Lessons from John 19: God’s Redemptive Promise
Warren Wiersbe, an internationally known Bible teacher, conference speaker, and the former pastor of the Moody Church in Chicago tells a story that there once was a rather eccentric evangelist named Alexander Wooten, who was approached by a flippant young man who asked the question, “What must I do to be saved?”
Wootten replied, “It’s too late!” and he went on about his work. The young man alarmed, asked “Do you mean, it’s too late for me to be saved?” “Is there nothing I can do?” “Too late!” said Wooten. “It’s already been done! The only thing you can do is believe.”
Isn’t that the point of John’s writing? Especially since Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the other three gospels had already been written. John tells us and every other reader this in John 20:31, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name.”
And so the deity, or divine nature and death of Jesus Christ, is a major theme in the gospel of John. It was announced John 1:29 by John the Baptist even before Jesus had officially begun His ministry, that when John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
And then in John 2:19, it was Jesus Himself who talked about the temple being destroyed and that He would raise it up in three days. (Referring to His death and resurrection.) John also quoted Jesus as saying in John 3:14 that just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up (referring to the cross) that anyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. John also quotes Jesus in John 10:11 & 14 as stating that He was the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for the sheep.
And last in John 12:23 John quotes Jesus as saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” These pictures that Jesus paints with His words signified that Jesus death was not an accident, but rather a divine appointment, that was arranged, or you could say “ordained,” before the foundations of the earth.
Therefore we learn that Jesus death and burial fulfill God’s redemptive promise to His people.
And so for the purpose of tonight’s lesson, I have three divisions:
I. The Proof and Prophecy of Jesus Death~~~John 19:31-37
II. The Provision for Jesus Burial~~~John 19:38-42
Terri Hamman
Faith & Fitness Coach