When Jesus gave His bride His best love, how respectfully did she receive that love?
The King – Part 3
(John 19:6-7, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 20, 2010)
19:6 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.
When the chief priests and officers saw Him... (6)
Psalm 45 begins with these words: “My heart overflows with a pleasing theme.” That theme is the great King of the Jews, the Son of God. Later in the song the psalmist addresses the young woman who is to be the King's bride. He says, “Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.” She must hear about the greatness of the man who is to be her husband, and she has to be encouraged to bow to him. Yet the psalm is expectant that this bride will surely come to her senses, and that she will be very happy to have this husband and King, about whom the psalmist also writes, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” There can be no doubt that the New Testament authors understood Jesus of Nazareth to be the King and the true Son of God. Hebrews 1 quotes these words, “Your throne, O God,” and says that this is referring to Christ.
Though earlier in John's gospel a crowd wanted to take Jesus, the miracle worker, and make Him King by force, now the chief priests and rulers of the Jews give their judgment of the One who is the Husband of the Lord's people. Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe. When the governor says, “Behold the man,” they shout out, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Jesus has come to fulfill the words of the Old Testament. A soldier will soon pierce his hands and feet in fulfillment of Psalm 22:16. Why couldn't the people who were there have been sad about it? Why did they need to shout for the worst death that the Romans gave to criminals, the public humiliation of the cross? Couldn't this have been done in a different way, where people would have been cut to the heart right here and mourned the crucifixion of Jesus rather than demanding it? Why did the Messiah have to be so rudely rejected by His bride? Peter addresses people in Acts 2 not too long after this episode, and he calls the Lord, “this Jesus whom you crucified.” Three thousand people were added to the church by responding to that message. Some of the ones shouting for the death of Christ in the way we read about in John 19 would end up believing in Him as the Messiah King, and they would be baptized. He would be their eternal Husband, and they would be His heavenly bride. But not today. Not in John 19. “Crucify!” God's plan allows no room for the bride-to-be, the church, to have any positive role to play in the events that will secure her salvation. Christ loved to the uttermost a bride who rejected him and showed him the greatest disrespect. Salvation is entirely by the grace of God. The gift of deep repentance and sincere faith would have to wait until after Jesus saved us. The love He pours forth here comes to us without anyone's help or even anyone's respect.
Pilate said to them... (6)
Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” This is now the third time that the Roman governor has pronounced Christ's innocence. This is not only the judgment of one civil ruler. It is the verdict of heaven upon the Messiah. Jesus has no guilt. What a contrast with the crowd that is showing such hatred toward Christ. The chief priests and the elders of the Jews have plotted together to kill an innocent man. They have guilt. The crowd gathered there that day has gone along with their murderous plans. They are accessories to this crime, and share in the guilt.
But we have come to understand the meaning of the cross. On the cross, Paul says, God “made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” We know this through the words of the Bible, but also through our worship, our celebration of the Lord's Supper, and the hymns of the church. We sing, “Mine is the guilt, but thine the cleansing blood.” We have guilt. He had no guilt, only righteousness.
The Jews answered him... (7-8)
The leaders of the Jews took issue with Pilate's public declaration of the innocence of Jesus. They said “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” The Jews did have a law. That law had something to say about the events unfolding before us in John 19. The law said, “You shall have no other gods before me.” But when God visited Israel to become a sin offering, He came to His own people, the Jews, and they would not receive Him. The law also said “You shall not murder.”
The contention of the religious authorities was that Jesus had “made himself the Son of God.” In fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies about Him, Jesus has not been loudly proclaiming His divinity. Read Isaiah 42:1-9. The divine Suffering Servant who would bring righteousness to the nations would “not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street.” He was the eternal Son of God, the Word, through whom all things were made. He displayed the power of His divinity in His resurrection signs, patiently displayed before Israel. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the King. He is the Husband. And He was rejected, not by some stranger, but by His bride.
When Pilate heard their accusation connecting this innocent man with the title “Son of God,” he was even more afraid. Who wants to be involved in the death of any innocent man? Who wants to think about that for the rest of his life? But it is especially this title, “Son of God,” that makes Pilate more afraid. Who is this particular innocent man, and will the governor's role in such a death come back to haunt him all the more?
Application: The love of the cross
As we consider the details of the cross we are trying to better understand our King's love displayed there. We want to see what this love means for us who are also commanded to be imitators of Christ. In particular the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
The love that husbands are supposed to give to their wives is a costly love. It seeks the good of the bride, even though the one who is being loved might show deep disrespect for her husband. That is hard to take. Wives should respect their husbands, but a man who wants to imitate Christ and obey Paul's instruction in Ephesians, cannot wait for his wife to appreciate his qualities before he decides to prefer her well-being to his own.
Not everyone in the church is a husband, but everyone is called to follow the King of love. What is love, and how is it to be expressed? Love is willing to endure pain, that the one who is loved might be granted the gift of the best kind of happiness, not overspiritualized, but not trivial or false. Where would we be without this love of Christ for us? Have you been rejecting the love of Christ? Come to your senses. See the greatness of the Son of God. Receive and imitate His love.
1. Is the demand of the chief priests and the rulers surprising?
2. How do you evaluate the response of Pilate to this demand?
3. What is the meaning of the accusation against Jesus?
4. What is the love of the cross and how are we to live it out?
(John 19:6-7, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, June 20, 2010)
19:6 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.
When the chief priests and officers saw Him... (6)
Psalm 45 begins with these words: “My heart overflows with a pleasing theme.” That theme is the great King of the Jews, the Son of God. Later in the song the psalmist addresses the young woman who is to be the King's bride. He says, “Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear: forget your people and your father's house, and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him.” She must hear about the greatness of the man who is to be her husband, and she has to be encouraged to bow to him. Yet the psalm is expectant that this bride will surely come to her senses, and that she will be very happy to have this husband and King, about whom the psalmist also writes, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.” There can be no doubt that the New Testament authors understood Jesus of Nazareth to be the King and the true Son of God. Hebrews 1 quotes these words, “Your throne, O God,” and says that this is referring to Christ.
Though earlier in John's gospel a crowd wanted to take Jesus, the miracle worker, and make Him King by force, now the chief priests and rulers of the Jews give their judgment of the One who is the Husband of the Lord's people. Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd wearing a crown of thorns and a purple robe. When the governor says, “Behold the man,” they shout out, “Crucify! Crucify!”
Jesus has come to fulfill the words of the Old Testament. A soldier will soon pierce his hands and feet in fulfillment of Psalm 22:16. Why couldn't the people who were there have been sad about it? Why did they need to shout for the worst death that the Romans gave to criminals, the public humiliation of the cross? Couldn't this have been done in a different way, where people would have been cut to the heart right here and mourned the crucifixion of Jesus rather than demanding it? Why did the Messiah have to be so rudely rejected by His bride? Peter addresses people in Acts 2 not too long after this episode, and he calls the Lord, “this Jesus whom you crucified.” Three thousand people were added to the church by responding to that message. Some of the ones shouting for the death of Christ in the way we read about in John 19 would end up believing in Him as the Messiah King, and they would be baptized. He would be their eternal Husband, and they would be His heavenly bride. But not today. Not in John 19. “Crucify!” God's plan allows no room for the bride-to-be, the church, to have any positive role to play in the events that will secure her salvation. Christ loved to the uttermost a bride who rejected him and showed him the greatest disrespect. Salvation is entirely by the grace of God. The gift of deep repentance and sincere faith would have to wait until after Jesus saved us. The love He pours forth here comes to us without anyone's help or even anyone's respect.
Pilate said to them... (6)
Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” This is now the third time that the Roman governor has pronounced Christ's innocence. This is not only the judgment of one civil ruler. It is the verdict of heaven upon the Messiah. Jesus has no guilt. What a contrast with the crowd that is showing such hatred toward Christ. The chief priests and the elders of the Jews have plotted together to kill an innocent man. They have guilt. The crowd gathered there that day has gone along with their murderous plans. They are accessories to this crime, and share in the guilt.
But we have come to understand the meaning of the cross. On the cross, Paul says, God “made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” We know this through the words of the Bible, but also through our worship, our celebration of the Lord's Supper, and the hymns of the church. We sing, “Mine is the guilt, but thine the cleansing blood.” We have guilt. He had no guilt, only righteousness.
The Jews answered him... (7-8)
The leaders of the Jews took issue with Pilate's public declaration of the innocence of Jesus. They said “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” The Jews did have a law. That law had something to say about the events unfolding before us in John 19. The law said, “You shall have no other gods before me.” But when God visited Israel to become a sin offering, He came to His own people, the Jews, and they would not receive Him. The law also said “You shall not murder.”
The contention of the religious authorities was that Jesus had “made himself the Son of God.” In fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies about Him, Jesus has not been loudly proclaiming His divinity. Read Isaiah 42:1-9. The divine Suffering Servant who would bring righteousness to the nations would “not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street.” He was the eternal Son of God, the Word, through whom all things were made. He displayed the power of His divinity in His resurrection signs, patiently displayed before Israel. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the King. He is the Husband. And He was rejected, not by some stranger, but by His bride.
When Pilate heard their accusation connecting this innocent man with the title “Son of God,” he was even more afraid. Who wants to be involved in the death of any innocent man? Who wants to think about that for the rest of his life? But it is especially this title, “Son of God,” that makes Pilate more afraid. Who is this particular innocent man, and will the governor's role in such a death come back to haunt him all the more?
Application: The love of the cross
As we consider the details of the cross we are trying to better understand our King's love displayed there. We want to see what this love means for us who are also commanded to be imitators of Christ. In particular the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”
The love that husbands are supposed to give to their wives is a costly love. It seeks the good of the bride, even though the one who is being loved might show deep disrespect for her husband. That is hard to take. Wives should respect their husbands, but a man who wants to imitate Christ and obey Paul's instruction in Ephesians, cannot wait for his wife to appreciate his qualities before he decides to prefer her well-being to his own.
Not everyone in the church is a husband, but everyone is called to follow the King of love. What is love, and how is it to be expressed? Love is willing to endure pain, that the one who is loved might be granted the gift of the best kind of happiness, not overspiritualized, but not trivial or false. Where would we be without this love of Christ for us? Have you been rejecting the love of Christ? Come to your senses. See the greatness of the Son of God. Receive and imitate His love.
1. Is the demand of the chief priests and the rulers surprising?
2. How do you evaluate the response of Pilate to this demand?
3. What is the meaning of the accusation against Jesus?
4. What is the love of the cross and how are we to live it out?
posted by Pastor Magee at 4:05 PM
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