"Playing Games At The Foot Of The Cross"
John 19:17-27 (NASB)
(Matt.27:33-56; Mark 15:21-41; Luke 23:26-49)

Introduction: Around 8 years ago, I was talking to a former pastor (and friend) of mine and he had mentioned a sermon that he was working on for Resurrection Sunday called, "Playing Games At The Foot Of The Cross." I never saw his sermon, but the title stuck and I have pondered this thought ever since. So this morning I want to acknowledge that I have appropriated his title, and I can also tell you that he doesn't mind and would have given me his sermon if I would have asked. As we approach this years Resurrection Sunday, lets not be thinking in terms of Easter eggs or chocolate bunnies, but let us draw close to Christ's Cross and look at the attitudes and actions of those who surrounded the Lord Jesus Christ on that day. Not only that, let us examine our own attitudes about our faith, and in what category or group of people would we be found in...

I. The Religious (vv.17-22).
1. The religious leaders (v.21).

A. The apostle John briefly categorizes the religious people who were in attendance as "the chief priests of the Jews."

1) The gospels of Matthew and Mark also tells us that the chief priests were present along with the scribes and elders (Matt. 27:41: Mark 15:31).

2) The gospel of Luke just describes them a the "rulers" (Luke 23:35).

B. This is obviously a reference to the Sanhedrin (sometimes called the "council"; Matt.26:59; Mark 14:55; Luke 22:66 ), which was the supreme civil and religious tribunal of the Jewish nation ("Life of Christ, Visualized," by Ray Baughman).

1) The elders are sometimes referred to as rulers, and at other times the word rulers is used for the whole Sanhedrin.

2) The Jews through their tradition trace the history of the Sanhedrin all the way back to Moses' appointment of seventy elders but this has no real basis of fact.

3) The Sanhedrin had seventy-one members which is basically made up of:.

A) the high priest.

B) 24 chief priests who represented the 24 courses of the priesthood.

C) 24 "elders" who represented the people.

D) 22 "scribes" who were interpreters of the law.

4) The Jews recognized the jurisdiction of the Sanhedrin whether they lived in Palestine or in a foreign land.

5) The Sanhedrin specialized in the interpretation and the application of both the written and the oral law (traditions) of the Jews.

6) After the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 the Sanhedrin lost most of its power and finally ceased to exist in the fifth century.

7) The irony of the Sanhedrin's handling of Jesus Christ is that they were required to be impartial at trials, and they had to take an oath to be fair and not to serve where there was enmity between themselves and any prisoner that was to be judged.

- Plus their purpose was "save, and not to destroy life."

A. They were only concerned about the message on the sign and not the messenger (vv.19-20).

1) Pilate's inscription (vv.19-21).

A) "JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS." (v.19)

B) It was written in three languages (v.20).

(1) Hebrew (Aramaic); the language of the Hebrews and their religion.

(2) Latin; the language of Rome and the Law.

(3) Greek; the language of world philosophy.

2) According Warren Wiersbe, it was the first "gospel tract" that was written for the whole world to read (v.20).

B. It was an incriminating message to Israel's leaders (vv.21-22).

1) The Religious Leaders wanted the message changed because it hit too close to the truth (v.21).

A) They wanted it to read as a CLAIM made by Jesus, and not as a fact, which it was (BBC).

- "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews'; but that He said, 'I am King of the Jews.'"

B) They wanted Jesus to die for CLAIMING that He was the king of the Jew's, to let them off the hook for calling for His death.

2) Pilate refused to change the message (v.22).

A) Pilate probably figured that he had done enough of their dirty work.

B) What Pilate meant as an embarrassment to the Jewish religious leaders, God used as a testimony to the truth.

- "What I have written I have written."

A. John doesn't record any further actions of the Religious Leaders.

B. Matthew, Mark, and Luke do record more about their actions.

1) The Religious Leaders mocked Christ by twisting His own words.

A) "mocking," ("empaizo" {emp-aheed'-zo: v, part, pres, act, nom, m, pl}); to play with, trifle with, as expressing verbal mockery and derision, ridicule, to make fun of  (used in both Matthew and Mark).

- Present participle, indicates that they did this during the time that Christ was being crucified.

B) Luke used the word, "sneering," ("ekmukterizo" (ek-mook-ter-id'-zo: v, indic, impef, act, 3 per, pl }); to deride by turning up the nose, to sneer at, to scoff at, ridicule.

- Indicative mood and imperfect tense, indicating the certainty and reality of their continuous mocking.

2) You would of thought that having Christ put to death, would have satisfied them, but their wicked hearts demanded more, so they ridiculed him so that He and everyone else could hear them.

3) They mocked His claim to be the Savior to the world (Matt.27:42a; Mark 15:31), His claim to be the King of Israel (Matt.27:42b; Mark 15:32b), His claim to be the Messiah of Israel (Matt.27:42c; Mark 15:32a), and His claim to be the Son of God (Matt.27:43).

- And yet they did not recognize their very action fulfilled the Scripture in Psalm 22:7-8, "All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying, 'Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.'" (NASB).

Application: The problem with most religious people is their words don't line up with their actions. The religious leaders of the Jews should have known the Scriptures better than anyone else, but yet they denied them. Religious people are often the ones who know God's Word, but don't know the true and living God, even when they see Him with their own eyes. They are the one's put their own opinions above God's Word. The apostle Paul referred to this type of people as, "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;..." (2 Tim.3:5a). The Jewish religious leaders were more concerned about the wording of a title that hung above Christ, than they were the possessor of the title. They were more concerned about a sign, than a person! Their religion was more concerned with the outward appearance than the inward condition of their heart. Now I know that many Christians today would point a finger at these Jewish leaders and say to themselves, "not me!" But in practice, many who profess to be Christians today are more concerned about the pictures that hang of the walls of their church than they are about their relationship with Christ. They are more concerned about the color of the bulletins than they are about people going to Hell. They are the one's who have to have their way, all the time. When a person claims to believe in Jesus Christ or God and yet ignore or deny God's Word, they are playing the game of religion and are not coming to the cross in faith. Don't turn your nose up at the cross of Jesus.

II. The Worldly (vv.23-25a).
1. The opportunists (Matt.27:35-36; Mark 25:24).

A. Four soldiers normally carried out the crucifixion sentence, and it was customary for them to strip and divide the clothing of those who were being crucified as part of their payment.

1) Cloth's were handmade, unlike today, so were expensive.

2) The typical wardrobe of Jesus Christ's day would have been composed of five items:

A) A turban or headdress.

B) An outer robe.

C) A sash or girdle, the folds of which would provide pockets.

D) Sandals.

E) A fairly long tunic, woven in one piece, that was an undergarment.

3) The first four items of clothing could easily be divided among the four legionnaires, but the fifth would be of no value if cut into four parts.

A) Gambling was as well known in the Roman army.

B) So the tunic was awarded to one of them at the cast of the dice.

B. The gambling of the Roman soldiers shows their callous and mercenary attitude.

Application: There are people even today are very callous to the gospel message, but see opportunities where they can get something out of it. To these soldiers, it was just another day at work where they could make a little extra money by taking the clothes and selling them for monetary gain. In other words, they had the attitude of "what can I get out of this," or "what's in this for me." It is a sad truth today that there are a great many of people today who look at the church as a means of getting something, materially, and not for what the church can offer spiritually. I can honestly say that since I have become a pastor, every church that I have been in I have been inundated with people who think that the sole purpose of a church is to give them food, clothing, money, pay their bills, etc. And not a single one of them will set foot in the church except get whatever you will give them. I have had phone calls at 10 pm, on a weekend, where the caller thought that I needed to drive out in the middle of no-where to help his neighbors because their electricity was shut off because they didn't pay their bill. By the way the man calmed to be a Christian, but didn't got to church anywhere, and said it was my job as a preacher to do it. There is a blatant attitude among unbelievers that the church is here for the sole purpose of being the backup to our welfare system. Christ told the disciples of John the Baptist to go back and tell John they saw and heard, "the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them." (Matt.11:5; NASB). If we as a church do help someone, then we need to make sure that they hear the gospel before we give them anything. In all the years that I have been a Christian, and all the people we have helped, I cannot recall one person who showed up again accept for another handout. Those who are opportunists of the world have their eyes upon the worldly, and not the heavenly. They miss the greatest gift, that will never perish, for the perishable things of this world. They are playing games that the foot of the cross, and they have lost their souls to the Devil. Mark 8:36, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?" (NASB).

2. The mockers (Matt.27:39-44; Mark 15:29-30).

A. The gospels of Matthew and Mark record another group of individual that were present, the mockers.

1) Mark 15:29-30, "And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!" (NASB).

A) "passing by," ("paraporeuomai" {par-ap-or-yoo'-om-ahee: v, part, pres, mid/pass, dep, nom, m, pl}); to go or pass by, go through.

B) "hurling abuse," ("blasphemeo" {blas-fay-meh'-o: v, indic, imperf, act, 3 per, pl}); rail on, speak evil of, blaspheme, slander, to defame someone's reputation.

- Lit., "they kept on hurling abuse at Him"

C) "wagging," ("kineo" {kin-eh'-o: v, part, act, nom, m, pl}); move, to put into motion, used here of moving the head as a sign of contempt; to shake of wag the head.

2) Matthew 27:39-44, "And those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, 'You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.' In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking Him, and saying, 'He saved others; He cannot save Himself. He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we shall believe in Him. He trusts in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He takes pleasure in Him; for He said, 'I am the Son of God.' And the robbers also who had been crucified with Him were casting the same insult at Him." (NASB).

- The same Greek words where used here also.

B. These were the "I told you so" crowd.

Application: These individuals twisted Christ's words and make themselves feel better. When Christ prophesied about the destruction of the temple He was referring to His body (John 2:19-21), but these individuals thought that He was speaking of the temple and as such had falsely prophesied. Christ's words would be fulfilled three days later. This type of person plays games at the foot of the cross by ignoring what God's Word says and substituting their own thoughts and opinions. They denied the deity of Christ, and by doing so they denied God; John 10:30, "I and the Father are one." (NASB). These are the type of individuals who make themselves feel good or justified by putting others down because they don't live up to their expectations of standards. We need to gives thanks to God that Christ did not come off the cross, because we would all still be lost in our sins! Just think, if these mockers had their way the world would have no sacrifice for their sins. The gospel is nothing to play games with, because it is the greatest gift ever given to man.

3. The curious (Mark 15:34-36).

A. Mark's gospel tells us of another group of individuals that were there.

1) Mark 15:34-36, "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, 'Eloi [el-o-ee'], Eloi [el-o-ee'], lama [lam-mah']sabachthani [sab-akh-than-ee']?' which is translated, 'My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' And when some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, 'Behold, He is calling for Elijah.' And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, 'Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.'"(NASB).

2) Popular Jewish belief held that Elijah came in times of distress to deliver righteous sufferers (LBC).

3) The act of giving Christ some sour wine, wasn't an act of kindness, but it was to help refresh Him in hope of prolonging His life so they could see if Elijah would come and take Him down (BKC).

B. These mockers were little more than a group of spectators that showed up to be entertained.

Application: The concept of going to a crucifixion for entertainment is foreign to our culture today. But it wasn't too long ago in American history where you would see a similar thing happen at hangings. Many people showed up to watch and taunt, not because justice was being carried out but because it was entertaining for them to watch. This just shows the depth of our sin nature, to want to watch something as gruesome as a public execution. Today, though many people would deny it, there are many people who are still playing games at the foot of the cross. They go to church, not to worship a risen Savior, but rather they go to stir up trouble and find joy in watching others suffer through the turmoil. The primary characteristic of the individual believer and of the Christian community as a whole is to love one another; 1 John 4:7-12, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has beheld God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us." (NASB). To do anything less, is just playing games.

III. The Faithful (vv.18, 25b-27).
1. Those who met Him (v.18; Luke 23:39-43).

A. John tells us that there were two others that were crucified with Christ, but there was only one of them who met Christ that day.

B. The gospel of Luke gives us a deeper look at this individual.

1) Luke23:39-43, "And one of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, 'Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!' But the other answered, and rebuking him said, 'Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.' And he was saying, 'Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!' And He said to him, 'Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.'" (NASB).

- "remember," ("mimnesko" {mim-nace'-ko: v, imper, aor, pass, 2 per, sg}); to be mindful of, to turn one's mind to a thing, to remember.

2) One criminal played games until the end, but the other recognized the truth and who Christ was and believed in Him.

Application: The thief on the cross wasn't saved by keeping the Law or by his good works, we know this because he was a criminal who was sent to die for his crimes. The thief on the cross started that day as a taunter (Matt.27:44), but later ended up as a believer. He, in a way, represents all of us in that we too are sinners who have been found guilty in the presence of God; Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (NASB). The thief recognized that he deserved judgment and death because of his sins. He came to the foot of the cross but he wasn't playing any games. He came as he was, and recognized his hopeless condition and asked the Lord to remember him when He entered His kingdom. The thief did not have to understand everything about Christ, but simply believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ. Salvation doesn't come by deep wisdom and understanding, but by faith; Mark 10:15, "Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all." (NASB), Christ said we need to have a child-like faith, a faith that simply accepts Him according to His word. The thief didn't try to get into a theological debate with Christ, he simply believed in Jesus, and he was saved. The great thing about the cross is that many people who approach it come playing games, but they don't have to leave the same way! 1 Peter 1:23, "for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and abiding word of God." (NASB).

2. Those who knew Him (vv.25b-27).

A. There where those at the cross who came not to play games, but because of their love for the Savior.

1) John 19:23b-27, "But there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her into his own household." (NASB).

2) There are four women are mentioned here.

A) Mary, the mother of Jesus.

B) Mary's sister, who was presumably Salome (sal-moh'nee), the mother of James and John (Matt 27:56; Mark 10:35; 15:40).

C) Mary, the wife of Clopas (kloh'puhs) who's identity is uncertain.

D) Mary Magdalene, a loyal follower of Jesus Christ.

(1) There is nothing in the NT to imply that she was of loose moral character.

(2) "Magdalene" refers to her home in Magdala, a town on the western side of the Sea of Galilee, named probably from the Hebrew migdol, or "watchtower."

B. One disciple is mentioned here as "the disciple whom He loved"

1) This was probably John.

2) Jesus consigned his mother to John's care because none of his brothers or apostles were present.

Application: The anguish and terror of watching Jesus' crucifixion was probably indescribable, but these individuals were faithful to their Lord and Savior. They didn't understand the details of God's plan at this point, but they knew Christ and trusted in Him. They came to the cross not looking to play any games or to put on any shows, they came because of their love and their faith. This should be the motive for anyone who professes to be a believer in Jesus Christ. Their lives should be marked with a Christ-like love, not only for their Savior, but for one another. They were at the cross of Christ because they cared, and they put Him first in their lives. Can we do anything less, if we call ourselves Christians. Let's put away the games as we approach Resurrection Sunday, and come to the cross to worship the One who died for us.

Truths To Ponder
1. Religion doesn't and cannot save you from your sins.

A. You can be the most religious person in the world, and yet die and go to hell because they have just been playing games at the foot of the cross.

B. Titus 3:5, "he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit," (NIV).

A. Many people today use "Christ" to gain earthly rewards, and never consider the eternal reward that He offers to those who will believe and trust in Him.

B. Many people today are willing to follow the rest of the world to hell, because they want to be a part of the crowd by doing and saying things like everyone else.

A. You come to the cross with an open heart.

B. You come to the cross on Christ's terms, and not your's.

C. You come to the cross with a broken heart because it was your sins that nailed Christ there.

D. You come to the cross with a trusting heart, that accepts by faith His words, John 3:14-18, "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (NASB).

- To do anything less, is just playing games at the foot of the cross!