Unlikely-Not What We Expect
Chris Massey
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John 19:23-30
John 19:23-30
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.
John Tells us the Purpose of His Gospel
John is one of my favorite books of the Bible and one of the reasons I like this book so much is because I am lazy. John gives us the purpose statement for his biography of the Savior. He tells everyone who reads this book whether right after it written around 85 AD or now that the purpose of writing this book is to lift up Christ, to point to Christ as the Son of God as he says in John 20:30-31:
30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
So we need to read this book with his thesis, his purpose statement in mind, that even as we read about the activities of Good Friday, they have the purpose of pointing to Christ and exalting Christ, that all who believe may have life in His name.
This is History
Another thing we need to take away from this Gospel, and all the Gospels really, is that they are written as biographies that are actual historical events that have occurred. Did you pick up when we read the words ‘When the soldiers, When Jesus saw, After This, Jesus, knowing’. John makes a point in the Gospel he penned and the epistles he wrote, that these things actually happened. He emphasizes that he say and experienced Jesus and events surrounding. In his epistle he writes:
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—
even in the Gospel he writes:
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.
These are events that happened, as hard as they may be to hear or to read, these are historical events. Christians are rooted in faith, but supported by history. We have a historical faith, a faith that is built on eyewitness testimony that has been written so that we might believe.
So as we go through this passage let’s ground ourselves in these two things:
John wrote this so that whoever reads may believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that they might believe and have life.
These are historical events that are true and have been captured by an eyewitness
The Unlikely Fulfillment
The Unlikely Fulfillment
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,
These were not men who had any regard for Jesus or anyone else that the crucifixion was carried out against. In the case of Jesus we see the
The Soldiers
We see the soldiers who have carried out the crucifixion of Jesus are still around, mind you they are carrying out orders from Pilate, and they are there to get the perks that come with handling these types of matters. The chief of which are the clothes, which those that were being crucified were removed of. Clothes were expensive during that time and the soldiers were probably thinking “I could use this”.
The Clothes (esp. the Tunic)
The clothes of Jesus probably included a pair of sandals, a belt, a robe and a headwrap of some sort, these were the standard set of clothes a make in the Ancient Near East would wear. There was also a tunic that they would wear, the tunic was worn under the robe and was generally cinched at the waist by a girdle of belt.
The soldiers were able to divide the other pieces of clothing up, but the question came what do we do with the tunic. It was rare for the tunic to be seamless, usually there was a seam that separated the top from the bottom half. This may have been one of the newer tunic models that had just come out (or the new drip that Jesus copped for my sneaker-heads out there). This made the tunic worth something, they did not want to tear it as to damage it, so what should they do. They cast lots for it, they basically play a game of chance to see who could walk away with the whole tunic.
The Fulfillment
You wonder why this is important, because the soldiers are fulfilling Scripture, God in His sovereignty has these unwitting soldiers who are solely concerned with what they will receive, what they are getting out of this event, without concern for those that are crucified, with a thought about who this Jesus is, or concern for how they are treating the King of the Jews. Yet and still in all of this we see that Jesus is being witnessed to in the Scriptures.
Jesus has said this all along, before His crucifixion in John 5:39-40. Jesus tells the Jews in Jerusalem, that the Scriptures are pointing to me as the source for eternal life, the bear witness about me.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
After the resurrection Jesus continued to point the disciples to the Scriptures as pointing to Him. Noting that everything written about Him in the TaNaK, must be fulfilled.
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
This includes this instance, where there are four unwitting soldiers who are fulfilling Scripture concerning Jesus. A matter of fact the Scripture fulfilled as John points out is found in Psalm 22, which gives a chilling account of Jesus’ crucifixion hundreds of years before it happened.
David pens words that Jesus will utter from the cross, which Jesus uses to point to His fulfillment of Scripture.
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
David points to the mock and ridiculing of Jesus that He has endured at the hands of the Jewish leaders and the Romans Soldiers
7 All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
David writes about the piercing of Jesus’ hands and his feet. Piercings that He is experiencing now on the cross.
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
David writes about the callousness of those involved, who are gambling for his clothes and dividing them among themselves.
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Scripture is fulfilled by Jesus, even in those moment where persons are behaving as persons, being selfish, being callous, being ignorant. Scripture speaks of Jesus, Jesus fulfills Scripture even when He is on the cross.
The Unlikely Compassion
The Unlikely Compassion
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 Loving Disciple (But Standing by the cross of Jesus)
John then goes on to talk to some others that were standing nearby. There were four women disciple, that John takes a moment to point out. Jesus’ Mother, His mother’s sister (more than like Salome, John and James mother), Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene.
These woman are shown in response to the soldiers who were callous and barbaric, looking out for themselves and what they get out of this horrible situation. These were women who were there probably because they loved Jesus, because they were concerned about Jesus, because this is their, son, nephew and friend. He was suffering and had been throughout the night. They were there as the anti-soldiers.
The Crucified Jesus
Crucifixion was a brutal event, the intent was to cause as much pain for as long as possible. That is why this type capital punishment was usually reserved for slaves, enemies of the state (rogue soldiers, other attempting to usurp the Caesar, etc.)
Jesus was beaten or scourged, where you were beat with whip that had pieces of glass and lead balls and bone attached to its ends, where when it hit you it stuck and to pull the whip back there would be pieces of flesh torn and possible stuck on the whip. There were some who did not survive the scourging.
Once the scourging was done you were forced to carry your own cross to the place of your crucifixion, which, let’s say it is weighed a mere 25 to 30 pounds would have been a great deal to carry following the scourging that was taken.
Once at the site of the crucifixion your hands were nailed to the cross normally in the hollow portion between the Radius and Ulna bones in your arms, and your feet were nailed to the cross on almost a step, with your body slightly twisted so that the nail could go through both feet at once. When your arms were nailed to the cross they were probably taken out of joint to get them to the post.
Then you would hang there in the heat of the day (it was about noon, the 6th hour, when they order was given), in pain, dehydrated, straining to breathe in, working to support your weight to get some air in to breathe. When you were crucified the cause of death most of the time is asphyxiation (suffocation) and you would push up with your feet to get air in for as long as you could. To my knowledge no one survived a full crucifixion.
This was Jesus, this is where He is in the succession of events. Jesus is on the cross bloodied and beaten as Isaiah says marred beyond recognition (Isaiah 52:14). He is in pain struggling to breathe, dehydrated, being mocked, having soldiers divvying up your belongings.
The Compassionate Jesus
Yet through all of this, the Gospel writer notes that Jesus saw two people. His mother and the disciple that He loved. And as Jesus is in this state he had compassion, care for his mother.
More than likely she was there by herself, Jesus’ bothers did not come to believe until after, at least James and Jude, so they weren’t there. There was His mother and the Disciple that He loved, so even with all that Jesus was feeling, and how He was hurting, He still had the wherewith-all to provide for His mother. To ensure that His mother was going to be taken care of. Yes, it could have been His brothers, but the bottom line is that the Disciple Jesus loved and His mother were on their way to full Christian faith even then and His brothers were not on that trajectory yet.
This compassion is nothing new, we see it throughout His ministry. Whether Jesus is looking over the crowds cities or villages that he is teaching in.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Or on His encounter with the widow in Nain.
13 And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.”
Jesus had compassion and care for people and even now in His suffering, drinking the cup appointed to Him, he still has the compassion, the caring, the love to look after his mother, entrusting her well-being to the disciple that he loved. They obeyed and he took her to his home that hour.
The Unlikely Completion
The Unlikely Completion
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.
The Knowing Jesus
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished. One thing that we cannot forget in any of this is that Jesus was always in control of the situation and Jesus always knew where He was on the timeline to Golgotha. When it was not His hour Jesus knew just as Jesus told His disciples as they were going to the Feast of Booths. I am not going there because it is not my time yet.
6 Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come.”
Then some time later Jesus would know, yeah my time has come, it is now the hour and He would prepare His disciples for His departure, from then on.
1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Jesus knew that Judas would betray him, a matter of fact in His highly priestly prayer (John 17) Judas was the only one lost so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
Jesus was not just cast into this without knowing, He knew everything, everything from His first Disciples (John 1) to His death on the cross. This came as no surprise.
The Fulfilling Jesus
In addition to His knowing, we see that He is still concerned with the fulfillment of Scripture. Jesus was more than likely thirsty and there was wine the that soldiers drank that was usually around a for a crucifixion. His words “I Thirst” accomplish the tasks of both getting something to drink and to fulfill Scripture.
21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.
For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. Having wine there was not anything special, giving Jesus this sour wine however was not a compassionate act. In fact the wine was given to prolong the agony, to prolong the suffering.
Yet even in this simple request we see Jesus as still marching toward the final fulfillment of His activities. The fulfillment of Scripture. Yes, He is thirsty. Yes, He has suffered but He is still Jesus the Christ and even now, knowing that all is finished, understands that Scripture speaks of Him.
The Finishing Jesus
When Jesus received the sour wine, he uttered His last words before His death on the cross ‘It is finished’. The greek word for this is interesting, it has a sense of purpose behind it. When Jesus says Tetelestai He is saying the purpose of my incarnation has been completed. He is saying I have carried out the tasks that have been given me.
This again is not a statement of giving up at all, this is not about the fact that He died, but that all which was finished. The final sacrifice was made, the sins of the world were paid for on this cross, by the finished work of cross. This is a victory cry, that those who would believe in Jesus would inherit eternal life. This is as John the Baptist spoke beyond what he knew.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
The lamb of God who takes away the sins of the work has finished his task. We should rejoice in that, we should shout hallelujah to that. It is Finished
This is even represented in the fact that He gave up His spirit, it was not taken, it was not stolen but this Jesus, who set his face towards Jerusalem, spoke truth to power (you would not authority were it not for my Father) laid His life down for the glory of the Father that we might be riches of His glorious inheritance.
18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Conclusion
Conclusion
We see Jesus as the Son of God
There was no point that John’s purpose for this text was not put forth. The Torah the Prophets and the Writings speak of Jesus. Even with unknowing people we see the Scriptures of Jesus fulfilled, We see the compassion of Jesus as he cares for His mother, we see the Control of Jesus as he says ‘I thirst’ and we see the completion of the task that the Godhead put forth from the beginning of time.
Jesus is the Son of God who takes away the sins of the world.
We See Jesus for Ourselves
As was mentioned these are events based in history, by an eyewitness. The disciple that Jesus loved penned this Gospel, such that we might see Jesus, that we might experience Jesus, that we might hear the words of Jesus. These events are not divorced from history, they are placed firmly in history, not that we might have faith in Christ only because of their historical events, but that they may ground us in the Word of God.
That we might believe on Jesus for the pardoning of our sins, that we might believe that Jesus died for our sins, because He is the only one worthy to, that He was buried in a borrowed tomb, that he was truly dead, and that on the third He was raised from that tomb that we would have a hope, a living hope and in believing this we might have eternal life.