Pastor Gideon
We are going to discover what happened 2,000 years ago and why we are now here. We will do something different tonight. I am going to read the whole chapter of John 19. Just close your eyes and listen.
John Chapter 19
The Soldiers Mock Jesus
1 So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. 2 And the soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and they put on Him a purple robe. 3 Then they said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they struck Him with their hands.
4 Pilate then went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.”
Pilate's Decision
5 Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
6 Therefore, when the chief priests and officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him, for I find no fault in Him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”
8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Then Pilate said to Him, “Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?”
11 Jesus answered, “ You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”
12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, “Behold your King!”
15 But they cried out, “Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?”
The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16 Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away.
The King on a Cross
17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, 18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. 19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:
JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.
21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. 24 They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:
“They divided My garments among them,
And for My clothing they cast lots.”
Therefore the soldiers did these things.
Behold Your Mother
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.
It Is Finished
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “ I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “ It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus' Side Is Pierced
31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should 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, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was 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 immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. 36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”
Jesus Buried in Joseph's Tomb
38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being 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 the body of Jesus. 39 And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. 40 Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. 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 there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.
One day a youngster asked his pastor. If Jesus died on Friday, why do we call it good. He went through hell for us. He was flogged, beaten, a crown of thorns put on his head and his back was like ribbons, strip of flesh. He was falsely accused. If you died of your crime, I can understand. What He was accused of was not deserving of death.
He was crucified one of the most cruel death by the Romans. Reserved for the worst kind of criminals. Certainly not for Jesus. His crime was only that the people says he claims to be the king of the Jews.
He was nailed and hung on the cross. The soldiers divided His clothes and what was left was His undergarments and they cast lots for it. He died naked on the cross. For modesty we see Him with a piece of cloth in movies and paintings. In actual fact He died naked on the cross.
Even in death they pierced a spear on His side. He had no grave or tomb to be buried in. He had to be buried in a borrowed tomb. Hard to understand right? But nobody would call all of this a good Friday.
Why call it good Friday? We can call it good because it express the heart of God to all humanity. What Jesus did expresses His heart for you and I. John 3:16 says For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Jesus would love us to death. If that was what it took to restore our relationship with God. God made a covenant in the form of a rainbow to Noah. The covenant is seen today when Jesus went to the cross for you and I. Good Friday is about relationship. Go created us in his image but that relationship was broken. Adam and Eve disobeyed God and because of that sin came into the world. Sin robbed us from a healthy relationship with God.
Augustine tells us that one day when he was 17 years old he passed by a pear tree. He wanted it so much so he climb over the fence, up the tree and stole the pear and ate it. Augustine was not poor. He could afford a pear. But he confessed he did it because he just wanted to steal the pear. He just took it. You may say stealing a pear is no big deal. Sometimes we justify it, like a neighbour's mango coming over our fence. We pick them and give reasons to justify it. But even with that little act the bible calls it sin. The bible is very clear. There is no distinction of sin in that sense.
It's like getting pregnant. You cannot say you are a little bit pregnant. You are either pregnant or not pregnant. He doesn't see the distinction. Sin is sin.
So here's the problem. God wants communion with you and I. He wants us to be BMF, best friends forever.
But sin that crept into humanity broke that relationship. It's not just what we do. It's even a wrong thought, bad thoughts. The bible says it's sin. Some things we ought to do but didn't is also called sin.
So here's the dilemma. God wants a relationship, He loves us so much but because of sin we are separated from him.
But this evening I have got good news for you. That's why it's called Good Friday. I wrote it in Facebook. God looks at our dilemma and I thank God He did not see it as just our problem. He was so concerned we cannot overcome sin. All of us have tried. We try very hard to be good. And sometimes we buy it with good works. To score points by doing good works. It is not wrong but it will still fall short. Because it has selfish motives. All it takes is one mistake and it cancels all our good works.
Let's say I invite Lin Ken to my house and I wanted to make an omelette for him. I broke 5 good egg but the last egg was rotten and it will spoil the omelette. You can say you have 5 good eggs. Lin Ken won't know. But the sad truth is, that one rotten egg will spoil the omelette. All it take is one rotten egg and it'll spoil all our good works.
We can't save ourselves. And God looks towards Jesus, His Son. Jesus said, don't worry dad, I'll go and help them (John 3:16). What's so special about Jesus? He was the Son of God and He knew no sin. And therefore He qualify to pay the penalty for you and I.
When you buy a new car you'll find that when you take a loan, what's on the "garan" is "Hak Milik" bla bla bla the bank you took the loan from. Until the loan is paid for in full, your car still belongs to the bank even though you are stated as owner. No transfer is made until you pay in full.
That was what Jesus did for you and I. There was no way we could come out of sin. And the bible says the penalty of sin is death. All of us including me deserves death. But praise God He sent His one and only Son. Because He qualify, knew no sin and is perfect in God's sight He has the power to pay on our behalf.
All we have to do is accept Him. To accept what He did for us. It's like we go have a meal and not enough money to pay for the meal. But unknown to us, one of our relative sitting at the corner saw our predicament and quietly went to the counter and paid the bill for us. But we don't know. We still try our best to pay, if not, sure wash dishes. We may call our friend to come help. You'll know who your true friends are then. Some of us here is like this. We are still trying to pay for our sins. But we didn't know Jesus have paid for our sins. We need to come before God and confess that we cannot do it. Help me. And God would say don't worry, my Son have paid for you in full. That's why we can call today Good Friday, because He is Good.
He saw our dilemma and saw we can't save ourselves. He went to the cross and because of that God no longer sees our sin but He sees His son on the cross. What did Jesus last said on the cross? It is finished. He didn't say I am finished. It was a cry of victory. IT IS FINISHED. Whatever He came to do for us was done on the cross. No need to sacrifice or slaughter animals. He became the perfect sacrifice for us. It was a cry of victory.
We look forward to Sunday. When they rushed to the tomb and saw the stone rolled away and went into the tomb and His body was no longer there, because HE IS RISEN! We are going to have a celebration. I prefer Resurrection Sunday to Easter because Jesus didn't stay in the grave. HE HAS RISEN!
I didn't mention what I wrote on Facebook. The cross is a symbol of a plus. He came to add into our lives. The only thing he takes away is our sin. He wants to add into your life. Let Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment