Supremacy at Calvary
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2021 · 28 March 2021
We have been saying all along in the gospel of John that John’s purpose in every paragraph is to declare the glory of Christ. And you might assume that it would be difficult to find any glory in the execution of Jesus, in the crucifixion of the Son of God; but not for John. For John, there is manifest glory. It is demonstrated in the verses that we will discuss with you in four ways.
Four features of the death of Christ exalt Christ as being divine. The first has to do with Scripture being fulfilled, and we looked at that last time; the second has to do with the sign that was placed over His head; the third has to do with the sympathy which He demonstrated while hanging on the cross; and the fourth has to do with the supremacy which He revealed as He took charge of His own death.
Clearly at the cross scripture was being fulfilled. In Mark 15:20 and in Luke 23:26 it says, “Jesus followed them.” This is remarkable. He didn’t have to be pushed, He went willingly. He said in John 10, “No man takes My life from Me, I lay it down of Myself.” He went out of Jerusalem. He followed. This is a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:7 which says, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.”
That’s not how the Jews kill people. The Jews stoned people. But Jesus was lifted up. Jesus even said in John 3, “The Son of Man will be lifted up. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so will the Son of Man be lifted up.” Later He said, “If I be lifted up, I’ll draw all men unto Me,” signifying the kind of death He would die. The fact that He was not stoned by the Jews was a fulfillment of prophecy.
Now when someone was to be crucified, they were paraded through town dragging their own cross in front of the person with a sign that would identify the crime. This was to put fear in the hearts of all the people about violating any Roman law. So Jesus went from judgment to execution. That too fulfills the Old Testament. Isaiah 53:8 says, “He was taken from judgment and cut off from the land of the living.”
That violated Jewish law. There was supposed to be days in-between for new evidence to be heard. That also violated Roman law. There were at least two days required between a judgment and an execution. Isaiah 53 said He will go from judgment to execution, and that’s exactly what they did fulfilling prophecy. And in taking Him out to the place of the Skull, Golgotha, a sign was placed.
Verse 19, “Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” Pilate six times said, “I find no fault in this man.” Why is he proceeding with this execution? Because he has been blackmailed by the Jews. He did some foolish things in the beginning which created riots. And reports went back to Rome that he was bad as a leader representing Rome.
They threatened Him with that in John 19:12, “Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out saying, ‘If you release this Man, we’re going to report you to Caesar again.’” So he’s blackmailed to do what he knew was wrong. Couldn’t put a crime on the sign, so instead he put on the sign, “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews,” and nailed it over His head on the cross.
Now Pilate knows that the Jews hate Jesus. This was perfect for Pilate to exact some sarcastic irony and vengeance on them. Verse 20, “The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.” So he took the language of religion, the language of culture and the language of power to say, “This is the King of the Jews.”
But in his folly he declares the absolute truth. He is the Messiah and the Anointed One. When He was born, an angel came and declared to His mother Mary that she would have a child who would be a king, who would reign on a throne over an eternal kingdom; and in His infancy wise men came from the east searching for Him as God’s King. John 12:13 says, “All the people were shouting, ‘Blessed is the King of Israel.’”
Verse 21, “Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’” Pilate would have nothing to do with it. Verse 22, “Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’” He was happy to turn it for his own vengeance. He said the truth for the whole world to know for all of human history.
What the Jews did in ignorance, what the Romans did in ignorance, what the chief priests did, what Pilate did: all ignorant, all rejecting Christ, and yet the sign proclaimed the truth. God was controlling the events to fulfill prophecy. God even controlled making the sign so that it ended up speaking the truth. History does record a crucified Savior with the truth over His head: King of kings.
Verse 25, “Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene.” Verse 26-27, “When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” 27 And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.”
So in the scene you have the crowd; you have the chief priests, the rulers, the Sanhedrin; and you have the Roman authorities, you had the executioners, you have the Roman soldiers exercising crowd control, led by a centurion. But over against all of those ignorant people in sharp contrast to them, there’s a group of five, standing very near the cross. Not everybody has forsaken Him.
There are four women and one man. Why weren’t there more? You don’t want to be identified with a man who’s being executed by the Romans for being a threat to Caesar. If, in fact, He is some kind of an insurrectionist, you don’t anybody to think you’re part of the rebellion. But there were four courageous women and one courageous man. Where were all the other disciples?
If you think it’s strange that John doesn’t use Mary’s name, think how strange this is. Matthew and Mark do not even mention that she was there. How in the world did this unnamed woman become the queen of the universe? And she is never mentioned in any of the epistles of the entire New Testament. And in Revelation where we have all kinds of glimpses of heaven, she is never mentioned.
Mary was a woman of spiritual virtue or she never would have been chosen to be the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? And for that role she deserves honor and respect, and she was given that even by her cousin Elizabeth. But Mary was a sinner and she says that when she praises the Lord in Luke 1 and she identifies God as, “God my Savior.” She humbles herself and calls herself a slave of God who needs mercy.
But to offer prayer to her or to consider her as some kind of co-redemptrix with Christ is to go way beyond anything Scripture says. The silence of the epistles which form the doctrinal core of the New Testament, should indicate to you that Mary plays no role in anybody’s redemption. If she were to receive prayers as an intercessor between us and Christ, the New Testament would have spelled that out.
Nor is the Roman Catholic teachings about her virgin birth in the Bible. This is not about her giving virgin birth to Christ, but her being also born of a virgin. And her bodily assumption, which means she didn’t die. Catholic theology says she was born without a human father, and she didn’t die, she just went into heaven. That is all human fabrication; none of it is in Scripture.
In verse 26, Jesus says, “Dear woman, here is your son.” What happened to mother? If I walked up to my mother when she was here and said, “Woman,” it would not go well. But there’s no disrespect here, there’s just a profound recognition of a different relationship. And there was her sister who most Bible scholars think is the woman called Salome, the wife of Zebedee, the mother of John and James.
But Mary needs to be cared for. She is not a supernatural being; she is a widow who has lost her greatest love, her firstborn Son. And so Jesus looks down at her and says, “Woman, behold, your son!” and He’s directing her to the apostle John, because He looks to the apostle John, verse 27, and says, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
This is the heart of God, even in the midst of the most horrible suffering He is showing sympathy. But really since the beginning of Thursday night, and now we’re into Friday when He’s being crucified, it just seems like He has been pouring out love. It started in John 13 when they got to the upper room, and John writes, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the max.”
“Don’t be sad; I love you to the limits of infinity. I love you enough to humble Myself and wash your feet.” That’s lowly service. “I love you enough to prepare a room for you in heaven.” That’s the elevated service. In John 14:16, same evening, Thursday night in the upper room, He says, “I’ll ask the Father, He’ll give you another Helper, and He will be with you forever, the Spirit of truth.”
In John 14:26 He says, “The Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He’ll teach you all things, and will remind you all that I’ve told you.” I don’t want you to forget anything, I want you to know all the truth, so I’m sending the Holy Spirit. Verse 27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Don’t let your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid.”
That brings us to the final section in verse 28 -30, the sovereignty of Christ, or the supremacy of Christ is seen here: “Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture He said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to His lips. 30 When Jesus had tasted it, He said, “It is finished!” Then He bowed his head and gave up His spirit.”
Here you see divine sovereignty, divine supremacy. He controls His dying. First of all, you see omniscience. Omniscience is to know everything; omnipotence is to have all power. It says in verse 28, “Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished.” He knows everything, because as God He is omniscient. He knows when every single detail has been accomplished.
Back in the prayer of John 17:4, He said, “I have accomplished the work you gave Me to do.” That was anticipating this moment some hours later the next day. But there was one prophecy yet to be fulfilled, and He knew it, and so He says, “I am thirsty.” What did He have in mind? He had in mind Psalm 69:21, “They gave me gall, but for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”
What was that sour wine compared to gall? Jesus refused the gall, but He took the sour wine, and His thirst was quenched. It never was intended to prolong His life, it was only intended to fulfill the Scripture. That psalm 69 says, “But instead, they give me poison (gall) for food; they offer me sour wine for my thirst.” They put a sponge on the end of a hyssop reed to put it up to His mouth.
Here is the true Passover Lamb, and hyssop again plays a part. Verse 30, “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished.” He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” He died way ahead of schedule for crucified people. He died because He willed Himself to die. It says in Matthew 27:50 and Mark 15:37, “Then Jesus shouted out, ‘It is finished’ and He released his spirit.”
What did Jesus finish? He finished redemption by substitution. He finished bearing the wrath of God for the sins of His people. All of this, again, powerful; and the irony here is a dying man who controls His death and life. All this powerful testimony to the deity of Christ had an immediate impact. I want you to see what actually happened with those watching Him die.
Look at Luke 23:47, “Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God.” This is a Gentile Roman. “He began praising God, saying, ‘Certainly this man was innocent.’” That’s John’s term. Matthew 27:54 says. “The Roman officer and the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had happened. They said, “This man truly was the Son of God!”
So they, these Roman soldiers, came to the conclusion by looking at Jesus dying that He was deity. They knew Him to be God. Seeing blackness, pitch blackness in the middle of the day, and experiencing a massive earthquake, seeing dead people come to life, dying the way Jesus died, saying the things He said, caused them to change hearts. They were convinced of His glory by looking at the cross.
And then in Luke 23:48, “All the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts.” This is a Jewish sign of guilt and grief. They were terrified of the earthquake which split the veil in the temple top to bottom and opened the Holy of Holies for all to see. They were terrified by that earthquake which opened up the Holy of Holies forever.
The proof is conclusive, Jesus is the Christ. The thief saw it, the soldiers saw it, the crowd saw it, and grace was offered to all of them. Peter also preached, “There’s no salvation in any other name, only the name of Jesus, only salvation from judgment and hell, the only way to heaven; not by works, but by faith in Him. Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” This invitation is still offered to anyone right now. Let us pray.