John 19:31-42 - The Burial of the King

Pray

Father, thank you for the opportunity to preach your Word.

I pray that you would bear fruit in our hearts as we hear and read of your love for us.

As we see the glories of your Son, Jesus in your Word I pray that that sight would cause us to become more like him.

Lord, use your Spirit and the preaching of your Word to change us all into the likeness of Christ.

It’s in his name that we ask this. Amen.

Intro

Have you ever been tempted to think that all this stuff in the Bible might just be made up?

That these stories of miracles and God becoming human and then dying and rising from the dead, might only be a myth or a bedtime story created to make people feel better about life?

Well, if you’ve ever thought that, then you’re not alone.

Most believers have doubts like this at some point, especially when people who don’t believe explain away the historical facts of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

In the time and culture John wrote his gospel account, there was a group called the docetists who believed in Jesus’ deity, but not his humanity.

They thought that God couldn’t become a human without entirely giving up his deity, so they explained away Jesus’ humanity as only seeming to be human.

And they did the same thing with his death.

If Jesus wasn’t really human, but only seemed to be human, then he didn’t really die, but it only seemed like he died.

But that line of thinking has completely died out over the thousands of years from then until now.

In our time and culture people explain away Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as a mythological story that didn’t actually happen.

And if we listen to their arguments without holding onto the verifiable historical facts the Bible presents, we can also be tempted to doubt the reality of God’s Word.

But God has given us proof, specific proof in John 19:31-42 that Jesus really did die on the cross.

Here in John 19:31-42 we are going to see three different kinds of proof that each verify the fact that Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God really did die.

Physical proof, prophetic proof, and personal proof.

We might be tempted to think like the docetists of John’s day that since Jesus was God he couldn’t really die but only appeared to die.

But more likely in our culture we’ll be tempted to lose faith in the historical facts of Jesus’ death because people who don’t believe explain it away as a hoax or a mistake or a myth, that Jesus didn’t really live or die or rise from the dead like the Bible says he did.

But with these proofs of Jesus’ death God has proven the reality of it so we don’t fall into the same or similar theological error and doubt.

So, we’re going to look at each of these three kinds of proof one at a time.

And the first kind of proof we’re going to see is physical proof in verses 31-34.

John 19:31 ESV

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.

John 19:32–34 ESV

So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.

So, here we see the…

Physical Proof of Jesus’ Death (31-34)

It was the day of Preparation, the day before the Sabbath to prepare everything that would be needed for the Sabbath.

Since work was not allowed to be done on the Sabbath, everything needed for that day had to be prepared the day before.

Hence, the name “day of Preparation.”

But this particular day of Preparation was special because this particular Sabbath was also during the Passover.

It was a special Sabbath, a high day, as John calls it.

So, the religious leaders were especially concerned that nothing mess it up, especially the desecration of criminal blood or dead bodies defiling the land.

Just like before, with their concern about being defiled by entering Pilate’s headquarters, their hypocrisy shines through.

They are more concerned with their appearance of righteousness by holding so tightly to these rules about outward defilement and ceremony, and they have no care whatsoever that they just murdered an innocent man.

And not just any innocent man, the perfectly sinless Son of God.

But all of this about the special Passover Sabbath and the religious leaders’ desire to not defile the land leads them to ask for the death of the men hanging on these crosses to be expedited.

They asked Pilate to have their legs broken which would make their deaths come quicker.

Normally a person who was crucified would take days to finally suffocate to death, but the religious leaders didn’t have days to wait for them to die.

The special Passover Sabbath was coming on in just a few hours, so they needed this over soon.

And with their legs broken their death by suffocation would come in a few hour or minutes rather than a few days.

Then it would fit the religious leaders’ schedule.

So, Pilate granted their request since he probably wanted to be done with this whole mess as soon as possible, too.

The soldiers broke the legs of the two criminals on either side of Jesus.

But when they came to him, they noticed that he was already dead.

Now we might think that the soldiers made a mistake and that Jesus wasn’t really dead, but only looked dead.

Like Wesley in the Princess Bride, only mostly dead.

But we have to remember that Roman Soldiers were experts at death.

They executed people all the time, and they knew exactly what it looked like when someone was actually dead or when they were only mostly dead.

And one of the ways they used to determine really dead from mostly dead was piercing the victim’s side.

If the shock of pain didn’t rouse them, then they were really dead.

And if water and blood immediately flowed out of the wound, then they were really dead.

Now, I’m not an expert on the human physiology of why this was a proof of death.

But I do know that the Roman soldiers, who were experts at death, considered this a proof of the real, actual death of Jesus.

So, this is the physical proof of Jesus’ death, how the Roman soldiers verified his death by piercing his side rather than breaking his legs to hasten his death.

Next we’re going to see the prophetic proof in verses 35-37.

John 19:35–37 ESV

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. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

So, here we see the…

Prophetic Proof of Jesus’ Death (35-37)

Apparently John saw what the Roman soldiers did to Jesus as definitive physical proof of his death, and he assumed that his original audience would have also considered this definitive proof because he immediately starts defending his eye witness testimony to these facts.

Like John has done and will continue to do in his gospel account, he doesn’t name himself or speak in the first person.

He who saw it (John himself) has borne witness.

This is a first hand account of what happened.

Not second or third hand hearsay.

This testimony could stand as evidence in any court of law.

And the one who is bearing witness to these things (again, John himself) swears that his account, his testimony is true.

Almost like swearing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in a court hearing.

He isn’t making this stuff up, it really happened.

And, the reason he’s so adamant that his readers believe the truth of his testimony is because it has prophetic and eternal consequences.

He says that he wants us to know that his testimony about these things is really true, that we may believe.

The prophetic proof of these things is bound up in two different prophecies as John says that these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

The first prophecy is actually more of a typology or foreshadowing from the Old Testament.

John quotes “not one of his bones will be broken.”

This is a reference first to how the Passover lamb was to be killed and consumed.

Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12 say that the Passover lamb was to be entirely consumed in one house and in one day, and significantly, that none of its bones should be broken.

And Psalm 34:20 prophetically declares that the righteous (one) whose afflictions are many, and who the Lord delivers from all of those afflictions, the Christ, the Son of God, the perfectly righteous Passover Lamb of God would have none of his bones broken just like the Passover lambs from Exodus and Numbers.

And in 1 Corinthians 5:7 Paul directly calls Jesus Christ, “our Passover lamb, [who] has been sacrificed.”

But what’s the significance of the Passover lamb, and why is it important that Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb?

In Exodus chapter 12, God told his people through Moses that the final plague on the Egyptians to free them from slavery would be the death of the firstborn of all the households in Egypt.

But to avoid that plague, God’s people needed to kill a lamb, sprinkle its blood on their door frames, and then roast and eat the lamb entirely with their unleavened bread because they had to be ready to leave the very next morning.

This passover lamb signified the Lord passing over their death sentence because the lamb died instead of their firstborn, and it signified the provision of the Lord to rescue his people from slavery.

Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb because he died in our place just like the lamb from Exodus, but with Jesus’ death we are not spared from one death penalty in life, we are spared from the ultimate death penalty of eternity in hell.

And his death initiated the new covenant which frees us from our slavery to sin, just like God freed his people from slavery to Egypt.

Jesus’ sacrificial death as the ultimate Passover Lamb of God takes our place in his death, and frees us from slavery to sin.

That’s why it’s so significant that Jesus is our Passover lamb, and why John found it so important to let us know that just like the Passover lambs in the old testament, Jesus also had none of his bones broken.

But John also mentions another prophecy about Jesus’ side being pierced.

This one is from the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10 which says, ““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.”

And John will go on to mention this same thing in his final contribution to Scripture, in Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”

Similar to the language John used before, even though it was the Roman soldiers whose hands actually nailed Jesus to the cross and pierced his side with a spear, it was the hands of the religious leaders, the hands of the Jews that were responsible for it.

The Jewish people, specifically the religious leaders, but the vast majority of the Jews as well, rejected Jesus as their savior, their Messiah, the Christ, their King.

They collectively rejected him, and collectively they are responsible for piercing Jesus’ hands, feet, and side.

But one day they will look on Jesus, on him whom they have pierced, and they will realize exactly what they had done.

They will realize exactly who Jesus is, and weep over what they had done to him.

The prophecy from Zechariah goes on in chapter 13 verse 1 to say that for those who mourn over what they did to Jesus, “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”

That cleansing is the new covenant.

Their weeping over what they did to Jesus is a weeping of repentance and faith.

The first believers of the Church were Jews, and eventually the Gentiles were added into the Church just like God had always intended.

So the Jews looking on him whom they have pierced and repenting are those who began the Church which Luke recorded in the book of Acts.

And eventually, when Jesus comes back, all nations including the Jews will lay eyes on Jesus and weep.

But that weeping won’t be repentance and faith, but bitterness and resignation because at that point it will be too late to repent.

So, we saw the physical proof of Jesus’ death, the fact that the soldiers verified his death by piercing his side rather than hastening his death by breaking his legs.

And we saw the prophetic proof, how those things fulfilled the Scriptures which prove Jesus’ sacrificial death as the Passover Lamb of God who died in our place and freed us from slavery to sin if we repent and put our faith in him while there is still time to do so.

Next, we’re going to see how Jesus’ death was proved personally in verses 38-42.

John 19:38–39 ESV

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. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

John 19:40–42 ESV

So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 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. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

So, here we see the…

Personal Proof of Jesus’ Death (38-42)

In verse 38 we meet one of Jesus’ secret disciples for the first time, Joseph of Arimathea.

Joseph was likely one of the ones mentioned by John back at the end of chapter 12.

John 12:42–43 says, “Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

So, Joseph was a secret disciple, a secret believer who didn’t confess his faith because he didn’t want to be kicked out of the synagogue.

The other gospel accounts reveal that Joseph was a member of the council and a rich man, a wealthy member of the Sanhedrin, one of the Jewish religious leaders.

He feared the other religious leaders more than he feared God, but something happened in his heart between Jesus’ triumphal entry in chapter 12 and his death here in chapter 19.

His fear shifted.

Perhaps what did it was all of Jesus’ fulfillment of prophecy that John has been reminding us about.

Perhaps Joseph also recognized those fulfillments in the moment.

Or maybe it was the blatant hypocrisy of the religious leaders that made him no longer fear them.

Maybe their behavior here caused him to see them as they really are, prideful enemies of God pretending to be righteous leaders of God’s people.

Regardless of why he shifted from fearing the other religious leaders to fearing God, Joseph now boldly asked Pilate for Jesus’ body.

The common practice of the Jews at that time was to bury criminals in a mass grave outside the city with no honor or ceremony.

And the common practice of Rome at the time was to let criminals convicted of sedition (like Jesus was) to let them hang until the carrion birds picked their bones clean.

Joseph’s request went against both common practices.

He was asking for a favor from Pilate that would infuriate the religious leaders who wanted to humiliate Jesus and stamp out any of his followers with a vengeance.

And Pilate had already had his fill of the Jews, so approaching him with this request was doubly dangerous.

Pilate could refuse his request and have him flogged for wasting his time.

And the religious leaders could have him ostracized from society for going against them by trying to honor Jesus with a proper burial.

Joseph is now, no longer a secret disciple.

With this act he’s confessed his faith in Jesus.

And thankfully, Pilate agreed to hand over Jesus’ body to Joseph for burial.

Joseph’s actions prove the reality of Jesus’ death simply because he would not have risked these things to give Jesus a proper burial if Jesus didn’t actually die.

So, at the very least, Joseph’s actions prove that he personally believed 100% that Jesus really died.

Then in verse 39 we meet another one of Jesus’ secret disciples, Nicodemus, but this is now the third time we’ve met him in John’s gospel account.

The first time we met him was in chapter 3 when he came to Jesus by night, and Jesus taught him about the new birth and the new covenant, but at that point he was just confused.

Back then he wasn’t a disciple yet, just a Pharisee who was curious about Jesus.

The second time we met Nicodemus was at the feast of booths at the end of chapter 7 when he stood up for the proper use of the Law regarding passing judgment on Jesus.

He wanted to give Jesus a proper hearing before passing judgment on him like the Law demanded.

But the other religious leaders viciously turned on him and showed their hypocrisy by accusing Nicodemus of being one of Jesus’ followers.

It may have been that point, or any time between then and Jesus’ death that Nicodemus became a secret disciple of Jesus.

Now, in our passage we meet Nicodemus again, and by this time he’s fully committed to following Jesus.

For much the same religious reason as Joseph, Nicodemus’ actions would have enraged the other religious leaders because they wanted Jesus to be dishonored and dismissed as a false prophet.

So, Nicodemus joined Joseph in honoring Jesus with a proper burial, but he went above and beyond what normally would be considered an honoring burial.

In that culture, they would honor their dead by sprinkling fragrant spices on linen cloth and wrapping the body in the spiced linen, and then packing the spices around the body in the tomb to stave off the smell of the decomposition.

Now, a normal amount of spices used in an honoring burial would have been about 5 pounds, but Nicodemus brought 75 pounds.

This was an amount that was used for the burial of very prominent people, people who were honored significantly for their positions and contributions to Jewish society and the religious aspects of Jewish life.

The fact that Nicodemus provided 75 pounds of spices for Jesus’ burial shows his respect and devotion to Jesus, that he was willing to give such an expensive gift simply to honor Jesus.

But it’s also another personal proof that Jesus actually died.

For Nicodemus to part with such an expensive gift as 75 pounds of burial spices (25 times the normal amount), shows that he also believed 100% that Jesus really died.

I certainly wouldn’t spend that much on burying someone who might not actually be dead.

So, Joseph and Nicodemus, were two secret disciples who have now come forward and confessed their faith in Jesus by honoring him in his death, giving him a proper and lavish burial amidst the threat of punishment from both Rome and the other religious leaders.

They took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in the customary spiced linen and laid it in a new tomb in a nearby garden.

Most of the details of where Jesus was buried are simply to set up his resurrection in the next chapter.

But John’s point here at the end of chapter 19 circles back to the time constraint the religious leaders pushed to have this over an done with before sundown, when the Sabbath officially began.

The tomb Jesus was laid in was nearby, probably owned by Joseph, so he and Nicodemus buried him there just in time for the Sabbath.

Just one day prior to this Jesus was teaching his disciples in the upper room back in chapter 13.

And now 24 hours later, and 7 chapters later, Jesus is verifiably dead and buried, slain as the ultimate Passover lamb.

Conclusion

So, Jesus really did die for our sins.

He wasn’t mostly dead, he was all dead, really dead, proven to be dead physically, prophetically, and personally.

And this is important because if he didn’t really die, then Jesus didn’t really pay for our sins, and we haven’t really been freed from our slavery to sin.

If Jesus’ death was just a sham, then so is our forgiveness and reconciliation with God.

But Jesus really did die for our sins.

The Roman soldiers physically proved it by piercing his side, John prophetically proved it by showing the fulfillment of Jesus as the ultimate Passover lamb who is worthy of all worship, and Jesus’ secret disciples personally proved it by confessing their faith in him through honoring him with a lavish albeit hasty burial.

Jesus really is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

That’s what John the Baptist said all the way back in chapter 1 of John’s gospel account.

He’s the ultimate passover lamb who died in our place so that we wouldn’t have to die, so that God’s wrath against our sin would pass over us, and so that we could be freed from slavery to sin.

He’s worthy of all of our worship, worthy to rule over the whole earth as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, worthy to execute judgment on all of humanity, and worthy to boldly confess our faith in him.

And as we’re going to see next week, though he really died, he also really rose from the dead so that he can receive that worship, kingship, and judgment seat, and his resurrection proves his authority over death to grant eternal life to all who put our faith in him.

So, rest in the knowledge that Jesus really died for your sins.

You don’t have to worry about proving it to yourself or to others because John gave you that proof right here.

Your faith isn’t blind or baseless, it’s in full view of the facts of history and based on Jesus’ verifiable death and resurrection.

So, don’t let your faith be shaken by all the different ways people who don’t believe explain away the Bible, and specifically Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Let this proof strengthen your faith and embolden you to risk everything to honor Jesus in confessing your faith in him like Joseph.

And let this proof also stir up within you a desire to honor him lavishly in your giving like Nicodemus.

Now, if you haven’t put your faith in Jesus yet, if you’re still on the fence about whether or not this Jesus guy really existed, if you’re still not quite convinced that all of this is true.

I can’t do anything more than what God has already done in his Word.

You have the facts of the gospel, the good news that Jesus died in your place so that you can be forgiven and live with him forever if you repent and put your faith in him.

Now it’s up to the Holy Spirit to convince you that the gospel is true and that you need to put your faith in Jesus and turn to live for him rather than living for yourself.

So, if you feel compelled to believe in Jesus, to believe the gospel, then let go of your pride and believe.

And tell God in prayer that you believe.

And tell us that you believe so that we can help you along with the Holy Spirit to repent and live for Jesus.

Pray

Father, thank you for this assurance that your Son, Jesus really did die for our sins.

I pray that you would destroy any doubts we may have about the truth of your Word.

Use your Holy Spirit to convince us of these truths and to convict us of our sin so that we can repent while there’s still time to do so.

If there’s anyone here who hasn’t put their faith in your Son, I pray that you would convince them of their need through your Spirit.

Lord, give them life, spiritual life, to respond to the gospel with repentant faith.

I pray that you would work a miracle in our midst.

I pray that you would use us and our boldness in Christ to spread the gospel in our neighborhoods, in our community.

Lord I pray that you would start a revival here in Eureka, in Humboldt county.

And I pray that you would use us to that end.

Allow us to see your mission, your kingdom advanced as we faithfully tell others about your love in the gospel.

I pray that we would all make much of Christ, that we would proclaim his sufficiency to save us from sin and death.

And it’s in his glorious name we pray all of this. Amen.

Communion

We are going to celebrate communion now.

And if you are visiting with us we’d like you to join us, but only if you are a true believer who has made a public confession of faith in Christ, not just a secret disciple like Joseph or Nicodemus.

You see, communion is a reminder and declaration of our unity with Christ and with each other.

And if your unity with Christ is a secret, and you have no unity with other believers, then in taking communion it kind of looses its meaning.

As the elements, the bread and the cup, are passed around, I want to look a bit at the meaning of our communion celebration and how it is linked to the Passover celebration.

In our passage we looked at in the sermon, John referred to Jesus’ bones not being broken as a reference to the fact that he is the ultimate Passover lamb.

The Passover lamb was sacrificed in place of the firstborn during the tenth plague as God was freeing his people from slavery in Egypt.

And through Moses, God told his people to keep celebrating this Passover meal every year so that they wouldn’t forget how God saved them from death and slavery.

But the Passover was never meant to be only looking back at how God had saved them in the past.

It was also meant to look forward to how God would continue to save them and how he would ultimately save them through his promised deliverer, the Messiah, the Christ, God’s Son.

John recognized this connection, that’s why he mentioned the prophecy of the Christ having his bones left unbroken just like the Passover lamb.

But Jesus also recognized this connection when he instituted the communion celebration the night before his death.

All of the gospel writers mention something about this particular celebration, but I’m going to look specifically at Mark’s gospel account.

Mark 14:22–25 “And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.””

The meal they were eating was the Passover meal.

Now, when God instituted the Passover meal celebration it wasn’t just one little cracker and cup of juice.

No, it was a whole week of lavish meals that all pointed to the reminder and expectation of God’s faithfulness and care for his people.

So, this was the beginning of the Passover celebration, also called the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

And Jesus took only two of the elements of this celebratory meal and shifted the perspective.

Instead of only looking back at what God had done, and looking forward to what God would continue to do…

Jesus shifted the perspective to show what God was actively doing in their midst in that moment.

Jesus was about to give his body and blood, to be sacrificed like the Passover lamb.

And he took the unleavened bread and broke it as a sign of how his body was about to be broken for us, though his bones would remain unbroken.

And he took the cup and indicated that as the cup is poured out into our mouths, so his blood would be poured out as the institution of the new covenant.

And now, we continue to celebrate, not the whole Passover meal, but the parts that Jesus told us to continue celebrating as often as we can.

We remember Jesus’ body broken for us and his blood poured out for us, and we look forward to when he will return, when he will drink of the fruit of the vine new with us in the kingdom of God.

But we also look to what Jesus is doing in our midst right now because of his sacrifice on the cross.

He is saving people, and he is transforming us to look more and more like him, union with him.

So, let’s pray and then we will take these elements together.

Pray

Father, thank you for the reminder of your faithfulness and care for us.

Thank you for faithfully loving us, and providing for us the only way to be saved from sin and death.

We remember your sacrifice, how you sent your only Son, to die in our place so that we could be forgiven and live with you forever.

We remember, but we also look forward to when Jesus will come back to make all things new, to wipe away every tear from our eyes, to celebrate his victory and drink of the fruit of the vine with us in his kingdom.

But Lord, we also see how you are working right now in the hearts and lives of people through this sacrifice.

We pray that this celebration would not just be a reminder, but that it would bring us together in unity as your people, your children, your adopted family.

And we pray that it would draw us all closer to your Son Jesus, transforming us into his likeness as we remember, look forward to, and see all around us his faithfulness to save us from sin and death.

We thank you and praise you in Jesus’ name. Amen.