Victory Through Death

When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley.

On the other side, there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.

Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place because Jesus had often met there with his disciples.

So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the

Pharisees.

They were carrying torches, lanterns, and weapons.

Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, Who is it that you

want?

Jesus of Nazareth, they replied.

I am he, Jesus said.

And Judas, the traitor, was standing there with them, and when Jesus said, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground.

Again, he asked them, Who is it that you want?

And they said, Jesus of Nazareth, I told you, I am he.

Jesus answered, If you are looking for me, then let these men go.

This happened so that the words that he had spoken would be fulfilled.

I have not lost one of those who gave me.

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant,

cutting off his right ear.

The servant's name was Malchus.

Jesus commanded Peter, Put away your sword.

Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?

Then the detachment of soldiers, with its commander and the Jewish officials, arrested Jesus.

They bound him and brought him first to Annas, who was the father -in -law of Caiaphas,

the high priest that year.

Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people.

Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus.

Because his disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, but Peter had to wait

outside at the door.

The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there, and brought

Peter in.

You are not one of his disciples, are you?

The girl at the door asked Peter.

He replied, I am not.

It was cold, and the servants and the officials stood around a fire that they had made to keep warm.

Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciple and his teaching.

I have spoken openly to the world, Jesus replied.

I always taught in synagogues or at the temple where all the Jews come together.

I said nothing in secret.

Why question me?

Ask those who heard me.

Surely they know what I said.

When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face.

Is this the way you answer the high priest, he demanded?

If I said something wrong, Jesus replied, testify as to what is wrong.

But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?

Then Annas sent him, still bound to Caiaphas, the high priest.

As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, you are not one of his disciples, are you?

He denied it, saying, I am not.

One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off,

challenged him, didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?

Again, Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor.

By now, it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness, the Jews did

not enter the palace.

They wanted to be able to eat the Passover, so Pilate came out to them and asked, what charges are

you bringing against this man?

If he were not a criminal, they replied, we would not have handed him over to you.

Pilate said, take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.

But we have no right to execute anyone the Jews objected.

This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken, indicating the kind of death he was going to die, would be fulfilled.

Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus, and asked him, are you the king of the

Jews?

Is that your own idea, Jesus asked, or did others talk to you about me?

Am I a Jew?

Pilate replied, it was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me.

What is it that you've done?

Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world.

If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews, but now my

kingdom is from another place.

You are a king then, said Pilate.

Jesus answered, you are right in saying I am a king.

In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world to testify to the truth.

Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.

What is truth, Pilate asked.

With this, he went out again to the Jews and said, I find no basis for a charge against him,

but it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the

Passover.

Do you want me to release the king of the Jews?

They shouted back, no, not him.

Give us Barabbas.

Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head.

They clothed him in purple robe and went up to him again and again saying, hail king of the Jews,

and they struck him in the face.

Once more, Pilate came out and said to the Jews, look, I'm bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no

basis for a charge against him.

When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, here is

the man.

As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, crucify, crucify.

But Pilate answered, you take him and crucify him.

As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.

The Jews insisted, we have a law and according to that law, he must die because he claimed to be the

son of God.

When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid and he went back inside the palace.

Where do you come from?

He asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.

Do you refuse to speak to me?

Pilate said, don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?

Jesus answered, you would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.

Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.

From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, if you let this

man go, you are no friend of Caesar.

Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.

When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge's seat at the

palace place known as the stone pavement, which in Aramaic is Gabbatha.

It was the day of the preparation of the Passover, about the sixth hour.

Here is your king, Pilate said to the Jews, but they shouted, take him away, take him away,

crucify him.

Shall I crucify your king? Pilate asked.

We have no king but Caesar, the chief priest answered.

Finally, Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus.

Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.

Here they crucified him and with him two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross.

It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews.

Many of the Jews read this sign for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city and the sign was written

in Aramaic, Latin, and Greek.

The chief priest of the Jews protested to Pilate, do not write the king of the Jews, but that this man claimed to be

the king of the Jews.

Pilate answered, what I have written, I have written.

When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, divided them up into four shares,

one for each of them, with his undergarment remaining.

This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

Let's not tear it, they said to one another.

Let's decide by a lot who will get it.

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled, which said, they divided my garments among them and cast lots for my

clothing.

So this is what the soldiers did.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary

Magdalene.

When Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, dear

woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, here is your mother.

From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

Later, knowing that all was now completed and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I

am thirsty.

A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk

of hyssop, and lifted it up to Jesus's lips.

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished.

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

That was the day before preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath, because the

Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath.

They asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down.

The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of

the other.

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus's side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.

The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true.

He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you may believe.

These things happen so that the scripture would be fulfilled.

Not one of his bones will be broken, and as another scripture says, they will look on the one that they have

pierced.

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.

Now, Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.

With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away.

He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night.

Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloe, about 75 pounds.

Taking Jesus's body, the two of them wrapped it with the spices and strips of linen.

This was in accordance with the Jewish burial custom.

At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one

had ever been laid.

Because it was the Jewish day of preparation, and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

In the name of Jesus.

Movies.

It's a weird word to start a Good Friday sermon, but I want you to think, if you would,

the best movies you've ever watched.

The best movies that are in your collection that you don't mind watching over and over again.

I have a few of those, such as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,

The Lord of the Rings, The Karate Kid, The Matrix.

But you know what?

They all have something in common, and the thing that they all have in common is that epic

final scene when good has its showdown with evil.

You think about The Karate Kid and Daniel -san beating Cobra Kai with his, you know, crane maneuver.

And I look awful doing that.

Think of Neo, you know, in The Matrix, dying and then rising again.

You think of Maximus from the story of The Gladiator, right?

The epic showdown.

This is what's happening in our text tonight.

This is what all of those movies are actually pointing to, and telling the

story of, is what we just read in our text tonight.

Jesus is the Son of God in human flesh, the virgin born, Incarnate

Word, come to set us free, and then set us free from slavery to sin, death, and the

devil, and this is the ultimate showdown.

Now in the Gospel of John, just immediately preceding what we just read, it actually says that Satan

entered into Judas.

So there it is, Satan versus Jesus.

This is the epic battle.

This is the final conclusion.

Who's gonna come out on top?

And you know, the whole air is just crackling with, well, energy.

But the story doesn't quite end the way we would expect it to.

But don't think for a second that evil won.

You know, if you think of the movie Gladiator, I remember when my son watched that for the first time.

Of course, you know, I'd seen it several times, and so he was like 11 or 12.

And so he was really getting into it and loved the fact that Maximus was so good and

that Commodus was so evil.

And then there's the final showdowns about to happen between Maximus and Commodus, and of course Commodus cheats.

He stabs Maximus in his kidney, and he's starting to bleed out, right?

And so Maximus finally defeats Commodus, and no sooner does he win than he

dies.

And I remember Joshua saying, no, Maximus isn't supposed to die.

He's the good guy.

Yeah.

And so that's kind of what happens in our text today, more than kind of.

This is exactly what happens.

The good guy wins by dying.

No one ever saw it coming.

The devil didn't see it coming.

If he had seen it coming, he wouldn't have done what he did.

But Jesus conquers by dying.

And so we look back.

Actually, I want to look forward a little bit.

I want to look at a text that I think will help frame this tonight.

Hebrews 12 verse 2 says this, Looking to Jesus, the author and the

perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the

cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the

throne of God.

Jesus did everything he did out of joy.

In fact, when we heard those words from Jesus, just as he's about ready to breathe his last,

where he says, it is finished, in Greek, to telestai, you can almost picture him

having a little bit of a smile on his face.

All the movies portray him as kind of spent at this point.

You know, he's thirsty.

He says, I thirst, and you know, they go to give him something to drink, but he doesn't really drink it.

And so, you know, you just see Jesus parched on the cross, but he's, at this point, he has been roasted under

God's wrath for our sins.

God's wrath is spent.

Every last sin that humanity has committed has been atoned for.

And Jesus says, it is finished.

And it says, he said this with a loud cry.

If Jesus' arms hadn't been pinned to the cross, he would have did this.

It's finished.

He did it.

He conquered.

He won.

And so, when we look back in our text, you can kind of see traces of this idea of

Jesus in this ultimate battle.

And so, when you think, when you think back to when Jesus was arrested, and remember that part in

our text where they, they asked him, are you Jesus?

And he said, I am he.

The NIV, this is just the lame translation.

This is awful.

Okay.

Are you Jesus of Nazareth?

Yes, I am he.

No, that's not what's going on here.

In the Greek, this is an emphatic way of talking.

Keep in mind, Greek is a, an inflected language, which means a verb itself can carry the noun in it.

So, if Jesus were to just say, yeah, I'm him, he just would have said, a me.

But the Greek says, ego me.

I, I am him.

And this hearkens back to the divine name of God.

We remember when Moses was speaking to God in the burning bush?

Yeah, Moses, the reluctant one, right?

God is commissioning him to go to Pharaoh and say, let my people go.

And Moses says, I really don't want to go, but if I go, who shall I say sent me?

What is your name that I should tell them?

And he says, tell them I am has sent you.

I am.

That's the divine name, the self -existing one, if you would.

So, they come to arrest Jesus.

And there he is in the Mount of Olives.

And he, they said, he asked them, who is it you want?

Jesus of Nazareth, they replied.

And he says, I am.

And when he had said, I am, they drew back and fell to the ground.

You can almost hear in the distance peals of thunder and rumblings, right?

Something is going on here.

So, he asked them again, who is it you want?

They said, Jesus of Nazareth.

I told you, I am.

This is the ultimate showdown.

So, the ultimate showdown has Jesus arrested, has him beaten and flogged, has him standing

before Pilate, has his own best friends, his most trusted

disciples, Peter, disowning him.

All of them scattering.

Nobody there to speak on his behalf.

False witnesses coming up, giving false testimony about him.

Kangaroo court.

He's up all night.

They take him to Pilate.

And Pilate, who is not known in history, by the way,

Pilate is not known to be like the just.

He's never referred to as Pilate the just.

In fact, Pilate is actually quite known in history as being somewhat murderous, very brutal.

And here, this brutal Judean Roman procurate,

even he realizes there's more to this Jesus than meets the eye.

And he doesn't believe that he's done anything wrong.

And Pilate does something totally out of character for Pilate.

If you know his historical character, he does something totally out of character.

He has fear.

He's afraid.

How is it that the Roman procurate, Pontius Pilate,

is he's afraid of the Jews?

So much so that he lets them have their way with Jesus against his better judgment.

In another gospel, we learn that his wife had a dream about Jesus and said, do nothing to that holy

man.

I've had a dream about him.

Let him go.

There's a lot more going on here.

And he's so close to getting it.

So close.

He asks almost the right question.

When Jesus says, all who side with the truth, listen to me.

Those were Jesus's words.

Pilate's question was, what is truth?

Almost a good question.

The right question would have been, who is truth?

Because Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

Truth isn't a what.

Truth is a who.

And there he is, standing trial.

The truth versus nothing but a bunch of lies.

And remember, Jesus did all this for the joy set before him.

He's enduring all of this ignominy, all of this nonsense, all of these lies,

all of these beatings, for the joy set before him.

Why?

Because he considered a sheer joy to go through all of this suffering for

you, for me.

He bled and died for us, so that we might live.

This was the cost.

This was the only way.

And Jesus, who for the joy set before him, endured all of this.

He did it for us.

So there they are, crying, crucify him, crucify him.

A moment of injustice has never existed like this or ever since.

You can think across time, times when there have been injustices that recorded in history, but none

even comes close to this.

So Pilate's afraid, he gives in to them, and then the

suffering begins.

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus, carrying his own cross.

He went out to the place of the skull, and he did that for you.

They crucified him, and he did that for you.

The charge written against him said, Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews,

and that was true.

There were people who were mocking him, telling him to come down from the cross, and all of that he

suffered for you.

They screamed at him, save yourself, but he wasn't about to save himself, because he was saving you.

They complained about what was written on the, what's called the titulus, that's the name of that, that written

charge, the titulus.

But Pilate says, I've written what I've written, because what he wrote was true.

So they divided his clothes, cast lots for his undergarments, which was actually

prophesied by David.

Read the 22nd Psalm.

Near the cross were some of the women, Mary, the wife of Clopas, Mary

Magdalene.

And when Jesus saw his mother there, the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, dear woman,

here is your son, and to the disciple, here is your mother.

Jesus fulfilling the law, even down to his dying breath.

Because as the firstborn son, it is his responsibility to care for his mother,

who is widowed.

And now that he is dying, he's taking care of his duties under the law, to care for

his mother, and puts him in the care, puts her in the care of the Apostle John.

And church history tells us that Mary traveled with John after Jesus' death and resurrection.

In fact, church history and tradition tells us that John ended up in Ephesus, and was

Bishop of Ephesus, caring for the churches that the Apostle Paul had planted, and that

Mary was with him, and that she probably died in Ephesus.

So it was the day of preparation, and because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses

during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken, and the bodies taken down.

This is one of those little details that tells you that this is not mythology.

Scientists who've actually done studies on crucifixion, and the effects that it has on the body, it's a terrible,

terrible, torturous way to die.

And you don't die from exhaustion, you die from asphyxia.

In order to breathe while you're on the cross, you have to muster up the strength to pull yourself up,

to get, to grasp a breath, and then when you release, you're in a position where you can not

even breathe.

And so the ones who are stronger, they can last for a while, and continue to

do the task necessary to, in order to breathe.

By breaking the legs, it ensures that the victims on the cross cannot continue

breathing, and that's how the two criminals died.

And they died quickly.

But you remember last night, I read to you that verse, Christ our Passover lamb

is slain.

That's 1st Corinthians chapter 5.

Do you remember that when we read last night in Exodus 12, that you

cannot break any of the bones of the Passover lamb?

You can't.

And so Jesus' bones could not be broken either.

And so this all took place in order to fulfill those prophecies and that type and

shadow regarding Christ being our Passover lamb.

So Jesus' bones were not broken.

And then we come to this part of it.

Jesus cried out, it is finished, he breathed his last, and Joseph of

Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.

Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.

This is an important thing for us to take note of today.

Because if you really believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, there's a

really good chance in our day and age you're going to suffer persecution.

I would just point you to what's happening in Indiana right now.

All of you here tonight, to hear and to meditate on Christ's death, you, in the world's eyes,

are a bunch of religious fundamentalist fanatics.

And don't think for a second that your confession of Jesus will go unnoticed forever, especially in a world

that's getting worse by the day.

But that persecution of Christ's followers was already

happening at the time of Jesus.

Because listen to what it says, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.

Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews.

Secretly.

What does that tell you about those who confess Christ?

Even at the time of Christ, Christ promised persecution.

So with Pilate's permission, he took the body away.

He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night.

Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 75 pounds, taking Jesus' body.

The two of them wrapped it with the spices and strips of linen.

And this was accordance with the Jewish burial custom.

At that place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden.

And in the place, a new tomb in which no one had ever laid.

Because it was the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

Jesus is crucified for your sins on a Saturday, and it is finished.

He has accomplished the work.

Scripture says that he descended into hell.

This is what we confess in the Nicene Creed.

Although the creed we use in our hymnal has Hades, which is actually probably a little bit of a better

translation, oddly enough.

So he descends into Hades.

Why is Jesus in hell?

It's not to suffer for your sins.

He's there to proclaim his victory.

It's exactly what he's there for.

And so, tomorrow, when we recognize Jesus' Sabbath rest in the tomb,

think about that.

That phrase, he descended into Hades.

He's there to proclaim his victory.

And now, here's the cash value of all of this.

I kept saying this is all for you.

Let me read to you from the Apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 2.

He writes,.

For in Christ, all the fullness of the deity lives in bodily form.

You have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

In him, you were circumcised in the putting off of your sinful nature, not with the circumcision done by the hands of

men, but with the circumcision that was done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your

faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.

When you, when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God

made you alive together with Christ.

He forgave us all of our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that

stood against us and opposed to us, and he took it away, nailing it to the cross.

Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them

by the cross.

So here's how this all plays out.

We're familiar with the suffering.

And I said at the beginning of this sermon that this is the epic showdown.

This is it.

This is the ultimate battle between good and evil, and it looks like good lost.

Wrong.

Good totally won.

Evil lost.

And here's the reason why.

Satan.

What does the word mean?

It's not his name, by the way.

His name is Lucifer.

Satan is a title.

In fact, when you read, anytime Satan is mentioned in the Old Testament, it is always THE Satan.

Not Satan.

It's THE Satan.

And what is the Satan?

He's the accuser.

He's the accuser.

That's what the Satan means.

He's the accuser.

So if Satan's power is his ability to accuse, Ah, you did that.

You broke God's law.

You're guilty.

You're a sinner.

You deserve hell.

He plays the role of the prosecuting attorney in God's court.

That's the job of the Satan.

And because it says this, that he, God, forgave

all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against

us and stood opposed to us.

See, there it is.

God's law has all of these regulations.

We haven't kept them.

We've earned hell.

And all of these things stood against us.

And you can almost say that it's Satan himself who's writing all the record of debt.

Oh, this one here, he owes you this much, God.

Oh, that's gonna be, he's got to go to the hottest regions of hell for these sins.

That's the job of the Satan, right?

But Christ, by dying on the cross and bleeding for our

sins, because remember what Isaiah said, the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us

all.

If Christ has fully propitiated the wrath of God, drunken to the dregs, the bitter cup of

God's wrath, he's done it all for us.

Then every single jot and tittle and infraction of God's law

that's stood against us that Satan is so quick to point out and accuse us with,

this text says, that is all canceled.

You can take Jesus's blood, get one of those dip pens, take those pages

out, and you can write in Jesus's blood across them, paid in full, and

then take that and nail it to the cross.

There's not a single thing you owe God now.

Christ has paid your debt in full.

And that is why it says this, having disarmed the powers and authorities, these are

demonic powers, having disarmed the demonic powers and authorities, Christ made a public

spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the

cross.

The ultimate battle between good and evil is not a story

written in legend and myth.

This is recorded in human history.

This really took place, this really took place for you, and Jesus really did

conquer the Satan.

He really disarmed him, and he truly made a public spectacle of him, and triumphed over him

by doing the unexpected, by dying.

Because by dying, he was suffering the wrath of God and dying in your place, because Jesus was

sinless.

The wages of sin is death.

So how did Jesus end up dying?

Because God laid on him the iniquity of us all.

The debt is paid, Satan is silenced, he's been made a spectacle of, good

has defeated evil definitively, and it was all for you, for your

salvation, for your freedom from slavery to sin, death, and the devil,

and now we have good news to tell the whole world that this Christ has bled and died for them as

well.

Tell them to come to church, to hear the good news, to be forgiven, to

receive eternal life, and someday we will see him face to face,

our conquering hero, the one who truly did win the day, win the battle,

and win it for us, and who for the joy set before him endured the cross,

despising its shame.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

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