Homily Pastor Dan Neary
Jesus: Messiah
Division
of Garments (v.24): Psalm 22:17
Thirst
(v.28): Psalm 22:15, 69:21
Broken
Bones (v.36): Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Psalm 34:20
Pierced
Side (v.37): Zechariah 12:10
John,
in answering this overarching question, “Who is Jesus,” carefully indicates
that Jesus is the Messiah foretold in Scripture.
What
is the Significance?
·
Yes,
Crucifixion was gruesome
·
God’s
Sovereignty
·
Willing
Sacrifice
·
The
Promised One
·
But
Why?
o We could go to a great number of
theological passages in the New Testament
o But one of the most clear
explanations, answer to this question why, was written 700 years earlier
These
Scriptures, of course, are just the beginning
The
astonishing detail of Isaiah 53 points to what crucifixion means for us
What
the Romans, and the Jewish leaders, meant for evil… God, from the beginning,
meant for good
The
Jewish leaders were anxious for a Messiah, a conqueror, someone who would
relieve them of Rome’s tyranny… someone to kick Caesar out of Jerusalem – a
glorious King
But
they would not receive this King.
They
could not understand a King that would be glorified like this… regardless of
what the Scriptures foretold.
Remember, this
“glorification” has been foreshadowed throughout the Gospel of John.
He said this
about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were going to receive, for the
Spirit had not yet been received, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
His
disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things
had been written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
Jesus
replied to them, "The
hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Father,
glorify Your name!" Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again!"
When he
had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in
Himself, and will glorify Him at once.
Whatever
you ask in My name, I will do it, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
My Father
is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit
and prove to be My disciples.
I have glorified You on the earth by completing the work
You gave Me to do.
All My
things are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I have been glorified in them.
We
sang, “He lived to die”
And
that is true – For God so loved the world is the Truth.
We
should view our worth in the light of His willing sacrifice.
But
Jesus dieing for me – Jesus dieing for you – is not an end in itself
We err
when we stop with the idea that Jesus died for me…
Then
we get wrong, self-centered ideas
·
We
think that the greatest good is our personal blessing
·
We
think that we give in order to get
·
We
think that we serve because of the good feeling it gives us
We are
the recipients of grace,
not
because we’re so special or that we deserve it…
We are
the recipients of grace in order to glorify God
We
don’t earn anything by serving others; we serve to glorify God.
We are
made righteousness for our benefit alone,
we are
made righteous to glorify God
We
don’t pursue holiness because we can attain holiness ourselves,
We
pursue holiness to glorify God
And
Jesus, suffered and died
He
lived to glorify.
From
the human standpoint, the trial of Jesus was the greatest crime and tragedy in
history. From the divine viewpoint, it was the fulfillment of prophecy and the
accomplishment of the will of God.
He is
all that He says he is – all that the Scripture says He is – whether we agree
or not
The
placard (v.19) was there to indicate the crime
·
One
of the points of crucifixion was deterrent
·
Pilate
had protested, claiming that Jesus was innocent
·
But
he caved-in to manipulation
The
Jewish leaders protested, “He is not our King! He only claimed to be a
king.”
·
Finally
got some backbone
o Maybe just to mock the Jews
o Maybe because he believed it
What
protest do you bring this morning?
He is
not my King
He is
not my Savior
The cross
involves much more than an exhibition of innocent suffering. On that cross, the
Son of God paid the price for the sins of the world and thereby declared the
love of God and defended the holiness and justice of God. We are not saved by
feeling pity for Jesus. We are saved by repenting of our sins and trusting
Jesus, the sinless Substitute. (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, v.1,
pg. 380)
There are
plenty of folks who try to convince themselves that they don’t need a Savior…
no sin, no savior. Give me a break! We know who we are.
Is the
Church’s biggest problem condemnation or intolerance?
He is
not my Lord
All
authority is God’s
Let’s
not make the same mistake as Pilate…
thinking that we hold the keys.
Your purpose in life – my purpose in life
– is demonstrated most profoundly in this act by Jesus. He gave His all to
glorify God.
Your purpose in life – my purpose in life
– is not only demonstrated it is made possible by the execution –
the crucifixion – that Jesus willingly took upon Himself.
Without this payment, our striving would
be empty religion.
But since Christ paid the price, bearing
the penalty of our sin, we are able to glorify God in this life… and in the
life-eternal to come.