April 13, 2025
Morning Service

For the disciples the last 24 hours have been a whirlwind.  After telling them what was about to happen they watched as Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried by the Jewish leaders, handed over to the Romans, tried again, found innocent, scourged, and mocked.  God’s plan is being executed perfectly.  Pilate tries one more time to play upon the sympathy of the people as he brings out Jesus; bloody, beaten down, and humiliated hoping this was enough to satisfy the crowd.

Joh 19:14-16 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!"  (15)  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!"  (16)  Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.

            The Jews themselves commit the same sinful act that they are accusing Jesus of, blasphemy.  They claim Caesar as their only king, playing the political card to Pilate to get what they want, Jesus to be crucified.  Crucifixion was a Roman form of public execution.  The condemned would be forced to carry their cross along the main road to the execution site as a warning to the people of the price of challenging Rome’s power.  It was a slow and painful death as the condemned would eventually suffocate trying to hold up the weight of their body.  Why did God choose this as the way His Son would die for our sins?  He wanted to leave no doubt of the amount of love He has for us by the giving of His Son to suffer to this extreme level to display how much He loves us.  The Perfect Sacrificial Lamb of God given to die in this fashion to pay the debt owed for the sins of mankind; for my sins.  This is God’s plan. 

 

Isa 53:10-11 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.  (11)  He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His Knowledge My Righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities.

 

Joh 19:17-18 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, (18) where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

            John does not share the story of Simon from Cyrene as do the other gospels who helped Jesus carry His cross as Steve’s song so clearly shows us.  Nor does he share the story of the two others crucified with Him as Luke does.  Words fall short of describing the agony of the journey and of the crucifixion.  Images of the movie “The Passion of Christ” have to come the closest we can come to understanding what Jesus endured completing His mission, paying for our sins.

 

Joh 19:19-24Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the

writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  (20)  Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.  (21)  Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews." ' "  (22)  Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."  (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.  (24)  They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "THEY DIVIDED MY GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS." Therefore, the soldiers did these things.

            This was prophesied in Psalms 22:18 and is fulfilled here.  It was also in this time upon the cross in agony, Jesus is present in the moment and sees these soldiers and intercedes for these men who are killing, mocking, and stealing from Him.  Luke 23 tells us that Jesus calls to His Father to “forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”  What a perfect picture of the One we call Lord, to pray for the men who are nailing Him to His cross knowing that they are only playing a part in God’s grand plan.  He sees others around Him as well.

 

Joh 19:25-27 now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.  (26)  When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"  (27)  Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

            Mary had other sons, but Jesus as the oldest would be entrusted with her care and He commands John to care for her.  Tradition tells us he did just that and she lived with him in Ephesus where they are both buried.  Jesus again being fully present in the moment gives us the example to keep our eyes on others even when we are struggling on our own.

Luke tells us that about noon “darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.  The light from the sun was gone.” (23:44) Mark tells of Jesus crying out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (15:34) fulfilling the prophecy in Psalms 22:1. Jesus was not so much quoting this prophecy as much as living them.  Who can imagine the depths of horror He faced as God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2Cor. 5:21) Jesus was alone upon the cross, abandoned by friends and now separated for the first and only time from His Father as He became sin for us.

 

Joh 19:28-30 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"  (29)  Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.  (30)  So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

            The giving of the wine fulfills another prophecy (Psalms 69:21).  Jesus knowing that was the final piece to be fulfilled cries out that His mission complete; “It is finished!”  Notice here that He is still in total control here as “He gave up His spirit.”  The Romans did not kill Him.  The Jews did not kill Him.  He gave His life freely for us yielding completely to the will of God and His plan of salvation. 

 

Joh 19:31-37 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.  (32)  Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.  (33)  But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.  (34)  But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.  (35)  And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.  (36)  For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "NOT ONE OF HIS BONES SHALL BE BROKEN."  (37)  And again another Scripture says, "THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED."

            The Roman soldiers had seen this many times, but Mark records they knew something was different this time as even they proclaimed; “Truly this was the Son of God!” (15:39) Prophecy again was fulfilled in that not one of His bones were broken (Psalms 34:20) and that He was pierced (Zech. 12:10).  Not one prophecy went unfulfilled proving even more what the Roman soldiers proclaimed to be true; “This truly is the Son of God!”

 

Joh 19:38-42

            The Sabbath began around six o’clock on Friday evening and it was very important that Jesus be taken down and buried before that time arrived.  Notice who accompanied Joseph to bury Jesus; Nicodemus.  The Son of God, the Creator of the world, and our Savior was laid to rest on this “Good Friday,” but only for a short time because Sunday is coming.

            We must understand that sin separates us from God and only through the shedding of blood (Heb. 9:22) is forgiveness and cleansing offered.  Up to this point it had been a very complicated system of animal sacrifices which did not really atone for sins, but simply rolled them forward in time to this moment.  Jesus became the ultimate, one-time, sacrifice for all sins.  The word “finished” can be translated to “paid in full.”  It is Jesus’ redeeming work of shedding His blood upon the cross that allows us to enter into the presence of God for He has removed the stain of sin we all carry replacing it with His robe of righteousness.  His work is finished and it is now in our hands whether to accept this free gift or reject it.

 

 Joh 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."