Do You Believe?

“Do you believe?” It’s a question many of us have heard so often it can start to feel like background noise, but John refuses to let it fade. We follow the Gospel of John straight into John 19, where the crucifixion of Jesus is recorded with uncomfortable specificity and a clear purpose: eyewitness testimony meant to bring us to a decision about who Jesus really is.

We trace the scene from Pilate’s uneasy surrender to the crowd’s chilling declaration, “We have no king but Caesar,” and we ask what that kind of compromise looks like in our own lives. We also sit with the sign over the cross, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews,” written for the whole city to read, and the bitter irony that a political accusation becomes a public announcement of truth. Along the way, we point out how John keeps highlighting fulfilled prophecy, from soldiers casting lots for Jesus’ garments to the sour wine offered when He says, “I thirst.”

Then we come to the words that change everything: “It is finished.” We talk about what the cross accomplishes, why the physical reality of Jesus’ death matters, and how the unbroken bones and the pierced side confirm that this is not symbolism but history. Finally, we watch quiet disciples like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus step into the light to bury Jesus, setting our hope toward the resurrection and the promise of new life for anyone who believes.

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Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

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Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

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One of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out as evidence that he was indeed dead. Do you believe that? Our Savior, God, became a man. He had a real life, physical human body that was sinless. And he really was beaten. He really was crucified. He really died for our sin.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

Do you believe in Jesus? You've probably heard that question or even asked someone else that question hundreds of times. But do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe He is God? That He was sent to die and rise from the dead, defeating our sin once and for all. In today's message, Pastor Carl will recognize that it's easy to get caught up in the words or the same questions. It's so important that you never forget what Jesus did and never make light of the magnitude of his accomplishment on the cross. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

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Get everything ready for your Sabbath, and then you don't have to do any work on the Sabbath day. There's also a little conflict between one of the other gospels and this one about what hour it was. I believe the other gospel was using uh Hebrew time, and this is using a Roman time. The point was it was early in the morning. Between 6 and 9 a.m., these these things were happening. And so Pilate says, All right, here's your king. And they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? You've said it, he's said it, he is the king. You want to crucify him? But again, the chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. Let that sink in for a little bit. They are now denying God altogether. We have no king but Caesar. And they don't really mean that, but they're saying that in this opportunity, in this time to complete the task that they have set their hearts to without even seeking after God, what they should do. May we be careful to seek after the Lord, to get his insight, so we don't do things and say things there where we end up denying our Lord in front of other people. Then he delivered him to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away. Other gospels have even more details of what happened here. And Pilate tried to get him off. He couldn't get it. Jesus freed. The crowds were just too loud. They were starting a riot, and he couldn't have that on his record again. So he just said, fine, take him. Take him. And they led him away to be crucified. And then the journey from the Praetorium to the cross. Verse 17. And he bearing his cross, which was something the Romans would cause the prisoners to do, that they would bear their own cross, walking through the public streets as a spectacle to the crowds around. And as a hope that it would be a deterrent that other people would not fight against the Roman government. So he beared his cross and went out to the place called the place of the skull, which is called in Hebrew Gogotha. And the Latin word for that is Calvary, where they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross, and the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. They would put the charge that they were convicted of on top of the cross. So people would know why is this guy being crucified? One's a thief, you know, one's a murderer, and one is the king of the Jews. That's why he was crucified because he was the king of the Jews. 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. Three different languages that were common in that area, so everybody could read and know what this person had done. Therefore, the chief priests of the Jews came to Pilate. Again, the chief priests causing a lot of this trouble. Do not write the king of the Jews, but he said, I am the king of the Jews. That's not accurate. He's not the king of the Jews. He's a blasphemer. He said he was God. And that's just not. He needs to be, this needs to be accurate. And Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. I've had enough of you people. I'm not going to change this anymore. This is what the problem is. He is on that cross because he is declared to be the king of the Jews. And so that's what it is. He's dying because he is the king of the Jews, and I'm not going to change it. 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, this tunic is different from the robe that we saw earlier. The robe was an outside uh garment that was that you see on the outside. These tunics were actually an underclothing, uh an under robe, you could call it. And usually tunics would be in two parts. Um commentators believe that uh sometimes mothers would would uh would sew and create and weave. I don't know how they do that, I'm not a seamstress, but they would create one from the top down in one piece for their sons when they were ready to go. And there's no biblical evidence for this, but some believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, actually made this tunic for Jesus when he went out to start his ministry. It was it's kind of like a priestly tunic that was placed underneath the robe, and then a robe was placed on the outside and the other priestly apparel that was put on top. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. That's what made it so uh uh so valuable. Don't tear it up, it's in one piece. And of course, they're they're they're gambling for all these parts of his clothing because uh these this might be worth something someday because we're crucifying the king of the Jews. This might be worth something. And they said therefore among themselves, let's not tear it, but let's 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. John wanted to bring up so many areas where Jesus fulfilled prophecy. I believe this came from Psalm 22, where they divided his garments, and they they cast lots for his clothing, and indeed it happened. And John points it out. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother and his mother's sister, Salome, who is the mother of the sons of thunder, who are James and John, the writer of this gospel. So again we see that Jesus and John were actually cousins as well, as Jesus and John the Baptist. So Jesus and John the disciple are cousins. And Jesus' mother was there, and John's mother was there, as well as Mary, the wife of Clopus and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to his disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour that that disciple took her into his own home. Jesus was concerned about his earthly mother, that she would be taken care of. And the first, as the firstborn son of the family, uh it was his obligation to make sure that his mom was taken care of. Now we know that Jesus had other brothers and sisters. Why did he go and ask John to do this? Um I'm not sure that we know the full reason why, but one reason is John was there and his brothers and sisters were not. John was there and he followed and he believed his brothers and his sisters had not. Yet some of them would come to faith after his resurrection and be powerful in the church. And he was a relative. So there he was. John was there, John's mom was there, Jesus was there, his mom was there, and so Jesus just right there took care of it, made sure that his mom would be taken care of. And John did as his Lord requested and took care of Mary for the rest of her life. Verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, what things were accomplished? The the the satisfaction of the sin debt being covered. The Lord has come into this world to take care of the sin problem that was caused by the fall at the very beginning of creation. And he came that the scripture might be fulfilled. And at this moment he said, I thirst that the scripture would be fulfilled. Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on hyssop and put it in his mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit. There was another time in another gospel where he was offered wine to kind of ease the pain a little bit, but he refused it because he was in the midst of taking upon himself the wrath of God. But now it was done, and he was ready, and he gave up his spirit, he willingly was in control, it was not uh a result of what Rome did, it was not a result of what the Jews did, but Jesus had to die for our sin, and in the fullness of time it happened. Psalm 69 is where a lot of this came from, beginning at verse 19. You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you. Is that not what we see in that picture? Reproach has broken my heart, and I'm full of heaviness. I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none. Not with the governing authorities, not with the religious leaders. They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink. And as uh John points out again, this is to fulfill these prophecies that it happened. Everything that was prophesied that the Messiah uh would do was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, even at his last moment on the cross. 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. Again, that means that the Sabbath was a Sabbath that fell in the midst of a religious feast, festival that they had. The Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. If, say, that these people were crucified on Monday and they had a few days to go, um, the religious leaders wouldn't have made a big deal about it. Just let them die. Sometimes people would take six days to die on the cross. But because the Sabbath was coming up, they didn't want to defile the town. And so, you know, their eyes were toward the Sabbath, their eyes were toward the festival. If you remember last week, they wouldn't go into the praetorium. They just sent Jesus in there and they wouldn't touch the place because uh, of course, the praetorium was was uh off limits, it was it was uh unclean, and if they went in there, they wouldn't be able to celebrate the Passover meal and and and and the celebration for the rest of the week. And so when they want to speed up the process of crucifixion and and and make sure that they're dead quicker, they would ask their that their bones would be broken. They take a big hammer and and and break their their legs. And if your legs are broken, then you you can't push up to breathe. Just how simple it is and how cruel that is. And they would suffocate and die rather quickly. And so they they agreed to that, and and the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and uh the other who was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out as evidence that he was indeed dead. Do you believe that? Our Savior, God, became a man. He had a real life, physical human body that was sinless, and he really was beaten, he really was crucified, he really died for our sin. But let that sink in. Our creator became one of us and literally died, and he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he's telling the truth so that you might believe. Again, John talking in third person. I was there, I saw it, and I'm putting all these things together in my gospel so that you would believe. I'm presenting the love of God, I'm I'm presenting the the absolute mess of sin and the representation of God to man by the these people that call themselves priests. He didn't hold anything back. So that anybody who would hear this gospel would believe. That was his hope, that was his prayer. That's the heart of God. And I trust that you believe this morning. And if you don't, I pray that you would come to believe this morning, that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to the truth of what is going on here, and the import of you believing that Jesus was who he said he was, and that he rose again after paying our sin debt on the cross, and he offers us new life to anyone who would believe. For these things were done that scripture would be fulfilled, that none of his bones shall be broken. And again, another scripture says that they shall look on him whom they pierced. And I looked these up and I forgot where where they were. I think this is another psalm, and it's from Zechariah. And again, they were fulfilled in Jesus, fulfilled in the Messiah, fulfilled in the one that was to come to save us from our sin. Now, after this, after Jesus died and and that none of his bones were broken, yet his body was broken for you and I. His body was broken so that we could be healed. He was mocked so we could be accepted. He took our punishment so that we could be part of the beloved, be accepted by God the Father. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for the fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate gave him permission. Joseph of Arimathea was one of the Sanhedrin. He was part of that uh religious leadership. And he, along with another that we'll see here in a few minutes, actually believed in Jesus, believed who he said he was. And now, in great boldness, he goes before Pilate because he has some authority and some access to him to ask for the body of Jesus. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, here's the other one. Nicodemus, another religious leader, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. And they took the body of Jesus and and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. Now, apparently they didn't finish the job because the ladies would come back uh on the first day of the week on Sunday morning to complete the the job of burial and applying um all these different uh uh herbs and so forth. And typically what would happen is somebody would be buried in a tomb like that for about a year until basically the flesh would decompose and all that was left were the bones, and then they'd come back and take the bones and and put them in another place for their eternal uh place to be to be laid. But you know what? Jesus wasn't in there long enough for any decay to start, and we'll see that next week, right? I don't know if if Joseph knew in another gospel, we we we learn that this is his own private uh tomb that he just dug up for himself. He's only borrowing the tomb. When when I need it, it'll be ready. But in fact, that is what happened. Um Jesus would take good care of the tomb that he would only have for a couple of days. Now, in that place where he was crucified, there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Um, it was very practical. It was it was nearby, so they they could actually do this before the sun went down. And yet, do you realize that these these religious leaders were touching a dead body? So they were made unclean. And yet the body that they were touching was the body that was sacrificed to make them clean. Chewing that for a while. So there they laid Jesus because of the Jews' preparation day. For the tomb was nearby. They did this because they had to do it before sundown, because the this this the Sabbath was about to start. And yet it all fit into God's perfect plan. And next week we'll look at the resurrection of Jesus. Lord, it was the worst day in history for you. But it was the greatest day in history for those who believe. Lord, you've come for this purpose. Soon we'll be celebrating Christmas and your arrival, the gift of God in this little babe. But you've come in order to die. You've come to bring what was separated back together. You've come to take the price of our sin and give us the righteousness of God. What a great mystery, Lord. And we thank you for it. And we accept it and we're changed by it. But we realize there's so much more to it. Lord, help us to grow in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, to know Him crucified, and the reason and the implications for all that. Lord, the simple answer is you came to take care of the sin problem and to make us right with you. But there's so many more applications to it. Help us to grow in you. And we look forward to coming back next week and celebrating your resurrection, your proof of power over sin and death, and that in you we have life eternal. We thank you and we praise you in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

You've been listening to the teaching of Pastor Carl from the Mountain Cross on Come On Up. We're in the Gospel of John, and there's much to explore in this exciting book of the Bible. Jesus does all kinds of miracles in the book of John, such as turning water into wine and raising Lazarus from the dead. These were signs that he was far more than human. He's God. However, Jesus didn't shy away from expressing his humanity on earth either. When his friend had died, he was sad and he cried. He experienced righteous anger, seeing people abusing and defiling the temple while taking advantage of the poor. He cleared out the temple area with a cord of whips and showed his authority. But he was also tender with children and compassionate to those who were considered outcasts. This is the juxtaposition of the book of John. Jesus was both God and man, and you get to fully appreciate it more and more by reading this rich book of the Bible. If you're enjoying the teaching on Come On Up, would you consider helping us get the word out to others? Simply visit themountaincross.com/slash donate. It's a safe and secure way for you to give online. The Mountain Cross meets Sunday mornings at 10 at the Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville, North Carolina. If you are nearby and don't have a church home, we'd be delighted to have you join us this weekend. And be sure to come on up to the mountain with us next time as we seek to learn more from the Lord through His Word. Come On Up is sponsored by the Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.