John 19:1-16: All According to Plan

John 19:1-16: All According to Plan

Please turn with me in your Bible to John 19. If you’re using one of the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 750. We’ve been going through the Gospel of John passage by passage, and today, we come to John 19:1-16. John 19:1-16: 1 Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” 13 So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. 

On February 1, 2003, our country experienced a national tragedy. The space shuttle Columbia, returning from its 28th mission into space, disintegrated as it reentered Earth’s atmosphere. Needless to say, all seven crew members on board were killed. Researchers later discovered that the reason for this terrible mishap was that, as the space shuttle was taking off at the beginning of its mission, a piece of foam insulation had broken off from the external fuel tank and struck the left wing of the space shuttle. And at first, everything seemed to be okay. But then, after the space shuttle had completed its time in space and was reentering earth’s atmosphere, the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to destroy the internal structure of the wing, which caused the shuttle to become unstable and break apart. The mission had gone horribly wrong. And as we think about our main passage in John 19, you might at first be tempted to think that something similar has happened here. It might appear that something has gone horribly wrong in Jesus’ ministry. After all, he’s just been sentenced to be crucified. Surely this can’t be good! That’s what many, at least, would think.

Who’s responsible for the death of Jesus?

And, by the way, whenever something goes wrong, there’s always a question about who’s responsible for it going wrong. Whose fault is it? That’s the first of three questions I’d like to ask this morning. And just so you have an idea of where we’re going, I’m going to ask a total of three questions, and those questions will serve as our three main points, and that’s the first one. Who’s responsible for the death of Jesus?

Perhaps some might argue that it was Pilate. He was the Roman governor and the one in authority. Verse 13 records that Pilate “brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat.” Then in verse 16, it says that Pilate “delivered [Jesus] over to them to be crucified.” So Pilate is at least partially responsible for the death of Jesus. It was his decision to make, and he made it.

But if we examine this passage carefully, we can see that Pilate didn’t really want Jesus to be executed. It was the Jewish religious leaders who wanted Jesus dead. Throughout the passage, Pilate’s actually trying his best to defend Jesus and rescue Jesus from being crucified like the Jewish leaders wanted. In verses 1-3, Pilate takes Jesus and has him flogged in an attempt to appease the Jewish leaders. He then says in verse 4, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” But then as soon as Jesus came out, the Jewish leaders shouted in verse 6, “Crucify him, crucify him.” Pilate then repeats that he finds no guilt in him, but the Jewish leaders continue to press him. Moving down to verse 12: “From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, ‘If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.’” So finally, Pilate sees that a riot is about to break out. So he brings Jesus out, briefly makes one more attempt to defend him, and then gives in and hands Jesus over to be crucified. The Jewish leaders get what they wanted. So, we might say, it was the Jewish leaders who were responsible for Jesus’ death. 

But if you look even more closely at this passage, you can see that even though both Pilate and the Jewish leaders were undoubtedly responsible for crucifying Jesus, there was someone else who was ultimately behind Jesus’ death. There’s no question that Pilate and the Jews were responsible and culpable for the role they played, but they actually weren’t the ones ultimately responsible for Jesus being crucified. So who was? Well, let’s look at our text. Pilate asks Jesus in verse 10, “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Then, Jesus answers in verse 11, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.” In other words, God is the one who gave Pilate authority—both general authority to rule as governor and authority in the midst of this specific situation. God had brought this situation to Pilate with full knowledge of what Pilate would choose to do. So ultimately, God was the one behind Jesus’ crucifixion. We see that taught even more clearly in the book of Acts. In Acts 2:23, Peter describes Jesus as being “delivered up [i.e. crucified] according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” Then in Acts 4, listen to what the church prays to God. They say, in verses 27-28, “27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” So the shocking reality is that God was the one ultimately behind Jesus’ death. So we see that, in fact, nothing has gone wrong in this situation. It’s not like what happened with the space shuttle Columbia. Everything described here in John 19 was part of God’s perfect plan all along. 

Why would God kill his Son?

And that leads us to our second question of “Why in the world would God do that?” That’s the second question that will guide us this morning. Why would God kill his own Son? Why would he allow and even ordain that Jesus be crucified? And the Bible answers that question very clearly. Isaiah 53:5 says this about Jesus: “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” So Jesus died for us—for our benefit. You see, we had what Isaiah 53 calls “transgressions” and “iniquities.” That means we had sinned against God. And our sins cried out for God’s justice. Now, if you’re not a Christian, you may not be sure what you think about that. But let me suggest to you that we all intuitively believe in justice.That’s why, when a murderer is being executed through lethal injection, they have an area behind the glass where the victim’s family can sit and watch the execution. Why do they do that? Why do they provide those seats and why do the victim’s family members attend? Because humans are wired to desire justice. Or think about this. Let’s say someone murders a family member of yours. How would you feel if the police arrested the perpetrator and he was brought to trial, but then the judge felt sorry for him and said to him, “You know, it’s very obvious that you’ve committed this crime, but I’m in a pretty generous mood right now and I can tell you feel bad about what you’ve done. So, if you’ll simply promise not to do it again, I’ll forgive your crime and let you go free.” How would you feel if the judge said that to this man? You’d probably be furious and demand that that judge be fired. That’s not justice. A just judge doesn’t let a criminal go free. Instead, he makes sure they receive the lawful punishment they deserve. 

Now, with that in mind, would you expect anything less of God than you do of a human judge? Hopefully not. And neither should you—because God is just, and he always acts in ways that are good and right. And normally, that would be really good news—but not for us sinners. For us in our sinful condition, God’s justice is terrifying—because it’s directed against us. We’re guilty—we’re the perpetrator—and God won’t let our crimes go unpunished. But that’s where Jesus comes in. Isaiah 53 says that Jesus “was pierced for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities.” All of the judgment of God that should have come down on us came down on Jesus instead. As Jesus died on the cross, he took on himself the judgment we deserved. And as a result, God’s justice is satisfied and his righteous wrath is appeased. And because Jesus not only died but was also raised to life three days later, we can enjoy God’s forgiveness and be fully reconciled to him. Instead of being God’s enemies, we can be his friends—and not just his friends but even his own children, the Bible teaches. And that happens as soon as we turn away from sin and direct our trust toward Jesus. So, to answer our second question, that’s why God the Father allowed and even ordained that Jesus be crucified. He was purchasing our redemption.

How should this shape the way we view evil and adversity?

And that has massive implications for the way we should view the difficult times we go through. So having asked a “who?” question (“Who killed Jesus?) and then a “why?” question (“Why did he do it?”), let’s now ask a “how?” question. How should all of this shape the way we view evil and adversity? Because I’m sure all of us have experienced things in our lives that we simply can’t understand. And we often wonder, “How could God allow this thing to happen?” But if our text in John 19 shows us anything, it shows us this: That God regularly uses the worst of things to accomplish the best of things. And that’s probably a good main idea you can take away with you from our message this morning. God uses the worst of things to accomplish the best of things. 

And John 19 isn’t the first time he does that. Back in Genesis, we read the story of Joseph. Joseph went through some incredibly difficult things. His brothers were jealous of the fact that he was daddy’s favorite, and so when a caravan of slave traders was passing through, they sold Joseph into slavery. Joseph then lived for a while as a slave in Egypt and managed to rise to a privileged position in the household of a prominent Egyptian named Potiphar. However, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to rape her, so Joseph was sent to prison. But while in prison, he got the opportunity, with God’s help, to interpret a dream for the Egyptian king, called Pharaoh. And Pharaoh was so pleased with Joseph that he made him the second highest ruler in all of Egypt—second only to Pharaoh himself. Then, a few years later, there was a severe famine all over that region of the world. So Joseph’s brothers traveled to Egypt to buy food. And who should they encounter in Egypt but their little brother Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery. And they were understandably fearful at what Joseph would do to them, because they were now entirely at his mercy. But Joseph said something to them that I’ve never been able to forget. He said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” So even though what Joseph’s brothers did was unquestionably wrong, Joseph recognized that God was actually the one behind their actions and was using everything that happened to accomplish his perfect purposes. So God doesn’t commit evil, but he nevertheless uses evil for good. 

But of course, the greatest example of God using evil for good is our text in John 19 that records Jesus being crucified. The crucifixion of Jesus was horrific, as we’ll see next week. The whipping, the nails, the crown of thorns—not to mention the shame and utter aloneness Jesus experienced as he hung on the cross. Crucifixion was both excruciating and humiliating. And this was the Son of God they were doing this to! So I think it would be fair to say that Jesus’ crucifixion was the most terrible thing that’s ever happened in the history of the world. But God used it to bring about the most beautiful thing that’s ever happened—the world’s salvation. God knew what he was doing. 

So whenever something happens to you that you can’t understand at first, just ask yourself, “What might God be doing here?” You see, God is like an expert surgeon. Every cut he makes has a purpose. He takes his scalpel and cuts here and here and here, and not a single cut is wasted. Every cut is, in the end, helping the patient. So when you feel the sting of God’s scalpel, just ask yourself, “What’s God doing?” Now, you probably won’t be able to understand it completely. God’s purposes are simply too grand for our puny minds to comprehend. But sometimes, parts of God’s purposes are visible to us. So I’d like to suggest four questions that you can ask to help you get through the trials you face in your life. Four questions that will give you a glimpse of what God is up to. These are different than the three questions that have served as our main points. And I’ll go through these rather quickly, so feel free to write them down and think about them more at home.

Question number one when you’re going through a trial: How is God using this to make me more like Jesus? Romans 8:28 states, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” So God uses everything for good. And what is that “good”?  Well, it tells us in the next verse, verse 29: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” So God works through everything for good, and that good is making us more like his Son. So whenever you face a trail, ask yourself, “How is God using this to make me more like Jesus?” Then, number two, ask yourself, “How is God using this to draw me closer to him?” In 2 Corinthians 1:8-9, Paul writes, “8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” So why does Paul say he and his companions endured the afflictions they endured? “To make us rely not on ourselves but on God.” You see, everybody is naturally self-reliant. That’s our default mode. And as long as we’re functioning in self-reliance, we’re distant from God. So God allows us to be afflicted as a way of breaking us of our self reliance and humbling us and teaching us to rely solely on him. Because it’s only then that we can be close to him. So in the midst of suffering, ask yourself, “How is God using this to draw me closer to him?” 

Then third, ask yourself, “How is God using this to display his power and glory?” Listen to this record from Jesus’ ministry in John 9:1-3: “1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.” So Jesus’ disciples—following an assumption that was popular in their day—thought this man’s blindness must be punishment for some sin that had been committed either by the man himself or by his parents. But Jesus corrects them and says that the reason this man was born blind was so that “the works of God might be displayed in him.” In other words, the whole reason he was born blind was so that Jesus could get glory for himself by healing him. The man’s blindness gave Jesus occasion to demonstrate his power over the blindness and thereby show people that he was the true Messiah. That’s why this guy was born blind. And even though Jesus is no longer walking around on this earth performing miracles on people, he still uses our trials for his glory. For example, a lot of times, one of the most power gospel testimonies we can give is when we maintain our faith in God through a trial. That makes an impact on people. You might call it “suffering well.” When we “suffer well,” God’s name is glorified and the gospel gains a hearing among people who would otherwise not believe. So in the midst of your suffering, ask yourself, “How is God using this to display his power and glory?”

Then finally, ask yourself, “How is God using this to redirect my gaze where it needs to be?” In Romans 8:18, Paul states, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Then, skipping down to verse 22: “22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.” So in other words, Paul says, we groan as we wait for the fullness of our salvation in heaven. You see, that’s where our gaze should be directed anyway. And the trials in our lives help us look where we need to be looking and long for what we need to be longing for. They give us a much-needed reminder that this world is not our home and point us instead to heaven as our true home. So ask yourself in the midst of your trials, “How is God using this to redirect my gaze where it needs to be?”

So those are four questions you can ask yourself: How is God using this to make me more like Jesus? How is God using this to draw me closer to him? How is God using this to display his power and glory? And how is God using this to redirect my gaze where it needs to be? Again, God is like an expert surgeon. He knows what he’s doing, and every cut he makes has a purpose. 

Conclusion

Many of you may have heard the story of the five missionaries who lost their lives while attempting to bring the gospel to the Huaorani people. The Huaorani were a tribe deep in the Amazon rainforest and were commonly called the Aucas, which means “savages,” because they were so violent—and not just violent against outsiders but even against members of their own tribe. In fact, there were so many revenge killings within the tribe that it threatened the tribe’s very survival. But five missionaries with the Alliance church—Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Pete Fleming, and Roger Youderian—decided to engage this tribe with the goal of bringing the gospel to them. So they began by dropping gifts to the Huaorani from an airplane. Then, when those gifts were reciprocated time after time, the missionaries established a camp close to the Huaorani settlements. However, on January 8, 1956, the Huaorani people—for some reason that’s still a bit unclear—speared the five missionaries, killing all of them. And at first, it’s difficult even to think about how great of a tragedy this was, especially when you consider the fact that these men left behind wives and children. How could these seemingly senseless killings have any purpose or accomplish any good?

Well, a few years after these five missionaries were killed, two of the missionary wives decided God was calling them to go back to the tribe and continue the husbands’ efforts to share the gospel with them. So they went. And the Huaorani people were so amazed that these women would seek to befriend them even after they had killed the women’s husbands. And that made them want to listen to what the women had to say about Jesus. The women explained that Jesus also had loved his enemies and, in fact, had loved them so much that he willingly died for them. And one after another, a significant portion of the Huaorani came to know Jesus. Tribal violence viritually stopped, and the Huaorani became different people—what the Bible calls a “new creation” in Christ. The women even shared the gospel with some of the very men who had actually thrown the spears that struck their husbands, and those men were among those who became Christians. And in addition to the conversion many of the Huaorani, the story of the sacrifice of these five missionaries served to galvanize the missionary movement in the United States so that thousands of other missionaries were sent out all over the world to spread the gospel. This story was a key part of so many other deciding to be missionaries. God had a plan the whole time. 

So whether we’re looking at the story of these five missionaries, or the story of Joseph being sold into slavery, or the story of Jesus dying on the cross, we see over and over that God regularly uses the worst of things to accomplish the best of things. And he does the same thing today in the lives of people like you and me.