His Prophesied Death

Introduction

Illustration: The umbrella

Now that image is a pretty simple representation of what Jesus did for us, but an accurate one. Jesus was the one who covered over us so that we won’t have to pay the penalty for the sins that we’ve committed. Today we’re going to talk about the decisive passage in John where Jesus accomplished this for us on the cross. It’s been almost a year to get here, but here we are at part 36 of our series called Believe and Live: The Gospel According to John. Jesus has been arrested and faced trial at the hands of the Chief Priests and the Governor, and the time has come for the cross. What Jesus has called the hour of His glorification. Let’s read this passage together.

John 19:17–42 CSB

Carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle. Pilate also had a sign made and put on the cross. It said: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. 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. 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.’ ” Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.” 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. 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. Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home. After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” 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. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. 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. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him. When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth. For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly because of his fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’s body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away. Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about seventy-five pounds of myrrh and aloes. They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews. There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it. They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.

Now there is a lot happening here. This is the central moment of all Christianity. This is the moment that Jesus saved us. The moment He died for our sins. There’s a lot to unpack. Yet because we only have so long on Sunday morning I’ve chosen to focus on three particular aspects of this passage and what they have to teach us about Jesus and what it means to follow Him. First, we see from the frequent references to fulfilled Scripture that the cross is all a part of God’s plan, proof that He sees the end from the beginning and that even in our worst moments we can trust God to work for the good of those who love Him. Second we see that Jesus didn’t die because of the violence done to Him, but because He willingly gave up His life, showing He’s powerful enough to save us, and loving enough to do what needs to be done to accomplish that. Finally we see that Jesus died as the perfect passover lamb, giving meaning to the image that God had taught to Israel in the first Exodus and every year they celebrate passover. He died so that His blood could cover us and save us from death.

The Cross is the Plan

Illustration: Sometimes when Katie and I are watching a movie we’ve never seen before (something that doesn’t happen very often these days) there will come a point in the movie where I think I’ve figured out what’s going to happen. If that happens, often I’ll turn to Katie and tell her what my guess is. Why do I do that? I do that so that if I’m right it will be obvious that I knew what was going to happen before it did, showing of course how clever I am. Otherwise I could just be saying I knew it was going to happen even though I didn’t.

You see sometimes it can be beneficial to show that you’re in control and you’ve got a plan. Not so much with the movie thing, because that’s just entertainment. I’m talking more like when things start to go wrong, it can be reassuring to know that someone knew this was going to happen and is in control. That’s why emergency plans exist for example.

We however are just human beings, and there’s a limit to how much we can know before it happens. We can make educated guesses, and even be right a lot of the time, but anyone who checks the weather forecast regularly knows that humans can’t tell the future. Things are different when it comes to God. See the Bible tells us that God sees the end from the beginning. Isaiah 46:10

Isaiah 46:10 CSB

I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.

So how does God prove that this is true? How does He show people like us who are prone to doubt that He really is in control and really does know what’s going to happen? By telling us in advance what’s going to happen. This is what we call Prophecy in the Bible.

Jesus’ life and death is of course the most prophecied event in all of scripture. Most of you will remember I spent a whole year preaching on Jesus in the Old Testament, going over the prophecies and types of Christ that show us just how much it was all part of the plan. God wanted us to know that when Jesus went to the cross it wasn’t the failure of a Jewish Messiah, but the culmination of a plan that was laid down from the very beginning of creation. John’s gospel, like the others, emphasizes this point a lot through the description of the crucifixion. Let’s jump around the passage and see the places John does this.

John 19:23–24 CSB

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. 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.

and again in John 19:28-29

John 19:28–29 CSB

After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.” 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.

Then jumping down to John 19:36-37

John 19:36–37 CSB

For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the one they pierced.

I think it’s pretty plain to see that John is trying to tell us something when he repeats it so many times. What is He trying to say? This moment, where Jesus is beaten and nailed to a cross, is exactly what God had in mind since the beginning to save us from our sins and from death. God didn’t make the best of a bad situation. God didn’t make up the details as He went along. God knew from the beginning that this moment would happen and told Israel by the prophets enough details to show that.

This is the sort of thing God does. He lets things unfold through history, but gives hints of what’s to come so that we can look back in amazement and say, “wow, God is so good.” The more I study Old Testament Scripture the more I have that feeling.

And that’s the feeling that John wants us to have when we read His account of the death of Jesus. He wants us to look at this moment and realize that God was fully in control and everything was going according to plan. Why? So that when everything looks just as bleak in our lives we can reassure ourselves that God is in Control and He has a plan.

Remember, in John’s time Christians were going through much worse things than most of us will ever go through. He was likely thinking of the Christians being killed or sent to the Colisseum when He wrote this passage. So if that sentiment is true for them, how much more is it true for each of us? I don’t mean to belittle our struggles, just to show that there’s nothing we can go through in our lives that God didn’t see coming. There’s no bad that God can’t redeem. There’s no disaster that isn’t going to be used for the good of those who love God. Isn’t that a blessed assurance?

Jesus Is In Control

Illustration: Every now and then Owen and I will wrestle. Now obviously, he’s only four years old, so it’s not really a competition. At this point he can’t force me to the mat if he wanted to, although I’m sure that moment will come sooner than I’m prepared for. So if we’re wrestling and he takes me to the ground it’s because I let him.

This is of course always the case when someone tries to make someone more powerful than them do something. The more power you have, the less others can force you to do anything. So then if we are talking about the maximally powerful being, like God, than no one can force God to do anything. We already talked about this idea when it came to Jesus being arrested. They couldn’t arrest Him if He didn’t allow it, because He is God. But what about His death?

If Jesus truly is God than no amount of human force could make Him die. Yet He does die on the cross. Let’s take a closer look at the moment this happens, John 19:30

John 19:30 CSB

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

Notice the language John uses there. He “gave up” His spirit. That’s intentional. John wants His readers to realize that Jesus didn’t die because of the wounds that were inflicted on Him, but because He willingly gave up His spirit. This is confirmed by what Jesus says in John 10:17-18

John 10:17–18 CSB

This is why the Father loves me, because I lay down my life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

No one takes His life. Though it might seem as though the Chief priests and the Roman government have defeated Jesus on the cross, He is laying down His life inentionally. That doesn’t mean they aren’t liable. They chose after all to kill Jesus, even if in the end Jesus gave up His Spirit intentionally. What it does mean is that Jesus has truly been in control the entire time.

Think about what that means for all the suffering and pain that He endured. He didn’t just have to accept it because it was beyond His control. Each lash, each wound, all the pain was a choice for Him in a way it never would be with us. That is how much He loved us. Every strike He accepted was motivated by His love for each of us.

So what does that mean for us? That means that we can be assured both of Jesus’ power and authority and His great love. If Jesus could freely choose death while remaining fully God, then we can trust that He is both able and willing to secure the life He promises for us. Because He is God and therefore not able to die without willing it so, then we can trust Him to be able to fulfill all the promises that He has made about our future hope, and we can trust His love because He did make that willing choice for us.

So what I want us to take from this is full assurance of the future that Jesus promised. That those who believe in Him will not die, but have everlasting life in Him. We can know from the cross both that His is able and that He is willing to do that for us.T he cross shows us that Jesus is not only all-powerful but also all-loving. Because He willingly gave His life, we can rest in full assurance that our future with Him is secure.

The Lamb That Was Slain

Illustration: Imagery can be a powerfool tool when it comes to conveying ideas. I mean, that’s why I do it a lot in these sermons, and why I do those object lessons. Sometimes an idea gets more to the core of a person if it’s explained with an image or a metaphor than if you said it in plain terms. Think about how Jesus used images to convey ideas, like with the image of living water with the woman at the well, or the bread of life, and so on. God loves a good image or metaphor. So much so that a lot of the Hebrew Scriptures are creating images that would later be fulfilled in powerful, memorable ways.

The image of the lamb of passover is one such powerful image. Let’s take a walk back in history to the Exodus for a second. God had promised Abraham and his descendants that they would prosper and that He would give them the land of Canaan, but the people were at this point in history living in slavery to the Pharoah of Egypt. So God intervenes through Moses and rescues them from the hand of Pharoah. The climax of the conflict between God and the Pharoah comes with the final of ten plagues against the Egyptians. God is about to send the angel of death into the land of Egypt to kill the firstborn sons of every Egyptian family so that Pharoah will let the Israelites go.

Let’s take a moment to consider an important question. Did God know which families were Egyptian and which ones were Israelites? Obviously yes, God knows everything. In fact there have already been several plagues that only effected the Egyptians, and God didn’t ask the Israelites to do anything to mark themselves off then. So why is it that this time He asks the Israelites to mark their homes so that the angel of death will pass them over?

In this case the act is not for God’s benefit, He knows which families are which. It’s for the benefit of the people, that He could communicate an important image to them. They are about to face the judgment of the angel of death, and in order to be spared they must kill a lamb instead and spread its blood over their home. A lamb must die instead of them, a perfect lamb without blemish no less.

I submit to you that this was all a set up for the passage we are studying this morning. A beautiful foreshadowing of our savior on the cross. John emphasizes this throughout His gospel, with John the Baptist identifying Jesus as the lamb of God in the first chapter of the gospel. This only intensifies when we come to the cross. Jesus is described in John as being arrested on the same day the lambs were being judged to see if they are without blemish, and He is depicted as being declared faultless by Pilate three times. This is all before the passage we are reading this morning.

But in our passage too we see this image show. Consider that when they offer Jesus a drink of sour wine on the cross, they lift it to Him using a hyssop branch. John 19:29

John 19:29 CSB

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.

This is the same branch that the Israelites used to spread the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their home. Then another parallel in verse 36,

John 19:36 CSB

For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken.

What Scripture is this a fulfillment of? Exodus 12:46, which says in reference to the lamb of Passover,

Exodus 12:46 CSB

It is to be eaten in one house. You may not take any of the meat outside the house, and you may not break any of its bones.

Jesus is the lamb that was slain for us. So we finally see the true significance of the image God gave us in the lamb of Passover. We are facing an angel of death. We all know that everyone dies. Even if we try to ignore this fact we are reminded of it all the time when another funeral comes around. This angel of death is coming for us. How can we protect ourselves from the death that we deserve? We can put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts, the perfect lamb that God provided, His son Jesus Christ. Only in this case we don’t smear the blood physically on the doorpost of our house, but on our hearts spiritually. So then when we face judgement we will live forever. We gain eternal life.

John 3:16 CSB

For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

And that’s what it’s all about my friends. God all the way back at the Exodus was showing us why Jesus died on that cross for us. So that He would die the death that we won’t have to. So that we can live forever through Him. Now that doesn’t mean we won’t physically die, but that we won’t Spiritually die. And Jesus promised us that He would come back and restore paradise on earth and raise us all from the dead.

So if you’re hearing my voice and you haven’t believed in Jesus let this be a challenge for you to put your faith in Him. Let this be the call to finally surrender to God’s call on your heart and to metaphorically apply the blood of Jesus to your heart so that you can live forever in paradise.

And for those of us who already follow Jesus let us remember what He did for us on that cross in love, and let us aspire to share that gift with everyone who will receive it. The gift is unlimited, any can receive it who will receive it. So that means your neighbor, your relative, or that acquaintance of yours that doesn’t know Jesus can also live forever in paradise. We can’t make them believe, of course, but we can give them the opportunity to respond. So let us pray for the wisdom and the courage only the Holy Spirit can give to step out and ask them who Jesus is to them, and offer them the truth so that they can live forever with us.

Conclusion

I mean, it’s probably no surprise that the passage of John that covers the cross would be full of deep meaning. And that’s just the stuff I had time for. There’s a lot of other things that could and should be said about this moment, but I chose to focus on these three aspects of John’s portrayal of the cross. The prophetic fulfillment that shows in the details of Jesus’ death, showing God’s hand in everything that happened and His intentionality in building up all of history to this moment. The active choice of Jesus to give up His spirit to death, showing that He’s powerful enough to keep His promises and loving enough to die for us despite His power, and finally we see through the image of the Lamb who was slain that Jesus died so that we won’t have to die, so that we can live forever in Him and with Him in paradise.

I am convinced that no matter how many times we go back to the crucifixion, we see more and more of God’s love for us in that moment. So I urge all of us, myself included, to not forget this moment. There’s a reason we take communion every week. This death is what Christianity is all about. Let us remember what it means for all of us today, this week, and for the rest of our lives.

Let’s pray.