Introduction
In v17, John sets the scene for us.
He deliberately mentions that Jesus was going out to "Golgotha" - the Place of a Skull. By lingering on the imagery of the skull John is telling us that here is a place of death and terror and horror.
Jesus is the one staring into the teeth of death.
And His death is the climax of the whole Bible...
The crucifixion account is a weighty, sombre, serious passage. We must approach it as such.
Scene One - Going out for sinners (v17, 18)
Crucifixion is one of the cruellest and cleverest methods of execution.
It is cruel because it causes a huge amount of pain for a long duration of time.
It is clever because it rolls execution, torture and public warning into one.
And it happened to Jesus.
But why?
The clause 'went out' gives us a clue.
When an Israelite sinned during Old Testament times, an animal was brought. And that animal was killed. It was a sacrifice, and it was sacrificed instead of the sinful person. It was innocent; it hadn't sinned, but it was killed instead of the sinner. The sinner deserved to die for his/her sin. But the animal died instead.
The animal was a sin offering. And Old Testament law stated that the sin offering had to be takan outside the Israelite camp.
Jesus went outside the walls of Jerusalem! He was the sin offering! He was the ultimate sin offering!
God sacrificed His son for sinful people, people like me and you!
Scene Two - The unKingly King (v19-22)
Jesus had a notice attached to His cross.
It read 'Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews'.
But why does John take four verses telling us about this notice?
He's stressing that even though Jesus was the king of the Jews, he was the opposite to what everyone expected a king to be.
So opposite in fact, that the Jews ended up killing Him; their own king!
But in mentioning this sign, John is drawing our attention to a massive paradox:
Despite the fact that He's hanging on a cross, with His mouth full of His own blood, Jesus is the King of the world. The King of kings. (Check out 1 Timothy 6:15 and Revelation 17:14.)
Scene Three - The one in a million King (v23, 24)
The soldiers stripped Jesus naked, attached Him to the cross, and then settled down to share out His clothes. After his clothes, Jesus' underwear remained, which was a one-piece woven garment. Deciding it would be a shame to tear it, the soldiers gambled for it.
Why does John tell us about this gruesomely humiliating piece of degradation?
He's shouting at us that this macabre act was detailed hundreds of years ago in a poem; Psalm 22! This is amazing. Intricate details of Jesus' death were predicted hundreds of years before they happened!
This tells us that Jesus really IS the Messiah! He really is the son of God! He really DID die for sinners on the cross! He really can be trusted; He is the real deal; He is unique, there is no-one like Him; He is the predicted, planned and promised King! He is the one in a million; not-by-chance, but-by-plan King!
Scene Four - The Personal King (v25-27)
Scene four contrasts violently with scene three. Motherly love and pain are the polar opposites to soldierly greed and cruelty.
No one cares that Mary is crying. No one cares that her boy, her first darling son, is hanging there in sinew gripping agony.
No one that is, except Jesus.
He cares.
We could forgive Him for only being able to focus on His own pain.
But even in His own extreme suffering, He was concerned for His mother; He suffered because His mother suffered.
And His great love caused Him to make provisions for her.
Despite being the King of kings, He has time for individuals.