Jesus Crucified

[Read John 19:16-27]

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about what it looks like to live the Christian life. I realize that many people would say that it looks like going to church each Sunday or reading your Bible regularly or being a good person in the community. Of course all of those things are part of the Christian life, but I’ve been thinking much deeper than that. In a very simplistic sense, the Christian life is a life lived by faith. I’m sure that doesn’t surprise many of you, but the question is: what does it look like to live by faith every day? What does it look like to raise your kids by faith? What does it look like to go to work each day by faith? Or pay your bills by faith? Or buy groceries by faith?

On one level, it means resting in our salvation in Jesus Christ. It means resting in the fact that when we look to Jesus Christ by faith and trust in him, all of our sins are forgiven—all of them. We no longer have to live with guilt and shame. We’re forgiven, cleansed, and renewed. Then, as renewed people who have been set free, we continue to live by faith. We have faith that when God tells us not to do something, or to do something, he knows what he’s talking about. So, we try to do or not do those things. That’s part of living by faith. We also live by faith that God is at work, leading and guiding us throughout our lives. So, we pray to him and ask for his leading and guiding, and seek to live and speak according to his guiding. However, we also realize that we could be led astray and mess up, but that doesn’t paralyze us because we know that we will be forgiven and sent back out to follow him. We also walk by faith in the fact that we can’t mess up bad enough to mess up God’s plans. We have faith that God is powerful enough to work through our mistakes and missteps, and use them for his purposes and our good. In many ways, living the Christian life is simply walking by faith, not really knowing where we’re going, always seeking God for help and guidance, and resting in the fact that he will get us where He wants us to be, through our hard work and through our failures. That applies to raising our children, to paying our bills, to going to work, and pretty much everything else we do.

Yet, notice the core of everything I just said. The core of that is the Gospel and our salvation through Jesus Christ. What Jesus Christ did for us on the cross is at the core of everything we say and do as a believer.

There’s another contrast in this passage to last week’s passage. I mentioned it last week, but didn’t spend a lot of time on it because I wanted to talk about it more this week. Last week Pilate made a declaration about Jesus. He said, “I find no guilt in him.” (John 18:38, ESV). I also pointed out last week that Pilate made this statement three times. I don’t believe that’s a coincidence. In the same way that God was declared Holy, Holy, Holy by the Seraphim in Isaiah 6, Jesus is declared Not Guilty, Not Guilty, Not Guilty by Pilate. This is John’s way of showing us that Jesus is completely not guilty. He’s completely innocent. There is no sin in him. Jesus lived a completely perfect life and fulfilled the law of God. As we’re told in 2 Corinthians: “…who knew no sin…” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV).

Yet, what do we see happening in this passage? We read, “So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them.” (John 19:16–18, ESV). This man who is completely innocent is being crucified as a guilty man. Not only that, but he’s being crucified between two guilty men, to show that he is the central one—the central guilty party.

It’s important to look at this passage through the lens of the rest of scripture to see everything that’s here. Is it significant that Jesus was crucified? Yes. We read in Galatians: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”” (Galatians 3:13, ESV). Is it significant that Jesus was led out of the city, to Golgotha? Yes. We read: “For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.” (Hebrews 13:11–13, ESV). Each portion of this story, each portion of Jesus’ journey to the cross and on the cross are there to show us that he is the perfect sacrifice for all our sins. Not only was he the completely innocent, spotless Lamb of God, but while he hung on that cross, he bore the curse that we deserved for our sin. He not only bore that sin, but brought it out of the camp to show that our sin has been removed from us by his blood. That’s why we read the rest of that passage in 2 Corinthians: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV). He knew no sin but became sin by taking on our sin so that we could be cleansed and forgiven through his sacrifice AND so that we could be credited with and become the righteousness of God. Not only are we no longer guilty, but now we’re considered righteous because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross.

This is that beautiful, gospel message that is at the core and center of everything we do as God’s people.

And we’re reminded in this passage that this was God’s plan all along. We read, “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,” (John 19:23–24, ESV). That little line—“this was to fulfill the scripture”—packs a lot of punch. It’s John’s way of saying this was God’s plan all along. God hadn’t left his people struggling in sin without a plan to save them. He was bringing everything to this point and this moment so that Jesus could be the perfect sacrifice to save his people.

John also alludes to this in other places. One in particular looks back to the passage we read for the Call to Worship. We didn’t read a Psalm this morning, but read from Isaiah 53. What does Isaiah 53 say about the messiah? Here are a few lines from the end: “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt…by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities…he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:10–12, ESV). There’s a lot there—pretty much everything we’ve been talking about so far—but notice that little line at the end. He was numbered with the transgressors. You could just rephrase that and say that he was crucified with criminals. This has been God’s plan all along. Not only that, but Jesus knew this was the plan and willingly and JOYFULLY walked this path and died so that we could be saved and made righteous by faith.

Now, here’s where this message gets difficult. What does it look like to live out this faith? I’ve already mentioned this broadly to some degree, but how do we live out our faith in light of what we just read about Jesus? Jesus actually tells us and applies this passage to our lives. He said, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27, ESV). By faith, we are called to walk the path of our savior. Of course, we’re not bearing a cross for the sins of the world, but we are told to bear a cross nonetheless, and we’re to bear that cross by faith. This too is a major part of living the Christian life.

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but John Calvin has a little booklet called “On the Christian Life,” which summarizes the Christian life in three headings: Denying Yourself, Bearing Your Cross, and Meditating On The Future Life. That’s a picture of the Christian life. It may sound different than the picture I painted at the beginning, but it’s the same picture. You deny yourself and your desires because you no longer trust yourself but you trust your God by faith. You bear crosses and suffering in this life because you trust your Savior and God by faith. You meditate on the future life and long for that day by faith because you know it will come and you trust God to make it happen. It’s all by faith.

But don’t forget that part of the Christian life is bearing the cross by faith. It means enduring suffering and hardship by faith. It means enduring trials and tribulation by faith. It means enduring physical suffering, mental suffering, situational suffering by faith. Why do we endure? We have faith in our God and we trust him. That’s why. We also serve a suffering savior who bore a cross. We should expect to suffer too.

This is why I get so wound up at times when I hear the prosperity gospel and its proponents, like Joel Osteen and most of the other TV Preachers. They are preaching a false gospel. They are telling people that they shouldn’t expect to suffer. No. I spoke with someone a while ago who had been listening to a bunch of Joel Osteen stuff and thinking that they were going to get rich and make their life better. They loved listening to him until some suffering came. Then, none of that prosperity gospel stuff helped at all. They came to me and said, “I don’t think Joel Osteen knows what he’s talking about.” NO. He doesn’t. Jesus told us if we’re not willing to suffer alongside him and bear our cross, then we cannot be his disciple. If we’re not willing to trust him and have faith in him in the midst of our suffering, then we’re not a disciple.

Yet, he doesn’t just leave us alone to suffer. We see that even in this passage. While Jesus is in the midst of tremendous pain and suffering, after being beaten, whipped, and bruised, while he’s hanging on the cross, we read, “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” (John 19:26–27, ESV). Now, there has been a lot of speculation about hidden meanings and symbolism in this passage. I have no desire to go there. I do want you to notice the basic point being made here. We see Jesus, in the midst of his suffering, making sure to care for his mother in the midst of her suffering. He doesn’t leave her to suffer alone. He makes sure she has everything she needs to endure her current suffering and her future suffering as well.

This can give us hope in the midst of our own suffering. Especially when we realize that Jesus is no longer suffering, now he is raised to new life. How much more will he be able to care for us in the midst of our suffering? Isn’t that a powerful truth? As we bear our own cross by faith, and endure suffering in this world, we have confidence that Jesus will not leave us alone but that he will provide for our needs, just like he provided for the needs of his mother. Again, we hold to this truth by faith, and we don’t let go of it. We hold onto this truth no matter what situation we face, and we hold onto it like our life depends on it—because sometimes it does.

Jesus never throws us into situations of suffering willy-nilly. He knows what it means to suffer. He knows who we are, what we need, and he loves us more than we can imagine. He also knows exactly what we need in the midst of suffering because he’s been there. So, we trust him, right? We trust that this suffering comes to us with some purpose that we may never know. We trust that he’s using this for his glory and our own good. We trust that even if it doesn’t seem like it, he will give us everything we need to endure whatever suffering comes our way.

Not only that, but we can endure our suffering like Jesus endured his suffering. He didn’t just grit his teeth and try to power through it. Calvin says this, “When he thought of the bloody death which he was to die, struck with horror, he would willingly have avoided it: on the other hand, when he considered that it was God who called him to it, his fear was vanquished and suppressed, and he met death cheerfully.” (Calvin, 3.8.10). Jesus met death cheerfully. Why? Because it wasn’t actually painful? No. Because he thought positive thoughts, or had people sending him positive vibes? No. Jesus met death cheerfully because he knew that his Father had called him to this moment and he trusted him. Not only does faith give us strength and hope and perseverance in the midst of suffering, but it brings tremendous JOY.

That’s why the author of Hebrews says this to us: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Hebrews 12:1–4, ESV).

What does it look like to live the Christian life? It looks like living by faith and trust in our suffering Savior who endured the cross with joy. It looks like enduring the race set before us, not in our own strength and wisdom, but enduring the race by faith as we keep our eyes on Jesus. It looks like throwing off anything that hinders you from following Jesus by faith. It looks like never giving in to crippling guilt and shame in the midst of our battle with sin because Jesus didn’t quit. It looks like not being overwhelmed or paralyzed by fear because Jesus has promised to give us everything we need to finish the race. He’s not only the author of your faith, he’s also the perfecter of your faith.

So, as you leave here this morning, keep your eyes on Jesus who joyfully bore the cross for you, so that you would be able to bear your cross in this life by faith with that same joy.