The Cost of God's Goodness

Introduction

-{John 19}

-We are all probably familiar with the phrase that nothing in life is free. If you want something, you have to go out and buy it or earn it in some way.

~If someone comes to us wanting to give us something for “free,” we’re usually pretty skeptical about their motives (and for good reason). Either they are trying to take advantage of us, or do us harm, or there is some fine print somewhere that would obligate us to an even steeper cost than what we would normally pay.

~We tell our kids not to accept free candy from strangers because those people mean you harm.

~And we know that if something in this world seems to be too good to be true, it probably is too good to be true.

-But then we come to God’s dealing with us. And we at Harvest Baptist Church have set aside today to recognize that God is so good to us. We theologically know that it is only by God’s grace that He shows us this goodness. And we know that grace is unmerited favor—it’s not something that we can earn or deserve because we are sinful human beings. God is just good to us.

-But just because His goodness through grace is not something that WE can earn or deserve, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t come at a cost. For a holy, perfect God to show sinful, defiled human beings any sort of good, a price has to be paid.

~God is a God of perfect justice. When there is a crime against His perfection, His justice has to be satisfied. God cannot just show good and ignore the injustice committed against Him. He is not a cosmic grandfather that just overlooks the mischief the grandkids get into and then give them milk and cookies. A price has to be paid.

-And because we ourselves can never cover the cost of our sin, it has to be paid by another if we are to enjoy the goodness of God.

~And so, all the wonderful testimony that we heard today—it came at a cost. These fine folks that shared with us: they didn’t pay that cost. But we celebrate that another paid the cost on their behalf, and on your behalf, and on my behalf.

-Let’s consider the cost that was paid and the One who paid it for us so that God could spread His goodness toward us abundantly

READ John 19:1-16a

John 19:1–16a ESV

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus,

1) The price paid

-The Jews have brought Jesus to the Roman governor Pilate to convince him that Jesus needs to die. Pilate, on the other hand, tried to convince the Jews that he finds no guilt in Jesus. But the Jews are relentless, even choosing to release Barabbas rather than Jesus.

~And it’s actually rather ironic: Barabbas, who was a real insurgent and murderer (who actually fought against the Romans) is the one that is released. And Jesus, who never once spoke of rebellion much less acted like a rebel, is the one charged with sedition and mounting some sort of coup against Roman leadership.

-Jesus is spoken ill of by the Jews, wrongly accused, mishandled, mistreated, slandered, and turned over to Gentile dogs for more abuse.

-Pilate hands Jesus over to his soldiers to be flogged or scourged. Now, there seems to be some confusion about this flogging because John records that Jesus was scourged before He was sentenced to death (and Luke may make reference to this as well)—so, Jesus was roughed up a bit and then brought before the people again for Pilate to make the case for Jesus’ release.

~However, Matthew and Mark record that Jesus went through a scourging after He was sentenced to death—a scourging that made Jesus so battered that He could not carry His cross all the way to Golgotha.

-In trying to reconcile all the different gospel accounts, it seems most likely that Jesus was flogged or scourged twice before His crucifixion.

~The Romans were known to give three forms of flogging, each with increasing levels of severity. The least severe form was known as fustigatio and usually was given for minor offenses. It still involved whipping and beatings and the like but did not come close to bringing someone to the point of death.

~Pilate most likely, at first, ordered this type of punishment to placate the Jews—to show them that he at least did something to the man that they brought before him, but probably with the intention then to release Jesus.

-The soldiers, however, thought that they’d have a little fun with Jesus first before bringing Him back to Pilate. If Jesus claimed to be a king, then they were going to treat Him like a king—in the most mocking, belittling way that they could find.

-They wove the long spike-like thorns of a date palm into an imitation of the crowns worn by oriental kings, with the thorns sticking up giving the impression of radiance glowing off of the crown. The thorns would have cut deeply into Jesus’ head and skull, adding to the pain and bleeding He already experienced from the flogging.

-But the soldiers were not satisfied to merely inflict pain, they wanted to inflict humiliation as well. Finding a purple rug or cloak, they wrapped it around Jesus to further mock Him—not realizing they were scorning the true King.

-Pilate brought Jesus back out to the Jews, thinking that after seeing Jesus in such pitiful shape they would stop pursuing His death—but the Jews would not relent.

~They blackmail Pilate into getting what they want, telling him they would report him to Caesar. Pilate was already on Caesar’s radar for not handling things right, and this might get him into further trouble—maybe fired, or maybe even killed.

-Pilate finally yields to their wishes and sentences Jesus to death, mocking the Jews along the way.

~This is when Jesus is sent to the flogging described in Matthew and Mark—this level of scourging was known as verberatio, which was inflicted on someone that was going to his death. The victim was stripped and tied to a post, then beaten with a whip of leather thongs fitted with pieces of bone or metal. The whip tore the skin of the victims such that their innards were often left exposed. These beatings were so savage that people often died from the loss of blood before even making it to the cross. But Jesus survived, and then was led to His crucifixion.

-Y’all…all of this is the price paid for God’s goodness toward us. God’s One Unique Son, the very God of gods, who already humbled Himself to become human, was then tortured and beaten and mocked and humiliated and killed.

~And here we are, taking God’s goodness for granted. Or maybe we dare think that we deserve God’s goodness.

~No, what we deserve is what Jesus endured, and then some. But Jesus took our place, so that the God of justice and holiness could show goodness and grace toward rebels without compromising His righteous character.

-And now, like the Jews and Pilate, we are faced with a choice. Let’s very briefly consider:

2) The choice made

-The Jews made their choice. They would rather hold onto the power and prestige that they built around themselves then bow to their true King. Here, before them, was the seed of Abraham that would be a blessing to all nations, the prophet that Moses promised, the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, but also the eternal King from David’s line. But instead of seeing that, they saw someone who was trying to put a kink within the cogs of their religious machine.

-It wasn’t enough for them that Jesus would be beaten and whipped. It wasn’t enough for them to have Him humiliated by pagan unbelievers. Nothing would satisfy them except His death.

-After Pilate’s soldiers did their dirty work, Pilate brings Jesus back out to them—bleeding, battered, and bruised, Pilate thought they would see Jesus as he saw Jesus; Jesus was no threat to anybody much less Caesar. And yet seeing the seemingly defeated Jesus made them seethe even more, so they cried out CRUCIFY HIM! CRUCIFY HIM!

~I liken it to bloodlust, where animals get a taste for blood and pursue more of it very aggressively. They were like animals, wanting more of His blood spilt.

-They had a choice, to bow the knee to their king or violently keep their power and comfort—and they chose the latter.

-Pilate had a choice too. At no time is Pilate to be looked at sympathetically. Having stated several times that Jesus was innocent, he could have simply let Jesus go. Yet Pilate made choices out of fear rather than doing what was right.

-Our passage says that when Pilate heard the Jews say Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, that Pilate had great fear. Pilate was very superstitious and coming from a Roman worldview he thought it possible for the gods to come down in human form. So, he asks Jesus where He came from—from heaven, from the mount of the gods, where???

~Jesus remained silent, so Pilate threatens him with his supposed authority. But as we continuously see throughout Jesus’ passion, He is the one that is completely in control. Pilate has no authority over Jesus except whatever that Father gave him.

-Our passage says that Pilate still sought to release Him, but when the Jews blackmailed him, he caved into their demands. Pilate was a weak-minded, spineless drone who cared more about what people thought.

-All of them could have trusted in Christ and been saved—and yet they refused Him.

-Then there’s us. We can sometimes be like the Jews and would rather safeguard the life that we built for ourselves rather than submitting to the authority of Jesus Christ.

~Sometimes we can be like Pilate and fear man rather than God—caving into the pressures of the world, not wanting to rock the boat—compromising rather than doing what is right.

-But Jesus suffered and died so that God could show some good to humanity—He rightfully demands our allegiance.

-And so, Pilate said to the Jews BEHOLD YOUR KING! And I say to you as well, BEHOLD YOUR KING! Now, what are you going to do with Him?

Conclusion

-Christian, come to the altar and thank God for His goodness. Even during rough seasons God shows goodness. Now, in reflecting on God’s goodness, we don’t want to make light of the fact that life also has its challenges and troubles and tribulations. Many of you have experienced enormous pain and grief over the past year. But I pray that contemplating God’s goodness will bring some comfort, knowing that the challenges and troubles and pains and grief are not permanent. They are but for a season. There is coming a day when we believers will experience the unfiltered, constant goodness of God for eternity. So, come and praise Him for that.

-But if you have never trusted in Christ, the Bible says that the good that God shows you is for the purpose of your repentance. Without Christ, you may experience some good on earth, but afterwards you would never experience one ounce of good ever again. And so believe in the Lord Jesus Christ who paid the price, and receive His eternal goodness…