Message (Part 1)
John 19:28-42
Dead and Buried
Read John 19:28-30
In total there are seven phrases that Jesus speaks while on the cross.
Father forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.
Today you will be with me in paradise.
My God. My God. Why have You forsaken Me?
These are sayings with meaning and power; aren’t they.
Then we get to these words of Jesus.
I am thirsty.
The words seem so mundane.
So ordinary.
... ...
So human.
But that is precisely the point. Just when we think we have the cross nicely packaged, we are given a little reminder:-
Don’t forget that Jesus was human. He had flesh. He knows what it means to be like us.
Jesus gets thirsty.
In John 4:7 when Jesus is talking with the Samaritan woman He asks her to give Him a drink.
Not just because He will use the question to teach a spiritual lesson.
But because Samaria is a hot dry country and when you walk all day to get to a town … you are thirsty.
If that is the case when you walk are walking through the countryside, how much more thirstier would you be if you were in Jesus’ situation.
It is quite possible that the last drink Jesus had was at the Passover – early in the previous night. Since then He was pierced by the crown of thorns, beaten with a wooden staff, whipped and nailed to a cross.
No wonder Jesus is thirsty
But don’t forget also that Jesus has also been enduring the wrath of God. He already has made the cry My God. My God. Why have You forsaken Me? It is not a small thing to face the anger and wrath of God.
No wonder Jesus is thirsty
It seems like a natural statement.
But the words are not recorded because they make a natural statement. The recording of these words are absolutely necessary.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
John 19:28
What Scripture is fulfilled?
Psalm 69:21
They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.
Psalm 22:15
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
As Jesus cries out “I am thirst” we are reminded that He is promised Messiah.
The thirst of Jesus says, “I am the real deal.”
Thirsting because He has taken the anger of God.
Thirsting as a man – just to let us know how down-to-earth Christianity really is.
The thirst of Jesus is a guarantee that He is fixing the relationship that we broke with God.
Prayer
Message (Part 2)
John 19:28-42
Dead and Buried
Read John 19:31-37
There is something powerful about an eye-witness statement isn’t there.
I saw what happened.
John the disciple is the author of this Gospel and he is an eye-witness. As the eyewitness he specifically testifies to the piercing of the side of Jesus.
Why?
Why highlight the truth of the testimony of the spear piercing?
When the Romans crucified anyone they would usually let the bodies rot on the crosses. It was a very visual reminder of what happens when you try and mess with Rome. So the process acted as a great deterrent.
But the Jewish leaders had this Scripture in mind:-
22 If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, 23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 21:22-23
Leaving bodies hanging any day violated Jewish custom.
Leaving bodies on the Sabbath was worse.
Leaving bodies on a special Sabbath was unthinkable.
So the Jewish leaders again come to Pilate to make sure everything is just right.
We can’t let these bodies be there tomorrow on the Special Sabbath
Two men are still alive. So their legs are broken.
Why do that?
The only way to get air in your lungs when you are being crucified is to push your body up with your legs and take the weight off your shoulders. When you break the legs there is no way to get air – so you suffocate. Ironically having your leg smashed and broken would almost be a relief. It means the agony is nearly over.
Two men are still alive.
Jesus is dead.
That is the main point. Jesus is dead.
He doesn’t need to be broken because the purpose of His coming has been fulfilled.
But, just to be sure, a soldier pierces the side of Jesus with a spear. And blood and water flow.
In response John says:-
I witnessed the truth of this event.
Now Scripture is fulfilled.
Which Scripture?
19 The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all; 20 he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Psalm 34:19-20
10 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
Zechariah 12:10
Jesus is dead … but even in death the promised Messiah is not broken
This is the testimony John wants us to hear.
Which is a testimony of great comfort and encouragement.
Because doesn’t it feel at times that our lives are broken?
It might be as a result of sickness, pain, suffering and physical ailments.
There could be emotional hurt, depression, anxiety and abuse.
Perhaps it is guilt, shame, fear, questioning and doubt.
We don’t feel we a good enough, useful enough or strong enough.
We have broken relationships, broken families and broken lives.
And, most hard of all, we have a broken relationship with God.
Who is going to put it all back together?
Who is able to give us the peace we need in the middle of pain?
Who can help us overcome the emotional baggage we carry?
Who can take away the doubts and guilt?
Who gives us security and hope?
Who enables forgiveness to be shared?
Who can be the one who comprehensively helps the broken?
It’s Jesus … the one who was never broken.
Look on the one who is pierced … not broken …
And be restored, revived, released, repaired, relieved, reinstated, re-established and resurrected.
Prayer
Message (Part 3)
John 19:28-42
Dead and Buried
Read John 19:38-42
These verse introduce us to a very unlikely pair of undertakers. Joseph of Arimathea, who asks Pilate for the body of Jesus, and Nicodemus.
Joseph of Arimathea is only mentioned in connection with the burial of Jesus – but all four Gospel writers tell us about him.
57 As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.
…
60 (Joseph) placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock.
Matthew 27:57
The tomb is not taken, it is freely offered by Joseph
43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.
Mark 15:43
Just to be clear “the Council” is the group of people who condemned Jesus to death.
51 (Joseph) had not consented to their [the Council’s] decision and action.
Luke 23:51
Joseph had voted against the injustice of the Jewish trial.
This gives us a good picture of who Joseph is. And John’s Gospel adds to that picture.
38 Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.
John 19:38
Joseph has been bold – no longer acting in secret.
Not fearing what anyone thinks about his association with Jesus.
The dead of Jesus brings Joseph out of the shadows and into the light.
Who is Nicodemus?
Nicodemus appears earlier in the book of John. He was the man who went to Jesus one night to have a talk with Jesus – he went at night presumably because he did not want to be seen talking to Jesus. Nicodemus was also a member of the Jewish Council.
Nicodemus now clearly makes his devotion known through the contribution of about 34 kilograms of burial spices.
The amount used was equal to amounts of burial spices used to bury kings.
Scholars have estimated that the cost could be as high as 30,000 denarius … 30,000 days’ worth of work.
Now note these words which Jesus spoke to Nicodemus on the night Nicodemus visited.
20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
John 3:20-21
Nicodemus is being bold no longer acting in secret. He extravagantly provides for Jesus at his own person cost.
The dead of Jesus brings Nicodemus out of the shadows and into the light.
Two unlikely undertakers.
Joseph of Arimathea
Nicodemus.
The death of Jesus brings them out of the shadows and into the light.
Today, again, we are gathered on Good Friday.
The day we specifically focus on the death of Jesus.
Romans 6:3 tells us that when we are baptised into Christ Jesus we are baptised into his death. As we think about the death of Jesus and our connection to him in death, are we allowing that dead to bring us out of the shadows into the light.
Out of the shadow of guilt into the light of forgiveness.
Out of the shadow of worry into the light of peace.
Out of the shadow of complacency into the light of commitment.
Out of the shadow of silence into the light of sharing the Scripture.
Out of the shadow of sin into the light of grace.
Today let the death of Jesus bring you out from any shadow that you are in.
Prayer
