Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / John
John 19:17-37 (Part 2) 01/14/07
Title: ‘Near the Cross’ pt.2 Text: John 19:17-37
Introduction: In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor had explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor. "Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister."
Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.
With the ordeal almost over, his voice slightly shaky, Johnny broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?" (Thomas Lindberg)
Explanation: Johnny was willing to die for his sister, he knew he was the only one who could save her. Johnny said yes and believed he would die by giving his life saving blood to his sister.
Sound familiar?
· Jesus was willing to die…for you ____
· Jesus was willing to die…for you ____
· Jesus was willing to die…for you ____
· Jesus was willing to die…for you ____.
Jesus gave not only his blood, but his life on the cross of Calvary, so that we could know forgiveness of sin and have the promise of eternal life in heaven.
In our text this morning Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Creator of all that is, the Sustainer of all that has life, Jesus, your friend and the lover of your soul… will die.
Why? If Jesus is all that, why did he need to die? That’s what we’ll find out today…if you dare draw near the cross.
Transition: Open your Bibles to John 19:28 (pg. 828 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) Open your heart as we draw near the cross.
3. John 19:28-30‘I Thirst’ and ‘It Is Finished’
Read: John 19:28-30
‘Knowing that all was now complete’ tells me that Jesus was no helpless victim, powerless and subject to the whims of those who arrested him. Jesus was in control.
‘I thirst.’
And gathering what breath he could, Jesus uttered the words ‘I am thirsty.’ Someone who heard him, took a sponge soaked with wine, placed it on a stick and raised it to Jesus’ lips.
· What Jesus drank was a watered down wine probably meant for the soldiers when they got thirsty.
Why drink it?
· The combination of being on the cross for 6 hours perhaps on a hot, sunny day; his loss of blood; and his exhaustion at grasping for every breath generated a great thirst.
But I believe there is more if we just look a little closer. When John uses the word ‘thirst’ or ‘thirsty’ in his Gospel, he always refers to ‘spiritual thirst.’
Think about it. Jesus was alone on the cross, paying the penalty for my sin and for yours, separated from the face of God. Jesus was thirsting… for God.
There, as Jesus took upon himself my sin and yours, for the first time in eternity, he experienced the agony of separation from the presence of God. The Father turned his back on Jesus, the Son, while he hung on the cross, in our place, inflicting on him the full force of his wrath for our sin.
What made me think this? Although not mentioned here, Mark’s gospel tells us that Jesus cried out
‘My God…my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mk. 15:34)
On the cross Jesus was the supreme fulfillment of Ps 63:1
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Ps 63:1)
Yes, Jesus experienced physical thirst to be sure, but that was only part of it. Jesus’ deepest thirst was spiritual, he wanted to be back in fellowship with God the Father because he knew he wasn’t.
Ever been there? Perhaps you are there now. Let me encourage you not to be casual about your return to fellowship with God.
· Thirst for him, as Jesus thirsted on the cross,
· desire his presence more than anything,
· seek him out,
· ask for forgiveness,
· change whatever needs to be changed,
· but passionately say with the psalmist…
O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Ps 63:1)
Jesus said ‘I am thirsty…for you God!’
‘It is Finished.’
Then Jesus said ‘It is finished.’ And he died.
Yea, so what? Jesus was only saying what everyone else was saying.
· It was finished for the soldiers, so they could go back to the barracks.
· It was finished for the 4 women so they could go home to make preparations for Jesus’ burial.
· It was finished for John, Jesus’ disciple, so he could go back to the family business.
· It was finished for the Jewish religious leaders so they could now congratulate themselves on a job well done.
But…when Jesus lifted his head to heaven and said ‘It is finished.’ The whole kingdom of darkness trembled!
You see when Jesus shouted the words ‘It is finished’ it was not a whimper of defeat, but a glorious shout of victory!
Let me briefly share with you why.
1. Prophecy was fulfilled
· Every prophesy relating to the Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Do you know what this tells me?
· From the beginning of time God had a plan for our redemption, for our salvation.
· It tells me God does what he says he will do.
· It tells me that God’s promises never fail.
2. Forgiveness of Sin
· The sacrifices of the OT were incomplete and had to be repeated
· Warren Wiersbe wrote ‘None of the OT sacrifices could take away sin, their blood only covered over sin. But, Jesus, the Lamb of God shed his blood and that blood can take away the sins of the world.’ (Jn 1:29)
· Atonement means to cleanse…to make holy. Your life stained by sin is cleansed, made holy, by the blood of Jesus.
3. Death was conquered.
· ‘But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.’ (Heb 2:9)
· ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (1 Cor 15:55-57)
· Death no longer has a hold on us, we have the promise of eternal life. We no longer need to fear death, because…
4. We have been reconciled to God
· But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. ‘Rom 5:8-11’
· To reconcile means ‘to return favor to’, in this case it means ‘to return to God’s favor’.
· That means now that we are cleansed we are reconciled to God, brought back into a right relationship with him and because of that, we will experience the favor of God, the blessings of God, the grace of God, the love of God, the mercy of God, the power of God, because
5. We have access to God
We are now able to go into the presence of God. The veil, or curtian in the Temple was torn in half, granting access to God’s presence to all who come by faith in Jesus.
· ‘Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.’ (Heb 10:19-22)
· Draw near to God Christian, don’t be afraid. It’s where God wants us.
When Jesus said it is finished, it give us..
6. Assurance of salvation
· ‘because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.’ (Heb 10:14)
· to perfect means to complete. God will complete the work of salvation in us…he will never let us be taken away from him, nor will he allow us to run too far away.
· And according to this text God does that…forever!
· You were cleansed, made holy, and God will continue the process until you are safely in heaven with him…thus the term ‘eternal life.’
Transition: What great promises! What great victory is ours by placing our faith in Jesus! We could end here but there’s a few more verses we need to look at.
4. John 19:31-37 Prophesy Fulfilled
Read: John 19:31-37
‘Knowing that all was now complete’ as we read in vs 28 is continued here after his death. Prophesy continued to be fulfilled even after Jesus died.
· Jesus’ legs were not broken since he was already dead.
‘he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.’ (Ps 34:20)
· One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear…to prove Jesus was dead.
‘And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.’ (Zec. 12:10)
Not one prophesy concerning the Messiah was unfulfilled. But, not only was prophesy fulfilled in Jesus’ death… we also have proof that Jesus actually died.
Conclusion
Speaking of death remember little Johnny?
With the ordeal almost over, his voice slightly shaky, broke the silence. "Doctor, when do I die?" Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he'd agreed to donate his blood. He'd thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he'd made his great decision. (Thomas Lindberg)
Johnny didn't have to die to save his sister. And God doesn’t want you to die to follow him either…but you do have to make sacrifices
…everyday. And that’s not easy is it? Because true sacrifices hurt, they cost us something…and we don’t like giving up what we have…if we were honest, even to God.
W. E. Orchard once said
‘It takes a crucified church to bring a crucified Christ before the eyes of the world.’
· To make CBC effective in it’s evangelism efforts…
· To make CBC effective in reaching out to the lost…
We have to be a crucified church bringing the message of a crucified Christ to a lost and dying world.
Realize that a crucified church is made up of crucified people.
Dennis Corrigan wrote ‘Gethsemane teaches us that the kingdom of God is entered only through the denial of one's own will and the affirmation of the will of God. Therefore, the cross must stand central to an understanding of the kingdom. Since the essence of the kingdom is our obedience to the absolute will of God, we understand it only as we bring our own will to the foot of the cross. No self-will can live unchallenged in God's kingdom.’
It takes a crucified church to bring a crucified Christ before the eyes of the world. (W.E. Orchard)
Christian, what in your life, do you need to crucify because it’s keeping you from full obedience to the will of God?
Christian, what in your life do you need to crucify because it’s keeping CBC from being a crucified church?
Take out the crosses that are in your bulletin. A few years ago I asked you to write a sin, on the paper cross, that you needed lay at the feet of Jesus, and then come forward and nail it to the wooden cross that was up here.
This time, I want you to take the cross home with you and place it where you’ll see it…perhaps on the fridge or near the TV or in your office at work. Let it remind you that
It takes a crucified church to bring a crucified Christ before the eyes of the world.
Have you drawn near the cross? Have you come to Jesus as the only one who gave up his life, so that you could be forgiven?
If you have then today’s message is one of hope and victory.
If you haven’t then today’s message is one of urgency…for you are still lost in your sin and separated from God.
Regardless of where you are in your journey of faith, my prayer is that you will draw near the cross of Jesus and find life.