Small Group Discussion

Joe Smysor

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Open in Prayer

Passage: John 19:16-30

The Crucifixion

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.

The Death of Jesus

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.

Discussion Questions

Did anything stand out to you from George’s message?

Worm

Strong’s Dictionary defines this word as “a maggot (as voracious); the crimson-grub but used only (in this connection) of the color from it, and cloths dyed therewith:–crimson, scarlet, worm.”

The Life Cycle of the Crimson Worm

The Crimson Worm (scientific name: coccus ilicis or kermes ilicis) looks more like a grub than a worm. In the lifecycle of this worm is where the remez is found. And it points to the work of Jesus on the cross.

When the female crimson worm is ready to lay her eggs, which happens only once in her life, she climbs up a tree or fence and attaches herself to it. With her body attached to the wooden tree, a hard crimson shell forms. It is a shell so hard and so secured to the wood that it can only be removed by tearing apart the body, which would kill the worm.

The female worm lays her eggs under her body, under the protective shell. When the larvae hatch, they remain under the mother’s protective shell so the baby worms can feed on the living body of the mother worm for three days. After three days, the mother worm dies, and her body excretes a crimson or scarlet dye that stains the wood to which she is attached and her baby worms. The baby worms remain crimson-colored for their entire lives. Thereby, they are identified as crimson worms.

On day four, the tail of the mother worm pulls up into her head, forming a heart-shaped body that is no longer crimson but has turned into a snow-white wax that looks like a patch of wool on the tree or fence. It then begins to flake off and drop to the ground looking like snow.

Isaiah 1:18 ““Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.”

Hyssop

The plant was used like a sponge, like Boomer mentioned.

Self-Doubt

Am I good enough? Smart enough? Clever enough on my own? No. And that’s ok because Jesus is enough.

The Bible predicted a death via a method that hadn’t been invented yet

6,000 crucified along the Appian Way in 71 BC, so roughly 100 years before Jesus’ death Breaks down to roughly one cross, one crucifixion every 100 feet.

The Bible predicted what would happen 1,000 years a head of time.

Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 is the central passage of the consolation section (chapters 40-66). Its five stanzas present five different aspects of the saving work of Christ: (52:13-15) Christ’s wholehearted sacrifice (burnt offering). (53:1-3) Christ’s perfect character (meal offering). (53:4-6) Christ brought atonement that issues in peace with God (peace offering). (53:7-9) Christ paid for the transgression of the people (sin offering). (53:10-12) Christ died for the effects of sin (trespass offering).

Boomer’s three points were:

The veracity of Jesus’ death

The brutality of Jesus’ death

The totality of Jesus death

Why does it matter that Jesus’ death was prophesied about? Why does it matter that his life and death fulfilled prophesy? Why does the brutality of Jesus’ death matter? What were Jesus’ last words? Tetelestai What was finished? What do those words mean for us? How should they shape our thoughts/fears/lives/witness? Thinking about the veracity, brutality, and totality of Jesus death I heard Alister Begg yesterday. Alister mentioned that Jesus is the King of the Curse. John 19:2 “The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on his head, and clothed him in a purple robe.” Genesis 3:17–18 “And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.”

How do you tend to view Jesus in this scene? More as a helpless, pitiable victim, or as someone who is in control of his own destiny?

We know from all of Jesus’ previous references to his “time” (throughout John’s Gospel), that he has anticipated this moment and has been in complete control of its arrival. How does that affect the way you view him on the

One of my favorite theological terms or ideas is providence. I’d like to say that I was reminded of it in this passage, but really I think it just is my go to theological idea. Heck, I’ve my LLC is ProvTech or Providence Technology. Anyways… What is providence? What isn’t providence?

God’s activity throughout history in providing for the needs of human beings, especially those who follow him in faith.

Providence is basically God’s provision for the needs of men on time.

My mind goes to the passage, “in the fullness of time...” At the perfect time, Christ sent his son. Nothing in his story was by accident. Thinking personally, can you think of a time when God provided for you right on time? Samuel’s birth.

Can anything ever happen to you that is outside of God’s providence and care? Let’s go all the way back to the garden, How did Christ demonstrate His deity at the time of His arrest? Why do these acts only intensify the guilt of Jesus’ enemies? (verse to consider: Luke 22:51)

Read Psalm 22:1–21.

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,

and by night, but I find no rest.

3 Yet you are holy,

enthroned on the praises of Israel.

4 In you our fathers trusted;

they trusted, and you delivered them.

5 To you they cried and were rescued;

in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

6 But I am a worm and not a man,

scorned by mankind and despised by the people.

7 All who see me mock me;

they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;

8 “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him;

let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb;

you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.

10 On you was I cast from my birth,

and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11 Be not far from me,

for trouble is near,

and there is none to help.

12 Many bulls encompass me;

strong bulls of Bashan surround me;

13 they open wide their mouths at me,

like a ravening and roaring lion.

14 I am poured out like water,

and all my bones are out of joint;

my heart is like wax;

it is melted within my breast;

15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,

and my tongue sticks to my jaws;

you lay me in the dust of death.

16 For dogs encompass me;

a company of evildoers encircles me;

they have pierced my hands and feet—

17 I can count all my bones—

they stare and gloat over me;

18 they divide my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.

19 But you, O Lord, do not be far off!

O you my help, come quickly to my aid!

20 Deliver my soul from the sword,

my precious life from the power of the dog!

21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!

You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

22 I will tell of your name to my brothers;

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:

23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!

All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,

and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!

24 For he has not despised or abhorred

the affliction of the afflicted,

and he has not hidden his face from him,

but has heard, when he cried to him.

25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation;

my vows I will perform before those who fear him.

26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;

those who seek him shall praise the Lord!

May your hearts live forever!

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember

and turn to the Lord,

and all the families of the nations

shall worship before you.

28 For kingship belongs to the Lord,

and he rules over the nations.

29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;

before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,

even the one who could not keep himself alive.

30 Posterity shall serve him;

it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;

31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,

that he has done it.

Looking at Psalm 22, In what sense can we pray this kind of prayer as Christians? When do we feel abandoned by God even as Christians?

In what specific ways did the crucifixion of Christ fulfill the prophecies of the messianic psalm (written by King David) above?

Boomer mentioned in passing a Christian singer who has walked away from the faith and had been arguing with Christians on Twitter. One of his arguments was over substitutionary atonement. What is substitutionary atonement?

The theological position that Christ's death atoned for sin on behalf of sinners, meaning the penalty due sin was paid by Christ in place of the sinner suffering judgment and death.

Looking back over the last couple chapters, and last couple of weeks of George’s sermons, what statements and facts in John’s account of Jesus’ arrest, trial and crucifixion point to God’s sovereignty

How do you feel when you stop to ponder the fact that Jesus Christ suffered and died on a cruel cross for your sins? When have you been most affected by this truth?

What ongoing situation in your life causes you to become timid about your faith in Christ? Why?

Closing Thoughts

Upcoming Events

Close in Prayer

Providence. God’s activity throughout history in providing for the needs of human beings, especially those who follow him in faith.

Significance of Providence. Providence occurs because God cares about the universe and everyone in it. All through the centuries of human existence there have been those who took great comfort in the fact of providence. It means realizing at certain places in life that God has been there before. It is the evidence that God has not left this planet alone in the vast universe or forgotten for a moment the human situation. God visits, touches, communicates, controls, and intervenes, coming before and between man and his needs. Providence is ground for thankfulness.

Counterfeit Concepts of Providence. The fact that the nonbelieving world has so many erroneous ideas about providence proves that this is an immensely realistic issue. At the heart of every nonbiblical proposal about providence is the denial of the personhood of God. In its place stands some cold principle or force, dominating man and clashing with his humanity. It may be all-pervasive or local. It may be rational or irrational, consistent or arbitrary. False providences include:

(1) Fate. Countless numbers of people have believed themselves to be trapped by a sometimes fickle and always foreboding fate. “As fate would have it …,” they say.

(2) Luck. Life is indeed fortuitous at times. Optimists speak of “fortune,” or less solemnly of “luck.” But, then, since this is all so impersonal, fortunetellers arose, and someone dreamed up “lady luck.”

(3) Serendipity. This is the term used by the one who takes credit for unintentional discoveries of good things along the way in life. But he refuses to acknowledge God was there before him and does not give thanks.

(4) History. Some Marxist propagandists have championed their cause by saying, “History is on our side.” They are appealing to a supposed inevitability of future events beyond their power to effect or non-Communists to hold back. “History” in such a statement appears to have taken on a divine dimension. Likewise when American leaders have affirmed a “manifest destiny” for the United States to be the superior power in the western hemisphere or in the world at large, the same kind of reasoning is employed.

(5) Progress. The development of science and technology, education and social evolution, and territorial conquests have made some men believers in progress as something more than what is seen. Until the two great world wars there was the illusion of a relentless momentum pushing upward and onward forever. In some respects progress is but providence by another name, but not to the degree that man grabs the glory that belongs to God.

(6) Nature. Men like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau of 19th-century New England attributed to “nature” the gifts of providence. Nature is abstract. It was but a short step to personalize it as “mother nature.”

(7) Natural selection and the survival of the fittest. Charles Darwin’s classic on biological evolution, The Origin of the Species, appeared in 1859. It popularized two relatively new theories. For millions of people the mysterious decisions behind “natural selection” intrigued the thoughtful more than matters of providence. And the idea that “the fit survive” necessarily makes providence altogether unnecessary.

(8) Know-how or applied science. Many people suspect that the human race is sufficient in itself to make all things happen whether good or bad. Hybrids have been developed that can feed the world, if man so chooses (and the weather cooperates). The efforts of thousands of men can bring rocks back from the moon and produce photographs of the earth. There are even computer banks of data for those seeking proper dates and mates. The scientific journals afford much know-how for those eager to take life into their own hands. But when one’s “own understanding” is substituted for the God of all providence, the excitement of being in the world with God is traded for being quite alone.

These counterfeit views compete with the idea of God’s providence. Of course, they cannot all be true. Nor can they satisfy the inquirer whose personhood calls insistently for a personal providence that reflects a knowledge of his individual needs and uniqueness. Only the Christian doctrine of providence provides that.

Biblical Meaning of Providence. Providence is basically God’s provision for the needs of men on time.

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