Thank God! Jesus Christ Is Alive Today!
Easter Sunday
04/15/2000 A.M.
We are going to take our text this morning in the nineteenth chapter of John.
I know that I just said that the title to my sermon this morning was thank God Jesus Christ is alive this morning!
Jesus Christ is very much alive this morning and He is giving out blessings to His believers like never before!
But I feel like everyone needs to be reminded of what out Lord went through for you and I!
The way that He suffered on the cross for our sins so that we wouldn¡¦t have to go through all of that pain and suffering!
So if you would turn in your bibles to,
John 19:1-3
1 Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip.
2 The soldiers made a crown of long, sharp thorns and put it on his head, and they put a royal purple robe on him.
3 ¡§Hail! King of the Jews!¡¨ they mocked, and they hit him with their fists.
If Jesus was innocent, He should have been turned loose.
If He was guilty of the charge brought against Him, He should have been crucified.
To scourge Jesus was entirely unlawful and wrong.
Pilate did it because he thought this would placate the Jews.
The word scourge, means to whip.
I really doubt that Pilate actually did the whipping.
That is what he used the Roman Soldiers for.
Also it says in the 3rd verse that the soldiers played a very cruel Roman game with Him.
The game was where the soldiers would show the prisoner their fists and then they would blindfold him and all but one of the soldiers would hit the prisoner as hard as they could.
After this they would take off the blindfold and the prisoner was made to guess which one of the soldiers didn¡¦t hit him.
As you know that was impossible for the prisoner to do so they would start all over again.
I believe that the lord Jesus was so mutilated that you would not have recognized Him!
Let¡¦s read what the prophet Isaiah foretold in
Isaiah 52:14
14 Many were amazed when they saw him¡Xbeaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person.
Isaiah foretold long before Jesus was ever born that he would be marred more than any other man!
Let us go on with our scripture
John 19:4-5
4 Pilate went outside again and said to the people, ¡§I am going to bring him out to you now, but understand clearly that I find him not guilty.¡¨
5 Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said, ¡§Here is the man!¡¨
Now they come outside again.
I think that if you had seen Him then,
it would have broken your heart.
He had been beaten within an inch of His life.
I find it interesting the way that Pilate comes out to the people and says,
Behold I bring Him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in Him!
Well if Pilate found no fault in Him then why did he allow the Roman Soldiers to beat Him to within an inch of His life?
He sounds like he has the making of a real politician, he would fit right in with today¡¦s leaders.
Now look at the smug way that Pilate say¡¦s Behold the man!
He sounds just like the Sinners of today!
No respect for Jesus.
If that¡¦s all that you think He is,
The Man then you have missed the boat!
He is not just the man!
He is the Son of God.
He is the Savior of the world!
Lets go on,
John 19:6
6 When they saw him, the leading priests and Temple guards began shouting, ¡§Crucify! Crucify!¡¨
¡§You crucify him,¡¨ Pilate said. ¡§I find him not guilty.¡¨
It may have been at this point that Pilate called for the basin of water and washed his hands.
The water would clean his hands but could not cleanse the guilt of his heart.
Again I say, Pilate has the making of a real politician!
He had the power here to stand up and be a man and tell the people to go away,
he could have said this man is not guilty!
But instead he tells then to take Him and crucify Him!
And then he adds yet another time, ¡§ for I find no fault in Him ¡§
As we go on,
John 19:7-9
7 The Jewish leaders replied, ¡§By our laws he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.¡¨
8 When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.
9 He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, ¡§Where are you from?¡¨ But Jesus gave no answer.
You can see here that Pilate is becoming afraid, so he takes Him inside again to question Him some more!
John 19:10-11
10 ¡§You won¡¦t talk to me?¡¨ Pilate demanded. ¡§Don¡¦t you realize that I have the power to release you or to crucify you?¡¨
11 Then Jesus said, ¡§You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who brought me to you has the greater sin.¡¨
Here we find this political thin at work again, Pilate has already said twice that he finds no fault with Him,
Why doesn¡¦t he let Him go?
Jesus answered that question for Pilate when He told him that he didn¡¦t have any power of Him at all!
John 19:12
12 Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leaders told him, ¡§If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar.
Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.¡¨
From thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him.
Because he believed in Him?
No.
Because he knew that the Lord Jesus was an innocent man.
Jesus is now in the hands of a cheap politician, not the Judge of Roman justice that Pilate should have been.
These Jewish religious rulers are prepared to report Pilate to Rome accusing him of permitting subversion.
That would be treason and Pilate doesn¡¦t want such a charge against him.
Pilate will let his political position overrule his justice.
It is a terrible thing even today, when government, whether it be church or state government, gets into the hands of men who are hungry for power and do not regard either God or man!
Let¡¦s go on,
John 19:13-15
13 When they said this, Pilate brought Jesus out to them again. Then Pilate sat down on the judgment seat on the platform that is called the Stone Pavement (in Hebrew, ƒ·ƒÑƒÒƒÒƒÑƒäƒØƒÑ).
14 It was now about noon of the day of preparation for the Passover. And Pilate said to the people, ¡§Here is your king!¡¨
15 ¡§Away with him,¡¨ they yelled. ¡§Away with him¡Xcrucify him!¡¨
¡§What? Crucify your king?¡¨
Pilate asked.
¡§We have no king but Caesar,¡¨ the leading priests shouted back.
Notice the dignity of the Lord Jesus through all this.
Notice that He is not the one on trial.
Pilate is forced to a choice.
Will it be Jesus Christ or Caesar?
The religious leaders are forced to make a choice.
Will it be Jesus Christ or Caesar?
They make their dreadful choice.
¡§ We have no King but Caesar. ¡§
The day will come in the future when they will have to make another choice.
Jesus Christ or the Antichrist?
Friend, listen; every man must make his choice about Jesus Christ!
You know the irony of all of this is that we are still crucifying Jesus today when we choose not to accept Him as our personal savior!
To turn your heart away from Jesus when He is knocking on your hearts door is most likely to worst thing that you will ever do in your life.
When you turn away from Jesus Christ you are turning to Caesar, turning to the Antichrist!
You might say, wait a minute, I am not crucifying Jesus!
Well what do you think that you are doing every time that you sin?
What do you think that you are doing every time that you turn your heart cold to His knocking?
Then what are you going to do about the scripture that tells us that we cannot serve two masters!
Luke 16:13
13 ¡§No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.¡¨
You cannot do it!
You cannot go thru life trying to satisfy both the devil and God at the same time!
You are either living for Jesus today or you are living for the devil!
You have all of these preachers today that are trying to let people get by with a little of this or a little of that and all of the time they are sending you off to a devils hell!
You cannot and I repeat, serve two masters.
Every time that you turn away from the Lord Jesus Christ you are driving a nail thru His hand all over again!
Let¡¦s read on,
John 19:16
16 Then Pilate gave Jesus to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus and led him away.
We speak so often of the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ that it becomes almost trite for the average believer.
The crucifixion of Jesus Christ is one of the most dastardly, infamous points in our history.
Here we have a man that is totally sinless, never committed a sin in His life, and He is taking all of this punishment so that you and I will not have to.
The scripture tells us in,
1 Peter 2:24
24 He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds!
From the standpoint of the world, the cross is nothing but a brutal murder.
They see Jesus of Nazareth.
They see the Man.
They see the injustice.
So they led Him away to be crucified.
This fulfills yet more scripture,
Psalm 94:20-21
20 Can unjust leaders claim that God is on their side¡X
leaders who permit injustice by their laws?
21 They attack the righteous
and condemn the innocent to death.
Now let¡¦s us continue with our text,
John 19:17-18
17 Carrying the cross by himself, Jesus went to the place called Skull Hill (in Hebrew, ƒ·ƒßƒÜƒ×ƒßƒäƒØƒÑ).
18 There they crucified him. There were two others crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.
Here we have Jesus hanging on a cross between two criminal¡¦s.
One of them was jeering and calling Jesus names right along with the Roman Soldiers and rejecting Jesus just like the people today are still doing.
And then on the other side we have a man that is asking forgiveness of his sins and asking Jesus to remember him.
Oh how foolish people can be to not believe in Jesus, to go on day after day and continue to use His name in vain and not think a thing about it.
The way that people will do all sorts of things contrary to the Word of God and think that they will get by with it.
John 19:19-22
19 And Pilate posted a sign over him that read, ¡§Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.¡¨
20 The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.
21 Then the leading priests said to Pilate, ¡§Change it from ¡¥The King of the Jews¡¦ to ¡¥He said, I am King of the Jews.¡¦ ¡¨
22 Pilate replied, ¡§What I have written, I have written. It stays exactly as it is.¡¨
Thus it was written for the whole world to see, that He died for all!
This is the gospel that is to be preached to the world, this is the hope of the world!
John 19:23-24
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they divided his clothes among the four of them. They also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.
24 So they said, ¡§Let¡¦s not tear it but throw dice to see who gets it.¡¨ This fulfilled the Scripture that says, ¡§They divided my clothes among themselves and threw dice for my robe.¡¨
No Gospel writer describes the death of Christ.
There are things about the Cross and the Crucifixion that are hidden from us.
God pulls down a veil on many of the details.
Darkness covered the land so the people couldn¡¦t see.
First of all God is not going to give us morbid details simply to satisfy our idle curiosity.
Secondly there was a transaction between the father and the Son taking place there.
It was a transaction for the sins of the world, which is beyond our comprehension.
The only thing that we can do is to accept by faith the forgiveness that is made ours through Christ¡¦s death on the Cross.
That is the only way that you and I will ever penetrate that darkness, my friend!
And as for the rest of that scripture about the Roman Soldiers casting lots for His clothes.
Shooting dice at the foot of the Cross.
How cruel can you get?
What they didn¡¦t realize was they were fulfilling more scripture as we read in
Psalm 22:16-20
16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs;
an evil gang closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
17 I can count every bone in my body.
My enemies stare at me and gloat.
18 They divide my clothes among themselves
and throw dice for my garments.
19 O LORD, do not stay away!
You are my strength; come quickly to my aid!
20 Rescue me from a violent death;
spare my precious life from these dogs.
Now let¡¦s go on with our text,
John 19:25-27
25 So that is what they did.
Standing near the cross were Jesus¡¦ mother, and his mother¡¦s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, ¡§Woman, he is your son.¡¨
27 And he said to this disciple, ¡§She is your mother.¡¨ And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
Jesus calls Mary, ¡§ Woman ¡§ His hour has come.
He is to die, but He will rise again.
He is to be glorified.
His relationship with His mother is to be severed.
To her as well as to us he is to be the glorified Christ.
His resurrection will clear her name forever.
Her reputation will be vindicated.
But she must come to Christ in faith just as every other believer comes.
While He is dying for the sins of the world, He will not neglect her.
We know that she will be praying with the disciples in the Upper Room after His resurrection as it tells us in
Acts 1:14
14 They all met together continually for prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus.
And after that she drops out of the picture.
As long as she lived, John would keep her in his home and care for her as the Lord Jesus asked him to do.
And as we go on,
John 19:28-30
28 Jesus knew that everything was now finished, and to fulfill the Scriptures he said, ¡§I am thirsty.¡¨
29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips.
30 When Jesus had tasted it, he said, ¡§It is finished!¡¨ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John carefully shows us that the scripture is being fulfilled.
There are chapters in the Old Testament, which are especially concerned with the Crucifixion.
I would list Psalm 22, Genesis 22, Isaiah 53 and Leviticus 16.
There are twenty-eight prophecies fulfilled while He was hanging on the Cross.
¡§ I thirst ¡§ Is the fulfillment of Psalm 69:21
They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
¡§ It is finished! ¡§
What was finished?
Your redemption and my redemption was finished.
In His report to the father He had said ¡§ I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do ¡§
As we go on,
John 19:32-37
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus.
33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was dead already, so they didn¡¦t break his legs.
34 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out.
35 This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account; it is presented so that you also can believe.
36 These things happened in fulfillment of the Scriptures that say, ¡§Not one of his bones will be broken,¡¨
37 and ¡§They will look on him whom they pierced.¡¨
If we look in
Ps 34:20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.
We see yet another prophecy fulfilled and then in,
Zech 12:10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications:
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him,
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
And again another prophecy is fulfilled!
John 19:38-42
38 Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus¡¦ body down.
When Pilate gave him permission, he came and took the body away.
39 Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night, also came, bringing about seventy-five pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes.
40 Together they wrapped Jesus¡¦ body in a long linen cloth with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial.
41 The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before.
42 And so, because it was the day of preparation before the Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
We are dealing with facts this morning.
The great historical facts of the gospel.
What is the Gospel?
Paul defines it for us in,
1 Corinthians 15:3-4
3 I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me¡Xthat Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.
4 He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, as the Scriptures said.
These are the central facts of the gospel.
Our Salvation is based on our relationship to those facts and to the person of Jesus Christ!
Do you trust Him?
Do you have faith in what He did for you when He died on the Cross?
Do you believe a vicarious, substitutionary, redemptive death for you?
I certainly hope so!
But yet this morning there are people out there right now walking around not living for the Lord,
not putting Him in first place in there lives!
I realize this morning that you can believe it!
But believing and acting on what you say that you believe are two different things!
Jesus died that horrible death on the Cross, for you and I!
If you have never reached out and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come in to your life,
then what a better time to do it than now?
A lot of the time people will put off Salvation to another time.
But friends this morning I am telling you that there is not a better time than when the Holy Spirit is talking to your heart.
Do you know that there will be a time when the Holy Spirit will stop tugging at your hearts door?
A preacher friend was holding a meeting in a certain church and many people were being saved.
A man said to his friend, ¡§ You are interested in being saved, why don¡¦t you give your heart to God this morning ¡§
The friend answered him saying yes he was interested but he didn¡¦t want to do it right then,
but he said I will call the preacher tomorrow and talk to him about it.
But that next morning before he could call the preacher,
he had a stroke and in just a very few moments he died and went on to meet God unprepared!
It can happen so easy, it can happen so quick, one minute everything going just great and the next minute disaster can strike.
Here Jesus is thinking of those that He died on the Cross for.
For those that He came to save.
Is He tugging at your heart this morning?
Do you know that there is a saying that ¡§ the mill will never grind with the water that has passed ¡§
There is no way to tell when the Holy Spirit will tug at you hearts door for the last time,
no one knows the answer to that.
When a person does this they sin against knowledge,
they know that they should be saved but they are not ready,
they still want to do their thing!
People say that they are not ready,
but the sad part is that the time will come when the Holy Spirit will strive no more,
and when that happens you have crossed the line and you die in your sin!
You know, you can drive all around Amarillo and see little crosses where people have died in automobile accident¡¦s, those little white cross marks the spot of their death!
I hope that the pew where you are sitting is not going to mark the spot where you lose your last opportunity to be saved!
I ask, if you have the tiniest impulse to come to Christ this morning, don¡¦t put it away.
Don¡¦t wait until the Holy Spirit quits knocking!
You know we have had a sermon this morning talking about the death of our Lord Jesus Christ!
The way that He died on the cross for your and my sins!
But do you know this morning that Jesus Christ is alive and well this morning!
He is right here in this room with us!
He is giving out blessings like never before to those that live for Him!
He is talking to people like you can¡¦t believe!
He is giving out second chances like never before just waiting for those that are not saved to come to Him!
Let us bow our heads
