John 19:17-37: This Changes Everything

John 19:17-37: This Changes Everything

In Yann Martel’s book The Life of Pi, a young Hindu boy named Pi is investigating different religions. And in the course of his investigation, he encounters a Catholic priest named Father Martin. Father Martin tells Pi the story of the gospel—how Jesus came to earth, died on a cross, and was raised from the dead three days later. After that, Pi records, “I asked for another story, one that I might find more satisfying. Surely this religion had more than one story in its bag—religions abound with stories. But Father Martin made me understand that…their religion had [but] one Story, and to it they came back again and again, over and over. It was story enough for them.” Now Yann Martel isn’t exactly a Christian author, so I wouldn’t recommend drawing too much theology from The Life of Pi. But in this particular instance, I think he gives a remarkably accurate description of how the story of the gospel functions within Christianity. It may be true that other religions abound with various stories, but Christianity is primarily about one story, and it’s to that story that we come back again and again.  

And this morning, as we continue our series of sermons going through the Gospel of John passage by passage, the next passage we come to describes the central event of this great gospel story—the crucifixion of Jesus. So please turn with me in your Bibles to John 19. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 750. This is the central event of the central story of Christianity. The Roman governor Pilate has just sentenced Jesus to be crucified. Then here’s what we read in John 19:17-37. John 19:17-37: So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” 

Now if you found that passage difficult to read, that’s understandable. It is difficult to read.  It’s a heavy passage. And yet, it’s necessary for us to regularly go back and think through exactly what happened to Jesus—his unjust trial, his sentencing, the way they mocked him with the plaque that read “The King of the Jews,” the way the soldiers divided his clothes among them, the agony Jesus suffered that made him thirst, the way Jesus voluntarily “bowed his head and gave up his spirit,” and the way the Roman soldiers verified his death by piercing his side with a spear. These things are difficult to hear, but they’re necessary—because what’s described in this passage, coupled with the resurrection of Jesus described in the next passage, is the most important event that’s ever taken place in the entire history of the world. This event is the centerpiece not only of Christianity but also of human history as a whole. History in its entirety swings on the hinge of this one event. And the reason this gospel story is so important is because it changes everything. This changes everything.Because, you see, the death of Jesus was anything but an ordinary death. And I’m not just talking about the pain and shame Jesus endured. I’m talking about significance of his death itself. As Jesus died, he functioned as what the Bible calls the “propitiation” for our sins. And that word “propitiation” simply means that through his death, Jesus turned away the wrath of God the Father against sin. You see, our sins had aroused God’s righteous anger. We stood condemned before God and thoroughly deserving of his judgment. But Jesus took our sins on his shoulders and suffered that judgment in our place, satisfying God’s justice and appeasing his wrath against sin. And because he did that, and because he then resurrected from the dead, we can be forgiven of our sins, cleansed from the inside out, and even adopted as the very children of God. That’s the gospel. 

And this gospel message changes everything. In other words, if we really grasp this message and embrace this message, it’s going to affect every aspect of our lives. You know, I think a lot of people—even many Christians—have a very limited view of how the gospel connects to their lives. They usually only see how the gospel connects to one part of their lives—primarily to their eternal salvation. Basically, it gets them out of hell and into heaven but doesn’t do a whole lot beyond that. So they see the gospel as being very limited in what it addresses. It’s relevant for one part of our lives but not as much for the rest. It’s not really relevant for our relationships, our identity, our marriage, our parenting, our career, our money, or our purpose. But I’d like to suggest this morning that this segregated view of the gospel—this idea that the gospel is just one thing on its own in the mist of the numerous other things in our lives—is terribly inadequate. I’ll even go so far as to call it unbiblical. Because according to the Bible, the gospel is for your life, not just your afterlife. Let me say that again: the gospel is for your life, not just your afterlife. So a better representation of the Christian life is for the gospel to be at the very center with lines extending out from the gospel to everything else. It connects to everything.

Or let me explain it a different way. Think about it like this: A lot of Christians view the gospel as just the ABC’s of Christianity. You know, when a child learns how to read, the very first thing they learn is their ABC’s. They have to learn the letters of the alphabet. But the goal isn’t to learn the alphabet and then keep learning it, right? It’s to advance beyond the alphabet relatively quickly and begin using it to actually read words and then sentences and eventually entire books. Then eventually, you get to the point where you don’t even think about the alphabet any more. You just read. It’s second nature. When I read a book, I’m not consciously looking at the individual letters on the pages. My eyes just glance right over them. I’m so familiar with letters and words that I don’t even think about them any longer. I just think about the ideas they convey. And a lot of Christians think that’s kind of how the gospel is. They think it just functions as the ABC’s of Christianity that you learn pretty quickly and then move on to other things—supposedly “deeper” things. But in reality, you never “move on” from the gospel. Instead, you keep going back to the gospel again and again and again and learn to approach every aspect of life in light of that great gospel message. Around here, it’s what we like to call being “gospel-centered.” So when you hear us talk about being “gospel-centered,” that’s what we’re talking about. We mean that the gospel should define the way we approach every aspect of life. And that’s the main thing we’re going to unpack this morning. How the gospel should define the way we approach every aspect of life.

Let me show you what I mean. I’d like to spend the rest of our time looking at eight areas of our lives that we should approach in light of the gospel and explain very briefly how we might do that in each area. This isn’t in any way comprehensive since there are a lot of other aspects of our lives that we don’t have time to talk about. But I think these eight areas are a pretty good starting point. And like I said, we’ll just touch on each of them very briefly. 

Relationships 

First, our relationships. The gospel connects to our relationships. As we think about the way Jesus has loved us even to the point of laying down his life for us, it should make us want to love others in the same way—by setting aside our interests for the sake of theirs. Sacrificial love should be a reality in every relationship we have. And not just as we relate to people who treat us well. Remember, Jesus was dying for people who had sinned against him. Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion even records Jesus praying for the forgiveness of the very people who were carrying out his crucifixion. In Luke 23:34, he prays, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” So when people sin against us, thinking about Jesus dying for his enemies should inspire us to love our enemies also. And that means forgiving them for any wrongs they’ve committed against us. So approaching our relationships in light of the gospel means practicing love and forgiveness in those relationships.

Identity

Second, we should view our identity in light of the gospel. So often, we find our identity in a role that we have—being a mother, having a certain career, being gifted at this thing or that thing. And as a result, we make an idol out of succeeding in that area, and our joy in life is almost entirely dependent on successful we are. So if we’re not as successful as we desire to be, we’re joyless. But if our joy is instead in Jesus and we’re finding our identity not in any particular role but in our relationship with Jesus, that enables us to approach the various roles we have in a much healthier way. It frees us to engage in those roles as worship to God and not lose our joy when we’re not as successful as we desire to be. And sometimes, to look at this from a different angle, we may not find our identity in a role we have but rather in a sin we struggle with such as pornography or substance abuse. We see that sin as fundamental to our identity. So whenever we fall into that sin, we’re crushed by guilt and feel absolutely worthless, as if God could never forgive us. But if we find our identity in Jesus, we remember that his blood cleanses us from all sin. When he looks at us, he sees us not as sinners but as righteous. That’s our identity as the gospel defines it. So we want to view our identity in light of the gospel.

Marriage

Then thirdly, for those who are married, we should approach our marriage in light of the gospel. In fact, the gospel is the very reason God created marriage in the first place. He designed marriage to be a picture of the kind of relationship he desires to have with us through the gospel. The intimacy of the marital relationship, the mutual love of the marital relationship, the exclusivity of the marital relationship—all of that is a picture of the kind of relationship God wants to have with his bride, the church. So when we’re faithful to our wedding vows and pursue a God-honoring marriage, we’re displaying to the world a picture of the gospel. By our faithfulness, we proclaim to the world God’s faithfulness. By our self-giving love, we proclaim to the world God’s self-giving love. By our lifelong commitment, we proclaim to the world God’s undying commitment. So we pursue a God-honoring marriage both in response to the gospel and in order to display the gospel.

Parenting

Then number four, we should approach our parenting in light of the gospel. Our greatest desire for our kids shouldn’t just be that they turn out to be “good kids” who stay out of trouble, go to college, and enjoy success in life. I want all of those things for my kids, but everything I just mentioned is secondary. My greatest desire is that my kids would embrace the gospel. Also, when my kids misbehave, it’s very tempting for me to focus merely on changing their behavior. I so often find myself using various punishments or rewards simply to encourage or discourage certain behaviors. When my kids make the wall of their bedroom into a bugger-wall, I just want them to stop it so I can have a clean wall. Or when they don’t do what I tell them to do and I’m inconvenienced because of that, I just want them to start listening to me so my life can be more convenient. But the gospel pushes us to have a goal for our children that goes beyond mere behavior modification. It pushes us speak to their hearts—to help them understand that their misdeeds are actually sins against God and that they need God to forgive them for those sins through Jesus. That’s the primary thing we should want our kids to understand whenever they disobey. We want to address things on a heart level and turn the conversation to the gospel as much as possible.

Career

Any by the way, I know all of this may be a lot to take in, so before we move on to the next thing, feel free to take a breath and relax. Is everybody good? Okay. Moving on to number five, we want to approach our career in light of the gospel. And a lot of this goes back to what we talked about earlier with not finding our identity in our career. If you understand the gospel truth that God accepting you doesn’t depend on you performing well enough, then you don’t feel like you have earn God’s favor or prove something to God through your career. You also don’t have to prove something to other people through your career. Instead, you can approach your career as a way of glorifying God in the work he’s given you to do. You can also approach it as a way of serving other people just like Jesus served you in the gospel. In fact, that would probably be a good question for you to go home and think about. How does my career help me serve the people around me and serve society as a whole? Maybe you’ll find your work much more meaningful with that mentality. And again, that servant-mindedness grows out of the servant-mindedness Jesus displays in the gospel. 

Money

Moving on to number six, we should also approach our money in light of the gospel. That means you don’t have to be anxious wondering whether or not God’s going to take care of you. He’s already met your greatest need—the need for eternal salvation—so why would you think he won’t meet the various earthly needs you have? He absolutely will. Of course, you’re responsible to work hard and budget wisely, but at the end of the day you can trust that God’s going to provide for you just like he provided salvation for you through Jesus. Also, the message of the gospel is really a message of God’s generosity. Think about the generosity God’s displayed in sending his own Son to purchase our salvation on the cross. Don’t you think that we who have received such generosity should in turn display that generosity toward others? Shouldn’t Christians be the most generous people in the world? Is there really any other appropriate way to respond to the kind of generosity God’s shown us other than being generous ourselves? 

Purpose

Then…number seven: viewing our purpose in light of the gospel. What purpose have you embraced for your life? What do you think God’s left you here on this earth to do? Hopefully, it’s something more than the American Dream. If we’re viewing our purpose in light of the gospel, we understand that the main reason we’re still here in this world instead of in heaven already is so that we can spread the gospel to as many people as possible. And as we seek to do that, we leverage everything God’s given us—our time, our money, our opportunities—we leverage everything for the sake of the gospel. That’s what we see as our primary purpose

Suffering

Then, finally, this list wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention another important aspect of our lives—an aspect that’s present in all of our lives, even if we sometimes wish it wasn’t. That aspect is suffering. Suffering also is something we should view in light of the gospel. Sometimes when we suffer, we’re tempted to doubt God’s love and goodness. And yet, as we think about the gospel, the gospel presents us with undeniable proof of God’s love and goodness that’s greater than any supposed evidence to the contrary. We may never be able to understand why God allows certain things to happen, but as we come back to the gospel again and again, we can be reminded again and again that God loves us more than our minds can fathom. He loves us so much that he sent Jesus to die for us. So even in our suffering, we can rest in the reality of God’s love.

Conclusion

So that’s what it means to be gospel-centered. It means we approach every aspect of life in light of the gospel message—in light of who Jesus is and what he’s done to save us. That’s the lens through which we view everything else. We recognize that the gospel changes everything. Kind of like when you win the lottery. When someone wins the lottery, one thing is certain: their lives will never be the same again. And some of those changes may be for the better, while other changes may be for the worse. That’s why you may have seen the news story recently that a lottery winner in New Hampshire who won 560 million dollars filed a lawsuit to remain anonymous. She didn’t want her personal safety to be threatened by her name being publically announced. She recognized that things change when you win the lottery. But things change in an even more fundamental way when you embrace the gospel—and always for the better. The gospel changes everything. So we want our lives to reflect those changes. 

And we also want our church as a whole to reflect those changes—and to do so very consciously and intentionally. If we’re anything as a church, we want to be known as a gospel-centered church. We want Redeeming Grace to be a church whose primary distinctive isn’t our denominational affiliation or our style of music or the way we feel about this issue or that issue. We want to be known above all as a gospel-centered church—a church that gives the gospel the central place both in our teaching and in our living.