Crushing Serpents Pt 2: The Sacrifice

Good morning. Well, I wanted to get up and just make a little bit of an introduction here so that you're not going, who's the long-haired guy on the stage and how'd he get here? So about 20, a little over 20 years ago, yeah, I know those aren't fun numbers, a young shaggy-haired kid came into my life and named Luke Schaefer and he kind of became the little brother that I never had and God has blessed him with the gift of worship. And so Jared was going to be out of town this weekend and of course dad's got going on what he's got going on. I said, hey, would you come

over and do a little worship for us? And he said, I would be glad to. So blessed to have him with us this morning. So if we could all stand and we'll open up in a word of prayer. Father, we come to you now and Lord, we thank you that you have blessed us to be able to be here this morning. Lord, I thank you that you have blessed us with this gift of worship. And so Lord, I pray that

as we take time to pour out our hearts to you, that your Holy Spirit would move through this place. Lord, that we would let you know that we have a gift of worship. And so Lord, I pray that we would let go of the things of the week, that we would let go of the worries, the cares, and the concerns, and that you would set our hearts upon you and set our minds upon you. And so Lord, move through this time, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.

During this song, I just want us to reflect on that sacrifice, just the work of the cross and everything that it is to us, everything that it does for us, how far and wide it reaches into our lives. Jesus, Lord of heaven. Jesus, we thank you for your love. We thank you that every shortcoming, every fault, every guilt, every shame was eradicated on the cross. Every far-reaching

hold that sin could have, was taken care of that day. We thank you for that work, for that sacrifice. We thank you for what it means to us. And we ask the Holy Spirit to renew us through that work and that we would seek to do that good work in the Holy Spirit. And I just pray today that you speak to us through Ryan as he brings the word. And Holy Spirit, we thank you for being here in Jesus name. Amen.

You guys can go ahead and turn to one another and greet each other. Very friendly like, as friendly as you can muster.

Good morning. If you could begin the process of locating your seat, grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. A handful of things to take note of that are going on. I'm over on the left-hand side are the things that go on throughout the week. So continue to get plugged into those. I'm over in the middle. I'm over on the left side. And I'm a little confused at the moment. I'm going to pick out a couple of things together. I'm going to go ahead and take a look at our bulletin.

I want to give you a little introduction of your bulletin. A few things to take note of. Ladies, there is a women's breakfast coming up this Saturday. Only some things have changed. Basically, throw everything out in the bulletin, except for the fact that it's this Saturday. It's going to start at 8.30. Get a pen ready, okay? It's going to start at 8.30. It's going to be here at Calvary,

and uh moms bring your daughters did i say everything i was supposed to say felt good felt right okay um so that's what's going on with ladies breakfast um holy week services are coming up in a couple of weeks and the little handout for that is in your bulletin um then the proclaiming the gospel conference is this weekend this coming weekend at uh first baptist of burden and then two things that are not in your bulletin uh one is that there is intercessory prayer tonight at six as usual down at the other end of the hallway and then um on wednesday april the 16th we will be doing a worship night that's holy week and so we thought that'd be a great week to do a wednesday

night worship night so uh take note of that and come join us for that everything will take place as usual when wednesday night service does but but it will be a special worship night so those are the things that are going on if you would make sure that you oh and we have a new memory verse for this week romans 5 8 i've been asked that if i would say that online that they would appreciate that romans chapter 5 verse 8 very much goes along with what we're talking about here this morning so now if you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced and for our responsive reading this morning we are going to be in psalm 6 psalm 6 looking at the new american standard for this part just so that we sound the same

if you need a copy there should be one in a row around you and as you are turning to psalm 6 9 if you are able please stand in the honor of the reading of god's word i will read the odd verses if you will follow along with pastor allen in the even verses psalm 6 for the choir director with stringed instruments upon an eight-stringed lyre psalm of david oh lord do not rebuke me in your anger nor chasten me in your wrath gracious to me oh lord for i am pining away heal me oh lord for my bones are dismayed and my soul is greatly dismayed but you oh lord how long return oh lord rescue my soul save me because of your loving kindness for there is no mention of you

in death in sheol who will give you thanks i am weary with my sighing every night i make my bed swim i dissolve my couch with my tears my eye has wasted away with grief it has become old because of all my adversaries depart from me all you who do iniquity for the lord has heard the voice of my weeping the lord has heard my supplication the lord receives my prayer all my enemies will be ashamed and greatly dismayed they shall turn back they will suddenly be ashamed father we come to you now and i praise you that you do hear our supplication father you hear us when we pray and you always drive out the enemy and so lord i pray that as we spend time in your word this

morning that you would speak to our hearts by the name of your name and we pray that you would speak to our hearts by the power of your holy spirit father that as we as we talk this morning about the cross of christ that that you would really minister to our hearts the love of jesus christ that surpasses all knowledge that demonstration of love that you made for us and that sacrifice for redemption that you made for us father and so lord bless our time we pray in jesus name amen you may be seated and if you would open up in your bibles to the gospel of john chapter the gospel of john chapter 19. today we come to the second part of our series for the resurrection

crushing serpents part two in particular we're looking at the sacrifice last week we looked at the battle we saw the battle of the cross and the battle of the cross ultimately took place in the garden it took place when jesus was in prayer when he when he went into that garden when he surrendered in his humanity his will to the father and ultimately gained the victory of the cross over the cross and ended that time in prayer with a settled determination that though his betrayer was there and though the cross is what awaited him he was ready for whatever came next and so when last we left jesus he had finished up his time of prayer there in the garden and as he

finished up his time of prayer he uh he woke the boys up and said my betrayer is at hand it's time to go and what we will not read about but i want to just go over real quick is that that from that point judas showed up and he betrayed jesus with a kiss uh and greeted him as a friend and jesus of course was arrested by the uh by the roman cohort that had joined him and he was taken and he was put on trial the first trial that he uh stood before was a trial before the sanhedrin which was led by the high priest at that point in time they tried him on a religious level and while on a religious level they could find nothing ultimately to stick in their accusations what they were able to say is well

that's blasphemy against the temple and he claimed to be god that's blasphemy against the spirit and so that's what they accused him of but they knew that they had lost their right to capital punishment as a matter of fact about three years prior to this the jewish nation had lost their right to capital punishment which is why the romans had to put jesus to death and so they brought him on trial before pilot who was the governor at that point in time and as jesus stood trial before pilot pilot kept saying over and over again i find nothing to do with jesus and so they brought him on trial what they said is what can i do i didn't do anything wrong with him i don't find any fault in him but

he feared an insurrection he feared that they would rise up against him which would ultimately land him in a very difficult position that coupled with the fact that they were not allowed to put anyone to death but put pilot in a very precarious position but he thought he had found a way out and the way out that he thought that he had found is he said you know there's a custom a not often used custom that i release for you a prisoner during the time of the power of the lord we are to say that over so I have a prisoner that I can release I could either release to you Barabbas or I could release Jesus thinking that they would choose Jesus and of course the people chose Barabbas who actually was an insurrectionist who

actually was opposed to the Roman government in the Roman Empire who did all of the things that they accused Jesus of but Jesus would take his place and so after seeking to find a way out by trying to release Barabbas to them there was nothing that could be done and so Pilate had one last ditch effort it was called the scourging and so as we look at the crucifixion today there's three things that we're going to look at we're going to see the scourging we're going to see the crucifixion and then we are going to see the burial so starting in chapter 19 verse 1 it says this Pilate then took Jesus and scourged him and the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and they put it on his

head and they put a purple robe on him and they began to come up and they went up to him and say hail king of the Jews and to him and and to give him slaps in the face Pilate came out again and said behold I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe and Pilate said to them behold the man so when the chief priest and the officer saw him they cried out saying crucify him and Pilate said to them take him yourselves and crucify him and they went to him and they said I am going to crucify him for I find no guilt in him and the Jews answered we have a law and by that law he ought to die because he

made himself out to be the Son of God therefore when Pilate heard this statement he was even more afraid there's a handful of things that I'm always struck by with the gospel writers and it's the things that they blow by without giving any sort of explanation the thing that the things that they just kind of run by without without really going into detail because they seem like this is what they were doing this morning the first one is given to us in verse 1 because in verse 1 it says then Pilate took Jesus and scourged him and that's it they just run by it like that was really no big deal it was just something that happened then you always should ask yourself if they go by

something that significant that quickly why do they go by it that quickly well I believe the reason why the all of the gospel writers present it the way that they do is because anybody living in the time of Jesus knew exactly what that meant about it. Because to say that he scourged him would have caused everyone to go, ooh. Because they knew exactly what that meant. They needed no explanation. But in our day and age, in the

day and age that you and I live in, sometimes we don't fully grasp the full depth of what Jesus went through with the scourging. You see, the scourging was a process that prisoners were put through for three main reasons. Number one, it was used simply as a punishment. They would just punish somebody that way. If they knew that they'd committed a crime maybe not worthy of death,

they would punish them with this scourging. The second reason why they would use the scourging is they would use it to try to elicit a confession out of a prisoner. The third reason why they would use the scourging is simply to weaken a prisoner so that they would die more quickly upon a cross. And this is the process that they would go through. They would take a prisoner and they would strip

him naked and they would tie him over a post to where he was laid out with his back. As exposed as possible. And they would take the scourge or the flog. We often call it the cat of nine tails because that's what it was. It was a whip that had nine strands of leather coming off of it. And they would embed in this leather pieces of lead and metal so that once the whip

was laid across the back, they could drag and it would do the most harm possible. Now, if you're trying to elicit a confession out of somebody, you might start off not all that hard because no matter what you do in that situation, it's going to be a lot of work. And if you're trying to elicit a confession, you might start off not all that hard because no matter what you do in that situation, it's going to be a lot of work. And if you're trying to elicit a confession, you might start off not all that hard because no matter what you do in that situation, it's going to be a Jesus, as we're told in Isaiah, that as a sheep before its shearers is silent, he did not open

his mouth, meaning he had nothing to confess. So he kept completely silent the entire time. Now, the number of judgment is 40. And so 40 lashes is what they would be sentenced with. But because the Romans were merciful, they took one of those away and they only gave him 39. And so 39 times a soldier would take a whip of a two-hundred-year-old, would take a whip of a two-hundred-year-old,

whip and lay it across the bare back of Jesus and drag it back the physical damage done to an individual during this process was so significant that many did not survive the loss of blood the shock from the pain your heart could hardly endure everything that you went through Jesus did survive it and he survived those 39 lashings that were put across his back to the point where literally his back would have been torn to shreds most of the commentators said that his back would have been reduced to ribbons of skin but they weren't done with him yet you see the Roman soldiers were told did two other things well ultimately three other things to him the first thing that they did is they they took a

crown of thorns and they put it upon his head now you and I wouldn't usually when we think of thorns we we we think about a rosebush which is true rosebushes have thorns and as a groundskeeper I would have occasionally get a rosebush and as a groundskeeper I would occasionally get wrapped up in a rosebush and that's a real bummer but that's not the kind of thorns that these would have been those are those are little thorns and while they cause damage nothing like what these thorns would have done these thorns were probably about that long probably a couple of inches long and so they they took this thorny branch and they they wove it they sort of wrapped it into a circle so that it became a crown and they they took that crown and

they placed it upon his head and we're told in other gospel accounts that they took a rod and they they they beat the crown onto his head so that the thorns really stuck in and so after having all of that done to his back after having all of that laid across him they took that crown of thorns and they put it upon his head and then they took a purple robe purple was a pretty important thing at that point in time that was the color of royalty was the most expensive color anything that could be but because he was a king after all that's what he was accused of is trying to be a king they wrapped that robe around him and as they wrapped that robe around him they all began to mock him they began to slap him and they began to in a

mocking way bow down before him and say hail king of the Jews and once you think about the situation Jesus is in at this point in time Jesus has now been up for over 24 hours and in that time of him being up he faced spiritual oppression unlike anything you and I can ever imagine the exhaustion from the spiritual oppression alone would cripple anyone of us. But after that, he stood trial all night before the Sanhedrin. And one thing that John does not tell us about that Matthew does is that while he stood trial before the Sanhedrin, they blindfolded him, and they slapped him, and they hit him, and they mocked him and said, prophesy, who was it that hit you? So at this point in time, Jesus is at a place where his face is bruised, his back is

destroyed, there's blood running down his face. And this was what Pilate thought he could do to try to appease the people. And as he finished up with this, we read that Pilate, verse 4, came out again and said to them, behold, I am bringing him out to you so that you know that I find no guilt in him. And Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them,

behold, the man. I always have that understanding. I always have that understanding. I always have that understanding. I always have that understanding. I always have that understanding. I always have that understanding. I always have that understanding. I always have that understanding. Because that phrase always sticks out to me. It's a powerful phrase. It's a powerful statement

for him to have Jesus stand out there because there's so much truth in that in his humanity, this is now what he has been reduced to because of our sin. This is what he's been reduced to because of me. This is what he's been reduced to because of you. He's been reduced to this bloodied, beaten man. And as you look at him, you don't think the creator of the heavens and the earth.

No, we think what Pilate said, behold, the man. Because in his humanity, that's what he took for us. And you can just picture him covered in this robe that by this point in time, I want you to think about something, is now beginning to stick to the bloody sores all over his back. Because it's a warm day, undoubtedly. And as Jesus stands up, he's there with the blood running down his face. We're told in the book of Isaiah that he was beaten

beyond recognition. That you didn't recognize who that guy was anymore. And so Pilate goes on to say, or the chief priests go on to say, they begin to cry out, verse 6, crucify him, crucify him. And Pilate said, take him yourselves. I don't find any guilt in him. He said, we have a law. By the law, he had to die because he made himself to be the son of God. And when he heard this statement,

he was the more afraid. Notice what it says in verse 9. He entered the praetorium again. And he said to Jesus, where are you from? Jesus gave him no answer. And Pilate said to him, you don't speak to me? Don't you know that I have the authority to release you? And I have the authority to crucify you? And Jesus answered, you would have no authority over me unless it had been given to me, given to you from above.

For this reason, he who has delivered me to you has the greater sin. The fantastic thing about the book of Isaiah is that it says, the guy that is the most bloodied, the guy that is the most beaten, the guy that is the most bruised is the guy that is still in charge. Because after Pilate hears the cries that they need to crucify him, and after all, if you don't crucify him, then you're not a friend of us, which means you're not a friend of Rome, which means you have major problems. He pulls Jesus in again, and he says, I want to know who you really are. I want to know what's really going on here. And Jesus just sat

there silent. He said, are you really going to ignore me? I'm not going to ignore you. I'm going to ignore you at this point in time. Don't you understand the power that I have? Don't you understand the authority that I have? And this is how I picture it. This is just me. I picture Jesus bound, and I picture him looking up at him and saying, you wouldn't have any authority

if I hadn't given it to you. Is that not a powerful statement? The man who should be fighting for his life, the man who should be begging for his life, in a situation that he's always seen people begging for mercy, he doesn't look and beg for his life. He doesn't look and beg for his life. He looks at him and says, this is all part of the plan. You don't get it. This is what was

supposed to happen. You would have no authority at all if it had not been given to you from above. Because at the end of the day, Jesus was not a martyr. At the end of the day, Jesus was a willing sacrifice. And he stood there as that willing sacrifice. And notice how Pilate responds. And as a result, verse 12, Pilate made every effort to release him. Jesus said,

And he sat down on the judgment seat at a place called the Pavement, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And that was the day of preparation for the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, And they cried out, Away with him! Away with him! with him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. Now we don't always realize the gravity of what's going on right now

with the Jewish people. The Jewish people hated Rome. The Jewish people hated Caesar. The Jewish people hated the thought of anyone being king over them besides their own sovereign rule. But because of what's going on with Jesus, because of the fact that this was necessary for the redemption of mankind, they absolutely turn on him. And isn't it fascinating? Now maybe it's not the exact same

people, but isn't it fascinating that a week before this they were crying out, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. A messianic psalm as Jesus comes riding into town on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey as they put down coats and palm branches in front of him. It's amazing how fickle we can be as people, is it not? And as they cry out, crucify him, Pilate's going, why? Why would I crucify your king? And they're

like, we only have one king and that's Caesar. Now if dramatic music could be played, this would be the moment where dramatic music would be played. Like, right? And it would just pan to Pilate's face going, right? Because he's absolutely terrified at this point in time. Because he knows one more insurrection and he's done. He's like, I only have one thing that I can do. Notice

what it says. It says in verse 16, so he handed him over to them to be crucified. We're told that Pilate, according to history, only ruled for a short time after this. As a matter of fact, he was exiled and he ultimately went crazy and committed suicide. Because we need to understand something. It really matters what you do with Jesus. It really matters what decision you make about Jesus. And if you

don't choose Jesus, you choose death. Well now we come to the crucifixion. I've already given it away a little bit with verse 16. But we look at verse 16 and it says, so they handed him over to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and he went out bearing his own cross to a place called the place of a skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha and there they crucified him with two other men. One on either side and Jesus in

in between. We're told that he handed him over to be crucified. In other words, he pronounced the death sentence. He's sentenced to death by crucifixion, and he was handed over to the Roman soldiers. And so what they would have done is they would have laid his cross on his back. Now you and I, usually when we think about the cross being laid on one's back, we think about

the entire structure of the cross. But we need to realize that that would be an incredibly heavy thing to carry. And it doesn't have wheels on it like what you see people, I'm going to carry my cross across the country, and it's got wheels on the bottom of it. It wouldn't have been like that. As a matter of fact, the uprights were, according to history, would have always stayed in place.

They were always outside of Jerusalem, which is always a fascinating thought that Jesus probably walked by those all the time. Every time he came to Jerusalem, he would have walked by and seen the uprights of the cross there and known what he was facing. I often wonder, and I can't prove this scripturally, I often wonder how many times he walked by the uprights and looked at his guys and said, you need to understand something. The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of sinful men.

And they will put him to death. I always wonder if that sort of prompted that thought in his mind. I can't prove that. I don't know that that's the case, but I do wonder that. So what they would have put on his back is they would have put the cross piece on his back. And that's what he would have carried, which still would have been a pretty sizable piece of wood.

And he is beaten down to a point where he has very little strength left. And we're not given this account in the Gospel of John, but we are given this account in other places that that as he carried this cross, stumbled under the weight of it. And so they found a man named Simon of Cyrene, and he carried the cross for Jesus. Interestingly enough, most believe that he was one of the first converts on the continent of Africa, and his two sons are mentioned in other writings of the New Testament.

You know why? Because it matters what you do with Jesus. And I believe that this moment for him, as he was probably there celebrating the feast of the Passover, like a good man at that point in time was supposed to, and he saw the completion. He saw the ultimate Passover lamb, and he carried his cross for him. So he would have carried the cross, and they would have paraded him all through

the city, because that's what they did with individuals at this point in time. They would parade them all through the city so that you would know this is what happens when you oppose the Roman government. This is what happens when you don't follow the law. And they would have carried him out of the city. And they would have carried him out of the city. And they would have carried him

outside of the city, and there's an entire study we could do about being taken outside of the city because the Levitical sacrifices were taken outside of the city to be disposed with, and Jesus carried our sin outside of the city. And as he carried that cross and went outside of the city, we're given one simple statement. He's taken to the place called the place of the skull, or Golgotha, and we're given one simple statement in verse 18. There they crucified him. Now again, if you're an

underliner, I underline that in all my Bibles because it's a powerful statement, but again, you look at that and you go, you mean to tell me the most significant event in all of eternity is given to us in one small sentence? There they crucified him? Why on earth were the disciples not like, they need to know about this. I'm going to tell them about this. Well, first of all, because

the disciples knew what was going on with crucifixion. Everybody living at that point in time knew what it was. And everybody was terrified by it. And so when you just wrote the statement, there they crucified him, everybody sort of shuddered. Everybody knew exactly what you were talking about. Everybody knew this is what this meant. It needed no explanation. But again, we don't live in a

culture like that today. So we need a little explanation. Crucifixion was actually not invented by the Romans. They just perfected it. The Persians were the first ones to invent crucifixion. And it was actually more of an impaling that they did. But the Romans borrowed that idea from the Persians. And they took and they sort of made it better, if you will. They made it more effective.

And the crucifixion was a gruesome moment that would have taken place. So what would have happened is when Jesus arrived there with the cross beam, they would have laid him down and they would have nailed him to that cross beam. And when I was a little kid, I always thought it went right through the center of his hand. But actually, there's not enough bone in your hand to hold on to you. And so what they would have done is they

would have gone right here in the wrist, right between those two bones, right before it gets to the hand, so that it would so that bone would be there to hold up the weight. So they would they would nail his arms to the cross, and then they would raise him up onto the upright beam that was already there. And on that upright beam, there was a little platform that was sort of at an angle. And so what they would do is they would stand on that, put them on that platform, and they would cross one foot over the other.

and they would bend their knees. And once they would bend their knees, what they would do is they would drive a nail down through their foot. The reason why they would bend their knees is because the way that they would hang on the cross would cut off your ability to breathe. And so as your arms would be extended like this, you would never be able to really get a deep breath.

And so they nailed their legs like that so that they could still get a deep breath. But the only way that you could get a deep breath, the only way that you could really inhale was to push on your feet and push yourself up. And then you could breathe in. Now, I want you to think about what that would have been like for Jesus. First of all, his feet are nailed.

So there's a nail going through there. So the pain of having to push down on that would have been excruciating. But also, he's rubbing up against a cross with his back. And by the way, he would have been naked at this point in time. They would have stripped that purple robe off of him. He would have had to push his back up against that cross. I can't even imagine what that would have been like.

He'd have to push his back up against that cross in order to raise himself up to take a breath. So that really makes you think about those statements that Jesus made from the cross, right? There's a handful of them that he makes. We'll look at two of them. Actually, we'll talk about three, but we'll look at two of them here this morning. But every time he would have had to do that,

he would have had to push on his feet and push himself up to get enough of a breath. To speak. And he did all of that for you. And he did all of that for me. There was usually a handful of things that would kill someone on the cross. It really wasn't the piercings that would kill you. Those were just a happy accident. But there were three things that would kill you.

Either one, you would suffocate because you could never get enough air. Number two, you would die of a heart attack from the shock. Or eventually, you would die of bloodlust. Because at some point in time, you would bleed enough that you would just no longer survive. And that's what Jesus did for us. He bore all of that on the cross. And the reason why he did that

is because that's how ugly sin is. The reason why he did that is because that's how bad sin is. And I bring that up because I don't think we always consider how bad sin is. Yeah, I kind of struggle with it a little bit. You kind of struggle? I struggle with it a little bit. Jesus died for that. That's what nailed him to that cross. We're told that for the joy that was set before him,

he endured the cross, despising the shame. And so it says, And there they crucified him. And it says, And with him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. Other gospel accounts tell us a little bit more about these two men. These were two thieves that were crucified with him. And he was where Barabbas was supposed to have been, who was a thief.

He was a thief and an insurrectionist and a murderer. He took Barabbas' place. And on one side was a thief that continued to despise him. And on the other side was a thief who finally put his faith in him. You see, when Jesus was first hanging on that cross, they mocked him. They made fun of him. And then finally one of the thieves on the cross said, You know what?

We deserve what we've got. This guy didn't do anything. Would you remember me when you come into your kingdom? And Jesus says, And there's a beautiful picture here of what the gospel does in different people's lives. You see, Barabbas knew what it was for Jesus to take his place. The thief that accepted him knew what it was to be a despiser who ultimately became a believer.

And the thief who did not accept him represents the despiser who was unwilling to accept the sacrifice that was right in front of his face. It's kind of an interesting tale of the thieves on the cross. Amen? And so, And so, As Jesus hangs there on the cross, we're given a commentary in verse 19. It says, And Pilate wrote an inscription, and he put it on the cross.

It was written, Jesus, the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. Therefore, many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, and in Latin, and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews, but that he said, I am the King of the Jews. And Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

It's kind of interesting. So he writes this up there, the King of the Jews, because that's the charge that was against him, right? That's what they said. What's he done wrong? Well, he's claimed to be a king. He's an insurrectionist. He's trying to overthrow the Roman government and be the king. So what ultimately he was crucified for in the Roman government's eyes

is that he had claimed to be the King of the Jews. And so Pilate, because he knew that Jesus was not some thief, and not some murderer, and not some insurrectionist, just simply wrote the King of the Jews. And he wrote it in three languages. He wrote it in Hebrew, he wrote it in Latin, and he wrote it in Greek, which is kind of interesting because Hebrew was the religious language, Greek was the common language, and Latin was the educated language.

And so whether you are a religious person, whether you are a common person, or whether you are a learned person, the gospel was for you, because Jesus died for you. And so he puts it up there and they're like, Yeah, don't do that. Say he claimed to be the King of the Jews, and they're like, Yeah, don't do that. Say he claimed to be the King of the Jews, and Pilate looked at him and was like, You're going to give me this one.

This is what I've written. And it's staying that way. Well, so as Jesus is there on the cross, several things take place. The first is given to us in verse 23. It says, It says, A common practice, among Roman soldiers, to do this with the belongings of the one who was being crucified. Isn't it kind of interesting that the only belongings that Jesus had were the clothes that were on his back?

It's probably an interesting commentary and an interesting study that could be done on that. But all he had was the clothes that were on his back. And most of them they divided into four parts amongst the four soldiers. But there was one particular garment that was kind of fascinating to them. It was a tunic that was woven into one piece. In other words, there were no seams in it.

And so they cast lots. And so it was a gamble for that one. They probably played dice or whatever you do at that point in time. I don't know. But it's an interesting point to be made that he wore a seamless tunic. And the reason why it's interesting to take note of the fact that he wore a seamless tunic is if we were to go all the way back to the law and we were to see the garments

that the high priest was supposed to wear, we would find that the high priest was supposed to wear a tunic. And that tunic was seamless, woven into one piece. And I believe that that's why the gospel writers all point out the fact that Jesus, our great high priest, was one who wore a tunic that was seamless, woven into one piece because that's who he is, our great high priest. Well, we go on from there.

And it says, Therefore the soldiers, verse 25, did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near him, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. And Jesus said to the disciple, Behold your mother.

And from that hour, the disciple took her into his own household. I'm struck by two things in that series of verses. The first thing that I'm struck by is who's at the cross and who's not. We do know that John was there. But most of his disciples were not around at this point in time. They had fled, fearing for their own lives. But most of his disciples were not around.

But by name is mentioned several of the women who were there at the cross. And I just think that that's kind of an interesting point that's to be made because, fellas, we need to realize something. Sometimes ladies are a little more spiritually sensitive than we are. And sometimes their devotion can be a little greater than ours. And I think that sometimes we could learn a little something

about that from the ladies that are around us. We could learn a little something about that devotion. We could learn a little something about that sensitivity. And so those women are at the foot of the cross. And Jesus, as he's there on the cross, and I love this because this is what a willing sacrifice does. He looks and he sees his mom. Now, I believe that by this point in time,

Joseph has passed on. I believe that Joseph has gone by this point in time. And I believe that Jesus probably played a pretty important role in the life of his mother. You know, I absolutely don't believe anything that the Catholics teach about Mary or any of those kinds of things. But I do think that sometimes we as the Protestant church, because of fighting against all of that,

we sometimes discount what an amazing woman this would have been.

Because to watch your son go through that, it's a pretty hard thing to do. Pretty hard thing to be right there at the feet of Jesus, your son, as he went through everything that he was going through at that point in time. I've watched moms at funerals that I've done for kids. Man, that hurts. It hurts real bad. It hurts real bad. And there she was. And I love that in this moment,

Jesus looked at his mom and he wasn't thinking about the fact that he was on the cross. He wasn't thinking about what was going on with him.

He looked at her and he said, that dude there is a little bit of a moron, but he's going to take care of you. Take care of my mom. Behold your son. Behold your mother. We're told that John took her and took care of her from that day on. It's just a beautiful scene, in my opinion, of what it really means to love sacrificially, of what it really means to have agape love,

where you put the needs of others ahead of yourself, even to the point of sacrifice. And that's what Jesus does for his mother in that moment. And as he's there on the cross, it says, after this, verse 28, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the scripture said, I'm thirsty. I'm thirsty. And a jar full of sour wine was standing there.

So they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop, and they brought it up to his mouth. Now, there's one thing that the gospel of John doesn't tell us that other gospel accounts have told us in between the time of Jesus being crucified and the moment of him saying, I'm thirsty. We're told that when he was there on the cross, that darkness came across the entire place. It's about three in the afternoon at this point.

That darkness came across the entire place. And in the moment that darkness came across the entire place, Jesus cried out a statement from the cross. Again, picture it in your mind. Pushes up on his legs enough to get a breath into his lungs, and he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why? Why does he cry that out? Why did it turn dark? Why did he say God forsook him?

Well, because the grace, the greatest sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross was actually not the physical pain that he went through. We spend the most time talking about that. It's what we should, because it was intense what he went through. None of us could handle it. But the greatest sacrifice that he made was not just that he physically endured death for us.

A lot of people have died a physical death. The greatest sacrifice that he made for us is he had the sin of all of humanity laid upon him. And in that moment where the sin of all of humanity was laid upon him, the Father could not look upon him. Because the Father can't be in the presence of sin because he's too holy. And so in that moment, when somehow mysteriously, spiritually,

all of the sin, all of the guilt of the sin of humanity was laid upon him, the Father turned his back. And in that moment, darkness fell across the land. And Jesus knew exactly what had happened because this was the battle he was fighting in the garden. Is he knew he was going to have to endure separation from the Father. And he was going to have to endure separation from the Father.

And he was going to have to endure separation from the Father. And he was going to have to endure separation from the Father. And he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And so after that took place, and as he hung there on that cross, we're told that Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, what does he mean all things had already been accomplished?

All things had already been fulfilled. Well, it means that all of the sin had been laid upon him. It means the sacrifice for sin had been made. He cries out, one more time from the cross and he says, I'm thirsty. And I love this because again, it's the humanity of Jesus because there he is hanging on the cross. There he is up there hanging on the cross and he wants to be able to cry out one more thing with as much authority as he possibly can

in the weakness of his physical body. But the only way he can do that is if his parched mouth is somewhat moistened. And so he says, I'm thirsty. And I don't know how you hear this in your mind, but I don't hear it being a loud cry. I hear it being a softly spoken thing because there's only so much left in the tank at this point in time. And so they take, they take hyssop. If you don't

know very much about scripture, that won't mean very much to you. But if you know a little bit about scripture, hyssop is an important thing in scripture. As a matter of fact, if somebody had leprosy and they were cured of their leprosy, what they were supposed to do is they were supposed to sacrifice the dove and they were supposed to take the blood of the dove and some water and they were supposed to take the blood of the dove and some water and they were supposed to take the blood of the dove and some water and they were supposed to take the blood of the dove and some water and they were to put it into a bowl and mix it, and they were to take hyssop, which is almost just like

shrubbery, basically. And they were to dip the hyssop into the blood and water, and they were to take that blood and water, and they were to sprinkle with the hyssop that blood and water on the person that had been cleansed of their leprosy. And so it's kind of interesting that this is how they gave him this sour sponge, this sponge full of sour wines. They took a bunch of hyssop, and they raised it up to him, and he was able to take a little bit of a drink and moisten his mouth. And that brings us to verse 30. It says, therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine,

he said, it is finished. He bowed his head, and he gave up his spirit. Probably the most impactful statement of this entire chapter is those three words, it is finished. The Greek root for that word is the word teleos, and the word teleos means fulfilled or brought to an end. But the fullness of the word that he said there is the Greek word tetelestai. And the word

tetelestai means paid in full, paid in full. It was actually a legal term at this point in time amongst the Romans. If you owed money, if you owed a debt, the practice was that that certificate of debt would be nailed to the doorpost. So that everybody knew this guy owes a debt that he's got to pay off. And when your debt was completely paid, they would take a stamp, and they would stamp on it, tetelestai, paid in full,

which is pretty interesting when you think about the fact that we're told in Scripture that Jesus canceled the handwriting against us, the certificate of debt against us. And how did he do it? By paying it in full on the cross. He cried out, tetelestai, it is finished. I love the Kenneth Weiss translation of this, because the Kenneth Weiss translation of this is, it is finished. It is finished. It is

finished. It is finished. It is finished. It is finished. It is finished. It is finished. It is finished. The Kenneth Weiss translation says, it has been finished, and it stands complete. It has been finished, and it stands complete. I love that, because it puts it in the past tense, because that's exactly what Jesus did for us. What he did, finished it, and now it stands complete. It is a

complete payment that has been made. Can I just tell you, at this point in time, when Jesus cries out, it is finished, the head of the serpent was crushed. Theoretically, it was crushed in the flesh, because he had, the serpent had bruised his heel, but he's now crushed his head, because it is, it is finished. It is paid in full. And I love that, because it reminds us that you and I have a

handwriting of a certificate against us. Do you know that? Before you came to know Jesus, there's handwriting, there's a certificate of debt that you owed. That certificate of debt that you owed is all of the sins that you've ever committed in your entire life, on top of the fact that you are simply born in sin. That you are born in sin. That you are born in sin. That you are born in sin.

That you are born with a sin nature. And you continue to prove that you were born with a sin nature in all of the things that you did, in all of the ways that you lived your life. And so, as you look at all of those things, and that's usually where salvation begins with us, is God begins to reveal to us all of the things. He begins to reveal to us all of the debt. He begins to reveal to us

all of the shame. And as he does so, we say, I don't know what to do with all of this. What am I supposed to do? And we come to Jesus. And you come to Jesus because someone said, you should come to me. You should take care of your sins. He'll forgive you. And you start to say, what does that mean? And you realize that it means it's finished. It's been dealt with. It's been paid

for. They've all been taken away. This word, tetelestai, has been one of the most life-giving words in my life. Because I went through that time in life where God allowed me to see the ugliness of all of my sin. To see the ugliness of all of the things that I'd done. And I started saying, Lord, I don't know what to do with all of this. I don't know what to do with all of this.

What am I supposed to do with this? And he said, don't worry. I already have. And he took care of it at the cross. Tetelestai, paid in full. It is finished. It was such a powerful statement that he made. That's why he needed that drink. That's why he needed his mouth to be wet. So he pushes up against it. And with every fiber of his being that he has left, he yells out, it is finished.

He bows his head. The Greek word for bow your head there means, it's the same idea of every time that he was asleep in a boat. The idea is he went to sleep. It wasn't bowing because he surrendered himself to death. It was bowing because it was complete. And it was done. He bowed his head. And he gave up his spirit. And we're told that two very powerful things happened at this point in time. Number

one, there was an earthquake. And the earthquake shook the foundation of the temple. But the second thing that happened is we are told that the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Now, if you don't know very much about the veil, let me spend just a moment talking about it. You see, when the children of Israel were given the instructions for the

building of the tabernacle, that was the place where they were to come and meet with God. There were three compartments of the tabernacle. There was the outer court of the tabernacle. There was the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle where only the priest could go. And then there was this place called the Holy of Holies. And inside of the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the

Covenant, the visible representation of God amongst the people. And the only people that could go into the Holy of Holies was the high priest. He could only go once a year, and he had to bring a blood sacrifice. So what he would do is he would take that blood sacrifice, and he would pour it on the mercy seat. That's the top of the Ark of the Covenant. He would pour it on the mercy

seat, and he would atone for the sins of the people for one more year. But there was a veil in between the holy place where only the priest could go and the most holy place where only the high priest could go once a year. And that veil was thick. It represented the fact that sin separates us from God, that sin will always keep us from being able to come directly into the presence of God. And all depending on who you read, that veil was anywhere from four to 16 inches

thick because it was so important to remain separated from the presence of God because sin cannot be in the presence of God. And in the moment when Jesus, because what did we already say he is? Our high priest. In the moment when Jesus cried out, it is finished, he had taken his own blood and sprinkled it on the mercy seat and made propitiation for us. He made a

covering for us. And at that point in time, the veil of the temple was torn in two, signifying that now we have direct access to God because he didn't just atone for our sins for one year, he did away with our sins for all time. So he cried out, it is finished. The veil of the temple was torn in two, and now you have direct access to the Father anytime you want to, directly into the throne room of God. Hebrews tells us that we now have boldness to enter the most holy through

the blood of Jesus Christ, through the veil of his flesh. That's what we have because of Jesus. And so as Jesus cries out, it is finished, we're told in verse 31, it says, in the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for it was a high Sabbath day, they asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. And so the soldiers came, and they broke the legs of the first man and the other who was crucified with him.

But coming to Jesus, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may also believe. And so the time... The time had come, and they wanted these bodies removed from the cross, because this was the

Passover season, and there was a very important Sabbath day coming, and they didn't want a bunch of bodies hanging out there. So they requested of Pilate that we could hurry this thing along and get the bodies off of the cross. And so Pilate did what was always done at that point in time. They would take some sort of a hammer or something, and they would break the legs of the prisoners.

I'm really glad we don't live in the Roman Empire anymore. Aren't you guys glad we don't live in the Roman Empire anymore? They would break the legs of the prisoners. And the reason why they would do this is because then they could no longer push up. They would push up to take in a breath, so it would speed death along. Well, they came to Jesus, only Jesus did not have his life taken from him.

He gave it willfully. He gave it willingly. And as he did so, he was already dead. And so to prove that he was dead, they took a spear, and right up underneath the ribcage here, they shoved the spear up in there, and it pierced his heart. And because he was already dead, that pericardial sac around the heart released not only the blood, but also the water. And blood and

water don't mix. They stayed separated, and it proved that he was dead. You know why John includes this detail? Because he knew that at some point in time, someone would come along and say, you know, maybe Jesus didn't actually die. Maybe—it's called the swoon theory, by the way—maybe he didn't actually die. Maybe, you know, he got into that tomb, and it was nice and cool, and all of a sudden, he

revived. And John's like, that's impossible, because the only way that blood and water would flow is if you were already dead. But it's kind of interesting. And it's always Chuck Smith that says this, and I love this. He says, if an autopsy report had been done on the body of Jesus, they would say that he died of a burst heart. In other words, he died of a broken heart, because he loves us. That's why he did it.

For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. And so they pierced that side. Well, of course, it went on to fulfill the fact that not one of his bones would be broken. And so, as Jesus hung there, and he was dead, it was time for them to take the bodies down from the cross. And so, we jump down to verse 38, and it says this,

After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted permission, so he came, and he took away his body. And Nicodemus, who had first come to him, by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus, and they bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. And 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. Therefore, because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was laid by, since the tomb was nearby, they laid down. They laid Jesus there. And that's where the story ends for this morning, is they laid Jesus in the tomb. What a day for those disciples. What a day for everybody that followed Jesus. What a tragic

day if you don't know how it ends. What a tragic day if you don't fully realize what's going on. What a tragic day if you don't catch the gravity of what Jesus just did for us. We have the benefit of history. We have the benefit of history. We have the benefit of history. We have the benefit of history. We have the benefit of knowing how it ends. And the benefit of knowing how it ends reminds us of one

particular truth. And I want you to turn there real quick. I want you to go over to Romans chapter 5. And I want you to look down at verse 7. Actually, let's start in verse 6. I think I had to put Romans 5, 8 up there, and I didn't mean that at all. I meant Romans chapter 5, verse 6 through 8. Romans chapter 5. As Paul is describing this process of justification,

he says this, For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man, though perhaps for the good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You see, brothers and sisters, we can find ourselves asking a question at points and times in our lives, can't we?

How do I know that God really loves me, especially when hard times come into our lives? How could a loving God allow this? Does God really love me because of this? I'm here to tell you right now, if you ever have a question about whether or not Jesus loves you, the one thing that you have to do is go back and read the account of everything that Jesus endured for us on the cross, because it will remove all doubt from your mind, because God demonstrates his own love for us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You know what that means?

I read this one time, and I loved it. I loved the way it was worded. That means that Jesus died for the version of you that you hate the most. Jesus died for the version of you that you hate the most. Jesus died for the addicted version of you. Jesus died for the immoral version of you. Jesus died for the version of you that's a liar, the version of you that's a thief, the version of you that's a murderer,

the version of you that's a gossip, the version of you that's a backbiter, the version of you that's not very loving, that's not very kind, the version of you that maybe nobody else sees. That's the version of you Jesus died for. because he wanted to see you go from that to being a child of God because God demonstrates his own love for us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And you know all he wants us to do?

He just wants us to respond. He wants us to respond with wholehearted devotion. He wants us to respond with wholehearted faith. He wants us to respond by following him wherever he goes and whatever he wants us to do. No, he just wants us to respond. And so my prayer for you this morning is that you would respond to the love of Jesus Christ in your life, that you would make that response,

whether the response that you need to make is putting your faith in Jesus Christ or whether the response you need to make is deciding you're going to really be a disciple of Jesus Christ or whether the response that you make is that you're going to decide that this week you're going to keep following him closer than you did the week before. But God demonstrated his love for you by dying for you and all he desires of you. All he desires of you is that you would respond and follow him, amen? Well, this morning is Communion Sunday.

So I'd like to invite Luke to come up. He's going to share one last song with us in just a moment. Invite the ushers to come in to get ready to hand out the elements. But as always, I like to take a few minutes to talk about exactly what communion is. And as I told Luke this morning, this pretty well sets the whole thing up, amen? We basically just discussed everything that communion is.

We basically just discussed everything that communion is. Because Jesus said, you know, if you're going to be a disciple, you're going to get the Holy Spirit. You're going to have to open up the book, you're going to have to pray for the things that are in your life. And Jesus said it in the first place. He said, if you take the most precious of things, the most precious of things,

the most precious things that I am going to share with you, you're going to receive your Lord God and that's what that means. Now, it's not just not only that, but it's it's such a great power that we have to be part of communion. So he's telling us that he's going to bring back the King, the King of God, and put together his Church, the Church of God in one place. Because see, when you look at that, this is communion.

He's going to bring back the King, the Christ, the beatings, the stripes on his back. As we think about the fact that he took a crowd of thorns upon his head, constant mocking from those that were around him and absolutely getting bludgeoned. By enduring nails, by enduring the agony of the cross, we are reminded that truly his body was broken for us. And so as we partake, he says, do this in remembrance of me.

And then he took that cup, the last cup of the Passover meal, which was called the cup of redemption. He said, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood that is shed for you. Take and drink. So as we drink of this cup, we are reminded that the blood flowed. And as that blood flowed, it flowed for a purpose. It wasn't just some meaningless death. That blood of Jesus Christ took away

our sin. It canceled out the handwriting against us. Because truly, it has been finished and stands as such. And so he says, do this in remembrance of me. And so as we partake of this today, we're reminded to do this in a worthy manner. And partaking in a worthy manner means a handful of things. First of all, it means to really pay attention to what we're doing.

To know that this is a serious thing that we're partaking in because we are declaring the death of Jesus. But the second thing that it means is you better make sure you're a part of the family of God. Because listen, if you're here this morning and you're not a believer in Jesus Christ, this meal really is not for you. Because this won't mean anything to you.

And so the only way for this to truly be something that is important to you is to become a part of the family of God. And so if that's you this morning, then today's your day of salvation. Today's the day for you to cry out to Jesus and say, I need Jesus in my life. My sins are pretty ugly. So take that away. And He'll do it. He's always faithful to do it. But if you're here this morning and you're a believer in Jesus Christ,

partaking in a worthy manner means that it's time to do business with Jesus this morning. If there's something between you and somebody else, man, it's time to deal with that. If you're harboring bitterness and anger and unforgiveness in your heart, you can't take a meal that declares the forgiveness of your sins while you're holding sins against someone else. Today's the day to forgive.

Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. Forgive. A secret sin that you're not dealing with with Jesus, that today's the day to do that. Because Scripture tells us that if we confess our sins,

He's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so, in just a minute, in just a minute, Luke's going to sing one last song for us. And as he does so, allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart. And the ushers are going to come down and hand out the elements. And as they hand out the elements, when you receive yours,

please stand and we'll partake together. Amen. In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This cornerstone, this solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are still, when strivings cease My comforter, my all in all Here in the love of Christ I stand Christ alone Look on flesh The fullness of God in helpless babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to say He's died The wrath is on me today The wrath is on me today I am satisfied for every sin that's laid Father, we come to you now. And we praise you for the sacrifice of the cross.

Father, for the great love that you displayed for us. Lord, I thank you for your body that was broken for us. Broken beyond recognition for the joy that was set before you. Father, I thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for us. Lord, that was shed for the remission of our sins. And Lord, I thank you that that sacrifice was shed for us. That sacrifice was enough to make us brand new in you.

And so, Father, as we partake this morning and as we declare the one hope that we have is in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we praise you that you saw fit to display that love for us. And so, Father, we thank you for who you are. We thank you for what you've done. And we celebrate you today. In Jesus' name. Amen. Let's partake.

If you'd bow with me one last time. Father, we come to you now. And Father, as we leave this place, Lord, may your words resonate deeply into our hearts. Father, may the truth of who you are and the truth of your sacrifice marinate deeply into us. And Father, may we come out smelling just like you. Father, keep us always in mind of it. And Lord, help us to fall more deeply in love with you.

And we just thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed.