The Death of Jesus

Sermon preached by Pastor C. John Steer

Autumn Ridge Church, Rochester, MN

September 6 & 7, 2008

 

 

Scripture: John 19:28-42

No. 23: John’s Gospel

 

“Christ has not only spoken to us by his life but has also spoken for us by his death.”

Soren Kierkegaard’s famous statement provides a wonderful introduction to our magnificent subject today which is, “The Death of Jesus.”

So please turn to John chapter 19 in your Bible and take out your message outline.

 

As we read John’s account of the crucifixion let us remember John’s purpose in writing.

It was so that, “You may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31)

 

As we look and listen to the sights and sounds of the cross let us remember that Jesus did this for us.

This should be no dry academic exercise.

It certainly wasn’t for Jesus.

May we all have a personal encounter with the Lamb of God who died to take away the sin of the world.

 

First let’s look at THE MANNER OF JESUS’ DEATH.

Writing in a remarkably restrained style John draws our attention to five facts about the way Jesus died.

 

First we see his knowledge.

 

“Knowing that all was now completed.” (v 28)

Again we see Jesus in control. It is not ultimately Pilate or the Sanhedrin who are driving this crucifixion.

Jesus had said, “No one takes my life from me but I lay it down on my own accord.” (John 10:18)

Jesus knows that the supreme moment in all of history has arrived.

 

Next we see his thirst.

Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.” (v 28-29)

 

This simple statement “I am thirsty” contains truth on many levels.

It shows us the humanity of Jesus.

Dehydration was a natural consequence of the torture of crucifixion.

 

We also see his divinity for here Jesus is fulfilling scripture.

The Psalmist had prophesied, “My throat is parched . . . they gave me vinegar for my thirst.” (Psalm 69:3 & 21)

The one who offered living water again and who cried, “If anyone is thirsty let him come to me and drink.”

Now cries, “I am thirsty.”

 

Throughout this gospel John has been revealing Jesus’ divinity through a series of seven signs.

The first sign was the turning of water into wine in Cana.

On that occasion when the wine was intended for the guests at a wedding it was of the very best quality.

 

Now when the wine is needed for himself Jesus receives the worst possible quality, that of wine vinegar.

So we see the grace of God who gives his best blessings for us and takes our curse upon himself.

 

This cry also reveals that Jesus is our Savior.

The soldiers soak a sponge in the cheap wine they had brought for their own refreshment.

They then attach the stalk of they hyssop plant.

 

With that mention of hyssop John is reminding us once again that Jesus’ crucifixion is taking place during the Passover.

In the first Passover God’s people were saved from the angel of death by smearing the blood of a lamb on the doorpost of their houses using a stalk from the hyssop plant.

As the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites in Egypt so the blood of the lamb of God now saves us.

 

This hyssop stalk was only about two feet in length which tells us that the cross was not very high above the ground, perhaps just a few feet.

 

Once Jesus had drunk this cheap wine we next hear his shout.

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished!” (v 30)

Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that Jesus died with a loud shout on his lip. John informs us what this triumphant cry was.

 

“Finished.” What a word of comfort this is.

If we wonder if we can ever be forgiven.

If we struggle with the impossibility of pleasing God.

Let us take that great word “finished” and remember that Christ has done it all.

 

He has fulfilled his Father’s will.

He has made his Father known.

He has dealt with the awful penalty of our sin which causes us to be totally lost.

But it is finished.

We are found. We are forgiven. We are free.

 

Because Jesus has finished all he had come to do “He bowed his head and give up his spirit.” (v 30)

Do we catch the mystery of this moment?

He who was from all eternity dies.

The eternal word through whom all things were made dies. Charles Wesley wrote,

“Tis mystery all! The immortal dies.

Who can explore his strange design?”

 

As we continue to look at the manner of Jesus’ death we notice his wounds.

“Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” (vs 31-34)

 

The Romans normally left their victims on a cross for two or three days until they died but Deuteronomy (21:23) insisted that the bodies of executed people should not be left hanging overnight as it would pollute the land.

So they asked Pilate to have the three corpses taken down.

 

The standard way of hastening death in crucifixion was to smash the victim’s legs with an iron mallet.

Then they could no longer push themselves up with their legs for air and the person quickly died.

 

This was the fate of the two robbers on each side of Jesus but when the soldiers got to Jesus there was no need to break his legs as he was already dead.

 

As experienced members of the execution squad the soldiers could recognize death.

One of the signs was the lack of sphincter control which reminds us of the dreadful humiliation that Jesus endured as he hung naked on the cross.

 

However, to be absolutely sure, one of the soldiers pushed his spear into Jesus’ side which resulted in a gush of blood and water.

 

Dr. Bill Edwards in his article on “The Physical Death of Jesus Christ” mentions that the wound is traditionally depicted on the right side. Supporting this tradition is the fact that a large flow of blood would be more likely with a perforation of the hearts involving the distended and thin walled right atrium or ventricle than the thick walled and contracted left ventricle.

The blood would come from the pierced heart.

The watery fluid from the sac around the heart.

 

Here again prophecy is fulfilled.

The Psalmist had said, “Not one of his bones will be broken.” (v 36) While Zachariah had predicted “They will look on the one they have pierced.” (v 37)

 

Even more important is the symbolism.

The Passover lamb could not be injured.

None of its bones could be broken if it was going to be acceptable before God.

And so Jesus the Lamb of God meets these requirements.

 

Then we see his friends.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus arrive on the scene.

We haven’t met Joseph before but John reminds us that Nicodemus was “The man who earlier had visited Jesus at night.” (v 39)

 

They were both members of the Sanhedrin.

They were secret disciples of Jesus probably because of their fear of their colleagues.

However, Jesus’ death causes them to forget their fear and become open disciples.

Jesus had not been dead an hour when his own prophecy came true. “When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself.” (John 12:32)

 

Joseph is a man of influence and he asks Pilate for Jesus’ body.

When permission is given he takes it down from the cross.

Joseph supplies the tomb for Jesus and Nicodemus supplies the myrrh was used for embalming the body.

We remember myrrh was one of the gifts the wise men brought at Jesus’ birth pointing to his death.

 

The burial customs of that time were different from our day.

There were no coffins or cremations.

The tomb would be a cave hollowed out in the rock.

Archeologists have found lots of them.

 

The cave is big enough for two of three people to walk in through the doorway. There were ledges on either side.

 

The bodies were left there until they decomposed and then the bones were put in an ossuary or bone box.

 

Because a previous body might not have decomposed by the time the next body arrived they would pack the body in spices to cover the odor of decay.

John is careful to inform us that Nicodemus used 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes.

 

That was far more than usual.

It was the amount used for a king’s burial.

So even in this detail we are reminded of Jesus’ identity as the King of the Jews.

 

John tells us this was a brand new tomb which had never been used before.

 

We don’t exactly know where was Jesus buried but some believe it was here.

 

This is the Garden Tomb and you can visit it in Jerusalem today. My father used to be the chaplain here and he loved to show pilgrims around.

It fits many of the requirements.

It is outside the city wall.

It is in a garden and it is a hundred yards from Gordon’s Calvary that some think is the location of Golgotha, the place of the skull.

 

We have seen the manner of Jesus’ death.

Now let us consider THE MEANING OF JESUS’ DEATH.

For 2000 years Christians have joyfully struggled to articulate the meaning of the cross of Christ.

 

There is a realization that we will never fully comprehend it on earth and perhaps not even in heaven.

John tells us in Revelation that the throng who gather around the throne of God in heaven love to sing a new song about the cross that begins, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.”

 

Here on earth theologians and ordinary Christians have

developed three major understandings of what God is saying to us through the death of his son.

 

The first is that Christ is Victorious.

This is usually referred to as Christ the victor.

This was the dominate interpretation of work of Christ for the first thousand years of history. In 1930’s it was given new

popularity by Gustaf Aulen in his book Christus Victor.

It goes like this. Humanity’s problem is that we are trapped and oppressed by spiritual forces beyond our control.

Christ’s death is a ransom that frees us from captivity.

His death defeats the evil, spiritual forces and allows us to share in his victory.

 

Martin Luther who taught this approach to the cross expresses it in his great hymn, A Mighty Fortress.

“The Prince of darkness grim,

We tremble not for him.

His rage we can endure.

For lo his doom is sure.

One little word shall fell him.”

 

The second understanding of what God is saying to us through the cross is that Christ is love.

We all need to know God’s love for us.

Christ’s death on the cross demonstrates God’s love so dramatically that we are convinced of his love and are able to share it with others.

 

Peter Abelard the great French theologian of the 11th century was the first to develop this understanding that supremely on the cross we see the love of God.

 

A third approach understands Christ is our Substitute.

This says that our main problem is God’s righteous wrath against us for our sinfulness.

This puts us in danger of eternal punishment.

Jesus perfect sacrifice for our sins is necessary to satisfy God’s righteousness.

 

Christ’s death bore the divine penalty that we deserve.

By taking our penalty upon himself God satisfied his own righteous anger against us.

This is sometimes known as penal substitution.

Anselm The Archbishop of Canterbury in the 11th century was the first to suggest the satisfaction theory.

 

I don’t think we have to select just one of these meanings of Jesus’ death.

Let us embrace them all.

Christ is victorious. Christ is love. Christ is our substitute.

 

Modern Christians continue to try and find ways to explain what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross.

One of the most recent examples is the four circles.

These were developed by James Choung, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who now serves as a Director of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in San Diego.

 

James wanted to help college students explain the gospel to their friends.

He turned to the most beloved tool in an engineer’s arsenal, the napkin diagram.

He explains the cross in these four circles.

 

Circle one is entitled, “Designed for good.”

Circle two is “Damaged by evil.”

Circle three is “Restored for better.”

Circle four is “Sent together to heal.”

 

They follow the biblical narrative of creation, fall, redemption and mission.

 

The story goes like this.

The world, our relationships and each of us were designed for good. But all of it was damaged by evil because of our self-centeredness and inclination to seek our own good above others.

 

But God loved the world too much to leave it that way so he came as Jesus. He took everything evil with him to death on the cross and through his resurrection everything restored for better. At the end of time all will be made perfect.

But until then followers of Christ are sent together to heal - people, relationships and the systems of the world.

 

There are parallel lines that prevent us going straight from circle two, “damaged by evil” to circle four, “sent together to heal.”

We have to go through the cross.

We have to go through Jesus if we want to make a difference in the world. We need Jesus to help us to become the kind of good we want to see in our world.

 

Only Christ can fully help us put to death our self-centered ways so that we can truly live.

So if we really want to be part of healing the world in a way that lasts we have to go through Jesus.

 

Like James Choung it is always helpful to look at the cross from different angles. Salvador Dali did that in his famous painting when he looked at the cross from above.

It is called “The Christ of St. John on the Cross.”

So let me encourage you this week to look at the cross from different angles. Meditate on it. Apply its truth to your life.

 

Let me close by reading some insights of those who thought about the meaning of the cross.

In the fourth century John Chrysostom told his congregation, ‘Never leave home without making the sign of the cross.”

 

Karl Barth reflecting that Jesus died between two criminals observes, “Which is more amazing to find Jesus in such bad company, or to find the criminals in such good company?

Jesus died precisely for these two criminals who were crucified on his right and left and went to their death with him. He did not die for the sake of a good world, he died for the sake of an evil world.”

 

Bruce Milne writes, “The Christian teaching about who crucified Christ is not that the Romans or the Jews did it but that you and I did it and that all human societies without exception are involved in the crucifixion of Christ.”

 

John Stott makes this observation,

“Since Jesus had no sin either in his nature or in his conduct, he need never have died either physically or spiritually.

Then why did he do it? What was the rationale of his death?

There was only one possible, logically, biblical answer.

It is that he died for our sins, not his own. The death he died was our death, the penalty which our sins had richly deserved.”

 

My closing reflection is a famous photo.

It is a picture of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

It was taken in 1940 during the blitz.

 

All of London was on fire. Much of it was destroyed.

A photographer captured this moment when the night sky was lit up the flames of burning buildings.

Miraculously St. Paul’s remained undamaged.

The gold cross on the top shone in the darkness announcing that the cross sustains us in times of crisis.