The Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion of the King John 19: Matt Reynolds. October 6, 2013 SPUMC

Transcription

1 The Arrest, Trial and Crucifixion of the King John 19:14 20 Matt Reynolds October 6, 2013 SPUMC What a special day to remember that though land or oceans may separate us, we are united with others around this globe in Christ. Friends, we don t serve an American God or an English speaking God. We serve the God who reigns over the entire earth, all people everywhere. The creator of the entire universe. Today we remember that in Christ there are many who speak languages and live in cultures very different than our own, but they are brothers and sisters nonetheless. This fall we have been digging into the Gospel of John a little bit. We have been trying to take a close look specifically at Jesus as he is revealed to us in John s story. Today we reach the climax of John s account as we find ourselves again in the familiar, but always startling place, standing at the foot of the cross and seeing this man named Jesus suffering and dying. Today I would like to read just a little piece of that story for you and then I will comment on verses surrounding it as we move throughout this message. [READ JOHN 19:14-20] 1

2 If you have been around the church much before in your life, or even if you haven t I guess, you have probably heard of the cross. Even those who don t necessary profess to be openly Christian sometimes where this symbol as jewelry. There is no more universal symbol of Christianity than the cross. There are so many things we could learn about and dig into here in John s gospel surrounding the crucifixion of Christ. But today I am going to focus on just two key ways John helps to illuminate Christ for us in his record. 1. We are going to examine briefly how Jesus crucifixion is seen through the lens of the Jewish Passover. 2. We are going to see how John uses the cross to solidify Jesus identity as the one true King. Let s pause and pray once more. O God, we may have heard about the cross before, but in this moment would you bring the crucifixion to life for us in a new way. Make us open that we might encounter the true King who laid down his life for us. Don t allow our calloused and hard hearts to be unaffected by the depth of love revealed to us through your scriptures. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. John 19:14 begins, It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. For a minute let s take a step back and remember what this idea of the Passover was all about for Jews. 2

3 About 1300 years before the birth of Christ, God heard the pleas and cries of the Hebrew people suffering in Egypt where they were enslaved. So God sends Moses. Moses is to go to the Pharaoh and say that God wants his people, the Jewish people, to go to the land of Canaan and worship him, so please let them go. Pharaoh says, No way, I am not going to let them go. So Moses lets him know that God is going to send plagues because he is not listening to God. Terrible plagues fall on Egypt, but the Pharaoh remains stubborn and the Jews are still enslaved. Finally, Moses goes to pharaoh one last time. He says something horrible is going to happen in the final plague. The angel of death is going to sweep over the land and take the life of every born of every family including your family Pharaoh and the first born of every animal. Then Moses goes to the Israelites and gives them very specific instructions. You have to slaughter a lamb and take a branch of hyssop and put the blood of the lamb on the doorpost of your house and the angel of death will passover your family. And it happens just as Moses says. Death sweeps over Egypt but the blood of the lamb spares the Hebrew people. The slaves are set free. And ultimately freedom from slavery and freedom from death are caught up in the image of the Passover. So back to John 19. It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. On the preparation day in the Jewish tradition of Passover, it was 3

4 when every family presented a lamb to the temple for sacrifice. It was their way of remembering and worshipping God for that time in Egypt when he set them free. On that day there may be 5,000, maybe 10,000 families who showed up to the temple with their little lamb where it would be slaughtered. So they could remember that they once were slaves and now they are free because of God s work at the Passover. Remember what time John says Jesus was going to be crucified. Noon. Guess what time the people were to bring this lamb sacrifice to celebrate Passover? Right, noon. John is trying to make a point. John wants us to see what Jesus does on the cross in light of the Passover. Remember how in the midst of the crucifixion Jesus is thirsty and they get a branch and lift up a sponge with wine vinegar. Do you know John tells us what kind of branch they use? In the midst of that important pivotal story who cares what kind of branch? What kind of branch was it? A hyssop branch. The same branch originally prescribed by Moses in the Passover. Do you see how he is trying to give us clues into this profound story? John is telling us that in Christ we have the ultimate Passover lamb. That we are all enslaved in one way or another. That we are all destined for death. But through the blood of the ultimate lamb, Jesus Christ, we can be saved and set free. Remember how John starts out his gospel in chapter one, what does John the Baptist say when he sees Jesus? Look, the Lamb of God! Friends, we can never 4

5 become so used to hearing about the cross that we forget the power of that sacrifice. That we are the ones lost in sin headed for death and Jesus steps into our place. Like the lambs that had to shed their blood to spare the lives of the Jews. Jesus had to shed his blood in order that we might have our lives spared for all eternity. Remember John s fundamental question he is trying to answer. Who is this Jesus? He is the sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Now a second way that I would like to look at John s crucifixion account this morning is the way that he illuminates Jesus as king. This is a theme that runs throughout his writing but it really comes out here especially at the end of Jesus life where John wants to highlight Jesus power. It begins even at Jesus arrest. John highlight the last supper and Jesus last night with his disciples that we looked at last week. Then in John 18 he is taking his disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and there he is eventually arrested. Now it s interesting to note that in the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke that the garden of Gethsemane is portrayed in very dark and somber ways. One gospel says Jesus sweats drops of blood. In each account he asks for God his Father to take the cup from him. This picture is of anguish. None of that is there in John s gospel. In John s gospel it counter-balances the humanity of Jesus with the dignity and divinity of Jesus. 5

6 When we get to the arrest, John uses a word that has military significance when talking about the Roman soldiers coming to arrest Jesus. A Roman cohort was typically 600 soldiers as few as 200 but usually 600. Imagine someone in your neighborhood has done something illegal and 200 squad cars show up to arrest them on your street. This is a major ordeal. Who are you looking for? Jesus asks. Jesus the Nazarene, they say. And then note how Jesus responds. Jesus says, I Am. Again we see an illusion to Yahweh the personal name of God. John 18:6 When he said I am they shrank back and fell to the ground. You see the power of Jesus in this moment. John wants you to see how Jesus is in control of this whole situation. Peter tries to resist and cuts off the high priest s ear. Jesus says no, put your sword away I have come to drink from this cup from my Father. Again we see a sense of Jesus purpose and the power with which he approaches his calling. This whole situation reminds me a little bit of when I wrestle with my two boys. Wrestling is about the most popular activity at our house. And most things turn into wrestling even if they don t start that way. At some points when I wrestle with them, my 4 year old may say, I ve got him and he has got me in a head lock or something. At least in this point in my life I know this may change when they get older, but I don t have a lot to worry about. So about as soon as Nolan says, I ve got him. I can toss him over my back like a rag doll. 6

7 That sort of reminds of the way John portrays Jesus at his arrest and crucifixion. They flex their muscles and they think they ve got him, but you get the sense it s only because Jesus allows it. John helps us see that Jesus ultimately is in control and has the power to toss them off like rag dolls if he wanted to. The power of the Roman soldiers and Jewish religious officials is just an illusion. After the arrest, things continue with Jesus going to trial. There are trials with Anna and Caiaphas, but John says very little about these trials. Then Jesus is sent to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Pilate s job is to keep peace and Roman rule. The charge before the high priests was blasphemy but you can t get charged with that in the Roman courts they don t care. So the accusation before them is insurrection leading a rebellion against Rome. Pontius Pilate sees through that immediately and tries to set Jesus free. In John 18:33, Pilate asks, Are you the king of the Jews? Here is where we start to see the theme of Jesus as King emerge. In a span of 30 verses, 15 times Jesus is talked about as king or Jesus talks about his kingdom. Jesus acknowledges to Pilate that he is a king but a different kind of king. He is not ruler over a geographic area his rule transcends geographic borders, language, culture, etc. He even transcended the Roman empire. Jesus tells us in the synoptic gospels that the kingdom of God is within you. It starts in the heart. And when Jesus tells us about his kingdom his desire is that 7

8 we would be a part of his kingdom he wants to be your king. I choose to follow you and do your will. I want to live your way and submit to your authority. Every time someone says this in their heart the kingdom of God is expanded. There is another place where the King rules. You see, every person who sits here as a Christian is a member of two kingdoms. We may be citizens of this world or the U.S. but that is not going to last forever nothing in this world is. But the kingdom of God will last ten thousand times ten thousand years forever. There will come a day when you won t remember the U.S. anymore and your only allegiance will be to the kingdom of God for all eternity. This gives us hope that no matter whether our government shutdown is in the news, or whatever may happen to worldly powers, our true allegiance to God s kingdom will never fail. Finally, after all the trials and build up we get to the climax in the verses I read at the beginning today when Jesus heads to the cross. We are a little conditioned to hearing about the cross but friends, this is a vile and terrible thing. The Romans had thought this through quite clearly to inflict the most pain, emotion, physical and social, pain possible. John tells us that Jesus carries his own cross to the place where he will be hung. Romans had the idea that the mental anguish of having to carry the very thing you were going to be nailed to would increase the anguish and cause additional emotional duress. 8

9 But in John s gospel again there is a strength where Jesus picks up the cross as to say, this is not only the instrument of my death but also the fulfillment of my mission. By means of this cross I will save the world. And then note the sign that Pilate orders be placed above Jesus head. The inscription is, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Often the sign at the cross would be there name and crime. Demetrious, Stole from his neighbors. Instead of saying this for Jesus, rebellion against Rome, Pilate prophetically writes King of the Jews. Only in John s gospel do we learn that he commanded it be written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Why? These were the languages of the empire. These were the languages of the world. And I think this is key, especially today on World Communion Sunday. What this says is that the man on the cross is not just the Jew s king. He s the world s king. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And at the very moment when the Roman Empire and the religious leaders think they have sent Jesus to the depths he is actually being enthroned for the whole world. What kind of king in his first royal act decides to lay down his life for treacherous people and to save them? This kind of king. What wondrous love is this selfless sacrificial love? 9

10 Oh dear friends, don t ever become calloused to the cross. Just because it hangs around the neck of athletes and we see it perched atop so many buildings don t forget the reality of that treacherous day, when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, willingly set aside all the power in the universe and allowed his own creation to hang him on a cross. The One, who should have been clothed in the finest garments, was stripped and beaten. The One, who deserved the finest crown with the most precious jewels, instead was adorned with a crown of thorns that sank into his flesh. And he did it not because he had to he had the power to stop it all but he did it because he wanted to for you. He knew the King we needed was also a sacrificial Passover lamb. So today, on World Communion Sunday we choose to celebrate and offer ourselves again completely to the King who reigns over all not through an iron fist like the Roman empire, but who conquered through ultimate love and sacrifice. What would it be appropriate for us to offer the one who died that we might live? What could we possibly give out of gratitude for that sacrifice? The only thing worthy of that gift the only thing we can give in return is everything every bit of us every bit of our lives and possessions. So today, look up at your King hanging on the cross, the one true King in all the earth, and decide again to give him all of yourself out of thanksgiving because he gave all of himself to you. [INTRODUCE COMMUNION.] 10