John 19:17-42
The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
Three months ago we celebrated Christmas, where we remember the birth of Jesus Christ. Now we are in the season of Easter, where we celebrate His death, burial and resurrection. Christmas remembers how He came into this world, Easter remembers how He went out. Christmas celebrates the Son of God taking on a human body, Easter remembers the laying down of that body. Christmas remembers a baby in a manger, but Easter remembers that baby as an adult man, dead on a cross, and resurrect..
Today and next Sunday we are going to look at two events that cannot be considered separate. They are 2 phases in the one act of God to redeem us from our sin. Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Today we are going to look into the what and why of the cross, the darkness of that day as seen by the supernatural 3 hour period of darkness when Jesus hung on the cross in the afternoon. Next week we are going to see the resurrection shine forth from the darkness with the dawning of the 3rd day.
At one point early in Julius Caesar's political career, feelings ran so high against him that he thought it best to leave Rome. He sailed for the Aegean island of Rhodes. But while on his way the ship was attacked by pirates and Caesar was captured. The pirates demanded a ransom of 12,000 gold pieces, and Caesar's staff was sent away to arrange the payment. Caesar spent almost 40 days with his captors. Several times he told the pirates that he would someday capture and crucify each of them. The kidnappers were greatly amused and laughed at him. When the ransom was paid and Caesar was freed, the first thing he did was gather a fleet and pursue the pirates. They were all captured and crucified ... each of them!
Such was the Romans' attitude toward crucifixion. It was to be reserved for the worst of criminals, a way of showing the most extreme contempt for the those most hated criminals. The suffering and humiliation of a Roman crucifixion were unequaled. The Roman statesmen and philosopher Cicero said, “It was the most cruel and shameful of all punishments. Let it never come near the body of a Roman citizen; nay, not even near his thoughts or eyes or ears.”
The Romans didn’t invent crucifixion, they just perfected it. What happened at a Roman crucifixion? The Gospel writers do not embellish, they are just so “matter-of-fact”. What is included in the statement in verse 18, “Here they crucified him”?
1) Carry the cross outside the city to the place of execution,
2) Stripped of your clothes which became the property of the soldiers,
3) Given a narcotic drink to dull the senses and the pain,
4) Nailed through the hands/wrists to the horizontal beam,
5) hoisted up and placed on the vertical beam which is already placed in the ground,
6) Feet placed on a “seat” and nailed to the vertical beam,
7) Can remain alive for several hours or several days, longest day on record was 9 days,
8) Pain of severely lacerated flesh rubbing against cross, thorns pressing into His head every time He bumped the back of His head into the cross, nails driven through the median nerves, the weight of His body pulling on the nails in His hands and pressing on the nail through His feet, severe muscle cramping in His entire body, the shock caused by the dehydration and severe loss of blood, the continued mocking and taunting by the Jewish chief priests, lawyers and elders, the Roman guards and even the two criminals hanging next to Him,
9) The cause of death when someone was crucified was asphyxiation (suffocating). In order to breathe in you must push up with your feet and lift your body to be able to breathe in. When one becomes too exhausted to keep doing this he can’t get a breath, and, suffocates. This is why John says in verse 32 that the soldiers broke the legs of the other two criminals. This would prevent them from being able to push up to get a breath and they would suffocate quickly.
But where the Romans and the Jews hated the cross. They saw it as the worst form of shame and rejection. But, in the NT we find a new view of the cross. In the cross of Jesus Christ the glory of God bursts forth and has become the cause of exalting the God of Heaven as our Savior. Galatians 6:14 says we boast in the cross, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” Colossians 2:15 declares the triumph of the cross, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, God made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross of Jesus Christ.” First Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross is the most important thing to know, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 2:2, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Carrying the Cross (v17-18)
First see Jesus carrying His cross. Verses 17-18, “……” When a man was sentenced to be crucified he was forced to carry the instrument of his death. Jesus carried the instrument of his death. There is a parallel in the OT here. There was a time when God tested Abraham, the great man of faith. God commanded Abraham to take his only son Isaac, the son God had promised and miraculously provided him, and offer him as a sacrifice to God. It says in Genesis 22 that while Abraham and Isaac were in the wilderness going to the place where Abraham would sacrifice his only son, it was Isaac who carried the wood for the fire. Isaac, who would be sacrificed, carried the instruments of his own death. We can see the typology here: Jesus carried the wood on which He would be sacrificed. At the last moment God stopped Abraham from killing his own son. But there would be no such intervention for God’s Son. Jesus was sacrificed.
Notice next in verse 18 the place where Jesus carried His cross. It was to the place of the Skull. This may be because this hill looked like a skull, or, because of the skulls of those who had been executed before were scattered over the ground. It is not certain exactly where this place was, but, it was outside of the city. That was important for 2 reasons. First because the bodies of sin offerings were taken outside the city. Speaking of the OT sacrifices, Hebrews 13:11-12 says, “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.” In the OT, the high priest of Israel would bring a sin offering into the Most Holy Place of the Temple, and the body of the animal that the blood was taken from was taken outside the city and burned. Jesus was offering His body for our sins, and, in keeping with the OT pattern, his body was taken outside the city to suffer.
This is even more important in light of 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says, “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God”. The key words here for us today are “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us..” God made Jesus to become sin, to become the curse for us. And in a way of showing how God has sent sin out of the city, out of His presence, and away from us, He who became sin was driven from the city.
Warren Wiersbe points out that bearing the cross was a mark of guilt. Do you bear your cross? Jesus says that we must take up our own cross if we are to follow Him. We take up our own cross and show ourselves to be guilty before the world. What are we guilty of? Our allegiance to Jesus Christ. As our leader went in this world so shall we go.
Crucified with Criminals (v18)
It says that Jesus was crucified with 2 others, one on each side of him. Luke says they were criminals, and Matthew calls them robbers. The word that Matthew and Luke use is the same word that John uses to describe Barabbas. These men were heinous criminals and these are the men that Jesus was thought worthy to die alongside. Hundreds of years before this day, Isaiah 53:12 said, “He was numbered with the transgressors”.
Application #1: Church, although He deserves the seat of highest glory He died the death reserved for the worst of sinners. He was treated like a sinner so that we could be treated like we’re righteous.
You may think you’ve done something that can never be forgiven. You may think that God could never wash away what you’ve done. But Jesus died the worst death. It was a death that only the worst sinners deserved. He died that way because He can save even the worst of sinners.
Application #2: Being a disciple of Jesus Christ will not make you popular with the world. You will not be admired for your faith in Christ or, your faithfulness to Him.
Illustration: This past week I was working at a coffee shop. After I was leaving and on my way to my car I saw a man sitting at a table outside the place by himself. I thought to myself that I ought to witness to him about the Gospel. I went to my car and got an Easter tract and went over to him. I introduced myself and asked him if he celebrates Easter. I knew right away this guy didn’t enjoy my company. He said, “No”. I started to ask “why not” when he said, “I’m Jewish. Keep me out of it. I don’t want anything to do with it.” (RoOwr!). I consoled myself by thinking that he just didn’t like the coffee. Well I began to walk back to my car, knowing that if ever there was a slammed door that was it. I’m about half-way back and he’s yelling at me, “My wife’s Catholic, I have to hear about it all the time!” Romans 11:25 says, “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in.” “Israel has experienced a hardening…” The heart of the Jewish people is hard towards Jesus Christ. The hardness of heart that was in the Jews who rejected and crucified Jesus here is the same hardness of heart in the Jews today who reject Jesus’ claim to be their Messiah. I got a teeny-tiny little taste of that rejection that Christ went through when that man sneered at me.
Jesus was crucified between 2 criminals because He was considered one Himself. And we need to become like Him. We need to become criminal. Now don’t misunderstand me here – don’t go rob a bank or a gas station or cheat on your taxes next week. That’s not what I’m talking about. Jesus was a considered a criminal not because He broke any laws, but, because of the exclusive message He spoke. He said that He is the only way a man can have his sins forgiven and go to heaven. That’s why He was hated. If we truly are living like Jesus and doing His mission we will not be loved by everyone and we will be treated like criminals. And why should we be surprised? He said in John 15, “If the world hates you remember that it hated me first…Remember that no servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me they will also persecute you…”
The Complaint (v19-22)
Next we see the Complaint. It was typical that a sign would be made for the criminals being executed and they would have to wear them around their neck as they carried their crosses to the place of execution. In an effort to spite the Jews Pilate put a sign over Jesus that said, “Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews”. It was written in 3 languages so that everyone who walked by would be able to read who it was that was dying there. The Jews were upset because they wanted the sign to say Jesus “claimed” to be the king of the Jews. They didn’t want the world to think that they really thought Jesus was their king.
Pilate did it to spite them, but, God made sure that even in that sign the truth of His Son’s identity was being proclaimed.
3 Fulfilled Prophecies
There are multiple prophecies fulfilled in the death of Jesus Christ. That Jesus fulfilled these prophecies verifies that He is who He claimed to be, the Son of God and the Savior. These prophecies also show us that His death was not because He was a victim, and that His mission did not fail. Rather, these prophecies, and the fulfillment of them in the death of Jesus show us that God is in control. If God was in control when His Son was being crucified we can rest assure that He is in control of our lives. John shows us 3 fulfilled prophecies.
#1: Dividing Jesus’ Clothing (v23-24)
First we see the Dividing of Jesus’ Clothing. In verses 23-24 it says, “……” I want us to see a couple things here. First, when someone was crucified they were humiliated by being stripped naked. It was the custom in Rome that the clothes of the criminal became the property of the soldiers carrying out the execution. And that is what they were doing to Jesus.
This is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, which John quotes in verse 24. This prophecy in Psalm 22 is 2-fold: 1) they divided the clothes of Jesus, and 2) they cast lots for his clothes. Jesus
It says in Genesis that when God created Adam, Adam was naked and felt no shame. He did not feel shame until after he sinned against God. Only then did he make clothing for himself. Clothing is the result of the Fall when Adam first sinned. Clothing covers up, which is what Adam tried to do with his sin. It is what all men do. How perfectly symbolic then that the Savior of sinful men would be stripped naked. How our Substitute would be reduced to nakedness and shame. Just as we have nothing to offer God to cover our sins and we are fully exposed before Him and would be put to everlasting shame the Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins and the shame of our sins when He died naked in public on the cross.
#2: The Drink (v28-29)
Then notice the Drink. The Drink is the 2nd Prophecy fulfilled in verses 28-29 “……” Jesus says “I am thirsty”. And He says this in order to fulfill the Scriptures in Psalm 69:21, which says, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” This is not the same drink that was offered to Jesus earlier when He first arrived at Calvary. In Matthew 27 and Mark 15 Jesus refused that drink. The reason was that it was a narcotic drink designed to dull the senses and the pain. Jesus was going to turn aside one inch from the pain that awaited Him. He was going to face the full measure of it.
It says that he soldiers used a hyssop plant stalk to lift the sponge. In the OT, the night that God rescued the Jews from Egyptian slavery, He instructed them to take the blood of a Lamb and sprinkle it on the doorframes of their homes. Then, that night, when the angel of death went through Egypt, the Jews would be safe. Exodus 12:22 says the Jews were supposed to apply the blood this way, “Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood and put it on the doorframes.” Jesus is the final Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, who rescues us from sin.
#3: The Death (v30-37)
The third prophecy has to do with the actual death of Jesus. Let’s read verses 30-37.
John mentions 2 prophecies concerning Jesus death. First, none of His Bones will be broken. The reason for this was because of the rules for offering the Passover Lambs. In the OT, the Jews celebrated the Passover by sacrificing a lamb. The bones of that lamb could not be broken (Numbers 9:12). These sacrifices were types of the true Passover Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. And just like all the types, none of Jesus’ bones were allowed to be broken (Psalm 34:20). This explains why God sovereignly prevented Jesus’ legs from being broken by the guards.
The other prophecy John mentions briefly is in verse 37, “They will look on the One they pierced”. This is a prophecy concerning the future. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ occurred so that in the future the Jews will look upon the One they pierced. This comes from Zechariah 12:10, when God says that He Himself was pierced when His representative, Jesus Christ, was pierced. It says, “They [Israel] will look upon me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” This is the future for Israel when the Lord Jesus returns at His 2nd Coming. He will not come in secret, but, in power and glory just as He said He would. Revelation 1:8, also written by John, says, “Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.”
They will mourn because they will realize they have rejected their King. They will mourn because they crucified their Christ. They will mourn because they scorned their Savior. They will mourn because they judged the Judge. They will mourn because they will see they have despised their own God.
But Zechariah says they will look on the One who was pierced. John says they will look on the One who was pierced. Revelation says they will look on the One who was pierced. John the Baptist cried “Look”. Look and Mourn your sins. Look at Him! Look! Look at Him as He carries your sins away. Look at Him as He turns aside the wrath of God from you. Look at Him as He makes atonement for your sins. Look at Him as He gives Himself to save you. Look at Him coming to you so you can go to the Father. Look at Him love you with each agonizing breath. Look to Him upon the cross and believe and you will be saved.
There is nothing for you in all the crucifixions in history but in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ there is for you, salvation. When Jesus said, “It is finished”, he used the Greek word, “tetelestai”. This is a financial word that means, “Paid in full”. When someone made a payment for taxes or anything else and paid off a debt, this word was written across the receipt. It meant that there was no more to be paid. The full payment has been received. “It is finished” means that the payment for our sins has been fully and finally paid for when Jesus died on the cross. There is no more to be paid. There is no more for us to do.
Have your sins been paid in full? Have you had your sins stripped away and been clothed with the righteous clothes of Jesus? Do you trust that Jesus loves you and died for you so that your sins could be forgiven?
What the Jews accomplished in crucifying Jesus was the removal of a threat. But what God accomplished was the removal of our sins.
The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ
Three months ago we celebrated Christmas, where we remember the birth of Jesus Christ. Now we are in the season of Easter, where we celebrate His death, burial and resurrection. Christmas remembers how He came into this world, Easter remembers how He went out. Christmas celebrates the Son of God taking on a human body, Easter remembers the laying down of that body. Christmas remembers a baby in a manger, but Easter remembers that baby as an adult man, dead on a cross, and resurrect..
Today and next Sunday we are going to look at two events that cannot be considered separate. They are 2 phases in the one act of God to redeem us from our sin. Romans 4:25 says, “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” Today we are going to look into the what and why of the cross, the darkness of that day as seen by the supernatural 3 hour period of darkness when Jesus hung on the cross in the afternoon. Next week we are going to see the resurrection shine forth from the darkness with the dawning of the 3rd day.
At one point early in Julius Caesar's political career, feelings ran so high against him that he thought it best to leave Rome. He sailed for the Aegean island of Rhodes. But while on his way the ship was attacked by pirates and Caesar was captured. The pirates demanded a ransom of 12,000 gold pieces, and Caesar's staff was sent away to arrange the payment. Caesar spent almost 40 days with his captors. Several times he told the pirates that he would someday capture and crucify each of them. The kidnappers were greatly amused and laughed at him. When the ransom was paid and Caesar was freed, the first thing he did was gather a fleet and pursue the pirates. They were all captured and crucified ... each of them!
Such was the Romans' attitude toward crucifixion. It was to be reserved for the worst of criminals, a way of showing the most extreme contempt for the those most hated criminals. The suffering and humiliation of a Roman crucifixion were unequaled. The Roman statesmen and philosopher Cicero said, “It was the most cruel and shameful of all punishments. Let it never come near the body of a Roman citizen; nay, not even near his thoughts or eyes or ears.”
The Romans didn’t invent crucifixion, they just perfected it. What happened at a Roman crucifixion? The Gospel writers do not embellish, they are just so “matter-of-fact”. What is included in the statement in verse 18, “Here they crucified him”?
1) Carry the cross outside the city to the place of execution,
2) Stripped of your clothes which became the property of the soldiers,
3) Given a narcotic drink to dull the senses and the pain,
4) Nailed through the hands/wrists to the horizontal beam,
5) hoisted up and placed on the vertical beam which is already placed in the ground,
6) Feet placed on a “seat” and nailed to the vertical beam,
7) Can remain alive for several hours or several days, longest day on record was 9 days,
8) Pain of severely lacerated flesh rubbing against cross, thorns pressing into His head every time He bumped the back of His head into the cross, nails driven through the median nerves, the weight of His body pulling on the nails in His hands and pressing on the nail through His feet, severe muscle cramping in His entire body, the shock caused by the dehydration and severe loss of blood, the continued mocking and taunting by the Jewish chief priests, lawyers and elders, the Roman guards and even the two criminals hanging next to Him,
9) The cause of death when someone was crucified was asphyxiation (suffocating). In order to breathe in you must push up with your feet and lift your body to be able to breathe in. When one becomes too exhausted to keep doing this he can’t get a breath, and, suffocates. This is why John says in verse 32 that the soldiers broke the legs of the other two criminals. This would prevent them from being able to push up to get a breath and they would suffocate quickly.
But where the Romans and the Jews hated the cross. They saw it as the worst form of shame and rejection. But, in the NT we find a new view of the cross. In the cross of Jesus Christ the glory of God bursts forth and has become the cause of exalting the God of Heaven as our Savior. Galatians 6:14 says we boast in the cross, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.” Colossians 2:15 declares the triumph of the cross, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, God made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross of Jesus Christ.” First Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross is the most important thing to know, as Paul says in 1 Cor. 2:2, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Carrying the Cross (v17-18)
First see Jesus carrying His cross. Verses 17-18, “……” When a man was sentenced to be crucified he was forced to carry the instrument of his death. Jesus carried the instrument of his death. There is a parallel in the OT here. There was a time when God tested Abraham, the great man of faith. God commanded Abraham to take his only son Isaac, the son God had promised and miraculously provided him, and offer him as a sacrifice to God. It says in Genesis 22 that while Abraham and Isaac were in the wilderness going to the place where Abraham would sacrifice his only son, it was Isaac who carried the wood for the fire. Isaac, who would be sacrificed, carried the instruments of his own death. We can see the typology here: Jesus carried the wood on which He would be sacrificed. At the last moment God stopped Abraham from killing his own son. But there would be no such intervention for God’s Son. Jesus was sacrificed.
Notice next in verse 18 the place where Jesus carried His cross. It was to the place of the Skull. This may be because this hill looked like a skull, or, because of the skulls of those who had been executed before were scattered over the ground. It is not certain exactly where this place was, but, it was outside of the city. That was important for 2 reasons. First because the bodies of sin offerings were taken outside the city. Speaking of the OT sacrifices, Hebrews 13:11-12 says, “The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood.” In the OT, the high priest of Israel would bring a sin offering into the Most Holy Place of the Temple, and the body of the animal that the blood was taken from was taken outside the city and burned. Jesus was offering His body for our sins, and, in keeping with the OT pattern, his body was taken outside the city to suffer.
This is even more important in light of 2 Corinthians 5:21 which says, “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God”. The key words here for us today are “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us..” God made Jesus to become sin, to become the curse for us. And in a way of showing how God has sent sin out of the city, out of His presence, and away from us, He who became sin was driven from the city.
Warren Wiersbe points out that bearing the cross was a mark of guilt. Do you bear your cross? Jesus says that we must take up our own cross if we are to follow Him. We take up our own cross and show ourselves to be guilty before the world. What are we guilty of? Our allegiance to Jesus Christ. As our leader went in this world so shall we go.
Crucified with Criminals (v18)
It says that Jesus was crucified with 2 others, one on each side of him. Luke says they were criminals, and Matthew calls them robbers. The word that Matthew and Luke use is the same word that John uses to describe Barabbas. These men were heinous criminals and these are the men that Jesus was thought worthy to die alongside. Hundreds of years before this day, Isaiah 53:12 said, “He was numbered with the transgressors”.
Application #1: Church, although He deserves the seat of highest glory He died the death reserved for the worst of sinners. He was treated like a sinner so that we could be treated like we’re righteous.
You may think you’ve done something that can never be forgiven. You may think that God could never wash away what you’ve done. But Jesus died the worst death. It was a death that only the worst sinners deserved. He died that way because He can save even the worst of sinners.
Application #2: Being a disciple of Jesus Christ will not make you popular with the world. You will not be admired for your faith in Christ or, your faithfulness to Him.
Illustration: This past week I was working at a coffee shop. After I was leaving and on my way to my car I saw a man sitting at a table outside the place by himself. I thought to myself that I ought to witness to him about the Gospel. I went to my car and got an Easter tract and went over to him. I introduced myself and asked him if he celebrates Easter. I knew right away this guy didn’t enjoy my company. He said, “No”. I started to ask “why not” when he said, “I’m Jewish. Keep me out of it. I don’t want anything to do with it.” (RoOwr!). I consoled myself by thinking that he just didn’t like the coffee. Well I began to walk back to my car, knowing that if ever there was a slammed door that was it. I’m about half-way back and he’s yelling at me, “My wife’s Catholic, I have to hear about it all the time!” Romans 11:25 says, “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in.” “Israel has experienced a hardening…” The heart of the Jewish people is hard towards Jesus Christ. The hardness of heart that was in the Jews who rejected and crucified Jesus here is the same hardness of heart in the Jews today who reject Jesus’ claim to be their Messiah. I got a teeny-tiny little taste of that rejection that Christ went through when that man sneered at me.
Jesus was crucified between 2 criminals because He was considered one Himself. And we need to become like Him. We need to become criminal. Now don’t misunderstand me here – don’t go rob a bank or a gas station or cheat on your taxes next week. That’s not what I’m talking about. Jesus was a considered a criminal not because He broke any laws, but, because of the exclusive message He spoke. He said that He is the only way a man can have his sins forgiven and go to heaven. That’s why He was hated. If we truly are living like Jesus and doing His mission we will not be loved by everyone and we will be treated like criminals. And why should we be surprised? He said in John 15, “If the world hates you remember that it hated me first…Remember that no servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me they will also persecute you…”
The Complaint (v19-22)
Next we see the Complaint. It was typical that a sign would be made for the criminals being executed and they would have to wear them around their neck as they carried their crosses to the place of execution. In an effort to spite the Jews Pilate put a sign over Jesus that said, “Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews”. It was written in 3 languages so that everyone who walked by would be able to read who it was that was dying there. The Jews were upset because they wanted the sign to say Jesus “claimed” to be the king of the Jews. They didn’t want the world to think that they really thought Jesus was their king.
Pilate did it to spite them, but, God made sure that even in that sign the truth of His Son’s identity was being proclaimed.
3 Fulfilled Prophecies
There are multiple prophecies fulfilled in the death of Jesus Christ. That Jesus fulfilled these prophecies verifies that He is who He claimed to be, the Son of God and the Savior. These prophecies also show us that His death was not because He was a victim, and that His mission did not fail. Rather, these prophecies, and the fulfillment of them in the death of Jesus show us that God is in control. If God was in control when His Son was being crucified we can rest assure that He is in control of our lives. John shows us 3 fulfilled prophecies.
#1: Dividing Jesus’ Clothing (v23-24)
First we see the Dividing of Jesus’ Clothing. In verses 23-24 it says, “……” I want us to see a couple things here. First, when someone was crucified they were humiliated by being stripped naked. It was the custom in Rome that the clothes of the criminal became the property of the soldiers carrying out the execution. And that is what they were doing to Jesus.
This is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:18, which John quotes in verse 24. This prophecy in Psalm 22 is 2-fold: 1) they divided the clothes of Jesus, and 2) they cast lots for his clothes. Jesus
It says in Genesis that when God created Adam, Adam was naked and felt no shame. He did not feel shame until after he sinned against God. Only then did he make clothing for himself. Clothing is the result of the Fall when Adam first sinned. Clothing covers up, which is what Adam tried to do with his sin. It is what all men do. How perfectly symbolic then that the Savior of sinful men would be stripped naked. How our Substitute would be reduced to nakedness and shame. Just as we have nothing to offer God to cover our sins and we are fully exposed before Him and would be put to everlasting shame the Lord Jesus Christ bore our sins and the shame of our sins when He died naked in public on the cross.
#2: The Drink (v28-29)
Then notice the Drink. The Drink is the 2nd Prophecy fulfilled in verses 28-29 “……” Jesus says “I am thirsty”. And He says this in order to fulfill the Scriptures in Psalm 69:21, which says, “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” This is not the same drink that was offered to Jesus earlier when He first arrived at Calvary. In Matthew 27 and Mark 15 Jesus refused that drink. The reason was that it was a narcotic drink designed to dull the senses and the pain. Jesus was going to turn aside one inch from the pain that awaited Him. He was going to face the full measure of it.
It says that he soldiers used a hyssop plant stalk to lift the sponge. In the OT, the night that God rescued the Jews from Egyptian slavery, He instructed them to take the blood of a Lamb and sprinkle it on the doorframes of their homes. Then, that night, when the angel of death went through Egypt, the Jews would be safe. Exodus 12:22 says the Jews were supposed to apply the blood this way, “Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood and put it on the doorframes.” Jesus is the final Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, who rescues us from sin.
#3: The Death (v30-37)
The third prophecy has to do with the actual death of Jesus. Let’s read verses 30-37.
John mentions 2 prophecies concerning Jesus death. First, none of His Bones will be broken. The reason for this was because of the rules for offering the Passover Lambs. In the OT, the Jews celebrated the Passover by sacrificing a lamb. The bones of that lamb could not be broken (Numbers 9:12). These sacrifices were types of the true Passover Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. And just like all the types, none of Jesus’ bones were allowed to be broken (Psalm 34:20). This explains why God sovereignly prevented Jesus’ legs from being broken by the guards.
The other prophecy John mentions briefly is in verse 37, “They will look on the One they pierced”. This is a prophecy concerning the future. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ occurred so that in the future the Jews will look upon the One they pierced. This comes from Zechariah 12:10, when God says that He Himself was pierced when His representative, Jesus Christ, was pierced. It says, “They [Israel] will look upon me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” This is the future for Israel when the Lord Jesus returns at His 2nd Coming. He will not come in secret, but, in power and glory just as He said He would. Revelation 1:8, also written by John, says, “Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.”
They will mourn because they will realize they have rejected their King. They will mourn because they crucified their Christ. They will mourn because they scorned their Savior. They will mourn because they judged the Judge. They will mourn because they will see they have despised their own God.
But Zechariah says they will look on the One who was pierced. John says they will look on the One who was pierced. Revelation says they will look on the One who was pierced. John the Baptist cried “Look”. Look and Mourn your sins. Look at Him! Look! Look at Him as He carries your sins away. Look at Him as He turns aside the wrath of God from you. Look at Him as He makes atonement for your sins. Look at Him as He gives Himself to save you. Look at Him coming to you so you can go to the Father. Look at Him love you with each agonizing breath. Look to Him upon the cross and believe and you will be saved.
There is nothing for you in all the crucifixions in history but in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ there is for you, salvation. When Jesus said, “It is finished”, he used the Greek word, “tetelestai”. This is a financial word that means, “Paid in full”. When someone made a payment for taxes or anything else and paid off a debt, this word was written across the receipt. It meant that there was no more to be paid. The full payment has been received. “It is finished” means that the payment for our sins has been fully and finally paid for when Jesus died on the cross. There is no more to be paid. There is no more for us to do.
Have your sins been paid in full? Have you had your sins stripped away and been clothed with the righteous clothes of Jesus? Do you trust that Jesus loves you and died for you so that your sins could be forgiven?
What the Jews accomplished in crucifying Jesus was the removal of a threat. But what God accomplished was the removal of our sins.
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