South Woods Baptist Church

DRINKING THE CUP: SMITTEN OF GOD
JOHN 19:17-27

AUGUST 7,1997

Most everyone has a very natural desire to escape impending danger, unless of course, he thinks that nothing can harm him. We see this from time to time in the natural realm of danger.  When a volcano threatens to spew forth its deadly gases, fiery rocks, and molten lava, most will flee to find refuge in a safe place. It is only those few who think that no harm can befall them that will defiantly remain in the path of the volcano's raging fury. It is only when they see the lava rushing toward them that they attempt to flee the place of danger. 

This same attitude is found in the spiritual realm. Unfortunately, very few people ever conceive of themselves as facing the eternal judgment of God for their sin. Their view of God is so low and their exalted view of themselves so high that they can by-pass any need for salvation.  So they sneer at the preaching of the cross. They sleep their way through discussions on divine judgment. They refuse to look at their sin against the purity of God's holiness. They ignore the ominous warnings of God's law.

Something different happens when a man comes to some consciousness of his sins. For then he will find himself looking desperately for a refuge from the stormy fire of judgment heading his way. As long as he thinks nothing of his sin or thinks nothing of divine judgment, then he will see no true need for a refuge from divine wrath. But when that sense of his sin overwhelms him, when he becomes painfully aware of his own enmity with God and his certain expectation of judgment, the message of the cross of Christ finally makes sense.

Novel ideas have surrounded the crucifixion of our Lord. Millions who own no portion of the sacrifice on the cross, parade it as a quaint religious symbol. Crosses adorn necks, ears, clothing, and buildings. Polite discussions on the crucifixion even take up conversation on Good Friday.  But how many understand the meaning of the cross of Jesus Christ? How many understand the reason for the cross and its neces.5ity for the salvation of sinners? It is only in the cross of Jesus Christ that sinners can find refuge from the judgment of God.

Let's consider the sacrifice offered for sinners upon the cross.

I. A willing sacrifice 

We must never view the scenes of our Lord's passion being outside the control of Sovereignty. There were no mistakes operating in the arrest, trial, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ. All was according to divine purpose. Such purpose had the eternal salvation of sinners in its sight. 

John ends his explanation of the trial before Pilate with these words, "So he then delivered Him to them to be crucified."  Did a mere man deliver the Son of God into the hands of the executioners? Yes indeed, but only because of the preordained plan of God. This was not man exerting authority over God, but God the Son giving Himself into the hands of sinful men to carry out the eternal counsels of the Godhead (cf. Acts 4:24-28). 

The Roman executioners, a squad of four soldiers under command of a centurion, took Jesus from Pilate for the purpose of crucifying Him. "They took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha." The Latin word, calvaria, which meant 'skull', is the origin of our term "Calvary." We sing of "Calvary" and in doing so we are referring to "the Place of a Skull," a rocky hillside that became known for its executions. It was not a pretty place nor the sort of place you would visit for a family picnic. It was painted with the blood of criminals who regularly died upon the Roman crosses. It was worn from the bare feet of men--criminals, stripped naked to further shame them before the masses, as they unwillingly walked to their death. No one wanted to go to Calvary. Except One. 

Calvary meant a cruel, excruciating death. Even the term 'excruciating' finds its roots in the Latin word excruciatus, meaning "out of the cross." Crucifixion and excruciation became synonymous during that era. The Romans had perfected the act of crucifixion in order to bring about the greatest sense of excruciation in their victims. They had learned this form of execution from the Carthaginians who had been introduced to it through Alexander the Great, after he discovered it among the Persians. The Romans used this only upon non-Romans and were able to bring about a slow death with maximum pain through intense suffering. No one wanted to go to Calvary. Except One.

Though the Roman executioners "took Jesus," John brings out that "He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull." The emphasis of the Apostle is that there was no reluctance or hesitation in our Lord in facing the wrath of God on behalf of sinners. He had already asked the Father if there was any possibility of this cup of wrath to pass away from Him. There was no other way for the salvation of sinners: not by religious observance, not by moral living, not by professions, not by penance. The only way for the salvation of sinners was by Jesus C.'hri.5t bearing His cross to Calvary to die as an atoning sacrifice.

1. The Innocent bearing guilt 

Calvary was a place of guilt. We see that John mentions that "two other men, one on either side," were crucified with our Lord. We know from the Synoptic gospels that these men were criminals who justly deserved death. Many had gone before them, justly dying at the hand of the Roman executioners. They too had carried their cross but not willingly and certainly not with resolve. They were guilty of crimes against the Roman law and deserved death. Jesus Christ was innocent of any breach in the law.

It was quite a scene then to see the Innocent Son of God, spotless, free from sin, crucified in the middle--the prominent position--of two thieves. Why did He do this? The Innocent was bearing the guilt of the guilty before the judgment of God.

All men have sin "in" them, but not Christ. It is our nature to sin, but not the nature of the God-Man Jesus Christ. From out of our own hearts come forth the external sins of life, but never from the sinless heart of Jesus Christ. None of us can claim innocence. That can be said only of Jesus Christ. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," describes us. "But one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin," describes our Lord.  

But we also have sin "on " us. By this I would imply the matter of guilt due to our sin because it is an actual breaking of the law of God. For instance, if you drive 65 m.p.h. on Germantown Road you have violated the law. If you are not caught by the police, are you still guilty? Indeed you are. You have sin "in" you. But what if you are clocked on radar by a policeman and he pulls you over and gives you a speeding ticket? That ticket declares that you have sin "on" you as well. You are guilty of breaking the law and must face the consequences of that guilt.

We have sin "in" us and "on" us. But when Jesus Christ took our place as the Substitute for sinners at the cross, He who had no sin "in" Him had our sin placed "on" Him. That is, all of our guilt before God as lawbreakers was transferred to Him so that He might bear the judgment of God for us. Just as the high priest would lay his hands upon a lamb to transfer his guilt and the guilt of the people to the lamb before it was sacrificed as an atonement for sin, even so Jesus Christ received the transfer of our guilt as He atoned for our sin. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (II Cor. 5:21). "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to
righteousness: for by His wounds you were healed" (I Pet. 2:24). 

2. The Sovereign bearing judgment

The astonishing thing is that the Sovereign Lord bore His own judgment at the cross! John said that Jesus was "bearing His own cross." Those who were being crucified were required to carry the palibulum or crossbar of the cross. It weighed upward of 75 to 100 pounds, which after the agony of scourging would have been quite a weight to carry through the streets before the jeering mobs. Our Lord had raw, dangling flesh on his back, having experienced the excessive loss of blood during the scourging with the leather whip and its accompanying pieces of metal and bone. The Romans were experts in almost killing a man during scourging. But he would linger on to carry his cross to the place of execution. 

Once the criminal arrived at the site of crucifixion, he would be thrown to the ground with the bloody wounds of his scourging being exposed to the dirt and rocks. With his arms slightly bent, he would have 5- 7 inch long, square spikes nailed through a particular spot in his wrists that would cause his fists to be drawn and the pain to intensify because of the spikes resting on nerves.  The soldiers would then lift the man nailed to the crossbar onto the stipes or gibbet that was already sunk into the ground. His feet were nailed to the stipes with his knees bent and turned a slight angle. Now he faced the agony of trying to breath. The weight of his body pulled on his wrists, or palms as it was considered during that era. It actually caused a reversal of normal breathing so that when we actively inhale and passively exhale, victims of crucifixion passively inhale and actively exhale. What this meant was that for the victim to exhale he had to pull himself up by his nail-spiked hands and push himself up with his nail-spiked feet so that his diaphragm could engage long enough to exhale the air in his lungs. When he dropped back down his lungs filled with air and he faced the same agonizing process. All the while his bloody back was rubbing up and down the wooden stipes, while the pain shooting through his arms, shoulders, feet, and legs were like painful bolts of lightning striking again and again.

Was this simply a matter of Jesus Christ seeking to show us how to live sacrificially? NO! It was God the Sovereign, the Mighty Lord, the Judge of all men receiving His own judgment against sinners on behalf of sinners. As Paul put it, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us--for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE"" (Gal. 3:13). It is Jesus Christ accomplishing the work which the Father gave Him to do, a work of propitiating on behalf of sinners before the justice of God (John 17:4). When we consider the weight of our sin against God and the mercy of God in forgiving us and removing the enmity between us, we must agree with the 19th C. pastor, Gardiner Spring, "We look to the cross, and feel that God is just. " Spring explains:

The selected substitute in this great redemption was not one in whom the Eternal Father had no interest, and to whom he felt no attachment. It was not an enemy, it was no alien to the court of heaven, nor was it the loftiest and most favoured of adoring angels, that descended from the high and holy place to direct his way towards Calvary and the curse. It was God, with and like himself, distinctly comprehending the greatness and bitterness of the work he had undertaken, "travelling in the greatness of his strength," and in his own agonies furnishing an exemplification of the claims of primitive justice, such as was never seen before, and will never be repeated. We have already told the story of the cross; but how little do we know of that bitter cup, conscious as the mighty Sufferer was of his majesty as God, and his meanness as a worm, emptied of all his glory, unsupported and alone in his tremendous conflict with the powers of darkness! The law he had undertaken to satisfy showed him no mercy; and in vain do we search the annals of the universe for justice if it be not here. We look to the cross, and feel that God is just. [The Attraction of the Cros.5, Gardiner Spring, Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth,42]

II. A necessary sacrifice

Why not by-pass the cross? It was obviously a horrible instrument of suffering and torture. Why did the Son of God have to suffer the cross? As I quoted earlier from Galatians 3:13, it was necessary for Jesus Christ to become a curse for us. In God the Father's eyes, as Jesus became our substitute, He was "smitten of God and afflicted," so that Isaiah could prophecy concerning Him, "But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him...," so that because of this, "...the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief' (Isa. 53:4,6, 10). Once our iniquity had fallen upon Jesus Christ, the justice of God demanded that He bear the full weight of divine judgment against sinners.

The language of both Old and New Testaments in regard to sacrifices and particularly in regard to Christ's death is that it is substitutionary. The animals that were offered sacrificially upon the altar in ancient Israel's temple had no sin of their own. They were substitutes that pointed to the only sufficient Substitute, Jesus Christ. It was necessary for a sacrifice to bear the judgment of God's justice so that He might be just in giving life to the sinner (cf. Romans 3).

1. My crimes

Isaac Watts captured the necessity of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in his hymn, " At the Cross."

Alas! and did my Savior bleed?
And did my Sovereign die?

Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I!

Was it for crimes that I have done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Yes, it was "for crimes that I have done He groaned upon the tree." There is the amazing message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is my crimes and your crimes, that is, our sinful breach of God's righteousness that brought our great Substitute to the cross. There the justice of God was settled for eternity! We cannot add one drop to our salvation. We cannot make any contribution to our eternity through the efforts of our hands. The full measure of God's demand for justice was met in Jesus Christ at the cross. Apart from His substitutionary work on the cross, we must face all of the wrath and judgment of God toward sinners.

John captured this truth in the simple words, "There they crucified Him...." I've thought much about those words this week. F or it was all of us who deserved more than dying by crucifixion. We deserve an eternity of God's judgment, the furious storm of His wrath forever, because we have dared to sin against our Creator and Sovereign who is infinitely holy. By nature we are "children of wrath," as Paul expressed it (Eph. 2: 1-3). The whole human race stands under the wrath of God because of our fall in Adam. And we have heaped judgment upon judgment because of our following in the likeness of Adam with our sin.

Do you want to enter into a right relationship with God? Do you want to be on the receiving end of life rather than judgment? Then your crimes required the cross. Your guilt is so great and God's judgment is so sure, that only the cross of Jesus Christ is sufficient for God's justice to be satisfied and eternal life to be granted to you.

2. His righteousness

Jesus had already told those who clamored after Him, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20). Where do you get righteousness like that, the kind that exceeds, surpasses, and overflows like a river out of its banks the kind of diligent righteousness of scribes and Pharisees (Greek, perisseuo)? He was not speaking of simply being a good person. He was speaking of a righteousness that would give you a right standing before the eternal throne of justice, before the Lawgiver and Judge of the universe.

"There they crucified Him." Our only hope before a just God, whose character of justice would be the same even if He had never created man or angels, is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. When Jesus was crucified a double transaction of righteousness occurred through our Substitute. The righteous judgment of God was satisfied through the bloody death of Christ. Now all the guilt that you have before God has been washed away in the floodtide of His death. God's demand for judgment was met in the Person of His Son. But you still need to be clothed in righteousness to stand before God. You cannot meet Him clothed by your own feeble efforts of righteousness. So Jesus Christ has become the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who
believes (Rom. 10:4). His righteous has been imputed to us who are in Christ. He obeyed the Law on our behalf, so that all of the righteousness that He accrued by His perfect, sufficient obedience, has now been placed to our accounts. We have a right standing with God because we stand in the righteousness of Jesus Christ! No wonder Paul could write, "But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD"" (I Cor. 1:30-31).

III. A sufficient sacrifice

Take a good look at the cross of Christ. Do not look to your own filthy rags of self-righteousness (Isa. 64:6), for there is no sufficiency before God there. Look to Him who died on behalf of sinners to bring us to God! The sufficiency of Christ's death is seen in both God's promises and in His provision of salvation sufficient for the world.

1. Promise of God

The idea of the Messiah dying on the cross was not simply a New Testament idea. The Old Testament prophesies in numerous places the specifics of the cross. Any study of Isaiah 53 or Psalm 22 without ending up at the cross implies poor exegetical work! Even the description of the suffering of a victim of crucifixion is brought out in Psalm 22.

It is interesting that an unbeliever declares the promise of God at the cross. John writes, "And Pilate wrote an inscription also, and put it on the cross. and it was written, "JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS"." The phrase, "the King of the Jews," was very clear in the minds of the Jews, though they rejected its implications. Pilate meant it as a taunt to the Jews who despised him and whom he equally loathed. But his words were correct, for this title points to the Messianic promise found in Jesus Christ.

While the Jews waited for a political messiah that would deliver them from the tyranny of Rome, God had promised a Messiah who would do much more: He would deliver His people from their sins. The whole message of Isaiah 53 speaks of the sins of the people being laid upon the One of God's choosing to become an atoning sacrifice. The two-fold nature of our sinfulness, our natural fallenness in Adam and our willful breaking of God's law, is seen in those words, "But He was pierced through for our transgressions, and He was crushed for our iniquities." Then the wholeness that is needed by sinners is explained, "The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him and by His scourging we are healed."

John ties the prophetic words of the Old Testament to the details of the crucifixion by quoting Psalm 22: 18, "They said therefore to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be"; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS." Therefore the soldiers did these things." Obviously, the Roman soldiers had no idea that they were fulfilling Old Testament Scripture! They just followed the normal pattern of dividing the victims clothing among the executioners, while John saw this fulfilling the prophetic description of a small detail at the crucifixion spoken through David a thousand years earlier. 

In studying the other Gospels, it is clear that the writers saw the details of the crucifixion prophesied earlier in the Old Testament. While the scope of our study today is not to look at all these passages, it does point to a very important truth. The problem of man's enmity with God has been present since the fall in Adam. God Himself promised reconciliation and salvation through His own provision. All of the attempts at self-righteousness by the Jews adherence to the demands of the Law was to show humanity that none of us are saved by our own righteousness. Only God Himself can save those under His judgment. And He has accomplished this through the sufficiency of the death of Jesus Christ.

2. Provision for the world

The inscription of Pilate that unknowingly pointed to the Messiah was written in three languages. "Therefore this inscription many of the Jews read, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and in Greek."  While Pilate did this to chide the Jews, he was expressing a marvelous truth concerning Christ. The inscription typically described the charge against the criminal. The crime of Christ was that of being the Messiah, the Savior of sinners. The three languages express to us that His death was not just for the Jews who spoke Hebrew--or better, Aramaic. His death was God's provision of salvation for the world.

The Latin language was the tongue of Rome, while the Greek language was the tongue of the old Greek empire and the rest of the civilized world. Jesus did not just die for Israel, but for the world! John expressed this beautifully in the Revelation (5:9-10):

Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou has made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.

While the Jews thought that they were the only people of God, Pilate delivered a message that they needed to see. God's interest is not just in one race of people on the earth. He is the God of the world. He has taken on the salvation of sinners from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation through the atoning death of His Son.

This is good news for us! For we need not look to our own merit to get us to God. That would be futile. We must look to God's provision of salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

The cross of Jesus Christ has offended many. But to those of us who have found refuge in it, it is a place of glory. For at the cross, Jesus Christ availed for us so that we might be reconciled to God.

Do you know this experientially? Is the cross of Christ just something you sing about but not something you have known in its power? My friend, flee to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There and there alone is refuge for sinners!