At the Cross! At the Cross! John 19:16-37

At the Cross! At the Cross! John 19:16-37 Before Reading the passage: We as Christians sing: At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled away - It was there by faith, I received my sight, And now I am happy all the day. We sing: I will glory in the cross. A cross hung around your neck or penned to your lapel tells the world of your faith...and wearing it brings a degree of respect. -But take that tiny piece of jewelry back in time 2,000 years and try wearing it around your neck or on your robe, and people would give you suspicious looks, thinking you were some kind of lunatic. -For back then, the cross was not a symbol of faith, but of failure; not of morality, but of lawlessness; not of respect but of unspeakable shame. -It would be like a piece of jewelry designed today in the shape of a hangsman noose or an electric chair and hung around our neck. -Then, the cross was not polished and esteemed. It was made of rough-cut timbers and iron spikes. It was an instrument of torture for criminals deserving capital punishment to be hung upon, usually on Golgotha the place of the skull which faced away from the city near a garbage dump! But Jesus' death upon that cross for our sins transformed the cross from an instrument of shame and curse to one of honor. -We are saved because of the blood of Jesus shed upon that cross. -Now we sing: I will glory in the cross! -We could not be saved were it not for the suffering of Christ upon that cross. Christians love to sing of the cross: On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suffering and shame And I love that old cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. O that old rugged cross, so despised by the world, has a wonderful attraction for me; For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above, to bear it to dark Calvary. In the old rugged cross, stained with the blood so divine, A wondrous beauty I see, For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died, To pardon and sanctify me. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, Its shame and reproach gladly bear. Then He'll call me someday to my home far away, where His glory forever I'll share. 302

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down I will cling to the old rugged cross, And exchange it someday for a crown. For dearer than all that the world can impart was the message that came to my heart How that Jesus alone for my sin did atone, And Calvary covered it all. The stripes that He bore and the thorns that he wore, Told His mercy and love evermore And my heart bowed in shame as I called on His name, And Calvary covers it all. How blessed the thought, that my soul by Him bought, shall be His in the glory on high Where with gladness and song I'll be one of the throne, And Calvary covers it all. Calvary covers it all, my past with its sin and stain; my guilt and despair Jesus took on Him there, And Calvary covers it all. Man of sorrows! What a name, for the Son of God who came, Ruined sinners to reclaim! Hallelujah, What a Savior! Lifted up was He to die, It is finished! was his cry. Now in heaven exalted high; Hallelujah, What a Savior! When He comes, our glorious King, All the ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song will sing. Hallelujah, What a Savior! Read the passage: John 19:16-18 Pilate has examined Jesus and three times he has said to the people, I find no fault in Him. And, yet, he hands Him over to be crucified! I. The Way to the Cross -Jesus has already been on His feet for nine hours during the six trials. During that time He has been manhandled, spat upon, slapped, flogged, dragged from place to place, with nothing to eat or drink and no rest. His entire body is bruised and bleeding. His eyes are swollen almost shut because he has been hit with fist; His sight comes only through slits in His eyes. His lips have burst open from the blows; his nose is bleeding. He is weakened because of the lose of blood. -Three men are going to be crucified together. Those who were crucified must carry their own cross-bar up the hill to the place of the skull. Each of the three men had four soldiers who acted as executioners who walked with them up the Via Dolorosa The way of sorrows and suffering. -They always took the longest route to Golgotha. It would give the people more time and 303

opportunity to hurl insults and cursings at those who were about to be put to death. It would also weaken them so it would take much of the fight out of them when they were about to be nailed to the cross. -A 12 by 24 inch placard declaring the crime was either placed around the criminal s neck or carried by one of the four soldiers who walked in front of the man. Before they raised the cross, the placard was nailed to the top of the cross. -The Via Dolorosa was through narrow streets with cobblestones which would often cause them to stumble under the crossbeam. One of the times Jesus stumbled He could not get up. He was yelled at and kicked and whipped again on His already scourged back. Still He could not get up. A. Simon of Cyrene Matt. 27:32 -Simon of Cyrene, who lived some 800 miles from Jerusalem, was there to worship, for it was passover week. He just happened to see and hear what was going on and had just gone to the street to watch. -When Simon was yanked out of the crowd and told to help Jesus carry the cross-bar, it no doubt angered and humiliated him. He resented having to carry this bloody man's burden. It did him little good to be angry at the soldiers; to resist would mean death, so he turned his anger toward the prisoner. -I wonder if Jesus talked to him. I'm sorry to trouble you like this. Thank you for helping me. I wonder if that crossbar, instead of being a burden, became a privilege. He was doing something of supreme worth. Jesus found the cross a bit easier because of him. -I wonder what it would have been like to be in Simon's shoes: To endure the jeers and cursing To share our Lord's humiliation of rejection To feel the sticky warmth of His blood from the cross. To see the executioner who stood waiting impatiently with hammer in hand To have the burden of the cross lifted and hear the soldier say, This is His cross. You are free to go. -I wonder if Jesus thanked him again for helping Him. B. The women weeping and wailing Luke 23:28-31 -Luke tells us that some women began to weep and wail for Jesus as He walked up the hill. Jesus spoke to them: Do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves...and you children. These were probably not women who were disciples of our Lord, but professional mourners. But in the midst of all that was going on, the calmest mind and heart in the crowd that day belonged to Jesus. C. At the place of crucifixions -When they finally arrived at the place of execution it was about 9:00 a.m. One of the first things they do when He gets there is to strip Him naked. All of His dignity and modesty and the purity of Jesus' physical person was stripped away, exposed, naked to die in the searing, scorching heat groaning in agony virtually eye-level with those who pass by, for His feet are only 2 to 8 inches above the ground. -Have you ever had to disrobe so you could be examined by the probing, prying eyes of others 304

-doctors, nurses, X-ray technicians? He was stripped of everything; yet, He still found so much to give: To His executioners, He gave forgiveness...to a thief, He gave paradise...to His mother, He gave a son. -They laid the crossbeam behind Jesus, quickly pulled Him backward. The beam was fitted under the back of His neck and, on each side, soldiers quickly knelt inside his elbows. Jesus gave no resistance. -With his right hand the executioner probed the wrist of Jesus to find the little hollow spot. When he found it, he took one of the square-cut iron nails, held it against the spot, raised the hammer over the nail head and brought it down with great force. -Two soldiers grabbed each side of the crossbeam and lifted. As they pulled up, they drapped Jesus by the wrist. Lifting Jesus off the ground, they put the crossbeam in its prepared place at the top of the pole. Then they nailed His feet to the cross. -With Him stretched out, hanging in place, cheers and mocking rise up from the religious leaders. D. Temptations from Satan Luke 4:13 -In Luke 4:13, Satan tempted Jesus to avoid the cross and bow down and worship him When Jesus was at His weakest - after 40 days without food. Then we are told that Satan left him for a more Opportune time. He tempted Jesus all through His ministry, but never more than when He was on the cross. The word opportune time speaks of a fruit that is heavy on the branches...a time ripe for picking. Satan thought, If Jesus is ever going to be ripe for picking, its now. -He had suffered the loss of sleep, blood, friends. He had never been more tired, weak and alone. He has watched Jesus beaten, mocked never has Jesus been more in his reach. He uses the religious leaders first - Come down from the cross. Then he uses the thieves - Save yourself And us. But Jesus knows He can choose one or the other. He can save Himself...or, He can save us...but He can't do both. E. The Soldiers at the foot of the cross John 19:23-24 -What a picture of the indifference of the world. While Jesus is paying for the sins of man, the soldiers are only interested in His undergarment! II. The Witness at the Cross John 19:19-22 -Isn't it just like God! He never leaves himself without a witness! He broadcast the gospel from the top of the cross And with a most simple and concise message: Jesus (Jehovah saves) speaks of His Saviorhood King of the Jews speaks of His Sovereignty -Jehovah was dying on the cross to save men. In v.21, the Jews wanted Pilate to add something to it. -Did God use the sign? Luke 23:38-43 III. The Words at the Cross 305

Seven words fall from his lips. Here they are in the order we think He spoke them: A. The word of Yearning Luke 23:34 Father, forgive them 1. Jesus desires to forgive more than He desires to live! 2. The word forgive means to remove...to set out of the way. Jesus is saying, Father, what they are doing to Me...set that out of the way. Don't let what they are doing to Me keep You from forgiving their sin. 3. He doesn't want one sin to be under judgment...he wants to forgive it. B. The word of turning Luke 23:42 Today... -Here is a man who is hanging at the turning point of his life and Jesus say, Today... -What happened to change his mind about Jesus? His conduct, His prayer for forgiveness, The sign on top of the cross. C. The word of churning John 19:26 Behold, your Mother -Mary stares at the cross through blurred, tear filled eyes. She has tender memories of her son: His birth in a cold, dark stable; the first time His tiny head took her finger; the times she sung Him to sleep. She looks back at the cross. He is naked, thirsty, bloody. What did he do to deserve this? -It is more than a mother can take. She can't stand to look and she can't stand to look away. -And there is John Standing between Mary, the mother of Jesus, and his own mother. John has his arm around Mary to comfort her. Mary prays that the Heavenly Father would take her Son And His quickly so He won't have to suffer more. -Then Jesus speaks. D. The word of spurning Matt 27:46 My God...Why What's happening to Him? God is letting the sin debt be paid by His Son!! E. A word of burning John 19:28 I thirst F. A word of discerning John 19:30 It is finished The task is fully done...the payment is fully made. G.A word of learning Luke 23:46 Into Thy hands He bowed His head and gave up the ghost...but dying men raise their head to catch that last breath. Not Jesus. He bows His head. IV. The Wealth (Riches) of the Cross John 19:31-34 -Matthew tells us of the centurion who was at the cross in the last minutes of our Lord's suffering on the cross. The centurion surveys the three crosses to make sure the job is done right...that nails are still holding and all is as it should be. He stops and reads again the plaque at the top of our Lord's cross. He has watched many men die on a cross, but none like this man! He is amazed at how Jesus reacts to His pain. For almost six hours Jesus has been on the cross...his legs cramping 306

His back throbbing, tendons torn from His shoulders. -Hanging on a cross one can draw breath in but he cannot exhale without pushing up with his feet that are nailed to the cross. For almost six hours Jesus has pushed up, breathed, and released, pushed up, breathed and released, pushed up, breathed and released. It was the only way He could remain alive. Why doesn't He react like the others cursing, screaming, lashing out. -Suddenly, darkness begins to settle in. It is not an eclipse or a dust storm. It is more like an enveloping gloom. The air grows cold, people are scared. Many think it's a bad omen. Some huddle together, others run! For three hours the sun refuses to shine! -The sin of the world is beginning to settle on the shoulders of our Savior. If He is to pay the penalty for our sin, He must bear all its consequences, including the most severe consequence the abandonment of His Father. Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus drinks the bitter dregs of the cup! The Father pours out His wrath for sin upon His Son as His Son becomes sin for us. The darkness veils what the Father allows his Son to suffer in those moments. -After drinking that bitter cup, His fever worsened; His eyes burn; His throat is parched; His tongue is thickened and is pasted to the roof of His mouth He cries, I thirst...then It is finished...then Into your hands I commend my spirit. -While the centurion reads the sign one more time, the ground shutters beneath his feet, the earth groans, rocks break, soldiers are thrown to the ground, the three crosses sway in their stone sockets, stone-sealed tombs are shaken loose and the dead are shaken to life. The curtain in the temple is torn from top to bottom. -In His three years of public ministry, Jesus has preached from many pulpits...from a synagogue, the side of a mountain, the dinner table, a boat...the cross would be His last pulpit; the crucifixion, His last sermon before His death. -In a few hours the Passover would begin...not wanting to offend the Jews and desecrate their holy day with men on the cross, he gives the order, Break their legs! But when they come to Jesus, He is already dead, so the soldier puts the spear between the fifth and sixth rib and punctures the heart of Jesus and blood and water come out. -Soon the Jews would celebrate Passover. They would remember the Exodus, especially the last plague when the death angel came for the firstborn son. They would remember how the lamb was slain and the blood put on the door post as a sign of the Passover. That day the Lamb slain was Jesus. The doorpost where the blood was smeared was the cross. But when the death angel came, it didn't spare the firstborn Son. -That was the arrangement. His life was not passed over so that yours and mine might be. The timbers of the cross became our doorway to heaven. He took what we deserved!! On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, The emblem of suffering and shame;...