 All right, here we are. We're in John chapter 19. We're going to be looking at verses 17 through 27 as we continue our series here in the Gospel of John. And so I'll begin reading at verse 17. I'm going to read verses 17 and 18, and then we'll begin our study. I'll give you an introduction, develop that with you for a little while, and then move into the verses before us and develop them with you. So in John chapter 19, reading verses 17 and 18, John writes, speaking of Jesus, he bearing his cross went out to a place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified him and two others with him, one on either side, Jesus in the center. And so again, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, has delivered Jesus up to be crucified. It says in verse 16 here in this chapter, he delivered him to be crucified. They took Jesus and led him away. And so this fulfills a prophecy, prophecies related to Messiah. You know, as I was preparing this study, I began to think about something. So I'll share this as my introduction with you. Something that I have taken for granted for the longest time is what has been called by theologians, Bible teachers, the authority of Scripture. And so we're here tonight reading the Bible, and we may actually fail to realize the uniqueness of the Scriptures. When we look at the Bible, when we speak of the Bible, we normally speak of the Bible as a single book. The word Bible is really the English derivation of the Greek word biblos. And the word biblos means book. So we see the Bible as one book, and we forget things about it. We forget that it was written by around 40 different people over 1500 years. We forget that kings like David and Solomon, fishermen like Peter and John, doctors like Luke, military leaders like Joshua, tax collectors like Matthew, farmers like Amos, government officials like Daniel, theologians like Paul. We forget that they were inspired to write books of the Bible. You see, we look at it as a single book, but in fact, it is actually a book made up of 66 books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. All of its contributors centered on the work of God. All of the contributors centered on the work of Messiah. When you read the Bible, it was written in three different languages. It was written in Hebrew, in Aramaic, and in Greek, and yet it centers on one main theme, and that is redemption. When you look at the Old Testament, the Old Testament is separated into five books of Moses, the histories, the writings, which are also called poetry, the major prophets, and the minor prophets. The New Testament is normally divided into the gospels and to the book of Acts, which is history, the Pauline epistles, some add the general epistles, and prophecy, which is the book of Revelation. You see, I take it for granted that we all value the fact that the Bible contains prophecy. No other religious book on earth contains fulfilled prophecies. Buddha, the Hindu Vedas, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, none of them contain prophecy. And when you read the Bible, you'll discover that between a quarter and one third of it is prophecy. The Old Testament contains prophecies in Psalms, the major and minor prophets, other books. The New Testament has entire books devoted to the containing, devoted to and containing prophecy, like 1st and 2nd Timothy, 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, Jude, Titus, and obviously the Book of Revelation. And so we take for granted, and when I was preparing this, I was just writing my notes and I was saying this fulfilled the prophecy, and so I thought I'd take the time just to remind us all of how unique this book is before us. You see, the God we worship is all-knowing, and the God we worship declares future events. Acts 15 verse 18 says, known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Isaiah 42 verse 9 says, behold, the former things have come to pass, new things I now declare. Before they spring forth, I tell you of them. So the Bible contains prophecy, and God uses his all-knowledge, his omniscience, his declaration of events taking place before they occur. He uses this to expose his truth as well as to expose false prophets, because false prophets are promoting false gods. In Isaiah 41, chapter 41 verses 21 through 24, it says, present the case for your idols, says the Lord. Let them show what they can do, says the King of Israel. Let them try to tell us what happened long ago so that we may consider the evidence, or let them tell us what the future holds so we can know what's going to happen. Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then we'll know you are gods. In fact, do anything, good or bad. Do something that will amaze and frighten us. But no, you are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. Those who choose you pollute themselves. So God actually gave a word to the false prophets, because the gods that they were promoting could not tell people future events. It's through prophecy that we know who Jesus Christ is as our Messiah. The Old Testament contains over 300 separate prophecies. Sometimes they're repeated in other books. But one Bible teacher pointed out that there are 109 distinct prophecies concerning Jesus' first appearance on earth that were literally fulfilled. And when you read your Bible, you'll see this. Messiah was to be a descendant of Abraham. He was to be from the tribe of Judah. He was an heir to David's throne. He was to be born in Bethlehem, born of a virgin, preceded by a forerunner, betrayed by a close friend, sold for 30 pieces of silver, silent before his accusers, crucified between criminals, pierced through his hands and feet. Isaiah prophesied that the nation of Israel would reject their Messiah. In Isaiah 53, verses 1 through 3, it says, who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed, for he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men. He's a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. They rejected him. And as we're looking at this passage today, we're seeing the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies and so many others that pertain to Messiah and rejection. They rejected him because he made claims that they refused to receive. When John began his gospel, in John chapter 1 verse 11, John said he came to his own and his own did not receive him. And that's what's taking place here right now. They have formed a political charge against him. And these enemies of Christ came to the governor Pontius Pilate and said that Jesus is claiming to be a king. He's forbidding us to pay taxes. Now their problem with Jesus was not political, but it was religious in nature. He had made himself to be the Son of God. They said we have a law and anyone who does that deserves to be put to death. The real heart of their charges was blasphemy, but the charge they brought to the governor was one that was political. And so they had taken Jesus as we've seen to Pontius Pilate. They demanded that he be put to death, but Pilate didn't want to condemn Christ because he knew that the charges were untrue. He knew that envy was the real reason that they wanted Jesus dead. In John chapter 11, verses 47 and 48, it says the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered to counsel and said, what shall we do? For this man works many signs. If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in him. The Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. And so he knew that he had been delivered up because of envy. And so he began to interrogate and he interrogated Jesus. But after doing so, Pilate was sure there was nothing that he could charge him with. So as we've seen, he attempted to release Jesus, but the priests and the people would not agree to it. So he appealed to a custom. During Passover, a criminal is to be released, but the priests incited a mob, a mob to crowd for a murderer and a robber by the name of Barabbas. And as we've seen, the more Pilate argued against them, the angrier they got. And Pilate knew that the things were getting out of hand. And finally he just gave up. Matthew tells us in chapter 27, verses 24 through 26, when Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising. He took water, washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I'm innocent of the blood of this just person. You see to it. And all the people answered and said his blood beyond us and our children. He released Barabbas to them. And when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And that's what we're picking up in our story now. That's where we're picking up where it says in verse 17, he bearing his cross went out to a place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. He's bearing his cross. Now for us, we in the modern age, we don't understand the brutality of this. It's hard for us to wrap our mind around it. But Jesus is scourging, is beating, is bearing his cross. All of this was so inhumane. And the picture of bearing a cross is a picture you find that would have been something that resonated with the people of his day because they knew that the condemned criminals would do that. They were condemned to carry their own vehicle of death, if you will. And so Jesus went out bearing it. There are some who believe that he bore the whole cross, cross beam already mounted to the post. There are others who say that he more than likely was carrying just the cross beam. Whatever the case may be, he went out and he was carrying that. He was going down the road and he's bearing his cross. He's going to the place of a skull, Golgotha. And so this picture of bearing a cross is something that Jesus used to illustrate the cross, the cross rather of being a true disciple. Keep this in mind even as I'm beginning and introducing tonight's subject in this chapter. Keep in mind that Jesus didn't teach us that the road to salvation was without personal cost. In Luke 9, verse 23, he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me. Christianity isn't an easy road. You've discovered that, haven't you? It isn't an easy road. It's easier to give into your flesh and to indulge it than it is to die to it. It's easier to respond in the flesh than it is to put that flesh to death and ask God to give you the grace to respond spiritually with a gentleness or a meekness. It's easier for us to yield to our flesh than it is to die. And so Jesus speaks concerning this cross and he says to us, you're to bear your cross daily. It's a choice you make incidentally, because when he says in Luke 9, 23, if anyone desires to come after me, that's a desire I have to have. It's a decision that I make. It's a decision that I have made that if I want to follow after him, that there is something I will do. And that is, Jesus says here, if I'm going to come after him, if I have the desire and that's anyone, anyone can do that. Well, I have to deny myself and take up my cross. And not just one time. I do so daily. I do so daily. Waking up in the morning, it's another way of picking up your cross. You're going to go through the day and it's going to be tough sometimes. It's not always going to be easy. As a matter of fact, you may you may endure some pretty rough, rough roads. And it may be not just today. It may be every day. It may be many days, but it's a decision that we've made. We've made a decision to carry the implement of our own death on a daily basis so that we might be able to walk with him in streets of gold. That's what we've done. We've made a decision to follow Christ. And we pick up this cross and we follow him daily. And so Jesus in bearing his cross was actually demonstrating to us that we too are to be on the way to death if you were on the road to our own crucifixion of self, dying with him that we might be able to live, that we might have eternal life. And so he picks up his cross. He bears his cross for 17. He went out to the place called the place of the skull, Golgotha. That's what the word means. Golgotha means a place of a skull. And it says where they crucified him, two others with him, one on either side and Jesus in the center. They crucified him. I've shared this with you. I've written these things down so that I don't miss anything as I share it with you. I've shared with you and I'll do this so that you'll remember this. I repeat myself sometimes so that you'll remember this. Crucifixion was not invented by the Romans. Crucifixion was a method of putting prisoners to death for quite some time. What the Romans did is they actually took it and refined it so that the act of crucifixion would put the prisoner who was being crucified in the greatest sense of agony that they could possibly inflict on the human being. I've shared with you how the Assyrians whom the Jews hated so much that when Jonah was commanded to go and speak to them in Nineveh in Assyria that Jonah rather than going to speak to the Assyrians decided to take a boat ride to Spain. And we all know the story of Jonah and that great fish that swallowed him. Why didn't he want to go to Assyria? Because when you read history and you read even scriptural accounts of the Assyrians, they were barbaric. They were murderers. They were evil. They were so evil that the Jews had a great fear for them and a great hatred for them. So Jonah wanted nothing to do with them. As a matter of fact, the thing that's ironic about the book of Jonah, so many things in it, but one of the things that's so ironic is that when God tells him to go and preach, he is so against that that he's willing to climb on a boat and flee the call of God. We know that he was swallowed by a great fish. We know that he went into the belly and for three days he's inside the belly. How long would it take you to say, okay God, I'm good. I'll go. For him it was three days. Now that's a hard-headed guy. That's a hard-headed guy. I've raised four people just like him. I understand that pressure. But there he is. And when you read the book of Jonah and the description of him and the pressure and the heat and all that he was going through and the seawater, whatever it was, that was inside the belly that was wrapped around him and then he's vomited on the seashore, apparently. And there he goes smelling. Can you imagine how he smelled after three days? And the stench. And there are those who say that the stomach acids, the digestive acids, within the belly of that great fish could very well have bleached his skin. And so you have to picture the potential of that where he's got stuff on him. He smells terribly. His skin is bleached white. And then he goes into Nineveh and he says, yet in 40 days God is going to destroy this place. Very short, very short message. Because he wants to kill him. He wants them all dead. But man, if I saw this smelly looking bleached guy walking through the town, I probably get a little scared myself. And everybody repents and we know the story. But he's not happy about that. Is he? You remember? He sat on a hill just outside of the city, just hoping. Hoping that God will change his mind and that he can see it just go up and smoke the way Sodom and Gomorrah did. And there he is. And he's sweating and he's angry. And so the Lord allows a shade to grow up around him. And then a worm comes and eats this and devours to the point where the shade, the plant withers up. And then we see him mad because now he's lost the shade. And so God speaks to him and says, you're angry about losing shade? And so he says, yes, of course I am. And then God begins to reason with him concerning all of these things. And you're more concerned about shade than you are about 100,000 people that I spared. And there are people who have hearts kind of like Jonah today who would like to see destruction rather than mercy. And I think that the church has got to wake up and be aware of that because some of us have gotten to that point, I think, of rather seeing judgment come than the grace of God. And that's the things that are taking place today. Well, that's why Jonah hated the Assyrians because they were brutal, they were evil, and he wanted their destruction. And that's why he hated them. Well, the Assyrians, getting back to them, the Assyrians were so brutal, they would cut people's noses off, they would remove their ears, they would pierce their upper lip and they'd put a post in it and a chain. And they would chain people together and lead them like that. They were brutal to these people. And when they took war prisoners and they wanted to make an example of them or punish them, they would take them and they would impale them on saplings. They'd be a small sapling, they would cut it, it would probably be about four feet high or so. They would cut it, they would sharpen its edge like a pencil and then two strong soldiers would take this person who was being executed and would impale them. They would lift them and slam them on this sharpened post so that the point of the post would settle, they would settle about an inch from the point of the post. The heart would be an inch from the point of the post. They would leave them there writhing. Can you imagine the intense agony? Writhing in agony until the pull of gravity would cause their bodies to slowly but surely over time sink and then the point that they had sharpened would pierce the heart very slowly until the weight of their own body being pulled by gravity would pierce their own hearts until they died in a terrible, terrible agony. Well, the Romans had taken that methodology of torture and had worked on it and created crucifixion. Crucifixion is the Roman method of capital punishment. Hands would be nailed. Legs would be twisted and nailed. There would be a rope around the waist. On the post there would be a sharpened iron saddle peg so that when the prisoner and the the the the wrists would be pierced it was not the palm of the hand. A doctor actually did an experiment by taking a cadaver and putting nails in the palms of the hand and then lifting it to see what would happen and the weight of the dead body would pull the cadaver off of those nails but what they actually would do and there are evidence as they found of crucified individuals there is a bone in both of your wrists that is wide enough for them to pierce so that that bone could actually serve you know to to um have the the nail in in the center of it so that it keeps you on the cross that's what they did. It so it wasn't in the hand. The the word hand when it speaks about piercing his hands and his feet the word hand is not speaking just of what we call our hand it actually includes the wrist area and so he was pierced in the wrist and there have been cadavers that have been exhumed where they have seen the the markings that it was obvious they were crucified these were crucified prisoners and so they would have nailed them there to hold them they would twist the legs of the prisoner you didn't when you look at the the modern depictions of christ and his crucifixion when you look at crucifixes jesus's knees may be bent slightly on those crucifixes but that's not how he died he actually was twisted they said in a serpentine it would be twisted like an s so his body was twisted in this way here to create more discomfort and make it more difficult for him to breathe and then what would happen is they had a sharpened saddle peg it would be in the center of the back it was made of iron so picture a post and picture a sharpened nail and it was it was it was razor sharp so that when the prisoner was trying to breathe they would have to use exert all of their strength to lift their body up because in the pulling down during crucifixion of the body through gravity and weight the lungs would collapse and so because their lungs were collapsing they were suffocating so the prisoner in order to be able to remain alive and breathe had to lift himself up on the cross in lifting himself up the sharpened saddle peg would lacerate his back from whatever point it was resting to as high as it would go when he would lift himself and so it was making a trail on his back the whole time lacerating his back making it even more more painful in the case of jesus jesus's back was already scourged and so his back was already an open wound and so add to the pain he already was experiencing this saddle peg the post that he was put on very well would have been rough it could very it could have been just a rough bark of a tree if it was a a post that they had cut and fashioned it was not sanded down smooth it would have been a rough post so that the splinters and the edges of it would be going in and out of his back as he was raised the cross as mentioned was made of two pieces it was the post in the cross beam so a crucified person was either nailed to the cross beam or raised by cords to the cross beam and nailed to it the cross was usually twice the height of the man dislocation suffocation bulging veins congestion of blood in the head lungs and heart would all take place because as he would try to lift himself his shoulders would dislocate his knees would be cramped his muscles in his knees would be twisted and his thighs would cramp the muscles there jesus had a head wound already his back was already ripped open his leg muscles are beginning to cramp through dehydration and he's got intense fever and shock that's the way jesus died sometimes when i was a young believer as a matter of fact it went on for a good several years in my early walk with the lord sometimes i thought i didn't really think of it i didn't really think of what he went through i'd never read a historic depiction of what christ would have gone through i i didn't like to think about what he went through you know so i i didn't spend much time looking into the subject i i've always looked past the crucifixion to the resurrection and so in my studies in preparing studies like this these are the things that began to work in my heart to to show me the pain and the cost that jesus was willing to pay for salvation and the way that he's dying that fulfills a prophecy again psalm 22 verse 16 where the psalm has said dogs have surrounded me a band of evildoers have encompassed me and he said they pierced my hands and my feet well verse 18 tells us two others were with him one on either side jesus in the center when you cross reference this mark gives more information in the gospel of mark chapter 15 verse 27 mark reveals that they were robbers they were more than likely part of the group of men who followed the man barabas and again that fulfills a prophecy isaac 53 verse 12 which says he was numbered with the transgressors now they put him there so that when the people would come by and see these robbers in christ in the center the people would would say that he was guilty because these others were definitely criminals and therefore all three of them must be so he was guilty by association they would see two guilty men there they had crimes that were posted above them but they would see these these robbers these these um brutal men and and naturally they would just include christ with them and so he was included he was numbered with the transgressors and that would associate him with them but i was thinking about that being associated with these kinds of people was part of what he had made a habit of doing when you read matthew and matthew in chapter nine verses 10 through 13 matthew gives us insight because matthew says it happened as jesus sat at the table in the house that behold many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples and when the Pharisees saw it they said to his disciples why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners when jesus heard that he said to them those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick but go and learn what this means i desire mercy and not sacrifice for i did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance see jesus had made a habit of befriending sinful people that's why he's called a friend of sinners he was called a friend of sinners then and he's still a friend of sinners to this day the self-righteous individuals wanted nothing to do with jesus but jesus had a great desire to reach everybody and and that's by the way how we are supposed to be we're supposed to be desiring to see the lost brought to faith in christ you know when you read this you have to ask the question why was jesus crucified he didn't deserve it these two did the bible makes it clear that this is the way that god provided salvation for man in matthew chapter 20 verse 28 jesus said the son of man came not to be ministered to but to minister to give his life a ransom for many he purchased us with his own blood he ransomed he he bought us back for himself now as this is taking place here and you have these men who are there next to him the bible continues by saying in verse 19 pilot wrote a title and and put it on the cross and the writing was jesus of nazareth the king of the jews and many of the jews read this title for the place where jesus was crucified was near the city and it was written in hebrew greek and latin and so the prisoners crime would be written on a placard and it would normally be placed around the neck so as he was taken to the place of execution when he would be walking people would see this placard this sign and it would contain his crime when he was nailed to the cross they would take that placard and they would affix it to the cross they would nail it to the post above his head and so when you're looking at verse 19 it says pilot wrote a title and put it on the cross and the writing was jesus of nazareth king of the jews when you read your bible you see that other gospels add to that matthew 2737 says this is jesus king of the jews mark 15 verse 26 simply says the king of the jews luke 23 verse 38 says this is the king of the jews but what we have here is john giving a complete charge and he mentions that it's written in three languages this is jesus of nazareth the king of the jews from verse 21 therefore the chief priests of the jews set to pilot do not write the king of the jews but he said i'm the king of the jews and pilot answered what i've written i have written pilot ignores them they are the ones who had pushed the execution but he's not about to give in to their orders at this time so he says no and that shows us by the way that he had a bit of a spine when he wanted to so he rejected them when they said that and so as this is taking place verse 23 the soldiers when they crucified jesus took his garments made four parts to each soldier apart and also the tunic now the tunic was without seam woven from the top in one place and so the prisoner would normally be escorted by four soldiers and kind of as a compensation if you will they would each receive an article of clothing from the prisoner during that time the average jewish man had four articles of clothing he had a turban he had an outer robe he wore a sash and he had sandals but jesus has a fifth article and it's mentioned here it is a tunic now this is a seamless inner robe that's an important thing to note because the high priest or a seamless robe so that gives us insight into jesus who's acting as our mediator when you read the bible the bible says that we have one mediator between man and god and that is the man christ jesus jesus said that he is the way the truth and the life and that no man comes to the father but by him and so in jesus wearing this this robe this that the priest would wear it's reminding us that he ever lives to make intercession for us he was acting out the part of a priest as he was dying on the cross now as they see this it's a beautiful gorgeous very expensive robe notice it says it was without seam woven from the top in one piece it's a very expensive article of clothing so verse 24 so they said therefore among themselves let us not tear it but cast lots for it who's it shall be that the scripture might be fulfilled which says they divided my garments among them and for my clothing they cast lots and therefore the soldiers did these things so they gambled for his robe and in doing so they fulfill another messianic prophecy found in psalm 2218 and that gives us a clear picture of the world's indifference to jesus and his death you know the world doesn't see faith in christ or faith as being an essential we already know that we didn't really realize that i think as americans we didn't realize the degree of disdain that the world really has for your faith in your your belief in christ and your religious practices i i knew that the world disdained our faith i knew that i mean the bible makes it clear but in in in my lifetime i have never seen it so clear that that that your faith that my faith in christ our religious faith is looked at with with such a degree of rejection where we're not essential you know the idea that that your faith in and the comfort you get in the the strength you get from fellowship in and the strength you get through prayer and the strength you get from being taught the word of god and and all of those things the world doesn't value that the world values other things and is willing to say other things is very are very essential what's very essential right now well a liquor store a liquor store is very essential what is very essential right now a tattoo a tattoo parlor everybody knows you need to get tatted up every once in a while so that you can be strengthened from within you know so that's an important thing and we start looking at the different things that are deemed as essential what's essential a liquor store a liquor store is very essential and there's a lot of drunks who'd say amen to that and then there are others who would say well you know well we need to have our marijuana dispensaries those things are very essential protests protests are very essential you need to gather together and and and hate on people that's very essential but don't go to church don't gather in a building because your faith is not essential what you are is dangerous and and we have to open our eyes to see what's really going on at least in certain ways to realize that that the world does not it is so clear it has helped me so much to sharpen my focus much more just to see that it's finally the mask has been taken off and and and and the hatred for christ and and the hatred for the faith of a christian and and that's to some you may disagree but i really don't see how you can because it's pretty obvious when you when you say that a person can go out to a liquor store and get booze but you can't go and worship god in the church and and people are willing so quickly so willing to give up their their their rights of free assembly and the rights of freedom of speech and and they're so quick to do that it reveals to me how in in the future and not too far from now how many people are going to welcome the antichrist who are going to welcome the mark of the beast it's all you got to do is just hey put that mask on it or and people do it without without you know without even a question we we just do it religious faith for people in the united states who have done is a non-essential and it it shouldn't surprise us because look what was taking place that's it's they're thinking what is the value of religious faith in the book of Job in in chapter 21 verse 15 there's a question there that's asked listen to the question who is the Almighty that we should serve him and what profit do we have if we pray to him what do i get out of it what is it going to benefit me and it's that mentality where everything's about me that the enemy has capitalized you see as jesus was dying there are people who are passing by and they're mocking him and matthew in chapter 27 verses 39 through 44 says it like this those who passed by blasphemed him wagging their heads and saying you who destroyed the temple and built it in three days save yourself if you are the son of god come down from the cross likewise the chief priest also mocking with the scribes and elders said he saved others himself he cannot save if he is the king of israel let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him he trusted in god let him deliver him now if you'll have him for he said i am the son of god even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him with the same thing where jesus was crucified it was a public thoroughfare people would be coming in and out of the city the romans would place condemned criminals in that way as a warning to people who are going in and out of the city so they would put the dead the criminals who were people who were sentenced to death they would put them there in a place where the most people could see him and so that's what's taking place here these people are going in and out apparently of of the city and as they're passing by they're mocking him they're saying things to him they're throwing his words back into his mouth they're twisting him to make jesus look ridiculous while the mocking of the lord fulfills a prophecy concerning how he was treated in psalm 22 verses 6 through 8 the psalmist said that i'm a worm and no man a reproach of men and despised by the people all those who see me ridicule me they shoot out the lip they shake the head saying he trusted in the lord let him rescue him let him deliver him since he delights in him so somebody wrote what a picture this gives of christ dying on the tree shedding his precious blood that he might bring many sons into glory he died for us that we might live through him you see when the psalmist says in psalm 22 6 i am a worm and no man i mean when you think of it in a literal sense you know and we americans you know we're going to be thinking of the worms that invade our gardens or whatever we're going to be thinking of them you know and and so naturally have you um you know have you ever been sitting down and and tying your shoes we'll say outside and then a worm is there and you go oh my god and you almost faint because you're so scared no worms worms don't usually scare us right maybe some of you get scared by worms so it worms worms don't usually scare us snakes they can scare us worms no that's just a worm you know you can cut them in half and watch both of them you know it's just an interesting thing worms they don't taste that good either but um so when i first began to read this bible verse here i'm a worm and not a man naturally i was reading it thinking of a worm in my garden just a regular worm an earth worm but it turns out that's that's not what's being spoken of here in psalm 22 verse 6 when it says i'm a worm and no man uh this is speaking of what is called a scarlet worm and one of the commentators wrote this and i'm basically just quoting him when the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree fixing herself firmly and permanently the eggs deposited beneath her body were in this manner protected until the larvae were hatched as the mother died the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood from the dead bodies of female scarlet worms the commercial scarlet dyes of antiquity were extracted this is picture of christ on the cross the way that worm gave up her life and shed her blood and her offspring lived jesus is not saying he was helpless he was bringing many sons and many daughters into the kingdom and bringing us into glory and so as he yielded himself up that's how he was purchasing us now as all of this is taking place verse 25 and this is always one of the more touching portions of scripture to me it says they're stood by the cross of jesus his mother and his mother's sister mary the wife of clopis mary maglin when jesus therefore saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing by he said to his mother woman behold your son then he said to the disciple behold your mother and from that hour that disciple took her to his own home we'll look at that and we'll close with this four women four women mary his mother her sister salami who is the mother of james and john you have mary the wife of clopis who is the mother of james the younger and joses and mary maglin they like the name mary apparently so mary is the is really the derivative of the word um merriam and merriam is another derivative and i won't try and give you lots of different but its root is mara and the word mara means bitter that's what the name actually means my wife mary that's anyway um mary you know here's here's a story to make her happy uh when mary and i had our very first date i know you're all just dying to hear this i know you are but no when we had our very first date uh i took her out there were two things she told me i'll never forget two things on our very first date one was if she gets stung by a bee i have to rush her to the hospital immediately because she is terribly allergic to bee stings so that's one of the things and the other thing she told me i've never forgotten is my name is mary it's not mary and it's not maria my name is mary and so i call her to this day maria but anyway with that let's look at this for just a moment i want to develop this with you mary mary is there watching her son some of you mamas perhaps you can put yourself in her place for a minute mary is watching her son a miraculous child an angel had appeared to her and spoken to her and told her that she would conceive by the holy spirit and that she would give birth to the son of god his name would be immanuel for god would be with the people of israel his name shall be jesus for he shall save his people from their sins how how can this thing be seeing she says seeing that i have never had relations with the man the the power of the most high shall overshadow you and this holy one that you shall conceive will be the son of god let it be done to your handmade and according to your word this young girl of probably 14 or 15 said keep that in mind she was somewhere between 14 and 15 years old she was betrothed to a young man by the name of joseph in the jewish way of marriages and all the betrothal was equivalent to marriage they just hadn't consummated it with a honeymoon that was to take place later but when she became betrothed to to joseph that's why the the scriptures seek of mary his wife because she was regarded as the wife of joseph even though they hadn't consummated that was to take place later in a ceremony and then in what we would refer to as a honeymoon but how can this 14 year old how can she conceive and have a child well the the the holy spirit will overshadow you and and you shall conceive in your womb it will be a miraculous conception it will be miraculous in the sense that having never been with a man you as a virgin will become pregnant and this 14 year old girl was from a small village and again the the commentators will say that the village of nazareth was a very small village it would have had no more than 200 but more than likely less than 100 inhabitants and in a small village at that time can you imagine how news would travel she had taken off she had spent time with her her her cousin elizabeth and and she had returned and and now she's obviously pregnant and and the the shame that she would have been bearing and and the things that you would have endured and and the looks of her neighbors and and the accusations that she had she had done something that was wrong she according to jewish law she should have been put to death but joseph being a just man being a righteous man he was not willing to put her to death and he wanted to privately just just give her a rid of divorce and and send her away showing her mercy and that's why the angel had to say to him do not be afraid to take marry your wife this is what this which has been conceived in hers is of god and that this man here this man joseph has his beautiful wife that is his betrothed wife as he was pregnant he had to take with her all the shame that she endured as she was in that small village until the day came where she got on on a donkey more than likely and and took that ride from nazareth down to betlehem so that that a child might be born where he was supposed to be born 14 15 years old they had to flee to egypt for a couple years returned and went back to that village and he was raised in that village as joseph's son but people would have been saying everybody knows this is mary who had a relationship with another man and joseph's a great guy for putting up with a woman like that and she couldn't what she's going to say you know no no no this is god's kid who's going to believe that no she just kept these things in her heart kept these things in her heart and the day came when jesus was eight days old they they took him to be presented in the in the temple and to dedicate him and while they're according to luke chapter two verses 34 and 35 there's a man by the name of simian and it says simian a prophet simian blessed them he said to marry his mother behold this child is destined for the fallen rising of many in israel and for a sign which will be spoken against jesus's sword will pierce through your own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed a sword shall pierce your your soul mary loved her baby like any mama mary loved her baby put yourself in her place for a minute ladies for just a moment those of you who are mamas jesus cried like any other baby would cry he was hungry like any other baby would be hungry i'm sure there were times that he was playing and he fell down and he heard himself i'm sure there were times that you would pick him up and hold him and if he had heard himself and his little body was in pain that you would rock him and speak to him pray with him and love him his brothers and sisters didn't believe in him there must have been tension within the home of some sort that their unbelief is going to be demonstrated through their rejection probably was mocked i could assume that that was true then one day at the age of 30 off he goes there he is at a wedding in cana and mary walks up to him and says to him you have no wine woman what does that got to do with me what i got to do with you you're not my boss honey you know i i'm to follow the orders of my father i don't follow your timetable but what is it that she does she turns to the people there and says whatever he says to you do it and jesus performs his first miracle and his fame begins to spread and things that are unbelievable begin to occur she's not there when he walks on water she's not there when he's raising the widow of names son and the dead there are many things that are taking place that mary keeps hearing and and as these stories are being told of her son the wonder son the miracle son the messiah son as a mother she's keeping these things in her heart she loves her boy you don't see much of her in his story though you don't know what's going on but we do know that that when jesus took his cross and when he bore his cross that that mary was there when he was crucified we see it here in scripture they're stood by the cross of jesus his mother and she's watching him what would you feel like what would i as a father feel like if i saw my baby you know my mama used to tell me i don't care how old you ever get david you're always going to be my baby i used to think that was kind of corny come on mom but it's true she used to try and get me to sit on her lap when i was an adult man because i was always her baby she said to me when i was an infant she said there were times when the son would be on your face and in the car we were driving my mom told me and she said and the son would be beating on your face and i would get so mad at the son that i would shake my fist at it and i'd say leave my baby alone that was my mom what do you think mary felt like what do you think mary felt like she helped him to learn to walk she helped to form his first words teaching him as a mother how to talk she wondered what the others as his excellence began to appear and then she knew of the stories of the miracles and perhaps saw some we don't know and now she's standing at a cross and she's looking at her son blood that is caked on his face moaning that is taking place as he's trying to breathe his beard has been plugged out people are walking by and mama's watching he saved others come off the cross and save yourself what do you think you'd feel like what do you think you'd feel like what would i feel like if that was my son and people were mocking my baby and she stands there her eyes fixed on her baby and a sword shall pierce your own soul also the agony the agony i wonder if she heard his laughter i wonder if her mind traveled back in time for a moment to remember the joy of his laughter the smile that he would give to her when he was happy by the time she wiped his tears when he had hurt himself i wonder if those things rushed through her mind i think that's possible and she's hearing these people going by as they're they're mocking him a man who done no wrong and her heart is broken she's watching him die but as she's watching her son die he's not thinking of himself he's thinking of her and he speaks and in verse 26 he says woman behold your son now when he says that he's not drawing attention to himself you might might think that when he says behold your son that he's speaking of himself he's not he's actually speaking of the disciple whom he loves standing by he's speaking of john and he's saying to mary john is now going to take the place of the eldest the way i am the eldest and it's my responsibility to care for my mother while i'm giving you into the care of john because jesus's brothers and sisters did not believe in him and he wasn't going to entrust her into the care of unbelievers the other disciples are not present it's just john so he honors his mother and he's making sure that she's cared for when he's gone because that was his responsibility to make sure she was cared for so he's doing the duties of the son but then he turns to to john he said to the disciple verse 27 behold your mother behold your mother and john you're going to take the place of the firstborn you i'm entrusting with the care of my mother you see my own brothers are unbelievers still at this time i will not entrust my mother into the care of someone who doesn't love god love me and so i'm handing you the duties that i as the eldest son at one time held behold your mother take care of her take care of her and as this is all taking place when all of us would be thinking of ourselves once again this is just a highlight and jesus wasn't thinking of himself jesus was thinking of his mama and jesus was thinking of others he is making sure that his mama was going to be cared for and so speaking to her he's honoring her a woman behold your son i'm not leaving you unprotected i'm not leaving you without someone caring for you i'm going to leave you in the hands of someone that i love very deeply and who loves me very deeply because that's the kind of person i want you to be cared for by someone who loves me and john behold your mama take care of her take care of her i think that every father at some time in your life will just want to make sure that the ones you love are cared for i want to make sure that when i go to heaven that my girl my wife is cared for my children all four of them will fight over who takes care of mom because they love her and i've raised my children in such a way that they they know they have duties to their mother they know they have duties to care for her i've done the best i can to prepare so that they don't have pressures they shouldn't have but i would never entrust my wife i would never have entrusted my mother into the care of someone who didn't love jesus i just wouldn't have done that and jesus didn't either he made sure that his mother was cared for by someone who loved him and he did the duties of a son by taking care of his mother and jesus is speaking on the cross we'll be looking at other things that he says but one of the things that we just looked at is how he made sure to do the duty of a son and to honor his mother even in his death