TEXT: John 19:23-37

SUBJECT: Exposition of John #47: Christ Crucified

The crucifixion was a long and ghastly ordeal. Our Lord suffered on the cross for six full hours, during which time He said and did many things. All of which are worth thinking about with care. John, however, leaves out most of the details, and chooses but four he hopes will bring his readers to faith in Christ. Or increase their faith. I pray God will do these for us. For Christ' sake. Amen.

John begins his narrative with a scene of shocking vulgarity. The Son of God is stripped bare and exposed for all the world to see. Poets have made the cross a romantic thing. It was, in fact, a disgraceful and obscene way to die. But this is Messiah's fate. And His choice. "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross".

Our Lord was disrobed by "the soldiers who crucified Him". Why would they do that? They were crude men, of course, underpaid, and bored out of their minds. Why not break the tedium by rolling dice for a dying man's underwear?

In doing this, the soldiers were not acting on their own; they were fulfilling a Higher Purpose--God's purpose. Why would He appoint such a horrid thing? We needn't guess: "That the Scripture might be fulfilled which says

`They divided My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots'.

This is a line from the Old Testament, Psalm 22:18. Its meaning is clear, but how does it apply to our Lord? It identifies Him with the author of that Psalm. Who is that? David. So? David was given a throne; he and his heirs were to sit on it forever. Had they? Not quite; the last king had died more than 500 years before. But every devout Jew believed the promise would be fulfilled; that one day David's Son--Messiah--would come and occupy that throne eternally. And come He has!

By ripping up His garments and gambling for His tunic, the soldiers were linking Him to the dead monarchy and--in effect--giving Him the throne God promised to David. Did they do it knowingly? Of course not! But God did! The Gentiles have paid a second tribute to David's Son. Pilate named Him

JESUS OF NAZARETH

THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Now his soldiers have concurred. "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God".

Women are present at the crucifixion, dear ladies who loved their Savior and came to pay Him their final respects. They are His aunt, the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, and His beloved mother.

Our Lord turns to His mother and says, "Woman, behold your Son". What does this mean? I don't know, but maybe it refers to the Prophecies she had heard long ago. And "pondered in her heart" ever since.

--The Angel said His name must be "Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins". He is now fulfilling that Prophecy by bearing our guilt and dying in our place.

--Simeon said He would be "A sign spoken against", and now He is, a proof of man's rebellion, and a token of God's love for us.

--Anna spoke of Him to all who "looked for redemption in Jerusalem". And now He's accomplishing that great work.

--He had chided her "I must be about My Father's business". Now He's completing that business--"Drinking the cup His Father had given Him to drink".

In any event, the words must have been both a dagger in her heart, and also its balm. The Crucified Son is Lord of Glory.

He turns from His mother to "the disciple He loved", and says, "Behold your mother!" In other words, Take care of My mother as though she were your own. The disciple obeys and moves Mary in with him that day.

What does this mean? It means our Lord is obedient to God's Law. Does it command "Honor your father and mother?" Yes it does. Does that include caring for them? Yes. In His agony, He hasn't forgotten God's Law, nor His obligation to love His mother.

Therefore, He is qualified to bear our sins on the tree, because He has no sins of His own to bear! Therefore, "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God".

Our Lord Finished, vv.28-30.

Our Lord came to do the will of His Father and to "finish it". He has now done that. Well, almost... There is one final prophecy He must complete before His death. And He does it with these words, "I thirst!" What's the reference? John doesn't say. Psalm 69:21 is the verse most often cited. I think he intends this one and many others.

Thirst is a uniquely painful experience. David knew it; Job felt it; Jeremiah longed for water; Moses and Elijah went forty days each without a drink; the Church in the Wilderness suffered thirst repeatedly.

What does this say about our Lord? It says He is Messiah. How? Because Messiah would not be above His people, but "in all their afflictions, He was afflicted". If they thirst, He thirsts! If they cry out for a drink, so does He! This means "We have a High Priest Who is touched with the feelings of our infirmity".

The drink revives Him for a moment, allowing Him to say, "It is finished". So it is. His saving work is done. He "did not fail", He "was not discouraged till He set justice in the earth and the isles await His Law".

Another fulfillment of Inspired Prophecy, proving once again the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Our Lord Deceased, vv.31-37.

The Rulers of Israel are a cynical lot. Having just murdered God's Son, they are very careful to not violate His Law! According to that Law, dead bodies cannot be left out overnight. If they are, the people are defiled. And, at Passover, that cannot be allowed. They go to Pilate, asking his to dispatch the criminals so they can be taken down before sunset.

Pilate agrees to their request, and gives the order: "Break their legs". Four of the legs are broken and the victims die a quick death. But the man in the middle is already dead. Just to be sure, though, the soldier puts down his iron bar and picks up a spear which he sticks into our Lord's side. Out gushes "blood and water". John saw this with his own eyes; his testimony is true.

What is the significance of "blood and water"? Some have seen atonement in the blood and cleansing in the water. Their doctrine is right, but it's not taught here!

What does it mean? It means death! When a man dies a long and painful death, his lungs fill with watery fluid. When a spear is stuck into his lungs what comes out? "Blood and water"! It means, then, our Lord truly died! He didn't faint and then recover (as some claim), but that He died and rose from the dead on the third day. John wants you to know he is "telling the truth so that you may believe".

These events were not accidental, but planned by God from eternity. His legs were not broken so that Exodus 12:46 would be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken". What's the reference? The Passover Lamb must be cooked whole, without breaking a bone. And what is our Lord, but "The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world"?

The other verse is Zechariah 12:10, "They shall look on Him whom they have pierced". In the days of the prophet, Israel "pierced" the heart of God with their sins. Now they would do it again, quite literally, by running a spear through the chest of His Son.

Summary.

In telling his story, John cites three verses of Scripture, and alludes to many others. Who is the central figure of Scripture? It is God! Redemptive history is History! Yet John applies every one of his verses to Jesus of Nazareth. Which means what? You know by now: "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God".

If this is true, believe in Him and find "Life through His name".

If this is true, read the Bible as though it were about Him. You know why? Because it is! We must dispense with hero-worship as though the Bible were about Moses or Paul or David. It is not; it is about Christ. What they did, He did in them! Give Him the glory--not them. We must dispense with Law-centeredness, as though the Law of Moses was an end in itself or a permanent rule for God's people or society-at-large. It isn't! It's about Christ--and what "the Law could not do, God did by sending His Son!" We must dispense with end-time mania, as though the Bible were about the rise of Antichrist, the apostasy of the Church, 666, and so on. It is not! It is about Christ. "Search the Scriptures...for they testify of Me". God lift the veil from your eyes--and mine--for Christ's sake. Amen.