Latest revision as of 14:50, 8 April 2025

Theological Proposition/Focus: While the crucifixion is a monumental event in history, it is also a personal encounter with Christ's love and mercy.

Christ Focus: The crucifixion of Jesus not only signifies the removal of our debt but also emphasizes the personal nature of that salvation, inviting each individual to embrace the grace offered through Him.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: Recognizing that Jesus died for "our" sins encourages a deep, personal relationship with Him and motivates true repentance and faith. It also stresses the importance of sharing this truth with others who may not yet recognize their need for a Savior.

Teaching: Personal ownership of the salvation provided by the cross leads to a transformative relationship with Christ and a life lived in response to His immense love and sacrifice.

Introduction

Image: Growing numb and wake-up calls

Need: We sometimes grow numb to the crucifixion, but there is so much we can learn from it.

Subject: The crucifixion serves as a profound reminder of our personal shame and the payment for our sins, leading us to hope.

Preview: Today I want to look at the crucifixion through the lens of shame, payment, and hope.

Text: John 19:17-42 read before each main point.

Setting the Stage:

By the time we get to verse 17 in John chapter 19, the Roman and Jewish trials have come to an end, and the Son of God has been found guilty in a kangaroo court.

John now moves into a detailed description of the crucifixion, but the focus is not merely on the physical suffering but on the theological significance of the suffering.

In His death, we are able to glimpse the full significance of the person and work of Jesus. It is the crucified Christ who is the perfect fulfillment of the plan of God in providing priest, King, and Son of God all in one.

So today, as we move into the crucifixion, I want you to take some time and look beyond the physical elements into the theological significance.

Don't ignore the physical suffering; rather, use the physical reality to add texture to your understanding of the theological significance of the crucifixion.

Body

My Shame — The shame of the crucifixion should remind us of the shame of our sin debt (17-27).

Shame is a touchy topic. In counseling, we come to understand that shame damages relationships. In fact, it is shame that we are introduced to in the Garden of Eden after the fall. The beauty of the Gospel is that it solves the problem of shame as described in Romans 10:11, "As Scripture says, 'Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame,'" but that doesn't mean that we should forget the shame of sin. Rather, we should use the shame of sin to enhance our understanding of the grace of God.

The parade of the condemned is my parade (17-18).

We are pretty private about our sins. What I mean by this is that we don't go about talking a lot about our sins. Instead, we keep them hidden and quiet, but the reality is that our sins deserve to be on display for all to see how wicked we are. But instead, Jesus took the shame, being paraded in front of the people.

John does not provide a ton of detail on the parade of the condemned, but he gives us enough that together with the rest of history, we can assemble a pretty good picture of what happened. Romans typically forced the condemned to carry the crossbar of their cross to the crucifixion site, where it would be affixed to permanently placed vertical poles.

Upon arriving at the place of the skull, Jesus was crucified, and again, John shares a key detail. Jesus was placed in the middle of two other criminals. Jesus was placed in the place of most shame. Again, the parade of shame is our parade!

Crucifixion itself was fairly well known in the Roman world, and there was not a prescription for all that was done. In fact, the details of the crucifixion were really only limited by the extent of the sadistic ideas of the executioners. There was nothing off the table, and crucifixion was as obscene a death as one could make it.

At a minimum, a criminal was flogged and then forced to carry the crossbeam to the site of execution. Along the way, the individual would be scourged. At the site, the criminal could expect to be stripped and have his hands affixed to the crossbeam with either nails or ropes.

Once on the cross, the body was fully exposed to both public viewing as well as the elements of nature. At a minimum, a crucified individual could expect flies, and some even had animals assault the lower portions of the body.

As suffering and exhaustion set in, the individual would often lose control of bodily functions like bladder and bowel control. A slow and agonizing death ensued as the individual suffocated to death. Romans especially enjoyed leaving a crucified body on the cross to rot in place, but Jewish law would have prevented this in Jerusalem.

But it doesn't end there!

The crimes of the condemned are my crimes (19-22)

Common practice at the time of the crucifixion was for a guilty individual to carry a placard that identified the crime that he had committed for all to see as the individual walked on their way toward execution. The placard presented a public display of the charges against them.

In the case of Jesus, it was no different. Pilate had a plaque made out that read "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." The sign was both an offense to Jesus, as it was intended to mock Him, as Pilate did not in any way believe in Jesus' claims, but it was also an offense to the Jews, who had brought Jesus before him in this situation.

Recognizing the significance of what had been written, the leaders of the people, in particular, the chief priests, came before Pilate and asked him not to write it that way, but to write that Jesus claimed to be king. He answered, "What I have written, I have written." The use of the perfect tense signals this as done and final. What Pilate doesn't realize is that his declaration here is a declaration of theological significance. Jesus is nothing short of the King of the Jews. The use of three different languages—Aramaic, Latin, and Greek—reminds us that Jesus is really for all, and all have access to Him.

Aramaic would have been the language of the common people in the region of the empire, and Greek the formal language of the rest of the world. For all intents and purposes, as far as this is concerned, Jesus is King. But beyond just the statements that Jesus is King, we need to look at the significance of the writing of charges.

Remember that the purpose of writing the charges was in order that everybody might know what the individual had done wrong. Here's where it is significant. The Jews wanted Pilate to agree with them. He claimed to be king of the Jews. That in itself might be a crime, but Pilate doesn't write that. Instead, Pilate chooses to write: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." What Jesus had done wrong was not anything He had done. It was simply that Jesus represented the people more. Specifically, Jesus represented each of us here as He goes forward to the cross with the title "the King of the Jews." I want us to think about the fact that the real problem is that Jesus was carrying our sins. The title is not in any way a crime at all. It's a representation that Jesus carried to the cross the sins of you and me.

The shame of the condemned is my shame (23-24).

Verses 23 through 24 provide an unusually detailed description of the clothing of Jesus. It is interesting to think about the fact that in the midst of all of the above regarding the crucifixion, the death of the Son, and the theological significance of that event, John takes the time to explicitly talk about what happens to His clothing. This tells us that this is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:18:

Psalm 22:18 "They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment."

But I think there's even more going on beyond what we read about the fact that the soldiers took the clothes and divided them into four shares. In the Greek, the word for clothes there would refer to the outer garments that one wears above their underwear, for lack of a better way of putting it. We see that there are four soldiers, and they take the garments, which maybe could be something like a tunic or other garments like that, and divide them among themselves.

But then we see a very interesting detail. There's an undergarment, and this particular undergarment was apparently very important because it was seamless—a seamless undergarment is something that would be more appropriate for someone like a priest, someone in a high position. But this is what Jesus wore and the soldiers come across it.

What's interesting to think about is the reality that the soldiers took everything from Jesus. Jesus dies with nothing! I think that we need to consider that reality and realize the shame present in Jesus's death, as He literally is stripped of everything that He could possibly have. And then we need to consider the fact that that shame is our shame. We deserve nothing. Jesus died with nothing, but Jesus's death is because we deserve nothing. Anything we have is simply by the grace of God.

The pain of the affected is because of me (25-27).

In verses 25 through 27, we are introduced to a contrast: while four soldiers stood at the cross, we now see four women standing near Jesus.

The scene that follows has been interpreted in many ways, but the simplest understanding is that Jesus recognized a significant break within His family. As the oldest son, He had the responsibility to care for Mary. However, it seems that Jesus' brothers may have already rejected Him, leading to a rupture in the family. Because of this, Jesus entrusted Mary's care to John, believing there was no one else who could fulfill that role.

What are we to take from this? We must understand that a fundamental consequence of sin is broken relationships. When Jesus paid the price for sin, He endured all its consequences, and those closest to Him also experienced its effects. Yet, we must remember that this brokenness is not just something that happened to Jesus; it is a brokenness we, too, have created because of sin.

When we sin it effects those around us. No matter how private you think you sin si it doesn't change the reality.

MTR: Take your shame to the cross.

At this point, we've spoken a lot about the shame associated with sin. It's important to be very careful here because while the shame of sin is real and deeply felt by many, we were never meant to bear it ourselves.

The key is to recognize our shame and immediately bring it to the cross. If you try to carry shame on your own, you will continue to feel its weight. But if you take that shame to Christ—the One who bore shame on your behalf—then instead of being burdened by it, you can glorify God, who is more than enough to take it away.

Because of Christ, we do not need to live in shame. However, if we are not intentional, we may still find ourselves trapped in it—simply because we are not bringing our shame to the cross.

My Payment — The death of Jesus marks the complete payment of our sin debt (28-37).

The glory of the moment is the total payment (28-30). Note: Can we get a picture of the hyssop plant here?

In verse 28, we read that Jesus was in complete control. The text tells us that Jesus acted knowing that all the details. In fact, what we see is that Jesus made sure to fulfill every little detail. The declaration of His thirst by Jesus is likely a reference to Psalm 69:21, "They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst," and reminds us that every single detail was under the control of the One who everyone else thought was completely at the mercy of the world.

I want you to notice something in verse 29. A lot of people have explored the significance of the wine vinegar, but I want us to look at the hyssop. I have a picture of a hyssop plant here for you to look at, and I want you to notice how flimsy the stalk of the hyssop is. The plant is not really a plant made for this, so the fact that John mentions it explicitly tells us that something is going on here beyond coincidence.

In the Passover commands, there is an important command given in Exodus 12:22, "Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning." Hyssop was used in the Passover. If you read carefully through John's Gospel, you will see that John presents Jesus as the Passover Lamb. I think that God here is controlling so many fine details that even the very plant used is a reminder that what Jesus is doing on the cross right here is fulfilling the imagery that God had put in place 1500 years earlier at the Passover. This is the moment we have all been waiting for, the ultimate Passover.

It is after receiving the wine vinegar that Jesus makes the greatest proclamation in history, "Τετέλεσται." The perfect tense of the verb is significant because it is used of something that has happened in the past with ongoing effects into the future. The word used here can mean to pay something or also to bring something to an end. The declaration Jesus is making is a declaration that this whole payment for sins has been completed. This whole imagery that the Passover was to convey has been fully realized. In this moment, our full payment has been accomplished.

And with that, Jesus dies. But the death of Jesus is special. As a pastor, I have had the honor and responsibility of being present for the passing of individuals, and I will tell you it is a special and dramatic event. As life comes to an end, you can see the moment when the spirit departs and the person passes, but the phrasing John uses here is unique. John tells us that Jesus gave up His spirit. The idea here, I think, is that this was an intentional act by Jesus to give Himself. Remember, Jesus is the author of life.

This is nothing short of a display of God's glory and authority, and in the moment also our complete payment. God made the choice to pay for our sins, and it happened right here with great intentionality.

The preview of the moment is the Passover (31-33).

Look at what John states. It was the day of preparation, and the next day was a special Sabbath. What was so special about this Sabbath? Well, if this was Friday—some think it was actually Thursday, but I don't want to get into that today—then the Passover this year was going to be on a Saturday, and that made the Sabbath particularly special. In order to honor the sanctity of the Sabbath, the Jews pressured the Romans to speed up this crucifixion and get the bodies off of the cross.

But there is more going on here that deserves our attention. This was the day of preparation. That means that as everyone else was killing their lamb for the celebration of Passover, God was also providing His Passover.

Back in Exodus 12, God instituted the Passover, and now that preview of what God would do has finally come to conclusion. I admit that when I go to a movie, I really enjoy the previews. Unfortunately, sometimes the previews are better than the movie itself. In this case, the previews were great but couldn't hold a candle to the actual event.

From now on, when the time comes for God to eternally judge someone who has trusted in Christ's death, He will Passover, seeing instead the righteousness of Christ.

The intentionality of the moment is witnessed (34-37).

Remember that back in verse 30, Jesus had given up His life purposefully and intentionally. Now the soldiers have a task: make sure that each of the criminals is dead so they can be taken off of the cross before the Sabbath. This was not the normal way crucifixion was carried out. Normally, the Romans let this drag on for days, but the Romans acquiesced.

The normal way to speed up death by crucifixion is to break the legs. Crucifixion works through asphyxiation. However, with broken legs, an individual cannot push themselves up, reducing the pull on the arms and allowing a breath to be taken. So, the soldiers break the legs.

But again, intentionality is at play here. The Romans come to Jesus, and it looks like He is already dead. So, what do the soldiers do? They test to see if Jesus is actually dead by piercing His side with a spear. In this way, Psalm 34:20, "He protects all his bones; not one of them will be broken," is fulfilled.

Every single detail was under the control of the God who had planned it all out.

I want us to spend some time thinking about the statement "It is finished."

Image: It is finished: the victory of a moment, writing a thesis.

One of my favorite memories of my time when I was at UNL was the two times when I supervised the PhD thesis of a student.

My method of supervising a PhD was to slowly bring them into the fold, no longer as a student but as a peer. The way I did this was by meeting weekly to design and carry out a major research project together. Generally, this would take about three years of work, meeting for a couple of hours a week. We would meticulously plan, carry out, study, and write.

But there was nothing better than that final moment when I would sign my name on their submission and congratulate them as Dr. So-and-so, a full peer. It was finished.

The first Passover was something like 1500 years prior to the crucifixion. Can you imagine the feeling, if I can put it that way, of God having completed the salvation plan He had put in place in the Garden of Eden?

When we talk about forgiveness for sins, sometimes we take it lightly, or we focus on the sin. Today, I want you to focus on the provision—God's plan carried out meticulously for you.

MTR: On the blank below, write down a sin you are vexed with, scratch it out, and write "paid in full."

Maybe it is anger, impatience, gossip, worry; I don't know what you need to write down.

My Hope — The burial of Jesus drives us to remember all hope is not lost (38-42).

The death of Jesus deserves memorializing and honoring (38-39).

Joseph of Arimathea, a man that we know little about, emerges as a hero in the story. This man, who apparently had some significant credentials since he was allowed to speak with Pilate about Jesus, comes and receives permission to take the body of Jesus.

Joseph is accompanied by none other than Nicodemus, whom we had learned about back in John 3. Together, they show great honor in that they arrive with a significant cargo of spices.

In fact, if we jump back to John 12:3, "Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume," and look at the Greek, we can get an idea of the significance of what Nicodemus brought.

In the Greek, Mary brought 1 λιτρόν, which was described as a lavish gift worth about a year's wages. Now Nicodemus brings 100 λιτρόν, which the NIV does the conversion for us is about 75 pounds. The point, though, is that Nicodemus brought 100 times what Mary brought. Now we don't know details about quality or anything like that, but I think we can fairly say that Nicodemus went all out, bringing a lifetime supply.

The text tells us that Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus and that Nicodemus had visited Jesus in the night. Clearly, both had previously been afraid to be seen with Jesus in public. However, now, this fear has been replaced with a desire to honor Jesus.

I am reminded that the death of Jesus is worthy of our honor and our memorialization. We should not shy away from showing honor to this monumental event.

But even as we show honor, we must not forget the resurrection.

Despite the clear teaching of Jesus, we can sometimes forget that He has promised resurrection (40-42).

Ok, bear with me; I want to be careful here that I don't read too much into the text. But I do want you to notice that the preparations that Nicodemus and Joseph take do not in any way reflect an expectation that Jesus would rise from the dead.

Several passages in the Gospel of John suggest that Jesus would rise from the dead. Here are key moments where Jesus predicts or alludes to His resurrection:

1. John 2:19-22 "Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.' They replied, 'It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?' But the temple He had spoken of was His body. After He was raised from the dead, His disciples recalled what He had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."

  a. Jesus metaphorically refers to His body as the temple and predicts His resurrection.

2. John 10:17-18 "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

  a. Jesus clearly states that He has the power to lay down His life and take it up again, referring to His resurrection.

3. John 11:25-26 "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"

  a. Jesus declares Himself as the source of resurrection and eternal life, foreshadowing His own victory over death.

These passages strongly indicate that Jesus expected His resurrection and shared this truth with His disciples before it happened.

I cannot say for sure, but I highly doubt that you would completely wrap a body you expect to rise. Also, if I expected a body to rise, I would probably not place it into an enclosed tomb.

I want us to be careful not to pass judgment because I am convinced we do the same thing. Catholics are sometimes given a hard time because they have crucifixes with Jesus still on the cross. We like to puff out our chests and say things like, "Our cross is empty because Jesus didn't stay on the cross!" Well, no duh, the Catholics believe that too.

Here is the thing: the cross matters, but I am convinced that without the resurrection, everything else is meaningless, and I think I have Scripture to back me up on that. Look at 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith."

So we should regularly remind ourselves that resurrection is coming (1 Cor. 15:20).

I am running out of time, but I want you to take a second and look at 1 Corinthians 15:20, "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."

We need to remind ourselves.

Image: The empty tomb

The empty tomb is probably the most important historical event in history. Those who deny Christianity even struggle with this one. What do you do with the historical fact that Jesus did not stay dead?

If Jesus rose, then everything He said is true, and if it is true, then this is only the beginning.

MTR: This week, as you anticipate Easter Sunday, use that anticipation to also anticipate your future resurrection.