Kaleo San Diego Church

INTRODUCTION

Last week we looked at Jesus betrayal and His sentencing to death by an illegal trial.

We discussed two main themes through that study which was foreknowledge and sovereignty.

This week we are going to read the account of Jesus crucifixion.

John is the most brief regarding the account of Jesus crucifixion, he states the facts about the death of Christ upon the cross. He doesn’t give us as much detail as the other three Gospels, those Gospels have already given great detail about the crucifixion and so John, being led by the Spirit, reminds us of the fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus death, and then moves to Jesus resurrection in chapter 20 which we will study next week.

I want to look at 3 things specifically:

I-The fulfillment of prophecy for this account

II-God’s attributes being shown to us in this account

III-Why does it matter?

I. Prophecy Fulfilled

The Messiah’s death for Sin was prophecied 700 years prior.

The account in John 19, regarding the messiah’s death for our sins, begins in prophecy with Isaiah 53

Isaiah 53 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our grief’s And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked-But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.

TEXT

John 19:17-42

17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. 21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'" 22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written." 23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.

Psalm 22:16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;

24 They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: "They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Psalm 22:18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!" (Speak of Mary, remembering her son her womb and the promise of God about Him, this is what comforted her during a gruesome death).27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home. 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!" 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

Psalm 69:21 They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. 31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

Psalm 34:20 He guards all his bones; Not one of them is broken.

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

Zechariah 12:10 "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

35 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 believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." 38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.

Isaiah 53:9 And they made His grave with the wicked-But with the rich at His death,

39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 41 Now 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. 42 So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews' Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

The chances of one man fulfilling these 6 prophecies would be astronomical. Now consider that Jesus fulfilled 342 specific prophecies regarding His birthplace, life, disciples, betrayal, crucifixion, and resurrection is so mathematically improbable, that it is considered an impossibility unless Jesus is who He claims to be.

I want to stress that all of the facts, all of the prophecy, all of the evidentiary arguments, will mean nothing to someone who has already committed to unbelief.

What we see in these biblical consistencies and proofs, is God’s foreknowledge and sovereignty in action yet again to control all things to His ultimate end.

How is prophecy possible without a sovereign God that controls all things? It isn’t.

His plan for mankind and redemption was and is perfect. And He controls all things to that end.

Even the sinful acts of men are included in His plan.

They are foreseen, permitted, and have their exact place. They are controlled and overruled for His divine glory.

This crucifixion which we just read is admittedly the worst crime in all human history, but we are told it has an exact and necessary place in His plan.

Christ’s death was predetermined by God

Acts 2:23 "Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

Acts 4:26-28 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the LORD and against His Christ.' 27 "For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together 28 "to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

God’s choice in how man would be saved did not come about after He was defeated and disappointed by the fall of man. Rather it is "according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord," Ephesians 3:11.

Peter tells us that Christ as a sacrifice for sin was "He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you," 1 Peter 1:20.

Jesus is called the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8

Believers were chosen "in Him before the foundation of the world,” Ephesians 1:4.

“who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,” 2 Timothy 1:9

This is why we can see in Isaiah 53:10, that it “pleased God to bruise Him.”

In Hebrews 12:2 the word says that Jesus is “the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

All of this makes complete sense if we see God’s plan coming to perfection through His sovereign hand.

None of this makes sense if it is purely by chance, or the will of man.

II. Attributes of God

What are some of the attributes of God?

Last week we looked at foreknowledge and sovereignty. What else?

Holiness: God is perfectly Holy. The Scripture says in Habakkuk 1:13 13 “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, And cannot look on wickedness…” How can God who will not allow Himself to be defiled by sin in heaven make a sinful man without sin? The cross.

Eternal: God is eternal, when we sin we commit eternal sin, the fine paid must be an eternal payment. God comes into the flesh and satisfies the just punishment of God on our behalf. Jesus who is perfect and eternal, comes to die in our place so that God can be just and the justifier. The payment is either made by us eternally, or is made by Christ on the cross. If by us, we pay with our punishment in hell, if by Christ, we are forgiven and it is paid once for all.

Wrath: God is a God of wrath. Romans 1:18 says “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”

God’s wrath is satisfied for those that have faith in Him and are His because He poured out His wrath upon His Son on the cross.

Grace: God’s grace is given to us freely. It cost Him everything, and us nothing. It is favor from God that we couldn’t earn or merit. Nothing in us warrants God’s grace. God gives us this grace by sending His Son into this world to shed His blood for us. Hebrews 9:22 says “and without shedding of blood there is no remission.”

Love: 1 John 4:16 says “God is love,” Yet when we look at the cross, what does it look like for Jesus? Justice, wrath, and anger, which is exactly what Christ is receiving from the Father. Yet what do we see in that act upon the cross? Love. God’s great love for us that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us..”

This is not a comprehensive list of His attributes, but what we see is how who He is makes the cross make sense. Without an understanding of His foreknowledge, sovereignty, wrath, eternality, holiness, grace and love, the cross makes little sense.

This is why the scriptures declare in 1Corinthians 1:18 “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

III. Why does it matter?

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 1:17-25 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Paul is saying that you can look at the facts of Christ’s death and burial and get nowhere.

You can understand historically what happened on the cross and have zero relationship to that event. You could stand under the cross and simply see a dead 30 year old Jew if you are stating facts about what happened.

The wise men, the scholars, the philosophers all get together to make claims about what happened upon that cross 2,000 years ago. They sit and ponder, reexamine the facts, philosophize to themselves and others and throw up some best guesses as to what it all means.

What they don’t realize is that they are placing faith in what they believe based upon their ability as a fallen man to reason their way to God!

We say that God came in the flesh, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, so we can be forgiven.

They say, Jesus was born out of wedlock, may have been a good guy, but wasn’t God, and died like many others died during that period of history. Big deal.

Scholars and religious students are incapable of fully understanding what Christ did on the cross. It sounds like foolishness to them that have been educated beyond their intelligence.

What men and women like to do, is to gather together all the information they can obtain, they create an idea in their head as to what God looks like, how He acts, and what His attributes are according to their genius minds. They love to create a god in their own image.

I won’t argue with those people. They say their god would never judge anyone, never create hell, and certainly would never send anyone there, I won’t disagree. I say their right, their god would never do that because their god doesn’t exist, it is a figment of their own vain imagination. Not a good way to win friends and influence people though!

What you notice is that people all create a god in an image that suits their own preferences. For the Jews it was a god of great miracles and power, and supernatural experiences. For the philosophers, it was god of lock-tight logical statements. A god of evidence and proof through the use of facts and rigorous philosophical discussions or examinations. For emotional people, it is a god of unconditional love that never judges or is disappointed. That would never make you feel bad about what you do. Would always coddle you and lift you up so you feel better about yourself.

Man creates a god in his image, that is nothing more than a bigger version of himself, version 2.0. He worships himself in his own image of god.

But God does not allow us to come to our own conclusions about who He is. He reveals Himself to us in His word. He reveals Himself to us through His Son, and in some ways He even reveals Himself to us through His creation.

God doesn’t allow speculation and guessing so He explains who He is and expects that when we address Him, we address Him in spirit and truth.

Paul says in this passage that we aren’t going to get any of those things we demand. All of the worlds wisdom didn’t and can’t know God on their own.

Paul simply says “we preach Christ crucified.” We preach the basics about Christ and expect a response in faith.

That is the great misconception; that God gives an unbeliever an invitation to politely decline if he doesn’t like what he sees in God.

Yet the Scriptures teach that what was preach was the command to repent and believe! Now unless you believe in a sovereign God, you’re probably not going to do that will you?

How in the world would someone respond to your message if all you do is preach the basics, and call people repentance and belief in the Gospel? Faith in God’s sovereignty. Faith that God will do that which He pleases.

This is why we try to tickle man’s intellect by creating all kinds of interesting arguments for God’s existence, not realizing that God’s existence is never to be proven, but assumed.

The Scriptures don’t try to talk us into God existing, they simply say that “In the beginning God..!” The Scriptures never try to prove the Scriptures by page upon page of logical argumentation. The Scriptures simply say they are “God breathed.”

The reason the cross is so important, is because it requires a response. That response will either be faith, or continued disbelief.

The cross draws a line in the sand and says, believe it or perish.

So why does the cross matter?

Because the message of the cross, God’s wrath poured out on His perfect Son to satisfy His judgment and punishment of sin, is either a reality experienced by us, or a stumbling block and indictment against us.

The facts, figures, prophecy, all of those are great to look at and discuss, but the Scriptures say that it is impossible to please God without faith.

We must come to Him in faith in response to this truth.

I’ve given you the facts about the crucifixion

I’ve tried to demonstrate from Scripture the importance of the crucifixion in light of God’s attributes.

I’ve tried to show you the relevance to the cross and it’s ultimate purpose in washing our sins from us, past, present, and future.

Let me finish by giving you encouragement from Colossians 2:13-15 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

You’re sins have been nailed to the cross with Him. Now live in faith and response to that truth!

Let’s pray.

Communion and tithe.

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