Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 3 Lesson 4
We have reached the moment of Jesus’ crucifixion in our ABC Sunday school, arguably the most important moment in redemptive history. What exactly does crucifixion involve? What theologically was happening in the crucifixion? And how did Jesus’ crucifixion fulfill many prophecies? We’ll look at these questions and more.
Our main text will be John 19:17-37, though we will also consider the parallel accounts in Matthew 27:27-56, Mark 15:16-41, and Luke 23:26-49.
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okay well it’s 9:30 according to my clock so let’s begin welcome to Sunday school good to see you here from California we’ve come to a climactic moment in our study a climactic moment in history it was really the what could be called the worst and best day in history the worst day because it was on this day that the creator himself would be killed by his creation but it was the best day because in this horrific death God was providing salvation for sinners we’re talking today about Jesus’s crucifixion there’s so much tied up in this event we really must pay close attention to it my hope is from the lesson today that you will as we look more closely at the crucifixion understand the dreadful price of your sin understand the staggering love and humility of your God and be moved to walk more worthy as you consider the gospel and today’s lesson we’re going to be using John’s account the crucifixion in John 19 but if you haven’t already I encourage you to read the parallel accounts and the other Gospels we will make reference to some of the things and those of the Gospels that you will be edified if you take a look at those accounts yourselves great before we continue our God my god what we’re studying is too horrible but also too wonderful for us to have ever come to ever thought of and it’s it’s even now hard to comprehend such a terrible and wonderful reality God I pray that the people would appreciate it today that they would understand it that you’d give me the ability to explain it and then we would fall even more in love with you because of what you have done for us in Jesus name Amen he’s open your Bibles to John chapter 19 we’re gonna pick up the account and verses 17 to 42 recall what Jesus has endured up to this point the moment of his crucifixion he’s first betrayed by one of his closest disciples Judas Iscariot hand it over to a mob the rest of the disciples abandon him one disciple perhaps multiple one disciple denies him outright three times Jesus endorsed three Jewish trials all mockeries of justice he endures three Gentile trials and though he’s pronounced innocent each time he’s nonetheless handed over to be flogged and crucified Jesus has been taunted and ridiculed he’s been spit upon he’s been slapped in the face he’s been given a purple robe and a crown of thorns he’s been beaten on the head with her reed and he’s been presented with mocking worship but now the greatest horror he’s been handed over for crucifixion and this is where we pick up the narrative in verse 17 John 19 verses 17 and we’ll read down to 42 they took Jesus therefore and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of a skull which isn’t called it which is called in Hebrew Golgotha there they crucified him and with him two other men one on either side and Jesus in between Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross it was written Jesus the Nazarene the King of the Jews therefore many of the Jews read this inscription but a place where Jesus was crucified was near the city it was written in Hebrew Latin and in Greek so the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate do not write the king of the Jews but that 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 outer garments and made four parts apart to every soldier and also the tunic and now tunic was seamless woven in one piece so they said to one another let’s not tear it but cast lots for it to decide whose it shall be this was to fulfill the scripture they divided my outer garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots therefore the soldiers did these things but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister Mary the wife and ma’am Mary Magdalene well Jesus then saw his mother and disciple whom he loved standing nearby he said to his mother woman behold your son and he said to the disciple behold your mother from that hour the disciple took her into his own household after this Jesus knowing that all things had already been accomplished to fulfill the scripture said I am thirsty a jar full of sour wine was standing there so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to his mouth there from when Jesus had received the sour wine he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit and the Jews because it was the day of preparation so the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath for that Sabbath was a high day asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away so the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with him but coming to Jesus when they saw that he was already dead they did not break his legs but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out and he u.s. seen has testified and his testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you also may believe where these things came to pass to fulfill the scripture not a bone of him shall be broken and again another scripture says they shall look on him whom they pierced okay we’re going to walk through our method of observation interpretation application but before we even do that we need to know some things about crucifixion itself what is crucifixion what exactly does it consist of first of all we should know that crucifixion was not a Roman invention actually it’s first attested historically from the Persians they may have been inspired by the Assyrians who like to impale people but the Persians first package crucifixion and then when any other whenever another nation would learn about crucifixion or see crucifixion they basically said what a great idea this will strike fear into people’s hearts and they adopted the practice for their own the Greeks practice pursue crucifixion the enemy of Rome Carthage practice crucifixion and eventually Rome also adopted the practice now what a crucifixion entail well crucifixion originally took place on a pole or a stake but by Roman times it was taking place on a on a cross and the cross could have been shaped like a capital T or a lowercase T he had one vertical beam of wood need one horizontal beam of wood and they would be laid on top of each other the crucifixion victim was usually flogged beforehand and then made to carry the crossbar so the horizontal piece of wood through the local city on himself to the place of his crucifixion he also carried on him a placard around his neck with his crime written for all to see once the victim of crucifixion arrived at the crucifixion site is feet were bent and pierced through with a single nail his wrists then weren’t nailed or actually this would happen beforehand but his wrists were also nailed to the horizontal crossbar I noticed it’s not the palms that received the nails it’s actually the wrists apparently hands the middle of the hands cannot support the weight of the body on nails so to keep this person attached to the cross the nails were driven in between the arm bones near the wrist so the man would actually hang where the victim would hang by his wrists now the wrist was considered part of the hand in ancient cultures so that’s why the Bible says that Jesus hands were pierced once placed upon the cross the victim hung there naked and elevated for all to see now this is something we should note and our pictures of crucifixion of Jesus’s crucifixion there’s usually some sort of covering on Jesus this is likely not the case of what actually happened no one tried to preserve the dignity of a crucified man those who were crucified were totally exposed so the man is put on the cross and also posted on the cross as the man’s crime anybody who passed by would know exactly why that person was suffering crucifixion this was meant as a deterrent to others are you considering doing this man same crime then you’re gonna end up the same way now crucifixion was not so much about death as it was about painful humiliating prolonged death it was quite common for crucifixion to last several days the man would just continue to hang there now how does someone actually die who is crucified there are two main ways do you know all right suffocation we’ll talk about that in just a second and the other is and we don’t hear about this too too much it was less common but she died from shock the person who is some sometimes the person who is crucified either due to the flogging or due to just the ordeal itself would lose a lot of blood and if you lose a lot of blood quickly your body goes into shock and your organs often will shut down and you will die so sometimes the victim of crucifixion might die from shock and that would kind of come a little bit earlier but more commonly the person who was crucified died from suffocation now perhaps you’re already familiar with this but just in case you see that when you’re hanging this way on the cross by your wrists it’s actually very hard to breathe your chest is dropped in such a way that you can’t breathe unless you pull yourself up but as the person who is hanging on the air as as a person hangs on the cross longer and longer and becomes more and more nutrient deprived and has to keep pushing him melting himself up like this he becomes exhausted therein after all he can’t even sleep and he’s not eating he’s not drinking so as day turns in today turns in today the man eventually become so weak that he’s not able to push himself up anymore and so he just slumps down and dies from lack of air basically dying without a sound totally defeated now the prolonged hanging was intensely torturous when Bible Dictionary describes the experience in this way thirst was intense and the weight of the body produced in Ex herbal pain that is pain it cannot be gotten rid of victims were tormented by high fever and convulsions which wrapped their entire body occasionally the executioner’s prompted death by break by breaking the victims bones why would breaking the bones bring death swiftly exactly if you have to put yourself up to breathe you won’t be able to do that if your bones are broken and so death will come quickly you will asphyxiate so to sum up and crucifixion you are impaled on three nails hammered into your feet and wrists you are weakened and wounded from your previous flogging you are naked and exposed you can only breathe with difficult effort you are hungry and thirsty you are exhausted but you cannot sleep your head is pounding your body is convulsing your people staring at you laughing at you shuddering at you and this was all to go on for days crucifixion was considered so horrible and so humiliated that Roman citizens were not allowed to be crucified if they committed a crime there were a few exceptions if you committed treason you might still be crucified as a Roman citizen but otherwise this was not something that the Romans would allow themselves even their criminal to be subjected to crucifixion was usually reserved for the heinous crimes of slaves and foreigners and yet all right no I’ll say this in other words crucifixion was the worst possible death that men could devise up until the Roman era and this is what the Son of God creator Messiah King subjected himself to this is what he experienced many of the details of crucifixion that I’ve just described we see specifically in the text let’s now consider observations notice the timing of Jesus’s crucifixion what day is it text mentions it’s the day of preparation before the Sabbath so it must be Friday which is why we say Good Friday right we celebrate Good Friday it’s Friday of the week the the sixth day it’s also the day of preparation before Passover if you just look back up to verse 14 same chapter it says now it was the day of preparation for the Passover remember there is when we talk about the timing of Jesus’s crucifixion there’s that they have these two calendars at work among the Jews some celebrated Passover Thursday evening and others would be celebrating it Friday evening so Friday during the day was considered the day before Passover and Passover would have been coincided with the Sabbath on Saturday starting at sundown starting in the evening on Friday now why is it significant that Jesus was dying or that Jesus would be crucified and died in the hours before Passover would begin at least for many of the Jews because what would happen in the hours before the evening of Passover began many Jews were preparing for the Passover which included the preparation of what the Passover lamb and the hours before the beginning of Passover the Passover lamb would be slaughtered and that’s not a random detail john is helping us to see that Jesus’s death takes place the same day and the same time as the killing of the Passover lambs for many of the Jews anyways so it’s Friday the day before Passover for many of the Jews what time is it well mark says in his gospel that Jesus was crucified the third hour of the day and that would be 9 a.m. but if you just look again at verse 14 and here in our account John says that it was about the sixth hour when Jesus is handed over for crucifixion so that would be 12 noon if we’re using the same time system this this is an inconsistency one says 9 once there’s 12 what’s going on well this is not a contradiction these are different perspectives there are different ways that people try to explain this I think the simplest answer is that what Mark is describing is when the process of crucifixion began when Jesus’s trials began remember it took some time Jesus was tried three times Pilate Eric back to Pilate you need some time to go back and forth I believe that process began at 9 o’clock mark considers at the beginning of Jesus’s crucifixion but the crucifixion proper when Jesus was actually put on the cross began at the sixth hour or 12 noon and Jesus would remain on the cross for three hours now there is an important detail that’s mentioned in the the other Gospels outside of John Matthew Mark and Luke all note that something strange happened the sixth hour of the day what happened darkness came over the entire land and it lasted for three hours from the sixth hour to the ninth hour now some people say oh maybe it was an eclipse well that’s not normal for in Eclipse Eclipse is don’t last that long but darkness came over the entire land for three hours and those were the same hours that Jesus was on the cross notice verse 17 in our accountant John this is that Jesus bore his own cross to the place of crucifixion that was normal for a crucified person to do though Matthew notes and another one of the Gospels that Jesus actually needed help to get the cross to where it was going the soldiers impressed or pressed a passerby named Simon of Cyrene they made him carry the cross at least part of the way this means that Jesus was apparently to physically weakened to carry the cross the whole distance by himself moreover when Jesus arrives to the crucifixion site not recorded here in John but it says that someone presented him with wine and gall to drink now gall is a very bitter substance but it had a sort of anesthetic capability it would deaden pain and cloud the mind but Jesus refuses the wine and gall and nurse the place that Jesus is crucified Golgotha it’s called this name is Hebrew and John points out it translates to the place of a skull kind of grotesque name right this apparently was a hill not far from Jerusalem the name may have something to do with the appearance or the shape of the hill it is Golgotha from which we get the name Calvary Calvary is the Latin translation of the word skull calvaria so whenever you hear maybe in a hymn it talks about the hill of Calvary it’s actually talking about Golgotha skull the place of a skull this is where Jesus is crucified notice that Jesus is crucified between two others one on his right one on his left Cruces actions for criminals that means Jesus has been crucified between two criminals Matthew tells us that they were not just any criminals but they were robbers notice the inscription that pilot puts on the cross in Hebrew Greek and Latin Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews if you ever see a painting or some other visual depiction of Jesus on the cross sometimes you might see four letters put on a sign on the cross eye and our eye that’s just shorthand for what this charge would have been in Latin INRI would be how you it right out yay Zeus Nestor Minos Rex you day oral or Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews so this inscription appears in the cross and notice the chief priests object to this inscription they suggest a change but Pilate refuses they’re just all so what happens to Jesus’s clothing it says that his outer garments are divided four ways one part to each soldier but they cast lots for the inner garment the tunic and this is significant that John points out if fulfills prophecy and notice especially John’s use of the word therefore and verse 25 he mentions the fulfilled prophecy then he says therefore John is explaining something why did the soldiers do what they did what was the reason yes God ordained it it was because it was prophesied now note the difference it’s not really that they happen to fulfill prophecy John is going so far as to say they did it because it was prophesied therefore they did these things there was something written Noah’s prophecy therefore they did these things it was ordained of God and God brought it to pass notice who Jesus sees from the cross he sees a group of women including his mother and his aunt and he also sees a disciple whom Jesus loved now we’re familiar with that phrase by now who’s that disciple that’s John the Apostle and what does Jesus direct John to do when he says behold your mother would essentially is he charging John to do that’s right to take care of his mother to take care of Mary which is why the text says from that hour onward this disciple took Jesus’s mother into his own home Jesus as Mary’s son as the first point he would have had an obligation to take care of her but he passed on the obligation to John notice what Jesus says when it when he knew that all had already been accomplished Jesus says I thirst and notice why it says he did this what’s the reason to fulfill the scriptures and that this statement the people give him a sponge full of sour wine on hyssop branch and once he drinks he says one other thing in our account it is finished just one word in Greek you perhaps have heard before – tell us die it has the idea it is finished this same word interestingly appeared on ancient bills during that day with a meaning paid in full notice how Jesus death is described it says he gave up his spirit this is a striking description what does it imply doesn’t say his spirit was taken from him or spirit left him it says he gave up his spirit what’s the difference indeed it does imply control it implies agency Jesus chooses to give up his spirit that’s authority that’s not normal for a person and yet this should remind the reader of John of something Jesus said earlier in the Gospel of John consider John chapter 10 verses 17 to 18 you can turn back there if you wish I’ll just read it to you John 10 verses 17 and 18 Jesus says to his disciples for this reason the Father loves me because I lay down my life so that I’m going to take it up again aras that I might take it again for no one has taken it away from me but I lay it down on my own initiative I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again this commandment I received from my father we see the same the sentiment echoed in the description he gave up his spirit notice what else is surprising about Jesus dying he died at the ninth hour why would that be surprising say that again it was quick that’s really early for someone to die in crucifixion that’s not normal in fact mark tells us that when Joseph of Arimathea goes to ask for Jesus’s body assist that Pilate wondered that he was already dead and he says history and to double check where he verified it with a Centurion that’s really early for someone to die was crucified that’s surprising but then there’s a third surprising aspect of Jesus death it’s not mentioned here specifically but it is implied in the translators use of an exclamation point and it is finished what else is surprising about Jesus is a moment of death it’s normal for those who are crucified if they’re going to die to die silently die with a whimper but how does Jesus die he dies in strength notice the descriptions of the of Jesus’s last moment in the other Gospels like I said there’s an implication here in John but it’s not stated specifically Matthew 2750 says and Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit when Mark 1537 says and Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last and Luke 23 46 says and Jesus crying out with a loud voice said father into your hands I commit my spirit having said this he breathed his last why would this be so surprising it’s as we’ve said those who died by crucifixion are totally weakened totally spent I don’t have an ability to cry out they just slumped down and run out of there but that’s not Jesus he dies and strength he dies with a shout and the people were frightened by this this is not normal and the Centurion even confesses not mention here in our gospel but he confesses in light of the way that Jesus died truly this was the son of God very very surprising very poignant way that Jesus dies now notice did the Jews request that the Romans break the legs of those who are being crucified they don’t want the men to be hanging on the Sabbath now why would this be a concern to them why does it matter somebody’s hanging on hanging by crucifixion on this Abbot ah that’s very true yes it does have something to do with the filing the lam according to the law of Moses if we go back to Judah Ronna me 21 22 we hear this from God Deuteronomy 21 verse 22 if a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death and you hang him on a tree his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree but you shall surely bury him on the same day for he was hanged as a curse of God so that you do not defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance so it would have been wrong for the man to even remain overnight but how much more on a Sabbath day and how much more on Passover itself so they asked these men’s legs to be broken two of the men’s legs are broken and they quickly died but Jesus’s legs were not broken and why is that the text says the soldiers notice that Jesus was already dead and we also see the reason is it was to fulfill prophecy but notice one soldier still Pierce’s Jesus’s side with a spear and it says that blood and water come out now what’s this all about what’s this about blood and water I’ve read different medical explanations as to what’s going on here from my research it seems the best way to describe well no let me say this this is what again the heart and lungs are surrounded by a watery fluid so if somebody is stabbed and blood and water come out this person who who is stabbed he could have been alive or he could have been dead but for blood and water to come out he had to be stabbed in a particular place and any stab in the lungs and into the heart that’s where we have this watery fluid in our bodies along with blood so if Jesus is stabbed in this way all right so for this descript to be true it would seem to indicate that Jesus was stabbed in a particular way into the lungs and heart if Jesus were still alive before this stabbing would you survive afterwards clearly not we cannot exist when our hearts are when our hearts have been breached in this way not to mention our lungs this if Jesus were not already dead he certainly would have been dead after this piercing I noticed there notice then that this is where John comes into the text with explicit affirmations that what he saw is true he says I saw it we know that my testimony is true and notice he says this is recorded so that you might believe this is written so that you might believe and then notice the word for in verse 36 another reason so that person might believe I’ll just John’s eyewitness testimony but because of the fulfilled prophecies right we’ve made our observations let’s now go to the second step interpretation talk about what’s not directly affirmed in the text not directly stated what was the purpose of pilots inscription on the cross Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews that’s not a random sign whatsit therefore that’s yes deep pilot was also threatened to say that you know Jesus claimed himself to be a king and if Pilate didn’t do anything about it then he’d actually be going against Caesar really his that’s his that’s his the charge of his crime really right right so this is Jesus’s crime quote-unquote and it’s listed on the cross for all to see here’s what happens to those who rebel against Rome as you were explaining Steve this is this is the seditious one this is the King of the Jews this is Jesus now the of course there’s a there’s some irony in that that Pilate actually pronounced him innocent even though he claimed himself to be the King of the Jews but when Jesus had to be crucified he decided this is this is the charge now notice the chief priests objected to this inscription I asked him to change it with Pilate would why wouldn’t islet change the inscription the text doesn’t say but it’s not hard to figure out why Polly was basically browbeat into killing Jesus he didn’t want it so it’s not like he has any any favor towards these chief priests they’re annoyed about this inscription so what they’re annoying to Pilate he’s not gonna change the inscription in fact as some people have pointed out he perhaps enjoyed the the way that this this made the Jews look they the the Jewish people were in annoyance to him this is what happens to your king it kind of like was a uninstalled exactly but it was a way to make the the Jews contemptible here’s your king Jews he’s being crucified and so he says what I really not ready I’m not gonna change it but there’s one other significant aspect to that Pilate was actually correct in his inscription this is the King of the Jews not just the King of the Jews he’s king of creation and he’s the future king of all the earth and yet he was crucified now why did the world go dark while Jesus was on the cross that of course was not random what was this darkness demonstrating certainly there may be multiple things connected with this darkness but certainly it was it came upon the earth to signify the monumental nature of what was being accomplished of what exactly was happening because as many of you know the cross was not really the painful death of an innocent man the cross and Jesus on the cross was really the pouring out of the full fury of God against sin it was the pouring out of God’s fury against sin without Christ each person who’s ever lived must have the wrath of God poured out upon him because he is a great sinner and his scene is so offensive to God God in our lives he holds back this wrath but once we die that wrath has pulled the poured on full force in hell this is God’s righteous anger his boiling anger against sin because he is so good and so just his anger is so great he must eternally torment stubborn and perverse rebels which is what we all are all of us deserve hell and without Christ all of us will experience hell the Unleashed wrath of God and there are many billions of souls even right now that currently are experiencing the wrath of God in hell but at the cross Jesus was standing in the place of sinners he was standing in the place of all who would believe in him and he was suffering what they were supposed to suffer in these hours but Jesus on the cross their sins were being ascribed to Jesus’s account and Jesus’s perfect life and righteousness are being credited to each one of them Jesus was becoming their sin substitute he was acting as their sin substitute but for him to do this Jesus had to experience hell he had to drink to the dregs the cup of the infinite wrath of God he had to absorb in himself the full blast of God’s unending indignation against sin but who could possibly pay off a crime with an infinite punishment hell is eternal how could Jesus pay an eternal penalty once and for all because Jesus is God only a being who has himself infinite can absorb infinite pain can finish infinite suffering which is the price of sin second Corinthians 5:21 says Apostle Paul writing he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him this was the true source of agony for Jesus on the cross and it’s why the world went dark it’s not the nails the agony was not the nails north of thirst nor the exhaustion or the hanging there it was the wrath of the father against the sin bearing son this is why Jesus exclaims what he does according to Matthew’s Gospel not recorded here but Matthew 27:46 it says Matthew 27:46 about the ninth hour so that’s right near the end of his crucifixion about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying Eli Eli lama sabachthani that is my God my God why have you forsaken me at the cross something happened that has never occurred in eternal history and never will again the supremely intimate and pleasurable love relationship of father and son was interrupted the father turned his face of love away from the Sun and instead rained down the fiercest judgment that he could this had never happened this is the worst thing that could happen there is no agony that the son couldn’t do then to have the father turned his face away so why did he do it why did Jesus endure that excuse me why did he endure that agony I ask you why did he do it it was Islam right not just his love for us but his love for the father he loves the father so much he wanted to please the father and this is what the father were Deen he prayed in the garden excuse me just one second he prayed in the garden father is there if there’s another way if you can remove this cup from me then do so but otherwise you will be done he wanted to please his father his whole life was about pleasing the father this is the love relationship of the Trinity and this is what the father were deigned this was going to be the way he would save sinners so Jesus gladly submitted to it and for the father’s sake he loved us he loved us greatly deeply so of course he would do this for us he would go to this leg this is the great love of Jesus Christ it’s exactly what Jesus himself explained to his disciples when talking about himself and talking about love he tells his disciples in John 15:13 greater love has no one than this that one lay down his life for his friends that’s why Jesus did it it was for his friends and he counts friends his disciples those who have believed in him this is a precious reality it’s a sobering reality but it is a precious reality but there’s more to it it’s my next question what is the it and it is finished what did Jesus finish they finished the work of redemption he finished all that the father testing to do Jesus paid the full price required and he fulfilled all prophecies related to his death there was nothing left to do all that was necessary was accomplished now this is a very significant fact for those that believe in Christ what is the implication for them and Jesus statement it is finished if Jesus pronounced it is finished how much more of our salvation needs to be accomplished no more nothing it’s all accomplished the price of our sin is fully paid and salvation is fully accomplished for us this is why adding works to faith in Jesus is such a great and evil error some say you must believe and then you must do such-and-such in order to be saved you have to add works to faith or they say you will be saved by believing in Jesus but you might have to suffer a couple suffer a couple of eons in purgatory first before you’re allowed to go to heaven that is in total contradiction of what Jesus says in that cross know whatever was required for our salvation was finished by Jesus on the cross he did it all and he pronounced it done if you need something more than what Christ provided at the cross then Christ is a liar it is not finished but Christ cannot lie he is the truth He is God so Jesus pronounces something finished it must be finished now can you fathom that your infinite sin day I mean think on your sins think on the different sins in your life every gripe every lie every careless word every snide comment every lustful thoughts every act of violence every sigh of discontent every flash of anger every shred of resentment of bitterness all of it was paid for once and for all by Jesus at the cross you believed in him that is true the Apostle Paul gives some explanation to this reality his book Romans his letter to the Romans listen what Romans 5 verses 6 to 11 says that’s high – keeps running Romans 5:6 2:11 for while we were still helpless at the right time Christ died for the ungodly for one will hardly die for a righteous man though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die but God demonstrates his own love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us much more than having now been justified by his blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God through him for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his son much more having been reconciled we shall be saved by his life and not only this but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom we have now received the reconciliation truly it is finished for those who believe in Christ their sins have been paid for once and for all they are reconciled to God they are saved and they will have eternal life for the Lord but for those who do not trust Christ it is not finished in fact it has hardly even begun truly it will never be finished the crime is too great that is why hell is eternal that is why Isaiah writes in the last verse of his great book of prophecy Isaiah 66 24 Part B for their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched and they will be an abhorrence to all mankind what a difference one more interpretation question for us to consider why does the soldier pierce Jesus aside now I’ve always thought it was to verify that Jesus was already dead but that’s not what the text tells us the text says the soldiers saw that he was already dead moreover stabbing Jesus in this way would kill whatever reason for whatever reason this the soldiers decided this the soldier not the soldier is just one soldier decided to do this perhaps to make doubly sure that Jesus had really died and as we noted to be stabbed in this way it would have been fatal this is a seemingly random choice from the soldier but it wasn’t actually random why is this so significant well obviously in the text if it fills prophecy and that’s significant but there’s something else why is it significant for Jesus to be pierced in this way after blood and water to come out what does it prove bad jesus’s death it proves that he really did die Jesus really did die and this is significant right because many cents to you this is death since Jesus’s resurrection have tried to explain it all away they say oh Jesus didn’t die this was all a clever scheme he just swooned on the cross and then he was laid in the tomb and revived snuck out and was never heard from or he reappeared but everybody thought he was raised but he didn’t really raise because he never died in fact there were some even in John’s day even when he writes this gospel who denied Jesus was human they thought it was inappropriate for God to take on human form since mater was inferior and evil and so if he wasn’t human then what he experienced on the cross was just the appearance of death he didn’t actually die because he wasn’t actually human but pop but the Apostle John explicitly contradicts these ideas with his eyewitness testimony he says I was there I saw the blood in the water I know no one could have survived that Jesus died that is an inescapable fact and he died in accordance with the scriptures that’s why his resurrection and his reappearing is so amazing he rose from the dead he died in accordance with the scriptures but then rose again he really did die now let’s consider again the fulfilled prophecies I kind of moved past them quickly in the text but at the cross we need to realize there’s so many prophecies that Jesus was fulfilling it’s like there was explosion of prophetic fulfillment at the cross we don’t have time to look at all the different passages but some of the most significant ones I’ve listed for you on this slide Psalm 22 has a lot to say about Jesus’s crucifixion and Jesus fulfilled its words consider verse 1 of Psalm 22 which actually begins my god my god why have you forsaken me far from my deliverance for the words of my groaning jesus said this where he said the first part of this at the cross where verses 6 to 8 in Psalm 22 verses 6 to 8 say but I am a worm and not a man a reproach of men and despised by the people all who see me sneer at me they separate with the lip they wag the head saying commit yourself to Yahweh let him deliver him let him rescue him because he delights in him it’s not recorded in John’s Gospel but people said those exact things to Jesus and about Jesus body was on the cross Jesus was fulfilling their prophecy where verse 16 in Psalm 22 it says for dogs have surrounded me a band of evildoers has encompassed me they’ve pierced my hands and my feet just exactly what happened to Jesus or verse 18 in the same song they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots Psalm 22 as much to say there’s also Psalm 69 verse 21 Psalm 69 21 says they also gave me gall for my food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink just like what they gave him when Jesus first arrived at Goga that Golgotha where Zechariah 12:10 Zechariah 12:10 is an eschatological passage God talking about how Israel one day repent and this is what God says I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication so they will look on me whom they have pierced and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only Son and they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn so part of that prophecy has been fulfilled Jesus has been pierced but there’s coming a day when Israel will realize that they have pierced they have pierced their Messiah they’ve pierced their God and they will weep and then there’s all of Isaiah 53 we could just read the whole passage again I mean there’s so much there that’s fulfilled but we’ve already looked at that in a previous sunday-school I’ll just remind you of a few verses from Isaiah 53 Isaiah 53 verse 5 says but he was pierced through for our transgressions he was crushed for our iniquities the chastening for our well-being fell upon him and by his scourging we are healed vs. 10 – 12 continue in Isaiah 53 but Yahweh was pleased to crush him putting him to grief if he would render himself as a guilt offering he will see his offspring he will prolong his days and the good pleasure of the Yahweh will prosper in his hand that’s reference there to his resurrection as a result of the anguish of his soul verse 11 continues he will see it and be satisfied by his knowledge the righteous one my servant will justify the many and he will bear their iniquities therefore I will allot him a portion with the Great and he will divide the booty with a strong because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors these prophecies were hundreds of years before Jesus came the songs nearly a thousand years before Jesus went to the cross and Jesus perfectly fulfilled what they wrote what does this testify about Jesus what these fulfilled prophecies indicate about Jesus that he is the Messiah he is the king of the Jews he is the son of God he is the salvation that God sent into the world that those who believe in him will be saved and never died and that’s the point of John’s gospel isn’t it the cross was no accident it was the culmination of a plan that God first began to reveal back in genesis 3:15 right after the fall when the Lord curses the serpent and he says I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed he shall bruise you on the head you shall bruise him on the heel a wrestler that was promised from ancient days which finally came and he accomplished the rescue on the cross so behold then my brothers and sisters at Calvary the great irony paradox whatever you want to call it up the gospel a humiliating and agonizing death under the wrath of God has become the greatest victory for all God’s people Jesus has secured once and for all for all his followers salvation from sin salvation from Satan and deliverance from death and Jesus didn’t just die he rose again demonstrating his full victory in power but we’ll talk about that next time as this not good news this wonderful news does anything else in life compare to this reality does anything else even matter who could have dreamed that God would do this but he did Jesus was glad to do this he did it for the joy set before him he did it to bring us to God he did it so that we might behold the glory of the son forever so how should this affect us what’s the application on there are multiple ways my brothers and sisters first of all we should believe we should believe those good news we should believe in the Son of God we should love God you should love him for what he’s done we should imitate Christ if he laid down his life for us we will gladly lay down our lives for him he’s done so much more than we could ever do and we will lay our lives down for others Jesus showed us the way and we should we should tell others about this good news all others what Jesus has done tell them how is to fill the prophecies tell us that music television easy complex redemption plan perhaps one other thing we should know Jesus said it is it it is finished how our efforts of legalistic self-righteousness a great offense to him they suggest that Jesus wasn’t telling the truth they Jesus work on the cross was not enough let us never do that let us dare not try to add to Jesus’s work so what about you this morning happy trusted in Christ do you believe the gospel I’m seeing God’s authority over you as creator have you seen your own deep sinfulness and inability to meet God’s standard be seen Jesus a perfect life and sacrifice you seen your own need for repentance and turning away from your previous flawed way of thinking to embrace what God says and does this result in following after Jesus in your life pray that it does only the Lord knows where you are today don’t trust your upbringing your attendance at church your various ministries you’re a part of God knows your heart if you have trusted in Christ this morning then rejoice share this good news don’t keep it to yourself give thanks to God and you final questions before we close today this is such such great news but it gets better next week we talked about the resurrection but that’s it for this week let’s praise be close hello a god what can we say but how can we respond in light such such a beautiful happening for us what this was the worst this was the worst man could devise it was the full wrath of God against you the Sun but it was also the best because we’ve never seen such love as this oh Jesus you were so glad to please the father so glad to save us each one of us you knew each one of us you thought of each one of us your love is not merely a blanket over a group of people but it goes individually to each one of us to me to the people in this congregation thank you for such love oh god help us to walk worthy of your gospel tell others about it it’s too good for us to just keep to ourselves and Jesus name Amen