They did it. They silenced Jesus. I am sure the religious leaders walked around pretty proud of themselves. It’s time to go back to normal and wait for the real messiah to show up. Soon, they will realize their faux paus.
Go ahead and read John 19:28-42. Let’s see what God wants us to learn from the death of Jesus.
God called Jesus on a mission. Jesus knew His mission was now complete. He had spoken every word that God wanted Him to say. He had performed all the miracles needed to help people believe. The climax of His mission was now upon Him; the greatest weekend in history was going to take place!
Have you noticed something? Scripture was always being fulfilled, see verse 28. Throughout the Bible, we read about many prophecies that were fulfilled.
QUESTION: Why is this?
Look at Psalm 69:21. How did the author of Psalms back in the Old Testament know Jesus was going to say He was thirsty? It is amazing that we can cross-reference verses that speak the same thing. This just proves how real God is; which makes Jesus authentic and the Bible absolute Truth!
When we read verses 29-30, we see how Jesus died without any regrets. He came to do His Father’s will. We, too, can leave this earth without any regrets when we have lived up to the calling God has for us. The ultimate words we want to hear from our Lord is, “well-done my faithful servant.”
ADDED INSIGHT: Read Matthew 25:14-30 and pay attention to verses 21 and 23. Why did Jesus say these words?
From verses 31-32, we see how life goes on as normal. Everybody returning back to their routines, their traditions. The pull of this world is so great. We must be alert to how it lures us away from what we long for and need.
ADDED INSIGHT: Look up Deuteronomy 21:22-23 to see what the tradition was for someone dying on a cross.
QUESTION: When the soldiers came to Jesus, what did they do to Him; see verse 34? Notice how we see other fulfilled scriptures come into play. What does verses 36-37 say about His death being fulfilled?
ADDED INSIGHT: Look up Zechariah 12:10 to see how Jesus was referenced back in the Old Testament.
Out of fear for the Jewish leaders, a secret disciple asked permission from Pilate to take Jesus’ body down. Isn’t this sad? Jewish leaders were the spiritual mentors for people and this man was afraid of them. I would guess there were many more people afraid of these pastors. For a disciple to ask a worldly man to take care of Jesus over religious men is dismal, to say the least.
Joseph and Nicodemus, paid the proper respect as they took Jesus’ body down and prepared Him for burial. Nicodemus brought a large amount of perfumed ointment as part of the Jewish burial customs and wrapped Jesus with the spices and linen cloth.
Considering how Jesus was treated, isn’t it fitting that He was placed in a garden with a new tomb? Finally, some dignity for our Savior.
Two men exhibited how we should live our lives as followers of Jesus. They acted out of love and respect. Being His followers, their lives became dangerous, costly and their was no personal gain to be had in associating themselves with Jesus.
Following Jesus has the same ramifications for us. We are called to be courageous, stand strong and give sacrificially for God and to those around us. The personal gain we achieve is peace and contentment in having a relationship with Jesus and the hope of eternal life. Anything outside of that is secondary.
Now, we wait. We wait for Sunday.
Carol J German 