John 19:17-30
Jesus had been tried, found innocent, and condemned to death. He was condemned for being the Son of God, the Jews crying out, "We have a law, and by our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God;" and yet the law itself was full of statements of God's care of them as sons, and of declarations that He wished to be their Father, and have them act toward Him as sons. Jesus was condemned for being what all ought to have been and were not.
The world knew not Jesus as the Son of God. He was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, but declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (See Rom. 1:3, 4) He did not become the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead, but the resurrection was the proof, the demonstration, that He was such. He was as much the Son of God during His whole life before the crucifixion as He is now, but the resurrection is the proof of it. Even so with all who are true followers of Him. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." (1 John 3:1, 2) This being the case, we need not be surprised if we should receive some of the same treatment from the world, that He received.
Bearing the Cross
"And He bearing His cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew, Golgotha; where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst." He could have refused to bear the cross, if He had wished, and none could have compelled Him. He "endured the cross, despising the shame." If we are His true followers, we shall also meekly endure what is put upon us. How often, on the contrary, we not only refuse to bear anything that we can possibly avoid, but we fret and complain over burdens and trials that we cannot escape. Thereby we not only show that we are not His disciples, but that we are positively unwilling to be His followers.
Jesus could have avoided the cross, but only by denying His mission. So we can refuse the cross, but only by denying Him. There are thousands of ways in which the world will crucify us, if we are really determined to be followers of Jesus, among which sneers, a mild pity for such impractical fanatics, or surprise that we should be content to bury our talents, and flattering invitations to "better our condition" are not the least. There will be many a specious temptation to engage in something which the world would make us believe to be perfectly consistent with our profession, but which we in our hearts know to be inconsistent. We refuse the cross of Christ, and deny Him, either by giving up the truth, or by acting contrary to its purity and simplicity.
King of the Jews
"And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews; for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city; and it was written in Hebrew, and Geek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that He said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written, I have written." This was a severe blow to the pride of the priests, and was all the poor satisfaction that Pilate got out of the affair.
Was this the proper title to put upon the cross, or was it a libel, which Pilate was willing enough to perpetrate in order to spite the Jews? A little thought will convince anyone that it was the simple truth. Jesus was and is the King of the Jews. When Nathanael greeted Him with the words, "Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel (John 1:49), Jesus accepted it without rebuke or comment. There was nothing incongruous in the double title. As Son of God, He was also King of Israel, because God the Father makes Himself known even to us in this age, as the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob; and it was only in their seed that all the families of the earth were to be blessed. He always declared Himself to be the Son of David; and the angel who announced His birth to Mary, said, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1:32, 33) It follows, therefore, that all subjects of Christ's kingdom must be Jews. All true Christians are Jews. Nowhere is Christ called the King of the Gentiles. All who are Gentiles are "without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." (Eph. 2:11, 12) All Christians must cease to be Gentiles, and become Jews. Then is Christ indeed their King. "Salvation is of the Jews." (John 4:22) Let no one therefore despise that portion of the Scriptures which was committed especially to the Jews. In it we find salvation and eternal life.
Dividing the Spoil
"Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also His coat; now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be; that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted My raiment among them, and for My vesture they did cast lots."
Even so must it be done with Christ's followers, when they become perfect representatives of Him. The reason why it is not done now is that, while there are true followers of Jesus, in whom His life is perfectly reproduced, they are so very few that they attract no notice. In the church as a whole the life of Jesus is not manifested. Among the great majority of professed followers of Christ, anyone who should be just as Christ was in the world, would be counted a fool and a fanatic, and thus is Jesus Himself condemned. Men think that they are followers of Christ, although they know that they do not do as He did; but they explain the incongruity, and satisfy their consciousness, by saying that times are different now from what they were then; the circumstances are so different that Christianity is obliged to adopt itself to them; but the principle is the same. This is but a delusion of the devil. The world is just the same now that it was then, and Jesus Christ is exactly the same. So when the life of Jesus is perfectly reproduced in His followers they will share His sufferings and humiliation. "The disciple is not above his Master, nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his Master, and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household?" (Matt. 10:24, 25) Therefore, since we are living in the last days, when the Son of man may be expected to return, and therefore when the work of the Gospel must be consummated, all those who give themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to keep His commandments, must do so with the understanding that it is to cost them all their worldly property. There have been those who took joyfully the spoiling of their goods (Heb. 10:34), and even so must it be again. In this we can see that Christ's followers are not to amass wealth for themselves. Whoever becomes really and truly a disciple of Christ, realizing that he must become as poor in this world's goods as was the Master, will never let considerations of property stand in the way of his obeying any truth of God.
Each the Distributor of His Own
It is always much easier and pleasanter for a man to dispose of his own property than for another to do it for him. Therefore the lesson that should be learned from the division of Christ's garments is that it is best for Christians themselves to do the "spoiling" of their goods, rather than to leave it to be done by force. When they came to seize Christ's goods, they found nothing except the clothes that He had on, and these were plain. Happy will those be who are in a similar condition when the decree goes forth that no man may buy or sell save he that has the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (See Rev. 13:17) Christians should learn to do their own dividing. In like manner they should not defer their gifts of property to the cause of God until they are dead. There is no virtue in giving that which one no longer has any use for, and which one must necessarily leave. It is like giving the Lord an old, worn-out garment.
Creation Complete in the Cross
When everything had been accomplished, that the Scriptures had said should be done to Jesus, "He said, It is finished; and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost." In those words, "It is finished," there is a world of meaning. It was not simply that His sufferings were finished; not that He was now at liberty; no, there was in it no thought of Himself. The work of God was finished in Him for the redemption of the world. The new creation was prepared for all, and nothing could deprive them of it. The cross of Christ is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18), and that power is creative power. (Rom. 1:20) The cross creates. In Christ all things are to be restored as they were in the beginning, when everything that God had made was "very good," and man--perfect man--had dominion over all. The work of God was finished from the beginning of the creation (Heb. 4:3), and therefore the rest was ready. The proof of this is seen in the fact that "God did rest the seventh day from all His works." (Verse 4) Finished work necessarily brings rest. In Christ creation is renewed, so that He offers rest to all who will come to Him. (Matt. 11:28) He gives the same rest that God gave man in the beginning, and the sign of it is the same. The Sabbath of the Lord is the sign and seal of the cross of Christ.
The Law Established
Christ came to do the law of God. (Ps. 40:7, 8) To the Father He said, "I have finished the work which Thou gayest Me to do." (John 17:4) So the words, "It is finished," indicated that in Him the law had found its perfect fulfillment. But this shows the absolute perpetuity and immutability or God's law. God is not less wise than a man, and no man spends time and strength, and suffers pain, to accomplish a work in order that he may immediately destroy it. The more labour the work costs, the longer it is expected to stand. It cost the life of the Son of God, to do the perfect works of the law; that life was of infinite value; therefore the law will endure to eternity.
Accepting the Law in Christ
Since a finished and perfect work stands, it follows that all who accept Christ must accept the law of God to be manifested in their lives. Let no one say that since Christ perfectly fulfilled the law, therefore we have no need to keep it. He finished the work in order that we might keep it. In Him the law exists in its perfection, and therefore whoever receives Him must also receive the perfect keeping of the law. "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." (Rom. 3:31) The law is the perfection of the character of Christ. Whoever finds it a hardship to keep the law, thereby proclaims his dissatisfaction with Christ; and whoever reviles and rejects the law, is at the same time reviling and rejecting Christ. Why should one wish to do so? If we ourselves were required to exhibit in our lives all the virtues of the law, then we might well complain, for they are not only contrary to the desires of the natural man, but impossible of performance. (Rom. 8:7) But "it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Phil. 2:13) By the blessed will power of Christ, we may be made both willing to do the law, and doers of it. He not only makes us able to do the will of God, but lovers of that will. Those words, "It is finished," contain for us all the blessedness and joy and power of the new creation.
The Family of Christ
We should not close this lesson without noting that which it teaches as to the relatives of Christ, and our relation to them. As He hung on the cross, He saw His mother standing by, and also His beloved disciple John, and He said to His mother, "Woman, behold thy son! Then saith He to the disciple, behold thy mother!" John immediately recognized the relationship, by taking her to his own home. This is something more than a mere item of history. It is recorded to teach us that we stand in the closest relationship to all who are related to Christ. Jesus said, "Whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother." (Matt. 12:50) Therefore we are to recognize all such as our own kindred, equally with those who are our kindred by ties of blood, even by the blood of Christ. This tie also binds us to all for whom Christ died; but of course those who have accepted the sacrifice of Christ are thereby made near. "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do go unto all men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith." (Gal. 6:10)
--May 25, 1899