The Crucifixion of Jesus
Sermon Notes
Context:
Here’s your context. At this point in ch 19, the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate has already sentenced Jesus to death. He declares Jesus is innocent 3 times, but moves forward with the execution because of political tensions he’s facing with the Jews and Roman Empire. So he orders the crucifixion, and it’s a historical event recorded in all 4 gospels found in the bible. It’s recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Now what’s interesting about John’s record, is he focuses more on the victory of Jesus than the suffering of Jesus. He focuses more on how the crucifixion of Jesus fulfills God’s plans, and how Jesus turns the tragic shame of the cross into a great victory for us! He wants us to view the cross not as a pointless tragedy, but as a great victory. So we’ll study 3 things: The shame of the cross, The victory of the cross, and The fulfillment of God’s plans in the cross. It’s shame, victory, and fulfillment. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
John 19:16-37 states, “Then he handed him over to be crucified. Then they took Jesus away.” So Pilate hands Jesus over to be crucified, and the Roman soldiers take Jesus away to prep for his crucifixion. At this point Jesus has already been flogged to maximize the pain of the crucifixion, and many people died from Roman floggings. It’s because they’d use whips with sharp pieces of bones attached at the end, so the bones would cut into the person’s flesh causing many people to die from the loss of too much blood. So at this point in the text Jesus has already been flogged, he’s been crowned with a crown of thorns, and his body’s weak from the loss of blood. Weak and wounded, they put a heavy wooden crossbeam on his beaten tender back.
Vs. 17, “Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.” The Romans wanted to publicly shame people being crucified, so they’re making Jesus do this in public site. In Mark and Luke’s records Jesus stumbles from being too weak and wounded, so the Romans force Simon of Cyrene to help him. But Jesus is having to do this in public shame, he’s having to carry his cross in the public streets leading to the execution site called The Skull. It was a hill that was about eye level, because the Romans wanted everybody to visibly see the crucifixion. It was another act of public shame, but also a way to get people to fear the Romans, to fear committing crimes like those being crucified.
Vs. 18, “There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.” Like I said last week it was supposed to be Barabbas in the middle. It was supposed to be Barabbas who was guilty, but instead it was Jesus who was innocent. Jesus stood in the place of Barabbas who was guilty of sin, just like he stands in our place even though we’re guilty of sin. He stands in our place to set us free from sin, so we can enjoy eternal life with him.
Vs. 19, “Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, ‘Don’t write, ‘The king of the Jews,’ but that he said, ‘I am the king of the Jews.’ 22 Pilate replied, ‘What I have written, I have written.’” The Romans would place signs on the crosses with the person’s name and crimes they committed. In this case Pilate tells his soldiers to write Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. He’s throwing a little jab, a little shade at the Jews, to frustrate them for creating issues between him and the Roman Emperor.
Vs. 23, “When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24 So they said to one another, ‘Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.’ This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled that says: They divided my clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing., This is what the soldiers did.” So they took his ‘clothes’ and his ‘tunic,’ meaning they stripped him naked. They took both his outer and under garments, and crucified him naked. Its another way to publicly shame Jesus, and what we’re seeing is there’s so much shame affiliated with the cross. I mean Jesus is publicly shamed by carrying his cross in the streets, publicly shamed by being crucified on a hill that’s eye level for everybody to see, publicly shamed by being stripped of his clothes and crucified naked. The worse part is he didn’t deserve any of it, but he carried the weight of the cross so you don’t have to live carrying the weight of your sin. He suffered the shame of the cross, so you don’t have to live in the shame of your sin. Jesus didn’t just suffer pain on our behalf, he suffered shame on our behalf...Jesus didn’t just suffer pain on our behalf, he suffered shame on our behalf...
Look it doesn’t matter if you’re a skeptic or believer, we all have shameful areas in our lives we try to hide form others. It can be emotional, physical, mental things we keep hidden out of fear of being rejected if others knew the truth. We’re afraid to let people see the nakedness of our soul. But you know who sees the nakedness of your soul? Jesus...Jesus sees right through your outer garments, your fake Instagram images, right into the nakedness of your soul, and was still willing to go to the cross for your soul. He sees right through all your baggage, insecurities, deepest darkest sins nobody else knows about, and loves you enough to die in shame so you don’t have to live in shame. The love you experience from your friends, family, spouse is only a shadow of love compared to the love of Jesus. It’s only a shadow of love because they can’t fully know you like Jesus knows you. They can’t fully know every thought you’ve ever had and every action you’ve ever done, so they can only love you partially. But Jesus knows you fully, which means he can love you fully and even speak into those hidden dark spots in your life. How do you know he has a deep loving affection for you? By looking at the cross...By looking at the pain and shame he went through on the cross...If he didn’t love you he wouldn’t have gone through the pain and shame of the cross for you, but he goes through the pain and shame of the cross out of a deep loving affection for you. Nobody can ever fully know and love you like Jesus fully knows and loves you. The pain and shame of the cross proves his love for you.
Vs. 25, “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ 27 Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.” Jesus is looking out for his mother, he’s making sure she’ll be cared for by one of his disciples after he’s gone. Even while he’s facing his most painful hour, he’s still looking out for the well-being of others.
Vs. 28, “After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, ‘I’m thirsty.’ 29 A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.” People crucified under the Middle Eastern sun often died of thirst and dehydration. The ‘sour wine’ Jesus is being offered is different than the ‘wine with myrrh” that’s reported in Mark ch 15. The sour wine is what the soldiers drank to quench their thirst, but the wine with myrrh was used as a sedative. Jesus drinks the sour wine, but rejects the wine with myrrh. He drinks the sour wine to quench his parched throat from the desert heat, so he could shout victoriously his final few words.
Vs. 30, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.” With his final breath Jesus shouts victoriously, “It is finished,” and then he gave up his spirit, meaning he died. But how does this become a victory?...How does the shame of the cross, become a victory for us? It’s because his victorious shout is a great victory of salvation for us. When he says it is finished, he’s saying he’s finished the work of salvation he came to do, which was to pay the death penalty for our sins. The Greek word for the phrase it is finished is Tetelestai, it means finished, paid in full! It’s what you’d say if you paid off a large bill like a mortgage bill. You’d say it’s finished, it’s paid in full! That’s what Jesus is saying here. He’s saying the infinitely massive sin debt we owed God is paid off, it’s paid in full. Throughout life we’ve rejected God, turned our backs on God, contributed to the destruction of the world He gave us with sinful words and actions. It’s all accrued into an infinitely massive sin debt that Jesus pays off, he pays in full through his infinitely loving sacrifice on the cross. His victorious shout on the cross, becomes a great victory of salvation for us. What Jesus is saying is unique compared to every other religious teacher in human history, because every other religious teacher says you have to earn God’s love, favor, and salvation through good works and good deeds.
For example if you study other religious teachers like Buddha, you won’t find assurance of salvation, you’ll find a constant striving to gain salvation. The last words of Jesus were “It is finished!” But the last words of Buddha were “Work hard to gain your salvation.” That’s two totally different teachings! Jesus teaches your salvation is received, Buddha teaches its achieved. What Jesus teaches is true and provides the greater relief because it’s more in touch with reality. The reality is you stumble...No matter how hard you try to be a good person and do good deeds, you still stumble...So if salvation’s up to you living a perfect life you’ll never make it. The words of Buddha places an incredible burden on your soul that you’ll never be able to live up to. It’s the constant burden of feeling you’re not being good enough so you have to try harder like Buddha teaches, or else you’ll never gain the love, favor, salvation of God. The words of Buddha places an incredible burden on your soul, but the words of Jesus provides incredible relief for your soul. Jesus is the only religious teacher who teaches your salvation is received, not achieved. It’s received through faith in his finished work on the cross. It’s incredibly liberating, because what Jesus is saying is “You don’t have to live with the shameful burdens of who you are and what you’ve done. Instead you can find rest in the victorious finished work of who I am and what I’ve done. You can find rest in knowing my last words weren’t try harder, they were it...is...finished!” It’s those last words that turn the shame of the cross, into a great victory of salvation for us.
Again vs. 30 states, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. 31 Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. 33 When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.” The Romans would break the legs of people being crucified to accelerate their death. The reason they didn’t break Jesus’ legs is because they thought he was already dead. But they stabbed him in the side, they stabbed him in the heart with a spear to be certain he was dead.
Vs. 35, “He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth. 36 For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken., 37 Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.” John the author gives us the reason he’s recording all this. He says it’s so that we’d ‘believe,’ in the finished work of Jesus for salvation. But how do we know it’s all true? How do we know the shame of the cross, is really a victory of salvation for us? John answers that by repeatedly pointing to the fulfillment of scripture. He says 4 times all this is a fulfillment of scripture. One scholar I read said Jesus fulfills at least 20 Old Testament prophecies in the last 24 hrs of his life. For example over 1000 yrs before Jesus was crucified, King David wrote about the future execution of the Messiah, our Savior. In Psalm 22 he talks about many of the things we just read. He talks about the thirst of Jesus, the Romans being like a gang of dogs surrounding him, the piercing of his hands and feet, even his garments being divided amongst his enemies. Psalm 22 states, “My strength is dried up like baked clay; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth...16 For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me; they pierced my hands and my feet...18 They divided my garments among themselves, and they cast lots for my clothing...31 They will come and declare his righteousness to a people yet to be born, they will declare what he has done.” King David wrote this over 1000 yrs before Jesus was crucified!
ï Psalm 34:20, “He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.”
ï Isaiah 53:5, “He was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds.”
All this was written over 1000 yrs before Jesus was crucified! John the author’s like,
“You want to know if all this is true? You want to know if the shame of the cross is really a victory of salvation for us, a victory of salvation for you? Then look at the evidence of all the prophetic claims Jesus fulfilled!” And he’ll give us even greater evidence in a few weeks, which is the resurrection. The resurrection’s the exclamation point at the end of the cross, because it means everything Jesus ever said and promised is true! Including his promise that “It...is...finished!”
The Big Idea:
Look the big idea is the crucifixion appears to be a tragedy, but it ends up being a great victory. When Jesus declares it is finished he isn’t crying out in relief, he’s shouting victoriously in triumph! He’s shouting victoriously in triumph over the fact that he won and all who trust in him will win! He’s shouting victoriously in triumph over sins curse on humanity and his triumph over humanities greatest enemy which is death. He literally puts death in a coffin! He puts death to death! He walks out of the tomb, and puts death in a tomb! Jesus walks out of the tomb, and puts death in a tomb proving the cross isn’t a pointless tragedy, it’s a magnificent victory! If you’re a skeptic trust Jesus as your Savior. If you’re a believer find rest in Jesus as your Savior.
City Awakening don’t treat the death of Jesus as a contribution to your salvation that you have to work hard to finish...You’ll never find rest that way...You’ll never find rest treating Jesus as a contribution to your salvation that you have to work hard to finish. Jesus isn’t a contribution to your salvation, he’s the finished work of your salvation! This means you can stop trying to gain the approval of others pretending to be something you aren’t, because Jesus has already given you his approval despite knowing who you are. You can stop trying to gain the assurance of love, because Jesus has already given you the assurance of his love. You can stop living as if you’re still a slave to sin or living in the shame of your sin, because Jesus has already died for your sins and given you his resurrection power to overcome your sins. Your soul will never find rest living according to the final words of Buddha saying try harder. Your soul will find rest when you live according to the final victorious words of Jesus saying “It...is...finished!”