John 19:17-36

Sunday Morning Bible Study

April 17, 2011

Introduction

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Jesus was arrested the night before in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He’s already had various “trials” before Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate, Herod, and back to Pilate. Pilate finally gave in to the demands of the Jewish leaders and has ordered Jesus to be crucified.

Crucifixion was invented by the Persians, adopted by the Greeks, but perfected by the Romans.

Sometimes we don’t know what to make of the cross.

Some people wear crosses around their necks. We put beautiful crosses on churches. We can almost tend to miss the point completely.

The Roman statesman Cicero wrote about crucifixion:

“It was the most cruel and shameful of all punishments. Let it never come near the body of a Roman citizen; nay, not even near his thoughts or eyes or ears.”

The cross was about death. It was also about causing as much suffering and humiliation as possible along the way.

19:17-36 The Crucifixion

:17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,

:18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

:17 bearing His cross

John told us that Pilate sentenced Jesus around 6am (John 19:14). Mark (15:25) tells us that Jesus was crucified around 9am.

This fulfills two things in Scripture.

Abraham sacrificing his only son Isaac on Mount Moriah was a picture of this event. Isaac carried the wood to the sacrifice (Gen. 22:6)

(Ge 22:6 NKJV) So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.

The Law says that with the “sin offering”, the animal’s body was taken outside the camp (Heb. 13:11-12). The writer of Hebrews tells us that this is why Jesus took His cross outside the city gates.

(Heb 13:11–12 NKJV) —11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

It’s likely that Jesus only carried the upper crossbeam (about 90 lbs)

It’s possible that Jesus might have carried both the upright as well as the crossbeam of the cross, but that doesn’t have to be the case.

Some experts have calculated that both pieces together would have weighed upwards to 600 pounds, too much for anyone to carry.

This was a part of the crucifixion. Every condemned man carried his own cross to the place where he was executed.

It was a sign to the crowds that you were guilty of a crime.

The ironic thing was that Jesus was not guilty of anything.

Lesson

Bearing my cross

Jesus taught:

(Lk 9:23 NKJV) Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Sometimes I hear Christians talking about “bearing their cross”, and it usually means something like putting up with their boss who is being unreasonable, or living with a spouse with bad breath, or having rebellious kids. Is this what it’s all about?

It seems to me that bearing the cross in Jesus’ day meant:

1. Pain

2. Shame

3. Obedience

Illustration

Thomas à Kempis wrote: Jesus has many who love his kingdom in heaven, but few who bear his cross. He has many who desire comfort, but few who desire suffering. He finds many to share his feast, but few his fasting. All desire to rejoice with him, but few are willing to suffer for his sake. Many follow Jesus to the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of his passion. Many admire his miracles, but few follow him in the humiliation of the cross.

Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ; found in: Tony Lane, Timeless Witness (Hendrickson, 2004), p. 188

Illustration

In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave him a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world’s hurting people. Finally, Borden wrote home to say, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.” At the same time, he wrote two words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.”

Indeed, Borden held nothing back. During his college years at Yale University, he became a pillar in the Christian community. One entry in his personal journal that defined the source of his spiritual strength simply said: “Say no to self and yes to Jesus every time.”

During his first semester at Yale, Borden started a small prayer group that would transform campus life. This little group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus. By the end of his first year, 150 freshmen were meeting for weekly Bible study and prayer. By the time Bill Borden was a senior, 1,000 of Yale’s 1,300 students were meeting in such groups.

Borden also strategized with his fellow Christians to make sure every student on campus heard the gospel, and he was often seen ministering to the downtrodden in the streets of New Haven. But his real passion was missions. Once he narrowed his missionary call to the Kansu people in China, Borden never wavered.

Upon graduation from Yale, Borden wrote two more words in the back of his Bible: “No retreats.” In keeping with that commitment, Borden turned down several high-paying job offers, enrolling in seminary instead. After graduating, he immediately went to Egypt to learn Arabic because of his intent to work with Muslims in China. While in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.

Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words “No reserves” and “No retreats,” he had written: “No regrets.”

Bill White, Paramount, California; sources: Daily Bread (12-31-1988); The Yale Standard (Fall 1970); Mrs. Howard Taylor, Borden of Yale (Bethany House, 1988)

I don’t think that taking up your cross always means going to the mission field.

It does involve following Jesus, no matter where He leads. No matter what happens.

God wants us to live a life of “No reserves”, “No retreats,” and “No regrets.”

Matthew tells us that along the way, the cross was too heavy, and the Romans enlisted some help.

(Mt 27:32 NKJV) Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross.

:17 Golgotha – Golgotha – an Aramaic word meaning “skull”

The word “Calvary” comes from the Latin word for “skull”. Did you know that you are attending “Skull Chapel”? Sounds like a biker church. Or maybe a pirate church.

Through the years there have been various ideas as to where this place was.

The Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches have a church they share, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

I am more partial to the place located just outside the old Damascus gate

Is is a place known as Jeremiah’s grotto, and also where Solomon quarried stone to build his Temple.

If you look at the cliff, you can make out what looks like a skull face.

With Roman custom, there would be a permanent post or tree at the site of crucifixion where the crossbeam would be attached.

Some have suggested that it might have been the stump of an olive tree since the crucifixion is sometimes referred to as “the tree”. Peter uses the word in both sermons as well as writing:

(Ac 5:30 NKJV) The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.

(Ac 10:39 NKJV) And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.

(1 Pe 2:24 NKJV) who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed.

:18 crucified – stauroo – drive down stakes; to crucify

Crucifixion was common in Jesus’ time.

Augustus Caesar boasted that he had captured 30,000 fugitive slaves and had crucified all of them who had not been claimed.

One hundred years earlier, the Romans crucified the over 6,000 rebellious slaves that had followed Spartacus. They were crucified on the main road to Rome and their bodies were left to rot as a warning against such insurrection.

Julius Caesar caught the pirates who had formerly held him captive for ransom and crucified them all, having cut their throats first as an act of kindness.

In Palestine, the Romans crucified 2,000 followers of an earlier rebel.

As the procession made its way to the site of crucifixion, an officer would carry a pole with a sign detailing the person’s crimes, called the “titulus”.

The criminal would be crucified naked. A big part of crucifixion is humiliation.

The criminal would be thrown to the ground and a spike was driven through the wrist (not the hand), piercing the median nerve, causing pain throughout the crucifixion. (the spikes were pretty big) There was not a lot of blood loss with the spike. The purpose was to hand a person from the spike and cause pain.

The person is lifted up and the upright post is inserted into the crossbeam. The initial shape would have been like a capital “T”, not our typical cross. But when the titulus would be attached above the prisoner’s head, it would form our “cross” shape.

Typically, a person on a cross would only be about a foot or two above the ground.

As you hang from your wrists, often the shoulders would dislocate, and position makes it very difficult to breathe.

The feet were either nailed through the sides onto the side of the post, or put together and nailed together on the front of the post.

In order to breathe, you have to push up on the nails in your feet and pull on the wrists, causing great pain every time you take a breath.

Our word “excruciating” is related to the word “crucifixion”. This is the kind of pain you felt.

The criminal is naked on the cross. Extreme humiliation.

Crucifixion could take up to three days to kill the prisoner. The prisoner slowly goes into shock, their lungs fill with fluid, and it gets harder and harder to breath.

If the person didn’t die after three days, or if there was a reason to speed up the death, the Romans had a device like a big hammer that would break the legs, making it impossible to push up to breathe, and death would come much quicker.

Sometimes a family member would pay the Roman guards to break the prisoner’s legs so they would die quicker.

Normally, the bodies would stay on the crosses after death until the birds or dogs would finish with the carcasses. Crucifixion was meant to be a very public deterrent.

The place of crucifixion was always near the city on a main highway so as many people as possible would see it.

Dr. Truman Davis describes what happens to the human body after a short time of exposure on the cross:

“As the arms fatigue, great waves of cramps sweep over the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push Himself upward. Hanging by His arms, the pectoral muscles are paralyzed and the intercostal muscles are unable to act. Air can be drawn into the lungs, but cannot be exhaled. Jesus fights to raise Himself in order to get even one short breath. Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the bloodstream and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, He is able to push Himself upward to exhale and bring in the life-giving oxygen” (Josh McDowell, “A Ready Defense”).

:18 two others

Matthew tells us they were robbers. (Mat. 27:44). This was a fulfillment of prophecy.

(Mt 27:44 NKJV) Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.

(Is 53:9a NKJV) And they made His grave with the wicked…

(Is 53:12b NKJV) …And He was numbered with the transgressors…

Luke tells us that one of these criminals would mock Jesus while the other criminal would come to believe in Jesus and Jesus would tell him,

(Lk 23:43 NKJV) And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

:19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

:20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

:21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

:22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

:19 a title – titlos – giving the accusation or crime for which a criminal suffered

:19 JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS

This is what Pilate proclaimed Jesus was guilty of, being the king of the Jews. He may have meant it sarcastically, but it was actually true.

:19 Hebrew, Greek, and Latin

All the major languages were covered so everybody walking by would be able to read what Pilate wrote.

The Jews would read the Hebrew.

The Gentiles would be able to read the Greek.

Greek was the international language of the day, like English is today. Today, no matter where you travel, just about every place has signs in English.

The Romans would read the Latin.

:21 but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews”’

The chief priests want to correct Pilate. They don’t want people thinking that Jesus was actually the King of the Jews, only that He had claimed to be the King.

It is quite fitting that God managed to engineer things so that His Son would die on a cross that proclaimed Him the “King of the Jews”.

I’ve been thinking about what the average Jew might have thought at seeing this. Remember that this is the Passover holiday and upwards to a million people crowd into Jerusalem during these holidays.

Jesus had been teaching every day in the Temple. He had been drawing crowds. He was known as a miracle worker. He said amazing things. He had even been in a parade proclaimed as the “Son of David” (the title of a king) earlier in the week (Mat. 21:9).

And now, out of nowhere, this man is on a cross, with the title “King of the Jews”.

What would you make of that?

Keep in mind that CNN wasn’t covering the trials of Jesus. They took place in a matter of hours. One day Jesus is the great Teacher in the Temple, the next He’s crucified on a cross.

Were the Romans responsible? What happened?

:23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.

:24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

:23 tunic – chiton – a tunic, an undergarment, usually worn next to the skin, a garment, a vestment, this is not the prayer shawl, but Jesus under cloak.

:24 cast lots – lagchano – to obtain by lot; to cast lots, determine by lot

:23 took His garments

This was part of what the Roman soldiers got for their executioner’s pay.

There was a market for used pieces of cloth and leather. This stuff would be worth something.

A normal Jewish man would wear five pieces of clothing.

An undergarment, or cloak (this was what was gambled for)

An over cloak, the prayer shawl with the fringes

A sash or belt

A head covering (turban)

A pair of sandals

John tells us that there were four Roman guards involved with the crucifixion.

They are apparently gambling for Jesus’ under cloak.

:24 Scripture might be fulfilled

1,000 years earlier, David wrote,

(Ps 22:18 NKJV) They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

:25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

:25 there stood by the cross

It’s a little unclear as to how many of Jesus’ friends were there at the cross, and who they all were.

Matthew and Mark mention some of the people, but not all of them. The only person mentioned by all three is Mary Magdalene (we’ll see her next week).

The language is unclear as to whether Jesus’ aunt was Mary the wife of Clopas, or whether these are two different people.

Matthew records:

(Mt 27:55–56 NKJV) —55 And many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, 56 among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Mark records:

(Mk 15:40 NKJV) There were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome,

Some have suggested that Mary’s sister was Salome, and she was the mother of James and John, making them cousins of Jesus.

Clopas may be the same as Cleopas, one of the disciples that Jesus appeared to after the resurrection on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:18).

John is the only one who records that Jesus’ mother Mary was there, and we’ll see in a minute why he makes sure to include this fact that the other writers left out. It’s because he (John) was there too.

:26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!”

:27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

:26 the disciple whom He loved

We’ve already seen that this is how the writer, John, refers to himself.

:27 “Behold your mother!”

Even as He’s dying on the cross, Jesus makes sure that His mother is taken care of, entrusting her into John’s care.

Lesson

Take care of your family.

Paul wrote to Timothy:

(1 Ti 5:8 NKJV) But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Paul is writing this in reference to taking care of family members who have no means of support, as a widow would be.

For us, it might refer to taking care of our parents when they can’t take care of themselves any more.

It’s our responsibility.

And here is Jesus, at the last moments of His life, making sure His mother is going to be cared for.

:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”

:29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

:28 accomplished – teleo – to bring to a close, to finish, to end

The Greek here is τετελεσται

:28 knowing that all things were now accomplished

It’s almost as if Jesus has a checklist, and there’s now only one thing left to do.

One of the most amazing prophecies of the crucifixion was written 1,000 years earlier, long before crucifixion had even been invented. Jesus Himself was the one to tip us off to this prophecy while He was on the cross, recorded by Matthew and Mark:

(Mt 27:46 NKJV) And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Jesus is quoting the first line of Psalm 22. He was not only describing the fact that He was experiencing “forsakenness” as He bore our sins on the cross, I believe He was also using a technique employed by ancient worship leaders to tell you what song was being sung next – you call out a song by it’s first line.

It’s almost as if Jesus were saying, “Let’s turn in our hymnals to Psalm 22”.

Perhaps this last thing left to do that Jesus is referring to comes from:

(Ps 22:15 NKJV) My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.

Another Messianic psalm prophecy is:

(Ps 69:3 NKJV) I am weary with my crying; My throat is dry; My eyes fail while I wait for my God.

:28 I thirst – dipsao – to suffer thirst, suffer from thirst

He is dehydrated, his tongue is possibly swollen.

:29 sour wine – oxos – vinegar; A Roman drink mix of sour wine and water

The Romans called it “Posca”, and even the Roman generals drank it. Matthew records that earlier in the afternoon, Jesus had been offered a different concoction to drink.

(Mt 27:34 NKJV) —34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He had tasted it, He would not drink.

This was an anesthetic, meant to dull the pain and keep the criminal going longer on the cross. Jesus said no to the anesthesia.

But this time, Jesus is given a “soda” by the Roman soldiers using a sponge stuck on the end of a hyssop branch.

This too was a prophetic fulfillment:

(Ps 69:21 NKJV) They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

:29 hyssop – hussopos – hyssop; a plant used by the Hebrews in their ritual sprinklings

It is interesting that hyssop was a part of the various sacrificial rituals, kind of like a paintbrush, including the first Passover:

(Ex 12:22 NKJV) And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning.

:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

:30 It is finished – teleo – to bring to a close, to finish, to end

The Greek here is τετελεσται. It is a “perfect tense”, meaning that the thing has happened in the past, and the results continue on into the present.

They have found ancient Greek papyrus receipts for taxes with the word tetelestai written across them, meaning “paid in full”.

Years ago there was a teaching going around that Jesus went to hell and suffered there at Satan’s hands in order to pay for our sins.

No. Jesus was finished on the cross.

Lesson

Final payment

Jesus said “It is finished”, not “I am finished”.

He meant that the work was finished, the debt had been paid, our salvation was complete.

He came for one ultimate reason – to be a sacrifice and die for our sins.

It was at this moment that our sins were paid for…and continue to be paid for.

Some of us are quite good at making ourselves feel guilty over the same sins, over and over again.

Illustration

Martin Luther was one who struggled with his sins. Before his break with the Catholic Church he went to confession every day and was so guilt-ridden by his sins he would almost have gone every hour.

On most nights Luther slept well, but he even felt guilty about that, thinking, Here am I, sinful as I am, having a good night’s sleep. So he would confess that. One day the older priest to whom Luther went for confession said to him, “Martin, either find a new sin and commit it, or quit coming to see me!”

Jesus paid for all of my sins. All of them.

Some of us have confused repentance and penance.

We mistakenly think that when we sin we have to do something to earn God’s forgiveness. That’s “penance”.

The truth is, Jesus is the one who has done what it takes for God’s forgiveness.

For us, repentance means to turn around, to turn from our sins.

We turn around because that’s the right thing to do, not because we are trying to earn God’s forgiveness.

If we’ve hurt another person, we need to make things right with them, but when it comes to making things right with God, that has been taken care of.

John wrote,

(1 Jn 1:9 NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God is “just” to forgive us because Jesus has paid for our sins.

:30 gave up – paradidomi – to give into the hands (of another); this is the same word used to describe Jesus betraying Jesus.

It was about 3:00pm. He decided when it was time for Him to die.

Jesus said,

(Jn 10:17–18 NKJV) —17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

:31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

:31 that the bodies should not remain

The Jews do not want bodies on crosses during the Passover holidays (Deu. 21:23)

Even though normally it might take three days or so for a criminal to die on a cross, and even though a criminal’s body would stay on the cross long after they were dead, the Jews don’t want dead bodies hanging around on a Sabbath, let alone because of the Passover holiday.

There was a Scripture that required that Jews NOT allow dead bodies to hang on trees overnight. (Deut. 21:23)

(Dt 21:22–23 NKJV) —22 “If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

Even though it is up to the Romans, the Jews make the request that the executions be sped up and the bodies be taken down.

:31 legs might be broken

The Romans called this crurifragium.

This sped up the crucifixion. The dying man would no longer be able to push himself up in order to catch a breath. Death comes from asphyxiation.

:32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

:33 dead – thnesko – to die, to be dead

Perfect tense – something happened in the past and the results continue on to the present. He died and He’s still dead.

:34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

:34 spear – logche – the iron point or head of a spear; a lance, spear (a shaft armed with iron)

:34 blood and water

Some people will say that Jesus never actually died on the cross. They will claim that He just fainted, and then was revived when He was put in the tomb.

The facts say different.

The Roman soldiers know there job. Their job was to put people to death. This is the medical proof that death has occurred.

The piercing of His side with a spear was intended to be a way of certifying that the prisoner was dead.

Dr. Truman Davis writes, “We, therefore, have a rather conclusive post-mortem. Evidence that Christ died, not the usual crucifixion death by suffocation, but of heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the pericardium.” (Josh McDowell, “A Ready Defense”).

He died of a broken heart.

When Joseph of Arimathaea came to Pilate and asked to take charge of the body, Pilate was shocked to hear that Jesus had already died.

(Mk 15:43–45 NKJV) 44 Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. 45 So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

:35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

:35 he who has seen

John was an eyewitness to these events. He knows the details because he was there.

One of the things that John has been dealing with in his own time was the teaching that Jesus wasn’t human. Some said Jesus was just a spirit and that He didn’t have a body. John corrects this Gnostic teaching by reminding his readers that Jesus had a real body, He bled, He died.

:36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.”

:37 And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

:36 that the Scripture should be fulfilled

John mentions two more prophecies being fulfilled at this moment.

His bones were not broken (Ex. 12:46).

(Ex 12:46 NKJV) In one house it shall be eaten; you shall not carry any of the flesh outside the house, nor shall you break one of its bones.

He was pierced (Zech. 12:10)

(Zec 12:10 NKJV) —10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

:35 so that you may believe

Lesson

Saved at the Cross

Jesus’ death on the cross was not an accident. It was carefully planned out by God in order to pay for mankind’s sins.

Did you notice all the ancient prophecies that were fulfilled when Jesus died?

Jesus hinted at the cross when speaking to Nicodemus a few years earlier:

(Jn 3:14–15 NKJV) —14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

There was a story with the Israelites wandering in the wilderness when they were bitten by snakes. God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake on a pole. If people were bitten by the snake, if they looked up to the bronze snake, their faith would heal them.

Jesus went on to say to Nicodemus:

(Jn 3:16 NKJV) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Here in our passage today, we see what it meant for God to give His only begotten Son.

The bigger question is, what will you do with Him? Will you believe?

Illustration

There was once a rather eccentric evangelist named Alexander Wooten, who was approached by a flippant young man who asked, “What must I do to be saved?” “It’s too late!” Wooten replied, and went about his work. The young man became alarmed. “Do you mean that it’s too late for me to be saved?” he asked. “Is there nothing I can do?” “Too late!” said Wooten. “It’s already been done! The only thing you can do is believe.”