Title: A Word of Victory

Text: Jn 19:28-30

Date: 4-9-06.am

There are three acts to the divine play we see before us this morning. The first takes place on what is known as Palm Sunday. Jesus enters Jerusalem the last week of His earthly life.

John 12:12-15

12     On the next day the great multitude who had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,

13     took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet Him, and {began} to cry out, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel."

14     And Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written,

15     "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." (NAS)

The divine play begins in triumph and ends in triumph. It is a full week and a hard week. I won’t review all the activity of week this morning you might want to go back and read through chapters 12-19 for yourself for the details. But understand this entry was prophetic, it was symbolic and it was with purpose.

The second act of this play begins in the garden where the Temple guard and Roman soldiers come to arrest Jesus it is a long night for Jesus as he is shuttled back and forth between the Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod and finally back to Pilate where the second act closes

John 19:1-19

1       Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him.

2       And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and arrayed Him in a purple robe;

3       and they {began} to come up to Him, and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him blows {in the face.}

4       And Pilate came out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no guilt in Him."

5       Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And {Pilate} said to them, "Behold, the Man!"

6       When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out, saying, "Crucify, crucify!" 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 by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out {to be} the Son of God."

8       When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid;

9       and he entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer.

10     Pilate therefore said to Him, "You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?"

11     Jesus answered, "You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has {the} greater sin."

12     As a result of this Pilate made efforts to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you release this Man, you are no friend of Caesar; everyone who makes himself out {to be} a king opposes Caesar."

13     When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha.

14     Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!"

15     They therefore 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 then delivered Him to them to be crucified.

17     They took Jesus therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.

18     There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.

19     And Pilate wrote an inscription also, and put it on the cross. And it was written, "JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS." (NAS)

The third act of this divine play begins where the second ends at the cross and this is where I want to focus this morning. While on the cross Scripture records that Jesus spoke seven times

Before the darkness —

(1) “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” ( Luke 23:34).

(2) “Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

(3) “Woman, behold thy son:… behold thy mother!” (John 19:26).

During the darkness —

(4) “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” ( Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).

After the darkness —

(5) “I thirst” (John 19:28).

(6) “It is finished!” ( John 19:30).

(7) “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” ( Luke 23:46).

John 19:28-30

28     After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty."

29     A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon {a branch of} hyssop, and brought it up to His mouth.

30     When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. (NAS)

This is what Jesus came to the world to face. His reason for giving up the glory of heaven and become human was over, all that remained for Him to face was death and His final word from the cross is a word of triumph and victory.

It is a word of victory because:

It is a word of fulfillment

         The Word of God has been fulfilled - Isa 53; Ps 22

         The work of God has been finished - Jn 4:34; 17:4

It is a word of triumph

         Triumph over the world

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." (NAS)

         Triumph over the flesh - the sinful nature

Rom 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (NAS)

         Triumph over Satan -

Heb 2:14 “Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;” (NAS)

It is a word of Completion

         The purpose for which He came is completed - the will of God Jn 4:34; 6:38;

Heb 10:12 “but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God,” (NAS)

         The humiliation He endured is ended - Acts 8:33; Phil 2:8-9

         The time of His suffering and sorrow were at an end Isa 53; Heb 5:7-8

It is a word of Accomplishment

         On the cross the Passover Sacrifice, the spotless Lamb of God was slain and the sin of all mankind was atoned for. God’s plan of redemption was accomplished. It was finished.

It is a word of Challenge

         Sin had marred the image of God in man, it had separated the creation and the creature from the Creator. It brought a curse sickness, sorrow, pain suffering and death to the world. On the cross all of that was wiped away. John 3:16 was fulfilled the Only begotten, Jesus Christ, God the Son was given over to death that mankind might know life. The ultimate sacrifice was made and the gift of salvation held out to all who believe.

“THERE IS WONDERFUL POWER in the Cross of Christ. It has power to wake the dullest conscience and melt the hardest heart, to cleanse the unclean, to reconcile him who is afar off and restore him to fellowship with God, to redeem the prisoner from his bondage and lift the pauper from the dunghill, to break down the barriers which divide [people] from one another, to transform our wayward characters into the image of Christ and finally make us fit to stand in white robes before the throne of God.”

(John Stott, The Preacher's Portrait quoted from Christianity Today on Line.)

The word of challenge to humanity is to accept God’s plan on God’s terms.

The Savior is waiting at the cross for you to come to Him.