Lord, Abide With Us - Part 2 — Erlo Stegen

It takes place in the year 1923.

The Soldiers Divide Jesus’ Garments

So from verse 23, the 19th chapter of John,. Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.

They said, therefore, among themselves, Let us tear it, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, which says, They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots, therefore the soldiers did these things.

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. Verses 26 and 27. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son.

Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Now, there are so many different points contained in our text that I'm just going to lightly mention, and not delve into it, but perhaps ten different points.

Standing at the Foot of the Cross

Let us all find ourselves below the cross, beholding what happens there. Now, some of what I might mention is not found exactly in this text, but I've looked at Matthew and Mark and Luke, putting it together with John, and we'll be looking at it as a whole.

I'd like to refer to the words spoken by our Lord Jesus on the cross. But we don't have enough time. We will make passing reference to it. I pray that these words, spoken from the lips of a dying Lord Jesus, would find a place deep in our hearts.

And that we would find grace because of it. And that our ears would be wide open to hear. And our eyes open to see. And hearts open to receive what we have heard and what we hear. As I've said, we stand at the foot of the cross.

We behold him crucified. We see the blood of Jesus. This needs to take deep root into our hearts. John the Apostle says, behold with what love God has called us, that we should be called the children of God.

And that we love him because he first loved us. We read here in our text that the soldiers led Jesus, putting him onto a cross. At Golgotha, meaning in Hebrew, the place of the skull. For it was an execution place where Jesus was crucified and some say that there were bones of humans lying around.

And also, if you look at the rock structure today, you see as it were a skull, as if it were the skull of a man's head. So these soldiers took Jesus to Golgotha, the place where people were to be executed, to this place of the skull.

And they took Jesus to Golgotha, the place where people were to be executed, to this place of the skull.

It wasn't uncommon for people to be crucified and for these soldiers, as it says in our text, verse 23, that they took his garments and made four pots. Often there would be four soldiers and they would play dice over the garments.

The Seamless Tunic and the Fulfillment of Scripture

Now, they wanted to break up this garment and they were fighting and arguing over this garment, one wanting to take the top part or the shirt, but they found that it was a seamless tunic. It was a tunic that was expensive, woven, one that will be fitted a king.

And as they beheld the tunic, they realized that they would have to tear it and then spoil it. So they said, no, we cannot tear this thing apart. It had been woven in one single piece.

They stripped him when he was to be crucified.

They left him just with the old tunic and they took this good tunic and they played dice to see who would get it. One does ask the question, why should the Holy Spirit place such emphasis? He, the Holy Spirit, who inspired John to record the scripture, why does he spend time on the effects and the nitty-gritty of the tunic?

It is because. It is because the Holy Spirit wanted to emphasize what had been prophesied from of old in Psalm 22, 18, where it said, and they cast lots over my clothing. The scripture is inerrant, infallible.

Every dot and every iota is seen to. Every detail is true. It had been said of old, a long time before this, that they would divide my garments among them. These purple garments, his clothing, they cost lots for them.

These purple garments, his clothing, they cost lots for them.

So Jesus, hanging there on the cross, beheld the scene of argument where they were fighting over which part of the tunic, which part of the garment, and one would say, this is mine, this is mine.

Everything in the word of God goes into fulfillment. There is not one iota that is not going to be fulfilled. So Jesus, hanging there on the cross, beheld the scene of argument where they were fighting over which part of the tunic, which part of the garment, and one would say, this is mine, this is mine.

Jesus, all the scriptures are fulfilled. They find their fulfillment in him, even down to the details of the garments where he says, my garments were divided among them. The Bible says heaven and earth will pass away, but not one dot or iota of scripture will ever pass away.

Even the details of what Jesus was wearing was fulfilled, all of it taking place on the cross. They stripped him of this tunic, of this garment, and they left the crown of thorns on his head, pushing the thorns in deeper.

Even the cross which he carried wasn't just something that was thought up and imagined. Even though they did strip him of all his other garments, but this particular one they left. As Jesus was carrying the cross to Calvary, they beat him, they whipped him, pushing these thorns in even deeper, far worse than any needle can create pain.

Then these thorns were pressed into him, sharpened by God there in the wilderness. So as Jesus was carrying the cross and they approached Golgotha, a person came crossing his path. A person who came from the northernmost part of Africa, from Libya.

A person who came from the northernmost part of Africa, from Libya, came to Golgotha, a person who came from the northernmost part of Africa,.

And so there was a community of Jews there in northern Africa, and he was born in Africa. Now I am too an African, I am born here in Africa as well.

Even though my skin may be like this, well we are the same. But God has come to me.

God has made us to be exactly the same. You will find that he has made our features to be exactly the same in all its detail. And as Jesus was dragging this cross, here came this man from Africa, from Libya, named Simon of Cyrene.

Simon of Cyrene Carries the Cross

He had two sons, one being Alexander. And so it is said that he, Simon of Cyrene, had two sons, Alexander and Rufus. Now some call their dogs Rufus, but these were the two sons, these names, Alexander and Rufus, the two sons of Simon.

And as this man crossed paths with this scene, they forced him to carry the cross. They intimidated him, he didn't want to, and he refused. Why did they forcibly make him carry the cross then? The Bible doesn't give us a reason.

But we can look into it and ponder upon it. Since Jesus was collapsing under the weight of the cross, they took the nearest person, who happened to be Simon, and they said, you bear it for him.

Jesus didn't sleep at all.

He had, in the previous night, yesterday, he had sweated sweat drops as of blood as he pleaded with God and as he was there sweating in the garden.

Jesus was exhausted. His suffering and his passion there in the garden of Gethsemane,.

Then being hauled before Caiaphas and the high priest and these religious leaders, then before Pilate, then before Herod, not a moment's chance to rest. They beat him, mistreated him, put that crown of thorns on him, made him carry the cross.

It is said in Christian history that, though it's not in Scripture,.

But as we are told in history, and legend has it that Jesus, as he suffered in this load of this heavy cross, as he was going through these narrow streets, he leaned against a wall and it happened to be of a rich Jew who came out furiously beating him and he fell.

This man who hated Jesus, who hated this Nazarene,.

Was totally exhausted.

And so, as Jesus was collapsed under the weight of the cross, they saw this man who happened to walk by and they said, you men come here and help carry the cross. This father of Alexander and Rufus. But back to my question, why did they choose this Simon of Africa?

The Bible is silent about it.

The Bible is silent about it.

We're unsure of the specifics about him, but we do know that whether he was a disciple or just a person who happened to be close by, but he was not of that crowd which hated Jesus with a bitter hatred and anger.

And legend has it that he had come from his garden. It could be that the noise and the strife and the violence of the night was so tedious to him and he was so upset by it that he thought he'd just go into this garden or this field and rest there and escape.

And he had perhaps come down from there and then when he was told, you carry the cross, he didn't want to, so he was forced. And we hear that in some of the history spoken about that period of time that this same Simon became a disciple.

And that is two sons, Alexander and Rufus, they are the ones mentioned in the New Testament as disciples. Now, we're not exactly sure from Scripture. But it is said that he became a disciple and the Lord decided to record that his two sons, although it's not specified here, but that these two sons were honest, upright disciples of the Lord.

We've got no biblical proof that they were his sons. But it's interesting that God mentions their names. Why? What for? And afterwards, we read of them being men of Caleb, members of the church of the living Christ.

There was blessing.

There was blessing for Simon in carrying the cross, even for his two sons. You child of God, take courage when you are under trial and when things are difficult and heavy, when you say this cross is just too burdensome for me, remember that you will be blessed and others will be blessed, even your sons, through your identifying with the cross.

The Blessings of Identifying With the Cross

So there are the blessings of the cross. And you can be a curse to your children or you can be a blessing. If you've identified with the cross, the Lord can bless your offspring. If you disassociate from it, you'll find the opposite.

You might be complaining, oh my rebellious children, how terrible my children have turned out to be, and this one has fallen pregnant, and this has happened. Start at home. Examine yourself. See how you stand regarding the cross.

It is with the cross that you will be blessed.

It is with reference to the cross that you influence your offspring. And God will expose whether you are hypocritical with regards to the cross, or whether you are truly genuine regarding the cross of Jesus.

And it will become evident. But let's pass on from that point. Believe it. It says that there was a crowd of women following Jesus. We rejoice in that. Not every person condemned him. There were the few who identified with him and walked with him.

Some of them, these women were deeply moved to the point that they wept bitter tears as they saw the Son of God being persecuted, suffering in this manner. And then Jesus, turning to this crowd of women, said, Women of Jerusalem, don't cry for me.

Cry rather for yourselves and your children. In that we understand that our sympathy with Jesus, even if it moves us to tears, that does not bring salvation to you.

You may be moved to tears, but it doesn't mean a thing to you and to the one on high.

But then he says,.

Women of Jerusalem, don't cry for me. Cry rather for yourselves and your children. In that we understand that our sympathy with Jesus, even if it moves us to tears,.

Does not bring salvation to you. And says, don't sympathize with me and cry regarding me and my wounds and my suffering. Cry for yourselves and your children. Tears of sympathy do not touch God and they will not save you.

So the Lord is saying, don't cry for him. Cry for yourself. Weep for yourself and your offspring. Tears of pity for Jesus will not save you. Even if you move to many tears through seeing the film on the Passion of Christ, that has no saving grace.

You need to be truly rent and weep for yourself and your children. There are different types of tears. Some cry because they are sorry for themselves. Some cry because they get caught. Their sin finds them out.

Some cry because they get caught. Their sin finds them out. Their sin finds them out. Their sin finds them out. Their sin finds them out. Understand this very clearly. This truth that tears of pity for Jesus have no saving power.

For he says, For he says, weep for yourselves. Have you experienced true sorrow? True godly sorrow? Where you do weep for yourself and you see your sinfulness. Where you confess your sins and turn from them.

Have you ever wept tears where you've seen your children and you've cried before God because you see that they are rebellious. They have not turned to the Lord. And so Jesus said, women of Jerusalem, don't cry for me.

Cry rather for yourselves and for your offspring. And he said, the time will come when they will say, blessed is the womb that has not given birth and the one that has not suckled. For the time will come when you'll call upon the hills and mountains to cover you, to fall upon you, to hide you from the face of him who carried your sins and the sins of your children on the cross.

And Jesus said, if they do this to a green tree or a green branch, what would they do to a dry one? Jesus totally undefiled, holy pure, absolutely holy, without sin.

The Son of God. That's green wood, perfect in God's sight, spotless.

So he was saying, if I suffer as one who is undefiled, as the green branch, one who is totally innocent before God, how much more so you as a dry branch with your sins and rebelliousness and your continuing stubbornly in your sins.

If there is one here who refuses to repent, who sits in their sins, then I say to you that you are that dry branch headed for the fires of hell. If you know that in yourself you are lifeless, it's just dead wood dried up, then you are ready for hell.

You who are so discerning about the sins of other people, and it is so clear to you what they have done, but about your own sins you don't cry. That is why Jesus said, weep for yourselves and for your children, for the wrath of God will come upon you if you continue in this condition.

You who are so discerning about the sins of other people, and it is so clear to you what they have done, but about your own sins you don't cry.

If there is a person here who doesn't know what it is to weep genuinely with true sorrow because of your own sin, not because of the sins of others, but that you weep for your own sins, if you are not prepared and you do not repent in that way, then know that you are destined for hell.

Jesus Crucified Between Two Criminals

It was the third hour, it was at nine in the morning, when they put Jesus, crucified him on the cross at Golgotha. They took two murderous criminals and crucified them on either side of Jesus. They were known sinners, their reputation was widely known, they were infamous.

So they took one of those criminals and crucified him on the one side and on the other side of Jesus.

In doing so they exclaimed, he is the greatest sinner of them all.

So their focus on Jesus in the middle was to emphasize that this is the real sinner, this is the truly wicked person. And how right they were. Indeed Jesus was more wicked than both of them. How so? Because he was carrying your wickedness.

For your sins, your wickedness and the sins of the whole world were placed upon Jesus. These two criminals on either side were suffering because of their own sin.

That's why these two criminals were not a patch. With him he was much worse than they all because he took your sin and your children's sins.

He carried them. Carrying the sins of the world and in such a painful way. They hung him on the cross there hanging between heaven and earth. And in carrying your sins and the sins of the world, heaven and God the Father turned their back on him.

They looked away and they so to say spat and despised him.

Heaven spewed him out because of your and my sin. Have you ever realized it?

Has it dawned upon you that heaven spat him out? God rejected him while he was carrying your depravity, your wickedness and defilement. Heaven rejected him. God the Father rejected him to such a point that Jesus said, My God, my God, why have you left me?

But you wink at your own wickedness. You turn a blind eye and you say, This sin isn't of such importance, this which I'm doing. Isn't it just normal? God totally rejected him, cast him out because he was carrying your sins, the white people's sins, the sins of every nation.

He was cursed, for cursed is the one crucified on the tree.

Even the world. God the Father rejected him, cast him out because he was carrying your sins, the white people's sins, the sins of every nation.

He was a total outcast, rejected by men, rejected by heaven. All your sins of promiscuity, all the lust, all the wickedness was upon him. The earth, the world cried out, crucify him, away with him. And God too said, away with him, cursed is the one on the tree.

And you play with the sin? You practice with the sin? You don't take it seriously with the sin? You forget a few crocodile tears and you go on with your old life?

And you can still cry crocodile tears about your sins, where you show a little bit of feeling sorry, but then you turn straight back to your filth again?

Your child goes with the world and loves the world and it doesn't matter anything to you. You can sleep at night and you don't know that Jesus was cursed on the cross because of that you treat it lightly.

You will burn with your children in hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you. But you aren't concerned about it? And the death of Jesus really doesn't mean anything to you. It contains no real repentance for you.

You just carry on in your old life. That is why you are dry wood ready for hell.

And you don't know that Jesus was cursed on the cross because of that you treat it lightly. You burn with your children in hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you. But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you.

But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you.

But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you.

But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you. But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you. But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you.

But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you.

But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you. But you are dry wood ready for hell and if you burn there, don't say I didn't tell you. Mary was one who knew sorrow already.

Jesus Entrusts His Mother to John

Her husband had passed away and we don't know how many years it was already. It was a long time. Because Joseph's name isn't even mentioned anymore. We don't know how old Jesus was when his father, when Joseph died, but Jesus did not raise him from the dead.

Jesus did not raise him from the dead.

That is why Jesus said to this woman, to Mary who was now deserted, not having a husband to lean upon, who needed to be strengthened by a son, and that is why she was spoken to and addressed directly by the Lord.

The Lord who said, obey your parents, honor them so that your days would be long on earth. He didn't just say those words and know the words regarding other people, he kept them himself. Even though he was in the greatest of agonies, though he was gripped by hell itself because of our sin, nevertheless he took note of her.

Saying, John, there is your mother. Woman, there is your son. And from that moment on, he was like a son to her. And there were other sons, but they didn't believe in Jesus.

He had brothers and sisters, but the brothers didn't believe in him. His mother stood alone.

She was completely alone.

She was completely alone. She was completely alone.

He was the deserted one. He was the one without a friend, as the choir sang earlier on in the service, that he stood alone. But he who stood alone saw his mother who stood alone. And he said, woman, behold your son.

And to John, behold your mother. And from that time on, John took her into his home. He didn't say, woman, continue with your unbelieving sons, but he said, go and stay with the one who was the one leaning on my bosom, the one who found rest on me.

He didn't say, woman, continue with your unbelieving sons, but he said, go and stay with the one who was the one leaning on my bosom, the one who found rest on me. He didn't say, woman, continue with your unbelieving sons, but he said, go and stay with the one who was the one leaning on my bosom, the one who found rest on me.

He didn't say, woman, continue with your unbelieving sons, but he said, go and stay with the one who was the one leaning on my bosom, the one who found rest on me. He didn't say, woman, continue with your unbelieving sons, but he said, go and stay with the one who was the one leaning on my bosom, the one who found rest on me.

We are told in history, and excuse me if I've used different details of things that have been said. History says that he took her and received her as his own. And stayed with her for 15 years until she died and he was born.

If that is true, he must have had a heart that was aflame for God. He was one of the disciples. Jesus has said, go into all the world. But he had said, you look after your mother. And he did it until she died.

And only then he carried on being a true disciple. And he outlived all of them. He grew older than all of them. Because he was faithful to the Lord's command.

I wonder whether you are faithful to the commands of Jesus Christ. Maybe you as a child, you've spurned your parents, you've turned your back on them. You neglect them. You will not find blessing and lengthening of days on earth.

Maybe it's true.

Maybe it isn't true. But one thing we know. He immediately took Mary to be his mother. And he cared for them. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian.

What? Nonsense. You're a monkey in a circus and nothing more.

Clinging to Christ and the Power of the Cross

So here is just a shortened summary of Jesus on the cross. Time has gone on. I would hope that the cross has become dearer to you, that Jesus on the cross has become more precious to you and that you will cling to him right to the end.

Shall we pray? Close our eyes and pray. Lord, your word says that to the perishing, the word of the cross is foolishness. But to us, it is the power of God. And Lord, we ask that by your Holy Spirit, you would make this message of the cross to be the power of true salvation to us.

And Lord Jesus, we ask that your grace would be with us all, even when we are asleep, that you continue to speak to us. And the love of the Father, continue to deal with us and operate in us. That we truly love you as you first loved us.

And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us till the last moment, till the trumpet of God shall sound in heaven. Amen.