July 12, 2020 - Death By Crucifixion

16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would 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 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was 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 away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 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 because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Again - what I’d like to do today - is look at God’s sovereignty over this event - and even in the events that lead up to this moment...

To set up the crucifixion, I’d like us to look back and see what was PROPHESIED of Christ....

that would end up leading to Him on a cross...

SLIDE: Prophesied: Jesus Would Be Despised and Rejected

Prophecy

In Isaiah 53:3 we read this… (THE PROPHECY)

Isaiah 53:3 ESV

3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

SO - this text - written some 700 years before Jesus walked the earth...

We read that the MESSIAH would be despised and REJECTED...

Did this play itself out in Jesus’ life?

Luke 4:28–29 ESV

28 When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. 29 And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff.

Jesus here - teaching in the synagogue...

Jesus reads an OT prophecy of the Messiah PROCLAIMING Good News...

being ANOINTED by the Holy Spirit...

And then says - "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing"!

He claims to be the Messiah...and the response goes from...

Yeah - this guy's a great speaker...to.......

WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS??!!

They go from LIKING His delivery...

TO - wanting to toss Him off a cliff...

DESPISED and REJECTED

But what else - lead to the CROSS...

SLIDE: Prophecy: They Will Plot to Kill Jesus

Prophecy

So let’s look at the prophecy...

Found in Psalm 31...

Psalm 31:13 ESV

13 For I hear the whispering of many— terror on every side!— as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.

So - some 900 years before Christ walked the earth...

we have a prophecy of the PLOT to KILL Jesus...

Fast forward to the 1st Century...

In John 11 we have Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead...

and many of the Jewish leaders saw this...

And they began to understand that many of the people would begin to follow Jesus...

John 11:45–53 ESV

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

Here we have the chief priests and Pharisees...

MAKING CHOICES...

Choosing to PLOT against Jesus Christ...

WHY?

He was a THREAT to their POSITION....in society…their power

They KNEW the OT - yet they made choices to CONFIRM their own place on the WRONG SIDE of history!

And YET - we continue...

ALL that we’ve just seen - setting up the CROSS...

A few weeks ago - we read of when Judas left the meal in the upper room - to go get the Band of Soldiers...

A choice that Judas made...

A choice he was accountable for...

And yet...

SLIDE: Prophecy: Jesus Betrayed for 30 Pieces of Silver

Prophecy

Let’s look to the prophecy...

Zechariah 11:12–13 ESV

12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.

And now- the fulfillment of this in Matt

Matthew 27:6–10 ESV

6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter’s field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”

About 500 years before Jesus walks the earth - Zechariah writes of the 30 pieces of silver used to pay off Judas.

In a sense, Jesus was SOLD for 30 pieces of silver...

That was His VALUE - in the heart of Judas...

Judas CHOSE 30 pieces of silver...

He made a CHOICE - to accept 30 pieces of silver...

And His CHOICE placed Him on the wrong side of History!!

As we’ve seen in our way through John - Jesus gets arrested...

And then put through this FAKE trial…a SHAM of a trial...

And we come to this next Prophecy...

SLIDE: Prophecy: The Messiah Will be Mocked and Abused

Prophecy

And so ISAIAH - 700 years PRIOR to the cross of Christ - tells us how Jesus would be treated...

Isaiah 50:3–6 NIV

3 I clothe the heavens with darkness and make sackcloth its covering.” 4 The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed. 5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears; I have not been rebellious, I have not turned away. 6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.

Isaiah here - pointing ahead to what we read last week in the gospel of John...

But lets go to Matt to get some more detail...

Matthew 27:27–31 ESV

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him. 28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and led him away to crucify him.

Remember this from last week?

The Romans soldiers MOCK Jesus as they prepare Him for death...

And as we continue making our way through our text today...

We see many more prophecies come to FRUITION...

So let’s go through each briefly, and then we’ll close with a final OVERARCHING truth to leave with...

SLIDE: Prophecy: They Would Cast Lots for Jesus’ Clothing

Prophecy

Roman law allowed those performing an execution to confiscate the victim’s possessions...

SIMILAR to stripping the bodies of those defeated in battle.

If soldiers came across another soldier who had been killed in battle...

They would take from that dead soldier WHAT THEY COULD USE...

sword / weapon

helmet

armor plate

BUT IN THESE situations - they were simply TEARING apart the clothing - as what seems to be a KEEP-SAKE...

AND OF COURSE - we read of this practice - 700 YEARS before it would have happened… (haha)

Psalm 22:18 ESV

18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

Did this happen to JESUS?

Of course...

John 19:23–24 ESV

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,

And this really speaks to HOW PROFICIENT these Roman Soldiers WERE at KILLING people…(HOW OFTEN they did this)

They got bored rather quickly....

SO BORED that they start GAMBLING with the victims clothing...

The next Prophecy we see deals with the SUFFERING of the Messiah

SLIDE: Prophecy: The Messiah’s Suffering Included Thirst

Prophecy

Let’s go back to Psalms to see the prophecy...

Psalm 22:15 ESV

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

the Fulfillment?

John 19:28 ESV

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”

They end up giving Jesus SOUR WINE to drink...

We then read this in our text...

John 19:31 ESV

Now this is important - BECAUSE - depending on what happens with the bones of Jesus...

Scripture will either be FULFILLED...

OR - Jesus would prove to NOT BE the SON OF GOD...

Here’s the RULE regarding the lamb to be eaten at the first passover

Exodus 12:46 ESV

46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.

None of the bones of the LAMB were to be BROKEN...

NOW - let’s look to the prophecy in Psalms...

Psalm 34:20 ESV

20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

NOW - it SEEMS as though Jesus’ legs were about to be broken according to our text today...

BUT let’s go back and see what happens

John 19:31–36 ESV

31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would 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 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”

So THEY DIDN’T break His legs...

INSTEAD - they PIERCED His side...

AND - of course - PIERCED His hands and feet in putting Him on the cross...

SLIDE: Prophecy: The Messiah’s Hands and Feet Pierced

Prophecy

Here’s the prophecy...

Psalm 22:16 ESV

16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—

- And in our text today...

John 19:36–37 ESV

36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.”

ALL of these prophecies - FULFILLED in Jesus Christ...

YET - what we’ve seen today - is:

The Jewish Leaders...

AND the Roman Governor and Soldiers...

ALL making decisions...

Doing what they WANTED to do...

And yet CLEARLY - God SOVEREIGNLY in control over all of it!!

TO CLOSE TODAY - i want to look at 2 aspects of all of this...

I want to focus 1st on the INSCRIPTION that Pilate placed on the cross...

John 19:19–22 ESV

19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

A couple of things I want us to consider here...

Pilate writes out -

SLIDE: Inscription: “King of the Jews”

King of the Jews

First thing - We just read that this was written in: HEBREW, Latin (Roman), and in Greek.

Which means - EVERYONE could READ what this said!!

Second thing - the Jewish Leaders OBJECT to this - why??

They wanted it to say what? - - “This man SAID I am the King of the Jews”

WHY?

They wanted it to say - THIS MAN SAID - I am the King of the Jews...

BECAUSE - if THAT’S what it said - then the sign would POINT SOLELY to Jesus!!

But BECAUSE it said - KING OF THE JEWS - the sign POINTED directly at - the FOOLISHNESS of the JEWS…**

AND I THINK this speaks to us - regarding SIN...

SLIDE: All Sin: Exposed In Light of the Cross

All Sin

Jesus was the King of the Jews...

Jesus was the Lamb of God who takes away the SIN of the world!

And when we THINK about the cross…it should cause us TO THINK ABOUT - OUR SIN

SEE - the world RIGHT NOW - STANDS at the foot of the cross and thinks - THAT MAN SAID He was the son of God..

That MAN SAID He did this..

That MAN SAID He did that...

And BECAUSE the world THINKS THAT WAY - they DON’T contemplate their OWN SIN...

The JEWISH LEADERS didn’t want to CONTEMPLATE what they had just done...

AND THE WORLD doesn’t want to contemplate its SIN before God...

AS Believers - we UNDERSTAND who Jesus truly is...

We think about the DEATH of Jesus...

What I want to close with - is HOW Jesus died...

Back in chapter 12 of this gospel of John…Jesus had said this...

John 12:32–33 ESV

32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

Jesus here - PROPHECIES the kind of death that He would die...

He says - I will be LIFTED up!

That’s significant - BECAUSE - it meant that He would NOT be KILLED at the hands of the JEWS...

Why is that the case?

Because - how did the Jews kill people?

Remember the woman caught in adultery - brought before Jesus?

The Jews wanted to kill her - HOW?

Stoning

THAT’S how the Jews handled killing people...

NOT LIFTING them up!

NOT by crucifixion...

And so when Jesus PROPHESIED that He would be LIFTED UP...

He was saying - I will be put to death by CRUCIFIXION - at the hand of the Romans...

BUT how did we get there?

By the charge of - BLASPHEMY…by the JEWISH LEADERS...

Blasphemy brought WITH IT - the death penalty...

NOW this is to ACTUALLY SHOW how SERIOUS God takes His GLORY!

AND how SERIOUS God takes SIN!

But what did we SEE today?

We saw SIN (of the Jewish Leaders) take Jesus Christ (only Hope of Salvation) and try to DESTROY Him!

SIN charged PERFECT Righteousness with - Blasphemy!

SIN charged God with - BLASPHEMY!

SLIDE: ALL SIN: Tries to Destroy The Only Hope of Salvation

All Sin

As we’ve seen today - SIN will ALWAYS end up on the wrong side of History!

We can justify our way into ANYTHING we want to...

BUT

SIN will ALWAYS end up on the wrong side of History!

The Jews KNEW the Old Testament - and yet - their decisions PLACED them on the wrong side of History...

We MUST KNOW - failing to trust in Jesus as LORD and SAVIOR...

failing to understand you’re a SINNER before God...

failing to TRUST in Christ for CONQUERING Sin on the cross…YOUR SIN...

Will land you - ultimately on the wrong side of history!

May it not be so - TURN to JESUS…YOUR king!!

And find salvation - eternal life...

Let’s pray!!

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