Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals

Reverend Eric Alexander: I suppose most of us have, in some sense, a feeling of reticence even about talking of the things that we are reading of in a passage like this and some of these details. We feel they are perhaps best read over quietly and used as a means of bringing us in a new sense to worship and in thankfulness to God. But they are here given to us in God's providence in scripture for our blessing and benefit, and we need with reverence to ponder them this evening.

Let me just point out to you a little of the background of the narrative of our Lord's crucifixion. The place where He died is described by John both in its Greek and in its Aramaic names, you would notice in verse 17. It's described as the place of the skull, and in Aramaic, that is called Golgotha. We have, of course, added a Latin name, which we get from the authorized version of Luke's gospel in Luke 23:33, where he says the place is called Calvary. Calvary is, of course, simply a Latin word which means skull. And therefore, in every sense, John is explaining to us that this place where Jesus was crucified in some sense bore resemblance, probably in the formation of the rock most people think, to a skull.

The actual site is difficult, if not impossible, to identify. And you will know that there are various places where our Lord's crucifixion is thought to have taken place. One contemporary scholar in the United States has most interestingly, and in my judgment, quite convincingly made a case that it may well be the hill where Abraham came to sacrifice Isaac. You will remember the story in Genesis of how Abraham walked with his only son up that hill, he bearing the wood for the sacrifice. And on the peak of the hill, at the crucial moment, a substitute was found for Isaac.

It would certainly provide a remarkable picture of the Son of God bearing His cross as we read to Calvary. And at the end of His journey, there was no substitute found for Him because He was Himself the substitute lamb. There is undoubtedly significance too in where He hung. In verse 18, we read that "here," that is in Golgotha, "they crucified Him and with Him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle." Now, that highlighted, of course, for those who had eyes to see, the reality of His substitutionary sacrifice. He is there the Savior for others.

Because there on that middle cross, of course, as we learned from our previous study, there ought to have hung another. That cross had been prepared for Barabbas, not for Jesus. And Barabbas and his two companions were waiting for their execution. And here on the cross between Barabbas's two companions, Jesus is occupying his place, dying in his stead. And of course, it is the whole message of Calvary that our Lord Jesus is doing precisely that for all of His people. It is not just Barabbas; Barabbas is indeed only the symbol of the deeper truth that He is there the substitute lamb of God.

And He is fulfilling what Isaiah the prophet had prophesied 800 years before, that He would be numbered with the transgressors. "Here they crucified Him and with Him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle." Now, the cross on which they nailed Him was probably not the shape of the cross to which we are accustomed. It was shaped like a letter of the alphabet. Most people consider now that it was a T-shape. In some cases, it was undoubtedly a Y-shape; in others, the shape of an X. But it was that kind of transverse wooden bar on which our Lord was nailed.

The actual process of crucifixion is one that surpasses probably almost any other form of death for its horrendous pain. Let me read to you an account that is given by someone who is a very accurate student of the times. He says it represented the acme of the torturer's art: atrocious physical sufferings, length of torment, public ignominy, the effect on the crowd gathered to witness the long agony of the crucified.

Nothing could be more horrible than the sight of this living body, breathing, seeing, hearing, still able to feel and yet reduced to the state of a corpse by forced immobility and absolute helplessness. We cannot even say that the crucified person writhed in agony, for it was impossible for him to move. Stripped of his clothing, unable even to brush away the flies which fell on his wounded flesh already lacerated by the preliminary scourging, exposed to the insults and curses of people who can always find some sickening pleasure in the sight of the torture of others, a feeling which is increased and not diminished by the sight of pain. The cross represented miserable humanity reduced to the last degree of impotence and degradation. The penalty of crucifixion combined everything that the most ardent tormentor could ever desire: torture, the pillory, degradation, and certain death, but distilled slowly drop by drop. It was the ultimate form of torture.

Now, the concentration of the narrative is not so much upon the details of the physical anguish of our Lord. There is a sense in which you will notice that a discreet curtain is drawn in so many senses over that. But the focus of all that John is saying to us is upon Jesus. Whoever else is involved in this narrative is really involved in relation to Him and what He is bearing or saying or doing as He suffers. And there are three pictures of Jesus which have profound biblical and theological importance which are here in this narrative. And I think it's important for us to grasp them as we look at this passage this evening.

The three pictures of Jesus, let me tell you first of all what they are and then say a little about each of them. There is first the picture of Jesus, unintentionally I suppose given us by Pilate, as the King of kings. There is then a picture of Jesus that is given from verse 25 as He consigns His mother to the care and love of His disciple, the picture of Jesus as the lover of our souls. And there is thirdly the picture of Jesus as the bearer of our sin. Now, I want us to look at these three things in the rest of our time this evening. Do you notice how there is drawn to our attention both by Pilate and by John the picture of Jesus as the King of kings?

As I say, Pilate probably unintentionally draws our attention to Him in that category. He did write over Jesus's head at His crucifixion, in verse 19, a notice prepared and fastened to the cross which read: "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." The Jews were angry, of course, because that was the one title that they would not have given to Jesus, and they wanted Pilate to change it. But Pilate, stubborn now having given in to them, vacillating so much before, refuses.

And of course, in the providence of God, he wrote more than he knew, and at the same time, he wrote less than he might. He wrote more than he knew, for Jesus was indeed a king, although Pilate was probably indulging a form of cynicism and sarcasm. But he wrote less than he ought, for in fact, Jesus was not only the King of the Jews, He was the King of kings. He was the Sovereign Lord over every detail of what was happening in these incidents, as we'll see in a moment.

If anybody was in charge of this gruesome scene, it was Jesus Himself, reigning, presiding, supervising every detail of what was taking place. Do you see how this emerges in the narrative? One of the strongest indications of it, did you notice while we were reading, is that John is really saying to us that not a single iota of all of this is happening by accident. Not only so, not an iota of it is happening by the will and pleasure of evil men. Notice how he puts it in verse 24, for example. When the soldiers are gambling for Jesus's clothing, they say, "Let's decide by lot who will get this."

And this is what the soldiers did, but the reason they did it, John adds, is this happened in order that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So what they were doing, they were doing not merely of their own volition. They did, of course, bear responsibility for everything that they were doing, but they did it in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. Again in verse 28: "Later, knowing that all was now completed, that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I am thirsty.'"

And in verse 36: "These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: 'Not one of his bones will be broken.'" Why then did they pass by Jesus and break the bones of the others who were being crucified? They would have said to you, simply because He was dead and they were not. John says no, this happened so that scripture would be fulfilled. And another scripture says, "They will look on the one whom they have pierced."

So in the deepest and truest sense, we have a picture here not of the helpless Son of God being buffeted and assaulted and crucified by the hands of evil men. We have the picture of the Son of God, which the early church used to give, reigning from the tree so that the cross became His throne. And He was sovereignly stepping from stage to stage to the moment where He would yield Himself up as an offering for sin. That, of course, is exactly how the New Testament describes to us the death of Jesus. It is not the pathetic and untimely end of an unfortunate victim of circumstances.

Do you remember how the church in Acts chapter four prays over the details of what was happening on that day? Listen to this in chapter four of Acts, verse 27. He has just quoted from Psalm 2: "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed one." Indeed, Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and your will had decided beforehand would happen.

Now, that is how we are to understand the story of the crucifixion, you see. What is happening here is happening because of the decree of the Sovereign Lord of Glory who has brought this to pass. Now, that makes the death of Jesus in our place infinitely more astonishing and mysterious. It is this that injects the mystery into it. This is not merely the kind of crucifixion, you see, that you could have seen at any stage in the history of the Roman occupation of Judea. This is something which the Sovereign Lord Himself has arranged. He is, if you like, the producer of this event. He is the director of this drama. Pontius Pilate and Herod and the Jews and the Gentiles stretched forth their hands to do what you commanded and had decided.

So here is Jesus, the Sovereign Lord, the King of kings. Now will you look with me at the second picture that John focuses for us: Jesus, the lover of our souls. From verse 25, there is this little incident which is really quite extraordinary in so many ways. If you think of it, what is the mark of the majority of people when they are in the last stages of physical weakness and bodily suffering and agony?

The condition that they are in is that essentially and inevitably, they are scarcely able to cope with their own condition, far less to think of anyone else. But have you noticed how Jesus is continually from the cross caring for others? His heart is going out to them to the least likely. You say, well, I could understand Him caring for His mother. So could I. But you know, He began by caring for His tormentors.

As they spat upon Him and insulted Him and lashed Him, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." He cared for the fellow sufferer alongside Him. "Today," He said to him, "you will be with me in paradise." And now here He is displayed to us by John with His heart flowing out with love and care for His mother. Now look at this with me carefully because, as I want to explain to you in a moment, it has multitudes of things to say to you and me this evening. This is not merely an historical incident about the relationship of Jesus with his mother.

He has clearly felt her anguish. You will remember how old Simeon, when He was presented as a baby, and I have little doubt that Mary's mind went back to that, what mother would not have her mind going back to that as she watched her child now matured in this extraordinary situation? And Simeon had said to her, "Yea, and a sword will pierce your own soul also." And here was the sword piercing Mary's soul, and Jesus was doubtless profoundly aware of it in a way that no one else could have been. And He says, as He sees His mother there and John the disciple whom He loved standing by, He makes practical plans of love and care for His mother. "Dear woman," He says, an infinitely better translation incidentally than most of those that seem more abrupt.

"Dear woman," He said, "look at your son." And He is directing her, of course, to John the disciple. "There is your son." And to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And He is making provision for His mother in the home and heart of John the disciple, and from that time on, the disciple took her to his own home. Now, of course, we are meant to learn from that that we are to become like Jesus in His care for His own and not least in His care for a parent. Bishop Ryle has got a beautiful comment on this. He says we should mark the depth and width of our Lord's sympathies and affections. The Savior on whom we are bid to repose the weight of our souls is one whose love passes knowledge.

The shallow, skin-deep feelings of others we all know continually chill and disappoint us on every side in this world. But there is one whose mighty heart affection knows no depth and no end. That one is Christ. Now what's that got to do with us? Well, it has got this to do with us. In Mark chapter three, when they are saying to Jesus, "Your mother and your brothers are outside, Lord," He says to them, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers, and who is my sister? They who do the will of my Father are my mother and my brother and my sister."

Do you see what Jesus is saying? He is, as it were, taking the whole company of His own beloved, obedient people and He is drawing them into the embrace of that quality of love. And that is what it is to be embraced in the love of Christ. My dear friends, do you know this this evening? Do you know what it is in this world so full of selfishness, in this world so full of love that is ersatz and changing, in this world where affections do tend to run skin-deep and briefly, do you know what it is to have the steadfast love of the Lord Jesus Christ that knows neither depth nor measure, enfolding you to His heart that you might experience what it is and say, "What love is this, oh my soul?" John the apostle himself had learned a little of it in his old age when he wrote the first epistle of John. And at the beginning of chapter three, he says, "From what country," quite literally, "from what country is this love of God that He has made us His sons and daughters? What universe does it come from because it is outside of this one altogether?"

And this Savior who loved the mother who bore Him loves with the same love those who are His own. Jesus the King of kings, Jesus the lover of our souls. And finally, do you notice how John draws us to Jesus, the bearer of our sin? It is a remarkable thing that throughout the whole of this narrative, what we're given is the emphasis that everything that is happening to Him is in fulfillment of the scripture. Now, what is the scripture that is being fulfilled in verse 24? The soldiers who decided by lot who would get His seamless robe. This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, and there John quotes from Psalm 22, which you will know is the psalm that contains that cry that escaped from the lips of Jesus, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

It is the habit, of course, in scripture that when a passage is quoted like that, it is not just the immediate verse, but the whole context that is implied. And here John is saying this is what our Lord is doing. He is suffering this indignity, He is bearing this experience of insult and degradation because He is fulfilling the picture of the one described in Psalm 22. And that figure in Psalm 22 is, of course, the figure of the sin-bearing Messiah who cries out from the place of His abandonment, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

He tells us also in verse 36, do you notice, that these things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled, "Not one of his bones will be broken." You know where that comes from? It's from Exodus chapter 12, the account of the choosing of the Passover lamb. And there is a specific instruction about this Passover lamb, of course; it had to be perfect, without blemish and without spot. And one specific thing, its limbs must not be broken. Now John says here is the suffering Savior who is bearing our sin out into the no-man's-land of abandonment in Psalm 22.

Here is the lamb of God slain from before the foundation of the world in Exodus 12. And then in verse 37, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced." And that, of course, is a quotation from Zechariah chapter 12, which describes the suffering Messiah for us. And he says on that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be great like the weeping of Hadad Rimmon. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and will mourn. Now that, of course, is the picture of the Messiah pierced through and through for our transgression. He is the one who is set forth as the bearer of our sin. And when He has accomplished it, He cries out, "I thirst."

Now notice what John says in verse 28: "knowing that all was now completed, that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, 'I thirst.'" You ever thought how amazing that is? That He who called the thirsty to Him and told them that out of their inmost being there would flow rivers of living water, cries out as He gradually experiences the sin of the world being laid upon Him: "I thirst."

There are few things more amazing in all of scripture than this. For one thing, do you remember how Jesus once told a story, one of the most extraordinary stories He ever told, I suppose, of a man who went down to hell? And in Hades, he cried out to Abraham in heaven: "Father Abraham," he said, "send somebody down, send Lazarus over that he may touch my lips because I thirst in this flame." And our Lord Jesus is experiencing all the pains of bearing our sin to the ultimate place of their punishment. "I thirst," He cries.

And then finally, when He had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." That's just one word in the original, and it has a variety of shades of meaning. Some think it means, "It is paid." Some, "It is completed." All the meanings can be gathered together and used to interpret what our Savior was doing. He paid the price of canceled sin. He set the prisoner free. All, all is finished now. What He has accomplished on the cross is a completed salvation. And John says these things are written that you might believe.

As we close, let me be John to you. For these things are written in order that the love of God in Jesus Christ may grip your very being and draw you into His kingdom. Do you know that love this evening? Do you know what it is to have a King in all His glory reigning in your own heart? A lover loving you with an everlasting love? A Savior bearing your sin to the last drop? Jesus is that one. Let us pray.

Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, bearer of our sin, Sovereign Lord in salvation, lover of our souls. We draw near to you and ask that in your mercy, you would draw us to yourself. Touch us, save us, bless us, for your name's sake. Amen.

Mark Daniels: You're listening to Hear the Word of God with the Reverend Eric Alexander, a ministry in the Church of Scotland for over 50 years. To access more Bible teaching from Reverend Alexander, visit hearthewordofgod.org where your generous contribution will help us sustain and grow this ministry. That's hearthewordofgod.org. You could choose instead to mail a check to this address: 600 Eden Road, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 17601. Or call 1-800-488-1888. This program is a presentation of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. I'm Mark Daniels, thank you for listening. Please join us again next time for Eric Alexander and Hear the Word of God.