My goal this week, is a simple one. When you look at Jesus on the cross, think about what you are seeing. Think about who Jesus truly is, and what he did for you. And leave today, praising God the Father, and God the Son, for the life they have given to you.
Now, last week, when Jesus was on trial before Pilate, we found ourselves doing much the same thing.
Three times, Pilate called us to look to Jesus, and understand what we were seeing. Pilate meant this ironically. He said this, to try to humiliate Jesus and the Judeans. But what Pilate actually did, despite himself, was two things: First, Pilate spoke the truth. And second, Pilate pointed people toward Jesus.
Let's start this morning by rereading a portion of last week's text, picking back up in John 19:1:
(19:1) Then, Pilate next took Jesus,
and he flogged/beat him,
(2) and the soldiers, weaving a crown from thorns, placed it on his head,
and a purple robe they put on him,
and they were coming to him,
and they were saying,
"Rejoice, the king of the Judeans,"
and they were giving him blows/slaps ,
(4) and Pilate came outside again,
and he says to them,
"LOOK! I bring him to you outside,
in order that you would know that no ground for accusation I find against him."
(5) Then, Jesus came outside,
bearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,
and he (Pilate) says to them,
"LOOK! The man!"
(6) Then, when the chief priests and the police saw him, they cried out, saying,
"Crucify! Crucify!
Pilate says to them,
"Take him-- you,
and crucify him.
"For I don't find in him a ground for accusation.
(7) The Judeans answered him,
"We, a law, we have,
and in accordance with the law he must die,
because the?/a son of God, he makes himself.
(8) Then, when Pilate heard this, he instead feared,
(9) and he entered into the governor's residence again,
and he says to Jesus,
"From where are you?"
Now, Jesus, an answer, he didn't give him.
(10) Then, Pilate says to him,
"To me you won't speak?
Don't you know
that authority I have to release you,
and authority I have to crucify you?"
(11) Jesus responded to him,
"You don't have authority against/over me, any , unless only it was given to you from above."
For this reason the one handing me to you, greater sin, he has.
(12) From this point on, Pilate was seeking to release him.
Now, the Judeans were crying out, saying,
"If this one you release, you aren't a friend of Caesar.
Everyone, the king making himself, opposes Caesar."
(13) Then, Pilate, hearing these words, brought Jesus outside,
and he sat [him?] upon the judgment seat at the place,
being called the Stone Pavement.
Now, in Hebrew, Gabbatha.
(14) Now, it was the day of preparation for the Passover.
It was about the sixth hour,
and he says to the Judeans,
"LOOK! Your king!
(15) Then, those ones cried out,
"Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!"
Pilate says to them,
"Your king, I should crucify?"
The chief priests answered,
"We have no king, except only Caesar.
(16) Then, he then handed him over to them,
in order that he would be crucified,
That's as far as we got last week. Jesus has been sentenced to death by crucifixion. He's been rejected, humiliated, used as a prop. Jesus is a king, but a very different kind of king, with a very different kind of kingdom.
Now, he's on his way to the cross. And we are supposed to understand that this is the moment of his exaltation. Every king, at his coronation, has an inauguration. The moment when everyone acknowledges, this is our new king. When everyone celebrates the king, and lifts him up. It's the moment of his glory. For Jesus, this moment is the cross. When Jesus is lifted up on the cross, this is not a moment of shame. This is his glory. And that's the picture I want you to see.
Verse 17-22:
(17) and carrying his own cross, he (=Jesus) went out to the place being called "The Skull,"
which is called in Aramaic 'Golgotha,'
where him, they crucified,
and with him, two others, one on one side, and one on the other.
Now, in the middle, Jesus.
(19) Now, Pilate also wrote a notice/inscription,
and he placed it upon the cross.
Now, it was written,
"Jesus, the Nazarene. The King of the Judeans."
(20) Then, this notice/inscription many of the Judeans read,
because near, the place was to the city
where Jesus was crucified.
What we see, so far, is two things. The first, is the title Pilate wrote. Who is Jesus? Verse 19 tells us, Jesus is two things. First, he is "the Nazarene." Second, he is "the king of the Judeans."
Pilate wants you to see Jesus hanging on the cross, the sign over his head, and think that Jesus is someone to be mocked. Someone who is weak, in the face of Roman power. Pilate wants everyone to know the truth about Jesus.
And Pilate accidentally gets his wish. Jesus is the true king of the Judeans, and many Judeans, passing by, see the sign over Jesus, and hear the truth. Pilate ends up testifying publicly to the truth about Jesus here, despite himself.
Verse 21:
(21) Then, the chief priests of the Judeans were saying to Pilate,
"Don't write, 'The King of the Judeans,'
but that 'That one said, '[A] King of the Judeans, I am.'"
(22) Pilate answered,
"What I have written, I have written."
The chief priests had just rejected Jesus as king, publicly, before Pilate. They had said, John 19:15, "We have no king, except only Caesar."
So Pilate's sign really bothers them, on two levels. First, they don't like the "the" on the sign. When you say that Jesus is "THE" king of the Judeans, there's an exclusivity to that. Jesus is "the" true king, and there is no other. Second, and more importantly, they don't like the idea of Jesus as king at all. "That one" may claim to be their king, but he isn't. They've rejected Jesus.
So from a Judean perspective, Pilate's sign is flawed. It's wrong. It's not truth. And they want Pilate to fix it.
But Pilate won't. For the first time, Pilate shows backbone. The Judeans may have pressured and guilted him into crucifying Jesus, but Pilate is determined to make this is painful and humiliating for the Judeans as he can. And this sign is a way to needle them. Sometimes, the truth hurts.
Starting in verse 23, we come to our next scene:
(23) Then, the solders, when they crucified Jesus, took his clothing,
and they made four parts/shares--
for each soldier and share, and the tunic/undergarment.
Now, the tunic/undergarment was seamless, from above/the top woven through the whole.
(24) Then, they said to one another,
"Let us not tear/schism it,
but let us cast lots for it [to see] whose it will be,"
in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled-- the one saying:
'They distributed/divided my garments among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.'
The Scripture AJ quotes here is from Psalm 22:16-18 (ESV):
16 For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
17 I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
18 they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
When we see the soldiers casting lots, we should understand that even in this small detail, Jesus fulfills the Scripture. Everything is happening according to God's plan.
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Whitacre:
Behind the idea of fulfillment is the notion of God’s sovereign control, which weaves repeating patterns: Scripture expresses God’s will, and Jesus is submissive to God’s will, so his activity fulfills the Scripture because it flows from the same source and is controlled by the same Father.
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Many Christians throughout church history, including up to the present (Francis Moloney) have seen in Jesus' tunic a symbol of the church. The unity of the church is not something that can be lost (John 17:20-26). I'm not sure I'm feeling this one (although the tunic is described as 'from above' makes me think maybe something is there), but you can wrestle with it.
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Picking back up, at the end of verse 24, reading through verse 28:
On the one hand, the soldiers, these things, they did.
(25) On the other hand, they had been standing near Jesus' cross, his mother, and the sister of his mother, the wife of Clopas, and Mary the Magdalene.
(26) Then, Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple standing there whom he loved, says to his mother,
"Woman, LOOK! Your son!
(27) Next, he says to the disciple,
"LOOK! Your mother!",
and from that hour, the disciple took her into his own home.
(28) After this, Jesus, knowing that now, everything has been completed, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, says,
"I thirst."
AJ now turns our attention from the soldiers, to the other people near the cross-- four women, and the beloved disciple, who is probably John.
Now, what are we supposed to see here?
You could say, that this is Jesus being a faithful son to the end. That he's simply making sure that his mom will be taken care of, after he is gone.
But let's read the first half of verse 28 again. "After this, Jesus, knowing that everything has now been completed."
Jesus, through his words to the disciple and his mother, accomplished something. Something profound happens here, and this something had to be completed before he could die.
What is it?
I think that what Jesus is doing here, is creating a new family, the church.
Whitacre, John, 461:
"John's own focus . . . is on the new family formed among the disciples of Jesus, with the Beloved Disciple, who is the witness to Jesus par excellence, as the one exercising care."
Moloney:
Because of the cross and from the moment of the cross a new family of Jesus has been created. The Mother of Jesus, a model of faith, and the disciple whom Jesus loved and held close to himself are one as the disciple accepts the Mother (19:27: elaben … auten) in an unconditioned acceptance of the word of Jesus.
Osborne:
If there is a theological thrust, it is best to say they represent the family relationship that is to typify the new community of the church (so Kysar, Ridderbos, Whitacre).
Sometimes, being one of Jesus' disciples means being rejected by your flesh and blood (John 7:5). But when you are joined to Christ, you get a new family. This new family is made up of people who are committed to Jesus, and who obey what Jesus says (John 2).
And this family loves you, and is committed to you. When you look at older women in this church, Jesus says, LOOK! YOUR MOM. When you look at younger men in this church, Jesus says, LOOK! YOUR SON! All of us, are related. You are my dads, and moms, and brothers, and sisters, and my kids. I naturally get along with some of you better than others. I have more in common with some of you, than others. But we are one united family, looking out for each other, working together, and living together, in unity (John 17:20-23).
And Jesus couldn't die, until the core of this new family was established. Now that he has completed this, verse 28-30:
(28) After this, Jesus, knowing that now, everything has been completed, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, says,
"I thirst."
(29) A jar was standing there of sour wine.
Then, a sponge full of the sour wine, after being put on hyssop, they brought it to his mouth.
(30) Then, when he took the sour wine, Jesus said,
"It has been finished,"
and bowing his head, he handed over his/the spirit.
Let's read Psalm 69:17-22 (reading LXX version, which is actually Psalm 68):
17 *Give ear to me, O Lord, because your mercy is good.
According to the magnitude of your compassions look down upon me.
18 *Because I am afflicted, quickly hear me.
19 *Pay attention to my soul and redeem it.
On account of my enemies rescue me.
20 *For you know my reproach and my shame and my humiliation.
Before you are all those who are afflicting me.
21 *My soul expected reproach and misery.
And I waited upon the one hurting with me, and he did not exist,
and for one to comfort me, but I found none.
22 *And they gave gall for my food,
and they gave me vinegar for my drink.
Jesus, knowing this verse, knowing how the soldiers would respond, says that he is thirsty. And the soldiers give him a "sour wine," which is the same Greek word as what's found in verse 22 in the psalm.
Once he has done this, everything has been completed. And Jesus, bowing his head, "hands over" his spirit.
When we hear this, we are supposed to think about this verb-- this "handing over" (sometimes translated "betray"). For a couple chapters, everyone has been "handing over" Jesus, from one person to the next. Judas handed over Jesus to the Roman soldiers and the Judeans (John 6:64, 71; 12:4; 13:2, 11, 21; 18:2, 5). The Judeans handed Jesus over to Pilate (John 18:30, 35, 36). And Pilate handed Jesus over to the Judeans to be crucified (John 19:16).
Maybe, when you read this, you think that Jesus is just a pawn in a much bigger game. That he is helpless, and powerless. But when we turn back to John 19:30, we are supposed to understand the truth. Jesus didn't die from the beating, or the cross. He didn't die because of Judas, or the Judeans, or Pilate.
Jesus died, when he had accomplished his Father's mission. And Jesus died, because he "handed over" his life. Jesus had said he had power to lay his life down, and power to take his life back up. And here, he proves it.
Verse 31:
(31) Then, the Judeans, since the day of preparation it was, in order that the bodies would not abide on the cross on the Sabbath-- for that was the great day of the Sabbath-- they asked Pilate, that their legs would be broken, and they could be taken away.
(32) Then, the soldiers came,
and, on the one hand, the first one they broke his legs, and of the other being crucified with him.
(33) On the other hand, to Jesus coming, when they saw that already he was dead, they didn't break his legs,
(34) but one of the soldiers pierced his side,
and immediately, blood and water came out,
(35) and the one having seen [this] has testified,
and true, his testimony is,
and that one knows that truth, he speaks,
in order that also you would believe.
(36) For these things happened,
in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled,
"A bone shall not be broken/shattered of his,"
(37) and again, another Scripture says,
"They will look upon the one whom they pierced."
Even in Jesus' death, he fulfilled Scripture. Verse 36 tells us that Jesus fulfilled two Scriptures here. The first, was that none of Jesus' bones would be broken (Exodus 12:46; Num. 9:12). We've been told, since the beginning of John, that Jesus is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. And here, Jesus dies on the day of preparation for the Passover, as the lamb. And one of the most important parts of preparing the lamb correctly, was that none of its bones could be broken. So when we read this, we understand that Jesus died as the perfect, spotless, lamb.
The second Scripture Jesus fulfilled was in verse 37. "They will look upon the one whom they pierced."
The quotation here is from Zechariah 12:10 (and here, AJ's quotation is much closer to the Hebrew than the Greek). This is a fascinating verse, but I'm just going to leave it:
10 “And I (=God) will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.
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The LXX reads this, possibly because the Hebrew seems confusing?:
10 And I will pour out upon the house of David and upon the ones who dwell in Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of mercy, and they will look attentively to me, ?because? they danced triumphantly; and they will mourn for it with a mourning as for a beloved friend, and they will be grieved with a grief as for the firstborn.
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Now, there's something else going on here besides Jesus fulfilling Scripture. Let's reread John 19:34-35:
(34) but one of the soldiers pierced his side,
and immediately, blood and water came out,
(35) and the one having seen [this] has testified,
and true, his testimony is,
and that one knows that truth, he speaks,
in order that also you would believe.
AJ (Author of John) makes a really big deal about blood and water coming out from Jesus. In verse 35, he stops, and says, "This is the truth. You can depend on this testimony, and this testimony should cause you to 'believe.'"
When we read verse 35, we understand that something important happened in verse 34. We are supposed to see something in the blood and water. But what?
Scholars are pretty evenly divided about this, with two main explanations.
The first explanation, is that AJ here shows you that Jesus is fully human. Only human beings are made up on the inside of blood and water. AJ is writing to a community that, at some point along the way, wrestled with whether or not Jesus was actually human. Some people within that church actually left, because they were convinced Jesus was only God (Charles Talbert, Reading John, 246):
1 John 4:1-2 (NRSV):
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus[a] is not from God.
1 John 5:6-8 (NRSV):
6 This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. 7 There are three that testify:[b] 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree.
So one answer for why AJ hits the pause button on the story, to draw attention to the blood and the water, is that he is proving that Jesus is human.
The second possible meaning for the blood and water is found in John 7:37-39 (this reading needs the ESV, not NRSV):
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as[f] the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Jesus was pierced, and the blood and water flowed out. And we are supposed to read this, in part, symbolically (from above). "Jesus is the source of 'living water' in the Gospel (4:10, 12-14; 7:38-39). In the eucharistic imagery of 6:53-58, his blood, too, is identified with his gift of life (6:53-55). It is thus possible to read a second level of meaning into v. 34: that life flows out of Jesus' death" (Gail O'Day, 834, following Barrett, 558; Brown, 949-50).
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From there, it's a short jump to a sacramental reading. Barclay:
But to John this was more than a proof that Jesus was truly human. It was a symbol of the two great sacraments of the Church. There is one sacrament which is based on water—baptism; and there is one which is based on blood—the Lord’s Supper with its cup of blood-red wine. The water of baptism is the sign of the cleansing grace of God in Jesus Christ; the wine of the Lord’s Supper is the symbol of the blood which was shed to save people from their sins. The water and the blood which flowed from the side of Christ were to John the sign of the cleansing water of baptism and the cleansing blood commemorated and experienced in the Lord’s Supper.
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Let's stop here. When we look at Jesus on the cross, what are we supposed to see? [This could be unpacked more].
(1) Jesus dies, as "the" king.
He is a very different type of king, with a very different type of kingdom. But Jesus is the king.
(2) Jesus dies in obedience to God's plan.
Down to the smallest detail, Jesus' death fulfilled Scripture.
(3) Jesus dies of his own free will. Jesus willingly lays down his life. Jesus willingly hands over his spirit.
(4) Jesus dies, to give life. It was only through Jesus' death on the cross, that Jesus could give us all the life we desperately needed. Let's read from John 3:14 (ESV no reason):
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.[h]
When we see the blood and water coming out from Jesus' side, what we are seeing, is life. And this life is available for all of us, when we give our allegiance to Jesus. .
(5) Jesus' death, is his moment of glory.
Jesus' death on the cross is not a defeat. It's not a humiliation. Jesus' death is God's decisive moment of victory over Satan, and death, and sin. God wins, and Jesus wins, and we win, because of the cross.
So when we look at Jesus on the cross, we find ourselves on our knees, worshipping, praising, pledging our allegiance. We serve a good King, who gives life.
Translation:
(17) and carrying his own cross, he went out to the place being called "The Skull,"
which is called in Aramaic 'Golgotha,'
where him, they crucified,
and with him, two others, one on one side, and one on the other.
Now, in the middle, Jesus.
(19) Now, Pilate also wrote a notice/inscription,
and he placed it upon the cross.
Now, it was written,
"Jesus, the Nazarene. The King of the Judeans."
(20) Then, this notice/inscription many read of the Judeans,
because near, the place was to the city
where Jesus was crucified.
(21) Then, the chief priests of the Judeans were saying to Pilate,
"Don't write, 'The King of the Judeans,'
but that 'That one said, '[A] King of the Judeans, I am.'"
(22) Pilate answered,
"What I have written, I have written."
(23) Then, the solders, when they crucified Jesus, took his clothing,
and they made four parts/shares--
for each soldier and share, and the tunic/undergarment.
Now, the tunic/undergarment was seamless, from above/the top woven through the whole.
(24) Then, they said to one another,
"Let us not tear/schism it,
but let us cast lots for it [to see] whose it will be,"
in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled-- the one saying:
'They distributed/divided my garments among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.'
On the one hand, the soldiers, these things, they did.
(25) On the other hand, they had been standing near Jesus' cross, his mother, and the sister of his mother, the wife of Clopas, and Mary the Magdalene.
(26) Then, Jesus, seeing his mother and the disciple standing there whom he loved, says to his mother,
"Woman, LOOK! Your son!
(27) Next, he says to the disciple,
"LOOK! Your mother!",
and from that hour, the disciple took her into his own home.
(28) After this, Jesus, knowing that now, everything has been completed, in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, says,
"I thirst."
(29) A jar was standing there of sour wine.
Then, a sponge full of the sour wine, after being put on hyssop, they brought it to his mouth.
(30) Then, when he took the sour wine, Jesus said,
"It has been finished,"
and bowing his head, he handed over his/the spirit.
(31) Then, the Judeans, since the day of preparation it was, in order that the bodies would not abide on the cross on the Sabbath-- for that was the great day of the Sabbath-- they asked Pilate, that their legs would be broken, and they could be taken away.
(32) Then, the soldiers came,
and, on the one hand, the first one they broke his legs, and of the other being crucified with him.
On the other hand, to Jesus coming, when they saw that already he was dead, they didn't break his legs,
but one of the soldiers pierced his side,
and immediately, blood and water came out,
(35) and the one having seen [this] has testified,
and true, his testimony is,
and that one knows that truth, he speaks,
in order that also you would believe.
(36) For these things happened,
in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled,
"A bone shall not be broken/shattered of his,"
and again, another Scripture says,
"They will look upon the one whom they pierced."
