I cannot think of another time to meditate upon the death of our Lord Jesus than before or during communion. For, we are reminded of the beautiful sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Last week we spoke of the love seen in the beatings, in the pulling out of His beard, we were brought to close examination of our lives in light of the saviors sacrifice, but it would not be a sacrifice unless the Lord died. Today, we recall once again, we remember anew, the death of our Lord Jesus. With both the communion table and the...
I cannot think of another time to meditate upon the death of our Lord Jesus than before or during communion. For, we are reminded of the beautiful sacrifice of our Lord Jesus. Last week we spoke of the love seen in the beatings, in the pulling out of His beard, we were brought to close examination of our lives in light of the saviors sacrifice, but it would not be a sacrifice unless the Lord died. Today, we recall once again, we remember anew, the death of our Lord Jesus. With both the communion table and the scriptures, we remember the death of Jesus and the significance it has on us as individuals, and on the cosmos itself. John Calvin defined this sacrament as “a visible sign of a sacred thing” or as a “visible word” of God. The Lord’s Table, according to Calvin, are inseparably attached to the Word. The sacraments seal the promises found in the Word. “The Lord has given us a table at which to feast, not an altar on which a victim is to be offered; He has not consecrated priests to make sacrifice, but servants to distribute the sacred feast.” So, we gather around both today, in high expectations, that the Lord will grow us in His grace and knowledge, and save those that need saving from sin. We have many scriptures to examine this morning so let us begin:
- The King on The Cross: Last week, the high priest presented Jesus before Pilate in hope he would crucify Him. They wanted Jesus executed and out of the way. The supposed spiritually minded to the things of the law were blind to the Kingdom of God. After Pilate had our Lord beaten, he presented Jesus to the crowd as, “behold the man, and the lamb,” and in John’s narrative, the irony is thick throughout. Joh 19:17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.
- Jesus went out bearing His own cross. There are other gospel accounts that speak of the Cyrene who helps Jesus carry His cross, but the point in the narrative is the cruelty and weight of the cross, and yet Jesus clung to it freely. The place of the skull, or Golgotha seems appropriate. Seeing that this death is the result of sin, and a skull is a sign of death. If one was to glance upon this hill from afar, you might see something like this
Joh 19:18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.
- Jesus was crucified between two robbers, both reviled Jesus the same way. There is indication from scripture that they both mocked Him at some point, or looked unfavorable upon Jesus. The gospel of Luke tells us that one of the robbers rebuked Jesus saying, if you are the Son of God save yourselves and us, and the other said, Luk 23:42 And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. This is the guy I want to be. The one that is willing to say, God be gracious to me, I deserved to die a slow and agonizing death, but please remember me.
Joh 19:19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Joh 19:20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. Joh 19:21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but rather, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'" Joh 19:22 Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."
- This inscription over the head of Jesus made the High Priest and the religious angry. The Romans perfected the Persian are of Crucifixion, they were masters of this form of execution, and it is estimated somewhere in the thousands. There were many people that gathered around the cross that day. Jerusalem at this time was a cultural hotbed for many people. You had the Romans, the Greeks, and of course the Hebrew. The inscription, even though it was just a title to for the cross, was more of a beacon for the nations, in some regard, it was a sign for the world saying, “Here is the King of kings.”
- Here again are the religious leaders being angry. These were the people that would try to lynch the pastor is he picked a wrong color of paint for the walls. These are the kind of people that would split a church, those that were too selfish and inward focused to see the Kingdom of God. They disputed with Pilate and Pilate pulled his authority and said, what I have written, I have written.” As if to say, “what I have written stays written.” What Pilate wrote was equivalent to the Kingly edict, and could not and would not be over turn, and no truer words were inscribed on that cross than, “King of The Jews.”
Today is a special day for us, this is a day when we can survey the ministries at the church. This day gives us an opportunity to sign up and serve where you know the Lord is calling you to serve. While we look upon that cross and the inscription over the head of our Lord, we see Him as savior, Lord and King, and what do servants to for the King? They serve Him until death. No one will ever supersede the servitude exhibited by our Lord. No one will ever out serve Jesus. You have people in here today that are serving so that we could enjoy this time in God’s house. You have deacons who serve their families, they visit when they are sick or are in need, you have musicians that lead worship with theologically rich songs that point us to Jesus. You have the Word of God, being presented as studied weeks and even months in advance, but Jesus out serves all. Jesus, King of Kings, died so that you can live in Him and serve Him unto death. This is the portion of the narrative in John, which should move us into deep contemplation and reflection. I have come up with a remedy for the burdened and broken hearted. Are you in Christ and yet are living in depression…serve Jesus and His church. Are you struggling with crafting your family to be a gospel centered and spiritually mature family….serve Jesus and His church? Are you tired of being sick and tired…serve Jesus and His church. Are you tired of feeling insignificant in the body of Christ…serve Jesus and His church? In short…serve the King as a faithful servant, don’t worry about being adequate, God make the adequate.
- The Gamblers: Below the foot of the cross, while Jesus hang His head in death, there was a gambling session going on. One that was foretold in scriptures long ago. Joh 19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, Joh 19:24 so they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." So the soldiers did these things,
- There are two different groups of people in this crowd. Those that were numb or unresponsive to the claims of Jesus, and those that were broken because of Jesus’ death. Those that were so insensitive to the crucifixion and those that were truly broken. Let us first handle those that are numb or insensitive. I have worked with funeral homes enough to know, there are some that have dealt with death so much, which they come off as insensitive to the family and those around them. On one occasion, I heard one funeral home employees say, during a service, “I wish she would hurry, we have to get out of here.” I cannot think of another gesture that would be more insensitive than to roll the lots for the garments of our Lord. Roman soldiers that have performed crucifixion so many times, that they were more move by the dice than by death. Why did John include this action by the guards? To show the scriptural and prophetic importance. As seen in “the Psalm of the cross,” Psa 22:18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. clothing they cast lots. To the guards, this was just a game, nothing more than another days work. On the other side of the cross were those that were broken…
Joh 19:25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Joh 19:26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!"Joh 19:27 Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!"
- Important to Jesus was the keeping of His mother. He tells John to look after His mother.
And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Joh 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst."Joh 19:29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. Joh 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
