The Son Of God Crucified

Sermons – Grace Evangelical Free Church // Wyoming, MN

John 19:16b-27 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.

INTRODUCTION

Have you ever heard or read something really profound? What I mean is, can you think of a time in which you heard news that would significantly change the course of things for you? Chances are good that everyone here has experienced that on some level. I certainly have.

The thing that stands out to me is how disproportionate the message seems compared to the reality it points to. For instance, I remember a friend of mind calling me back in August of 1990 (I had to look the actual date up) to tell me that “The war started” (in reference to the first Gulf War). His words were so simple, that they seemed entirely disconnected from the reality of what that meant in terms of the death and destruction that followed over the course of the next six months. And that’s to say nothing of the effects of the war on the individuals and families who participated in it for the years and even decades that followed. One man I know was only recently diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease, which the military has acknowledged to be caused by chemicals he was exposed to in combat.

The words “the war started” were entirely true and accurate, and there isn’t really a better way to say it, but they seem so insignificant compared to what they represented.

Likewise, when Gerri told me, “I’m pregnant,” she was telling the truth, and I knew it was a big deal, but those two words fall so far short of all they encompass that it now feels like the understatement of the last 25 years for me—and yet, what else could she say? Those were the right words.

I felt this profoundly when we commissioned the Adams’ and Krista to be sent off to the mission field. I used more words, and they were true, but they felt painfully inadequate to capture the fullness of the reality they pointed to.

Well, we have perhaps the biggest version of that of all time in our passage for this morning. Pilate, having entirely abdicated his responsibility as governor of the land, handed Jesus over to be crucified. “¹⁶ So they took Jesus, ¹⁷ and he went out… to …Golgotha.” And then come the words that, true as they are, fall so far short of the fullness of their meaning that it’s impossible to overstate, “¹⁸ There they crucified him…”.

We could take all of the other understatements in world history and multiply them by a million and still fall infinitely short of the understatement of John 19:18, “There they crucified him…” Embedded in those simple, unassuming words are the most significant truths of all.

They crucified the innocent, eternal, Son of God who had come to take away the sins of the world. In their most heinous injustice, they provided the means of the salvation of the Word. All of this was planned by God before the foundation of the world. Jesus’ crucifixion tore the vail of the temple of God in two, it reconciled sinners to God, it fulfilled the entire law of God, it satisfied the wrath of God, and on and on and on, and all of that and more is supposed to be captured in John’s four words, “There they crucified him…”

The big idea of this passage is that the Son of God was crucified. And within that, we see the incongruity of the crucifixion, several different responses to the truth of the crucifixion, and the sovereign plan of God in the crucifixion. The main takeaways from these things are to live lives of consistency and trust; consistent with the truth of God and trust in the promises of God.

THE INCONGRUITY OF JESUS’ CRUCIFIXION (17-18)

As we’ve seen over and over again, nothing about Jesus’ crucifixion made sense. On an earthy level, everyone involved knew it was a sham. The Jewish leaders who initiated it, had to manufacture charges and put forward fake witnesses. The one most immediately responsible for His condemnation, Roman governor, Pontious Pilate, repeatedly acknowledged that he found no guilt in Jesus and repeatedly sought to release Him.

And on a heavenly level, it’s even worse. Nothing more absurd has ever taken place than the eternal, immortal Second Person of the godhead, lovingly taking on flesh to rescue the world from sin against Him, only to be murdered by those He came to save.

None of that irony has been lost on John. He’s subtly drawn our attention to it repeatedly. In that familiar stream, the first two verses of this section highlight two more ironies, absurdities, incongruities.

Bearing His own cross (17)

First, in v.17, we see that not only had Jesus been handed over to be crucified, but additionally, He was forced to carry the cross that they would soon hang Him on.

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.

It was a common practice in Rome at that time for those condemned to carry their own crosses. They were guilty. It was a part of the consequences of their crimes. Why should anyone else be forced to bear such a burden? There’s probably something our judicial system could learn from that, actually.

Of course, things are different when it’s an innocent man and far more different still when it’s the perfect Son of God. But the greatest incongruency of all is in the fact that Jesus is the One by whom, and for whom, the cross He bore was made. What I mean is, Jesus made the tree that He would hang on. Jesus made the iron the nails were made of. He created the fiber for the rope that would bind Him. He made the dirt of the path they walked and that of the hill He was climbing. He made the minds and mouths and bodies of the men who were carrying out His murder. They were made for Him, and as the Second Person of the Godhead, He was still actively holding those things together.

Everything involved in this atrocity belonged to Jesus, and was for Jesus, and was at that moment being sustained by Jesus. Jesus carrying His own cross was a vivid picture of these things and John knew it.

Grace, it is right to keep this in the forefront of our minds. It is right to remember this when we use the very instruments God created for purposes other than those for which He created them. James 3:9-10 captures this well, “With [our mouth] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.”

When we use that which belongs to God to dishonor God (our minds, our bodies, or mouths, our skills, our gifts, our money, etc), we are functionally identical to the Romans who forced Jesus to bear His own cross. Ask the Spirit to help you recognize the simple fact that nothing truly belongs to you. You are merely a steward, a caretaker, of that which belongs to God. You must use all of it for His purposes and His glory, not as means to sin against Him as the Romans did.

Crucified with common criminals (18)

The second incongruity in the opening lines of our passage is found in v.18. There we’re told that Jesus was experiencing the same fate, at the same time, as those who were actually guilty.

¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.

According to Luke’s Gospel, even one of the criminals saw the ridiculousness of this.

Luke 23:39-41 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”

His is the Name above all names and the name at which every knee will bow and tongue confess His Lordship. He alone is the image of the invisible God and the exact imprint of His being. To Him alone belong all glory and honor and power. He ought to be exalted in highest praise, but instead He was crucified in the midst of sinners.

One significant application of this is to prayerfully consider where Jesus is completely out of place in your life. Where has He been misplaced or even displaced? Where is He second when He should be first and where is He absent when He should be preeminent? Are there pockets of your work day or parenting or recreation that are functionally godless? Are there areas of your marriage or friendships in which you are relying more on the relationship than the Lord of those relationships? Where are you acting as if Jesus is just one more thing in your life (sandwiched between sports and house projects and coffee dates and doctors’ appointments), rather than the source and power and center and aim of your whole?

John means us to consider the absolute ridiculousness of Jesus being placed on the cross in between robbers, scoff, and then look inward to see where we’re doing the same.

THE VARIOUS RESPONSES TO THE TRUTH OF JESUS’ CRUCIFIXION (19-27)

It is critical that we note the incongruities of this passage, but the heart of this passage is the various responses to the truth of Jesus crucifixion. Pilate, the Jews, the Roman soldiers, John, and Jesus all responded to the truths surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion differently. It is good for us to consider them carefully. Like the incongruencies, each in its own way functions as a mirror, helping us to see if any of their responses are in us.

Pilate had the truth and mocked the Jews with it (19-20)

First, we see that Pilate, the Roman governor, had the truth. He knew on some level that Jesus truly was the king of the Jews. From his perspective, this was mainly a way to mock the Jews. However, in his mocking was a measure of understanding.

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.

Jesus will be praised by people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. And again, mostly in ignorance, but apparently with some small measure of understanding, Pilate testified to this in declaring Jesus to be King of the Jews in the three most widely spoken languages in the area.

Pilate had the truth. Again, like Ciaphias on the Jewish side, he was unwittingly functioning as a prophet. However, instead of finding freedom and forgiveness and joy and life in it, he mostly missed it, was tormented by it, and used it to mock others.

Do you find hints of this in yourself? I see this whenever tender consciences are mocked. I see this whenever people are more concerned with being accepted by those who reject the Bible than with holding fast to biblical truth. I see it whenever people want the benefits of Christianity (the moral clarity, the service of the saints, etc.), but reject the central truth-claims of it. I see it whenever I shy away from sharing elements of the gospel that I know will be particularly hard for someone to hear.

The Jews had the truth and denied it entirely (21-22)

The second response, that of the Jews is familiar as well. They too had the truth, but denied it entirely.

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.”

If you don’t understand the total depravity caused by sin, if you don’t really believe that it spiritually blinds entirely, if your view of sin is more of a minor infraction than cosmic treason warranting death, then you won’t be able to make sense of this. You won’t be able to make sense of how the Jews, or anyone else, could miss the truth entirely, while standing in the actual, physical presence of Jesus, seeing Mis miracles and hearing His teaching. Indeed, the Apostle Paul addresses this blindness in listing the numerous advantages the Jews had to be able to recognize Jesus.

Romans 3:1-2 Then what advantage has the Jew? … ² Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God.

He continued with this idea a few chapters later…

Romans 9:4-5 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all.

Paul’s point is that the Jews in John 19, not only had the truth of Jesus in front of them, but they’d had it for centuries. The fact that they denied it all simultaneously testifies to the sinfulness of sin and to the justness of their condemnation. They could not have had any greater advantages in properly receiving the truth of Jesus as Savior and King, but they still denied it entirely.

Again, look at this situation with your eyes wide open and ask the Lord to help you see any hints (or massive doses) of it in you. Where are you denying the truth of Jesus as the King? Where are you functioning as if you are the sovereign ruler of your life? Where, as one author puts it, are you stuck in the “claustrophobic kingdom of one”? Where, like the Jews in this passage, is the truth right in front of you and yet you have turned your eyes away from it in order to turn them to your own purposes?

The soldiers had the truth and commodified it (23-24)

Pilate mocked, the Jews denied, and the Roman soldiers commodified the truth of Jesus as the King who would die to rescue His people.

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.”

Jesus came for the world’s gain. That is, He came to bring great advantage to all who would receive Him. The gain and advantage, of course, is no small one. It is, once again, forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with God and man, freedom from condemnation, true satisfaction, right ordering, complete redemption and restoration, and eternal life.

That truth, as it was with Pilate and the Jews, was looking right at the soldiers. As is often the case, however, the Romans traded all of that for a pile of used clothes. How absurd?!

Have you ever asked a young kid something like, “Would you rather have a cookie now or an elaborate dessert buffet later tonight?” Almost every time, the kid takes the single cookie instead of the much greater reward. They become so enamored with the crumbs in front of them, that it blinds them to the much better offer.

We all do that to different degrees in all kinds of areas of life. Jesus offers us everything we need for fullness of life and everlasting joy, through His death and in His commands, promises, and presence. Following Jesus is always the straightest path to the fullest satisfaction and yet we constantly veer off that path into the false promises of money, sexual immorality, comfort, family, and worldly success. And insodoing, we are responding to the truth of Jesus just as the Roman soldiers did—trying to scavenge some scraps at the expense of the true blessing.

John had the truth and served others with it (27)

Again, Pilate, the Jews, and the soldiers had the truth and rejected it, each in their own way. But not everyone responded in faithlessness and disbelief. It is almost universally accepted that John, the writer of the Gospel, is the “disciple whom Jesus loved”. (Yes, that means that John is calling himself the disciple loved by Jesus.) John had the truth of Jesus’ crucifixion and, at least in the way described in v.27, he believed it and acted in faith.

²⁷ Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

At this point, John clearly understood that Jesus was about to die. And He was growing in his understanding of what that meant. But on the most basic level, John loved and trusted Jesus enough to accept responsibility for Jesus’ mother, Mary. John believed the truth of Jesus such that, at Jesus’ command, he treated Mary as His own mother, taking her into his own home.

This is about as practical as it gets. Timothy will later echo this sentiment, “if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” John received the truth of Jesus, believed it, and in the most practical way possible acted in light of it.

Grace, it is a simple, but critical fact that believing in the truth of Jesus will never remain in the abstract. It will always, always work itself out in reality. Sometimes it will do so in big ways like adoption or caring for an aged family member or going to the mission field or even martyrdom. And sometimes it will work out in the simplest ways imaginable like not speeding, sharing your cookie, not exaggerating, saying an encouraging word instead of a funny one, etc. But the fact remains that it will always work itself out. It will always become incarnate. If a truth about Jesus doesn’t affect the way you live, you don’t really believe it, it’s that simple.

John would certainly respond to the truth of Jesus in bigger ways, but here he simply acted in the way put in front of him by meeting the very practical need of looking out for Mary once Jesus was gone. May we do so as well. As one of my favorite kids’ books says it, look to John, and “live the life that unfolds before you,” in every big and tiny choice, in light of the truth of the crucifixion and all it entails.

Jesus was the truth and lived entirely in light of it to the end (25-27)

Finally, Jesus lived entirely in light of the truth as well. And like John, although it had and would take on much bigger forms, in this passage it took a the very practical form of loving His mom and looking out for her wellbeing; even while experiencing the agony of hanging on the cross.

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.

In His darkest hour, Jesus perfect conformity to righteousness caused Him to think in the most practical terms.

It can be too easy for people who love God’s word—who love to carefully consider lofty theological truths—to be put off by the child-like, simple, practice of the faith. It can be too easy to go on learning more and more and more, while scoffing at the immediate, small differences it should make in the way you talk and listen and act.

This passage is filled with the glory of the practical, even as we’re about to enter into the profound, eternal glory of the theological. Both John and Jesus help us to see that the two are never in conflict and ought always go together.

THE PLAN OF GOD IN JESUS’ CRUCIFIXION (23-24)

We’ve considered the incongruity of the crucifixion and the various responses to the truth of the crucifixion. The final aspect of this passage that I want to point out is the plan of God in the crucifixion.

We see that in John’s repeated focus on the fact that none of the injustices or atrocities perpetrated against Jesus caught God off guard. They were all, in their own ways, ordained by God and the fulfillment of the Word of God. In vs.23-24 we see that this is the case yet again in the Roman soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ clothes. We’ll come back to that in a bit, but first, I want to remind you of how important this is for John.

Back in John 12(:37-40) we saw this concerning the reason people did not believe in Jesus in spite of His marvelous works.

Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸ so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.”

In 13:18, in reference to Judas’s betrayal, Jesus said, “I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’”

In 15:25 Jesus explained why the Jews hated Him in spite of His miracles and teaching, “But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’”

17:12 records Jesus praying to the Father concerning His protection of His followers, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

Again, in reference to His persevering of His disciples, in 18:8, at His arrest, Jesus negotiated the release of His disciples and then in v.9 John explains, “This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: ‘Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.’”

And in John 18:32, concerning the fact that He would be crucified by Rome rather than stoned by Israel, John explained that, “This was to fulfill the word that Jesus had spoken to show by what kind of death he was going to die.”

All of that brings us back to vs.23-24 in our passage for today.

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.”

This is a quote from Psalm 22:18, “…they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” John will note Jesus’ fulfillment of two other parts of Psalm 22 in the coming chapters as well.

Once again, John’s main point in repeatedly highlighting Jesus’ fulfilment of these prophecies is to demonstrate that his Gospel was not one of revisionist history. He was not fabricating a story after the fact to explain away the easy subduing of the Christ. He was, instead, telling of the climax of a story that had been going on for millennia.

Far from being a surprise and crushing defeat, everything about Jesus’ suffering and death was a foreknown display of strength and victory.

We have life through His death and that was the plan all along! It’s why Jesus came. And in order that we might believe and have faith, God had been leaving breadcrumbs for His people to follow from the beginning. What gift of grace is Jesus our long-promised Redeemer.

CONCLUSION

The big idea of this passage is that the Son of God was crucified. And within that, we see the incongruity of the crucifixion, several different responses to the truth of the crucifixion, and the sovereign plan of God in the crucifixion. The main takeaways are to live lives of consistency and trust; or, better still, consistency in trust.

The good news is that we don’t have to pretend that we don’t know how this story goes. This isn’t the end of things. Christ is risen from the dead. Which is why we now get to turn our attention to the His meal of celebration.