Sunday School Lesson
May 9
Lesson 10 (KJV)
OFFERING HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
DEVOTIONAL READING: Jeremiah 29: 10–14
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 29
ISAIAH 29: 13–24
13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
19 The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
21 That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
22 Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
KEY VERSE
They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.—Isaiah 29: 24
PROPHETS FAITHFUL TO GOD’S COVENANT
Unit 3: Courageous Prophets of Change
LESSONS 9–13
LESSON AIMS
After participating in this lesson, each learner will be able to:
1. Describe God’s intentions regarding the spiritual condition of Israel.
2. Give an example of a similar spiritual condition today.
3. Create a personal plan to guard against ritualism in worship.
HOW TO SAY IT
Assyria Uh-sear-ee-uh.
Babylon Bab-uh-lun.
Mediterranean Med-uh-tuh-ray-nee-un.
Mesopotamia Mes-uh-puh-tay-me-uh.
Tiglathpileser Tig-lath-pih-lee-zer.
Introduction
A. Stone( walling) Hearts
Dr. John Gottman studies marriage and the forces likely to break a union apart. After years of research, he identified four relational traits that reliably predict divorce: contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling, and criticism. He refers to these metaphorically as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Criticism becomes destructive when a spouse’s value and worth are questioned instead of specific behaviors. Generalizations are made, and the spouse on the receiving end begins to feel resentful and overwhelmed. Contempt manifests itself through eye rolls and insults, which telegraph that one partner believes that he or she possesses exclusive moral high ground within the relationship.
Signs of defensiveness become legion. A defensive spouse might respond to perceived criticism with verbal argumentativeness. A pattern of assuming the role of victim in the face of criticism is another form of excessive self-protection. When these three habits are practiced over time, stonewalling results. A spouse begins to withdraw emotionally from the relationship for self-protection or out of a sense of not knowing how to respond in a productive manner.
Gottman’s Four Horsemen are intended to identify marital decay. This model can also be useful when measuring the quality of a person’s relationship with God. But this is not a new insight, as today’s text reveals.
B. Lesson Context
A predominant theme of the book of Isaiah is God’s sovereignty over history. The fictitious pagan fertility gods were imagined to be caught in never-ending cycles of birth, life, and death. For pagans, history endlessly turned on itself. Their gods were doomed to the same repetitive beats as were mere mortals.
By contrast, the God of Israel stood outside of history. Since He brought all things into being (Isaiah 40: 21–31), how could it be otherwise? He demonstrated mastery over history by giving Isaiah visions of what would occur before, during, and after the Babylonian exile. That tragedy extended from the destruction of the temple in 586 BC until release from captivity in 538 BC.
The most immediate new thing that God would do was to use a foreign power, Assyria, to accomplish His will by disciplining Israel for their sin and corruption. During Isaiah’s tenure as a prophet (740–681 BC), Assyria was the region’s sole superpower. Founded in Mesopotamia in about 1750 BC, that nation’s period of most militant expansion began in about 1100 BC.
Assyria’s most coveted prize, Egypt, lay to the west. However, several smaller nations on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, including the divided northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and Judah, stood in its path. The risk of invasion was constant.
Two centuries before Isaiah’s time, King Solomon had accumulated immense wealth through his initiative of international commerce. That fact, along with prosperity in the interim, made the covenant people an attractive target for the aggressive Assyrian Empire. Both Israel and Judah experienced years of prosperity after they divided into two kingdoms (Isaiah 2: 7; etc.). Assyria menaced both for years.
The threat diminished during the reigns of less bellicose Assyrian monarchs. However, Tiglathpileser III (reigned 745–727 BC) renewed Assyrian designs against both Israel and Judah (2 Kings 15: 29). The prophets Hosea and Amos had issued the earliest warnings, in the eighth century BC (examples: Hosea 10: 6; Amos 3: 11). At the time, their prophecies must have been seen as outlandish to a nation enjoying peace. But during Isaiah’s ministry as a prophet, predicted doom became reality.
Ahaz, king of Judah from 735 to 715 BC, allied with Assyria to foil aggression by Aram and northern Israel, paying steep tribute in the process (2 Kings 16: 7–8). Eventually, however, he felt pressure to rebel against Assyria and shift allegiance to Egypt. The prophets warned both northern Israel and southern Judah against such entanglements, but they were ignored (Hosea 7: 11, 16; etc.). God instructed both nations to place their trust in Him, not pagan empires and their fictitious gods.
Beginning in the period of Hezekiah’s reign (about 724–695 BC), Isaiah preached five “Woe Sermons” that included further warning against such alliances. These five sermons are found in Isaiah 28: 1–33: 24, each opening with the word Woe (28: 1; 29: 1; 30: 1; 31: 1; 33: 1). The sermons establish the rationale behind God’s judgment, yet also offer hope that God would someday restore the nation predicted to fall. Today’s study concerns both.
Leading into today’s text is a sad observation regarding ignorance of the Word of the Lord as delivered through the prophet (Isaiah 29: 11–12).
I. Unfaithful Worship
(ISAIAH 29: 13–14)
A. Present Indifference to God (v. 13)
13. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.
The failure to heed the contents of the scroll in Isaiah 29: 11–12 (not in our lesson text) results in (or results from) the characterization we see here: insincere piety. The people’s worship was little more than “going through the motions”; it was empty and meaningless. With their mouth, and with their lips the people professed loyalty and devotion to God, but their hearts weren’t in it.
Isaiah had confessed his own and his people’s unclean lips when he was called by God (Isaiah 6: 5). Here the lips appeared to speak what was right. But whatever pious words they uttered were nullified by hearts that had little passion or desire for a genuine relationship with God. Centuries later, Jesus would apply these very words to the scribes and Pharisees in His day (Matthew 15: 1–9; Mark 7: 5–8). There, Jesus adds His own characterization: hypocrites.
What Do You Think?
What self-tests can you conduct to ensure that your heart matches what you say about God?
Digging Deeper
Considering Mark 7: 6, what level of importance will you attach to this task?
B. Future Awe of God (v. 14)
14. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
The Lord’s response is to shatter the apathy with a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder. Literally the promise is, “I will treat this people wonderfully, wonderfully and with wonder.” This is something wonderful beyond description! But what is this wonderfully wonderful wonder? The second half of the verse before us is cited by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1: 19 as justification for his statement “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1: 18). Paul goes on to comment on how God has “made foolish the wisdom of this world” and brought it down to nothing by means of the cross (1: 19–25).
The cross of Christ should move us to humble worship—the kind that was sadly lacking in Isaiah’s day. No “precept of men” (Isaiah 29: 13), no matter what it may be, can produce the degree of worship that the wonder of the cross can. May we who have accepted the crucified and risen Christ as Savior never lose our sense of wonder at that which so-called intellectual people of the world ridicule!
WONDERFUL?
A passenger on a large jet was acting strangely. He looked at the magazine in the seat-back pouch and whispered, “Wonderful!” He stroked the fabric of his seat cushion and repeated the word, “Wonderful!” He looked out the window and said, “Wonderful!” He looked at the flight attendant and murmured, “Wonderful!”
The eccentric man’s seatmate was uneasy. “What’s this ‘Wonderful, wonderful!’ all about?” he demanded.
“Up until two days ago, I had been blind since birth. I visited a gifted surgeon, and now I can see! Everything looks wonderful!”
God’s wonderful work doesn’t always look that way to us. It can look mundane or even foolish. It can look like a mere seat back pouch, or it can be seen in a hard worker doing her job as though she were employed by God (Colossians 3: 23). What wonderful, godly, redeemed pieces of God’s world can you celebrate today?—C. T.
What Do You Think?
What additional guardrails can you erect to protect yourself from worldly “wisdom” as this verse is used in 1 Corinthians 1: 18–19?
Digging Deeper
What other texts speak to you on this issue?
II. Unfaithful Plans
(ISAIAH 29: 15–22)
A. Hidden Plans Are Judged (vv. 15–16)
15. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
Those who fancy themselves to be wise and intelligent are frequently those who seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord. This means that they stop at nothing to conceal their sinful plans from God. If only they would exert similar efforts to discover the truth that God has gone to great depths to reveal to humanity!
The wayward seem to believe that God is subject to the same limitations that restrict humans. Supposedly, He cannot know or see what is planned or done in the dark. But as David rightly observes, “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee” (Psalm 139: 12; compare Daniel 2: 22; Jonah 2; and 1 Corinthians 4: 5).
16. Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?
The reason that the plotters and schemers of Isaiah 29: 15 think and act as they do is that they have a faulty view of God. They have turned His authority structure upside down. Such is the inevitable outcome when humans refuse to acknowledge that they are created in the image of God (Genesis 1: 26). They think of themselves as the potter, as if they were in charge.
But the potter’s clay has no right to command the potter, and it is utter foolishness for the clay to deny that the potter made him or her (see Romans 9: 21). The Hebrew word translated framed in this verse is a variation of the word used to describe how “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground” in Genesis 2: 7.
True worship can never come from a mind-set that considers human beings to be the potter. This displays the utmost contempt for the true potter, who is God alone. Ignoring the prophet’s insistence to trust God instead of pagan nations was absurd. Isaiah has painted the scene of a piece of fine art attempting to correct and guide the hand of the creating artist, even while the artist was immersed in the creative act!
What Do You Think?
What can and should you include in your prayers that will correctly acknowledge God’s position relative to yours?
Digging Deeper
What Scriptures speak to you on this issue?
APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING Wearing old work clothes, I was on my back underneath the church water fountain when I heard the entry door open. Because I didn’t want to snake my arm out of the water fountain, I simply said, “Hello.”
A man’s voice said, “Hi.”
When I turned a little, I could see his shoes and his salesman’s display case in his hand. He asked, “You the only one here?” He was looking into the empty office.
“Yep,” I said.
“I guess I’ll come back another time when someone is here.”
He was looking for someone in particular: the minister. I am he, but the visitor assumed I was the maintenance man. Because I didn’t look like a preacher, he missed an opportunity to make a sale. Concurrently, I neglected the opportunity to share the gospel with a fellow human being. Neither of us was true to our calling. Isaiah would remind both the salesman and me to be who God created us to be. Do you do that?—C. T.
B. Followed by Flourishing (vv. 17–19)
17. Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a forest?
Lebanon was known for its forests, which supplied lumber for building projects (see 2 Chronicles 2: 8–9; 1 Kings 5: 6). To take a majestic forest and create a fruitful field from it isn’t a comment on the quality of the forest or the field as much as it is that of massive reversal. Likewise, fields that had already proven themselves fertile would become instead forest. Isaiah used these upheaval images as metaphors for the massive changes Israel would undergo when God renewed them in ways they never expected. This theme continues through the end of our printed text.
18. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.
Isaiah 29: 11–12 (not in today’s lesson text) described the words of the book as being incomprehensible and/ or inaccessible. These go hand in hand with spiritual deafness and blindness (compare 42: 19–25). But in the future, God’s words will be so accessible to the people that even the deaf and blind would hear and read the words of the book (compare Psalms 146: 8; Isaiah 32: 1–4).
What Do You Think?
What can you do to protect yourself from spiritual blindness and deafness?
Digging Deeper
Are you more in danger of spiritual blindness resulting in spiritual deafness or vice versa?
19. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
Those who normally find themselves oppressed by the mighty and wealthy will find themselves rejoicing over how God acts on their behalf. A key phrase here is the Holy One of Israel. It occurs in 31 verses in the Old Testament, and 25 of those are in Isaiah. The joy of which this verse speaks is to be found in Him (Isaiah 12: 6), not in pagan nations (10: 20; 31: 1). He is the Maker (17: 7; 45: 11), the Lord God (30: 15), the Redeemer (41: 14; 43: 14; 47: 4; 48: 17; 49: 7; 54: 5), the Lord of hosts (47: 4).
The unholy spirits of the demonic realm correctly recognized the Holy One in the person of Jesus (Mark 1: 24; Luke 4: 34). Some humans correctly came to recognize Him that way as well (Acts 3: 14; 1 John 2: 20). In the Beatitudes, Jesus echoed the promises in the verse before us (Matthew 5: 5; Luke 6: 20).
C. Judgment for the Unjust (vv. 20–21)
20–21. For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off: that make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
The purveyors of injustice will receive exactly the opposite of what is promised in Isaiah 29: 19. God intended judges to uphold the concerns of the poor, and He reserves fierce anger for those who use their position to harm them (see Proverbs 28: 27; Amos 5: 10; Matthew 23: 14).
D. Followed by Restoration (v. 22)
22. Therefore thus saith the LORD, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
God assured the nation by invoking the names of two patriarchs with whom God had established His covenant centuries before (Exodus 2: 24; etc.). But the record of Scripture is that God’s people proved themselves incapable and unwilling to maintain a holy status before God. Moses had introduced God’s perfect law to the people (Exodus 20; etc.), but they did not obey it. Their restoration was not precipitated by renewed effort on their part, but in God’s unilateral act of mercy.
III. Faithful Worship (ISAIAH 29: 23–24)
A. Based on God’s Character (v. 23)
23. But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.
If at the time of restoration, Jacob were to observe Israel, the nation bearing his name as changed by God (Genesis 32: 28), he would see renewed devotion to God. In spite of the Israelites’ unfaithfulness, they will remain as God’s creative work. As such, God has remained committed to them until He finishes what He started in them. Human unfaithfulness does not deter God (see 2 Timothy 2: 13).
To sanctify God’s name is to acknowledge God’s inherent holiness. We cannot add to God’s holiness. But we can add to the number of those who know His holiness and also worship Him. Israel would come to worship and obey God with a sense of awe and reverence when He turns everything upside down (see Isaiah 29: 17, above).
To fear the God of Israel is a parallel statement to sanctify my name. To do one is to do the other. The result is to be appropriate reverence for the Lord as He allows people the opportunity to marvel at His holiness. Since Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, the Holy One of Jacob and the God of Israel are parallels. Calling God by either or both titles is to acknowledge that He chose Jacob/ Israel, loved him from before he wrestled with God (Genesis 32: 22–30), and proved that love by settling Jacob’s descendants in the land of promise that would belong to his descendants (Psalm 136: 21; compare Jeremiah 33: 11; Hosea 2: 23).
But that settlement and resettlement were only shadows of God’s act of mercy ultimately accomplished through the work of Christ on the cross. Paul wrote, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5: 17). We come to Christ admitting that we depend on His generous gift of salvation (Ephesians 2: 8–9) and the rest in our eternal home that is to follow (Hebrews 4).
B. Expressed Through God’s Word (v. 24)
24. They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.
This future time of renewal is to be marked by increased sensitivity to God’s Word. The Hebrew word translated murmured occurs in only six other places in the Old Testament; in two of those, it is used of the wilderness wanderings who griped about their situation (Deuteronomy 1: 27; Psalm 106: 25). When the time of revival came to pass, the people would do the opposite as they value doctrine (compare Deuteronomy 32: 2; Psalm 119).
Conclusion
A. Intimate Hearts
Today’s passage offers hope for all who find themselves far from God despite any robust religious heritage. In every generation churches are filled with those who have devoted themselves fully to God. But there are also those who attend out of habit or a sense of duty. Outside observers might consider this group to be highly religious. However, their true spiritual state is not hidden from God. He feels the coldness of their worship. He sees the plans they make without consulting Him in prayer or study of Scripture. The unjust ways with which these congregants treat their neighbor are not hidden from God.
The way back now is the same as it was in Isaiah’s day: regardless of our current level of spiritual fervency, we need to live mindful of the reality that God judges each person justly. We have to discard the illusions that our thoughts are private before God. He sees our true spiritual condition, even when we don’t allow ourselves that same insight.
God the Father, through the completed work of Christ and the present indwelling of His Holy Spirit, is able and willing to free us so we can love Him with the entireties of our hearts, souls, and abilities (compare Deuteronomy 6: 5; Matthew 22: 37). There is no question regarding His ability and our inability in that regard. Neither is there any question about His willingness to do so. The only question on the table is our willingness to allow Him to renew us.
Are we?
What Do You Think?
Which thought in today’s text do you have the hardest time coming to grips with? Why?
Digging Deeper
Considering Psalm 51: 10; Luke 10: 27; Ephesians 5: 11; and 1 John 1: 5–6, how will you resolve this difficulty?
B. Prayer
Father, we are ever capable of straying from You! May our worship and service to You never find us lacking in devotion. Renew our hearts today so that the unbelieving world can see Christ in us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
C. Thought to Remember
God is able and willing to renew our hearts.
KIDS CORNER
Buried Like A King
Sunday, May 9, 2021
John 19:28-42
John 19:28-42
(John 19:28) After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, *said, “I am thirsty.”
After Jesus entrusted His mother to the Apostle John, from that moment forward she was John’s mother to care for; then, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” Jesus always cared for others before caring for His own needs. For example, before Jesus ate the food His disciples brought Him to eat, Jesus insisted on meeting the spiritual needs of the Samaritans who were leaving their city to meet Him (see John 4:1-43). In John 4:34, Jesus said to His disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work.” Indeed, Jesus always sacrificed for others and made the ultimate sacrifice for us as He hanged on the cross. Jesus revealed His full humanity as He suffered and died, for His suffering did make Him thirsty—as it would anyone hanging from a cross—which required great exertion even to breathe. Jesus revealed His full divinity as He suffered and died, for no matter how much He suffered, Jesus first and foremost wanted to obey His Father in heaven and fulfill all the prophecies in the Bible that foretold His coming. Jesus wanted to “complete His work.” Jesus’ death on the cross fulfilled Psalms 22:14-15, “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.” Only the divine Son of God could and would willingly go through the pain of crucifixion and death to fulfill every aspect of Biblical prophecy that the Father and He knew He must suffer after He came into the world to save all who would repent of their sins and believe in Him as Lord and Savior.
(John 19:29) A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.
When the soldiers gave sour wine (vinegar) to Jesus, He fulfilled the prayer in Psalms 69:19-21, “You know the insults I receive, and my shame and dishonor; my foes are all known to you. Insults have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” None of the soldiers, priests, or passersby gave Jesus any comfort. His brothers had abandoned Him; one of His disciples betrayed Him, and all the rest but John had fled in fear. Only four women and John the Apostle gave comfort to Jesus with their presence, but they were forbidden to help Him. Jesus, the Lamb of God, died during preparations for Passover when the Passover lamb was slain. The soldiers gave wine to Jesus on a branch of hyssop, and in Exodus 12:21-23, we learn how the blood of the lamb and a branch of hyssop were used to protect God’s people from the destroying angel as it passed over their homes: “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, ‘Go, select lambs for your families, and slaughter the passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood in the basin. None of you shall go outside the door of your house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike down the Egyptians; when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over that door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you down.” David prayed in Psalm 51:7, “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow,” but only the shed blood of Jesus can remove our guilt and forever cleanse us whiter than snow (see Isaiah 1:18).
(John 19:30) Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
In John 2:10, even though His hour (or time) had not yet come, in Jesus’ first miracle He changed water into wine, and the host told the bridegroom, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.” When His hour finally came, the soldiers gave Jesus the worst wine to drink. From those who were evil, Jesus received evil, but as Joseph said to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today.” In John 10:17-18, Jesus prophesied, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.” Jesus fulfilled His own words and obeyed His Father’s command when He willingly “gave up His spirit” and died on the cross. Death means separation. Jesus separated His spirit from His human body when He died on the cross according to His timing, according to the moment (time) He chose. Only the divine Son of God could and would do that to save us from our sins and grant us eternal life. He declared “It is finished,” because He had completely obeyed His Father’s commands and He had finished what they had agreed He would do in the world. He had died a once and for all sacrificial death on the cross to save believers in Him from eternal death. The Lamb of God is also the Good Shepherd. In John 10:11, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The chief priests, Pilate, and the Roman soldiers had not taken Jesus’ life from Him on the cross; rather, on the cross at the precise moment Jesus chose, He laid it down according to the Scriptures and He would take it up again three days later, on a Sunday, the first day of a new week. Only the divine Son of God could and would die and live again according to His own perfect timing in accordance with His Father’s command and will. Jesus glorified God by finishing the work that His Father gave Him to do. Each day, Jesus finished the work that God gave Him for that day (and night). In John 17:4, Jesus prayed in His high priestly prayer, “I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.” Believers in Jesus can glorify God when they do the work He has given then to do as followers of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures in the power of the Holy Spirit.
(John 19:31) Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
Once again, the religious leaders showed their concern to obey their ceremonial laws while completely disregarding the moral laws of God, the Ten Commandments that God gave them through Moses, the Law of Love that Jesus taught, demonstrated, and fulfilled. The religious leaders would not defile themselves ceremonially by touching a dead body. But religious ceremonies cannot atone for anyone’s sins, cleanse anyone from sin, or make anyone right with God; only the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ can make this possible. When Jesus was crucified for us, He fulfilled the Law of God, the Law of Love. When Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus down from the cross, he fulfilled the Law of Love. In Deuteronomy 21:22-23, we read this command of God, “When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you for possession.” In certain cases, after a convicted person was stoned to death, their body could be hanged on a tree and then taken down at sundown. The Romans chose to hang their criminals on a cross while they were alive so they would suffer more and longer than would be the case from stoning. Thus, the religious leaders wanted Jesus to suffer as much and as long as possible, but then they wanted His body removed and buried according to their ceremonial law.
(John 19:32) So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him;
The medical aspects of crucifixion (see above) indicate that to breathe a crucified person must push themselves up with their legs to take a breath. If their legs were broken, they could not breathe, and they would suffocate.
(John 19:33) but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.
The soldiers saw no need to break Jesus’ legs, which would have been done with a hammer; hopefully, with only one quick blow to each leg,
(John 19:34) But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
The medical aspects of crucifixion (see above) explain why blood and water would have come out of Jesus’ side when they pierced His side. The Church has often interpreted this event symbolically to refer to two sacraments or ordinances: water (baptism) and blood (communion). In the Letter to the Hebrews we read, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22). John made clear that Jesus shed His blood for us.
(John 19:35) And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
John testified that he personally saw what he wrote in his gospel about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. John was present with Jesus’ mother and they stayed at the cross of Jesus to see Him die and what would happen after His death. John told the truth that people might believe the truth. If we believe the Bible and the good news about Jesus Christ and call ourselves His followers, we do so because the Bible is true. The first step in saving faith is believing the Bible is true, so John testified that he knew he was telling the truth and nothing he wrote was a figment of his imagination. The Bible teaches the truth and nothing but the truth regarding Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, the Life, and the Giver of eternal life to believers in Him.
(John 19:36) For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.”
In John 1:29, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” God told Moses how the Hebrews were to prepare the Passover lamb in Exodus 12:46, “It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the animal outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.” The Bible teaches that Jesus fulfilled all the Passover lamb pointed toward when He died to save us from death. Jesus’ bones were not broken to fulfill Scripture (He had already given up His spirit). Furthermore, His bones were not broken because God sent Jesus into the world as the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. In the Book of Revelation, John described Jesus as he saw Him in heaven, as the Lamb of God. He wrote in Revelation 5:11-14, “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, singing with full voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” Even the fact that Jesus’ bones were not broken has eternal significance for believers.
(John 19:37) And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
Almost continually, John emphasized how Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures. John wrote the word “scripture” eleven times compared to the word “scripture” being used only three times in the other three gospels. John wrote the word “scriptures” one time, and the other three gospels use “scriptures” a total of nine times. Please read Psalm 22 entirely, for it foretells many details about Jesus’ death on the cross and His great victory when He rose from the dead. Most prefer the KJV, the NASB, and the NIV translations of Psalms 22:16, “For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.”
(John 19:38) After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body.
In John 12:32-33, Jesus prophesied, and John explained, “‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.” The Romans physically lifted up Jesus upon a cross. In John 19:38, we begin to see Jesus’ words fulfilled, for He began to draw believers to himself. As members of the Sanhedrin (the religious council), Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had been secret disciples of Jesus. After Jesus died on the cross in disgrace, they drew closer to Jesus, and they proclaimed their faith in Jesus by their actions. They were Jesus’ disciples, and they would treat Jesus as He deserved—as the Messiah. Their actions would not have gone unnoticed by those they once feared on the council, for they treated Jesus as the true King of the Jews. Jesus’ family and His disciples were too poor to bury Jesus. A common criminal would have been taken down from the cross, thrown in a trash heap, and devoured by birds and animals. But Joseph and Nicodemus could financially afford to bury Jesus with high honor. Joseph and Nicodemus became the first of millions to be drawn to Jesus because He was lifted up on a cross for the forgiveness of sins. Later, Jesus would be lifted up to heaven as John described Him in his Book of Revelation.
(John 19:39) Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight.
Nicodemus must have believed Jesus’ words to him in John 3:16-18, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” Joseph and Nicodemus showed that they believed in the “name of the only Son of God,” Jesus. According to God’s law, Jesus had to be buried before the Sabbath began at sunset, so Nicodemus came to bury Jesus when all could see him. A hundred pounds of spices to bury someone would only have been used for a king or wealthy person. In death, Nicodemus declared for all to see that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the true King that God had promised to send.
(John 19:40) So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
Joseph provided a new tomb for Jesus, and Nicodemus provided the linen cloths and spices. It was not the custom of the Jews to embalm someone as the Egyptians did. According to the law, all these preparations had to be done before the Sabbath began, so that may be why they were unable to complete their preparations beyond wrapping the body of Jesus.
(John 19:41) Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.
This is the third time John has spoken of “a garden” in his gospel. Jesus prayed in a garden, was crucified in a garden, was buried in a new tomb in that garden, and rose alive from that garden tomb. To learn more about “the garden” in the death and resurrection of Jesus and its relationship to “the first garden” in Genesis 3, see the commentary on John 19:17, in the International Bible Study Commentary on John 19:17-27.
(John 19:42) Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.
Late in the day before the Sabbath and the day of preparation for Passover, Joseph and Nicodemus were able to complete the initial preparations of Jesus’ body for burial. John described how the Jews buried people, and Luke described how the women prepared the spices, rested on the Sabbath, and returned with the spices on Sunday morning (see Luke 23:50-24:1).
Buried Like A King
Sunday, May 9, 2021
John 19:28-42
And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight (John 19:39—KJV).
Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight (John 19:39—NASB).
Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds (John 19:39—NRSV).
Jesus died the day before the Sabbath, and according to the law His body needed to be removed from the cross before nightfall on Friday. Jesus gave up His spirit with enough time for Joseph of Arimathea to ask Pilate for permission to take Jesus’ body down from the cross and for Nicodemus to bring a hundred pounds of spices to a new tomb that had never been used. In John 12:32-33, Jesus prophesied, and John explained, “‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.’ He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.” Joseph and Nicodemus were wealthy men who were secret disciples of Jesus. Joseph and Nicodemus were also respected members of the Jewish Council. After Jesus died on the cross, both were still so drawn to Jesus that everyone soon learned they wanted to honor Jesus as the King of the Jews. They did not know that Jesus would rise again, but they hurriedly made certain that after His death He would be buried as a king. Joseph provided an expensive new garden tomb with a stone that could securely close the entrance. Nicodemus provided a hundred pounds of spices, an amount provided only for the wealthiest and most important religious and political leaders. By doing so, they were some of the first to be drawn more closely to Jesus after the Romans lifted Him up on a cross. Pilate crucified Jesus as a king and Joseph and Nicodemus buried Him as the King that God sent to save the world.
Thinking Further
Buried Like A King
Sunday, May 9, 2021
John 19:28-42
Name _____________________________
1. Give two reasons why you think Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
2. What do you think Jesus meant when He said, “It is finished”? How did Jesus die?
3. How did the soldiers make certain Jesus had died? What did their action teach?
4. What did John say about his testimony? What does his testimony mean to you?
5. Who helped with Jesus’ burial? What did they do?
Discussion and Thinking Further
1. Give two reasons why you think Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
Jesus was a real human being who suffered as we do as real human beings. He also said, “I am thirsty,” in order to fulfill Scripture.
2. What do you think Jesus meant when He said, “It is finished”? How did Jesus die?
He meant that He had finished all that His Father had sent Him to do in the world. He did so perfectly. He meant that He had completed the sacrificial death that He came to die on the cross for the forgiveness of sin and to open the doors of eternal life for all who would believe in Him.
3. How did the soldiers make certain Jesus had died? What did their action teach?
They did not need to break Jesus’ legs to kill Him. They made certain He was dead by thrusting a spear into His side. Blood and water came forth after they thrust the spear into His side, and some interpret this to refer to the water of baptism and the shed blood of the new covenant in His blood. For this reason, some mix water and wine together in the communion cup.
4. What did John say about his testimony? What does his testimony mean to you?
John said that he tells the truth, and his testimony is true. John is an example for us. When we teach the Bible, we are teaching from a book that is totally true, and we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to help us teach the truth according to the truth of the Bible. We can pray that people will forget whatever we might unintentionally teach that is mistaken, and we should never intentionally teach what we know is contrary to the Bible.
5. Who helped with Jesus’ burial? What did they do?
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Joseph asked permission to remove Jesus’ body and he placed it in a new tomb. Nicodemus brought spices weighing about 100 pounds. The amount of costly spices were fit for the burial of a king, and usually only the rich were buried with such a large amount.
Word Search
Buried Like A King
Sunday, May 9, 2021
John 19:28-42
Name ____________________________
Z G O K Z E N I W N E D R A G
F N D S R H S M Y R R H E F N
P I E Q G W U D O Z J U J O I
I C H L F R S J G A M A I F G
E O S Y I X E Y E J W T Z A W
R D I Q V S F H P U A Y S F E
C E N K U H T O I R G P J K R
E M I S G A S U A D O V Q V U
D U F T M S K P Q N G E T R T
T S B I Y H E O G X U H D W P
K Y R H X R P E V W I S B O I
P A O I P C G E C R O Q J Q R
J Y K A N K V Z S U C L S D C
L R E J Z E Q T R O I Q Z I S
U M N T K D Y I A H J O B H M
Finished
Scripture
Thirsty
Sour
Sponge
Hyssop
Wine
Preparation
Broken
Pierced
Joseph
Arimathea
Nicodemus
Myrrh
Garden
True and False Test
Buried Like A King
Sunday, May 9, 2021
John 19:28-42
Name ____________________________