Christ Crucified (Part 1)

John 19:16-30

John has written his Gospel (John 20:31), “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.” From the beginning he has recorded for us the glory of the Son of God, writing (John 1:14), “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” The miraculous signs that Jesus did manifested His glory (John 2:11; 11:4, 40) and His words glorified God (John 7:18).

But John makes it clear that the true glory of Christ was manifested in His death on the cross. As the time drew near for Jesus to be crucified, He said (John 12:23), “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.” Speaking of that hour Jesus said (John 12:32), “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” John intends a double meaning in this phrase “lifted up”. First, it refers to the method of His death. John wrote (John 12:33), “This He said, signifying by what death He would die.” Jesus was literally “lifted up” on the cross (also John 3:14; 8:28). Secondly, “lifted up” means to exalt. Isaiah 52:13 uses this very word (in the Greek translation) when he writes about the suffering servant of the Lord, “Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.” “Exalted” is literally “lifted up”. Christ is exalted as He is lifted up to suffer and die on the cross.

When Judas leaves the upper room to betray Jesus, our Lord declares (John 13:32), “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” Later that night Jesus prayed to the Father (John 17:4), “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” In today’s passage in John 19 we see that His finished work is fully accomplished at the cross.

What an amazing reversal we find at the cross. That despised instrument of the curse and shame of the most detestable criminals becomes the means of manifesting the very glory of God. So, as we come to the crucifixion of Jesus today, I want you to see the glory of God in the cross of Christ. Look for that glory as I read our scripture, John 19:16-30,

16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away. 17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. 21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ‘ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says: “They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

The first way that we see the glory of God in the cross is in,

1. The fulfillment of scripture

John wants us to understand the glory of the cross in the sense that it is the specific fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. John emphasizes this in John 19:24: “… that the Scripture might be fulfilled …” Also, John 19:28: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled …” You can see this formula two more times in John 19:36-37. John wants us to see that the cross was no accident; it was for the glory of God. From start to finish it was in accordance with God’s foreordained purpose, even in the seemingly minor details. John shows this through Jesus’ fulfillment of foreshadows and prophecies.

What Old Testament prophecies and foreshadowings do we find here?

a. The Lamb (John 19:16-17; Isa 53:7)

John 19:16-17: “…So they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.” (The Latin for “Skull” is where we get the name “Calvary”). Even though Jesus willfully laid down His life with no resistance to His oppressors, John 19:16 says “they took Jesus” and “led Him away” (Matt 27:31; Mark 15:20; Luke 23:26).

This is what Isaiah the prophet foretold (Isaiah 53:7-8): “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment …” We have already seen how Jesus refused to defend Himself and kept silent before Annas and Pilate (John 18:21; 19:9). The other Gospels record that He did the same before Caiaphas and Herod (Matt. 26:63; Luke 23:9). So, as Jesus is led away, we see the imagery of Jesus as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

b. The Sacrifice (John 19:17; Genesis 22)

Also John 19:17 says, “And He, bearing His cross.” The other Gospels record that the soldiers forced a man named Simon of Cyrene to carry Jesus’ cross (Luke 26:23). Jesus carried His cross from the place of judgment as far as He was able. But weakened by the scourging and other mistreatment Jesus probably stumbled under the load. At that point, the soldiers conscripted Simon. But John wants to emphasize that Jesus bore the cross to show the Son’s obedience to the Father’s plan.

In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham’s faith by saying (Ge. 22:2), “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” Isaac is a type of Christ picturing the only begotten Son whom the Father loves. Abraham obeys God and “… took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son,” (Gen. 22:6). In the end, God provided a ram to take Isaac’s place. Here we see a foreshadowing of Jesus, who not only carried the wood of His own sacrifice but also became the substitutionary lamb.

c. The Sin Offering (John 19:17; Ex. 29:14; Lev. 16:27; Heb. 13:11-12)

John 19:17 also specifies that when they took Jesus, “He … went out.” Specifically this refers to Him going outside the city walls. John 19:20 reports that “the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,” not in the city. This points back to the Old Testament sacrificial system, where the sin offering was taken outside the camp (Exo. 29:14; Lev. 16:27). Hebrews 13:11-12 applies this type to Jesus:

11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. 12 Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.

d. The Cure (John 19:18; Num. 21; John 3:14-15)

John 19:18 states so simply the horrible fact “…they crucified Him.” As I said in the introduction, Jesus referred to this as being “lifted up” (John 8:28; 12:32). In John 3:14-15 Jesus says, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This takes us all the way back to Numbers 21 where God sent fiery serpents among His people because they had sinned (Num. 21:6). When the people cried out for mercy, God told Moses to “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

Jesus was lifted up on the cross, crucified so that those who look to Him and believe will live.

e. Numbered with the transgressors (John 19:18; Isaiah 53:12)

We read in John 19:18, “… they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.” Isaiah 53:12 prophesies: “He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.” Jesus was crucified with sinners to make atonement for sinners.

f. The Crucified One (Psalm 22; John 19:23-25a)

As the crucified One, Jesus fulfills Psalm 22. That Psalm begins, “My God, my God why have you forsaken me”—the very words Jesus Himself uttered from the cross (Matt. 27:46). Listen to Psalm 22:16-18:

16 For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; 17 I can count all My bones. They look and stare at Me. 18 They divide My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.

David prophesied about the pierced hands and feet hundreds of years before crucifixion was invented. But the direct fulfillment that John points us to is the dividing of Jesus’ garments and gambling for His clothes. John 19:23-25:

Notice that John 19:25 says, “therefore the soldiers did these things.” Why? It was to fulfill Scripture. I am sure that none of the four soldiers were aware of Psalm 22. They were simply doing what they always did: divvying up the criminal’s few belongings. For Jesus it was five pieces of clothing. They each got a piece of His outer garments; probably His turbin, His sandals, His outer coat, and His sash or belt. The one piece left is the seamless tunic. Rather than tear this seamless woven garment, they cast lots for it. But here again we see the sovereign hand of God using even His enemies to accomplish His purposes.

g. The thirsty one (John 19:28-29; Psalm 22:15; Psalm 69:21)

The other gospels report that when they arrived at Golgotha, just before they crucified Jesus, they gave Him “wine mingled with gall to drink” (Matt. 27:34; or myrrh, Mark 15:23); but He refused to drink it. This may have been a narcotic to ease the pain, or simply another a form of torment that amused the soldiers, because the myrrh made the wine so bitter that it tasted like gall and was undrinkable.

John 19:28 reports that later, as He hung on the cross, Jesus said, “I thirst!” This time someone gave Him some sour wine (or vinegar) on a sponge to drink. The two references together (to gall and sour wine) fulfilled the Messianic Psalm 69:21, where David complained, “They also gave me gall for my food, And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Again, in Psalm 22 where David depicts the details of a death by crucifixion hundreds of years before that cruel punishment was devised, he wrote (Psa. 22:15): “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, And My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.” John 19:29 also points out that they used a stalk of hyssop to lift the sponge to Jesus’ lips. Hyssop was what Israel used to put the blood of the lamb on the doorposts of their homes at Passover (Exod. 12:22). And Jesus is dying as the true Passover lamb of God.

So Jesus’ fulfillment of types and prophecies shows that His death was no accident. God predicted it and planned it all for our salvation.

Conclusion

The way that the minute details of Jesus’ death fulfilled these many types and prophecies teaches us that we can trust the Bible. I’m sure that Moses, David, Isaiah and many other Old Testament prophets did not fully understand the things that they wrote which later would be fulfilled specifically in Christ’s death for our sins. As 1 Peter 1:10-12 explains:

10 Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11 searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. 12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven–things which angels desire to look into.

The prophets of the Old Testament wrote more than they understood. How could they do that? Because scripture is inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16). Again Peter explains (2 Pet. 1:20-21):

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

So, in the death of Christ on the cross we see the glory of God in the perfect fulfillment of scripture. Next time we will see three other indications of the glory of God in Christ crucified.

But today we have seen that the cross shows us the glory God in Jesus Christ as the lamb of God that was sacrificed as a sin offering so that we could be cured from the curse of sin. He hung on the cross between sinners as He bore the sin of the world and endured the wrath of God. He became a curse being nailed to the tree, as He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). He thirsted so that we could receive the gift of the water of life (John 7:38; Rev. 21:6; 22:17). He was stripped naked as soldiers gambled for His clothes so that we could be clothed in His righteousness (Phl. 3:9). All this Christ did in fulfillment of God’s purpose to save us for His glory.

How do we respond to such a great sacrifice of love? Maybe these words from the hymn by Chris Anderson will become yours:

His robes for mine: O wonderful exchange!
Clothed in my sin, Christ suffered ‘neath God’s rage.
Draped in His righteousness, I’m justified.
In Christ I live, for in my place He died.

I cling to Christ, and marvel at the cost:
Jesus forsaken, God estranged from God.
Bought by such love, my life is not my own.
My praise—my all—shall be for Christ alone.