John 19. JOH 19:1-421Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. 2And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. 4Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. 5Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 6When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. 10Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 12And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. 16Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: 18Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. 19And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20This 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 Greek, and Latin. 21Then 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. 22Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. 23Then 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. 24They 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. These things therefore the soldiers did. 25Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! 27Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. 28After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. 29Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. 30When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 31The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. 38And after this Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. 39And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. 40Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. 41Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. 42There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. (John 19:1‑42)
IN going about the villages in the smallest county of England, the writer was told of an aged woman who had for years been troubled about her soul. On calling to see her the following conversation took place:
“Well, Mrs. H., I understand that you are anxious to know whether you are saved or not? Do you not believe that Christ died for sinners?”
“Yes, sir, I know He died for sinners, and I know I am a sinner, and a great one, but I want to know that He died for me.” “'Christ died for all,' and 'God so loved the world that He gave His only 'begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' Now that word' whosoever' means' every one.' You are one, are you not?”
“Oh, if I could but feel happy I'd believe He died for me!”
“You want to feel happy first, and believe afterward?”
“Well, sir, if I felt happy like in my soul, I should know He had had mercy On me, a poor sinful crettur. I can't make myself believe, sir.”
“You want to feel a work begun in your own soul first, and then you will believe that you are an object of God's mercy, one for whom Christ died?”
“Yes, sir, that's it exactly.”
“Well, now, suppose you were in debt for rent and expected your landlord to come in to-morrow at twelve o'clock to seize your goods?”
“I should be full of trouble, sir.”
“But suppose a friend came in to-day, a gentleman whom you could trust, and said, ‘Mrs. H., I've paid your rent; there's an end of your debt; it's finished,' would you turn round and tell him, If I could but feel happy I'd believe it?”
“No, surely! I wouldn't treat a kind gentleman like that.”
“How would you feel?”
“Well, sir, I should feel very happy if believed it.”
“Then your happiness would entirely depend upon whether you believed it or not. You would have to believe first, and then be happy because you believed the debt was paid?”
“Yes, sir, in course I should. I couldn't feel happy unless I did believe it.”
“Well, now, the Word of God, speaking to believers, says of the Lord Jesus, Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree'; and Jesus said, 'It is finished!'
He was about to die when He said it. We usually think that the words of one who is dying are weighty and solemn; how much more the words of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Yet you don't believe Him!”
“Oh, sir, indeed I do! Surely He never said anything as wasn't true. But He didn't say it was finished for me, sir. It's that I want to know.”
“But the Word of God declares ' He died for ALL.' Are you one of the ' ALL'? ‘The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.' Are you a part of it? ‘He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.' If so, where is your sin?”
“Jesus says, ' It is finished.' Oh, if I could but feel—”
“Then you don't believe Him?”
“Oh, I must! I'll try to believe Him.”
“That won't do. Would you tell the kind friend who said your rent was paid, your debt finished, 'I'll try to believe you '?”
“Well, I will believe it" (meaning at some future time).
“That won't do, either. Look at His words, His dying words, and ‘It is finished.'
Where is all your debt to God?”
“I do believe it; it is finished; thank the Lord, my debt is paid! He said so; bless His name, and I do believe it. ‘It is finished!‘‘‘ And the poor old creature's joy was affecting to witness.
The writer went from time to time to see her after this, and always found her rejoicing in the Lord. After a time she was taken ill with a very painful disease, and the hour came for her to die. A Christian daughter attended her on her deathbed, and, some months after her mother's departure, gave the following account of her last moments: ` When mother was dying, her leg was in a fearful state, but when I spoke to her about the pain her answer was, I am so happy, that don't know whether I'm in heaven or on earth Why, mother,' I said,' what makes you so happy? “Because my sins are gone, and I am saved! Bless the Lord!
He said, "It is finished," ' and with those words she died,”
The above is written for any anxious soul who may be seeking, longing, for "the grace of God that bringeth salvation." You know yourself to be a sinner before God; you can say, "Woe is me, for I am undone," If so, Christ died for you; yes, for you, your own self; for does not God declare "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"? Then you are one whom He came to save? Did He accomplish the work He came to do? Hear, and believe with all your heart His dying words, IT IS FINISHED.”