The Cross of Christ - John 19

I'm Pastor Mark. My wife Jan and I founded the church in March 17th of 2005 here in Frisco. Been quite the journey. We want to say thank you for joining with us today and we want to encourage you to come back next week. There's going to be a great celebration, the celebration of the risen Lord.

But today, sometimes we need to remember things. We need to be reminded of things. And so we're going to be reading out of John, chapter 19, beginning of verse one. But I want to ask you today, what are you willing to do? Most of the time in life, we come to this, it's like we make this conscious decision.

We say, that's it. I'm only going to do so much. I've done my best. That's it.

But I want to remind us what Jesus did for us. What did Jesus do? Well, he came in again. We're celebrating Palm Sunday. These people are waving and singing Hosanna and they're coming in.

But Jesus had on his mind what he's about to do. He came with a purpose in mind. And this is what he. In John, chapter 19. This was his purpose.

This is what he came to Jerusalem to do for everyone there, for everyone here, for everyone that ever lived. So we're going to begin with verse one. So Pilate took Jesus and he scourged him. You can just read it and you can pass it. Anybody watch the Passion of the Christ, raise your hand if you watch the Passion of the Christ.

I encourage you to watch the Passion of the Christ in the depiction of that. You'll see how, if you want to say brutally beaten Jesus was. Because here's the thing. These soldiers were actually, according to Roman. Roman historians, they were gladiators.

And they were trained in the. In the ways of torture people. Most people died when they were scourged. They were. They used this whip called the Cat of Nine Tails.

And it was glass and bones and sharp objects. And so when they would strike Jesus, they just. When they hit him, it would just rip the flesh off of him.

It's horrible. We just read it like this. And Pilate took Jesus and he scourged him.

Sometimes we need to sit and soak or see a movie and remind us what Jesus did. So he took those stripes for you and for I, so that we might be healed. He was injured so that we could be healed. It goes on to say, and the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and they put it on his head. And they did this to mock him.

See, kings wear a throne or a crown, and they put it on him a purple robe again, another sign of royalty. Again. Why to mock him. So he's suffering these physical things, but emotionally they're mocking him. Nobody likes to be rejected.

Nobody likes to be mocked. And that's exactly what they're doing here, purposely mocking him. And they say to him, we just sang about, hail, King Jesus, but they're saying, hail King Jesus.

And they struck him with their hands.

Pilate then went out again and said to these Jewish people that delivered them to him. He said, behold, I'm bringing him out to you. And this is what he says, though, that I find no fault in him. My question for you today, have you found any faults in Jesus, you study him, you've heard about him. But what do you find about Jesus?

What fault did he commit against you? None other than maybe he told you the truth when you didn't want to hear it.

So he was beaten, he was pierced with thorns, he was mocked verbally, he wore the royalty colors. They slapped him, they punched him. Yet they found no fault in him. Today I want you to think about, examine what Jesus has done, who he is, and what fault you might find in him. Then Jesus came out wearing a crown of thorns and purple robe.

And Pilate said, behold the man.

Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw him, they cried out. They didn't cry out, mercy, mercy. They cried out, crucify him. Crucify him. If you've ever studied the executions on a cross, they designed it to be slow, methodical, deliberately cruel death.

So it would say this, you mess with us, this is what you get.

And the Jews answered him, we have the law today. You may have the Bible and you may have some rules that you live by. And according to our law, he ought to die. Because here's what it said. It says, he made himself out to be the Son of God.

The question is, after you've read about him, after you've heard stories and accounts, who is Jesus saying he is to you?

Is he the Son of God? That's exactly these people are saying that he said he was the Son of God. Now, he didn't come right out and say, I'm the Son of God.

He gave it in examples. And because of these examples, they knew exactly what he was saying.

Again, after you've heard the stories and researched it and been around people, who do you say that Jesus is? Do you believe he's the Son of God?

It goes on in verse 8 and says, Therefore when Pilate heard that saying, he was afraid. And he went again into the preatorium and said to Jesus, what? Where are you from?

But Jesus gave him no answer.

Like a lamb before the slaughter, he opened not his mouth. Then Pilate said to him, are you not speaking to me?

Let me ask you, Dave, you ever said God, how come you're not speaking to me?

Do you not know that I have the power to crucify you and the power to release you? And then Jesus answered him, and he said, you could have no power at all against me unless it had been given to you, you from above.

He says, therefore the one who delivered me to you has the greater sin. And from then on, Pilate get this, sought to release him. He wanted to Let him go.

But the Jews cried out, saying, if you let this man go, you're no friend of Caesar's. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar. Let me ask you today who you were willing to please? Who are you wanting to please? Everybody's wanting to please somebody.

It's very important to be confronted with the idea, the claim, the declaration that Jesus is God.

See, Muslims believe that Jesus is a good teacher, but they don't believe that Jesus is son of God.

They don't believe that he's one with God, equal to God, that God manifested himself in the form of a man in Jesus. Because when we have these ramifications and this realization of who Jesus said he was and who other people say Jesus is and was, then we have to come to a decision. We have to make a choice. Pilate asked Jesus three questions. And I want to encourage you today maybe to think of three questions that you might want to ask Jesus, but that maybe suggest that you ask this.

Who are you? Jesus? If you're unsure, will you reveal yourself to me?

Let me ask this. Who is your family? Jesus.

John 19:13 says this. When Pilate, therefore, heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and he set him down in the judgment seat in the place called the pavement in the Hebrew Gabbatha. Now, it was the preparation day for the Jewish people. It's called Passover. And it was about the sixth hour, which is noon.

And he said to the Jews, behold again. Behold your king. And get this again. They said, he made himself out to be the Son of God.

And he said, behold your king.

But they cried out, away with him. Crucify him. And Pilate said, shall I crucify your king? And the chief priest answered and said, here's the thing. You may say we have no king or person that we want to please other than the person we consider as highest in authority, whoever that may be.

For them, it was Caesar. Then he delivered him to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away.

And he is bearing his cross.

And he went out to the place called the skull, which is called, in Hebrew, Golgotha. It was right outside the city. It's on a main road.

So that everybody sees, this is what you get if you mess with us, where they crucified him. Let me just ask you today, do you believe that Jesus was crucified?

It's a question. There's much history that points to it in the Bible and other accounts. But do you believe that Jesus was crucified one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now, Pilate wrote a title and it put it on the cross. And the writing was this Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

Then many of the Jews read the title. For the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city. And it was in Hebrew, Greek, Greek and Latin. He wrote it in three languages so everybody would see it. Therefore, the chief priests said to Pilate, do not write that.

That he is the King of the Jews, but say I am. But that he said, I am the King of the Jews.

So today, many people have said a lot of things about Jesus, but what title does he hold for you?

Pilate said, though I have written what I have written, leaving it just like that.

So here he is, hanging on a cross.

Overwhelmingly, history points to this time, to this event called the crucifixion of Jesus.

The Bible and Roman records are very clear about the documentation of the crucifixion and the death on the cross.

In verse 23, it says, Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garment and made four parts for each soldier, a part. And also the tunic. Now, the tunic was without seam and woven from the top in one piece. And they said therefore among themselves, let us not tear it, but cast lots. So they rolled dice or did what they would to gamble.

For who would get this piece of cloth clothing? The scripture might be fulfilled, which said, they divided his garments and among them, for his clothing they cast lots. Therefore the soldiers did these things. Now again, if you don't connect the dots, if he doesn't have his clothes, then in what state is he crucified? He's naked.

You know how he made man in the garden? Naked and without shame. But then they, just like us, hijacked their own success, messed things up.

But God didn't leave things that way. He sent his Son to correct things once again, to take away our shame.

You know, to me, I find today. And again, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I find that people have souvenirs and they have trinkets about this event.

Simply for their own comfort that makes them feel better. I'm not sure why these soldiers wanted the clothes of Jesus, but they got them. How come you want some things about this event? Is it to make you feel good or is it to show what you believe?

Verse 25 says this. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother's sister Mary, the wife of Clophas, Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother and get this. And the Disciple whom he loved standing by. He said to his mother, he's on the cross, and he sees his mother.

And he says, woman, behold your son. Look at what I'm doing.

And he said to the disciple, behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her at his own home. You know, if you've not discovered this in life, those that are closest to you show up in the most difficult of the.

When it's the most challenging times in your life, that's when the people that are closest to you show up. They're with you. They help you make it through these times. These were the closest to Jesus, and they showed up here at this event.

Remember the morn when the seasons call for more warning.

Verse 28 says this. After this, Jesus knowing that all things were accomplished. Now get that. Jesus. Now he knows.

He entered into Jerusalem for this event to do this. And now things are accomplished.

All things are accomplished that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But he says, I thirst. So what do they do to you when you're thirsty? Well, here's what they do. Now, there was a vessel full of sour wine that was sitting there.

And they filled the sponge with sour wine and put it on hyssop and put it to his mouth. Mouth. So when Jesus received the sour wine, he said, it's finished.

And bowing his head, he gave up the spirit.

See, the last thing Jesus does here is he takes some sour wine. He drinks it.

But let me just remind you that when Jesus comes back, it will only be new wine, sweet wine that he shares with all those that confess him, that believe in him, that receive him, that acknowledge what he did, who he is, and what is going to happen in the future.

He completed his Father's will. He finished the course.

He's given up his spirit so that our spirit can be restored.

John. John, chapter 31 says. Verse 31 says, Therefore, because it was the preparation day, the body should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath was the high day. And the Jews asked Pilate that the legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. And the soldiers came and broke the legs of the people on his right and on his left left, who were crucified with him.

And when they came to Jesus, they saw. And again all these things are recorded. They saw that he was already dead, And they did not break his leg. Then one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. And immediately things came out.

Blood and water. Now, I'm not a physician, but they say that when your heart's broken, what happens Is your water in the blood, is separated from the blood.

You know, it's kind of like they do when they make platelets, they spin it. Anyway. It's very interesting that on these accounts, this is. This is proof that Jesus is dead. I mean, he was close to death when he got scourged.

He carries his cross out there. They hang him on the cross. He's suffocating. He's pulling himself up for every breath. That's the whole deal.

Every breath you have to take, you have to pull yourself up against these nails or push yourself up to get your breath. Because. Because when you're hanging, there's no breath left in you.

That's the death. He died.

And he who had seen has testified. And his testimony is true. And he knows that he is telling the truth. So that you and I may believe this whole thing. Everything is so that you and I may believe that he is who he says he is, that he did what he said and that he's coming back to receive us unto himself.

For these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled, that not one of his bones shall be broken. And again another scripture says they shall look on him whom they pierced.

Verse38 says this.

After this, after he's dead, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for the fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission so that he came and he took the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who was. Who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloe, about a hundred pounds. And they took the body of Jesus and they bound it in strips of linen with spices, as the custom of the Jew is to bury.

Now, in the place where they crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden was a new tomb in which no one had been laid. So there they laid Jesus. Because of the Jews. Preparation day for the tomb was nearby.

Let me just point out to you that Joseph honored his Savior even after his death. Death by doing what? Doing what he could do to show honor to Jesus, to God.

You may not understand things going on in your life today. The turmoil, the chaos.

The world's in a spin, if you hadn't noticed.

Even in this place where things seem to be dead, he honors God. He does what he can to honor the memory of Jesus. Each and every day, each of us have an opportunity to remember what Jesus did. Did to honor what Jesus did.

All of us have an option. Or if you want to say a choice. God gave each person a free will. Nobody's going to make you do anything today. I'm not going to try to manipulate you into doing anything.

I'm going to ask you to very carefully consider the scriptures that were shared with you today. Again, who is Jesus to you?

Is he the Son of God? Is he the one that died for your sins? Is he the one that died and was buried and planted in the ground so that he could have a family?

I believe he is.

I believe he loved me and he loved you enough to die for us. He shed his blood. He gave his life so that we could have new life. So here's what God wants to do for you today. If you believe, if you look at this account and it's done for your belief, then you have an opportunity to connect ourselves spiritually with the Lord, to accept him.

If you've never accepted Jesus today, today's the appointed time. Today's the day of salvation. I encourage you to say. I like you to say it with your mouth. I believe that Jesus died for me.

Would you stand with us today?

The Lord's house shall be called the house of prayer for all nations, for all people. We just simply have this opportunity today, okay, to pray, To call upon the name of the Lord, Lord. To pray right to God and to pray with one another.

Jesus died so that we would be one happy family.

For all of us to be united, to be in unity. I know that's not easy. Not everything everybody does makes me happy. But the Lord helps me, right? To look at the good things.

To look at the good things people do. Just like you being here today. You made me happy. Okay? Can we just take a few moments?

Here's the thing. I can promise you there's concern if you're going to be honest today that you have about your life or somebody else's life or the world at large. Can we just take a few moments? Can we pray? Can pray as an individual?

Can we pray with somebody? Here's the deal. We want to pray with you. If you'll give us the opportunity. We want to pray with you.