Believe and Follow: Marks of True Disciples John 19:31-42 Dan Brooks, Pastor Sunday, 4:00 p.m. January 24, 2016

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1 Believe and Follow: Marks of True Disciples John 19:31-42 Dan Brooks, Pastor Sunday, 4:00 p.m. January 24, 2016 Jn 19: Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would 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. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth that you also may believe. I. THE JEWS MISUNDERSTAND AND MISUSE GOD S WORD. A. They keep the preparation requirements, but break clear commandments, 6th (murder) and 9 th (false witness) commandments. 1. the day of preparation for the Passover (19:14, 31, 42). 2. On this day observant Jews prepare all food to be eaten on the next day (which begins in the evening), so that the Sabbath or feast day need not be violated by the work involved in preparing food. Apparently the day on which Jesus was crucified was the day before a Passover that fell before a regular weekly Sabbath (Matt. 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 19:14, 31, 42) They are guilty of murdering an innocent man whom they have condemned on the basis of false testimony. B. They select their lambs, but reject God s Lamb. 1. That Sabbath was a high day, i.e., it is not only a Sabbath, but on that year Passover fell on the Sabbath. 2. Ex 12:5 6 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, 6 and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. 3. No doubt they selected their lambs earlier in the week. No doubt part of the reason they are eager to leave Golgotha and get back to their homes is that they might complete the commanded slaughter of the lambs and finish preparation for Passover. C. The seek to preserve the land, but actually defile it. 1. They believe they are preventing national defilement, but actually contribute to it. 2. So that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath a. Dt 21: If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree, 23 the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession. b. Numbers 35:33-34 blood pollutes the land... You shall not defile the land. c. In the estimation of these Jews, Jesus was clearly under the curse of God. d. And He was, but not for the reasons or in the way the Jews surmised. 1) Ga 3: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us for it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 2) 1 Pe 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. e. What these Jews cannot see at the moment is that Jesus bears the curse of their sins. f. Do you see this? Can you read these verses and hear this truth and understand that Jesus Christ took the curse of God that should have been yours in order that you might die to sin and live to righteousness? 3. The Jews ask that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. a. As if being complicit in their execution isn t enough, now they ask that their legs be broken to hasten death by suffocation. 1 Allen C. Myers, The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1987), 848.

2 b. Without the use of their legs, these men could no longer push up in order to breathe. D. Question: Isn t that just like us? In what ways are you selectively obeying God? 1. Selective obedience is not actually obedience. 2. Like the father who never allows his family to miss a church service, but treats his wife and children like inferior servants, belittles them with his words, and wears them down and out with his continual criticism. 3. Like a student studying for the ministry and mastering Greek & Hebrew, theology and Church history, but all the while using pornography without repentance. 4. Like the woman who meticulously keeps her Bible reading schedule, yet criticizes everyone else around her for their shortcomings, never extends the grace of forgiveness to others or acknowledges her own faults. 5. Like the man who serves the Lord in mission work, spreading the Gospel, supporting the work abroad, but who harbors bitterness and refuses to forgive a friend who offended him. E. Point: The Jews are not followers or disciples of Jesus. 1. They worship power and the approval of one another. 2. They are not growing spiritually but decaying under the weight of their rotten self-righteousness. 3. They are not advancing the kingdom of God, but a vile kingdom of man-made, man-centered religion. II. TRUE DISCIPLES BELIEVE AND FOLLOW GOD S WORD. A. They bear witness to what is true. 1. borne witness: (μαρτυρέω) to testify to the truth of what one has seen or heard (35) a. At once there came out blood and water b. John is not merely testifying to the physical event; he is testifying to the purpose for which Jesus died. c. That you also may believe d. What are we supposed to believe? 2. His death is the fulfillment of OT Scriptures. a. 19:24 = Psa 22:18 they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots b. 19:28-29 = Psalm 69:21 for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink 3. His death signals a mighty deliverance. a. 19:36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken. 1) Ex 12:46 It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones. 2) Nu 9:12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. 3) This has specific reference to the Passover lamb. 4) Every lamb sacrificed at Passover since the Exodus was pointing to Christ! 5) His death signals a new Exodus, a deliverance from the tyranny and slavery of sin. Pharaoh was a slave master to be reckoned with, but Sin is a slave master that has the power to destroy eternally. 6) Romans 6:6 7 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 7) As John the Baptist declared at the outset of Jesus ministry, This is God s Lamb who takes away the sin of the world! (1:29) 8) Q: Do you know that sin s power has been broken over you? 4. His death signals a powerful cleansing. a. 19:37 And again another Scripture says, They will look on him whom they have pierced. b. Zec 12:10 And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. c. What do they see when they look? 1) Water which is symbolic of cleansing and sanctification 2) Blood which is symbolic of atonement and justification d. Zech 13:1 in that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and for uncleanness. e. It was a practical declaration, by fact and deed, to all Jews that by Christ s death that famous prophecy was fulfilled, and that now at last there was a fountain opened for sinners, and a way of

3 atonement and forgiveness made plain by Christ s death. The moment He was dead this fountain was opened and began to flow. Over the bleeding side of our Lord there might have been written, Behold the fountain for all sin. It is no small evidence to my mind, in favor of this view, that this famous prophecy occurs only five verses after the text immediately quoted by St. John in this very chapter. 2 f. Augustus M. Toplady ( ) Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee; Let the water and the blood, From Thy riven side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Cleanse me from its guilt and power. 5. Point: Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, died in fulfillment of OT prophesies and in fulfillment of God s plan to redeem us. 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there. B. They live openly because of what is true (19:38-42). 1. Background a. Joseph 1) Rich (Matt 27:57) 2) A respected member of the Sanhedrin (Mark 15:43; Luke 23:51) 3) A good and righteous man who was looking for the kingdom of God (Luke 23:50-51) 4) Who had not consented with the ruling earlier that morning (Luke 23:51) b. Nicodemus 1) He too had been moving closer and closer to Jesus before this outright public association. 2) Jn 7: Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? 2. Disciples may sometimes be fearful. a. Joseph: secretly for fear of the Jews b. Nicodemus: earlier had come to Jesus by night 3. Disciples eventually follow Jesus openly. a. Together they step forward, no longer afraid to be identified with Jesus and no longer afraid to step outside of their cultural boundaries. b. How do we know this was an open declaration? 1) Joseph asks for the body publicly. 2) Nicodemus purchases spices at great personal expense. a) The implication in the present narrative is that two wealthy men used their servants to carry the spices, help take Jesus body down from the cross, and then prepare him for burial. At a guess, Joseph saw to the legal steps while Nicodemus secured the spices. 3 3) Joseph and Nicodemus handled the body openly. 4) Joseph and Nicodemus defiled themselves ceremonially. a) OT provision to observe Passover a month later. 2 J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on John, vol. 3, Banner of Truth Trust, D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 630.

4 b) Nu 9: Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If any one of you or of your descendants is unclean through touching a dead body, or is on a long journey, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord. 11 In the second month on the fourteenth day at twilight they shall keep it. They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. 12 They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break any of its bones; according to all the statute for the Passover they shall keep it. 5) John s description is recorded eternally (38). a) Disciple: (μαθητής) one who follows the teaching and example of another b) Their work of preparing the body for burial when they should have been preparing Passover demonstrates the genuine nature of their faith and following. c) These men believe what Jesus teaches and reveals. d) These men openly follow Jesus. C. Illustration: The late 1800 s saw an evangelistic explosion in India. Entire provinces formally closed to the gospel were swept up a missionary movement perhaps unparalleled in history. Wales in particular sent hundreds of missionaries to Northern India, and they were joined by Indian evangelists, as well as missionaries from England, Australia, and the United States. This movement was remarkable for two reasons; first, it was led mostly by Indians themselves, and those men became national figures. Second, this missionary endeavor was focused on Northern India, which was firmly in the grips of the most oppressive forms of Hinduism. It was a place where the caste system was entrenched, and where headhunters ruled. These provinces often prided themselves on the hostile reaction they gave foreigners. Dozens and dozens of these missionaries were martyred, but despite the opposition and violence (or perhaps because of it) the gospel made inroads into this previously off-limits area. In the 1880 s a Welsh missionary who had endured severe persecution finally saw his first converts in a particularly brutal village in the Indian province of Assam. A husband and wife, with their two children, professed faith in Christ and were baptized. Their village leaders decided to make an example out of the husband. Arresting the family, they demanded that the father renounce Christ, or see his wife and children murdered. When he refused, his two children were executed by archers. Given another chance to recant, the man again refused, and his wife was similarly stuck down. Still refusing to recant, the man followed his family into glory. Witnesses later told the story to the Welsh missionary. The reports said that when asked to recant or see his children murdered, the man said: I have decided to follow Jesus, and there is no turning back. After seeing his children killed, he reportedly said, The world can be behind me, but the cross is still before me. And after seeing his wife pierced by the arrows, he said, Though no one is here to go with me, still I will follow Jesus. According to this missionary, when he returned to the village, a revival had broken out, and those that had murdered the first converts and since come to faith themselves. The Welsh man passed along these reports to the famous Indian evangelist Sadhu Singh. Singh had risen to prominence in India because he was training foreign missionaries, and a theme in his teaching had been the necessity of avoiding the cultural trappings of Western Christianity. He insisted that the missionaries now pouring into India focus on the essentials of the gospel while allowing the now vibrant Indian Christian community to develop their own Christian customs. The accounts of the family that had been martyred in Assam were so astonishing and widely circulated that most Indian believers were familiar with it. So Singh took the martyr s last words, and put them to traditional Indian music in order to make one of the first uniquely Indian hymns. The song immediately became popular in Indian churches, and it remains a mainstay of worship music there to this day. Eventually some of the American missionaries returned from India and they brought that song with them. 4 III. APPLICATION A. Are you believing and obeying all that Jesus teaches and reveals to you? 4

5 B. Is the Holy Spirit revealing any areas of selective obedience to you? 1. How will you respond to His conviction? C. Are the marks of a true disciple evident to others in your life? 1. Ask someone you know and trust whether or not they see the marks of obedience and openly following. D. Who will tell about what the Lord is teaching you today?

THE BURIAL OF JESUS. Mark 15:42-47

THE BURIAL OF JESUS. Mark 15:42-47 THE BURIAL OF JESUS Mark 15:42-47 1 CORINTHIANS 15:3-4 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that