John 19:17-30
So they took Jesus; 17and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. 18There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them. 19Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek. 21Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. 24So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.” 25And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.” 27Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. 28After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.” 29A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. 30When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
If a church does not have a Good Friday service, then we go from celebrating Palm Sunday to celebrating the resurrection on the following Sunday. This means that the focus on the crucifixion of Jesus Christ might get skipped. With Palm Sunday coming next week, we will look at the crucifixion this morning.
Each of the four gospel writers focus on different aspects of Jesus and His work on earth. John focuses on the deity of Christ.
John leaves out the account of Joseph of Arimathea carrying the cross on Jesus’ behalf. Also left out is the agonizing prayer in the garden – John’s Jesus is already cognizant of God the Father’s plan for Him dying on the cross for humanity’s sins. There is also no agonizing over being abandoned – Instead, He simply states that His work on the cross is done by declaring, “It is finished,” and dies.
John wants to make sure that we understand that Jesus came to earth to die for us. He is not a victim of people in power, whether religious or political. He is determined to go to the cross and take the punishment that we deserve, so that by accepting Him as Lord and Savior, we can have eternal life.
At the same time, John is not denying Jesus’ humanity. He wants to make sure that His mother is taken care of once He is gone. While hanging on the cross, Jesus thirsts.
John also continues with connecting Jesus with the Passover. John is the only one who mentions that when the wine was offered to Jesus, a hyssop branch was used. Hyssop was used during the Passover to put the blood on the door posts and the lintel so that the angel of death would pass them over. Also, Jesus is being killed at the same time that the Passover lambs are being killed. Jesus truly is the lamb that takes away the sins of the world.
But just because John does not describe in detail the painful death on the cross, does not mean that Jesus did not suffer. Death by crucifixion is one of the most sadistic and painful means of execution. It definitely was not quick nor humane. Jesus hung on the cross for six hours before He died – And this was considered unusually quick. It is hard to imagine the kind of pain that Jesus went through, not for a few seconds or minutes, but for six hours.
The cross was not an accident of history. Jesus was sent by God the Father according to His plans. Jesus was fully aware of the fact that He came to earth to die for humanity’s sins. As John points out, He is the lamb of God who was to be sacrificed to earn freedom from sin for humanity. Throughout His ministry, He predicted His own death.
What did Christ’s death accomplish?
Salvation for sinners: Redemption from slavery to sin; justification before God; and reconciliation with God.
Revelation of God – The cross displays both God’s justice and His love.
Conquest of evil – Christ defeats the powers of sin, death and Satan.
New freedom – Believers are liberated from the tyranny of the law, flesh, world and death.
How should the cross of Christ shape our lives?
With the knowledge that our relationship with God has been made right, we should live with boldness, joy and gratitude.
In appreciation for what Jesus went through for us, we should deny our sinful selves. We should be mindful of being Christ’s image-bearers. We should live a life of self-giving love.
We should be loving our enemies and pursuing justice and reconciliation.
The sufferings we experience should bind us closer to Christ, who suffered for our sake.
The cross brought painful death for Jesus, but it gives us life. Now it is up to us to live a life committed to Jesus in gratitude and appreciation. We also need to acknowledge that there are many around us that are headed for destruction and Jesus wants to save them too, just like He saved us.
(the above is a summary of the message shared by Pastor Shun Takano during our worship of March 22, 2026.)
Japanese Congregational Church 