John chapter 19, verse 17. We'll give everybody
a second to turn to that. We're going to look
at a few other passages of Scripture today, but
we'll put those up on the screen as we go through.
If you don't catch any of them or want to know
what they are, feel free to ask me afterwards.
I'll be glad to tell you any of them that you
might miss along the way. But we're going to
get started in John 19 and just kind of grasp
what's going on. If you didn't know, today is
Easter. It's a day that we celebrate and just
remember that Jesus died on the cross for us.
Maybe all of you know that truth. I hope you
do. But if you don't, I want you to know that
truth today. The Scripture says we're all sinners,
and the wages of our sin is death. And there's
nothing we can do to earn God's grace, but God
loved us so much that in spite of our sinfulness,
He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for
us. that his life was given to pay the price
for our sins, to cover our sins. And after he
was hung on a cross, he was placed in a tomb,
and he was raised three days later. And he has
victory over sin and victory over death. And
we too gain that victory when we put our faith
in what Jesus has done. And that's why we are
here today. We, of course, celebrate that every
day. But Easter is a time that we just continue
to remember. what Jesus has done, and to refresh
ourselves of the humble sacrifice that he has
made for us. So let's read through John chapter
19, starting in verse 17. We'll read through
this whole passage for a few verses here, and
then we'll pray, and we'll get started. Carrying
his own cross, he went out to what is called
Skol Place, which in Hebrew is called There they
crucified him and two others with him, one on
either side with Jesus in the middle. Pilate
also had a sign lettered and put on the cross.
The inscription was, Jesus the Nazarene, the
King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this
sign because the place where Jesus was crucified
was near the city. And it was written in Hebrew,
Latin, and Greek. So the chief priest of the
Jews said to Pilate, don't write the king of
the Jews, but that he said, I am the king of
the Jews. Pilate replied, what I have written,
I have written. When the soldiers crucified Jesus,
they took his clothes and divided them into four
parts, a part for each soldier. They also took
the tunic. which was seamless, woven in one piece
from the top. So they said to one another, Let's
not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who
gets it. They did this to fulfill the scripture
that says, They divided my clothes among themselves,
and they cast lots for my clothing. And this
is what the soldiers did. Standing by the cross
of Jesus were his mother, his mother's sister,
Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he
loved standing there, he said to his mother,
Woman, here is your son. Then he said to the
disciple, Here is your mother. And from that
hour the disciple took her into his home. After
this, when Jesus knew that everything was now
accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
he said, I'm thirsty. A jar full of sour wine
was sitting there, so they fixed a sponge of
sour wine on hyssop and held it up to his mouth.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said,
It is finished. Then bowing his head, he gave
up his spirit. Let's pray. God, we come to you
this morning. We thank you for your good word,
dear Lord. I pray, God, that you would help us
to... Just take a moment to be free of the worries
and the distractions and the stresses of this
world. Dear Lord, maybe for some of us, we've
heard this passage many times. Maybe for others,
God, that are here or listening online, maybe
they've never heard this passage before. Dear
Lord, I pray that today that all the glory would
go to Jesus Christ for what he has done. Dear
Lord, that we would know today that there is
hope. That we have reason to rejoice. I pray
that your Holy Spirit would just help us, God,
to listen. That you would speak to our hearts
today, God. Meet us where we are. You know what
our struggles are. You know what our needs are.
And I pray today, God, that we would rejoice
in you. That we would know what Jesus has done
for us. And that we would accept that. And I
ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Jesus
had lived a beautiful life. We don't know much
about the early years of Jesus' life apart from
his birth and one little incident when he was
a child. But other than that, we really don't
know anything about Jesus' life until he was
about 30 years old. And it's at this point that
Jesus began to really fulfill the mission that
he had come for. Jesus is the Son of God. And
Jesus had come to... To do something that no
one else could do. God had some instructions.
He had some commands that he commanded his people
for a long time. And as humans, they completely
failed. And you and I get that. There are things
that we know we shouldn't do and we just fail.
We do them. And God knew that we were incapable
of living up to all of his commands. And so he
sent one who was capable. He sent his own son,
and Jesus lived a perfect life, a sinless life.
And Jesus came onto the scene, and he began to
preach to the people that the kingdom of God
had come near, and he began to preach and teach
in such a beautiful way that all of those who
heard it, that were willing to pay attention,
knew that there was something so unique and so
different about what Jesus taught. And so for
three years plus, Jesus taught people. And tried
to point them into what really mattered to God.
And really the whole ministry, the whole message
of Jesus is summed up in this. That he calls
us to love God with all of our heart and to love
our neighbor as ourself. That's really what Jesus
wants us to focus on. And all the other things
that God desires of us will fall into place.
If we love God first and we love others like
ourself, then... Man, things will be good, but
the problem is too many times we don't love God
with all of our heart. We love other things.
We don't love other people. Sometimes we hate
them. Man, that causes a lot of conflict in the
world. And so Jesus gives us an easy command
to read and understand, but it's sometimes hard
for us to do that. Jesus preached the message
so beautifully, and he had his apostles that
he had poured into. And really had showed them
all kinds of miracles and teachings that he wanted
them to carry on after his death. And Jesus came
to a point where his mission was soon to come
to an end. And he knew what that end was going
to be. He knew that the end of his mission would
be to give his life as a sacrifice for you and
I. Because Jesus looked at us. He said, man,
those folks are in trouble. They do some pretty
wicked stuff. They are sinful and they lie and
they cheat and they steal. And they are doomed
to hell apart from me. And Jesus looked out,
he saw us and all the other humans, all of humanity.
And he said, this is on me to do this because
no one else could be a perfect sacrifice. And
here we see in this recounting of the story that
after Jesus had... preached and taught all that
he was going to preach and teach the time came
that he was going to have to give his life as
a sacrifice and he was arrested in the middle
of the night he was taken before the religious
leaders and given a mock trial and they could
find nothing against Jesus nevertheless their
heart was already set that they wanted Jesus
to die And so they sent him to Pilate. And Pilate
couldn't really find any wrong in Jesus either.
But nevertheless, the crowds yelled all the more,
crucify him, crucify him. And so eventually Jesus
was handed over to him. A crown of thorns was
placed on his head. He was beaten and he was
mocked. He carried his own cross down the road.
Eventually he came to the place of his crucifixion.
The Son of God crucified between two criminals.
Many who hated him stood there and watched. Some
who loved him stood there and watched as well.
Some cheered on his death. Others mourned the
suffering that he was experiencing until the
time come that he breathed his last breath. Now,
if you've never read the gospel accounts of this
story, I would encourage you to do that. Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John all cover these events and
the events leading up to the crucifixion and
the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And each bring
about various details. But it's good for us to
look at these stories and to ponder these stories
and to think about what Jesus has done for us.
Now, as I read through these gospel accounts
this week, there are lots of questions that are
asked throughout these gospel accounts. Lots
of questions who are asked by a variety of characters
in this account. And I think some of those questions
are relevant to you and I today. Some of the
questions that are asked in the story. leading
up to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus
Christ, I believe are good for us to think about.
There's a few questions that are in these stories
that I want to ask you today. The first of which
comes from Matthew chapter 26, verse 50. The
time had come for Jesus to be handed over and
to be betrayed. And Judas, a disciple of Jesus,
had decided in his heart he had let the devil
get the best of him. And for a few pieces of
silver, he had decided to betray Jesus. And so
in the middle of the night, as Jesus was in the
garden and praying, here comes Judas with all
of the soldiers. And when Jesus sees Judas, he
doesn't say, you betrayer. You evil apostle.
How could you do this to me? He doesn't say that.
Instead, Jesus asked him a question. He said,
friend, why have you come? Friend, why have you
come? Perhaps that's a good question for you
and I to think about today. Jesus is a friend
of sinners. Even a sinner like Judas who betrayed
him. Yet Jesus still calls him friend. And he
says, why have you come? Well, what about you
this morning? You may be a sinner. You may be
as rotten in Judas in many ways. But Jesus still
died on a cross so that you could be forgiven.
Why have you come this morning? Did you come
just because it's Easter and you say, well, I
need to come at least once a year? Did you come
because your parents made you? Did you come doubting
that Jesus was the Messiah? Did you come wondering
if he was the Messiah? Did you come to rejoice
in him or did you come to reject him? Why have
you come? Judas has the same choice. He had the
same choice as every one of us today. He came
before Jesus. He could have rejoiced in Jesus.
And instead of rejoicing after seeing all that
Jesus had done, Judas came to reject Jesus. What
about you today? Why have you come? In John chapter
18, verse 17, we see another question. Perhaps
you remember this story. Peter, one of the closest
apostles of Jesus, who was pretty bold, said,
Jesus, I'll never leave you. I'm never going
to give up on you. If I have to die, I'll die
with you, he said. And then the first opportunity
that came along, he fled. All of the apostles
fled Jesus after he was arrested. And Peter,
standing there at a distance, was watching his
mock trial as it was going on. And Peter loved
Jesus. He loved Jesus. He was so bold for Jesus.
He didn't doubt for a second that he was the
Messiah. He knew that Jesus was the Son of God.
And yet in the moment, In the moment when things
got tough, he was asked a question. And the question
we see in John 18, 17, you aren't one of this
man's disciples too, are you? That's a good question
for us to answer today. What about us? Are we
willing to take a stand for the Lord and to live
for the Lord boldly? If that question is asked
to us today, what is our answer to that question?
Are we going to answer and say, yes, I'm a follower
of Jesus Christ? Or perhaps we don't. Perhaps
we are as weak as Peter. And Peter was asked
three times if he was a follower of Jesus Christ.
And all three times, he completely... denied
Jesus. You aren't one of this man's disciples
too, are you? It's a question that we have to
answer today. Do you trust Jesus? Do you follow
Jesus? Maybe, just maybe if we're honest, there
are times in our life that we too have denied
Jesus. By our actions, by our words, by the things
that we have done, we have denied Jesus. Who
Jesus is. Maybe today some of us can relate to
Peter. Peter felt so ashamed. After he had denied
Jesus, he wept. He wept because he knew that
he had denied the Savior of the world. He was
so ashamed and he was so torn up. And maybe some
of you come here today and... Maybe the answer
to that question is that you've denied Jesus.
And maybe you feel the shame of that. But the
good news is Peter was restored. Just as you
and I can be restored as well. In John chapter
18 verse 38, another question we see in the story.
From Pilate. Pilate was the one that Jesus had
gone before. And Pilate really didn't find any
fault with Jesus. Now, I'm not implying that
Pilate was a good guy, but Pilate, he didn't
find any fault with Jesus, and he tried his best
to talk the Jewish people from crucifying Jesus,
but they wouldn't hear to it. And as he was talking
back and forth to Jesus, Jesus told Pilate that
he had come to speak truth, to which Pilate...
responded with the question what is truth perhaps
that is a good question for us to ponder today
what is truth now our world will tell us that
just about anything can be true our world will
say truth is what you want it to be if you believe
something somebody else doesn't agree with they'll
say well that's your truth but this is my truth
But that's not the way truth works. We don't
get to determine what truth is. There is truth
and there is a lie. And the truth is Jesus Christ.
He is the way, the truth, and the life. No one
comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.
And maybe there are some of you here today, and
just like Pilate, you're asking yourself, you
see all the struggles and the pain and all the
things you hear in this world, and you say, what
is true? What is truth? I don't know what to
believe anymore. Well, I can only tell you one
answer to that question, and that is that truth
is Jesus Christ. That is the only truth that
will give you hope, that will give you strength.
That is the only hope that will get you through.
And that is the truth of Jesus Christ. The next
question we see in Matthew chapter 27, verse
17. Pilate is before the crowds. It's a custom,
it says in the scripture, that a prisoner would
be released to the Jewish people, one of their
people. And Pilate was just going to release
Jesus. He couldn't find any wrong in Jesus. And
so he asked the people this question. He says,
who is it you want me to release for you? Barabbas
or Jesus who is called Messiah? Now when we look
in the scripture, we see that Barabbas was a
bad guy. It says he was part of a rebellion and
he was a murderer. And so on one side of Pilate,
You have a murderer. You have an evil man. On
the other side of Pilate, you have Jesus Christ,
who is without sin, who is full of love and grace
and compassion, who has taught people, who has
fed people, who has healed people and raised
people from the dead. And there that day the
crowd stood, and all in the crowd, Had a choice.
You can choose the son of God. Or you can choose.
The sinful man. And Pilate says. Who do you choose?
Who do you choose? Jesus or Barabbas? And that
day. The crowd chose. Sinful. Evil. Barabbas.
Now we weren't in the crowd. That day. But perhaps
that question is in some way relevant to us.
Who do you choose today? What do you choose today?
The choice is before us today. Will we choose
Jesus and the ways of Jesus or will we choose
sin? And if we're honest with ourselves, sometimes
we choose sin. Sometimes we see Jesus before
us. We see the words of Scripture before us.
And we choose what is evil and sinful. What would
we have said if we were in the crowd that day?
Would we have been those in the crowd that day
mourning for Jesus? Or would we have been those
in the crowd that day yelling crucify him with
all the rest? Perhaps there are times in our
life. Too many times that we have chosen the
sinful choice instead of choosing Jesus. Luke
chapter 23, verse 40. Jesus has made his way
to the cross and the scriptures tell us that
Jesus is crucified between two criminals. And
one gospel account shows both of the criminals
mocking Jesus, but at some point, There had to
have been a change at heart because by the time
we get to this account in Luke, we see that one
of the criminals now recognizes that Jesus is
the Messiah. And one criminal, he kind of appeals
to Jesus. He says, hey, if you're the Messiah,
get yourself down and get us down too. Now, he
doesn't really have any desire to follow Jesus.
He doesn't really care about Jesus. He cares
about himself. Hey, get yourself down. And while
you're at it, get us down too if you're that
good. And when the criminal makes this response,
the other criminal says to him in Luke 23, 40,
Don't you even fear God? Don't you have enough
respect for God? Don't you know that this is
the Messiah? Don't you fear God enough that you
don't speak this way? The criminal said, look,
you and I, we deserve what we're getting, but
this man doesn't deserve this. Now, I don't know
what had changed on the cross between the point
that both criminals were mocking Jesus to the
point that this man had recognized that Jesus
was the Son of God, but he recognized that Jesus
was the Son of God, and there should be a certain
fear that comes there. And he said, don't you
even fear the Lord? That's a good question for
us to think about in our life. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If we fear the
Lord, that impacts how we live, the choices we
make, whether we're going to pay attention to
what he says or not. Those who don't fear the
Lord, they don't care about the Lord's words.
They don't care about the Lord's commands. They
just continue to mock God. They don't care about
God. But this one criminal on the cross throughout
the whole story, this is about the only friend
Jesus had. This is the only one who'd speak up
for him. One of his disciples betrayed him. The
other one denied him. Pilate didn't see any fault
in him. But the only person that I find in this
story that speaks up for Jesus is this man on
the cross, a criminal, a sinner. And he has something
in his life that he recognizes. Wait a minute.
This man is the son of God. I fear him enough
to at least stand up and speak and acknowledge
that here. And he asked the question, don't you
even fear the Lord? When you read these scriptures,
when you see the story of Jesus Christ, when
you read the words of God, do you fear God? Because
the scripture calls us to fear him and keep his
commands. And this criminal got it. He got it.
He understood. And Jesus said, I assure you today,
you will be with me in paradise. Here in the
last minutes, hours of this man's life, he understood
the truth of who Jesus is. I don't know how many
minutes or hours or days or years you got left.
But it's not too late today. If you hear the
gospel of Jesus Christ, you have a choice. Will
you be the sinner that just rejects Him and mocks
Him? Or will you be the sinner that humbles himself
before Him? It's not too late today. Don't you
even fear God? Matthew 27, verse 46. Jesus speaks
to God here. And he says, my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? Jesus had been a humble
servant from beginning to the end. His goal was
to do the will of God. Even in the garden, he
prayed, God, if there's any way that I can avoid
this that's about to happen, let this cup pass
from me. But if not, dear Lord, not my will be
done, but thy will be done. And here in this
moment, Jesus had suffered greatly by this point,
greatly. And I suspect he felt alone and afraid.
And Jesus asked the question, my God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? And perhaps you have
asked that same question. Now you haven't been
nailed to a cross. But your life is hard. And
there are things in your life that are so hard,
that are so unfair. Things that have hurt you
and brought pain to you. That are struggles.
That have gone on for days and weeks and months.
And it just seems like God doesn't care or God's
not listening. And maybe you've uttered this
same question. God, where are you? Why have you
left me? But I want you to know today that God
has not forsaken you. He has not forsaken Jesus
Christ, and He has not forsaken you. In the midst
of your greatest suffering, you need to know
that God loves you and that He cares for you.
And the same God that raised Jesus Christ from
the grave after this event is the same God that
we come and worship today. If you ask that question,
why, God, have you forsaken me? I want you to
know today that God is with you. I'm not telling
you that your situation is going to get instantly
better. I'm not telling you it's all going to
go away, but I'm telling you the same God that
gave Jesus Christ the strength to fulfill his
mission will give you the strength to fulfill
your mission. And when all is said and done,
even if your mission ends in death, That God
will not forsake you to the grave, but He will
raise you up if you would trust in His Son, Jesus
Christ. In Luke 24, verse 38, after Jesus' crucifixion
and resurrection, He's raised from the dead.
He appears to those who loved Him, who were close
with Him. And He asked them this question. Why
are you... Troubled? Why are you troubled? It's
a good question for us to answer today. Why are
you troubled? Are you troubled because your bank
account's a little low? Are you troubled because
a child's about to move to college, you don't
know what you're going to do? Are you troubled
because of sickness in your life? Are you troubled
because of marital problems or stresses at work?
What troubles you? Jesus asked the disciples,
why are you troubled? Jesus had helped the lame
to walk and made the deaf to hear and caused
the blind to see and raised the dead to life.
And Jesus himself had been crucified and resurrected.
And Jesus is like, you've seen me do all these
things. You were with me for all these years.
I told you what was going to happen. And here
I am. I've conquered the grave. I've conquered
the... conquered death. Why are you troubled?
I'm here. I'm proof that Jesus offers victory.
I'm proof that the Lord gives victory to those
who would trust in him and those who would trust
in me. So Jesus says, why are you troubled? And
maybe that's a good question for us to answer
today. No, I'm not saying the things you're going
through aren't serious. I know they are. I know
that our struggles are tough and it's hard for
us not to worry. It's hard for us when we're
not sure where the next meal is going to come
from or what the next doctor's visit is going
to say or what the next treatment is going to
be like or what tomorrow is going to hold. But
Jesus says, don't worry about tomorrow because
today's got enough trouble of its own. Jesus
is going to take care of us. The Lord is going
to take care of us. Why are you troubled? If
you've read the story of the gospel, if you've
read the story of the resurrection, God has raised
Jesus Christ from the grave. He's conquered sin
and death. That's our biggest foe. If God has
conquered that for us through Jesus Christ and
we trust in him, then why are we troubled? In
John 21, verse 16, there's one final question.
Before Jesus ascended to heaven to sit at the
right hand of God, Jesus had appeared a few occasions
to his apostles and to others. But at the end
of John, we see a beautiful story. We see a story
of Peter who had denied Jesus three times and
he was pretty tore up about it. But Jesus was
so gracious to him. And Jesus asked Peter three
different times, Do you love me? Do you love
me? What a beautiful question for us to consider.
That's the question that matters the most. You
come here today and hopefully you've heard the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you've seen
the love of Jesus Christ. Hopefully you know
that He is the Son of God. He was nailed to a
cross. He gave His life for you and I and God
raised Him from the dead. And if you would come
to him and put your faith in him and you would
trust him today, your sins would be forgiven.
And your life may not instantly just get easier,
but man, you'll feel a joy that you've never
felt when you know that Jesus Christ loves you
enough and he's taking care of your sins. He'll
give you a strength that you can't imagine. He'll
give you a peace even in the midst of your horrible
circumstances. He'll help you out. That's the
truth of the gospel. That is the truth. That's
the only truth that there is in this world today.
You can't believe much of what you see and hear
these days. But you can believe the truth of
the gospel of Jesus Christ and the word of God.
You can believe that truth. And Jesus asked Peter,
do you love me? And Peter has seen everything
that you and I can see in the scripture plus
more. He had seen Jesus' work. He had heard Jesus'
message. He had seen Jesus resurrected. Did he
love him? And Peter said, all three times he
was asked, yes, Lord. You know that I love you.
What about you today? Do you love Jesus? Will
you be one like Judas who just... gives up on
Jesus. Maybe you're like Peter and you've denied
Jesus in some way in your life. I want you to
know there's restoration. Maybe you're searching
for truth. I want you to know that Jesus is the
truth. Do you love him? I want to tell you today
that Jesus loves you. Greater love has no man
than this that one would lay down his life. For
his friends. And Jesus. Is a friend of sinners.
And that's you and I. So friend. Why have you
come here? Friend why have you come here? Well
I hope you've come. To draw near to the kingdom
of God. To enter into the kingdom of God. Do
you love Jesus? That is a question. That you
will have to answer today. But know this. Jesus
loves you. Let's pray. God, we come to you today.
We thank you for your good words. We thank you
for Jesus Christ. We thank you that we can be
forgiven of our sins, dear Lord. I pray that
you would help us as we look at this story and
ponder some of these questions, God. That we
would not be those who betray you and reject
you and deny you. We would be those who seek
you and believe that you are. The truth, dear
Lord. God, maybe there are some here today and
they're like Peter and they've done some things
that they're really ashamed of. I pray that they
would come to you today and that they would seek
you and know that you love them if they would
just repent and come before you. Maybe there
are some here today and they've never trusted
in Jesus Christ. I pray today that they'd know
who he is and put their faith in him. And I ask
these things in Jesus' name. Amen.