Jesus, Our Passover Lamb

John 19:17-42

The King and His cross

Outside of the city

Along the main road coming into the city for all to see

The place’s name “galgotha” (from the Aramaic), “calvary” (from the Latin)

Means “skull” and probably was named after its appearance

A sign nailed to the cross

“Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews”

This was done out of malicious spite by Pilate

It, in essence, says, “here hangs your pitiful king”

The Jews feel the sting of the statement and request it to be changed

Pilate has had enough of being manipulated and refuses

This would have been a trilingual sign common to crucifixions

Latin (official military language)

Greek (common language of the Roman Empire)

Aramaic (common language of Judea)

For all people to read the offense of the criminal

But more deeply proclaimed the truth of Jesus to all people

The fulfillment of prophecy

The soldiers divided His garments

This was an ancient custom, that the executioners had the right to the criminal’s clothing

John does not simply leave this detail to custom, but to divine sovereignty

Psalm 22:16-18- For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

The soldiers gave Him sour wine to drink on a hyssop branch

Jesus says “I thirst” in order that what was foretold would be fulfilled

Psalm 69:21- They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

Not one of His bones were broken

Psalm 34:20- He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

He was pierced

Zechariah 12:10- “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.

Every detail of Jesus’ arrest, trial, and execution are under the meticulous sovereignty of God

(v.35) To show that He is True and that you might believe

The Lamb has been slain

It is finished

All that He came to do have been accomplished

All that had been prophesied about Him had been fulfilled

Isaiah 53:4-10- Bible

He is the true Passover Lamb

All of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant could not take away sin

Hebrews 10:1-4- For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

The true Passover Lamb has come and died

1 Corinthians 5:7b- Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed

The hyssop branch bears witness that He is the true Passover Lamb

Exodus 12:22- Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.

Even His bones bear witness that He is the true Passover Lamb

Exodus 12:46- It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.

Once and for all

Hebrews 10:11-12- And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,

His death for your life

New life

Our greatest need is not a better earthly life

It is to be born again

John 3:3- Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

True life

This life’s promises are empty

They look so attractive and fulfilling

They will always leave you empty and unsatisfied

Life in Christ is true

1 Timothy 6:17-19- As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Eternal life

This life is fleeting away

James 4:13-14- Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

Life in Christ is eternal

John 3:14-16- And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Let the river run deep

John 7:37-38- On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

William Cowper’s- There is a Fountain Filled With Blood

Verse 1

There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains:

Lose all their guilty stains,

Lose all their guilty stains;

And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,

Lose all their guilty stains.

Verse 5

When this poor lisping, stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave,

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I’ll sing Thy power to save:

I’ll sing Thy power to save,

I’ll sing Thy power to save;

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I’ll sing Thy power to save.