Jesus, the God-man: Gospel of John
“What Everyone Needs”
John 19:17-30
Introduction: “I need a million dollars!” “I need an ice cream cone.” “I need a new car.” Many times in our lives we have trouble distinguishing the difference between our wants and our needs. It is one thing to say you need to pay your bills and your desire to have a lot of money.
In reality we actually have many more wants than needs. But what is it that everyone really needs. In our text we will discover three of those needs being met by Jesus’ death on the cross. As Jesus gives His life as a ransom for many He also will provide “what everyone needs.”
1. We need a king we can serve. (vv. 17-24)
Jesus carried His own cross to Calvary (Greek word) or Golgotha (Hebrew word). It was called the place of the skull because it looked like a skull. This also is the same as Mt. Moriah in the O.T. where Abraham went to offer his son Isaac in obedience to God. The same place where Abe told Isaac that God will provide Himself a sacrifice!
You will remember that Jesus told His disciples that they need to take up their cross daily and follow Him if they are going to be His disciples. In other words we need to wear the cross less and bear it more!
v. 18 - He was nailed through his feet perhaps in a sitting position and his wrists with spikes.
Crucified between two thieves symbolizing that He is the center, He stands between the saved and lost. He is the focal point of history and Scripture. Is He the center of your life?
v. 19 - The title is the charge against Him. He is crucified because He is the King of the Jews. This shows that God can even speak through the ungodly the truth of His word.
v. 20 - He was crucified outside the city. The Lamb was sacrificed outside of the city. Leviticus 16:27 tells us that is where the sacrifices were to be made.
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Hebrews 13:12
The title was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Hebrew for Jews, Greek for the educated, and Latin for the Romans.
Why? So that all could recognize the King, not just of the Jews BUT KING OF ALL! HE IS KING OF KINGS!
A day will soon come when the despised Nazarene who hung on the cross, shall take to Himself His great power and reign, and put down every enemy under His feet. The kingdoms of this world, as Daniel foretold, shall be swept aside, and become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. And at last every knee shall bow to Him, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. –J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), Expository Thoughts on John
Since His birth Jesus has been called King. (Luke 1:32, 33, Matthew 2:2, and John 12:13)
v. 21- The chief priests do not like this and complain.
v.22- Pilate: “Tough, I wrote what I wrote.” NOW he gets a spine and stands up to them! Too late, Pilate!
vv. 23-24- The soldiers divide his clothes among themselves and gamble for his tunic which fulfilled scripture.
They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots. Psalm 22:18
The tunic was similar to that of the High Priest. It was made out of one piece of cloth with no seams. This symbolizes that Jesus is our High Priest.
All of this reminds us that Jesus is our promised King. You must choose who will be your King. Who will you serve?
…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15
Many years ago Bob Dylan wrote, “You gotta serve somebody.” If not Jesus, then who? Don’t walk away from your only way to Heaven.
2. We need relationships with others. (vv. 25-27)
At the cross is Jesus’ mother, her sister in law, Mary, and Mary Magdalene, and John.
v.26 - Jesus is in excruciating pain and suffering and yet He is thinking of others. He thinks of his mother. Joseph is apparently dead at this point. He sees John standing near His mother and says, “Woman, John is now your son and John Mary is your Mom.”
The use of the word “Woman” is not rude or derogatory. The natural bond is now broken. He is the Son of God.
John gets the message and takes Mary to his own home immediately to care for her as he would his own mother.
Mary had other sons and daughters, but as the oldest son, Jesus makes sure that someone will take care of her. Perhaps this is only for a short time or because He did not trust His siblings to do so.
We need people to care for us and people we need to care for. We cannot do life on our own. It has been said that no man is an island. You need the church and the church needs you.
Do you know others like that? Take the card from your bulletin and give it away! Give it to someone who needs relationships.
We are warned several times in Scripture of how we need each other.
…not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:25
Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12
The church is not optional!
3. We need our sin debt to be paid. (vv. 28-30)
After Jesus takes care of the needs of others and His work is almost complete, He fulfills another scripture – “I thirst.”
His humanity is evident but He does this to fulfill Scripture.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. Psalm 22:15
They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Psalm 69:21
v. 29 – He receives the sour wine which was like vinegar.
This was not to be confused with the vinegar mixed with gall which had been offered earlier according to Matthew 27:34 which would have deadened the pain. Jesus refused to lessen the pain since He had already said He would drink the cup fully which God had offered. He endured the pain of the cross for us. NO SHORT CUTS!
This verse also tells us that the sponge containing the vinegar was on hyssop. Hyssop was also used during the original Passover to apply the blood to the doorposts.
v.30 – After that, the work was done! Jesus said, “It is finished!”
"It is finished." He cried—it is "made an end of," it is "paid," it is "performed," it is "accomplished."
Tetelestai - PAID IN FULL! The debt has been paid once and for all.
Illustration: A young man, after a revival service, came up to the visiting evangelist and they were getting ready to put up everything for the night. The young man had left after the invitation, under conviction, he had returned at the conclusion of the service and went up to the evangelist and he said, "Sir, what can I do to be saved?" And the evangelist hardly even lifted up his eyes from the work he was doing, he said, "I'm sorry, Son, you're too late." And the boy said, "Surely, surely, that can't be. Surely I'm not too late. You're still here. Won't you tell me what must I do to be saved?" And the evangelist stopped what he was doing, looked at him, and he said, "I'm sorry, Son, you're too late. Jesus did everything necessary for you to be saved 2,000 years ago. All you have to do is just receive His finished work for your salvation."
Jesus bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
His life was not taken, it was given for you and me. If He did not give it, it would never have been taken!
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10: 17-18
You have a massive debt. Who is going to pay it? You for all eternity or Jesus right now?
He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay,
I needed someone to wash my sin away
And now I sing that brand new song: Amazing Grace
For Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay
-- He Paid a Debt He Did Not Owe by G. McSpadden
Conclusion: Each of us will serve someone or something. Some would say, “I am free. I do not serve anyone” but they are enslaved by their work, addictions or any number of other things. Jesus says, “I want to be your King and give your life purpose and direction. Will you follow Me?”
We also need each other. Years ago a TV show about a bar offered a place “where everybody knows your name”. Jesus’ death created the Body of Christ, a place in which we have our need for relationships satisfied.
Finally and most importantly, our need to know that our sins are forgiven and paid for once and for all was accomplished at the cross. You need not worry about your destiny when you die because Jesus took your hell on the cross so that you could live in heaven with Him. Will you accept His offer?
At the cross, Jesus did all three of these because that is “what everyone needs.”
