John 19:23-37. Love Personified

Have you ever thought how to help someone to fall in love with youi? It usually starts by doing everything you can to show how much you like them. Smiles are so important as well as sharing little things, a letter always helps, as do presents. The important thing is to keep showing genuine interest in what pleases them and hopefully they will reciprocate.

Jesus, God incarnate, longs for us all to love him and he has done all he can to attract our interest in him.

C.S. Lewis wrote about the love revealed by Christ’s death on that cross:

“God, who needs nothing, loves into existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them. He creates the universe, already foreseeing… the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves, the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath’s sake, hitched up. If I may dare the biological image, God is a “host” who deliberately creates His own parasites, causes us to be that we may exploit and “take advantage of” Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the invented of all loves.”1

We have seen how the cross acts as a diagram of God's love for his world. He is placed at the centre of dying humanity and the sin of the repentant thief is transferred to Jesus who acts as he substitute or sin-bearer.

Nailed over his cross was a placard stating his status and not any crime. He is the king who rules from that cross. He is Lord of all and demands that we respond to him and all he has done for us. As the old hymn says,

"Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

Gambling for so little

At the foot of the cross the four soldiers who made up the quaternion of his execution party distibuted the meagre spoils taken from the naked victim. Most ordinary Jews had five pieces of clothing. There was a turban on his head to shield the heat of the sun, sandals on his feet, an inner garment, an outer garment and a belt. The inner garment was a seemless woven garment and therefore more valuable. Each soldier took one article, but they had to decide what to do with the undergarment and they opted to cast lots for it. Why was this detail included in John's record of the events. Surely it was because this was yet another example of the prophecies about the Messiah in the Jewish Scriptures being fulfilled. John adds,

"This happened that the Scripture might be fulfilled which said, 'They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.' So this is what the soldiers did." John 19:24

This quotation is from Psalm 22 which gives many details about the death of the Messiah, yet it was was written by King David, Jesus' direct ancestor, about 1000 years before Jesus appeared on earth. Those soldiers would not have realised that they were fulfilling Scripture, but so many details about the Messiah's death by crucifixion had been foretold.

Man's Depravity

They were also demonsterating mankind in its lowest form. They were just doing a job, a macabre job maybe, but still just doing a job to get everything out of it that they could.

The psychologist Robert Ringer had this selfish view of life when he wrote,

"I pictured the earth as a giant poker table on which the game of business is played, with only a fixed number of chips on the table. Each player gets to participate for an unknown period of time, and the name of the game is to see how many chips he can pile onto his stack." 2

This is a cold view of our world, everyone being after what others have, for themselves. In 1904 Jack London published a 1904 psychological adventure novel called ’Sea Wolf”. A literary critic survives an ocean collision but comes under the dominance of Wolf Larsen, a powerful and amoral sea captain who rescued him. Wolf Larsen said,

“Life, it is of no value, of cheap things it is the cheapest, everywhere it goes begging. Nature spills it out with a lavish hand and its life eats lifer until the strongest and most piggish is left.”

Similarly, William Golding’s book ‘Lord of the Flies’, published on 1954, describes the behaviour of a group of English children who are marooned on an unihabited island after a nuclear catastrophy. They found it impossible to interact in a moral way with resultant bloodshed as one hounds another to death. Sanity only returns when a Bristish warship arrives on the scene! The message is that when we are left to ourselves the world is a cold place. Even leaders need to be under the controlof someone greater.

The Bible keeps repeating this message.

“There is no-one righteous, not even one . . .” Romans 3:10-11

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . “ Romans 3:23

This picture of man’s depravity is seen in the behaviour of the four soldiers at the foot of Jesus’ cross.

Christ’s love

In contrast to the four soldiers is the relationship Jesus has with the four who are named as grieving for Jesus at the foot of the cross. His mother Mary may have recalled when, forty days aftyer Jesus’ birth she had presented him to God in the templeMessiah to appear to save his people, met Jesus’ family and taking the child in his arms praised God that his heart’s desire had been met. He prayed,

“ . . . For my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:30-32

He then turned to Mary and said,

“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a soul will pierce your own soul too.” Luke 2:34-35

That baby was nursed and trained, as a lad he was loved, and he became the perfect man, but now, he was hanging on a cross before her. A sword was now piecing her innermost being.

Salome, Mary’s sister was also there at the cross. She was the wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John. Doubtless she, shared her sisters pain.

Mary Magdalene, from who seven devils had been cast out was also part of this small group. Her life had been radically changed through he love for Jesus. Jesus had been having a meal in a Pharisee’s house when she had poured ointment over Jesus feet, mixed with tears of gratefulness (Luke 7:38-50).

John, the disciple Jesus loved, was also there with his mother.

These four were all in extreme pain as they saw the one they loved being tortured to death on that cross. Yet Jesus,in his agony is till concerned about those he loves. From the cross he says to his mother,

“ ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother’ ” John 19:26-27

Such love and practical concern in such a situation is astounding. He is carrying the sin of the world yet he is still in control of himself in spite of the excruciating pain. A God who thinks about his own when in his extremity is a God we can approach with greatest confidence.

Legend has it that for the next 11 years Mary lived with John at the foot of Mount Zion before he embarked on his missionary work. Another strong tradition is that he later became the leader of the church in Ephesus with timothy as his right hand man. Mary still lived with him there until she died. Doubtless Mary told John much about the upbringing of Jesus. God recognises that we all need to be part of a family and if the church is not a close family it is failing.

When people are close to Christ they are given more responsibilities and life becomes harder as we share others burdens. If we are burdened we need to determine whether this is because of our stupidity or because of the responsibilities that God has given us to carry.

Some have questioned why Jesus addressed his dear mother in such an impersonal way he said ‘Woman’, whereas when he was then talking to John he calls her ‘your mother.’ Is he protecting her identity in that public place? Only on one other occasion Jesus do we know of Jesus addressing hios mother in this way. This was at the wedding in Cana in Galilee, when they had run out of wine and Mary had told the servants to do whatever Jesus told them. John recalls the words used then,

“Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.” John 2:4

It could be significant that Jesus is reminding Mary of the beginning of his ministry. Here he repeats the phrase at the end. Could it be that he is stressing that in his redemptive ministry he has a higher relationship? The foundation of Mary’s comfort was, as for all people, from seeing Jesus as her Saviour. She knew that she was, like all of us a sinful person who needed God’s forgiveness, won on that cross; she, like all of us, needed a Saviour too.

When she went to tell her cousin Elizabeth, already pregnant with John the Baptist, having been told by an angel that she was expecting a supernatural baby, the Son of God (Luke 1:22) hadn’t she said in those magnificent words we call the Magnificat,

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” Luke 1:46-47

In the Old Testament even God’s people were burdened because they did ‘evil things’. They were idolaters, joined in pagan festivals, were sexually immoral, kept ‘testing the Lord’ and on top of that they grumbled (1 Corinthians 10:6-10). Paul wrote to the troubled church at Corinth,

“These things happened to them and were written down as warnings for us, . . . So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall. No temptation has seized you except what is not common to man. And God is faithful; he will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Corinthians 10:11-13

The foundation of our joy and peace is that we have a Saviour, the Lord Jesus. It is a harsh world out there, people are out to get what they can from us, to get our chips and more, but at his cross Jesus comes to us with his love and his substantial atonement.

Darkness

The other gospels tell us that darkness came over the land from the 6th till the 9th hour. That is from midday till 3pm. Why did this happen. In the bible darkness is werever ther light of God is absent. Nicodemus, the respected member of the Sanhedrin came to see Jesus whilst he was in the dark. In Jewish thinking a curse separated someone from God, whereas a blessing brings the presence of God. Jesus has only known the presence of his heavenly Father but now he bore the sin of the world and experienced the curse that this brought with it and consequently he was separated from his Father. Hence the darkness. Paul wrote later,

“Christ redeemed us form the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Curse is everyone who is hung on a tree. He redeemed us that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus.’” Galatians 3:13-14

This explains why Jesus cried out,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” Matthew 27:46

People joke about hell and say that it is just separation from God, but separation from God is hell, a permanent and complete separation.

Thirst and Hyssop

As the dehydration experienced by crucified people set in,

“Jesus said, ‘I am, thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus lips.” John 19:28-29

Paul later wrote,

“Christ died according to the Scriptures . . .” 1 Corinthians 15:3

There is so much symbolism in the words used here. One of King David’s Psalms describes the distress that God’s Anointed King, the Messiah, would face.

“You know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed; all my enemies are before you. Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless; I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none. They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” Psalm 69:19-21

Jesus had prayed in Matthew 26:42 (NIV), “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” The cup of sour wine Jesus drinks at the crucifixion, just prior to his death, represents the cup of God’s wrath which we all deserve to drink because of our sins. Jesus took that cup and drank from it on our behalf.

Hyssop is also significant. King David wrote Psalm 51 after he had been confronted over his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. He knew he needed God’s forgiveness. He wrote,

“Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.” Psalm 51:7

Hyssop was used to lift up the sponge at Jesus’ crucifixion. In Exodus 12:22 hyssop is used at the first Passover to spread the blood around the door frames. In Leviticus 14:4-7 the hyssop and the blood are used in the ceremonial cleansing of the leper. In Numbers 19:1 hyssop is used for cleansing someone who has touched a dead body. Essentially the hyssop branch is a means by which the blood of the sacrifice was transferred to the sinner to cleanse them of their sin.

This wine representing God’s wrath was transferred to Jesus on the hyssop branch. The hyssop plant and the wine vinegar together are symbolizing the substitutionary death of Jesus on our behalf. Jesus died in our place. Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath that we were supposed to drink. And it was as if God ordained that a hyssop branch was used at the crucifixion to remind everyone that all those symbolic rituals in the Old Testament were symbolizing this moment. Hyssop Represents the Freedom and Forgiveness of the Gospel about Jesus Christ.

God was saying to everyone, “It wasn’t the blood of the lamb spread of your door frame with the hyssop that allowed the angel of death to pass over you when you were leaving Egypt. It wasn’t the blood of animals that Moses sprinkled on you with the hyssop that appeased my wrath. It was my Son’s blood. I did that. I lead you out of Egypt. I paid the price for your rebellion. Look at the hyssop and remember my son. Look at this Old Testament symbol and now look at the one it was symbolizing.” Sin is not forgiven by the ritual sacrifice of animals, these were only symbolic, looking forwards to the one definitive act of substitution and forgiveness that the death of God’s Son would give us.

It is finished

John tells us that after he had received this drink he said,

“It is finished.” John 19:30

He then bowed his head and ‘gave up his spirit’. These final words are also the final words of Psalm 22 which describes in detail the death of God’s Messiah. Jesus knew that he had at last completed the task his Father had given him to accomplish.

Luke records how Jesus took onto himself the responsibilty for the sin of one of the thieves crucified with him and Jesus assured him,

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43

Only those who have Christ’s righteousness given to them can ever enter heaven.

Matthew records that at that moment the massive curtain that separated the Holy of holies in the Temple from its ante-chamber, the Holy place was torn ‘from top to bottom’ (Matthew 27:51). This was a sign from God that the old covenant had been replaced by Jesus. Access to God’s presence, membership of his kingdom, is now available to all people because this has been made possible by the substitutionary death of Jesus. There is now no curtain blocking our access to him.

Luke tells us that Jesus then declared with a loud voice, and he died shortly afterwards.

“Father, into you hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46

Death confirmed

On 27th April 1991, the British newspaper ‘Today’ ran a startling article on its front page with the headline ‘JESUS DID NOT DIE ON THE CROSS’. The article proposed that Jesus was still alive when taken down from the cross ands that placing him in a cool place revived him. Such an attempt to get around the resurrection appearances of Jesus to so many people just will not stand when investigated. Jesus had been flogged to such an extent that he could not carry the patibulum or cross piece of the cross. Jesus died at 3pm on the Friday and that sunset the special Passover sabbath began, so the Jews wanted the bodies to be removed so as not to break the law. The two thieves were still alive. It was a capital offence for a Roman guard to leave if the victim was still alive. If they wanted to bring on an early death one of the Romans would hit the lower legs with a mallet so as to break the bones. The pain, blood loss and inability to push up any more to continue breathing soon resulted in death. This practice was called ‘crurifragium.’ The Jews asked Pilate to break the legs of the crucified men so their bodies could be removed.

“The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found out that he was already dead, they did not break the legs.” John 19:33

However, just to be certain,

“Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.” John 19:34

John himself was there at the time and saw this actually happen.

“The man who saw it has given testimony and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies that you may believe,” John 19:35

Out of the spear wound came a flow of first blood and then water. This must have collected in one of the body cavities of Jesus. We do know that the blood of animals and humans that are tortured to death does not clot (this is due to circulating anti-clotting chemicals called ‘fibrinolysins’). When blood is left to stand, it separates into the red cells which drop to the bottom, leaving the clear plasma above. There seems to be no other reasonable explanation of what John saw, other than that the spear pierced a large cavity which had filled up with blood just before Jesus died and that this blood had separated into the red cells and plasma. It would take at least half an hour after death for this separation to occur. It could not have occurred if Jesus had swooned.

I am interested in which cavity the spear could have hit. The inside of the heart itself is too small to contain enough blood to produce this effect. The only other possibilities are the cavities around the lung (pleural cavity), and the cavity around the heart (pericardial cavity). Just before Jesus died, He ‘cried out with a loud voice’. When people have a pleural cavity full of fluid, they are gasping for breath - so this does not fit. The only viable possibility is that, just before he died, there was a tear in His heart which led to a rapid filling of the pericardial space with blood. This itself would rapidly stop the heart due to what doctors call ‘cardiac tamponade.’ It is interesting that Jesus did die a ‘cardiac type’ death - He was not comatosed but awake when He realised something was going wrong, and said ‘It is finished’, and suddenly died. It therefore seems likely that Jesus literally died of a broken heart!

From all the information that we have, from several sources, there can be no doubt that Jesus did die on that cross.

When the Jews ate the Passover lamb they had to ensure that none of its bones were broken (Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12) just as this ultimate sacrifice would die without a bone of him being broken.

John, in tune with all the apostles was keen to show that every detail of jesus’ death was in tune with the old Jewish Scriptures. He finishes this section with a quote from Zechariah, written around 500BC.

“They will look on the one they have pierced.” John 19:37 and Zechariah 12:10

What love must have led a man to voluntarily go through all this so that we can be forgiven by God. Jesus gave up his loving spirit for us, but asks us to give up our selfish spirits and turn to him for forgiveness of our sin against him.

BVP

1 C.S. Lewis, “Herein Is Love” in The C.S. Lewis Bible, NRSV (New York: HarperOne, 2010), 1105.

2Robert Ringer, ‘Winning through Intimidation’ Skyhorse publishiong 2013 p. 23