John 19:16-20:18 - Life for Those Who Believe

Introduction

I confess that I am more of a Tolkien fan than I am a fan of C.S. Lewis. I also think that Tolkien’s The Hobbit is way better than his The Lord of the Rings, but I do like Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

In Lewis’s first book of the series The Chronicles of Narnia, which he published in 1950, four children find their way to a magical place where a terrible witch has usurped the throne of the true king – a lion named Aslan. The doorway, of course, was an old wardrobe (a kind of clothing closet), and that’s why the story is called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

One of the children (Edmund) was a bit craftier and more selfish than the rest, and he betrayed his brother and his two sisters to the false queen – the witch.

When the witch heard that Aslan – the true king – was once again roaming Narnia, she brought Edmund (the betrayer) to Aslan in order to publicly accuse and condemn him. Aslan had an alternative plan, however, and he carried it out by trading places with Edmund.

Aslan was the king, and he had done no wrong, but he gave himself as the substitute for Edmund, so that Edmund could go free.

When the time came, Aslan was killed on a Stone Table, the place where the “Deep Magic” would be appeased or satisfied. Edmund had committed a grievous sin, but it was Aslan who suffered for it.

Soon after he died, however, Aslan was seen alive again by Edmund’s two sisters, and they asked, “What does it all mean?”

Aslan replied, “It means… that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back… she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor’s stead, the [Stone] Table would crack, and Death itself would start working backward.”

Friends, today we are going to read the time in real human history when death in the real world started working backward. The passage before us today is one of the Gospel accounts which focuses on Jesus’s death and resurrection.

Each Gospel writer – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John – each one tells the story from his own perspective and for his own distinct purpose. And yet, they all mean to convey the same basic idea – Jesus really did die as the promised King and Savior of His people, and He really did conquer death for all who believe.

That is the main idea of my sermon today, and I pray that the Lord will help us all to believe this. I pray also that God will grant both conviction of sin and assurance of forgiveness as we respond to Him in faith.

Scripture Reading

John 19:16–20:18 (ESV)

19:16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would 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 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been 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 at once there came out blood and water.

35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.

39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.

4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Main Idea:

Jesus really did die as the promised King and Savior of His people, and He really did conquer death for all who believe.

Sermon

1. The King Condemned to Die (Jn. 19:16-34)

Jesus really did die as the promised King and Savior of His people.

I know that some of you might disagree with me on this, but I just don’t like any movies or TV shows that portray Jesus. For one thing, I don’t think we should ever make an image of Jesus. I believe it’s a violation of the second commandment, and every attempt to image Jesus will be a distorted picture at best.

But the main reason I don’t like movies or TV shows that depict the life or death of Jesus is because they always either (1) focus on stuff that is not in the Bible or (2) focus on the opposite stuff from what the Bible does.

For example, you can read all four Gospel accounts of the death of Jesus, and you will not find many details about the method of crucifixion. Most of the details we know about crucifixion come from sources outside of the Bible. And yet, many of you may remember the movie The Passion of the Christ that came out about 20 years ago. It is a 2-hour movie that focuses almost exclusively on the brutality and physical suffering Jesus endured during His final hours.

In direct contrast to that movie, John merely says (in our passage today), “they took Jesus… to the place called The Place of the Skull… [and] There they crucified him…” (Jn. 19:16-18). Of course, John did say earlier that Jesus was “flogged” (Jn. 19:1), but John gives almost no specifics about the flogging, except that the soldiers mocked Jesus as they carried out their duty.

Friends, the Bible is far more interested in telling us what it means that Jesus died than it is in telling us all the gory details about how He died. This is instructive for us, and I want to consider it with you this morning.

What does it mean that Jesus died?

First, we must make sure to understand that we know who Jesus is (everyone dies, but the importance of Jesus’s death is centered on who He is). After we know who Jesus is, then we can try to better understand the meaning of His death.

Our passage this morning is full of information about who Jesus is.

Pilate called Jesus “the King of the Jews” (Jn. 19:19), which is a reference to rich OT prophecies that predicted the coming of God’s anointed one or Messiah or Christ (even though Pilate didn’t seem to know about such things).

Jesus’s actions concerning His mother and John also teach us plainly that Jesus was the real son of a human woman (Jn. 19:25-27).

What is most telling here is that John says four times that what happened at Jesus’s crucifixion was fulfillment of OT “Scripture” – the dividing of Jesus’s “garments” by casting “lots” (Jn. 19:24), the farcical offering of “sour wine on a hyssop branch” to quench Jesus’s thirst (Jn. 19:28-29), the death of Jesus before His legs were “broken” (Jn. 19:36), and the “piercing” of His side “with a spear” (Jn. 19:34, 37).

All of this is meant to tell us about who Jesus is!

He is the long-awaited Messiah. He is God’s anointed King. He is the human son of an actual woman. He is truly man and truly God – the King of glory who was born to die.

All that happened in the death of Jesus was according to God’s plan; it was according to what had been foretold in the Scriptures, which God already revealed. Jesus was the one God sent on purpose, and Jesus’s purpose was to live and die on behalf of those He came to save. This, then, gets us into the meaning of His death.

Now, it is true that John’s account of Jesus’s death doesn’t actually tell us much about the meaning of it (not unless we know the OT Scriptures). If we are more familiar with the OT, then we may read quite a bit in these lines. But if we aren’t, then we will probably miss quite a lot.

Reading the Gospels without a familiarity with the OT is like going to a movie in 3-D without the special glasses. You’re looking at the same screen as everyone else, and you can see all of the same stuff, but it’s mostly blurry and vague. But if you put on the special glasses, not only does the picture come into focus, but all kinds of things start jumping off the screen.

The first-century Apostles knew the OT quite well, and they explain the meaning of Jesus’ death throughout the rest of the NT.

For example, the Apostle Paul explained (in Romans 3), “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:32). Here Paul was drawing upon the teaching of the whole OT to say that the Bible condemns everyone everywhere – as he had written just a bit earlier, “none is righteous… no one seeks for God… no one does good… there is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:10-18).

The point is that no one is truly good or moral or upright in God’s sight, and thus all are fairly or reasonably or rightly condemned under God’s judgment.

But the Apostle went on to say that sinners who have faith in or who believe in Jesus are “justified by [God’s] grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood” (Rom. 3:24-25). Here now, we are really getting some rich OT language and allusions.

God established a principle of substitutionary sacrifice from the very moment sin entered creation (Gen. 3:21), but God gave detailed instructions about how to do it through Moses at Mt. Sinai (You can read all about it in Exodus). There were many prescribed sacrifices, but the most extreme ones were animal sacrifices for what the OT calls “atonement” (Ex. 30:10; Lev. 1:4, 4:20).

All of these “big Bible words” are getting at the meaning of Jesus’s death.

Like the animal sacrifices of old, Jesus (in His death) was the sacrifice that atoned for sin, or satisfied or propitiated God’s wrath against sin.

Like a line of credit that is way overdrawn, Jesus (in His death) redeemed or bought or paid for the sin-debt that was owed to God.

Like accused criminals, sinners appear before God’s bar of justice, and every evidence stands against them; but Jesus (in His death) exchanges the guilt of sinners with His own righteousness… and thereby justifies those who believe.

Friends, the whole point of our main passage this morning is that Jesus is the one God promised long ago. Jesus is the one God said would come – the King who would be condemned to die. John told us at the beginning of his Gospel that Jesus was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29), and here John is urging us to believe that Jesus’s death was that moment when He did it.

It is no coincidence that John highlights what Jesus said just before “he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (Jn. 19:30). When Jesus died, He proclaimed “tetelestai” or “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). In other words, Jesus’s work of living and dying in the place of sinners was accomplished or completed.

Friends, whatever else we may learn from the death of Jesus, we must understand that Jesus was the King who was condemned to die – He was the Messiah or Christ God sent to be the substitutionary sacrifice for all those sinners who would believe.

2. New Life in the Cursed Garden (Jn. 19:38-20:18)

Jesus really did conquer death – He reversed God’s curse against sin and sinners – for all who believe.

After Jesus died (in John’s telling of the story), John takes his reader to a “garden.” And the first scene in the garden is one of death and mourning. Two men (Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus) both made preparations to take Jesus’s lifeless body and bury it reverently in a borrowed “tomb” (Jn. 19:41). And the place where this “tomb” was located was “a garden” (Jn. 19:41). Significantly (for John’s narrative), it was “a garden” near where Jesus “was crucified” (Jn. 19:41).

This garden is the place of death. Even the costly efforts of Joseph and Nicodemus are expressing sorrow at the loss of this precious life.

I think John means for his reader to remember that ancient garden of Eden, where death overtook the life that first marked the place. Many of you know the story – how Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and suffered the consequences. They once enjoyed all the blessings of life in God’s presence, but because of Adam’s sin, all humanity became marked by death.

The garden where Jesus was buried was like the garden long ago – it was a place of death and mourning.

But the second scene in the garden is quite different. John tells us about Mary Magdalene, who was first to see the empty garden tomb. Then John tells us that Peter and John also came to the garden, where they too saw only the remnants of what Jesus had left behind – an empty tomb and some burial clothing.

After Peter and John departed, John says that Mary stayed for a while, and she was one of the first who saw and heard the angelic announcement that Jesus had been raised from the dead (Matt. 28:1-6).

It is rich irony that Mary mistook the resurrected Jesus for the “gardener” or keeper of the garden (Jn. 20:15). You may remember that Adam of old was commissioned by God to “work” and “keep” the garden (Gen. 2:15), but now Jesus was picking up that responsibility, and He is the far better gardener or Priest-King.

The same garden – where Jesus’s lifeless body once lay and where death did apparently reign – had become a garden of life, where the one who conquered death now stands to offer resurrection life to all who believe in Him.

Friends, this is where death itself started working backward. This is where the curse that God had placed on all creation started to be reversed. Jesus is the one in real human history who died and came to life again, and He promised that all who believe or trust in Him would also see death overturned for them.

But this is where I must take all of this history and story and pull it from the category of indicative and lay it heavy upon us as an imperative. For most of my time this morning, I’ve been describing and explaining what happened. But now I am compelled to move toward commanding us to do something with it.

3. The Purpose of the Story (Jn. 19:35-37)

Jesus is King over all people everywhere, but He is Savior and Life-giver only to those who believe; therefore, we must believe.

Consider the sign and inscription that was placed on Jesus’s cross. John says, “It read, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’” (Jn. 19:19). So too we are told that the inscription was in three different languages – “in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek” (Jn. 19:20). Latin was the language of the nobles and the political class in Rome, and Aramaic was spoken by most Jews. Greek was something of a universal language, spoken by almost everyone.

The first-century Roman empire spread across the North African coast, and it covered most of what we call (today) the Middle East and Europe. Hundreds of years before Jesus’s earthly ministry, Alexander the Great had conquered everything we usually see in the middle of a world map. And as Alexander conquered, he persuaded and forced his subjects to learn Greek culture and language (this was called Hellenization). This is how Greek became widely known.

The point is that Jesus was declared “King” in such a way that everyone would have been able to read the declaration. No doubt, Pilate did not realize the full significance of this inscription, and it was only Jesus’s enemies that understood more of the meaning of it – that’s why they wanted it changed (Jn. 19:21) – but it was still true and profound. Jesus was the promised King who would sit on David’s throne and extend His eternal kingdom across all time and space.

Jesus said it Himself, after His resurrection, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). And the Apostles proclaimed, “Now [God] commands all people everywhere to repent [or turn from sin and unbelief], because [God] has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31). The point is (once again) that Jesus is King of everyone, and He stands as judge over all who remain in their sin.

Friends, this is why talking of Christ’s death and resurrection cannot only be a matter of wonder and amazement as we contemplate what happened long ago. We must not keep all of this at arm’s length; but we must take it to heart – we must ask ourselves where we truly stand in relationship with this Savior-King.

See it there in our main passage. John tells us (in ch. 19, v35), “He who saw it has borne witness – his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth – that you also may believe” (Jn. 19:35). Later (in ch. 20, v31) John says, “these [things] are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31).

There is life in Christ for all who believe, but there is only death for those who do not. So, the question now stands, how are you responding?

4. How Are You Responding?

There are many ways that we might respond to the story of Jesus’s death and resurrection today. We might dislike the idea that anyone claims lordship over us. We might not want anyone to tell us what to do or how to live. We might be conflicted about it all. We might feel some sense of mixed intrigue and reluctance. Or we might be hopeful, as we hear about someone conquering death… though we may still have some confusion or ignorance that clouds our minds.

As a matter of fact, there are several examples of various responders here in our passage today. Let’s consider them, and let’s think about where we might see ourselves represented by them.

First, “the Jews” (Jn. 19:20-21). John uses this phrase to refer mainly to the Jewish leaders, those religious elites who knew the law of God, but they only used their position of authority to oppress those under their leadership. They should have led the people toward Christ, but instead they hated Jesus for threatening their position and prestige.

In every generation, some will hate Jesus for who He claims to be and for what He demands of them. Because Jesus is King, He demands complete submission to Him. Jesus requires sinners to acknowledge their sin for what it is, to confess it as sin, and to turn away from it in repentance.

But not everyone wants to do that. Some people will prefer their place of comfort and power, and they will hate Jesus for threatening to disrupt it.

Friends, do you cling tightly to your comforts and your superficial righteousness? Would you rather that others would think of you as good than to admit your sin and expose yourself as one who needs a savior?

A second group here is “the soldiers” (Jn. 19:23-24, 32-34). In John’s telling of Jesus’s crucifixion, the Roman soldiers seem to be indifferent – they didn’t care who Jesus was; they were merely concerned with doing their duty and getting what they could out of it.

There will always be sinners like this. They hear the claims that Jesus has made, maybe they hear about Jesus’s miracles, and maybe they even know that some people believe that Jesus is far more than just a man. But they just don’t care enough to give it much thought. They simply want to quench their simple thirst for more stuff, for greater wealth, or for some worldly advantage.

Friends, are you mostly concerned with what you can get out of Jesus? Are you looking only for worldly gain or temporary advantage?

“Pilate” represents a third response (Jn. 19:19-22). There’s so much that we don’t know about Pilate, the Roman governor who sentenced Jesus to die. But what we can see in our passage is that he seems to go back and forth in his perspective about who Jesus is. One minute Pilate is praising Jesus (even declaring Him “the King of the Jews”), but the next minute Pilate is condemning Jesus to die for political expedience.

Friends, are you wishy washy in your treatment of Jesus? Do you go back and forth, praising Him in one breath and despising His person, His word, or His commands with the next? Why do you delay making a clear decision about where you stand? Will you trust in Christ (come what may)? Or will you reject Christ, and try to travel the path that seems most effective for you to get what you want?

A fourth kind of response is what we see in “Joseph of Arimathea” and “Nicodemus” (Jn. 19:38-42). Both of these men seem to have had some kind of belief in Jesus, but they “feared” to follow Him publicly. These men even go to some lengths to honor Jesus in His death, but everything they do is in secret, so that they will not have to bear the consequences of being publicly associated with the crucified Savior-King.

Friends, do you only show love for Jesus in ways that do not cost you? Are you hiding your belief in Jesus out of fear that you may have to bear some shame or ridicule? So what if you do have to endure some bad consequence for following Jesus? What is that compared to the reward that awaits all who love and trust Him?

A fifth kind of response is the one we see in “Peter” and John or “the other disciple” (Jn. 20:3-10). These men both followed Jesus for three years, hearing Jesus teach and seeing Jesus’s power. They experienced a first-hand account of the life and ministry of the Son of God. But when the time came for Jesus to publicly suffer and die, Peter denied Jesus in the most cowardly way.

It should also be noted that when Peter and John learned of Jesus’s resurrection, and when they both experienced the infilling of the Holy Spirit, they became courageous beyond measure in their willingness to believe and follow Christ.

Friends, have you acted cowardly toward Christ? Have you abandoned your faith in Jesus to avoid some public shame? It seems to me that you can take heart this morning! Some of the bravest and most significant followers of Christ have turned from cowardice to courage before… and there is no reason why you cannot do the same.

A sixth kind of response here is that of “Mary Magdalene” (Jn. 20:11-18). Throughout the Gospels, Mary is one of those followers of Jesus who seems to have a simple faith that lacks understanding. She believes Jesus’s words and His power, but she does not understand the meaning or the application of them. She has something of a childish faith, and she needed correction.

Friends, do you believe that Jesus is the Christ? Do you believe that Jesus has the power to forgive sin, to make sinners righteous, and to make dead people live? That’s great! But don’t stop there!

Why would any of us remain simpletons in our understanding of who Jesus is and what He does? Let us turn to Christ today with all the faith we have… and then let us commit ourselves to learn all that we can about Him!

Conclusion

Friends, we’ve read and considered today a passage that teaches us when and where and how death itself started working backwards. We’ve focused our attention on the reality that Jesus really did die as the promised King and Savior of His people and that He really did conquer death for all who believe.

For some of us, this means that we ought to begin to believe. We ought to make a clean break from our sin and unbelief. We ought to give up living the way that unbelievers do, and we ought to give ourselves to following Christ.

For others of us (those who already believe), this means that we ought to live in keeping with what we believe. We ought to re-double our efforts to turn away from sin. We ought to make war against our sin and our doubts (1) by exposing ourselves to the Bible and (2) by surrounding ourselves with others who are believing and living by it. We ought to remember that there is life in the Christ we love, and there is life in nothing and no one else.

Wherever we find ourselves today in relationship to this Savior-King, may God grant us faith to believe Him and faith to follow Him… for in Him is life, and life forevermore.