating in terms of pain to the one who experienced it. So this is probably at that particular time.
Bearing His Cross in Obedience
Then notice thirdly with reference to the setting that Jesus bore his cross. This accords with the Greek historian Plutarch, he records that there would be the gibbet, that's the straight pole, the vertical pole, would already be up at the place of execution. The victim, or the criminal, or the one that was suffering crucifixion would be charged with carrying his own cross. Each criminal, as part of his punishment, carries his cross on his back.
That was a Roman historian. Remember that Romans themselves didn't go through crucifixion. Crucifixion was such a barbaric form of execution that the emperor said it's not to be dealt upon a Roman citizen, unless he's especially vicious and especially notorious. Not everybody was executed by crucifixion either.
It was the most notorious criminals. It was the worst menace to society. It was the worst sort of person that had the infliction of crucifixion upon them. Just to give you a little background, the cross 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 or 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 again, it's methodical.
These soldiers know what they're doing. They're inflicting great deals of pain upon this man. They are going to execute him for his crimes, for his insurrection, for his violent revolt against the magistrate. We know that never occurred.
He was an innocent man. But in this account, remember that each of the gospel writers write not only factually, of course, not write only historically, but they write theologically. We've seen that in Matthew. We see the order of narrative.
We see differing details, not substance, but details. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record for us that Simon the Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross. John doesn't mention that. I think there's a purpose for that, why John doesn't mention that.
He wants us to focus on the obedience of the Son. He wants us to focus upon the one who throughout John's gospel has said, I have come not to do my will, but the will of Him who sent me. What we are to view to the very end of Jesus' life is obedience to what was stipulated concerning Him. In fact, D.A.
Carson highlights this element. 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. There's a theological reason.
You're supposed to appreciate this. You're supposed to understand. And our Lord Jesus is going to the uttermost in obedience to his Father for the well-being of his children. Blessing.
Glorious. It's wonderful. And then notice the place. To a place called the Place of the Skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha.
It's a transliteration of the Hebrew word for skull. The more familiar term is a Latin rendition for skull, which is calvary. is what we typically refer to as Calvary's cross. We use it as theological shorthand. We say, go to Calvary.
Well, what we mean by that is go to the Savior. Go to the Lord of glory. Go to the one who died on that cross and who rose again. Believe on him that alone can save you from your sins.
That's what that means when the church says, go to Calvary, or we sing of Calvary. And then notice the two others are with him. Both were hurling insults at Christ, according to the Gospels to Matthew and Luke. One of them was saved, ultimately. thief that passed from that place into paradise is recorded for us in Luke 23.
But I think John's purpose here to record the fact that he was numbered among the transgressors according to the prophet Isaiah. God is sovereign, this has been prophesied, and the obedient son is carrying it out completely in accord with the details that were written of him from long ago. And Jesus' position in the center indicates his prominence. He was the worst of the three in the public's opinion.
You know who should have been there? Who should have been in the middle? I know theologically we should have. I understand that.
Barabbas. Barabbas and these two men were going to be executed for their crimes. Barabbas was the ringleader. Barabbas was the notorious one.
These were his henchmen. These were his sidekicks. These were his buddies. These were his thugs that helped him carry out his task.
But remember this sinful, wretched, wicked mob said, give us Barabbas. We'd rather have this insurrectionist. We'd rather have this murderer. We'd rather have this robber.
We'd rather have this notorious sinner. We want him to go free. If you ever question man's depravity, just read your Bible. If you ever question the sinfulness, the horror of human sinfulness, just read the account of the suffering of our Lord.
Give us Barabbas. And then Pilate says, what should I do with this man? Away with him, away with him, crucify him. So he's in the center as the most notorious one, being crucified.
That's the setting, that's the background, that's the backdrop.
The Crucifixion: What It Means
Notice the crucifixion. Verse 18, where they crucified him. That's it! In a moment, I'm going to read what crucifixion is all about.
And what I read is extra-biblical. It's outside the biblical narrative. Notice what is not on display here. This theology of suffering, this idea of mysticism, this idea of the stations of the cross that we sort of have some sick fascination with.
Herman Ritterbaugh says the New Testament has no trace of any passion mysticism oriented to the physical torture of Jesus. It's certainly in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The torture, the suffering, the death, all of those things are recorded for us, but it's not a horror movie. Hollywood didn't write this.
It's not guys with hockey masks and chainsaws and bats and swords and all that sort of thing that fascinates the minds of men or that promotes in the minds of men some sort of a passion mysticism. That's not the point of the passage. The point is not to obsess about the details of the act of crucifixion. The point of the passage is to obsess on the one being crucified.
Lord Jesus. Now what is crucifixion? Again, D.A. Carson explains it very well.
In the ancient world, this most terrible of punishments is always associated with shame and horror. You know, the states in the U.S. that still practice capital punishment have tried to really make it humane. Kind of an interesting concept. Let's make killing people more humane.
We can't hang them anymore. We can't shoot them anymore. We can't put them in an electric chair anymore, so we'll give them a lethal injection. But you know, when they receive that lethal injection, they thrash about, suggesting that they're in some pain.
So we've got to change it up. Well, we can't let there be pain with this execution. You see, in this situation, the suggestion of crucifixion meant only one thing. shame and horror. It meant great suffering.
It meant great pain. It meant that whoever was going to be crucified was a great criminal. He says, 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. You see, that's how death occurred. It was asphyxiation. It was when you no longer could get oxygen into your body.
So in order to prolong the suffering, do you know what they would do? They'd put a little block of wood at the feet of the victim. It wasn't to help him. It was to hurt him.
He would get the strength enough to push off that little, it's called a sedecula, push off that little thing and be able to grasp some air and get some oxygen into his lungs. Carson says, terrible muscle spasm racked the entire body, but since collapse meant asphyxiation, the strain went on and on. This is also why the sedacula, that's that little piece of wood, prolonged life and agony. It partially supported the body's weight and therefore encouraged the victim to fight on.
You see, it is in our nature. It is in our propensity to want to gather oxygen for our body. So we will fight onward to try and grasp that oxygen. That piece of wood was put there to prolong the suffering, to prolong the pain, to prolong the agony, the shame, and the horror that the victim went through.
Again, we're not going to put stations at the cross and wave incense and have some passion mysticism, but brothers and sisters, we ought to understand what our Savior went through to save us from our sins. You know, we preach free grace. We preach salvation apart from works. We preach believe and you will be saved.
It costs us nothing. But it costs someone everything, namely our Lord Jesus. He obeyed the father perfectly. While the foxes had their holes and the birds had their nests, the son of man had nowhere to lay his head.
He was a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. He was despised. He was rejected.
He was spat on. They put a crown of thorns in his head. They beat him with reeds. They mocked him.
They made fun of him. They slapped him around. They treated him like he was a criminal. No passion mysticism, but the people of God better understand what it is their Savior went to on their behalf.
That's the crucifixion.
The Charge: King of the Jews
Notice the charge that is leveled. Verses 19 to 22, the King of the Jews. 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. 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." Why do you think it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin?
Hebrew was the language of Judea. Greek, I think, was the language of commerce, and Latin was the language of the military. The Greek and the Latin might be switched, but you get the point. Why would they do this?
I had a lawn once, and we had gophers. I was never able to catch a gopher though, but I think if I had, I would have hung him up as an example to all the other gophers on how not to treat my backyard. That's what they did with the Savior. They hung him up and said, don't do what this man did.
It was publicized. This wasn't in a corner. This wasn't done under the cover of darkness. This was done so everybody could see, and everybody would understand, and everybody could fear the Roman Emperor.
It goes along with what Paul says in his commentary on this in Romans 3, whom God set forth as a propitiation. You see, at Calvary, God is demonstrating his righteousness. God is demonstrating what he thinks is sin. And God is showing his great love for his people.
Humanly, they're mocking. Humanly, this is inscribed. Humanly, they are ascribing to him kingship. The reason for such linguistic enthusiasm, Mrs.
Carson, 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." Notice the chief priest's objection in verse 21. 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. Their hatred of him the rejection of him, the fact that they despised him as such, that they're now going to chide a man who's over them and say, don't write that, write that he claimed that.
Now Pilate, who's been their puppet all along, makes a stand. No, what I've written is going to stay. But it is interesting that the two human instruments most used in this crucifixion Unbeknownst to them, we're actually proclaiming great truth. He really is the king of the Jews.
He really is the king of Israel. He really is the Messiah of old. He is the one that was prophesied. So this man, wanting to win a little battle against the chief priest, says, what I've written, I've written.
It's going to stay. He's doing it in a petty contest for superiority. But we, the reader, we, the spirit-filled, we, the ones who've been redeemed by the champion, understand all too well. He is the king.
He is glorious. He is wondrous. He is the one to whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. There is a day coming when he will not live like a fox or he will not be less than the foxes and the birds.
There is a day coming when he won't be born in a manger. There is a day coming when he won't be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The book of Revelation records that for us. In chapter 19 we see him waging war, making war with the sword that proceeds from his mouth.
He will come in glory. He will come in majesty. He will come as the king of kings. And if you have not bowed to him before then, trust me, you will.
Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. My invitation to you, my encouragement to you, my plea to you is to believe confess his kingship now, surrender to his lordship now, bow before him now, take his salvation now, because if he comes as king of kings and you are outside, and you have rejected, and you have despised, bow you will before he sends you into everlasting hell. I said there were two men most responsible for the death of Christ, that whether they knew it or not, We're prophesying truth concerning Christ. Pilate's one of them.
The chief priest is another.
Unwitting Prophets of Christ's Death
The chief priests here are complaining, do not write this. But if you go back for just a moment in John chapter 11, you see something that the chief priest uttered. He spoke much better than he knew. He spoke much better than he understood.
In John 11, 49, in 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. So you see, the two human instruments most responsible in the crucifixion, in derision and in their complaining and in their grumbling and in their pettiness, nevertheless made profound statements concerning our Lord Jesus. George Beasley Murray sums it up this way, 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. That's the charge. And then finally,
The Division of the Spoil
Notice the division of the spoil in verses 23 and 24. This was common among the Roman soldiers to take whatever they could. No doubt they got a monthly salary, but if it's like Canadian or American soldiers, that monthly salary doesn't buy a lot of bread. So any little bits and pieces they could make along the way, they'd scoop right up.
That's what's recorded here. Some have seen in this tunic, this seamless tunic, a symbolic meaning, symbolic of the priestly office of Jesus Christ going to the cross or symbolic of the unity of the church. No, I think John again wants us to understand that what is happening has been written up. What is happening is consistent with the prophetic word.
What is happening has its tap roots in the plan of God most high. Verse 23, 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.
Now, if you don't remember the beginning of worship, I read that. Psalm 22, a psalm of the cross, prior to Roman crucifixion, prior to the ascent of the Roman Empire as the Empire, the Psalter already prophesied, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It already prophesied that these men would be like bulls of Bashan surrounding him. They would strip him of his garments.
They would cast lots for his garments. You see, what is going on in John's account is the fulfillment of the written word. plan of God, the reality that the Christ is here, that his people are going to be saved, that redemption is occurring, that the blood will cleanse them, that justification takes place, and that everything told by God has come to pass in the person and in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Tunic and Christ's Self-Humbling
Now if just pursuing this theme for just a moment, this symbolic meaning of the tunic, I don't think we need to have one. But I think if we did, D.A. Carson shines some light here. He looks back at the foot washing in John 13.
What does Jesus do before he washes his feet? He disrobes. He girds his waist with a towel, but he takes off that outer garment. And what does Jesus then do?
He washes his feet. Now, that in and of itself is pretty amazing. Not everybody's a foot person. Sometimes we don't want to touch feet.
But that's not really what's significant about this. Here's the spotless, sinless Savior bowing down and washing the feet of sinful, guilty men. He is humbling himself. This is what Carson suggests in terms of this idea of a symbolic meaning of the tunic.
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, and this is him. 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, 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." It's the fulfillment of scripture.
Then one other detail we ought to look at before we leave.
The Nakedness of the Savior
He's naked, isn't he? I don't like that I've seen pictures of Jesus. I really don't. I don't like that when I see that depiction of an ancient Near Eastern man on a cross, I think Jesus.
That's not Jesus. But when the artists depict him, They usually do so with a garment around his waist. That's not what happened here. Remember, the concepts of shame and horror come to the forefront in this idea of crucifixion.
The Savior was stripped naked. He's bloody. He's agonizing. He is, humanly speaking, in a bad, bad state.
This is why, by way of corollary, when that thief on the cross says, Lord, remember me when you come in your kingdom, that's great faith. The apostles saw Jesus cast demons out of men. The apostles saw Jesus still the sea and the wind. The apostles saw Jesus heal people.
The apostles saw Jesus raise men from the dead. The apostles saw Jesus do amazing things. This thief on the cross saw a bloodied, battered man, and he calls him Lord, and he acknowledges that he has a kingdom, and he casts himself upon his mercy. That's faith.
That's great faith. Jesus Christ is naked on the cross. Here I'll quote that patron saint of the Reformed Baptists, C.H. Spurgeon.
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 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, had no cloak with which to cover his shame." That's what the Savior went through for sinners. You see why Ryle, the Bishop of Liverpool, would say he's got a hard heart, or a thoughtless heart, who has not moved to gratitude when he hears this account. Believer.
Love the Savior. Worship the Savior. Adore the Savior. Thank the Savior.
Rejoice in the Savior. Don't promote your holiness. Promote His blood. Don't promote your goodness.
Promote His sacrifice. Don't promote your ability. Promote His gospel.
Application: Sovereignty, Sin, and Glory
John is rigorous in his account to show us how all things associated with Jesus Christ are a fulfillment of Scripture. He wants the believers to rejoice, he wants the believers to reflect, he wants the believers to delight, and he wants unbelievers to look and live. So that's John's conspicuous point throughout his gospel. We see in this passage the sovereignty of God.
God is at work, God is in control, God delivers him up, God the Father is doing all of this in order to save his people from their sins. Yes, Caiaphas is involved. Yes, Pilate is involved. Yes, Herod is involved.
Yes, the lawless hands of the Romans and the Jews are guilty and responsible and culpable for their act. But as Peter the Apostle says, it is according to the predetermined plan of God Most High. This wasn't a plan B. This wasn't a, hey, I'll try this.
This was what was prophesied in the garden. That Jesus would crush the head of the serpent. His heel would be bruised in the crucifixion, but he would win a decisive victory over the serpent himself. Genesis 3.15 is programmatic.
John 19 is telling us that this has been fulfilled. We see in this passage as well the horror of human sinfulness. Not just in the act of these men taking an innocent man and treating him this way. I mean, that right there is enough to hang our hats on for an eternity.
It's an amazing reality. He did nothing wrong. Have you ever been accused of something and you really were innocent? I mean, most times if people accuse us, they're probably right on something.
Not with Him! Perfect! Pure! As Paul will describe in Hebrews 7, He's wholly harmless and undefiled.
He never broke the law. He never did anything wrong. He never got a speeding ticket. He never ran a red light.
He never got angry with his parents. He never sinned. See the horror of human sinfulness in that they took this guiltless man and hung him on a cross! But even more, see the horror of human sinfulness and the reason why He went to the cross.
It's for sinners. It's for us. Do you see how bad we are in this passage? I hope so.
You have to see in this passage how bad you really are. If it took the death of the Son of God Most High to redeem you, you're bad. You see, we don't preach grace as help. We don't preach grace as assistance.
We preach grace as an overwhelming and abundant influence upon sinful, wretched, vile people that desperately stand in need of grace. The hymn writer put it this way, ye who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great. You don't think it's that big of a deal that people engage in homosexuality. You don't think it's that big of a deal that people murder.
You don't think it's that big of a deal that people take crack cocaine. Or you don't think it's that big of a deal that people cheat on their taxes. Or you don't think it's that big of a deal that people are self-righteous religionists. that think they're spotless and good and holy and pure because of what they do or where they go. You don't think it's bad?
Ye who think of sin but lightly, nor suppose the evil great, here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate. Mark the sacrifice appointed. See who bears the awful load. Tis the word, the Lord's anointed, the Son of Man and Son of God.
This is why Paul says, if righteousness comes through the law, through what you do or how you do it or when you do it, then Christ died in vain. What's the implication? Christ did not die in vain. Righteousness does not come through the law because you are sinful.
You need Jesus' blood and righteousness, you need pardon from your sin, and you need to be given that righteous robe to stand before the Lord God Almighty. See our sin in this passage. See the glory of Christ as well. Calvin said, 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.
And remember in our reading of Romans chapter five, I mentioned two men, Adam and Jesus. The Bible refers to him as the first Adam and the last Adam. Listen to what A.W. Pink has to say.
The sinful first Adam was clothed by God. The sinless last Adam was unclothed by wicked men. And that in order to save his people from their sins. Saints, believers, Christians marveled Rejoice and be thankful.
Unbelievers look and live. I said that's John's conspicuous point in his word. In 1935 he says, and he was seen as testified in his testimony. It's true and he knows he is telling the truth.
So I can win the argument? No, so that you may believe is what John says. John wants you. If you've come here this morning and you don't know Jesus, he wants you to believe in Jesus.
That's John's purpose. That's John's point. That's John's goal. He's not writing a theological treatise just so he can have a Christian bestseller.
He's writing so that you'll believe, so that you'll look, so that you'll live, so that you'll know the forgiveness of sins. In fact, he ends his whole account by saying this, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. Marvel. look, gaze, all of that sort of thing. Most importantly, if you are not in Christ this morning, believe the gospel, believe the truth, believe concerning Jesus, and you will be saved.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you for this account, and what an amazing, and what a glorious, and what a wondrous Savior we have. God, our words falter, our words are so limited. We want to express to you thanksgiving and joy and praise. We ask, God, that as we sing and as we gather for worship and as we testify and as we talk concerning Christ, we would do so as a people that are genuinely affected with thankfulness to the Lord our God.
We give you praise, we give you glory, we give you thanksgiving for your mercies and for your kindness. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.