Good Friday

They came up to him saying, Hail King of the Jews, and struck him with their hands.

! Pilate went out again and said to them, See, I am bringing him out to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime.

So Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, Behold the man.

When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, Crucify him, crucify him.

Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.

John 19, verses 7 to 13 from the New Living Translation.

John 19:7–13

The Jewish leaders replied, By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.

When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever.

He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, Where are you from?

But Jesus gave no answer.

Why don't you talk to me, Pilate demanded.

Don't you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?

Then Jesus said, You would have no power over me at all unless it was given to you from above.

So the one who handed me over to you has a greater sin.

Then Pilate tried to release him, but the Jewish leader shouted,

If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar.

Anyone who declares himself a king is a rebel against Caesar.

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, Gabbatha.

Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover.

It was about the sixth hour.

He said to the Jews, Behold, your king.

They cried out, Away with him.

Away with him.

Crucify him.

Pilate said to them,

Shall I crucify your king?

The chief priests answered,

We have no king but Caesar.

So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.

So they took Jesus and he went out,

bearing his own cross,

to the place called the place of a skull,

which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

There they crucified him.

And with him two others,

one on either side and Jesus between them.

Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.

It read,

Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.

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.

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 the king of the Jews.

Pilate answered,

What I have written,

I have written.

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.

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.

But standing by the cross of Jesus

were his mother and his mother's sister,

Mary, the wife of Clopas,

and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother

and the disciples whom he loved standing nearby,

he said to his mother,

Woman, behold your son.

Then he said to the disciple,

Behold your mother.

And from that hour,

the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus, knowing that all was now finished,

said to fulfill the scripture,

I thirst.

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.

When Jesus had received the sour wine,

he said,

It is finished.

And he bowed his head

and gave up his spirit.

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.

So the soldiers came

and broke the legs of the first

and of the other

who had been crucified with him.

But when they came to Jesus

and saw that he was already dead,

they did not break his legs.

But one of the soldiers

pierced his side with a spear,

and at once there came out blood and water.

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.

For these things took place

that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Not one of his bones will be broken.

And again, another scripture says,

They will look on him

who may have pierced.

After these things,

Joseph of Arimathea,

who was a disciple of Jesus,

would secretly, for fear of the Jews,

ask Pilate that he might take away

the body of Jesus.

And Pilate gave him permission.

So he came and took his body.

Nicodemus also,

who earlier had come to Jesus by night,

came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,

about 75 pounds in weight.

So they took the body of Jesus

and bound it in linen cloths with the spices,

as is the burial custom of the Jews.

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.

So because of the Jewish day of preparation,

since the tomb was close at hand,

they laid Jesus there.

Amen.

So as we reflect this evening

upon the death of Christ,

hopefully we've seen from his word,

we've sung of the effects of that death,

and we've seen that on that last Friday of Jesus's life,

that his life,

the purpose of his life was his death.

And as we reflect for a few minutes this evening,

and the remaining time that we have,

we're going to think on those things.

And so before we do,

let's ask the Lord to bless our time together.

Lord, we thank you for your word,

we thank you for the reminder

that comes from scripture of the work of Christ,

and especially the work of Christ on the cross.

And as we reflect these many years later,

we give you thanks.

And Father, may you work in our hearts' faith

because of these things.

And we ask this in his name.

Amen.

So I want to turn our attention

before we begin to the section that Deanna read,

John 19, 28 through 30.

And in the time that we have together,

I just want to talk and reflect a little bit

on something that she read.

It's the reality of the death of Christ.

And we see it most clearly in those first couple verses.

And as we do so,

I want us to think about the phrase

that we probably all know

and have even maybe said

in anger at someone because of their laziness.

It's that phrase,

the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

We don't know where that phrase comes from.

Some people think it's Edmund Burke,

the explorer, who said,

all that's necessary for evil to triumph

is for good men to do nothing.

Some people think it's the development

of some kind of proverb over the ages.

And yet others think it's Bernard of Clairvaux,

who's a French theologian,

whose song we'll sing in a minute.

But in that phrase,

which's been taken on the lips of everyone

from Mohammed to John Wesley,

we see in that phrase

that there's this slide

into eternal obscurity or even worse.

And in it,

the participants either unwillingly,

but definitely unwittingly,

they don't even really know

how they got there on that road.

But in the life of Jesus,

we see the exact opposite,

especially when we reflect

on what happened on this Friday so long ago.

You see,

in the life of Jesus Christ

and really in his death,

we see a road that is paved

directly to the cross.

But it's not a road to hell,

it's a road to heaven.

It's built brick by brick,

stone by stone,

paved directly to heaven

by the suffering,

by the blood,

by the death of Christ

to glory.

It's real

and it's purposeful.

His death

gives us life.

And as we reflect this evening on that,

we're gonna talk about those things.

It's real

and it's purposeful.

The road to heaven

and the road to hell.

Even when I put those two together,

they kind of stand in contrast.

It might even be provoking,

like which road am I on?

Is there another way?

Which road are you on?

You see,

the person of Jesus

forces us to choose

in one of those ways.

And if you've remembered,

over the last couple months,

we've been walking

every time I've spoken

through the Gospel of John

with the statements of Jesus.

And there's this question

that lingers among those statements.

Who is Jesus?

Or who am I

when he is speaking?

But there's this second question

that's at sometimes

explicit

when Jesus is speaking

to people.

And sometimes

it's hidden in the background

and John brings it forth

as the writer.

What are you going to do

with Jesus?

What does it mean

for you

to have faith in him?

What do you think

about him?

It kind of evokes

this idea

of it's a dividing line.

It's a plumb line.

It's the diversion

of these two roads.

What do you think

about him?

What do you think

about the death

of Christ?

If it's one

of rejection,

is it one

of neutrality

that kind of slides

into rejection?

Is it one

of apathy?

Which really isn't

apathy at all

as Jesus tells us.

Or is it one

that really

we're embarrassed

to say

it's one

of quietly

dismissing it

because we're

modern people

that keep

modern company.

But that kind of

begs the question

that it can't be real,

can it?

But it is real.

It's real

because the gospel

of John

says it's real.

It's real

for these reasons.

You can't

have the death

of Christ

and still

have Jesus.

And that's often

what we think.

You see,

it's palatable

to our minds

and even our senses

to want Christ.

You know,

there's certain benefits

if we try to

separate those

two things.

We get all

these great sayings.

We get all

of these

great examples

to follow

in different

situations.

We get

his teaching,

but you don't

get any of that

without his death

because they're

bound together.

And there have

been attempts

over history,

even in our

day,

to kind of

disentangle

them.

But when we

do that,

we don't make

his sayings

useful

or his example

helpful.

Instead,

what we do

is we call

him a liar.

And when we

do that,

we think

that we can

have him

on our terms.

We think

that all

of those

great things

that he has

done

and all

those great

things that

he has said,

that we can

have all

of those

things.

And then

when we

come to

a section

like John

19,

we think

that's all

fantasy.

after this,

Jesus,

knowing that

all was

now finished,

said to

fulfill the

scripture,

I thirst.

It seems

pretty innocuous.

It seems

like a very

throwaway

statement.

But in

that,

we see

this culmination

of all

those events

that led

up to

this moment.

We see

in that

the sum

of Christ's

humiliation.

We see

that everything

has been

marching

towards

this fact

of him

being made

low,

that began

when he

came to

this earth,

and that

continued

on in

this last

week of

Jesus.

Mockery.

Humiliation

by being

interrogated

by his

opponents,

or questioned

by even

his closest

followers.

Humiliation

humiliation

that negated

the fact

that God

was here

in his

glory

in human

form.

Humiliation

in that

he was

betrayed

by both

his enemies

and denied

by his

closest

allies.

Humiliation

in being

judged

in court

and then

in the

court of

public

opinion.

Humiliation

in his

being

scourged.

humiliation

in his

marching

to the

cross.

Humiliation

in this

final act

of his

death.

But even

in his

death,

it was

humiliation.

It was

the very

last thing

that could

be done.

It was

the escalation

of all

these things

that had

been building.

You see,

even in

his death,

it was

not easy,

but it

was marked

by suffering.

And we

know this

from the

words that

he spoke.

We know

this because

he exclaims,

I thirst.

And then

in that,

he's not

offered that

same wine

that we know

of from the

other gospels

that people

tried to

hand him

on his

way to

the cross,

that wine

mixed with

myrrh that

would have

made his

suffering easier.

No, it's

not that wine

at all.

Here, it's

just simple,

sour wine.

And it

was this

weird turn

of events.

The same

hyssop that

now offers

him this

sour wine

was the

same hyssop

that was

dipped in

blood.

And for

Israel, it

marked the

doorpost,

saving them

from death,

saving them

from suffering.

And now,

it's extended

to him to

prolong his

suffering.

the blood

on the

frames of

the door

and the

Passover

were offered

by hyssop.

And now,

suffering is

offered to

Christ on

that same

hyssop

branch.

Even in

his death,

humiliation.

Even in

his death,

suffering.

It's real

because it's

the logical

end of all

of his life,

of this

humiliation

that began

in him

coming to

the world.

And now,

on this

final day,

it's real

because

scripture bears

witness to

it.

When we

read of these

events of

the cross,

we're often

confronted with

this idea

of injustice.

And we

think how

unfair

that the

Savior that

was sinless

died,

that sin

held him

there.

And we

can slowly

kind of slip

into this

idea that

this is an

accident,

this is

unfortunate,

and this,

did they

really know

any better?

They were

just confused.

It's

definitely

not

deliberate,

but it's

anything but

that.

The death

of Christ

is for a

purpose.

The death

of Christ

demonstrates

the

intentionality

of God

working in

redemption.

God

is for a

life.

But it's

not just

his death,

it's also

his life

that demonstrates

this.

If you

remember the

miracles of

Jesus,

he often

conducts them

and then he

reminds his

friends or the

person that

has received

this miracle,

he says to

them,

don't tell

anybody,

for my

hour has

not yet

come.

Or he'll

say this

again,

when he heals

or brings

people back

from the

dead,

he'll do

something a

little bit

different and

he'll slip

away in the

crowd even

though they

press in

amongst him

and they

want to

take him.

They're seeking

to capture

him.

He does all

of this so he

can be in

this moment

right here

in John

19.

And all

along,

Jesus has

reminded his

followers of

this,

life.

That no

one takes

his life

from him,

but he

lays it

down of

his own

accord.

He has

the authority

to lay

it down

and he

has the

authority to

take it

up again.

And that's

the charge

that he

receives from

the father.

Christ's

death is

not by

accident.

Christ's

death is

with a

purpose.

his life

is leading

all to

this moment.

His life

is paving

the way

to the

cross.

Even in

these last

moments,

we see

something

where we

see that

purpose of

his death.

We see

the purposefulness

of his

words.

The last

words of

Christ

show that

to us.

Even in

this request

of sour

wine where

he says,

I thirst.

It's

fulfillment

of the

promise

of Psalm

69.

David

utters

those words

and Jesus

in his

suffering,

his mind

kind of

steeped in

scripture,

he utters

these words

from Psalm

69 because

he responds

to seal

the promise

of scripture.

He's given

wine not

out of

pity,

but out

of mockery

is what

Mark tells

us to

prolong

his life,

to prolong

his suffering

for

entertainment.

Even in

his words,

even in

his dying,

there's

humiliation

and suffering.

And he's

able to

cry out

then with

these famous

words after

his thirst

goes away

with,

it is

finished.

And when

he says

this,

it's not

out of

resignation,

it's not

out of

defeat,

it's not

out of

completion

of the

task

of dying.

It's

more than

that.

It's all

of redemptive

history,

that's all

of time

coming to

this moment

in his

death.

The promise

that was at

the beginning,

at the very

beginning,

that man

would crush

the head

of the serpent

and that his

heel would

be bruised.

It's a

fulfillment of

that promise.

It is

finished.

It's the

picture of

all of

these

saviors of

Israel that

we heard

about in

Judges,

except they

leave so

much wanting.

It's that

promise

fulfilled.

It is

finished.

It's the

picture of

all these

kings who

are not

so just

in the

life of

Israel.

That is

finished.

It's this

picture even

in the

worship of

Israel,

the day

of

atonement.

All of

these things

are pointing

forth to

Christ in

this moment.

It's the

promise in

Isaiah that

his wounds

would offer

healing.

It's this

promise over

and over

again of

this very

moment and

this very

point in

time.

And so it's

more than

just words.

it's more

than just

blood.

It's more

than the

blood of

bulls and

goats as

we see in

Leviticus.

It's more

than that

because it

never has to

happen again

and it

never does

because those

things promised

a thing they

couldn't fully

do because they

were pointing

always to

this moment

right here.

it's a

conclusion of

the charge

the father

gave the

son.

Not by

accident,

not by

happenstance,

but on

purpose.

It's a

road paved

to the

cross to

death of

the Lord

Jesus Christ

who gave

himself for

our sins to

deliver us from

this present

evil age

according to

the will of

our God

and father.

It's planned

and purposed

by God.

What's the

purpose of

his death

though?

What does it

accomplish?

The purpose

of his death

is this.

It does

something that

sacrifices

never could

do,

right?

It's for

the last

time.

There's no

more need

for sacrifice.

There's no

more need

because it

is finished.

It is

finished

because in

the death

of Christ

we find

the love

of God

but we

find it

in being

met

with the

wrath of

God

against

sinners.

There's

pardon for

sin,

not for

brokenness,

not for

anything

less,

but full

on rebellion

against

authority.

Not authority

of that day,

not authority

of the highest

kind,

but authority

of the

ultimate

kind of

all

eternity.

It's that

kind of

rebellion.

And in

that,

the pardon

is extremely

great.

For the

creator

has now

become the

redeemer.

We talk

often of

Christ-centered

Christianity,

and that's a

good thing.

But there's

nothing less

than that.

In fact,

it's more

cross-centered.

It's

leading all

to this

moment,

because this

is the

heart of

the gospel.

The gospel

doesn't

happen unless

we have

the death

of Christ

for sinners.

Because in

this,

the Son

lays down

his life

for sinners

and turns

away the

wrath of

God,

so that

we might

have life.

And in

that,

John will

write later,

that in

that,

that is

a picture

of love.

And so

that's why

we can talk

about this

gruesome

event,

this injustice,

and speak

of it fondly,

for it has

purchased

pardon.

And how

do we know

it worked?

Because three

days later,

we get our

confirmation.

So,

this evening,

and for all

time,

slide not

into hell,

but instead,

remember that

you are

carried,

and you

are marched

down the

road to

glory,

not by

you,

but by the

blood,

suffering,

and death

of Christ.

That is what

carries you.

May we

delight in

his glory,

and may

we see

the real

purposeful

death of

Jesus,

and worship

the king,

so that

we may

know the

love of

God.

Let's pray.

Lord,

we're

thankful this

evening for

the reflection

upon

Christ's

death.

May you

work in

our hearts

to remind

us of this,

to carry it

forward with

us,

and Father,

may we

worship you,

and may we

rejoice at

his sacrifice.

We ask this

in Christ's

name.

Amen.