The Day God Died (John 19:16-42)

Tonight we are looking at one of the great mysteries of the Christian faith - That God the son, having become a man, could die on the cross for the sins of the world.

Hopefully, you have the notes in front of you. We have a big chunk of scripture to cover it by answering two questions:

How did it happen?

What do we make of it?

Why did it happen?

Why does it matter?

We’ll move pretty pacely through the first question and spend the rest of our time answering questions 2 and 3.

How did it happen?

First off all then, how did this happen?

There are certain events that are so significant that they define a generation.

And I bet that If I were to say to you ‘where you when...’ [Give some examples eg. moon landing, JFK, 911, 7/7]

Personally, I can still remember exactly where I was when the twin towers collapsed on live television.

No doubt, the death of Jesus of Nazareth was one of those moments in the life Jerusalem.

But this event wouldn’t simply define a generation; a few short hours would change the course of human history forever.

But before we get into the significance of the events, let’s spend a few moments walking with Jesus through his final hours.

The Events So Far...

The night is cold.

Everywhere the streets show signs of a city gearing up for Passover but right now the streets are deserted.

In the gathering darkness twelve figures move though the night towards the the city gate.

One is missing and but will return soon enough, before the night is over.

The figure at the front takes with others as they walk. They don’t know it yet, but after tonight their lives and their world will be changed forever.

They pause, the leader of the group looks up to sky, but he is still speaking… no he’s praying.

The man finishes, and the group head off again.

They head out out of the city, across the Kidron valley, and up the mount of Olives.

There they all enter a garden called Gethsemane.

The man is Jesus of Nazareth and he’s about to betrayed

His disciples don’t know it yet, but their leader is about to be betrayed by one of their own

and by this time tomorrow, Jesus will be lying dead in a cold, stone tomb.

Having been arrested like a criminal, convicted of crimes he never committed, having been beaten, subjected to mob justice, torture, stripped of his belongings, and hung on a Roman cross to die.

These are the events that we remember today, we’re going to zero in on Jn 19.

let’s camp out in the story itself and tray and work out how this happened?

Jesus’ Death is Shocking

How is that the Song of God, come into human was rejected, arrested, condemned, tortured and murder?

Jesus’ Death is Planned

Strangely answering that question is not as easy as it sounds

Jesus’ Death is Necessary

On the one hand Jesus death was the result of sinful humanity banding together to murder the Son of God

But on the other hand, Jesus death was the pre-planned, pre-arranged will of God.

Peter puts it like this :

Acts 2:23 NIV

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Did you catch that?

The Cross is at the same time the fullest expression of sin and at the same time God’s means of grace to a sinful word.

It isn’t either/or but both/and

That is a difficult tension to balance, but that is what we see in Scripture

and that’s what we see here in John’s gospel.

Let me show you what I mean:

What do we make of it?

Jesus’ Death is Shocking

Events that shock us tend to stick in our memories don’t they?

One way to get around this is to talk about

They’re the kind of events that lodge in our memories forever.

Depending on your age, maybe you can still remember where you were when you head that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated,

When John Lennon was stabbed,

Or the Berlin Wall came down,

Personally, I can still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard about the 911 and 7/7 terror attacks.

Truly shocking events define a generation and some even change the course of history.

In John’s account of Jesus last hours he wants us to see that Jesus death shocking

One of the most interesting things about John’s gospel is that John doesn’t mention any of the miraculous events that surround Jesus death

Where are all the supernatural events that Matthew, Mark and Luke record?

John purposefully leaves them out to make a point:

Jesus death is not shocking because the sky turn blank, the earth shook and the temple curtain was torn from top to bottom.

It is shocking because of the man at the centre of it all

Jesus death is shocking because it is bleak and it is tragic.

Allow me to explain.

but here’s a few things to notice.

Jesus Final Hours are Bleak and Tragic

One of the first major battles that the early church had to deal with was the heresy of docetism.

The Docetist believed that Jesus wasn’t really a human, he merely appeared to be a human.

Firstly, then, Jesus final hours are bleak

They called his humanity a ‘phantom’, shell that covered who he really was,

and because he wasn’t really a man - he couldn’t really suffer.

In fact the Docetics would even write their own false gospels, like the ‘Gospel of Peter’ to spread these lies.

Thankfully, Docetism is not as popular as it once was

but I think we can all be guilty from time to time of a little functional Docetism.

We allow our belief that Jesus is full God to override our belief that Jesus was also truly a human being.

When this happens the bleak horror of all that Jesus experienced fails to grab us as it should.

comes like a hammer blow in the story so far.

John 19:16 NIV

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.

They’ll be no last minute stay of execution, no new piece of evidence discovered at the eleventh hour

They’ll be no last minute stay of execution of

Jesus fate is sealed, there is nothing more than that can be done.

he will be crucified.

Add to this the sadness of the event leading up to all this and you start to get handle on the bleakness of the story.

An innocent condemned to death.

Betrayed by Judas, someone who spent three years watching him teach the masses, feed the hungry, and heal the sick

Denied by Peter, the one person who swore in that he would ‘lay down his life’ for his Lord.

John says in , that Jesus

John 1:10 NIV

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

John 1:10 NIV

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

John 1:11 CSB

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

Which is poetic understatement in the extreme

considering that they band together to have him betrayed,

falsely tried, tortured, and then condemned to die like a run away slave.

So as Jesus walks out of the city carrying his cross beam he is in every way a dead man walking.

Tragic (Jn 18:28-19:16)

Every detail John records carries us closer to the bleak, unavoidable fate of Jesus Christ.

Until, there on a hill outside Jerusalem,

overlooking the main road into the city,

Jesus is left to die.

As his mother, his aunt, and his best friend look on in helpless horror.

Here John, takes the time to point some of the tragic irony of this how sad, situation.

In , John records an ironic argument between Pilate and some Jewish spectators.

Pilate, angry and hurt by the manipulation of the Jewish leaders at the end of chapter 18 and the beginning of 19,

See the opportunity for one last act of revenge, .

John 19:19–21 NIV

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

Here’s the thing, Pilate doesn’t believe that jesus is the ‘king of the Jews’ any more than the priest do.

Yet the bitter irony of this tragic situation, is that is who Jesus really is

Don Carson, puts it this way,

“The two men most actively and immediately responsible for Jesus' death, Caiphas and Pilate, are unwittingly furtering God's redemptive purposes, unwittingly serving as prophets of the King they execute.

So what are we to make of all this?

What are we to do with all this bleak horror, tragedy and sad irony?

Blame it all on Pilate and Caiaphas?

Pilate, angry and hurt by the manipulation of the Jewish leaders at the end of chapter 18 and the beginning of 19,

See the opportunity for one last act of revenge, .

John 19:19–21 NIV

Here’s the thing, Pilate doesn’t believe that jesus is the ‘king of the Jews’ any more than the priest do.

The story is laden with sad, tragic irony

It was the resurrection of a dead man that sealed Jesus death warrant (John 11)

Jesus is betrayed by someone who should have known better

Chalk it up to a miscarriage of justice?

Peter, having said he would never deny Jesus is the first to abandon him

The Religious leaders are concerned about ceremonial uncleanness before the Passover but happen to manipulate the legal system to murder the True Passover Lamb

Yet the bitter irony of this tragic situation, is that is who Jesus really is

The events are bleak

No, we have to step back and see what is really going on here.

Pilate, the most powerful man in Jerusalem,

Debates the nature of power with the one whom all thrones and powers exist for,

denies absolute truth in the presence of the one who is the the Way, the Truth and the Life,

Jesus death on the cross shows the shocking extent that we will go to in order to suppress God’s truth.

Pilate unwittingly proclaims Jesus true identity to the entire world.

And is then unable to convince the mob of the truth of Jesus innocence or protect him from death

In , John writes:

The crowd would rather have a man guilty of violent uprising released to them than the Prince of Peace

John 3:19–20 NIV

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.

The Roman Soldiers torture, mock and abuse Jesus, for claiming to be the King of the Jews. when in reality he is the king of kings and the Lord of Lords.

The chief priests think they are obedient to God’s rule when they call for Jesus death, when in reality they deny that the LORD is their King.

Pilate places a mocking sign over Jesus head that reads, ‘The king of the Jews’ when in reality this is exactly who Jesus was.

The one who owns the cattle on a thousand hills is striped off everything he owns

And finally, the light which gives light to every man is snuffed out on a hill by the very people he came to save.

All this shows us the lengths we will go to in our rebellion against God and his rule

Bleak (Jn 19:17-36)

Jesus death was the result of ordinary people, like you and me, banding together to snuff out the light of Jesus’ life.

Jesus foretold Judas betrayal and new when and where it would happen

A pure, perfect, holy light that exposes every dark, corner of our hearts,

We too are responible for Jesus death!

If we are going to full grasp the horror of Jesus death, we first have to find our place in it

OBJECTION: You might say to me at this point

But Liam, I’m not responsible for Jesus death.

I didn’t plot to have him murdered,

I did’t manipulate the legal system or have him crucified.

But that is what we do, with every sin, every act of disobedience.

Let me wrap this section with a quote from John Stott’s, the Cross of Christ

If we are going to full grasp the horror of Jesus death, we first have to find our place in it

"We too sacrifice Jesus to our greed like Judas, to our envy like the priests, to our ambition like Pilate. 'Were you there when they crucified my Lord?' the old negro spiritual asks. And we must answer, 'Yes, we were there.' Not as spectators only but as participants, guilty participants, plotting, scheming, betraying, bargaining, and handing him over to be crucified.

"We may try to wash our hands of responsibility like Pilate. But our attempt will be as futile as his. For there is blood on our hands.

"We may try to wash our hands of responsibility like Pilate. But our attempt will be as futile as his. For there is blood on our hands. Before we can begin to see the cross as something done/or us (leading us to faith and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading us to repentance).

“Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us (leading us to faith and worship), we have to see it as something done by us (leading us to repentance).

Not as passive observers, but active participants

"only the man who is prepared to own his share in the guilt of the cross… may claim his share its grace."

"Indeed, only the man who is prepared to own his share m the guilt of the cross', wrote Canon Peter Green, 'may claim his share its grace.'"

plot, scheming, betraying, denying, mocking, rejecting and, ultimately, killing, the son of God.

Jesus’ death is shocking, because it is bleak and tragic, but most of all, it is shcoking because we are to blame.

C.J. Mahaney puts like this,

[PAUSE]

Jesus Death is Planned

He predicted Peter’s denials, how many and by when, he even tried to warn him.

So does that mean we some how manged to mess up things up? that Jesus never expected to go to the cross? Not at all.

When Judas arrives him makes no attempt to escape, he asks them who they are looking for, and reveals enough of his glory for them to know that he goes on his own terms.

You see Jesus death is shocking, but it is also planned.

Jesus, as the Son of God, allows himself to has his hands bound and marched to and fore across the city throughout the night.

There is something about shckoing events that seem to generate conspiracy theories.

He allows the people, whom he created to hit him, beat him, mock him, torture him and ultimately kill him (cf. )

It is almost like our brains can’t handle the simple truth of the situation so we look for ‘alternative facts’.

He reminds Pilate that hoardes of angelic beings could prevented his arrest if he’d only give the word.

I’m sure you’ve heard some of them

That this was the reason why he came to the world, it is the moment he was born for.

NASA faked the moon landings

Even after he has been mocked, beaten and flogged, he reminds Pilate that Pilate only has the power to do these things because the Father has granted it too him.

The Soviets shot kennedy

Everything that happened happened so that Jesus words, and the words of Scripture, would be fulfilled.

The CIA knew about 911 in advance

Even Jesus death is on his own terms, at the time of his choosing

The list goes on.

It is almost like our brains can’t handle the simple truth of the situation so we look for ‘alternative facts’.

All this shows us the lengths God will go into in order to deal with our sin.

Well there’s no conspiracy theory surrounding Jesus death, no set of ‘alternative facts’ that tell the really story.

But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t planned, pre-prepared and prearranged.

Jesus death happened exactly as it was expected to.

John gives us three reasons for thinking this way

Jesus knew what was going to happpen to him

Scripture knew what was going to happen to him

The Father planned what was going happen to him

We don’t have the time to explore all the examples

1. Jesus knew what was going to happpen to him

Firstly, Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to him - he’s been hinting at it all the way through John’s gospel.

are especially peppered with references to things that Jesus knew in advance would happen.

A. Jesus knew he would be betrayed ()

John 18:2–5 NIV

Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.)

John tell’s us that Judas had a pretty good hunch where Jesus might be hiding out,

John 18:2–5 NIV

so let’s look at one where all three of these ideas come together.

he’d been their with Jesus and the twelve many times before.

jES SKNEW THAT

Jn He knoew that Jesus would be tray him, he kn

Take a look at . There we read.

Judas having spent three years getting to know Jesus knew him pretty well,

Now, having fully rejected him, Judas uses all that knowledge to betray his Lord and master.

But then, when the soliders arraive with Judas, John adds this little note in .

John 18:4 NIV

Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

Jesus knew Judas plan, he knew he would be betrayed, and rather than hiding in fear, steps forward willingly., with full knowledge of the facts.

John 19:28–30 NIV

Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

B. Jesus knew How he was going to die

Did you catch that opening verse? Let me read it to you again:

John 19:28 NIV

Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

In this one verse John wants us to understand three things.

Jesus knew what was going to happpen to him

Scripture knew what was going to happen to him

The Father planned what was going happen to him

Here three great ideas in john’s gospel come together perfectly.

so let’s look at one where all three of these ideas come together.

Jesus has shown throughout his ministry that he knows that he’ll die on a cross,

even before the Jewish leaders allow themselves to entertain the idea.

Jesus says to Nicodemus in

John 3:15 NIV

that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

John 3:14–15 NIV

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

As the rest of the New testament reminds us,

Scripture knew what was going to happen to him

The cross is not a surprise to Jesus

----

The Father planned what was going happen to him

Jesus was the only man in the history of the world,

who was born in order that he would die

But Jesus also understood what the scriptures had said about him.

In fact, he rebukes the Pharisees in not seeing it themselves, saying

John 5:39 NIV

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,

But Jesus’ isn’t simply following his gut, or some trail of bread crumbs left in scripture for him.

He is following is father’s set plan for him. He says as much in .

John 6:38–39 NIV

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

Jesus has been sent by the Father to die for those the Father he chose before the world began,

Pilate, angry and hurt by the manipulation of the Jewish leaders at the end of chapter 18 and the beginning of 19,

People that the God the father has given to his Son

See the opportunity for one last act of revenge, .

To those the Father sent the Son to come to earth for, to die for, to reduce, redeem and win eternal life for.

John 19:19–21 NIV

And here in , at the very end of it all,

Jesus knowing all that was going to happen to him,

having obeyed his Father’s will perfectly

his mind so full of the Old Testament

now hanging in the hot sun, recognising one last prophecy for him to fulfil.

One last act of obedience to his Father’s will

In David says

Psalm 69:21 NIV

They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

So with these words in mind, Jesus, Great David’s Greater Son, God’s chosen king, asks for a drink.

And what should he be given quench thirst than than a sponge dip in vinegar.

With that one last acted,

Jesus completes all that he knew he would have to endure

all that scriptures said about himself

and all that Father had planned for him to do.

Finally, John writes in that,

John 19:30 NIV

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

“It is finished” - It’s all done.

The plan is complete,

There is nothing more than can be done,

nothing more that needs to be done,

And nothing more that could be done.

Jesus has finished his mission to bring salvation to all God’s people

And of proof of this fact,

The Father would raise his Son from the dead

Something we’ll be celebrating in only a few days time.

Tragedy of Man or God’s plan?

Here you might be thinking:

Hang on just a minute, surely Jesus death on the cross can’t be result of human rebellion against God AND God’s prearranged plan?

So which is it?

The answer scripture gives us is both.

In Peter tells the crowd gathered at Pentecost,

Acts 2:23 NIV

This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Acts 2:21–22 NIV

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

Peter tells them that Jesus death was both God’s action and ours at the same.

The Cross is an expression of one of the bibles greatest mysteries

That God’s sovereignty and human moral responsibility work together without one overriding the other.

But it has to be this way

Psalm 69:21 NIV

They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.

If the cross was only the actions of sinful humans,

then God’s salvation plan is more about making the best of a bad situation

Than rescuing sinners for our good to his glory

But if Jesus death were only God’s plan, if he were manipulating humanity to the point that we are no longer responsible for our actions,

Then what exactly is Jesus dying for?

It has to be both - there is no other way.

So far we’ve seen that Jesus death was shocking in how it reveals the part we played in it,

But that this

Jesus’ Death is Good News

Here’s the thing, Pilate doesn’t believe that jesus is the ‘king of the Jews’ any more than the priest do.

So far we’ve seen that Jesus death was shocking in how it reveals the part we played in it,

Yet the bitter irony of this tragic situation, is that is who Jesus really is

And it is is also planned by the Father from beginning to end.

The last thing we need to see is that Jesus death is Good News

It is good new for Sinners and good news for Sufferers

Let’s take them one by one.

Good News for Sinners

First, Jesus death is good new for our sin.

In 1563 a group of Reformed Christian’s living in Germany want to created a teaching aid

to help Christians new and old get to grips with core beliefs of Christianity.

They called it the Heidelberg Catechism

A collection of 129 questions and answer that are both deeply theological and surprisingly pastoral.

I wonder if you were writing a book like that, what would be the first question you would seek to answer?

How can I be saved?

Who is God?

What is the gospel?

The writers of the Heidelberg Catechism open with this question:

Historic Creeds and Confessions Question 1

What is thy only comfort in life and death?

Huh? Here’s the answer:

Historic Creeds and Confessions Question 1

That I with body and soul, both in life and death,a am not my own,b but belong unto my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ;c who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins,d and delivered me from all the power of the devil;e and so preserves mef that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head;g yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation,h and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life,i and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.j

That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil... and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready... to live for him.

What is my

Good News for Sufferers

Jesus understands our sin and our suffering

It is night time, Judas have slipped out into the dark to betray his master.

Jesus has talked with the disciples in the upper room and, in , they begin the long walk to across the city.

In , Jesus makes time for one last bible study with his disciples as they walk towards the city gate, ending with his high priestly prayer in .

Then John simly says in , that

John 18:1–2 NIV

When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.

The trap was set. The complex game the Religious Leaders had been playing with Jesus was not entering its dramatic final minutes.

surrounded by Roman Soldiers and temple Police, Jesus is betrayed by Judas, bound like criminal and taken, first to the High Priest's father-in-law, Annas.

And it is there, in the garden, surrounded by Roman Soldiers and temple Police, that Jesus is betrayed by Judas, bound like criminal and taken, first to the High Priest's father-in-law, Annas.

Annas fails to get the information from Jesus that he requires and so packs him off to Ciaphas for the Kangaroo Court that the other gospel writers record.

But here they hit a snag, they’ve found Jesus’ worthy of death on trumped charges - but are powerless to carry out the sentence!

After Jesus has

John Together with Matthew, Mark and Luke show Jesus enduring a kangaroo court where conflicting witness statements are used to condemn Jesus to death. But there is a catch.

They need Roman approval!

So now Jesus goes, back out into the night, back into the cold, aching from the beatings he’s already received.

He’s marched under guard, across the city, to the home of Pontius Pilate - the Roman Governor.

From onward, our story, takes some pretty ironic turns.

A faces peep through shuttered window, another from an alley as Jesus is marched under guard, across the city, to the home of Pontius Pilate. - the Roman Governor.

- The Jewish leaders don’t want to enter Pilate’s house because he’s a gentile, and they don’t want to become ceremonially unclean before the Passover festival.

But they have no problem manipulating the the legal system to murder, Jesus, the True Passover lamb!

Throughout , Pilate the most powerful man in Israel, is demoted to messenger boy as he flits between Jesus and the Jewish leaders

And is then left powerless as he's forced to make the ultimate choice between Jesus and the World in v38-40.

By now a crowd has gathered, mob mentality has taken over and the people are calling for blood

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