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Bible Text: John 19:17-30
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Dear saints, Christianity is a religion of the cross. And it is the religion of resurrection. So Christianity is the religion of life. However, there are still many people who think and understand Christianity as a religion of spiritual cultivation or a religion of moral culture. But Christianity is a religion of the cross. Therefore, believers must believe and understand the truth of the cross. And knowing that the cross is to solve the problem of my sins, we must see the face of our miserable sin in front of the cross. You can say that you know the true religion of the cross when you have repentance that causes you to roll around and suffer because of it.
The verse we read together today is the scene where Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was crucified. The Bible describes the scene of Jesus' execution in a very specific way. Jesus was executed in the presence of thousands of people. Here we can ask a strong question: In other words, ‘Why did Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, suffer all kinds of suffering and shame and put an end to such a miserable end on the cross?’ The answer is that Christ died on the cross for our sins to save us.
That's right. When Jesus was crucified, he was sacrificed like the Lamb of the Passover and became a sacrifice of reconciliation between God and us. God poured out on his Son the wrath of wrath that should be poured out on us sinners, and he saved us in his arms of love. Therefore, Christianity without the cross cannot be Christianity. The cross is the climax of God's salvation for mankind and a turning point in history. Therefore, today, we are going to think about the lessons we can learn from the incident that happened on the hill of Golgotha.
First, Jesus Christ was crucified.
Dear saints, Jesus was nailed to the cross at Golgotha, a place where prisoners were executed that earned the notoriety of a skull. The method of execution by crucifixion is the Roman method of execution. It is the most brutal death penalty, in which the living people are horribly nailed to the hands and feet, drained of their blood, and subjected to unbearable torment for a long time in public execution with all eyes on them. Crucifixion is the most gruesome method of execution.
However, according to custom, a prisoner who is being punished by the cross must go to the place of execution with a crucified frame that is difficult to bear on his own. Jesus fell several times on the way to Golgotha. And at the end, I couldn't stand it any longer, so a man named Simon Cyre o carried him to the place of execution. And more meaningfully, when Jesus was crucified, two prisoners were being executed at the same time. It is a sign that the Lord was treated as a sinner.
On the other hand, through the circumstances surrounding Jesus on the cross, we see that the people cannot believe it. Thousands of people who followed Jesus, those who listened to his sermons and ate the bread, all disappeared. And, according to the custom of the Passover, there was a system of special envoys for one sinner, and the people frantically demanded that the political prisoner, Barabbas, be released and Jesus crucified.
Also, in the crucifixion of Jesus, there is the name of Pilate, the indecisive politician who succumbed to the false and vicious external pressure of these people and cemented his political position. Pilate is a selfless politician who is willing to give in to public opinion trials and maintain his political life. Of course, he himself did not torture or persecute Jesus. Rather, he murmured the innocence of Jesus. But he washed his hands because he was afraid that Jesus' case would become an issue and he would be dismissed from the governor's office. Since this case has nothing to do with him, he left it to the Jewish public opinion trial.
But his sins could not be washed away. Of course, according to the course of God's redemptive history, Jesus suffered on the cross, died, and had to rise again the third day. However, Pilate's irresponsibility, indifference, and ignorance are the sinners of history, and in the Apostles' Creed confession for 2000 years, the saints are condemning him every week, saying, "I suffered from Pontius Pilate."
On the other hand, a thief who had sinned but repented to the Lord at the last moment and was executed by the cross of Jesus was saved. However, the sins of indifference and irresponsibility of not believing in Christ as Christ and God as God are unacceptable.
Dear saints, Watch the scene of Jesus Christ being crucified. The tax collectors, prostitutes, robbers, beggars, and those who were alienated from the world who believed and accepted Jesus as the Son of God received eternal life, but those who did not accept Christ as the Son of God and were indifferent to Him, hypocritical religions They did not come to salvation. He taught us the simple principle of faith in which whoever welcomes him will be saved, but we must not become those of us who spend a waste of time because of dull sins. Let's break our indifference and look to the cross of the Lord with a pure heart. Accept this great gospel, which gives the power to become children of God to those who receive it, to those who believe in his name.
Second, there is an event that happened after the soldiers crucified Jesus.
Roman soldiers crucified Jesus. They were just professional soldiers. After nailing Jesus, the soldiers divided the robe Jesus was wearing into four parts, and cast lots for “who will take possession of the underwear”. It was customary. And it was abhorrence itself. It was the ecology of the brothers. Sharing the clothes of the crucified prisoners was an extra income for the prisoners. Of course, the Bible records even this scene as the fulfillment of the prophecy of Psalm 22:18.
Dear saints, Here, we see the figure of a human being hardened like the soles of the feet of Christ, the Son of God, who did not receive a single remorse after being executed on the cross. This is also what we are today.
Roman soldiers had no interest in salvation, the essence of life, and eternal life. As a result, they are showing the foolish side of life where they play rock paper, scissors, over who will have the clothes that cost a few pennies. While looking at the cross of the Lord, we will not be satisfied even if we beat our hearts, contrite, beat the ground and weep for the fact that we had to execute the sentence according to the instructions of our superiors. Still, they are blinded by a piece of cloth worth a few pennies, so they cannot see the Messiah. In this way, human beings were completely corrupted, dark, and sickly. They stood under the great cosmic event of the historical moment, the Messiah's atoning death on the cross, but they did not know the meaning of the cross.
Even today, on this Passion Sunday, while standing in front of the great cross of the Lord, do we not regard them as insensitive or indifferent? Just as those who stood closest to the cross do not know the meaning of the cross, do we not have the emotion, gratitude, and repentance for the cross? Without the pain of contrition that cuts through the heart, we cannot realize this truth. The Lord does not want us to have a formal religion in which we speak the truth.
So I want you to stand before the truth of this great cross. I hope that our dull hearts that have cooled down will melt like water. I want you to look into your sins and repent before the cross of Christ. Please look at the suffering cross of the Lord who heals your broken heart and comforts you.
Third, we see the sorrowful people who look at Jesus with compassion in front of the cross.
There were 5,000 people under the cross of Jesus, but there was no crowd eating bread. Even so, the audience who were interested and interested in Jesus' sermons disappeared. The mob, who had so zealously sought political benefits, left. The disciples whom we loved and taught sparingly as we eroded together for three years were also scattered. Among the disciples, the heroic Peter, who was a class leader and proud, was also absent.
However, the young disciple John, who can be called the youngest among the disciples, Mary the mother of Jesus, Jesus' aunt, Mary from a prostitute who was saved after living a miserable life, and Mary of the same name were trembling and weeping at the foot of the cross.
But perhaps, was Jesus completely betrayed from life? Some have said that the most tragic expression of all tragic literature on this planet is the words of John 19:25. “And his mother and his aunt, and Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood by the cross of Jesus.”
A mother who sees her son being crucified, and a son who looks at his mother, that is more heartbreaking than the pain of the cross. However, in the midst of the tragic end of this suffering, Jesus is doing his last filial piety to the mother of the flesh as the eldest son.
“Look, woman. Woman, behold, your son.”
In simple terms, “Mother, look at me. that is. Here, even though they cannot speak, they convey all love and filial piety through the eyes that meet between mother and child. And he did not forget the filial piety of taking good care of his mother to John. Although Jesus is God, he touches our hearts as a true human being. Christianity is a religion of salvation as well as a religion of filial piety. Jesus took up the cross and bore our sins.
On the other hand, in the last scene, John said that he was trying to fulfill the Bible again. This is a great expression of the Bible. Jesus suffered, died, and rose again according to the Bible. To Jesus, who was suffering, a person tied seaweed filled with sour wine and put it to his mouth with hyssop, but the Lord did not drink it. It is an anesthetic.
Jesus fully endured the sufferings of the Messiah. The Lord gave even the last drop of blood for us. And just before his fate, he said, “It is finished.” This is a proclamation of the consummation of salvation. This is the victory of Christ, the victory of God. Because of the Lord's final triumphant cry, we too can be victorious in the Lord. I hope that this Holy Week will be a precious day when you fully realize the love of the Lord's cross and realize the truth of the great suffering of the cross.
Dear saints,
God gave His one and only begotten Son on the cross for us. God gave everything for us, but we are foolish people who do not understand the great love of the Lord. Therefore, in this Holy Week, we hope that our hearts will turn to the cross. I hope you will realize the breadth and depth of God's love.
When we fully understand the suffering of the Lord, we will also come to understand the true meaning of the Lord's resurrection. As Jesus overcame the world, I pray in the name of the Lord that we too will live a life that overcomes the world.