The Lamb, Slain Part 2

Transcript

Opening

Good morning, friends. Good morning. It’s a joy to worship with you all. As we continue our worship service, we turn our attention to the word of God as we continue our study of John’s Gospel.

Well, friends, if I haven’t had a chance to meet you, my name is Andre. I’m a member here at Trinity Church of Portland. I also serve here as one of the staff pastors. And if you’re visiting us, welcome. We’re happy to have you. We’d love to get to know you, see how we can serve you.

If this is your first time with us, we’ve spent right around the last year or so studying the Gospel of John. And we find ourselves this morning in Chapter 19 of that Gospel. So if you have your Bible, I want to invite you to open it to John Chapter 19. And if you don’t have a Bible, there should be one in the seat in front of you. If you don’t have a Bible at home, we would love to give you that Bible as a gift, encourage you to read it, to heed the words of Scripture, to see the beauty of Jesus and the words written on those pages, and to come to know him and love him as he deserves to be known and loved.

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Scripture Reading

Friends, could I invite you to stand for the reading of God’s Word? And as we did last time, our text this morning is verses 28 through 42, but I want to read the whole crucifixion account for us just for that to be front of mind. So we’ll actually begin reading from verse 16 and read through to the end of the chapter.

16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. 17 So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called the Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic and Latin and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, Do not write the King of the Jews. Rather, this man said, I am the King of the Jews. 22 Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written.

23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier, also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 So they said to one another, Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see whose it shall be. This was to fulfill the scripture, which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. So the soldiers did these things.

25 But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister Mary, the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. 27 Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the scripture, I thirst. 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there. So they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

31 Since it was the day of preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness. His testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth, that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the scripture might be fulfilled. Not one of his bones will be broken. 37 And again, another scripture says, They will look on him whom they have pierced.

38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

This is the word of the Lord, Saints.

Thanks be to God. Please be seated.

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Opening Prayer

Would you join me in prayer?

Father, these words are difficult to read. The suffering of our Lord, the utter humiliation, the pain that he experienced, the fear, the loneliness, so that we might know you, and so that we, in praying to you like we are now, know that we are heard and loved. So Lord, as we study this text, as we look deeper at the suffering of Jesus, may we marvel at your grace, at your love, at your mercy for sinners like us. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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The Lamb Slain for Us

Well friends, as we look back at this awful scene of our Lord being brutally killed on the cross in the place of sinners, we look once again at the Lamb of God slain for you, slain for me. This, the greatest of injustices, the most horrible of brutalities, is also the picture of the greatest act of love the world has ever seen.

Last week we looked at verses 17 through 27 of this chapter where we considered what happened after Jesus’ arrest, after his trial, after his sentencing. We looked at, we considered his suffering leading up to the cross, certainly, but then we looked at his suffering up on that cross as he experienced the type of torment that really none of us could even imagine. We also looked at the fact that his suffering included a humiliation that was comprehensive, a humiliation that was total. From the sign hung above his head, meant to mock him, meant to make him a laughingstock to all the passersby, meant to be a warning. To the criminals to his right and his left, signifying that he’s just like one of them. To him hanging there fully naked, and the soldiers dividing up his clothing as he hangs bloody and bruised. Our Lord’s very humanity was stripped away and he was made to feel like a broken man.

And yet, even in the midst of his suffering, even in the midst of his humiliation, we also saw in our text last week that even while he was hanging on the cross, he looked to his mother. He showed compassion and care. He wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t be alone after he died. And we saw that this care extends to each of us as we are brought into the family of God.

And what we’re seeing in this entire section of John’s Gospel is that Jesus endured hell on our behalf. He stepped into the suffering and the humiliation so that I wouldn’t have to.

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He Died For Us

What our Lord does for us is difficult to really fully comprehend, difficult to wrap our heads around. I think that those of us who’ve been Christians for some time, who’ve read the Bible multiple times, who’ve read these Gospel accounts multiple times, we’ve kind of created these neat little theological compartments. Okay, now we’re talking about the crucifixion. Now we’re talking about the atonement. Now we’re talking about salvation.

But brothers and sisters, he died for us. That’s not a theology to pack away and neatly carry around as we go about our lives. He died for me.

Back when Adam and Eve sinned, they were promised, you will die. That’s the guarantee. That’s the promise of sin. That’s what it brings about. Death, destruction. So how is it that I should have died and yet he died for me?

Friends, that’s not just a theology we hold on to. That’s our very lifeblood. Jesus’ death is the way I get life. He died to give us life. It’s why he came. John 10

, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

He did this willingly. He did this out of a deep love. John 15

, greater love has no one than this, than someone lay down his life for his friends. He not only dies for us, he looks at us and calls us friends.

And so as we study the crucifixion of Jesus these past two weeks, we come to see something that, while very familiar for the Christian, is layered and multifaceted. This text, it’s profound and yet it’s incredibly simple. He dies so that I can live.

We look this morning at the second part of the slaying of the Lamb of God where we see in our text that this work is a complete work. And this is emphasized by our Lord saying at the end of his life, it is finished. Following this, we see his being pierced in verses 31 through 37. And lastly, what we’ll see in our text as we close out this chapter, is the fascinating circumstances surrounding even his burial.

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It Is Finished

So look with me first to these first three verses where we see that it is finished.

In his final moment, knowing that his life was drawn to a close, our Lord thirsts. This to show his humanity in a very real sense. To put on display that this is the God-man. To point also to the broader theme of thirst all throughout Scripture. This theme of spiritual longing. This theme of wanting life that water represents all throughout Scripture. And also to fulfill the Father’s plan as well as to fulfill the many promises throughout Scripture that this is how it would go.

And what was nearby when Jesus thirsts was a cheap wine. Also noted in the text is that this wine was brought up to his lips on a hyssop branch. This is significant because the hyssop branch is part of the sacrificial system of Israel. This was used in the process of bringing sacrifices. This was used in the whole instructions that were given to Israel. This is how you sacrifice. This is how you bring sacrifices for sin. Noted in Exodus to be used during the Passover. Again, further fulfilling the words of Scripture.

And consider this fulfillment in Psalm 69 verses 19 through 21:

You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. My foes are all known to you. Reproaches have broken my heart so that I am in despair. I looked for pity but there was none. And for comforters but I found none. They gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

The continued fulfillment of prophecy in the life and in the death of Jesus. It just happens over and over and over and John is trying to highlight this. Why? So that you may believe. So that you can see that this is the one that was promised. This was the plan all along. This is the one that the Psalms and the Pentateuch and all of the prophets. This is the one that they were pointing to. That they were writing about. This is what every sacrifice was pointing to. So that you may believe.

And so our Lord wants a drink so that he can say this one final thing. And with a little bit of moisture on his lips, Jesus says here what are arguably some of the greatest words recorded in all of Scripture. Without these words we’re doomed. Because if his work is not a finished work we are to be pitied friends.

So our Lord says it is finished. There’s nothing else that can be done to please God. Not a single thing. He isn’t referring to his life being done. He isn’t referring to him coming to the end of his ministry. He’s completed the work that God the Father has sent him to do. And God the Father looks at God the Son and is pleased. He accepts this sacrifice.

What’s translated as it is finished is the Greek word tetelestai. And the root word for that word is the word telos. And this is the word that can be translated as goal or plan or outcome. And what Jesus is saying as he hangs on the cross with the final breath leaving his lungs and as he says this word tetelestai he’s saying the plan has been completed. It is accomplished.

This phrase, this phrase, this is the summary phrase of the whole of Christianity. This is what we hold on to friends. This is all we have. If it’s not finished, what can we possibly do?

No other religion offers this. No other religion gives this hope. No other holy book, no other religious leader, no other man of God gives this hope. It’s only with Jesus.

Hebrews 10

tells us for by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

Well you might ask how is it finished if I’m still sinning, if things are still broken, if everything’s not fixed? Being sanctified and yet perfected. How does that work? Because God accepts this righteous sacrifice, this pure unblemished sacrifice, this spotless lamb and he looks at you and at me as if we were in his place. Can you imagine that? That’s why our Lord says it is finished. All has been done. The cup of wrath has been drunk in its entirety.

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Connection to Psalm 22

During last week’s sermon I mentioned that there are differences and really different emphases in the different Gospels as it pertains to the crucifixion account and I also mentioned Psalm 22 and its importance to understanding the death of Jesus. In this psalm what we see is the piercing of hands and feet. We see the thirst of this one who has his hands and his feet pierced. We see the dividing up of his clothing and casting lots for his clothing. We see this one being despised and mocked and mind you this wasn’t written at the time that John was writing this. This was written in ancient Israel by King David. God giving him these words to look forward to this future sacrifice, this future Messiah, this future promised one.

Moreover as Jesus hangs here naked, bloody, beaten, alone the question inevitably arises is asked in the very psalm how could this be? Is he abandoned by God in his time of immense suffering? This is what the psalmist is asking. This is what everybody’s asking. These people are looking and they’re thinking to themselves I thought he was the one that was called by God. I thought he was the one that was promised. They thought this was the way. How is it that he’s hanging on a cross alone?

And a powerful connection to Jesus in Jesus crucifixion to Psalm 22 is actually seen in another gospel. Matthew chapter 27 verse 46 where Matthew is actually putting this question up on full display. In verse 46 Matthew writes, “and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, my God my God why have you forsaken me?” And this is what the psalmist is asking because this doesn’t make any sense. Jesus cries out why have you left me? Why have you abandoned me? Why am I all alone? This is the cry of a desperate man. This is the cry of a man who’s in agony and yet Psalm 22 doesn’t end with the cry.

How does it resolve? Verse 21 of Psalm 22 “you have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen.” Verse 24 “for he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted and he has not hidden his face from him but has heard when he cried out.”

You see beloved what we see happening on the cross is what looks as though God turns away from his son and abandons him, leaves him all on his own. This is a dark scene but what God does is that God the Father looks at God the Son at his baptism at the Mount of Transfiguration and what does he say to him? What does he say to all who can hear? “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

You see, friends, God was pleased with his son. And here, as he hangs on the cross, as the spotless lamb, the perfect sacrifice, the father is still pleased with his son. The weight of wrath being poured out on him, the agony of holding our sin, this is excruciating for our Lord. He is perfect righteousness embodied, and yet he drinks the cup in its fullness, and in that moment, he feels as if he’s alone. But when he cries out, his cry does not fall on deaf ears, you see, because the father hears him. And most importantly, God accepts this sacrifice.

This is how Jesus can say, Tetelestai, Jesus’ death on the cross is it. It’s all that needed to happen. You don’t earn anything, you don’t work your way to him, he has done it. Our hope is not in what we can do, our hope is in what he has done. And the father looks, and he’s pleased in what he has done. It is finished. Amen? Amen.

These final words of our Lord tells us that our sins have been paid for. We have been made right in God’s eyes if we belong to him. If you are a Christian, you’re good. The father accepts you as if you had lived the life that Jesus lived, and that’s the way that he had, he could pour this wrath out on his son as if it was you hanging in that place.

Charles Spurgeon writes, “the general religion of mankind is due, but the religion of true Christianity is done. It is finished is the believer’s conquering word.”

The tension when we look at the suffering and the ultimate death of Jesus is that, yes, this is horrible, it is ugly, it is evil, and man is doing this to him, and it’s unjust, and it’s wrong, cruel and sinful men murdering an innocent, but the other side of that equation is that this was done to fulfill God’s purpose. Isaiah 53

tells us, “yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him.”

The father accepts the son’s sacrificial work, and in this paradox, does our Lord give up his spirit and bow his head in death?

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The Piercing

But the story continues as we look to verses 31 through 37, where our Lord, after he bowed his head and gave up his spirit, is pierced.

What we see in our text is a staggering picture of religious hypocrisy and blindness. Despite what they’re doing to Jesus, the Jewish religious leaders are still trying to faithfully and dutifully obey the law of God. These pious religious men are careful to obey the rules concerning the Passover. Everything having to do with the Passover, they want to get that right, all the while missing the fact that they’re crucifying the one the Passover was pointing to this whole time.

Because this was the day of preparation for the Passover and the Friday before a Sabbath, the Jews wanted to obey the Mosaic law. They didn’t want dead bodies hanging there during a celebratory religious day. And so they asked Pilate to break the legs of the condemned prisoners, you know, to move things along.

Just look at these upright men, these zealous worshipers of God. In his death, Jesus confronts the same hypocrisy that he confronted during his life. Just look at Matthew 23, verses two through four. “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. These are the words of Jesus. So do and observe what they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.”

This is exactly what’s happening here. They refuse to even lift a finger to deal with Jesus and ask Rome to do their dirty work. And in verses 13 through 36, he says these seven woes to the Pharisees, calling them dead inside, calling their sacrifices and their tithes useless, calling them blind, calling them children of hell.

And you’d think a rebuke like this would at least hold up a mirror for them to look at themselves and to wonder, like, what are we doing? But even after Pilate, a secular politician, mind you, tried to stop them, even after everything pointed to the fact that they were wrong about this Jesus, even after watching him suffering horribly and unjustly and dying righteously and nobly, what do they do? “Hey, Pilate, these bodies are gonna be an unsightly thing for this religious day. Why don’t you go ahead and just break their legs and get this over with?”

This was done so that the person hanging on the cross can no longer push themselves up to get air. Remember, I talked to you guys last time about how there was a platform nailed to the bottom of the cross where the condemned criminal could prop his feet up so that he can push himself just a little bit to get some more air in his lungs. And what happens is when you break the legs, the criminal can no longer do that, and so he suffocates. So this was done to have them suffocate, to kill them a little faster, you know, because they have religious stuff to get to.

When the soldiers came to the crucified criminals to break their legs, first they went to the thief on the one side and then on the other, but when they got to Jesus, he was already dead. No need to break his legs. This then required the piercing of his side, thus fulfilling two prophecies at once, Psalm 34

and Zechariah 12. No bones were broken in our Lord’s body, and he was pierced. God faithfully being true to his word, and Jesus giving up his own life to fulfill the plan yet again.

Remember what he said in John 10

and 18. “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”

Isaiah 53

tells us that “he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. With his wounds we are healed.”

Water and blood poured out. The one that brings living water to the thirsty, the spiritually thirsty, out of his wounds pour water, and the blood that would wash those people clean.

When they pierced his side, it was clear that he did indeed die. This wasn’t a trick. This wasn’t a mistake. The Romans knew how to kill. They knew better than anyone what would happen to them if they didn’t finish the job.

Victims of crucifixion would often be left hanging for days after they died. Again, as a sign to all of those passing by, don’t do this, don’t be like these people. Jesus died much sooner than that. Why? This was God’s timing to accept his sacrificial lamb, this lamb without a blemish, this lamb without a single broken bone. You see, the father accepted the son’s sacrifice and he didn’t want his son to suffer even a second longer than he needed to. He loves his son.

And don’t forget, beloved, as we read all of these details, as we look through the minutia of the actions of the religious leaders, the piercing, the breaking of the bones of the criminals, but not of Jesus, why do we have this account? Why does John include all of these details? Why does he want us to know all of these things? Isn’t it enough just to know that he died for me and that’s it?

Verse 35, “that you also may believe.” And so we look on him hanging there. We look on the one that we have pierced.

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The Burial

Well, this Jesus needed to be buried. You need to get him down from that cross and that brings us to our final section, the burial.

Have you ever wondered why the burial of Jesus is important? Why does the Apostle’s Creed include this fact? It seems like an odd detail to include this fact. We recite it weekly during our covenant renewal. Why do we need to talk about the burial? Isn’t it just the death and the resurrection that are important? Why is the burial important?

Well, when we consider the salvific work of Jesus, we go from humiliation, which is the cross, to exaltation, which is the resurrection. But we don’t often consider that his exaltation actually begins before the resurrection. His exaltation actually begins at his burial.

Do you notice that there’s a shift in the tone of John’s writing here? Everything is very dark, everything is very heavy. Everything is bringing you down into just the horror of this whole scene. And then once it shifts to his burial, the tone shifts.

Consider Isaiah 53, again, verses seven through nine. “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted. Yet he opened not his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shears is silent, so he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment, he was taken away, and as for his generation who considered him, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people, and they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”

That word “although,” in verse nine of Isaiah 53, can actually be translated as “because,” and so because he had done no evil, the suffering servant is buried in a rich man’s tomb. Again, written well before the time of Jesus.

The circumstance of Jesus’ burial depart quite a bit from the normal course of action in the Roman judicial system. There’s a sharp transition between the way he was killed and then the way he was buried.

Now normally, criminals would have been left up there on the cross to rot, and for the crows to kind of fly in and pick at their flesh, and for this again to just be a scene of just the horrors of crucifixion, to communicate a message to all of those watching this whole thing. Or Jewish tradition was such that a family could actually request the body of their relative if he had been crucified, and bury it outside of the city so that the Jewish body wouldn’t be thrown into a fire that was located outside of Jerusalem, which was used to burn the garbage of the city.

This is what Romans would do if nobody claimed the body, if nothing was done with the body, after it had been picked and after it had rotted, they would just throw whatever was left of it into this fire that was burning outside of the city. And this was actually used, this was a really kind of serious message that was communicated to Jerusalem about hell. You see, this fire was called Gehenna, and this was used as a metaphor for hell because it was this fire that was constantly burning, and they would throw these bodies into this fire.

But not Jesus. That didn’t happen with Jesus, because here comes Joseph of Arimathea.

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Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

And Joseph of Arimathea is a really interesting figure. We don’t know much about him, except for the mention of him in the gospel accounts. But Joseph of Arimathea goes directly to Pilate to make this request to get Jesus’ body. And Pilate, maybe to upset the Jewish leaders, to kind of continue to poke and prod them, he allows it.

And this man, we actually read in Luke 23, he was part of the Sanhedrin. He was part of the council. Who was the Sanhedrin? This was the governing body that decided to kill Jesus. He was part of this group. But verse 51 of Luke 23 tells us that he was opposed to this decision. He tried to push back. Why? Well, you see, Joseph of Arimathea was secretly a follower of Jesus.

This Joseph was an upright, a wealthy man, a respected man, one who, in doing this, put his reputation and maybe even his own life at risk by going to Pilate to request Jesus’ body. So he comes out of the shadows after hiding, after following Jesus in secret, after trying to navigate the system, the religious system of, hey, maybe we shouldn’t kill this guy, that seems a little excessive. And he tries to navigate it, and then he comes to this point where he sees his Lord hanging there, and he can bear it no longer. And he’s like, I don’t care what it costs me. I don’t care what they think of me, what they do to me. I want to honor him. He’s done hiding, and he wants to show his love to his Lord.

And who else comes out of hiding alongside Joseph to show honor and love to Jesus? It’s Nicodemus.

Remember Nicodemus? The one from John 3 who was told that if you want to see the kingdom of God, you must be born again, and Nicodemus is confused about this and he’s going back and forth with Jesus, having this conversation, what do you mean, new birth? That sounds crazy.

And our text doesn’t say so explicitly, but it seems that Nicodemus took Jesus at his word and was, in fact, born again. Because he, too, puts his life and his reputation at risk by doing this, this generous and this abundant gift of spices and oils and everything else. This honor bestowed on Jesus, it seems like a gift of gratitude and love from someone who’s received love and mercy from Jesus.

Seems very fitting that when we first met Nicodemus, he was wrestling with this reality that a person must be born again, but here, it seems that he gets it. He comes back into the picture at the point of Jesus’ death, maybe understanding that if someone is to be reborn, it first has to die. He sees it clearly now.

And who is it that cleans and anoints Jesus’ body? Is it his disciples? Is it his friends? No, it’s these two men that spent the majority of his ministry in hiding and following him secretly. These two men of high social status. These two men with everything to lose by doing this. This isn’t normal. This isn’t what important men in this time would do. This was a task relegated to those of a lower social standing or perhaps a relative. Unless, of course, they’ve been born again. Unless, of course, they’ve been changed by this Jesus. They love him and they want to do this thing for him.

After he’s prepared for his burial, we’re told that he’s buried near a garden. You see, our whole story back in Genesis begins in a garden where Adam and Eve sin and everything falls apart. And here, our Lord is laid down near a garden and in just a couple of days, the seed that is laid in the ground near this garden will spring forth life and life abundant. Death in one garden, life near this one.

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The Love of God

As we consider the whole of this account, as we consider Jesus’ immense suffering, his humiliation, his death, his being pierced, I’m faced with the question, as I see this scene unfold and as I see what he went through, I can’t help but ask, how awful and how disgusting must my sin be if this is the only way?

More importantly than the ugliness and the magnitude of my sin, how great must the love of God be if this is what he’s willing to do to save me?

This has always been the plan, beloved. God set out from before the foundation of the world to save his people and the thing is, it always ever was only him. This wasn’t plan B, this wasn’t God adjusting, this wasn’t God changing course, it was always him. Every other sacrifice, every other priest, every other king, every other shepherd, they were all pointing to him. The one whom God has promised, the one he said he would send to be the Messiah, the one who would shepherd Israel and be their king, it was always him.

Zechariah 12

, “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy so that when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, look on me whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn.”

God points here through his prophet to a time when Israel looks back at the one they’ve pierced and looking back, what they see is God himself.

“On that day,” Zechariah 13

, “on that day, there shall be a fountain opened up for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness.”

What is that fountain? That fountain is the very blood of Jesus pouring out from his side, pouring out from his head, pouring out from his hands and his feet, the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

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Living Hope

There’s a beautiful song written by Phil Wickham called “Living Hope.” If you haven’t listened to it, I suggest you listen to it on the drive home. In it, he walks through the gospel and the fact that Jesus Christ is the only possible hope for sinners.

The first verse goes like this:

How great the chasm that lay between us, how high the mountain I could not climb. In desperation, I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night. Through the darkness, your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished. The end is written. Jesus Christ, my living hope.

In the following verse:

Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has spoken. I am forgiven. The King of kings calls me his own, beautiful Savior, I’m yours forever. Jesus Christ, my living hope.

And how is this salvation? How is this rescue accomplished? Well, friends, it’s only if he doesn’t stay dead.

The song continues:

Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe.

The tension and the anticipation is palpable. He will come back. He will live again soon.

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Conclusion

But as we close out our study of John 19, that day is not today. And so they look on him who they have pierced and they lay his body in the tomb, his friends saying goodbye to their rabbi, their friend.

Next Sunday, however, the story changes.

Would you pray with me?

Our King Jesus, our Lord, you are our everything. We marvel at the love, the grace, the mercy that you showed us by dying in our place while we were yet sinners. Lord, we love you and we want for our lives to honor you and to point sinners to you. So help us today, perhaps in a new way, to be amazed the magnitude of your love and light a fire within us to live wholly for your glory and to make you known. King Jesus, we pray these things in your name, for your glory, amen.