Join us on a profound journey through the 19th chapter of the Gospel of John, as we delve into the events leading up to and including the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Discover why the Day of Preparation isn’t just another day, but a pivotal moment in the Christian faith—a prelude to the resurrection and the eternal life that follows. Bob George unravels the essential teachings of Christianity, reminding us of the eternal consequence of Christ’s sacrifice and why faith is the cornerstone of our salvation.
Welcome to Classic Christianity Radio with Bob George. Bob’s clear, timeless teachings on the complete forgiveness and unconditional love of Jesus Christ will transform your life as you learn about God’s amazing grace. Let’s join Bob as he teaches us from God’s Word.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, let’s turn… to the 19th chapter of the Gospel of John. Again, we’re at a point of celebrating the most important day in the history of mankind. And this Sunday, we will be celebrating the resurrection of Christ Jesus. As a matter of fact, Paul placed such unbelievable importance on that day that he said without the resurrection, We all are to be pitied of all people and are still in our sins, knowing full well that a cross had occurred where Jesus took away the sins of the world, but also knowing that those sins that were forgiven for the entire world was only received in the resurrected life of Christ Jesus. And that’s why we’re not saved by the death of Christ. You’re saved by the life of Christ. And that is why, as we will study it a little bit, that Jesus died not on Friday. It’s a little difficult to get three days and three nights out of Friday to Sunday. But he died on what is called Preparation Day. And it’s interesting that that is exactly what Jesus’ death was, was preparation for our salvation. That had he not gone to a cross to prepare the world for we would have never been able to have been raised from the dead eternally. So it is because of the eternal consequence of the cross. It isn’t that Jesus died for some sins and then you just keep getting forgiven. He took them away eternally from the eyes of God so that he could give you eternal life. And had he not taken away the sins of the world eternally from the eyes of God, you and I could never have had eternal life. But the goal of the cross is was to be able to give life through the resurrection and so that’s why he died on the day of preparation and again we’ll study that very clearly in the scripture the day of preparation and that’s what we’re that is what we’re celebrating today the day of preparation In reality, Jesus had been tried as an example yesterday and would have hung on the cross today. By this time of the day, would have been in the grave. So let’s pick up in the 19th chapter. We’re not going to go into all of the details from the arrest of Jesus in the Kidron Valley where they came and got him, taking him to Annas, the high priest, the denial of Peter, again back to the high priest, before Pilate, all of these different things that Jesus went through that by the time that he went to the cross would have been totally exhausted having been kept up all night long and being tortured by the Jewish people. Chapter 19, Pilate took Jesus finally out of absolute frustration. Because Pilate finally thought, I think I’ve got a way out here. He did not want to kill Jesus. He did not want to subject him to death. And he thought, well, you can always call for another criminal to be released on your holiday season. And surely they would call for the death of Barabbas instead of Jesus. But no, they did not. They cried out, give us Barabbas. We don’t want Jesus. We want him crucified. And so Pilate took Jesus, and he had him flogged, and the soldiers twisted a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, mocking him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they struck him in the face. It says in the Scripture in one part that Jesus was beaten as no man and unrecognizable. 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 of charge against him. You can hear the frustration in the voice almost of Pilate that I find no basis of charge. Why are you people insisting upon the crucifixion of this man that is innocent? Why are you doing this? And when Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and a purple robe, people said to him, Here’s the man. Here’s the man. As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, Crucify him, crucify him. Immediately seeing him brought out the worst in mankind. Crucify him. Pilate answered, In utter frustration, you take him and crucify him. But you see, the Jews couldn’t kill somebody during the Sabbath season. They could do other things, but they didn’t want the blood on their hands. They would rather put the blood on the hands of the Romans. And so, as for me, he said, I don’t find a charge against him. In other words, he said, I’m not going to crucify him. You take him and crucify him. You want him dead? You kill him. And the Jews insisted, we have a law. You know, here they are with their law again. We have a law, and according to the law, he must die. According to what law must he die? It seems to me that the law says that the wages of sin is death. What sin did he commit that would bring about death? That those who were accusing him had not already done hundreds of times in their lifetime. Because he claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed himself to be God and he deserves to die. I guess it never entered their mind that maybe he was telling the truth. Because you see, a man claiming himself to be God, we only got three options. Number one is he thought that he was God. when in fact he wasn’t, which would make him a maniac on the par, as C.S. Lewis said, of a man who thought he was a poached egg. Or he knew full well that he wasn’t God and yet claimed himself to be God, which would make him the greatest imposter that ever walked on the face of the earth, that deceived for 2,000 years people to hell. for two thousand years or he was god that’s the only thing you can conclude with a man claiming himself to be god he’s either a liar he’s an imposter or he’s insane or he’s truly who he claimed to be god but they never stopped to think those things through all they knew was here was a man that was coming up against our law and our tradition and we want him dead we want him out of here He’s not worthy of living when he doesn’t agree with my interpretation of the word of God. Sound familiar? Nothing’s changed to this very day. Only we just don’t go out and kill people. We just ruin their reputations. When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. And where do you come from, he said to Jesus. But Jesus gave him no answer. And Pilate again in utter frustration said, Do you refuse to speak to me, Pilate said? Don’t you realize I have the power to either free you or to crucify you? And Jesus answered, You would have no power over me of all if it was not given to you from above. And therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin. From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, and the Jews kept shouting, If you let this man go, you’re no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar. And when Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and set him down at the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement. And it was the day of preparation, the day of preparation of Passover week at about the sixth hour. In other words… noon and they shouted here’s your king pilot said to the jews and they shouted take him away take him away crucify him and again pilot say shall i crucify your king pilot asked and here are the religious jews that are supposed to be god first and everything else second is we have no king except caesar Isn’t that amazing? And the chief priest answered. And finally, Pilate, I know this in utter, utter, utter frustration, handed him over to be crucified. Now the soldiers took charge of Jesus, we’re told, and carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. And here they crucified him with two others, one on each side and Jesus in the middle. Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened it to the cross. It read, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Now, many of the Jews read this sign for the place where Jesus was crucified near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic and Latin and in Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, do not write, you can just hear them, the King of the Jews wrote, but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews. And Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written. So when the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, each one of them, with the undergarment remaining. And 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 lot who will get it. So here they were, getting ready to put an innocent man to death, and all they could think about is who’s going to get his robe. And that happened, however, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which said, They divided my garments among them, and they cast lots for my clothing. That was in Psalms 22, 18. So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother and his mother’s sister. Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. And when Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved, speaking of the apostle John, standing nearby, he said to his mother, Dear woman, here is your son. Here is a man getting ready to be crucified, nailed to a cross, suffered like no man on that type of a death. And all he was thinking about was the well-being of his mother. Here is your son. In other words, he was saying to her, Mary, I want you to go live with John, the beloved apostle. And history says, states that that’s exactly what she did, even to her death in Ephesus, where John was ultimately ministering. Dear woman, here is your son. And to the disciple, he said, here is your mother. And from that time on, the disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, he said, I’m thirsty. And a jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it and put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. And when he had received the drink, Jesus said, it is finished. And with that, he bowed his head and And gave up his spirit. Father into thy hands. I commend my spirit.
SPEAKER 01 :
Classic Christianity Radio thanks you for your support of our online and radio ministry. Make sure to visit bobgeorge.net to order a copy of the Closer Look Bible Study Series. A Closer Look Bible Studies features eight in-depth study guides that detail hundreds of Bible verses to help you deepen your understanding of the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. A Closer Look Bible Study Guides are an excellent tool for both individuals and larger Bible study groups. Please visit bobgeorge.net to order your copy of A Closer Look Bible Studies as well as many other wonderful books, CDs, and study guides. With your support, we can continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Let’s continue now with our Classic Christianity radio program.
SPEAKER 02 :
Now guys, when someone says it is finished, what do you think that means? That it is finished. Now, again, if you and I are going to walk by faith, we don’t have to walk by faith. We can walk in presumption. But if you’re going to walk by faith in what is true and Jesus said it’s finished, do you keep asking him to do what he’s already done or do you thank him for what he’s done? How many of you are born again? How many of you ask God to give you eternal life? As a born-again believer, think it through. How many of you as a born-again believer ask God to give you eternal life? That’s better. Why? You already have eternal life. How many of you ask God to redeem you? How come? You’re already redeemed. How many of you ask God to justify you? How many of you do that? If you did, are you walking by faith? And without faith, what does God say? It’s impossible to please God. So here we walk around thinking how pleasing we are to God, asking Him to do what in Him you already have, instead of being thankful. One of the most honorable characteristics that God ever gave to you and me is to be thankful. A thankful spirit. Did not say give thanks and how much? All things. We don’t want to be thankful. I’m going to ask. I am going to be the initiator and get God to respond to me. Guys, that is Garden of Eden stuff of wanting to be like God. Because if I am the initiator and he is the responder, then I am greater than God. Right or wrong? God initiated all things. God initiated creation and God initiated salvation. He didn’t consult us. Isn’t that terrible? Isn’t that terrible he didn’t ask us? Wonderful, brilliant people that we are. He did it. And he said, now respond. You’re either going to respond by saying thank you or you’re going to respond in rejection. Or you’re going to respond… in something other than that by continuing to ask for what God has already accomplished. That’s faith, if you want to walk by faith. And remember, without faith, it’s what? Again. So all you have to ask yourself is, am I asking, am I functioning in faith by asking God to do what he said is what? At the cross? It’s finished. It means paid in what? Full. And so God at the cross took away the sins of the entire world, did he not? And he took away the sins of the entire world how many times? Once, and for how many? For all and forever. Now it was the day of preparation, right? And the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Now, guys, there is the passage of Scripture dealing with why, in my opinion, Thursday is the day that Jesus died, not Friday. The next day was to be a special Sabbath. You see, the reason we put it on Friday is because Sabbath is from Friday night to Saturday night or on Saturday. And if he died the day before, why, then that’s Friday, right? But you see, what we’ve missed in the scripture is that word spatial, which was very usual in Judaism. Where in the Jewish faith, they had the Sabbath and then you had spatial Sabbaths. Spatial Sabbaths could be brought into effect any time they desired to do so. A spatial Sabbath carried some of the restrictions of the Sabbath, but not all of them. And so that next day was to be a spatial Sabbath. So that means you had Thursday, the day of preparation, the next day, a spatial Sabbath, the next day, the Sabbath, and the next day, Resurrection Sunday. Three days and three nights, just like it says in the Scripture. It was a day of preparation. The next day was to be a special Sabbath because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during what? The Sabbath. The Sabbath. And they asked Pilate to have his legs broken and the bodies taken down. The soldiers therefore came and they broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus and then those of the other. Now, why did they break the legs? Because when you are dying on a cross… You’re nailed with your feet, you’re nailed with your arms stretched out, and you’re gasping for air. And you can lift yourself up to get air. And that’s what you do, you suffocate to death. When you break the legs, you’re unable to lift yourself up, and you just die of suffocation. So they broke the legs. Why? Because they didn’t want the bodies to be there on the Sabbath.
SPEAKER 1 :
Why?
SPEAKER 02 :
And so they broke the legs so that they would die. Now he says, the soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus and then the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. And some doctors say that’s a sign of a broken heart. The man who saw this is given a testimony and the testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth and he testifies so that you may also believe. These things happen so that the scripture would be fulfilled that not one of his bones will be broken. And as another scripture says, they will look upon the one whom they pierced. Now, as we go to see the cross again, we realize that Jesus, it was not spikes that held Jesus to the cross, it was love. It was the love of God that so reached down to us in order to be able to save mankind. You can imagine the heart of Jesus saying in the Garden of Gethsemane, Lord, if there’s any other way to save these people down here who are lost and dead, that’s all of us, unrighteous. Is that right or wrong? None are righteous. No, not one. All have sinned. All of us have fallen short of the glory of God. And if there’s any way to bring them into a relationship with you, apart from me, having to go to a cross and become sinned, Jesus didn’t sweat great drops of blood because he was going to die. You have many people who go to the electric chair, criminals, who know they’re going to die, who don’t sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. But he was going to take upon himself the sins of the entire world eternally. Guys, back to Adam, forward to eternity. He died for the sins of the whole world. Not for some people, for the whole world. Now, why did he do that? To clear the deck for the divine action of through his resurrection of being able to bring life to the spiritually dead. That’s us. Dead spiritually in need of spiritual life. And in order to have life, he had to take away eternally the cause of death, which is sin, so that he could give us life. Had he not taken away eternally the cause of sin at the cross or missed one and gave you life, the next time you sin, what would happen to you? Die. The wages of sin is what? Death. So you see why he had to go to the cross. The meaning of the cross was to take away eternally the cause of spiritual death so that he could give us spiritual life called eternal life. Not temporal life. but eternal. Reconciliation required total forgiveness, not partial forgiveness. Jesus said, Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing. Now, again, if Jesus prayed to his Father for the Father to forgive us that we don’t know what we’re doing, are we saying the Father didn’t answer that prayer? I mean, is that what we’re saying? That Christ, you’re a pretty good guy, but, you know, you weren’t good enough to get your prayer answered. Or did God do, the Father, do precisely what Jesus asked? Which is it? Father, forgive them. Guess what? He did. That’s why he took away the sins of the world. You see, Jesus didn’t come to atone for sins. Folks, the word atonement is never used in the New Testament. Oh, you’ll see translation of atonement, but it’s a bad translation. The word is propitiation. It means that offering was satisfied to God. Atonement covered sin. That’s the blood of a bowling goat atoned for sin. And to say Jesus atoned for sin is putting his blood on the par of a bull and goat and making him nothing more than an animal sacrifice. Jesus came to do far greater than cover sin. He came to what? Take away. How did John the Baptist identify Jesus? Behold the Lamb of God who what? Takes away the sins of the world. And so he said, Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing. Christ died for sins how many times, guys? Once and for how many? All throughout all eternity. The righteous, who’s that? Who’s the righteous? Jesus for the unrighteous. Who’s that? We are unrighteous? Oh, my goodness. The righteous one for the unrighteous. That’s us. In order to do what? Bring us to God. He was put to death in a body, but he was made alive where? In the spirit. He said, when you were dead in your sins. Now, guys, again, we are born into this world dead in our sins, dead to God. That’s what it means to be unrighteous. That’s what it means to be lost. We are dead to God, born that way in Adam, dead to God. And if you’re dead, the only thing you need is what? Life. That’s what God had to solve at Easter, what we call Easter, at Resurrection Sunday. He had to give life to To the dead. To restore in us what we had lost in Adam. That being the spirit of God living in you. Because God in the man is totally indispensable to the humanity of the man. We’re not even true humans from God’s standpoint. Until we have been indwelt by God. And so that was the goal of salvation. Was to restore life to his creation. And so when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you what? Alive with Christ. He forgave how many of our sins, guys? All our sins. Not only that, when he did, he canceled the written code. That’s the Ten Commandments with its regulations. That was against us. Why was the law against us? Because we couldn’t keep it. Paul said there’s nothing wrong with the law, but when it flows through me, it kills me. So the law can do nothing for you except point out that you are a sinner in need of salvation, period. The law cannot make you righteous. The law cannot give you life. The law cannot justify you. All the law can do is kill you. And that’s why he said he had to cancel that law in order that with its regulations that was against us. Why was it against us? I can’t keep them. Of course, we’re so smart, we say, no, those Jews couldn’t keep them, but you watch us, Lord. And so we go around struggling and trying to keep the law, and we’re no better than they are, but we’ve become a little better at hiding it from people so that we can feel more righteous. That’s where self-righteousness comes from, people thinking that they’re obedient to the law. You can’t even keep the first one, let alone all of them.
SPEAKER 01 :
Until next time, walk in faith, be good to one another, and praise the Lord. Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Put Jesus first in your life and turn your life around.
