The Passion of Christ, Part 3
Barry Metz 6/14/15
The Passion of Christ, Part 3
John 19:25-42
When we were last together, Jesus was on the cross dying for the sins of the world. According to the gospel of Mark, Jesus was alive on the cross from 9:00am [1] until 3:00pm—6 hours. And during three of those six hours, Mark tells us there was darkness over the whole land[2]…I think a darkness symbolic of the judgment that was taking place as He who had no sin became sin for us.[3] So again Jesus was alive on the cross, according to Mark, about 6 hours, from 9:00am to 3:00pm and three of those hours there was darkness over the land.
In our time this morning, we hope to plumb the depth of those six hours on the cross as best we can and then we want to trace what happened to Jesus’ body when it was removed from the cross. By the end of the message Jesus’s lifeless body will be lying in a rich man’s tomb that had never been used.
I’m sure you’re aware that Jesus spoke from the cross in the six hours that he was alive on it. And perhaps you’ve even heard the idea that Jesus spoke some seven times from the cross. In some denominations or movements, Jesus’s seven sayings from the cross are often commemorated on Good Friday as “The Seven Words of Jesus from the Cross”. As we dive into the text this morning in John, we’ll incorporate a brief tour of those ‘7 words’ (or sayings) as we go along.
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By way of introduction, let me put the “Seven Words” up on the screen:
You’ll quickly notice that the seven sayings of Jesus are not found in any one Gospel. Instead, the first two and the seventh occur only in Luke, the third, fifth, and sixth only in John, and the fourth in both Matthew and Mark. We have to say up front here, that because no gospel records them all, the order of the sayings is what we would call a traditional order.
As listed on the slide, students of scripture have seen a division in the focus of these seven sayings and divided them into two groups. The yellow line on the slide illustrates that division.
In the first three sayings from the cross, Jesus dealt with the interests of others---he loved his enemies, forgiving them for crucifying him, he loved the thief on the cross near him, rewarding his faith with eternal life, and he loved his mother and gave her into the care of the apostle John. In the last four sayings Jesus turned to His own concerns.
One writer says this about that: “This division is natural. Many a dying man, after arranging his affairs and saying his farewells, turns his face to the wall, to encounter death and be alone with God. It was highly characteristic of Jesus, however, before turning to His own things, first to mind the things of others.”[4] He loved to the end!
One final comment about the seven words, the seven sayings, from the cross. A scholar by the name of Westcott has suggested that the first three sayings came before the darkness, the fourth statement came sometime late in the darkness, and the final three sayings came right at the close of the darkness.[5]
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If you have your bible this morning, we pick up in John 19, verse 18…John 19, verse 18
18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. [6]
Isaiah prophesied that the Suffering servant would be numbered with transgressors in his death, Isaiah 53:12, and so it happened as Isaiah said. (And this is an idea that we’ll see over and over in the final episode of the passion….everything that happens to Jesus fulfills what the scripture said would happen)
According to Luke, Jesus’ 1st words from the cross came the moment he was crucified, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” [7]
Clearly those are some of the most astounding words ever said. “Father, these enemies of mine surrounding me, and you know what they’ve done to me Father, well they really don’t know what they are doing Father, forgive them” Jesus lived and died by the words he preached, “Love your enemy” (Luke 6:27-28) And he challenges us to live and die by the same words.
How often you and I find ourselves in places where we are called to forgive! And how hard forgiveness is! But Jesus, the captain of our salvation, has gone before us and we can be assured that we’ve never been in a spot like Jesus was. He has shown us it can be done.
While Jesus was forgiving his enemies, the four soldiers involved in his crucifixion were dividing his clothes. We suggested last week that Jesus’ clothes could have been his belt, his sandals, his head covering and his outer robe. So each soldier would have gotten one item each. Then they cast lots for Jesus’ tunic or inner garment which was seamless. John tells us in verse 24 that this was again a fulfillment of scripture, specifically Psalm 22:18
Psalm 22, a psalm frequently quoted in the New Testament[8], almost seems to choreograph Jesus’ time on the cross in many ways. In fact when Jesus says “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?,” the 4th word (or saying) from the cross, he is quoting Psalm 22:1.
Mark and Luke tell us that at some point in the early hours on the cross, those passing by and standing near began to heap abuse on Jesus. And it was quite a pile on!
Listen to a sampling of what the gospel writers say happened to Jesus
And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross!”[9]
So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.”[10] What a mockery!
Even the soldiers mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself![11]
All of this would be a fulfillment of Psalm 22:7-8. And so let’s say it again, Jesus’ life and death fulfilled scripture.
Finally Luke tells us that…39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” … “Do something Jesus!...Save us! ….isn’t that irony? He is dying to save the world!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
How did the thief on the cross next to Jesus know that Jesus had done nothing wrong? How did he know that Jesus was so different?
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Miracle of miracles, this unbaptized, thief, terrorist, robber, murderer put his trust in Christ to be saved!
He knew he was a sinner—“we are receiving the due reward of our deeds.”
He was humble before God—he said to his fellow thief… “Do you not fear God?”
And he had a poverty of spirit about him that made him kingdom suitable[12]
He had been awakened to his sin and his need for a savior and so he spoke “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
And then, Jesus spoke his 2nd words from the cross… “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”[13]
What wonderful words from the cross! This man was an insurrectionist. He was a terrorist. He was Osama Bin Laden. Isn’t grace just scandalous? Truly I say to you….you can take this to the bank…today…no suspense, no waiting, no purgatory….you will be with me….to be with Christ is better by far…didn’t Paul say that?....in Paradise…. The word paradise is a Persian loan word meaning a walled garden…when a Persian king wished to do one of his subjects a very special honor he made him a ‘companion of the garden’ which meant he was chosen to walk in the garden of the king.” [14]
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord….Is there something in your past that you think is unforgiveable? Think about the thief on the cross and then run to Jesus!
Well we pick up in verse 25….
25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
We move from four soldiers throwing dice for Jesus’ clothes to four women keeping faith.[15] Who are the four women? (And interestingly enough the list in Greek can be read as two, three, or four women but most scholars assume that John has in mind four women[16]). Who are they?
■Mary, Jesus’ mother
■Mary’s sister (perhaps Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, mentioned in Mathew and Mark)[17] So this would be Jesus’ Aunt.[18] I won’t go into all the details but a scholar named Brown analyzed all the people at the cross in all four gospels and concluded that Mary’s sister was probably the mother of the sons of Zebedee. So again, Mary’s sister was Jesus’ aunt and John the author of our gospel was the nephew of Mary.
■Mary the wife of Clopas[19] (cf Luke 24:18?) We know little to nothing about her.
■Mary Magdalene (cf John 20:1-18). Mary Magdalene, was a grateful disciple who had been freed from a number of demons.
Now some have made the point that the other gospel writers paint the women standing at a distance from the cross.[20] And that’s true. But isn’t it believable that over the course of six hours, they might have come and gone? It appears that it was common for family, friends, and relatives to surround a crucified person.[21] And it was even common for a man being crucified to distribute his estate or give directions about the care of some family member as Jesus does. (Just a side note--Josephus the Jewish historian was present on the side of the Romans when Jerusalem was under siege by the Romans in 70AD. So Josephus was on the outside looking in. During the siege, hundreds if not thousands of people were crucified outside the city. And as Josephus walked about he met many of his friends on crosses. [22] And he’s the one who said that many of them were speaking their “last will and testaments” to those around him)
What do we know about Mary at this point? Well we know she was experiencing what the old prophet Simeon had foretold back in Luke 2—Simeon’s words to Joseph and Mary those many years before went like this… “Behold this child (and he’s talking about Jesus) is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed…and then he said this to Mary….and a sword will pierce through your own soul also” (Most think that Simeon, in using the term sword, was foretelling Mary’s future sorrow at Jesus’ crucifixion ) So we know that Mary was grieving deeply. It was as if she had been stabbed by a sword. And every mother here can relate. It also seems that Mary was widowed at this time because there is no mention of Joseph. One writer suggested that she was probably “in her early fifties with little or no personal income.”[23] Furthermore her other sons had abandoned Jesus[24] which explains why Jesus will commit Mary’s care to John, the beloved disciple, and a nephew.
Well in verses 26 and 27 when Jesus saw his mother and nephew John standing nearby, “from the pulpit of his cross, he preached a sermon on the 5th commandment to honor one’s father and mother.”[25]
26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother…and these are Jesus’ 3rd words (or sayings) from the cross…. “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!”
Now on the surface this seems pretty simple— “John you’re now responsible for my mother’s care. She’s your Aunt take care of her” And I think the sentence at the end of verse 27 makes that clear, And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
But some have wondered if there was more going on here than Jesus caring for his mother. Roman Catholic theologians, with their high view of Mary, for example, read the passage opposite to us. They see Jesus clearing the decks for Mary to be the mother of the church[26]: “John, you and all the disciples have a new mother!” Of course we don’t believe that Mary is the mother of the church. Others suggest that Jesus is symbolically ushering in a new era of community where the ties of disciples are as strong as family ties. And that could be but it’s enough for me to see Jesus wracked with pain caring for his mother.
Well up to this point Jesus has spoken three times from the cross. And at some point darkness has descended on the land. What was Jesus experiencing?
“Jesus was essentially forced to inflict upon himself a very slow death by suffocation. With his arms outstretched and fastened by nails to the cross, he had to support most of the weight of his body with his arms. His chest cavity would be pulled upward and outward, making it difficult to exhale in order to be able to draw a fresh breath. But when his longing for oxygen became unbearable, he would have to push himself up with his feet, thus giving more natural support to the weight of his body, releasing some of the weight from his arms, and enabling his chest cavity to contract more normally. By pushing himself upward in this way, he could fend off suffocation, but it was extremely painful because it required putting the body’s weight on the nails holding the feet, and bending the elbows and pulling upward on the nails driven through the wrists. His back, which had been torn repeatedly by the flogging, would scrape against the wooden cross with each breath.”[27]
At some point Jesus began to “drink the cup of God’s wrath against sin.” God’s wrath is his settled indignation against the sins of humans. Sometimes I think we forget how terrible God’s wrath is. I was reading in Ezekiel the other day. (And Ezekiel was written to Jews who had been exiled to Babylon). I was struck at the ferociousness of God’s wrath as painted by Ezekiel. Let me read the portion I read, Ezekiel 5:8–13 (ESV)
8 therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. 9 And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. 11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them. 13 “Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the Lord—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them.
We could go to the book of Revelation and find passages equally more terrifying. The terrible, terrifying wrath of God. Jesus drank it down on the cross for us. And He became sin for us. (But if you haven’t trusted Christ, the wrath of God remains on you.)
“Wave after wave of our sin was poured over Christ’s sinless soul. Again and again during those three hours his soul recoiled and convulsed as all our lies, infidelity, hatreds, jealousies, murders, and pride were poured upon his purity…there in the darkness our sins were imputed to Christ.”[28]
At some point, out came the 4th word from the cross…“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” as recorded in Matthew 27:46. Mysterious words… As I said they come from Psalm 22. “In some sense Jesus had to be cut off from the favor of and fellowship with the Father that had been his eternally because he was bearing the sins of his people and therefore enduring God’s wrath”[29]