April 3, 2015
Opening Hymns:
Where You There When They Crucified My Lord http://toneway.com/songs/were-you-there-when-they-crucified-my-lord
Scripture Reading:
John 18:1-19:42
18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across
the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his
disciples entered.
18:2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met
there with his disciples.
18:3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the
chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches
and weapons.
18:4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked
them, "Whom are you looking for?"
18:5 They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth." Jesus replied, "I am
he." Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
18:6 When Jesus said to them, "I am he," they stepped back and fell
to the ground.
18:7 Again he asked them, "Whom are you looking for?" And they said,
"Jesus of Nazareth."
18:8 Jesus answered, "I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for
me, let these men go."
18:9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, "I did not lose a
single one of those whom you gave me."
18:10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest's
slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave's name was Malchus.
18:11 Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not
to drink the cup that the Father has given me?"
18:12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and
bound him.
18:13 First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the
high priest that year.
18:14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have
one person die for the people.
18:15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was
known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high
priest,
18:16 but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who
was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the
gate, and brought Peter in.
18:17 The woman said to Peter, "You are not also one of this man's
disciples, are you?" He said, "I am not."
18:18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was
cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was
standing with them and warming himself.
18:19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his
teaching.
18:20 Jesus answered, "I have spoken openly to the world; I have always
taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I
have said nothing in secret.
18:21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know
what I said."
18:22 When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on
the face, saying, "Is that how you answer the high priest?"
18:23 Jesus answered, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But
if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?"
18:24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him,
"You are not also one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it and
said, "I am not."
18:26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear
Peter had cut off, asked, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?"
18:27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
18:28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate's headquarters. It was early
in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid
ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.
18:29 So Pilate went out to them and said, "What accusation do you bring
against this man?"
18:30 They answered, "If this man were not a criminal, we would not have
handed him over to you."
18:31 Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to
your law." The Jews replied, "We are not permitted to put anyone to
death."
18:32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of
death he was to die.)
18:33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked
him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"
18:34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you
about me?"
18:35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief
priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"
18:36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom
were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being
handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."
18:37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered,
"You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into
the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens
to my voice."
18:38 Pilate asked him, "What is truth?" After he had said this, he
went out to the Jews again and told them, "I find no case against him.
18:39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do
you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?"
18:40 They shouted in reply, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" Now
Barabbas was a bandit.
19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.
19:2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they
dressed him in a purple robe.
19:3 They kept coming up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!"
and striking him on the face.
19:4 Pilate went out again and said to them, "Look, I am bringing him out
to you to let you know that I find no case against him."
19:5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate
said to them, "Here is the man!"
19:6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, "Crucify
him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Take him yourselves and
crucify him; I find no case against him."
19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to that law he
ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God."
19:8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever.
19:9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, "Where are you
from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.
19:10 Pilate therefore said to him, "Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you
not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?"
19:11 Jesus answered him, "You would have no power over me unless it had
been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is
guilty of a greater sin."
19:12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out,
"If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who
claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor."
19:13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the
judge's bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.
19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about
noon. He said to the Jews, "Here is your King!"
19:15 They cried out, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!"
Pilate asked them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests
answered, "We have no king but the emperor."
19:16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus;
19:17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The
Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
19:18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side,
with Jesus between them.
19:19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read,
"Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews."
19:20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was
crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in
Greek.
19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write,
'The King of the Jews,' but, 'This man said, I am King of the Jews.'"
19:22 Pilate answered, "What I have written I have written."
19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided
them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the
tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 19:24
So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to
see who will get it." This was to fulfill what the scripture says,
"They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast
lots."
19:25 And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of
Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and
Mary Magdalene.
19:26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside
her, he said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son."
19:27 Then he said to the disciple, "Here is your mother." And from
that hour the disciple took her into his own home.
19:28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order
to fulfill the scripture), "I am thirsty."
19:29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of
the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.
19:30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, "It is finished."
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies
left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day
of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men
broken and the bodies removed.
19:32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other
who had been crucified with him.
19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did
not break his legs.
19:34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once
blood and water came out.
19:35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His
testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.)
19:36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled,
"None of his bones shall be broken."
19:37 And again another passage of scripture says, "They will look on the
one whom they have pierced."
19:38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus,
though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him
take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed
his body.
19:39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a
mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.
19:40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen
cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.
19:41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the
garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.
19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was
nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Message:
The most powerful service that I’ve ever gone to always took place on Good
Friday. At my old church they would go through the final words of Jesus. The
pastors and lay leaders would each take one of the final words, and give a
sermon on it. There was also special music, and we would all cry hearing some
of the most moving songs like “Where You There When They Crucified My Lord.”
The service was much longer than any other church service I’ve
gone to, and lasted 3 hours. People would come and go as they could since it
was during the day on Good Friday. I remember staying for the whole thing, and
how much my spirit was moved.
In today’s scripture we hear three of the final words of
Jesus. We hear Jesus looking out for His mother, and ensuring there is someone
to take care of her. We hear Jesus say “I am Thirsty” in order that the
scripture is fulfilled, and we hear Him at last say “It is finished.”
Jesus’ sacrifice had been complete. He died for all of us
that we might live. It is hard to ponder this without tearing up. It is hard to
imagine this story, without being deeply moved. That Jesus, who was without
sin, would willing die for our sake… it can be beyond comprehension.
Time of Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father, You sent Your son
to die for us on the cross. As we remember His sacrifice today, help us draw
ever closer to You. Let us remember the love that You have shown us through
Jesus’ ministry and death. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer
May the Lord bless you and keep you: May the Lord make His face shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you: May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and
give you peace." Amen.
