Episode 242: Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?: Jonathan Youssef

[00:00:00] The God of Heaven, high and lifted up the holy, blameless, pure, true, all knowing, all

[00:00:12] powerful, loving, gracious, just God in the second person of the Trinity taken on

[00:00:18] human flesh and is now carrying a wooden cross to his execution at the very hands of

[00:00:24] his own creation.

[00:00:31] Hello and welcome to Candid, where we never settle for less than the truth.

[00:00:36] I'm your host Jonathan Youssef.

[00:00:38] Each week we'll tackle tough issues, answer your hard questions and take a candid look at

[00:00:44] the Christian faith.

[00:00:48] Bearing his own cross, he went to the place of the skull which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

[00:00:55] There they crucified him and with him two others, one on each side in Jesus in the middle.

[00:01:03] Pilot had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross.

[00:01:07] It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

[00:01:13] Many of the Jews read this sign for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city

[00:01:18] and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

[00:01:24] The chief priest of the Jews protested to Pilate.

[00:01:28] Do not write the King of the Jews but that this man claimed to be King of the Jews.

[00:01:36] Pilot answered, What I have written, I have written.

[00:01:41] In the soldiers crucified Jesus they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares,

[00:01:46] one for each of them with the undergarment remaining.

[00:01:50] This garment was seamless woven in one piece from top to bottom.

[00:01:55] Let us not tear it, they said to one another.

[00:01:58] Let's decide by lot who will get it.

[00:02:01] This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said they divided my clothes among

[00:02:07] them and cast lots for my garment.

[00:02:11] So this is what the soldiers did.

[00:02:14] Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister Mary, the wife of Kloepus

[00:02:21] and Mary Magdalene.

[00:02:23] When Jesus saw his mother there in the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her,

[00:02:29] Woman, here is your son.

[00:02:33] And to the disciple, here is your mother.

[00:02:36] From that time on this disciple took her into his home.

[00:02:42] The scenes we are about to look at are the most important in human history.

[00:02:47] I was a history major in college which in Latin means one who never finds a job after graduation.

[00:02:55] Thankfully the Lord in His mercy gave me a shove in the direction of studying his word,

[00:03:01] but in all my study of history nothing compares to this.

[00:03:06] The very reason Christianity exists is found in John 19 and the account of what we now call

[00:03:14] Good Friday.

[00:03:16] I hope with this reflection is to show you the work of Christ, the eternal plan of the

[00:03:21] Godhead that was made before the foundations of the earth.

[00:03:26] Good Friday is a day we celebrate because of what it accomplished.

[00:03:30] We celebrate this day because justification and righteousness are now hours because of

[00:03:36] the work of the eternal Son of God, the Son of glory on this day.

[00:03:42] Good Friday reminds us that our salvation cost Jesus his life.

[00:03:48] We died the death that we all deserved so that we can live the life that he's called us to.

[00:03:55] On Good Friday we reflect on and revisit these hours on the cross.

[00:04:01] We stand gazing at the cross of Christ, like the old spiritual song we ask ourselves,

[00:04:08] were you there?

[00:04:10] Of course, we are separated by time and geography from this event.

[00:04:15] We stand with the witnesses of what took place as we become part of the great body of

[00:04:22] believers who come trembling to the cross.

[00:04:26] Crows of Jerusalem were crying out two separate cries just days before.

[00:04:31] The first was Hosanna save now and the second was crucify him in justice is happening.

[00:04:41] Every rule of law regarding a proper hearing was ignored as Jesus passed between the

[00:04:47] Jewish high council and the Roman authorities.

[00:04:50] Jesus was betrayed by one of his own for the price of a slave, one of his closest disciples

[00:04:57] betrayed him who swore he would never leave him.

[00:05:01] The disciples left him leaving mostly women behind his witnesses.

[00:05:06] Here we are at the pivotal climactic moment in redemptive history and we learn four key

[00:05:11] things in these passages describing this moment.

[00:05:17] Notice our scene from one perspective you could say that the events of verses 17 and 18 were

[00:05:24] just a normal routine based on how the soldiers seemingly act without any emotion.

[00:05:29] It's not because they don't have feelings or it's not a gruesome event, it's just that

[00:05:35] they had been here so many times before.

[00:05:38] To them this is just another state execution, just another criminal, just another punishment

[00:05:44] but also in these verses is a reality of eternal significance.

[00:05:51] The words of John the baptizer behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the

[00:05:56] world, remind us that here in the everyday events of Roman occupation and control was

[00:06:03] the pivotal event in human history, not a pivotal event but the pivotal event.

[00:06:11] And so while men and women of that day are just business as usual, a life went through

[00:06:17] its normal routine heaven looked down onto a scene on which mankind's entire destiny

[00:06:24] hinged.

[00:06:26] What we find is what was described later by Peter in his letter which says Christ was

[00:06:32] a lamb without blemish or defect.

[00:06:34] He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for

[00:06:40] your sakes.

[00:06:42] Now, of course it is possible to pay lip service to this at Easter time to go through

[00:06:47] the routine.

[00:06:49] People can even be okay with the different aspects of an Easter Sunday service and still

[00:06:54] miss the relevance of the scene because it is this same one who stumbles under the weight

[00:07:02] of a cross in verse 17 is the same one who is nailed between two criminals is the same

[00:07:08] one who cries out, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do is the same one

[00:07:13] who in his humanity calls down.

[00:07:15] I thirst this is the one who endures this agony is not just a man but he is God incarnate

[00:07:24] he is God in human flesh and God staggers under the weight of a wooden instrument of death.

[00:07:35] This is where we find the relevance of the scene many of us are so familiar with this

[00:07:42] story, so familiar with these passages that it has lost its power and we need the reminder

[00:07:48] today and every day of the reality of what is taking place here in these verses.

[00:07:56] The God of heaven high and lifted up the holy, blameless, pure, true, all knowing, all

[00:08:03] powerful, loving, gracious, just God in the second person of the Trinity taken on human

[00:08:10] flesh and is now carrying a wooden cross to his execution at the very hands of his own

[00:08:16] creation.

[00:08:18] Beloved, were you there?

[00:08:21] Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

[00:08:26] It is understandable that we spend a lot of time examining the gruesomeness of the cross

[00:08:30] but the gospel writers don't spend a lot of time on it.

[00:08:34] John deals with the crucifixion in four words here they crucified him.

[00:08:40] When you look at the other gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, it's almost the same however

[00:08:46] there is a time and a place for thinking about the nature of Christ's suffering on Good

[00:08:51] Friday.

[00:08:53] In those moments when you think no one understands my pain, no one understands how lonely I feel.

[00:09:00] Good Friday offers a clear response to your suffering.

[00:09:05] You are not alone.

[00:09:08] There is one who knows.

[00:09:11] For in his suffering he entered the depths of all suffering for all mankind.

[00:09:19] Our response to this powerful truth can be emotional or sentimental.

[00:09:24] There's nothing wrong with that but God hopes that these events will not just incite

[00:09:30] an emotional reaction but will lead us to be radically changed and spiritually transformed

[00:09:37] daily we are engaged in spiritual warfare and we are either feeding the sinful nature

[00:09:44] or we are feeding the spirit for our battle is not against flesh and blood.

[00:09:50] Something that the enemy would love for us to believe but our battle is against the spiritual

[00:09:55] forces of evil in the heavenly places.

[00:09:59] Either we put on the full armor of God which is to put on Christ himself or we wage war

[00:10:05] with a water pistol in our own strength.

[00:10:10] So we come again and again to what Christ has done for us, understanding that it is not

[00:10:15] a call fueled by emotion.

[00:10:18] Instead it is a call that requires that we live our lives with our eyes always set on Christ.

[00:10:27] Beloved were you there when they crucified my Lord.

[00:10:31] We move from our scene to a sign in verses 19 through 22.

[00:10:38] In crucifixion the crimes of the criminal committed were written out on a board.

[00:10:42] It's also customary for that criminal to be marched the longest route to the place of

[00:10:47] crucifixion to parade them through the streets on their way to their death.

[00:10:52] Now this was done as a sort of final humiliation it was also to send a message to would be criminals

[00:10:58] that this is the punishment for a capital offense.

[00:11:02] But there's another reason it was to give individuals an opportunity to step forward and

[00:11:06] say that the person who is being paraded around is not guilty of the crime that's posted

[00:11:11] on their sign.

[00:11:12] It's sort of an appeal process even at that point they would retry the hearing on the

[00:11:18] spot and sometimes people never even made it to the scene of the crucifixion because

[00:11:21] their appeal was made.

[00:11:24] Now within this framework pilot takes this sign and posts it on the cross of Christ which

[00:11:29] reads verse 19, Jesus of Nazareth the king of the Jews.

[00:11:36] Pilot is just following his own theme here in verse 14 he says he said to the Jews here

[00:11:42] is your king and they replied crucify him in verse 15 again he says shall I crucify

[00:11:49] your king and they respond we have no king but Caesar.

[00:11:54] So pilot says I'm going to show them they do have a king if he's going to go on this

[00:11:59] cross I will give him his title and so he does.

[00:12:03] Jesus of Nazareth king of the Jews.

[00:12:06] The title is significant because Jesus must be crucified as the king of the Jews to become

[00:12:11] king of a far greater kingdom that recognizes no racial or national distinctions.

[00:12:19] Listen to how it's written about Christ in Revelation.

[00:12:22] You are worthy to take the scroll and open the seals because you were slain and with your

[00:12:28] blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

[00:12:36] So the death of Christ is a graphic display of his kingship true that he was king of the

[00:12:42] Jews but denied by them crucified by them and it was in this way that he would become king

[00:12:49] of an even greater kingdom and even bigger kingdom.

[00:12:54] Interestingly John points out that it's written in Aramaic which is the language of the

[00:12:58] Jews.

[00:12:59] It's also written in Latin which was the official language of government and it's written

[00:13:05] in Greek which was the language of commerce and culture.

[00:13:08] It's the language of the Roman citizens so that the whole world would be able to read

[00:13:14] this description.

[00:13:17] Jesus is an international savior.

[00:13:20] Jesus is a cosmic Christ.

[00:13:24] Jesus Christ is king over the whole earth.

[00:13:28] This is not news only for the Western world, this is not news only for the Eastern world.

[00:13:33] Other religious leaders have come and gone and those religious groups have primarily

[00:13:37] stayed within their own people groups and within their own sects.

[00:13:43] But of Jesus Christ his kingdom shall have no end and on the day he gathers his own there

[00:13:51] will be people from every people group language and nation as it says in his word.

[00:13:58] The sign is not only significant for its title but also because of the reaction that

[00:14:03] it brought.

[00:14:05] Look at the reaction of the chief priests in verse 21.

[00:14:08] The chief priests and the Jews protested to Pilate, do not write the king of the Jews but

[00:14:13] that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.

[00:14:16] Now why didn't they want that written out?

[00:14:19] It would make them look bad and they didn't want to look bad.

[00:14:22] What would the world think if the leaders of the Jews had killed the king of the Jews?

[00:14:27] The curse of the one who's hanging there was brought about by their actions.

[00:14:33] That says what I have written, I have written.

[00:14:38] But that's not the end of it.

[00:14:40] There's an added dimension that his kingship is not limited to one people group as we've

[00:14:44] already said but that kingship is universal.

[00:14:49] Pilate included in verse 10 when Jesus refuses to answer Pilate.

[00:14:54] Pilate says do you not know that I have authority to release you and the authority to crucify

[00:14:59] you?

[00:15:01] Jesus answers him.

[00:15:03] You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given to you from above.

[00:15:11] All authority belongs to him.

[00:15:13] Nothing happens outside of his control and that includes his own death.

[00:15:18] This whole scene would be backward to just a casual reader.

[00:15:22] Wouldn't the God of the universe just seize control?

[00:15:26] Why would God die?

[00:15:28] This seems so upside down because people generally cast their vision, their view of God after

[00:15:34] themselves.

[00:15:35] And that's what they would do for themselves.

[00:15:40] Instead we have the God of the universe, the Lord of all creation, the global king doing

[00:15:44] something almost no one expected.

[00:15:48] Beloved were you there?

[00:15:50] Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

[00:15:55] The scene, the sign, third we look at this picture of the soldiers.

[00:16:01] A friend was visiting an old church in the overhired and older lady admiring the beautifully

[00:16:07] stained glassed windows.

[00:16:10] She kept looking at the depiction of Jesus on the cross and she commented how shameful

[00:16:14] it was that they depicted him so scantily clothed.

[00:16:18] She thought that this was improper.

[00:16:21] Well the cross isn't often a way that people are honored.

[00:16:25] Even this depiction is inaccurate.

[00:16:28] Criminals were crucified naked as a way of humiliating the person.

[00:16:32] When armies would conquer they would take the captives that were defeated and they would

[00:16:36] force them to march down their streets naked.

[00:16:39] It was thought to be the highest form of humiliation.

[00:16:44] So was Christ humiliated on that cross in nakedness.

[00:16:50] Verses 23 and 24.

[00:16:53] When the soldiers crucified Jesus they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares,

[00:16:58] one for each of them with the undergarment remaining.

[00:17:02] This garment was seamless woven into one piece from top to bottom.

[00:17:06] Let's not tear it.

[00:17:07] They said to one another.

[00:17:09] Let's decide by lot who gets it.

[00:17:12] And then John adds, this happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which says they

[00:17:17] divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

[00:17:23] What's happening here?

[00:17:24] I read this and asked myself why put this in here.

[00:17:28] I think John puts this here to show us that as horrible as this scene is, the nakedness,

[00:17:34] the torture of the Savior, God is not sitting in heaven at the end of his seat hoping dearly

[00:17:40] that everything turns out okay.

[00:17:43] I think John is showing us that this has been the plan of salvation from the beginning,

[00:17:49] that this most important time in history, the death and ultimately the resurrection of

[00:17:54] the Savior wasn't a fluke or an accident.

[00:17:57] It wasn't on imprecise timing.

[00:18:00] It wasn't a fortuitous event.

[00:18:02] It was all brought about by the hand of sovereign grace while our depiction here of Jesus

[00:18:09] is frail and weak in his humanity.

[00:18:13] We also have a picture of a steadfast and in control father, a loving servant son who

[00:18:19] is willing and able to secure salvation of his people for his father.

[00:18:27] Beloved were you there when they crucified my Lord.

[00:18:31] Let me get another glimpse of the sun.

[00:18:34] Our final point is we look over these events of the crucifixion.

[00:18:40] Our final point is the Savior.

[00:18:43] John is a master of contrast in his gospel.

[00:18:46] He's just given us these four soldiers who are gambling over Jesus' clothing and then

[00:18:51] immediately we meet these four women who are standing and staying by Jesus' side.

[00:18:59] Now we have no other record of Mary, the wife of Kloepus though she could be the wife

[00:19:04] of Kliopus.

[00:19:05] If you remember from the road to Emmaus in Luke chapter 24, we're not sure.

[00:19:11] But look at the other three women whose lives had been deeply impacted and transformed by

[00:19:17] Jesus.

[00:19:19] First his mother's sister, her name is Salome.

[00:19:23] She is the mother of James and John, the sons of Thunder who wanted to be like Elijah

[00:19:28] and call down fire when they met some opposition in Samaria.

[00:19:32] And here is a lady whose life had been radically transformed totally turned upside down by Jesus.

[00:19:40] Her sons just got up and left the family fishing business to become fishermen of men.

[00:19:47] That would have been an interesting conversation with mom and dad.

[00:19:51] Later she's the one who requests that her two sons sit on Jesus' left and right which

[00:19:57] Jesus rebukes her saying that she doesn't know what she's asking.

[00:20:01] Can they drink the cup that I am about to drink?

[00:20:04] The cup of God's wrath?

[00:20:06] Can they drink it?

[00:20:08] And they say, yeah!

[00:20:10] Then he says they will drink of my cup but that will be a different cup.

[00:20:16] That will be the cup of fellowship with Christ instituted in the Lord's Supper.

[00:20:21] And while drinking that cup of fellowship, suffering will be associated with being tied

[00:20:27] to Christ.

[00:20:29] And yet through all of these changes and challenges she is there standing at the cross.

[00:20:37] She stands next to another woman, Mary Magdalene whose life has also been transformed by Jesus,

[00:20:45] a woman who had seven demons.

[00:20:48] Do you think you would forget what it was like to be possessed by seven demons?

[00:20:54] Your life is a rack, chaos, no settling, no rest, no break and then suddenly Jesus comes.

[00:21:00] And he casts out the demons and he gives you peace, calm, joy and hope.

[00:21:08] She knew this was not just some ordinary man.

[00:21:12] She has experienced true freedom like all of us who have experienced the forgiveness and

[00:21:18] joy that Christ gives us.

[00:21:21] And here she is, watching her Savior at the cross.

[00:21:26] The last woman is his mother, the woman who gave birth to him, the woman who raised him,

[00:21:32] the woman who was told by Simeon when he was a baby that a sword would pierce her soul

[00:21:38] to.

[00:21:40] He stands at the cross, watching all of this unfold not as anticipated.

[00:21:47] And through all this agony and pain Jesus looks down and says, woman, here is your son.

[00:21:55] And to John who was also there, here is your mother even though John's birth mother

[00:22:01] is also standing right there.

[00:22:04] He says you, John, take care of Mary.

[00:22:09] Take sure of the church family unit we become that we look after and care for one another

[00:22:14] even outside of blood family relationships, of birth relationships.

[00:22:20] But here's Jesus dying on the cross, mediating the new covenant for mankind and he is still

[00:22:29] fulfilling his duty as a son obeying the law to the fullest.

[00:22:34] He's not breaking the fifth commandment, he's honoring his mother and father but he's

[00:22:40] also thinking of the welfare of others.

[00:22:43] He's not even thinking of himself on the cross.

[00:22:47] Even in these dying moments, he doesn't take the wine mixed with myrrh that was offered

[00:22:53] to him according to Mark's account which would have killed some of the pain.

[00:22:57] He experiences all of it and he looks down and he thinks of others.

[00:23:03] Beloved were you there when they crucified my Lord.

[00:23:08] The God of the universe stumbles under the weight of his own cross.

[00:23:13] His own people have sent him to the cross.

[00:23:18] His closest friends have abandoned him but it all happens under the sovereign hand of

[00:23:24] the loving father.

[00:23:26] Why?

[00:23:27] Because God so loved the world that he sent his only son, that those who believe in him

[00:23:34] will not die, the death of the unrighteous but will have eternal life.

[00:23:41] A day that looked like any other just a routine execution for the soldiers just another

[00:23:48] day in Jerusalem in the first century but because of Christ.

[00:23:53] Because he was willing to go to the cross and face the punishment that the first Adam

[00:23:57] plunged humanity into to rescue us from ourselves.

[00:24:02] We too can stand at the cross as people transformed by his death just as these women were.

[00:24:12] We were transformed by the love of God which was perfectly displayed on Good Friday and

[00:24:17] Resurrection Sunday.

[00:24:19] As we know that Sunday is coming, we can die to self, die to the wicked ways of our heart,

[00:24:26] live in the newness of life with the love of God in us and live in the light of the resurrection.

[00:24:34] Great tragedy could even befall us but we now live as people of hope.

[00:24:41] Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

[00:24:48] It is a podcast from Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Yusef.

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