Live to Love Scripture Encouragement

John 19:23-25a “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be’; this was to fulfill the Scripture: ‘They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.’” Therefore the soldiers did these things.
As I read these two verses, I can’t help but wonder what it would have been like for the soldier who walked away with Jesus’ tunic to put on the cloak of a man he had mocked, whipped, shamed, stripped, and crucified? But I miss the point. The point of John was that he wanted us to know Jesus is the Messiah, the savior of the world. He is the One of whom the prophets spoke. This Jesus came to serve us by giving us His coat or tunic of righteousness. It was seamless and in one piece. There were no tears, no breaks, no flaws. It was perfect. What an amazing metaphor. We have no righteousness. We are dressed in filthy rags. But Jesus, the Righteous One, laid down His life, and clothed us in His righteousness. Our living to love with Him is a testimony of His righteousness, we are showing off the coat, the tunic, that God has chosen to give us. It is God who decides the tossing of the lot. He has chosen that we receive it, and we should wear it in humility and gratitude today and everyday.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:19-22 “Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written, ‘JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.’ Therefore many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Latin and in Greek. So the chief priests of the Jews were saying to Pilate, ‘Do not write, “The King of the Jews”; but that He said, “I am King of the Jews.”’ Pilate answered, ‘What I have written I have written.’”
What was the purpose of the inscription that Pilate put on the cross? It was to show the world what happens to people who commit crimes against the Roman state. The crimes of the criminals certainly were also posted. In Pilate’s mind, he was ridding the world of competition to Caesar, Herod, himself and Rome. Jesus said He was the, not just a king of the Jews. As far as Rome was concerned, Jesus was who He said He was, and therefore He was crucified.
But the Jews were ticked off with that statement because it was placarded as the truth. They viewed Jesus as an impostor, a deluded crazy man, and an embarrassment to them.
Let us be in awe at this great truth proclaimed by both Pilate and John. What occurred that day on Golgotha, was the revelation of a new kind of King—a king who conquered the enemies of His people by dying for them. Where as kings of the earth rule by totalitarianism and brute force, this King, died to set His people free. He did not lose His kingdom that day, He established it by His love. And so we learn from this that to live with Him, we die. To reign with Him, we serve, and the unbelieving world will never understand until He returns with us in glory.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:18 “There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.”
Listen to the prophecy fulfilled in John’s explanation of the crucifixion. There are none of the gory details, just a few important things to know about Jesus’s death so His readers might believe that Jesus is the Messiah of whom the prophet Isaiah wrote in 53:10-12 “But the Lord (that’s God, the Father) was pleased to crush Him (that’s Jesus the Son), putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; by His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, and He will divide the booty with the strong; because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He Himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”
This is John’s point in testifying that Jesus was crucified with two other men, two other transgressors. We learn from Luke’s account that they were criminals. From an earthly perspective, Jesus’ death looked like the deserved death of the other men who had broken Roman laws. But it was not as it appeared.
Love is willing to be misunderstood, suffer unjustly, and be shamed, despised, and rejected among men in order to please the Father. It seems that followers of Jesus have more reasons today to expect the same treatment. Do not be shocked when true Christians are considered criminals by the world and by religious people. Let’s notice Isaiah’s comment, “because He poured out Himself to death.” Let us live to love with Jesus with the understanding that our Father is not only pleased when we pour ourselves out in death to self in order to love with Jesus, but that we will be rewarded with Him as well.

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:17 “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.”
Let’s consider God’s word in Is. 66:1. “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool.”
In Nov of 1997 I remember looking up at what was thought to be Golgotha. The hillside seemed to have the image of a face of a skull. I could imagine three crosses with men hanging on them. In light of Isaiah’s revelation, I can imagine the Father in heaven on His throne looking down at His feet where Jesus, the Lamb of atonement, is being sacrificed so God can passover our sins. He sees the blood of His Son flowing down the cross and covering all who are bowed at His footstool. Their sins vanish. The curse lifted. The veil between heaven and earth opens above them, and the love of God, like a tsunami, cascades from the throne over His Son and inundates the beloved. It carries them into the world, filled with His love. Were you there?

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com

John 19:17a “They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross.”
The Roman soldiers took Jesus out of the Praetorium. Who came up with the idea that Jesus should bear His own cross? God did. That’s what love did. Since God loves us, it was His will that Jesus carry our crosses as one unit. Our cross became His cross. We should die for our sins and every weight we carry in this life, we deserve more. We are the sinner in God’s view. Yet our cross was put upon Him before He was put upon our cross.
He bore our cross with its shame so that we might live. If we follow Jesus, we may expect God to continue revealing His love to and through us by putting what someone else deserves upon us and then crucifying our selves upon it. We must follow in His steps to know Him and to live to love with Him.
Jesus told His followers of this life recorded in Luke 9:23. “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’”
Jesus took up His cross once and for all to put sin to death. We are to take up our crosses daily to put self to death. It is a testimony that we died to this world when Jesus died and that we have been raised to live to love with Him. Will you carry your cross today or will you refuse to? What did love do for you?

Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com