Questions of the Resurrection

John chapter 19, verse 17. We'll give everybody

John 19:17

a second to turn to that. We're going to look

at a few other passages of Scripture today, but

we'll put those up on the screen as we go through.

If you don't catch any of them or want to know

what they are, feel free to ask me afterwards.

I'll be glad to tell you any of them that you

might miss along the way. But we're going to

get started in John 19 and just kind of grasp

what's going on. If you didn't know, today is

Easter. It's a day that we celebrate and just

remember that Jesus died on the cross for us.

Maybe all of you know that truth. I hope you

do. But if you don't, I want you to know that

truth today. The Scripture says we're all sinners,

and the wages of our sin is death. And there's

nothing we can do to earn God's grace, but God

loved us so much that in spite of our sinfulness,

He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for

us. that his life was given to pay the price

for our sins, to cover our sins. And after he

was hung on a cross, he was placed in a tomb,

and he was raised three days later. And he has

victory over sin and victory over death. And

we too gain that victory when we put our faith

in what Jesus has done. And that's why we are

here today. We, of course, celebrate that every

day. But Easter is a time that we just continue

to remember. what Jesus has done, and to refresh

ourselves of the humble sacrifice that he has

made for us. So let's read through John chapter

John 19 · chapter mention

19, starting in verse 17. We'll read through

this whole passage for a few verses here, and

then we'll pray, and we'll get started. Carrying

his own cross, he went out to what is called

Skol Place, which in Hebrew is called There they

crucified him and two others with him, one on

either side with Jesus in the middle. Pilate

also had a sign lettered and put on the cross.

The inscription was, Jesus the Nazarene, the

King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this

sign because the place where Jesus was crucified

was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew,

Latin, and Greek. So the chief priest of the

Jews said to Pilate, don't write the king of

the Jews, but that he said, I am the king of

the Jews. Pilate replied, what I have written,

I have written. When the soldiers crucified Jesus,

they took his clothes and divided them into four

parts, a part for each soldier. They also took

the tunic. which was seamless, woven in one piece

from the top. So they said to one another, Let's

not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who

gets it. They did this to fulfill the scripture

that says, They divided my clothes among themselves,

and they cast lots for my clothing. And this

is what the soldiers did. Standing by the cross

of Jesus were his mother, his mother's sister,

Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he

loved standing there, he said to his mother,

Woman, here is your son. Then he said to the

disciple, Here is your mother. And from that

hour the disciple took her into his home. After

this, when Jesus knew that everything was now

accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,

he said, I'm thirsty. A jar full of sour wine

was sitting there, so they fixed a sponge of

sour wine on hyssop and held it up to his mouth.

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said,

It is finished. Then bowing his head, he gave

up his spirit. Let's pray. God, we come to you

this morning. We thank you for your good word,

dear Lord. I pray, God, that you would help us

to... Just take a moment to be free of the worries

and the distractions and the stresses of this

world. Dear Lord, maybe for some of us, we've

heard this passage many times. Maybe for others,

God, that are here or listening online, maybe

they've never heard this passage before. Dear

Lord, I pray that today that all the glory would

go to Jesus Christ for what he has done. Dear

Lord, that we would know today that there is

hope. That we have reason to rejoice. I pray

that your Holy Spirit would just help us, God,

to listen. That you would speak to our hearts

today, God. Meet us where we are. You know what

our struggles are. You know what our needs are.

And I pray today, God, that we would rejoice

in you. That we would know what Jesus has done

for us. And that we would accept that. And I

ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Jesus

had lived a beautiful life. We don't know much

about the early years of Jesus' life apart from

his birth and one little incident when he was

a child. But other than that, we really don't

know anything about Jesus' life until he was

about 30 years old. And it's at this point that

Jesus began to really fulfill the mission that

he had come for. Jesus is the Son of God. And

Jesus had come to... To do something that no

one else could do. God had some instructions.

He had some commands that he commanded his people

for a long time. And as humans, they completely

failed. And you and I get that. There are things

that we know we shouldn't do and we just fail.

We do them. And God knew that we were incapable

of living up to all of his commands. And so he

sent one who was capable. He sent his own son,

and Jesus lived a perfect life, a sinless life.

And Jesus came onto the scene, and he began to

preach to the people that the kingdom of God

had come near, and he began to preach and teach

in such a beautiful way that all of those who

heard it, that were willing to pay attention,

knew that there was something so unique and so

different about what Jesus taught. And so for

three years plus, Jesus taught people. And tried

to point them into what really mattered to God.

And really the whole ministry, the whole message

of Jesus is summed up in this. That he calls

us to love God with all of our heart and to love

our neighbor as ourself. That's really what Jesus

wants us to focus on. And all the other things

that God desires of us will fall into place.

If we love God first and we love others like

ourself, then... Man, things will be good, but

the problem is too many times we don't love God

with all of our heart. We love other things.

We don't love other people. Sometimes we hate

them. Man, that causes a lot of conflict in the

world. And so Jesus gives us an easy command

to read and understand, but it's sometimes hard

for us to do that. Jesus preached the message

so beautifully, and he had his apostles that

he had poured into. And really had showed them

all kinds of miracles and teachings that he wanted

them to carry on after his death. And Jesus came

to a point where his mission was soon to come

to an end. And he knew what that end was going

to be. He knew that the end of his mission would

be to give his life as a sacrifice for you and

I. Because Jesus looked at us. He said, man,

those folks are in trouble. They do some pretty

wicked stuff. They are sinful and they lie and

they cheat and they steal. And they are doomed

to hell apart from me. And Jesus looked out,

he saw us and all the other humans, all of humanity.

And he said, this is on me to do this because

no one else could be a perfect sacrifice. And

here we see in this recounting of the story that

after Jesus had... preached and taught all that

he was going to preach and teach the time came

that he was going to have to give his life as

a sacrifice and he was arrested in the middle

of the night he was taken before the religious

leaders and given a mock trial and they could

find nothing against Jesus nevertheless their

heart was already set that they wanted Jesus

to die And so they sent him to Pilate. And Pilate

couldn't really find any wrong in Jesus either.

But nevertheless, the crowds yelled all the more,

crucify him, crucify him. And so eventually Jesus

was handed over to him. A crown of thorns was

placed on his head. He was beaten and he was

mocked. He carried his own cross down the road.

Eventually he came to the place of his crucifixion.

The Son of God crucified between two criminals.

Many who hated him stood there and watched. Some

who loved him stood there and watched as well.

Some cheered on his death. Others mourned the

suffering that he was experiencing until the

time come that he breathed his last breath. Now,

if you've never read the gospel accounts of this

story, I would encourage you to do that. Matthew,

Mark, Luke, and John all cover these events and

the events leading up to the crucifixion and

the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And each bring

about various details. But it's good for us to

look at these stories and to ponder these stories

and to think about what Jesus has done for us.

Now, as I read through these gospel accounts

this week, there are lots of questions that are

asked throughout these gospel accounts. Lots

of questions who are asked by a variety of characters

in this account. And I think some of those questions

are relevant to you and I today. Some of the

questions that are asked in the story. leading

up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus

Christ, I believe are good for us to think about.

There's a few questions that are in these stories

that I want to ask you today. The first of which

comes from Matthew chapter 26, verse 50. The

Matthew 26:50

time had come for Jesus to be handed over and

to be betrayed. And Judas, a disciple of Jesus,

had decided in his heart he had let the devil

get the best of him. And for a few pieces of

silver, he had decided to betray Jesus. And so

in the middle of the night, as Jesus was in the

garden and praying, here comes Judas with all

of the soldiers. And when Jesus sees Judas, he

doesn't say, you betrayer. You evil apostle.

How could you do this to me? He doesn't say that.

Instead, Jesus asked him a question. He said,

friend, why have you come? Friend, why have you

come? Perhaps that's a good question for you

and I to think about today. Jesus is a friend

of sinners. Even a sinner like Judas who betrayed

him. Yet Jesus still calls him friend. And he

says, why have you come? Well, what about you

this morning? You may be a sinner. You may be

as rotten in Judas in many ways. But Jesus still

died on a cross so that you could be forgiven.

Why have you come this morning? Did you come

just because it's Easter and you say, well, I

need to come at least once a year? Did you come

because your parents made you? Did you come doubting

that Jesus was the Messiah? Did you come wondering

if he was the Messiah? Did you come to rejoice

in him or did you come to reject him? Why have

you come? Judas has the same choice. He had the

same choice as every one of us today. He came

before Jesus. He could have rejoiced in Jesus.

And instead of rejoicing after seeing all that

Jesus had done, Judas came to reject Jesus. What

about you today? Why have you come? In John chapter

John 18:17

18, verse 17, we see another question. Perhaps

you remember this story. Peter, one of the closest

apostles of Jesus, who was pretty bold, said,

Jesus, I'll never leave you. I'm never going

to give up on you. If I have to die, I'll die

with you, he said. And then the first opportunity

that came along, he fled. All of the apostles

fled Jesus after he was arrested. And Peter,

standing there at a distance, was watching his

mock trial as it was going on. And Peter loved

Jesus. He loved Jesus. He was so bold for Jesus.

He didn't doubt for a second that he was the

Messiah. He knew that Jesus was the Son of God.

And yet in the moment, In the moment when things

got tough, he was asked a question. And the question

we see in John 18, 17, you aren't one of this

man's disciples too, are you? That's a good question

for us to answer today. What about us? Are we

willing to take a stand for the Lord and to live

for the Lord boldly? If that question is asked

to us today, what is our answer to that question?

Are we going to answer and say, yes, I'm a follower

of Jesus Christ? Or perhaps we don't. Perhaps

we are as weak as Peter. And Peter was asked

three times if he was a follower of Jesus Christ.

And all three times, he completely... denied

Jesus. You aren't one of this man's disciples

too, are you? It's a question that we have to

answer today. Do you trust Jesus? Do you follow

Jesus? Maybe, just maybe if we're honest, there

are times in our life that we too have denied

Jesus. By our actions, by our words, by the things

that we have done, we have denied Jesus. Who

Jesus is. Maybe today some of us can relate to

Peter. Peter felt so ashamed. After he had denied

Jesus, he wept. He wept because he knew that

he had denied the Savior of the world. He was

so ashamed and he was so torn up. And maybe some

of you come here today and... Maybe the answer

to that question is that you've denied Jesus.

And maybe you feel the shame of that. But the

good news is Peter was restored. Just as you

and I can be restored as well. In John chapter

John 18:38

18 verse 38, another question we see in the story.

From Pilate. Pilate was the one that Jesus had

gone before. And Pilate really didn't find any

fault with Jesus. Now, I'm not implying that

Pilate was a good guy, but Pilate, he didn't

find any fault with Jesus, and he tried his best

to talk the Jewish people from crucifying Jesus,

but they wouldn't hear to it. And as he was talking

back and forth to Jesus, Jesus told Pilate that

he had come to speak truth, to which Pilate...

responded with the question what is truth perhaps

that is a good question for us to ponder today

what is truth now our world will tell us that

just about anything can be true our world will

say truth is what you want it to be if you believe

something somebody else doesn't agree with they'll

say well that's your truth but this is my truth

But that's not the way truth works. We don't

get to determine what truth is. There is truth

and there is a lie. And the truth is Jesus Christ.

He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one

comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.

And maybe there are some of you here today, and

just like Pilate, you're asking yourself, you

see all the struggles and the pain and all the

things you hear in this world, and you say, what

is true? What is truth? I don't know what to

believe anymore. Well, I can only tell you one

answer to that question, and that is that truth

is Jesus Christ. That is the only truth that

will give you hope, that will give you strength.

That is the only hope that will get you through.

And that is the truth of Jesus Christ. The next

question we see in Matthew chapter 27, verse

Matthew 27:17

17. Pilate is before the crowds. It's a custom,

it says in the scripture, that a prisoner would

be released to the Jewish people, one of their

people. And Pilate was just going to release

Jesus. He couldn't find any wrong in Jesus. And

so he asked the people this question. He says,

who is it you want me to release for you? Barabbas

or Jesus who is called Messiah? Now when we look

in the scripture, we see that Barabbas was a

bad guy. It says he was part of a rebellion and

he was a murderer. And so on one side of Pilate,

You have a murderer. You have an evil man. On

the other side of Pilate, you have Jesus Christ,

who is without sin, who is full of love and grace

and compassion, who has taught people, who has

fed people, who has healed people and raised

people from the dead. And there that day the

crowd stood, and all in the crowd, Had a choice.

You can choose the son of God. Or you can choose.

The sinful man. And Pilate says. Who do you choose?

Who do you choose? Jesus or Barabbas? And that

day. The crowd chose. Sinful. Evil. Barabbas.

Now we weren't in the crowd. That day. But perhaps

that question is in some way relevant to us.

Who do you choose today? What do you choose today?

The choice is before us today. Will we choose

Jesus and the ways of Jesus or will we choose

sin? And if we're honest with ourselves, sometimes

we choose sin. Sometimes we see Jesus before

us. We see the words of Scripture before us.

And we choose what is evil and sinful. What would

we have said if we were in the crowd that day?

Would we have been those in the crowd that day

mourning for Jesus? Or would we have been those

in the crowd that day yelling crucify him with

all the rest? Perhaps there are times in our

life. Too many times that we have chosen the

sinful choice instead of choosing Jesus. Luke

Luke 23:40

chapter 23, verse 40. Jesus has made his way

to the cross and the scriptures tell us that

Jesus is crucified between two criminals. And

one gospel account shows both of the criminals

mocking Jesus, but at some point, There had to

have been a change at heart because by the time

we get to this account in Luke, we see that one

of the criminals now recognizes that Jesus is

the Messiah. And one criminal, he kind of appeals

to Jesus. He says, hey, if you're the Messiah,

get yourself down and get us down too. Now, he

doesn't really have any desire to follow Jesus.

He doesn't really care about Jesus. He cares

about himself. Hey, get yourself down. And while

you're at it, get us down too if you're that

good. And when the criminal makes this response,

the other criminal says to him in Luke 23, 40,

Don't you even fear God? Don't you have enough

respect for God? Don't you know that this is

the Messiah? Don't you fear God enough that you

don't speak this way? The criminal said, look,

you and I, we deserve what we're getting, but

this man doesn't deserve this. Now, I don't know

what had changed on the cross between the point

that both criminals were mocking Jesus to the

point that this man had recognized that Jesus

was the Son of God, but he recognized that Jesus

was the Son of God, and there should be a certain

fear that comes there. And he said, don't you

even fear the Lord? That's a good question for

us to think about in our life. The fear of the

Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If we fear the

Lord, that impacts how we live, the choices we

make, whether we're going to pay attention to

what he says or not. Those who don't fear the

Lord, they don't care about the Lord's words.

They don't care about the Lord's commands. They

just continue to mock God. They don't care about

God. But this one criminal on the cross throughout

the whole story, this is about the only friend

Jesus had. This is the only one who'd speak up

for him. One of his disciples betrayed him. The

other one denied him. Pilate didn't see any fault

in him. But the only person that I find in this

story that speaks up for Jesus is this man on

the cross, a criminal, a sinner. And he has something

in his life that he recognizes. Wait a minute.

This man is the son of God. I fear him enough

to at least stand up and speak and acknowledge

that here. And he asked the question, don't you

even fear the Lord? When you read these scriptures,

when you see the story of Jesus Christ, when

you read the words of God, do you fear God? Because

the scripture calls us to fear him and keep his

commands. And this criminal got it. He got it.

He understood. And Jesus said, I assure you today,

you will be with me in paradise. Here in the

last minutes, hours of this man's life, he understood

the truth of who Jesus is. I don't know how many

minutes or hours or days or years you got left.

But it's not too late today. If you hear the

gospel of Jesus Christ, you have a choice. Will

you be the sinner that just rejects Him and mocks

Him? Or will you be the sinner that humbles himself

before Him? It's not too late today. Don't you

even fear God? Matthew 27, verse 46. Jesus speaks

Matthew 27:46

to God here. And he says, my God, my God, why

have you forsaken me? Jesus had been a humble

servant from beginning to the end. His goal was

to do the will of God. Even in the garden, he

prayed, God, if there's any way that I can avoid

this that's about to happen, let this cup pass

from me. But if not, dear Lord, not my will be

done, but thy will be done. And here in this

moment, Jesus had suffered greatly by this point,

greatly. And I suspect he felt alone and afraid.

And Jesus asked the question, my God, my God,

why have you forsaken me? And perhaps you have

asked that same question. Now you haven't been

nailed to a cross. But your life is hard. And

there are things in your life that are so hard,

that are so unfair. Things that have hurt you

and brought pain to you. That are struggles.

That have gone on for days and weeks and months.

And it just seems like God doesn't care or God's

not listening. And maybe you've uttered this

same question. God, where are you? Why have you

left me? But I want you to know today that God

has not forsaken you. He has not forsaken Jesus

Christ, and He has not forsaken you. In the midst

of your greatest suffering, you need to know

that God loves you and that He cares for you.

And the same God that raised Jesus Christ from

the grave after this event is the same God that

we come and worship today. If you ask that question,

why, God, have you forsaken me? I want you to

know today that God is with you. I'm not telling

you that your situation is going to get instantly

better. I'm not telling you it's all going to

go away, but I'm telling you the same God that

gave Jesus Christ the strength to fulfill his

mission will give you the strength to fulfill

your mission. And when all is said and done,

even if your mission ends in death, That God

will not forsake you to the grave, but He will

raise you up if you would trust in His Son, Jesus

Christ. In Luke 24, verse 38, after Jesus' crucifixion

Luke 24:38

and resurrection, He's raised from the dead.

He appears to those who loved Him, who were close

with Him. And He asked them this question. Why

are you... Troubled? Why are you troubled? It's

a good question for us to answer today. Why are

you troubled? Are you troubled because your bank

account's a little low? Are you troubled because

a child's about to move to college, you don't

know what you're going to do? Are you troubled

because of sickness in your life? Are you troubled

because of marital problems or stresses at work?

What troubles you? Jesus asked the disciples,

why are you troubled? Jesus had helped the lame

to walk and made the deaf to hear and caused

the blind to see and raised the dead to life.

And Jesus himself had been crucified and resurrected.

And Jesus is like, you've seen me do all these

things. You were with me for all these years.

I told you what was going to happen. And here

I am. I've conquered the grave. I've conquered

the... conquered death. Why are you troubled?

I'm here. I'm proof that Jesus offers victory.

I'm proof that the Lord gives victory to those

who would trust in him and those who would trust

in me. So Jesus says, why are you troubled? And

maybe that's a good question for us to answer

today. No, I'm not saying the things you're going

through aren't serious. I know they are. I know

that our struggles are tough and it's hard for

us not to worry. It's hard for us when we're

not sure where the next meal is going to come

from or what the next doctor's visit is going

to say or what the next treatment is going to

be like or what tomorrow is going to hold. But

Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow because

today's got enough trouble of its own. Jesus

is going to take care of us. The Lord is going

to take care of us. Why are you troubled? If

you've read the story of the gospel, if you've

read the story of the resurrection, God has raised

Jesus Christ from the grave. He's conquered sin

and death. That's our biggest foe. If God has

conquered that for us through Jesus Christ and

we trust in him, then why are we troubled? In

John 21, verse 16, there's one final question.

John 21:16

Before Jesus ascended to heaven to sit at the

right hand of God, Jesus had appeared a few occasions

to his apostles and to others. But at the end

of John, we see a beautiful story. We see a story

of Peter who had denied Jesus three times and

he was pretty tore up about it. But Jesus was

so gracious to him. And Jesus asked Peter three

different times, Do you love me? Do you love

me? What a beautiful question for us to consider.

That's the question that matters the most. You

come here today and hopefully you've heard the

gospel of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you've seen

the love of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you know

that He is the Son of God. He was nailed to a

cross. He gave His life for you and I and God

raised Him from the dead. And if you would come

to him and put your faith in him and you would

trust him today, your sins would be forgiven.

And your life may not instantly just get easier,

but man, you'll feel a joy that you've never

felt when you know that Jesus Christ loves you

enough and he's taking care of your sins. He'll

give you a strength that you can't imagine. He'll

give you a peace even in the midst of your horrible

circumstances. He'll help you out. That's the

truth of the gospel. That is the truth. That's

the only truth that there is in this world today.

You can't believe much of what you see and hear

these days. But you can believe the truth of

the gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God.

You can believe that truth. And Jesus asked Peter,

do you love me? And Peter has seen everything

that you and I can see in the scripture plus

more. He had seen Jesus' work. He had heard Jesus'

message. He had seen Jesus resurrected. Did he

love him? And Peter said, all three times he

was asked, yes, Lord. You know that I love you.

What about you today? Do you love Jesus? Will

you be one like Judas who just... gives up on

Jesus. Maybe you're like Peter and you've denied

Jesus in some way in your life. I want you to

know there's restoration. Maybe you're searching

for truth. I want you to know that Jesus is the

truth. Do you love him? I want to tell you today

that Jesus loves you. Greater love has no man

than this that one would lay down his life. For

his friends. And Jesus. Is a friend of sinners.

And that's you and I. So friend. Why have you

come here? Friend why have you come here? Well

I hope you've come. To draw near to the kingdom

of God. To enter into the kingdom of God. Do

you love Jesus? That is a question. That you

will have to answer today. But know this. Jesus

loves you. Let's pray. God, we come to you today.

We thank you for your good words. We thank you

for Jesus Christ. We thank you that we can be

forgiven of our sins, dear Lord. I pray that

you would help us as we look at this story and

ponder some of these questions, God. That we

would not be those who betray you and reject

you and deny you. We would be those who seek

you and believe that you are. The truth, dear

Lord. God, maybe there are some here today and

they're like Peter and they've done some things

that they're really ashamed of. I pray that they

would come to you today and that they would seek

you and know that you love them if they would

just repent and come before you. Maybe there

are some here today and they've never trusted

in Jesus Christ. I pray today that they'd know

who he is and put their faith in him. And I ask

these things in Jesus' name. Amen.