Sermon Transcript The Crucifixion of Christ John 19:16-30 Part Two The recognition of Jesus as being God incarnate is fundamental to our Christian faith. And any religion that denies this biblical fact is a false religion. Fortunately for us the Apostle John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit has left us a gospel record that was written in order to convince us of this very fact, that Jesus was and is the Son of God. What does John 20:30-31 tell us? Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; (31) but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name. So why did John choose to record what he chose to record in his gospel? He chose to record what he chose to record in his gospel in order that his readers and his future readers might come to believe, through what he had written, that Jesus was, in fact, the Christ, the Son of the living God, and believing that they might have life in His name. This is why John chose to record what he chose to record. John presents in some form or fashion on every page of his gospel the deity of Christ. No matter how debasing, or degrading, or humiliating, or shameful an event involving Christ might have been, John was able to see the deity of Christ within that event and then recorded it as he saw it. And hopefully this morning as we continue to consider John s record of Christ s crucifixion in John 19:16-30 we will be given the eyes to see what John himself saw. Hopefully as we consider John s record of Christ s crucifixion we will be able to see the deity of Christ even as John himself was able to see the deity of Christ. How was the deity of Christ, in John s account of Christ s crucifixion, highlighted? Christ s deity was highlighted in a number of different ways.
And what have we discovered so far in our study of John s account of Christ s crucifixion? We have discovered that the deity of Christ was highlighted by fulfilled prophecy (John 19:16-18, 23-24). Let me read for you John 19:16-18 and then let me read for you John 19:23-24. And what do these verses say? So he [Pilate)] then handed Him (Jesus) over to them (his soldiers) to be crucified. (17) They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha [or if it were translated into Latin, Calvaria]. (18) There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between. And then going down to verses 23-24 it says, Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. (24) So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be ; this was to fulfill the Scripture: They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots. So based on John s record of Christ s crucifixion, what were the three Old Testament verbal prophecies that were fulfilled and therefore designed to help us to see the deity of Christ? The first Old Testament prophecy was Psalm 22:16, which prophesied that the coming Messiah would have His hands and feet pierced, which of course took place when Christ, according to our text, was crucified in John 19:18. The second Old Testament prophecy was Isaiah 53:12, which prophesied that the coming Messiah in His death would be numbered with transgressors, which of course took place when Christ, according to our text, was crucified with criminals, one on His left and one on His right also in John 19:18. The third Old Testament prophecy was Psalm 22:18, which prophesied that at the time of His death that His clothes would be divided by the casting of lots, which of course, in our text, was very clearly described in John 19:23-24. These are only three of the hundreds of verbal prophecies found in the Old Testament that were fulfilled in their entirety in Jesus thus confirming with certainty that Jesus was and is the promised Messiah of Israel, and thus by inference, based on Psalm 2:7 as well as 2 Chronicles 17:11-14, the very
Son of God or deity. So how was the deity of Christ in John s record of Christ s crucifixion highlighted? It was initially highlighted, first of all, by fulfilled prophecy. But we are not done. This morning we will see another way that John highlighted the deity of Christ in his account of Christ s crucifixion. Again my hope for this message is that as we consider John s account of Christ s crucifixion and the ways that he chose to highlight the deity of Christ that it might resonate with us; thus on the one hand reaffirming our faith and on the other hand leading us to once again commit ourselves to live for Him who died for us. So, what was the second way that John chose to highlight for us the deity of Christ in his account of Christ s crucifixion? The deity of Christ was highlighted by an inscription Pilate placed on Christ s cross (John 19:19-22). Let me now read these verses for you. Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. (20) Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. (21) So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, Do not write, The King of the Jews ; but that He said, I am King of the Jews. (22) Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. Just as fulfilled prophecy confirms for us that Jesus was, in fact, the promised Messiah of Israel and thus truly the Son of the living God, so does the inscription that Pilate placed on the cross of Christ. So now let us take a closer look at these verses and see if this is not so. Let us begin by taking a closer look at verse 19. And how does it begin? It begins with these words: Pilate also [in other words, in addition to having Christ crucified] wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. In order to appreciate what is taking place here we need to understand that this practice of writing an inscription upon a plaque and then placing that plaque on the cross of a condemned person was not at all unusual. In fact, it was a common practice. So what was the purpose of it? The purpose of writing an inscription on a plaque and then attaching the plaque to the cross of a condemned person was to publicize their crime.
Did the men who were crucified with Christ, according to John 19:19, have plaques attached to their crosses with inscriptions that detailed their crimes? Probably! But what was Pilate, who believed Jesus to be innocent, going to write on the plaque that would be attached to the cross of Christ? Was he going to write innocent since that is exactly what he believed to be true? Pilate certainly was not going to do that. Writing such a thing would have been extremely problematic. So, what exactly did Pilate do? Pilate, believing Christ to be innocent, simply chose to write an inscription that was rather vague in terms of any criminality but very pointed in terms of his disdain for the Jews. That is what Pilate chose to do. Let us now continue to read John 19:19 and see if this is not so. Pilate also [in other words, in addition to having Christ crucified] wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. Clearly I believe that when we read this statement by Pilate we can see that Pilate willfully chose to be rather vague concerning any criminality on the part of Christ. In other words, we could perhaps read into this inscription that Christ was, in fact, charged with the crime of sedition since Pilate had stated on the plaque, whose purpose was to publicize the crime, that Jesus was the king of the Jews, but certainly it was not in any way clearly stated. But in sharp contrast to the vagueness of this inscription in terms of any criminality, Pilate s disdain for the Jews was clearly front and center. In what way was his disdain for the Jews clearly displayed? Pilate s disdain for the Jews was clearly displayed in the inscription when Pilate identified Christ, the pathetic figure he was now crucifying, to be their king. In other words, if Christ, this poor, pathetic, beaten down individual that Pilate was now crucifying as a so-called criminal, was the Jewish king, then what does that make the Jews? Doesn t that make them even more pathetic as a people and as a so-called nation since the one that Pilate was now crucifying as a so-called criminal, according to Pilate s inscription, was their king? But this was not the only way that Pilate clearly displayed a
disdain for the Jews in the inscription that he had written and placed on Christ s cross. Pilate s disdain for the Jews was also clearly displayed in the inscription when Pilate chose to publish the fact that this Jewish king was a Nazarene (John 1:43-46). What did the inscription that Pilate had written and placed on Christ s cross say? It said this, Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews. Pilate could have written, in clearly identifying the person that he was crucifying, the words, Jesus, the son of Joseph, the King of the Jews. But he didn t choose to write those words, did he? He rather chose to write, Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews. Nazareth was an insignificant Galilean village whose inhabitants were looked down upon with scorn and contempt by the sophisticated Judeans. When Philip excitedly reported to Nathanael, We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph in John 1:45, Nathanael responded, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? The idea that a Jewish man from such a town, especially one dying a criminal s death on a cross being publicly displayed as the king of the Jews, clearly would have been an affront to those Jews were advocating His crucifixion. But this was not the only way that Pilate clearly displayed a disdain for the Jews. Not only did Pilate declare Jesus, this pathetic so-called crucified criminal, to be their king from of all places the small insignificant and despised town of Nazareth, but he also did so in the most public way possible. What do I mean? Pilate s disdain for the Jews was clearly displayed when he publicly posted his inscription in multiple languages (John 19:20). Let us now read John 19:20. Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. What was the significance of this? Pilate writing his inscription in multiple languages in a place where many people would see it made it certain that the inscription would not only be seen but also understood. Pilate had, in effect, placed on public display an
inscription for the world. Pilate was not in any way trying to minimize the impact of what he had written. He was attempting to maximize it. So let me ask you this question. How do you think the Jews are going to respond to what Pilate had written? Obviously they are not going to appreciate it. And we see this in John 19:21. So now let us read this verse. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, Do not write, The King of the Jews ; but that He said, I am King of the Jews. Grammatically it would appear that that the chief priests of the Jews put on a full court press on Pilate seeking to get him to change what he had written. In other words, over and over again they continued to make this request. And how did Pilate respond to what they were repeatedly requesting? Let us now read John 19:22. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. Though the Jews protested what Pilate had written, Pilate obstinately refused to change any of his wording (John 19:21-22). So now let me ask you this question. Why did Pilate not reword his statement to reflect what the Jews requested? Was it truly because he believed that Jesus was, in fact, the king of the Jews or because he wanted to continue to express disdain for the Jews in general and the Jewish leadership in particular? The answer is simple. It was all about disdain! Pilate never seriously considered that Jesus could be a king of any sort in the traditional sense of the word. This was made clear to us in Pilate s initial exchange with Christ in John 18:33-38). Even though Pilate never did consider Jesus to be a king in the traditional sense, he repeatedly referred to Jesus as such when addressing the Jews in order to provoke them (John 18:39, 19:14-15). Here again is an example of God using sinful men to accomplish His sovereign purposes. Neither Pilate nor the Jewish leaders believed that Jesus was the king of the Jews. Yet the mutual disdain between them ensured that Pilate would write an inscription proclaiming that Jesus was Israel s king. And this of course was and is the truth. God had used the sinfulness of man to display in the inscription above Christ s head for all to see and to understand the truth, which was what: That Jesus was, in fact, the Christ, the Son of the living God.
So, what about us in our own lives? Can we have this same confidence that God can and will use the sinful acts of men to accomplish His purposes in our lives. Of course we can! What does Romans 8:28 tell us? It tells us, God causes all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Praise God! And this is of course what we see happening here in our text when Pilate chose to write what he chose to write and then to place it on Christ s cross. So now let me ask this question. As the Apostle John, under the leading of the Holy Spirit, reflected on this inscription that he himself saw attached to Christ s cross, what did he see? There is no doubt in my mind what he saw. John saw a king, the king of the Jews reigning from His cross, but not just the king of the Jews, but the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, God incarnate. This is what he saw. And this is what I believe led John, under the inspiration of the Spirit, to include this account in his Gospel so that we might like himself come to believe that Jesus, in fact, is the Christ, the Son of the living God or God incarnate, and thus being led to believe this that we might go on to commit ourselves to live a life pleasing to Him, which leads us to our prayer. May we by God s grace, in light of the inscription attached to the cross of Christ, reaffirm our faith and our commitment to live for Him who died for us.