Love Displayed, Arms Outstretched | John 19:16-37

INTRODUCTION

Peace be to you!

Friends, we have come to the day when the universal church meditate on the cross of Jesus. We read the account of the cross in the 4 Gospels. Today we are going to read from the account of John chapter 19 with a sermon entitled: Love displayed, arms outstretched.

John 19:16-37

¹⁶Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion of Jesus

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

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

²³When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

“They divided my clothes among them

and cast lots for my garment.”

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” ²⁷and to the disciple, “Here is your mother. ”From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus

²⁸Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

We think of Cross as a religious symbol, but back in the 1^st century, the cross was anything but a religious symbol. In fact, it was about the most awful thing that anyone in Jesus’ time could have imagined. They speculate that the ancient Persians invented crucifixion but it is no doubt that the Romans brought it to perfection. The cross was one of the worst ways to die, it was the way Rome terrorized people into acquiescence.

The word, excruciating – means the worst kind of pain come from Latin ex-cruciatus (from the cross). The first 8 or 9 centuries of the churches’ life, they never depicted Jesus on the cross because it was too terrible and it was still too fresh in their cultural imagination.

The subjected would be stripped naked. They were made to carry the cross beam. The upright beam was probably there in place but the criminal had to carry the cross beam. They would crucify the victim in a public place, right near the city walls, so that people coming and going out would see this. The subject was then fixed to it either with ropes or in Jesus’ case with nails; giant Roman nails they would use. They were then left to die. The process of death was terrible because it was a long process of slowly bleeding to death and asphyxiation. It would take hours and hours and in some cases days for the victim to die. Jesus’ crucifixion began around the third hour (9 am) and darkness came over the land in the sixth hour (12 noon). Jesus died around the ninth hour (3 pm). Jesus was there on the cross for 6 hours and he died himself.

Jesus’ Preparation for the Cross

John 12

Mary anoints Jesus for his burial at Bethany.

Jesus enters Jerusalem the next day. The triumphal entry. Jesus, knowing that the hour had come for him (Son of Man) to be glorified comes to Jerusalem during the Passover.

John 13

He has the Passover meal with his disciples.

Jesus washes his disciple’s feet.

Satan enters Judas and prompts him to betray Jesus. Judas then goes out in the night.

Jesus predicts his betrayal and Peter’s denial.

John 14-17

The Upper Room discourses.

Culminates in Jesus’ prayer to the Father.

John 18-19

Jesus is arrested, tried, crucified, and the death of Jesus.

Jesus is arrested; 18:1-11

Jesus Tried; 18:12-19

Four Trials of Jesus:

1^st Trial: The court of Annas; John 18:12-23. Jesus first was tired by the former High Priest, Annas. He was the father-in-law of the current high priest.

2^nd Trail: Before Caiaphas; John 18:24-27. He was the High Priest that year.

3^rd Trial: Before Pilate; John 18:28-19:16. There are 7 rounds of trials before Pilate. Are you the king of the Jews?

4^th Trial: Before Herod. Mentioned only in Luke 23:6-12. Herod was the ruler of Galilee, Jesus’ hometown. Herod was in Jerusalem for the Passover.

2 trials before Jewish authorities and 2 trials before Roman authorities.

The charge for all these courts varies.

During the trial no one comes forward to speak in Jesus’ defense – not even his disciples. Jesus’ enemies have a free reign.

Jesus did not receive a fair trial. (1:10-11; the world did not know or accept Jesus).

He was sentenced to be crucified. From a human perspective Jesus seems to be the loser and his opponents’ clear winners. But from a divine perspective, things are going according to plan and Jesus is in full control. We are invited to view our situation from above. How often do we look at our circumstances from above? Our situations look very different in God’s view thank we look at them. Faith is when we view things from a divine perspective.

Jesus Crucified; John 19:17-37 – Passive Jesus

Jesus’ garments and mother; John 19:23-27

Jesus dies; John 19:28-30

Jesus removed from the cross; John 19:31-37

Jesus Buried; 19:38-42

John 18-19 – Active Jesus

Jesus asks the soldiers who came to arrest him” What is it you want.

John 18:4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” (6:64)

Obeys the Father; 18:11; 4:34

Answers his accusers; 18:20, 34; 19:11

Provides for his mother; 19:26-27

Seven sayings on the Cross.

• Father, Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing; Luke 23:34.
• Today you’ll be with me in paradise; Luke 23:43.
• Dear woman, here is your son; John 19:26.
• “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?;” Matthew 27:46.
• “I’m thirsty;” John 19:28.
• “It is finished;” John 19:30 .
• “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit;” Luke 23:46.

Passion of Jesus is a fulfilment of the Word of God

Passion is fulfilment of Jesus’s words:

Passion is the fulfillment of the OT

Jesus as King

John 1:49

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

John 6:14-15

¹⁴After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” ¹⁵Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Power of the King

John 18:6-6

⁴Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

⁵“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

John 18:33

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

John 18:36-37

³⁶Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

John 19:2-3

²The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.

John 19:19-22

¹⁹Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”

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

Pontius Pilate is the first evangelist. Though he meant it to be a joke, he put it on the cross of Jesus and he puts it in 3 languages (Hebrew, Greek, & Latin) so that no one would miss it.

INRI – “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum” in his Latin

Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

Pilate was declaring to all the world, Jesus in fact is the King. Not Ceasar, not the devil, not sin, not death, not evil but Jesus is the Lord, Jesus is the King.

Judas

John 6:70-71; 13:18; 17:12; 18:3

People who are near the means of grace are not necessarily impacted by the ends of grace.

Judas hung out with Jesus.

He was with him the entire time of his ministry.

He saw the miracles that he did.

Somehow his heart was not profoundly changed by it.

He betrays Jesus to the ruling authorities.

Somewhere along the line Judas decided Jesus was not really the person he was looking for. He betrayed because Jesus was not the kind of political Messiah he wanted.

Unfruitful branches in John 15.

Peter

John 18:17-27; 20:2-10; 20:17; 21:15-17; 21:21-22

He confidently boasted that he could follow Jesus. He could go wherever with him.

He said he would follow Jesus to the death. He was willing to die for Jesus.

When Jesus was arrested, Peter and the other disciples are following Jesus in to the high priest’s courtyard; 18:15. The same word for courtyard is used as sheepfold in Ch. 10:1, 16. Jesus is the gate and the beloved disciple can come and go easily through the courtyard and stay close to Jesus, whereas Peter can only remain at the gate and can only get in with the help of the beloved disciple. Peter is not able to follow Jesus closely.

Jesus promptly said before the rooster crows he will deny him 3 times.

Peter does that very thing. Denies the Lord 3 times.

First, he is unable to follow Jesus closely as the beloved disciple.

When the heat is on, he becomes a defector, non-disciple.

By denying the master he is also denying his own discipleship.

He is the fruitful branch from John 15 who needs some pruning from the father, the gardener so that it will bring forth some fruit.

Pontius Pilate

Pilate was extolled by the early church, because the church mistakenly understood that it was the Jews that crucified Jesus.

Initially, he was sympathetic to Jesus yet diplomatic to the Jews. Later he become cruel and mocks the Jews by mocking Jesus. Pilate claimed that he passed the buck onto the Jews and they wanted Jesus dead, so he went along them. But it was his call. Pilate was the one who had ultimate authority of capital punishment in the province. The text says even though he did not come to the conclusion that Jesus had not done anything wrong to deserve death, nevertheless he would want to get rid for Jesus to further his interests as Jews made his life easier and avoided a complaint against him to Caesar.

• Pilate scorns the Jews. How do you feel about the people of Jesus?
• Pilate had him crucified for political gain. Are your core values negotiable?
• Pilate had no strong opinion in spite of knowing the truth. What are your non-negotiable core values?

He asks the right question to Jesus – what is the truth? He did not brother to take into consideration what Jesus said about truth. He was worried about his own post, being successful, being not in any trouble with the Jews and his boss in Rome.

He is a complex character who does not clearly take sides.

He is a double-minded man. He goes in and out of the palace shows his mind (18:33).

He is complicit (wrong) in the crucifixion of Jesus. It is by his authority he crucifies an innocent man, Jesus who is the Saviour of the world. When we look at Pilate, we see that we are sometimes tempted to sell our souls/faith for something that will give us benefit for a very short period of time. We need to make sure that we have core values that are not negotiable.

What Jesus did what was so unparallel about his act of self-sacrifice on the cross was that he laid down his life willingly, knowingly for those who are guilty of sin.

Philippians 2:8

And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

by becoming obedient to death— (lower voice, pause)

even death on a cross!

They knew it that it was the worst way to die. It was so terrible that the Romans reserved it only for the their greatest enemies or for people at the lowest end of the social spectrum. That is what the cross meant in Jesus’ time. That is why people fled from it. That is why the apostles fled. They were horrified by the prospect of the cross.

Here is the point: Jesus allowed all of that awful negativity to overwhelm him.

Now think of not just the physical suffering:

We hear in this story of institutional corruption.

We hear about cruelty.

We hear about hatred.

We hear about violence.

We hear about betrayal and denial.

We see our sin in his wounds.

Jesus allowed all of that to overwhelm him, but then on the third day this crucified Christ returned alive to his disciples. Listen, to those who had betrayed him, had denied him and had run from him at the moment of truth, Jesus first showed them his wounds. Jesus shows us his wounds. Our violence, our cruelty, our hatred our indifference were meant to see in the suffering of Jesus our own sin. Peter said, The author of life came and we killed him.” Here we are 2000 years after Jesus, yes in looking at the cross we do see our own sin, our own resistance to him.

As we look at the cross of Jesus and we see in it our sin, that is what it is meant to be. But then we hold up this cross to the world as a kind of taunt. It frightened everybody in the 1st Century. But Christians now for 2000 years have been holding it up as a sort of taught to the powers, you are not more powerful than God’s love.

Jesus won a great victory on the cross.

Colossians – Jesus took the powers and principalities (sin, death, power of the devil) on a triumphant journey.

Colossians 2:13-15

¹³When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, ¹⁴having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

When a Roman general would conquer an army, he would bring the leaders of the opposition army back to Rome and he would parade them through the streets and say, “Look I won.” Paul uses that very same verse. But Jesus parades not earthly rulers but he parades sin, death, evil and the devil showing his lordship over them.

There is power in the cross:

It reveals our sin.

But reveals even more the power and authority of God.

Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Romans 5:6-8

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

• The Cross is God’s love for us; Love Displayed, Arms Outstretched
• The Cross Acquires Universal Significance, as charges were written in 3 major world languages. This fits Jesus as the Saviour of the world.
• The Cross is not a symbol of defeat, shame of weakness. Cross is the symbol of victory where the Saviour did the victory cy, “It is Finished!”
• The Cross signifies God’s act of Liberation; Like Passover; liberation from sin, moral corruption, evil, and the Devil

Hebrews 10

⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

¹¹ Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹²But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, ¹³and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. ¹⁴For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

¹⁹Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

²⁶If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 

³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

³⁶ You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.

LIFE APPLICATION

1. Stand firm in your convictions, even when the pressure to compromise is intense.

Pilate’s Compromise. Am I willing to uphold truth when it costs me comfort or approval?

2. Proximity to spiritual things means little without personal surrender to Christ.

Judas: People who are near the means of grace are not necessarily impacted by the ends of grace. Am I merely near the things of God or truly yielded to Him?

3. Even in failure, God’s pruning is a process toward greater fruitfulness.

Peter’s Denial and Pruning. How is God using my weaknesses to grow me into deeper maturity?

4. Christ’s Victory Is Our Assurance

Christ’s triumph over sin and death assures us of victory in every spiritual battle. Do I live as someone who believes Jesus has already won the battle?

5. We Access to God Through His Blood

Because of the cross, we can approach God with confidence and intimacy. Am I boldly drawing near to God or hesitating out of fear or shame?

6. Hold Firm to Hope

In times of darkness, cling to hope grounded in the resurrection of Christ. What is threatening my hope today, and how can I return to the promises of God? Don’t Throw Away Your Confidence. Persevere in God’s Will