A Mother, a Thief, and a Pharisee
Read John 19: 16-42
Today we are looking at the actual crucifixion of Christ
When I came to seriously consider and study for this message I soon realised there were many ways that I could approach the topic.
I could do a verse by verse exposition and bring out some very interesting facts
The most probable route Jesus took to the cross
All the details about the actual act of crucifixion and what it involved
How many prophecies were fulfilled at the cross
The reason that I believe from this passage that John , disciple of Jesus, may in fact have been his cousin (According to info on Clopas given by Hegesippus a second century palestinian writer)
I could take time to tell you what crurifragium is and why that is relevant to these vss
Give some attn to the ‘blood and water’ reference and ponder over whether it pointed to a pericardial puncture or a post death plasma separation
Or whether or not it was a hyssop branch or in fact a Roman javelin that conveyed the spongeful of vinegar wine to Jesus lips
I could, but I won’t because this passage of all passages is so much more than an academic exercise -
The cross is the climax of Gods redemptive plan, Gods rescue mission for us and everyone else who will hear, understand and respond to it
The whole of scripture preceding this passage is a canvas painting the background of this picture
It is arguably the single most important event anywhere in the bible
The Cross, the heart of the gospel
Adam & Eve Blood and death, the price for sin
Noah Only one way to God
Isaac Give up a cherished son
God Himself will provide a sacrifice
Passover The spotless lamb
Covered by the blood
Snake on the pole Look on the snake and live
As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert so will the Son of Man be lifted up…
Sin offering Sins placed on the goat - scapegoat
Enter the most holy place once a year and not without blood for both his sins and those of the people
Sin is serious - God hates it and it can only be dealt with by death/blood
God requires a sacrifice for sins and we cannot provide it - we cannot afford the price
There is only one way to God
The sacrifice has to be perfect without spot or blemish, in other words, sinless
And God Himself will provide that sacrifice
God provided His own son as a sacrifice and unlike Abraham and Isaac,
this time the hand that dealt the death blow was not stopped,
although there was an army of angels who, at one word from Christ, would have come
down and lifted Christ from that cross, tended Him and taken Him home to heaven.
The price for sin and death has been paid once and for all , completely, done.
Christ died on that cross so that you and I can live, and there is no other way, and God wants you to understand and respond to Christ
How ?
How are we to respond to such an act?
How can I, personally, respond to Christ dying on a cross 2000 yrs ago? …………
Mary
At the foot of the cross are a no. of women, among them is Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Can you imagine how a mother would feel/react watching her son tortured and dying on a cross ? Perhaps only those who are mothers really can….
Perhaps she is recalling the words old Simeon spoke to her, about her son, so long ago;
“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising
of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken
against, so that the thoughts of many will be revealed.
And a sword shall pierce your own soul too.”
So this is the sword that he prophecied about
It is something every mother fears - losing a child and it is a fear that from the moment of Jesus birth was so very real for she would remember fleeing from the terrible anger of Herod in Bethlehem as He sought to destroy her son.
But she would know that it was for this purpose that Jesus, The Christ, was born into this world
Even so she is still a mother, and as she recalls all the times in her life when she would reach out to Jesus, feeding Him as a baby, tending the inevitable wounds and grazes that are part of being a boy, watching him grow to manhood. Wouldn’t it would hurt her deeply to see Him here in a situation that she had no power to protect Him from. Not even wipe the sweat from His forehead or bathe his wounds
What did my son do to deserve this ?
A mothers love that’s why she is there
A Saviours love, that’s why He is
AND YOU?
Maybe your relationship with Christ is something like Marys’ ?
You have known him from your earliest years
And you love Him, you are so close to Him.
His concerns are yours and you know that your concerns matter to Him
You feel this close presence,
you understand that He is your saviour,
you also know that He is your closest friend,
That He has brought you into a relationship with God that is so precious, so intimate.
A relationship that only Christ can provide
This passage embodies the watershed of your entire life.
You are a child of God and Christ did it
A Pharisee (or two)
Then there are the Pharisees, two men, very powerful men who don’t want the body of Christ to be left to the normal fate of the crucified, eaten by wild dogs and vultures and the remains thrown into the local tip.
Both are members of the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish council, one is the foremost Jewish teacher of his time, both are followers of Christ, (but secretly for fear of the Jews)
They came with an amount of spices that would be fitting for a king’s burial for they knew that it was a king that they had come to bury.
They work hurriedly for the sabbath is approaching but without much skill for this is heavy, unfamiliar, unpharisaical work.
No doubt as Nicodemus was involved in this act, he would be recalling many scriptures from his encyclopaedic mind.
As he looks up at the figure of the Lord on the cross he recalls Jesus’ own words to him on that dark night :-
As Moses lifted up the snake in the desert so will the Son of Man be lifted up….
As they gently take Jesus lifeless body from the cross and survey the cruel work of the Roman scourge and beatings and the Jerusalem thorns the words of Isaiah the prophet may come to mind
His appearance was so disfigured
Beyond that of any man
And His form marred
Beyond human likeness-
And perhaps the most convicting
He was despised and rejected by men,
A man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering
Like one from whom men hide their faces
He was despised, and we esteemed him not…..
They were powerful men, respected by their peers, surely they could have done more to prevent this gross injustice
Just as surely in their private thoughts they had come to realise that loving Jesus in private was just another way of despising him and esteeming him not.
BUT they had made a decision, they had come out from the shadows, for their act of kindness toward Jesus, however belated, would bring vitriolic disdain on them from the other Jews, or worse.
When even the disciples were nowhere to be seen, hiding in some safe haven for fear of their lives, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were tending to the burial of their Lord after asking Pilate himself for permission.
And they laid him in a tomb fit for a king
AND YOU?
Is your relationship with God like Nicodemus and Joseph ?
Are you a follower of Jesus, but secretly for fear of……what ?
Unpopularity, ridicule, your parents, your spouse, your children
Are you well thought of, respected, by your peers, maybe even here at church
But in reality you’re just a christian submarine-blowing the tanks and surfacing on Sunday
But spending the rest of the week deep under the surface, rigged for silent running.
And it’s the rest of the week that matters most,
The ones you see at school, at work, at home,
They are the ones who need to see Christ in you.
Make the same decision Nicodemus and Joseph did
It’s not too late to stand boldly, not rudely, but distinctively for Christ
And follow Him regardless of the consequences you may suffer
Because whatever the consequences, they pale into comparison to what Christ suffered for you
The Thief
There were two others crucified with Christ. We are told that they were thieves and unlike Christ were deserving of punishment
There were two different choices made by those two different thieves.
Apart from that we don’t know much about them…what they stole or from whom or why.
But we do know something;. Matthew tells us that both of them joined with the crowd in mocking Jesus
He saved others but He can’t save Himself
He’s the king of Israel! Let Him come down
now from the cross, and we will believe in Him.
He trusts in God, Let God rescue Him now if He wants Him
for He said, “I am the Son of God”…..
In the same way the robbers who were crucified with Him also heaped insults on Him.
And yet perhaps the last kind words that the Lord hears before He dies are spoken not by a religious leader, nor the disciple Jesus loved, not even by His mother standing there at His feet, but by a common thief. A thief who not long before had been hurling insult and abuse at the Lord….
Remember me when you come into your kingdom
What happened? What had taken place in that intervening period that so changed a man from a foul mouthed thief into a follower of Christ?
Just Christ Himself
That thief, in the midst of unspeakable pain, struggling for each breath, standing in the very doorway of death, saw Christ
While that thief was at the lowest ebb tide of His life, no doubt feeling very sorry for himself and fearful, he saw Christ
And what he saw Christ do and heard Christ say was enough break through the defences of even a criminal such as himself
As he was feeling sorry for himself, probably feeling angry and bitter, he watched Jesus
make arrangements for his mothers care
forgive those who had placed Him on that cross
saw darkness come over the land for three hrs, knowing that somehow that was
part of this event
and talk to God as if He knew Him , as if He was His Father
And He knew there was something different about Christ, that He was more than he was, that Christ somehow had the capacity to save Him from this hopeless situation and he needed saving.
So it was that at the very end of his life he called out to Christ
“Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom”
And he experienced the immeasurable comfort of the Lords reply
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise”
I wonder if he heard the Roman Centurion say what He had come to believe himself
“Surely this Man was the son of God” …..You got that right brother….
What about you? (Illustration?)
CONCLUSION
A bitter - sweet event, the ultimate paradox, can we in any way empathise with John as he records this memory? So poignant, so real ….can we to the smallest extent appreciate the depth and range of emotions evoked as he carefully pours onto the page recollections that are indelibly etched into his brain, broadcast across the window of his mind every day of his life.
Forever before his eyes he sees His Lord naked and bleeding, dying the death of a criminal, on a filthy Roman cross.
What would you and I do with memories like that ? Repress them? Go and see a grief counsellor about them?
I wonder if I wouldn’t spend a lot of time thinking:-
If only I had stayed awake in the garden, defended Him to the death, even stopped Him from going up to Jerusalem at all.
If only I had listened more closely to all those predictions He made about His impending death that I only in hindsight realised weren’t predictions but prophecies,
If only I could have prevented His death……..
But you know John wouldn’t have thought like, that because John understood.
John understood that if somehow he could travel back in time and live that event over again, he would not change a single, solitary thing.
Not because he was a coward - the last half century had been lived with the prospect of an ugly death hanging over his shoulder and John hadn’t wavered
Not because it wasn’t a tragic injustice - it was the worse injustice ever perpetrated by man.
Not because it wasn’t painful to him-surely the pathos would move such a tenderheart as John to tears.
No John would leave the events of that day so long ago in Jerusalem unchanged quite simply because He understood not only what happened that day but most importantly why it happened , why it had to happen, why that was the only way that God could make peace with man.
Without Christ dying on that cross neither John nor any other person would have any hope, at any time, ever.
And what you and I think, what you and I believe about Christ dying on that cross determines where we will spend forever
