Classic Christianity – Book of John Part 71 (09-11-19)
Transcript
After the resurrection, we are to be pitied of all people. Without resurrection, we would have nothing to celebrate. The resurrection is the focal point of the Christian life. Everyone saw Jesus die on a cross, but the denial of his resurrection is what divides human history.
Starting with his crucifixion, which was not on Friday, but Thursday, we will pick up there. Without the death, the resurrection has no meaning. The Jews call it the preparation day. How appropriate. The cross is the preparation day. It is what God had to do to prepare us for salvation. The cross in not salvation. You are not saved by the death of Christ. You are saved by the life of Christ. But you could not have been saved by the life of Christ apart from the cross. The cross was the preparation day where God prepared you and me for the salvation of life to the dead.
Turn now to John 19, where we will look more closely at the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to pick up where Pilate handed Jesus over to be crucified so the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
John 19:16-17
16 Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.
17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha).
There is a place in Israel today called Golgotha, which in Aramaic, means a place of the skull. At that place, he carried his own cross, after being beaten half to death. He was beaten like no man. He was crucified, tortured, and dragged from one place to another with false trials. On the day he went to the cross, he was exhausted. There he was crucified.
John 19:18
18 There they crucified him, and with him two others – one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
There he was hung on a cross, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. There the Son of God hung, suspended in the air.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
John 19:19-24
19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews. 20 Many 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. 21 The 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.”22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 When 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.”[Psalm 22:18]So this is what the soldiers did.
The death, burial and resurrection was not an accident. It was in the foreknowledge of God from the beginning of the world. God looked down on his creation that had been destroyed by the act of Satan, and brought us into a condition of spiritual death. So God looks down and says, “I want to save my people from a condition of death”. It is not how bad you are. It is how dead you are. No man will go to hell because of his sins. The sins of the world have been placed on Christ Jesus at this cross.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
All sins were taken away from the eyes of God, back to Adam and forward to eternity. We have had enough of this teaching, of people pointing their boney fingers saying, “If you do not stop this sinning, you will go to hell”. That is a lie. No man will go to hell because of their sins. There is only one sin attributable to man. Jesus told us what that sin is.
John 16:9 (TLB)
9 The world’s sin is unbelief in me
It is a denial of what God did to come to this earth to take away the sins of the entire world, that you and I could be saved by his resurrected life. It was not an accident. It was the plan of God.
John 19:25-27
25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” 27 and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
This was said to the apostle John. History reveals that the apostle John took Mary into his own home and took care of his mother. Even as Jesus was dying on a cross, suffering beyond means, he was looking out for his mother.
John 19:28-30
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A 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. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Luke 23:46
46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Jesus cried out a term which means, “paid in full”. When you go to Israel and buy something, and pay for it, they will stamp the word, “tetellestai”, which means “paid in full”. What did God mean when he said, “it is finished“. He meant “it is finished”. There is no more sacrifice for sins. He did not forget one.
2 Corinthians 5:21
21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
He commited his Spirit to His Father. He cried out before dying on a cross, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
John 19:31
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath.
What is a special Sabbath? A Sabbath different than a regular Sabbath. The real Sabbath began on Friday evening and went to Saturday evening. This was a special Sabbath. That is why I say his crucifixion was on Thursday, and not on Friday.
John 19:31-32
31 Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
At a crucifixion, your legs were crossed and nailed to the bottom of the cross. Your arms were nailed to the cross. You were hung gasping for air. The only way you can get air is to lift yourself up with your legs. So to ensure death, a soldier would come by and break your legs so you cannot lift yourself up. You would literally suffocate to death. But when they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs for he was already dead. This was to fulfill prophecy that said none of his legs would be broken.
John 19:34-37
34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,”[Exodus 12:46; Num. 9:12; Psalm 34:20] 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”[Zech. 12:10]
It was love not spikes that held Jesus to the cross. We know what Jesus did. Do you know what that means to you? We look at a historical event. We know that Abraham Lincoln was killed in Ford’s theater. I know that is true according to the history books. But that means nothing to me, personally. Knowing that fact has not changed my life. Jesus died on a cross to take away the sins of the world. That is a historical fact. That means everything to me. But until I internalize that, then that is nothing more than an acknowledgment of a historical fact that happened over 2000 years ago.
He died for us then so he can live in us now. He died on a cross to take away your sins from the sight of God. People get confused on that, saying, “It seems Jesus did not do a good job because I still have plenty of them left”. He took away the sins from the sight of God. When God looks upon you, He sees the righteousness of Christ Jesus for those who are in Christ Jesus. He is not dealing with you on the basis of sin today. We have never finalized the cross in our Christian faith. Jesus said, “it is finished”. We say, “No, it isn’t finished. I am still dealing with it.”
Hebrews 9:27-28
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
When Jesus comes back, he is not coming back to bear sin. Why not? He is already done it. He cried out on the cross, “it is finished”. He is dealing with us on the basis of a new life. He came to give us a new life. It does not make any difference of how good you have been or how bad you have been. It is how dead you are. So the issue of salvation is not telling people how bad they are. It is telling people there is a repercussion of sin. There is something called death.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Colossians 2:13-14
13 When 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 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
A dead man only needs life. Dying on a cross does not produce life from the dead. Only life produces life from the dead. Paul said that without the resurrection we are to be pitied of all men, knowing full well that a cross had occurred, so that what he did then, shedding his blood on a cross, allowed you to receive an offer of new life, the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. So that provision for us then is only received in the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. You do not come to Christ to get your sins forgiven. You come to Christ because your sins have already been forgiven. You come to Christ for the solution to the wages of sin, which is death, by the gift of God, which is life.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Reconciliation requires total forgiveness, not partial.
Luke 23:34
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Do you think the Father answered that prayer? Christ died for sins, how many times? Once.
Hebrews 9:22
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Is there any more shedding of blood? No. Will he come back and die again? No. He died once and for all.
1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Colossians 2:13-14
13 When 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, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.
Romans 7:6
6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Jesus canceled the written code (the ten commandments), or the law. The law with the ten commandments was canceled and replaced with Christ Jesus. All law can do is kill you. Jesus came to give you life. He nailed the law to the cross, that written code that was against us, and replaced it with his resurrected life.
Recall what Paul had said.
Romans 7:7
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.
Paul was saying that the law killed him. Jesus took away the law in order to replace it with himself.
Acts 26:17-18
17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
Jesus did come to cover sin but to take it away. Recall what John the Baptist said.
John 1:29
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
The only question God will ever ask you when you come into the presence of God, is what did you do with my Son? He will ask, “Did you walk by faith in what I did to come to save you?”
Hebrews 9:27-28
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
He appeared to take away sins.
1 John 2:1-2 (KJV)
1 My little children, these things I write to you, that you do not sin. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
Atonement is the shedding of the blood of a bull and a goat that only covered sin. Only Christ took it away. Jesus did not come to atone for sin. The blood of a bull and a goat did that. He came to take it away. What does that mean? If you are in Christ, then you have come by faith not only in what he did for you on the cross but also what he did for you in his resurrection. You have come to him for life.
Ephesians 1:7
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace
Are you in Him? If you are, then you are a forgiven person. You are not a person who gets forgiven. You are a person who is forgiven.
There are people who function in guilt from their past all their life. Bob recalls meeting a person up in Canada in his late 70s burdened with guilt over past sins. He was bent over and wrinkled, and asked Bob, “Do you think God will forgive me for what I have done? When I was a young boy, I did something really bad. I keep asking God over and over again to forgive me.
Do you have any children? Yes. Did any of them ever do anything wrong? Did they ever ask you to forgive him? Yes. What if they came back every year and asked, “Dad, are you really sure you have forgiven me?” Your son comes back next year and asks, “Dad, are you really sure you forgave me?̵ How would you feel? It would break my heart. That is what you are doing to the heart of God. Why don’t you stop breaking the heart of God? You are breaking the heart of God by saying, “I do not think you did Jesus”. Are you willing to finalize that God has already forgiven you?
This man knelt down and did that. He finalized that forgiveness. I saw his countenance change and saw the weight of guilt fall off of him.
We accept forgiveness of God and yet not accept ourselves. If that is so, then your standard of righteousness is higher than that of Christ Jesus. Your standards are not higher than his. If God has forgiven you, then why don’t you forgive you. You are a forgiven person.
John 19:38-42
38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
That was customary the way they buried people, with spices and strips of linen. There was also a garden. If you visit Israel today, you will see the garden tomb, directly behind where Golgotha is. It was a beautiful tomb with underground wells providing water. It is no mistake where his resurrection took place.
John 20:1-10
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved [John], and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
They saw the tomb was empty. They saw Jesus die on a cross. But even so they did not comprehend yet that scripture said he had to rise from the dead nor did they understand why he had to rise from the dead.
You ask people, “What is the meaning of the cross?” Everybody will say that is where Jesus died for your sins. You ask people, “What is the meaning of the resurrection?” There is silence. The best a person can come up with is, “that is where Jesus had to prove he is God”. The meaning of it is this. Jesus rose from the dead so that that life that raised him from the dead can raise you from the dead. We were born into this world spiritually dead. What is death? Death is the absence of life. If you do not have life, that is your problem. In order to give you life, he had to take away the cause of death. That is the preparation day of the cross. God’s provision. Saved by his life. You are not merely saved by the death of Christ but by the life of Christ.
Romans 5:10
10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
You were born into this world reconciled to God through the death of His Son. You were born into this world a forgiven person, as far as God is concerned. Does that mean you are saved? No. If salvation was getting your sins forgiven, then that would be universal salvation. But that is not salvation.
This being an accomplished fact, you are saved by his life. You cannot have one without the other, but do not mistake one for the other.
