At the cross, At the cross …
Study No. 30 chapter 19
16 ¶ Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified – 18
All of the Old Testament, specifically, all of the sacrifices, all of the symbolism of the tabernacle, all of the preaching of the prophets were rooted in the coming of the Messiah. Even though the writers did not understand the importance of the ‘shadows’, as we look back we can see that Jesus ‘stood as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8)
This is the one purpose for which he came, (Mt 20:28 "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.")
The Apostle John has been leading up to this from the beginning of the gospel. And yet, for all of that, the crucifixion event is summed up in three short verses. Perhaps it is an act of grace on God’s part that we have been spared from the details.
For our study of this chapter we will focus on the sum of Jesus’ words while on the cross.
(1) Lu 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
This may be the only incident in which we see Jesus (God) forgiving someone without their having had to ask for forgiveness. We must ask,
a) Would it have been any different if ‘they knew exactly what they were doing’?
b) How is this similar to, and how is this different from Stephen’s prayer for his murderers? Ac 7:60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
c) What is Jesus teaching us to do in Matt 6:12? Answer: He is teaching us to ask Him for forgiveness. What is to be understood is, We ask … He forgives … provided we have first forgiven others (when they ask … implied)
Some have taught that the death of Jesus on the cross effected forgiveness for the whole world. If this is true, then all have been forgiven (without their having had to ask) and the whole world is saved and going to heaven. A technically more accurate view is that the sins of the whole world were PAID FOR on the cross but that forgiveness must be ‘granted’ before it is effective. In this context we come to understand that God has granted to us a very special privilege and power. We can ‘release’ people from sins they commit against us. If and when they ask … we MUST forgive. If they don’t ask … we MAY forgive anyway, thereby releasing them from their offence against us. This is what Jesus was teaching in John 20:23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the [sins] of any, they are retained." By the way, what is the purpose in ‘retaining sins’?
(2) Lu 23:43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
Jesus takes the time to listen to and comfortingly assure a dying thief of a blessed eternity. In so doing he has lifted the veil so that we can briefly see beyond our present existence and into the unseen realm. Today you will be with me in Paradise … not in three days after I rise from the dead, you and I will be in Paradise. Nor did Jesus say, today you will be in paradise and I will join you in three days after I rise from the dead.
So where did Jesus go the moment he ‘gave up the ghost’?
Mt 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
So, it is not hard figure out that Paradise was in ‘the heart of the earth’. This agrees with the language Jesus used when he told of a rich man who died and also of a beggar by the name of Lazarus who also died. The scene is one of serenity and safety (Abraham’s bosom) and one of intense heat and torment (Hades) Luke 16:19-31
Is Paradise still ‘in the heart of the earth’? No. Jesus took all the waiting believers from the waiting place in the heart of the earth and removed them to heaven. When? Shortly after his resurrection.
John 20:17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and [to] My God and your God.’"
Eph 4:8 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
(3). Jn 19:25 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.
Not only did Jesus care for a dying thief, he cared also about the well being of his mother. If His stepfather, Joseph were in the picture Jesus would not have made these arrangements. Jesus is fulfilling the law which says, Honor your father and your mother. Jesus is Mary’s firstborn and therefore this obligation fell upon Him. He honors it even in his own intense pain and suffering. What does this say to us about shouldering our responsibilities at all times, even when it is painful and difficult for us to do so. In this our Father is well pleased.
(4) Mt 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
This would be 3pm in our western method of reckoning time. There has been darkness for the previous three hours over the cross and perhaps over Jerusalem and perhaps in the entire hemisphere where the sun would normally have been shining. This is a ‘visual’ depiction’ of the desertion of the Father.
Why did God forsake His Son? Was Jesus only ‘feeling’ deserted? No, this is what is meant by Isa 53:4 ¶ Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
The fact that God ‘deserted’ His Son …is part of the punishment of sin which Jesus bore for us. Probably the greatest pain of all is the pain of separation from God. It is beyond all imagination what it would be like to suffer the separation from God … forever and ever.
(5) Jn 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"
The soldiers parted Jesus’ garments and gambled for the article of clothing that could not be torn … thereby fulfilling a scripture. They did not do it because they were trying to fulfill a scripture. Being Romans they were totally unaware of the scripture. Jesus, on the other hand, could do things ‘that the scripture might be fulfilled’. He would have perfect knowledge of all the scriptures. Knowing that ‘all things were now accomplished’, that is, all prophecies remaining to be fulfilled relating to this crucifixion had indeed now been fulfilled … that is, except one. We read in Psalms 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Having simply said, I thirst, He leaves it to his enemies to do the rest.
(6) John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"
What is finished? All of the prophecies related to this death. But far more than this:
1. The sufferings and agonies endured in redeeming mankind are over.
2. The condescension of Philippians 2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death —even death on a cross!
3. The ENTIRE payment in full for sin is finished. Col 2:14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
4. It was now complete and official: Jesus had said to Philip, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me. As the song title declares: Jesus is the ‘way-maker’ and I know He made a way for me!
(7) Lu 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’" Having said this, He breathed His last.
It is as though He had the divine ability to ‘dismiss’ His spirit at will. And perhaps being God in the flesh, this indeed was the case. It certainly makes sense that He would do it at this time … all things are now accomplished … or fulfilled, so why wait. His longing heart desired to be back in His Father’s house. In the next instant, He would be free from all of human weakness and especially from the shame and pain of this horrible death. He would be in Paradise. He would sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and rejoice with them.
We close this study by reading Isaiah 53:4 – 12
He was ‘made sin’ for us.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
16 ¶ Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified – 18
All of the Old Testament, specifically, all of the sacrifices, all of the symbolism of the tabernacle, all of the preaching of the prophets were rooted in the coming of the Messiah. Even though the writers did not understand the importance of the ‘shadows’, as we look back we can see that Jesus ‘stood as a lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8)
This is the one purpose for which he came, (Mt 20:28 "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.")
The Apostle John has been leading up to this from the beginning of the gospel. And yet, for all of that, the crucifixion event is summed up in three short verses. Perhaps it is an act of grace on God’s part that we have been spared from the details.
For our study of this chapter we will focus on the sum of Jesus’ words while on the cross.
(1) Lu 23:34 Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
This may be the only incident in which we see Jesus (God) forgiving someone without their having had to ask for forgiveness. We must ask,
a) Would it have been any different if ‘they knew exactly what they were doing’?
b) How is this similar to, and how is this different from Stephen’s prayer for his murderers? Ac 7:60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin." And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
c) What is Jesus teaching us to do in Matt 6:12? Answer: He is teaching us to ask Him for forgiveness. What is to be understood is, We ask … He forgives … provided we have first forgiven others (when they ask … implied)
Some have taught that the death of Jesus on the cross effected forgiveness for the whole world. If this is true, then all have been forgiven (without their having had to ask) and the whole world is saved and going to heaven. A technically more accurate view is that the sins of the whole world were PAID FOR on the cross but that forgiveness must be ‘granted’ before it is effective. In this context we come to understand that God has granted to us a very special privilege and power. We can ‘release’ people from sins they commit against us. If and when they ask … we MUST forgive. If they don’t ask … we MAY forgive anyway, thereby releasing them from their offence against us. This is what Jesus was teaching in John 20:23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the [sins] of any, they are retained." By the way, what is the purpose in ‘retaining sins’?
(2) Lu 23:43 And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."
Jesus takes the time to listen to and comfortingly assure a dying thief of a blessed eternity. In so doing he has lifted the veil so that we can briefly see beyond our present existence and into the unseen realm. Today you will be with me in Paradise … not in three days after I rise from the dead, you and I will be in Paradise. Nor did Jesus say, today you will be in paradise and I will join you in three days after I rise from the dead.
So where did Jesus go the moment he ‘gave up the ghost’?
Mt 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
So, it is not hard figure out that Paradise was in ‘the heart of the earth’. This agrees with the language Jesus used when he told of a rich man who died and also of a beggar by the name of Lazarus who also died. The scene is one of serenity and safety (Abraham’s bosom) and one of intense heat and torment (Hades) Luke 16:19-31
Is Paradise still ‘in the heart of the earth’? No. Jesus took all the waiting believers from the waiting place in the heart of the earth and removed them to heaven. When? Shortly after his resurrection.
John 20:17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and [to] My God and your God.’"
Eph 4:8 Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."
(3). Jn 19:25 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.
Not only did Jesus care for a dying thief, he cared also about the well being of his mother. If His stepfather, Joseph were in the picture Jesus would not have made these arrangements. Jesus is fulfilling the law which says, Honor your father and your mother. Jesus is Mary’s firstborn and therefore this obligation fell upon Him. He honors it even in his own intense pain and suffering. What does this say to us about shouldering our responsibilities at all times, even when it is painful and difficult for us to do so. In this our Father is well pleased.
(4) Mt 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
This would be 3pm in our western method of reckoning time. There has been darkness for the previous three hours over the cross and perhaps over Jerusalem and perhaps in the entire hemisphere where the sun would normally have been shining. This is a ‘visual’ depiction’ of the desertion of the Father.
Why did God forsake His Son? Was Jesus only ‘feeling’ deserted? No, this is what is meant by Isa 53:4 ¶ Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
The fact that God ‘deserted’ His Son …is part of the punishment of sin which Jesus bore for us. Probably the greatest pain of all is the pain of separation from God. It is beyond all imagination what it would be like to suffer the separation from God … forever and ever.
(5) Jn 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"
The soldiers parted Jesus’ garments and gambled for the article of clothing that could not be torn … thereby fulfilling a scripture. They did not do it because they were trying to fulfill a scripture. Being Romans they were totally unaware of the scripture. Jesus, on the other hand, could do things ‘that the scripture might be fulfilled’. He would have perfect knowledge of all the scriptures. Knowing that ‘all things were now accomplished’, that is, all prophecies remaining to be fulfilled relating to this crucifixion had indeed now been fulfilled … that is, except one. We read in Psalms 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Having simply said, I thirst, He leaves it to his enemies to do the rest.
(6) John 19:30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"
What is finished? All of the prophecies related to this death. But far more than this:
1. The sufferings and agonies endured in redeeming mankind are over.
2. The condescension of Philippians 2:6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death —even death on a cross!
3. The ENTIRE payment in full for sin is finished. Col 2:14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
4. It was now complete and official: Jesus had said to Philip, I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by me. As the song title declares: Jesus is the ‘way-maker’ and I know He made a way for me!
(7) Lu 23:46 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’" Having said this, He breathed His last.
It is as though He had the divine ability to ‘dismiss’ His spirit at will. And perhaps being God in the flesh, this indeed was the case. It certainly makes sense that He would do it at this time … all things are now accomplished … or fulfilled, so why wait. His longing heart desired to be back in His Father’s house. In the next instant, He would be free from all of human weakness and especially from the shame and pain of this horrible death. He would be in Paradise. He would sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and rejoice with them.
We close this study by reading Isaiah 53:4 – 12
He was ‘made sin’ for us.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.