Why was Jesus sent by the Father?
This is a question we’ve been trying to answer all along in our study through the Gospel of John. If googled, you’d find lots of differing answers, but in the Gospel of John, one clear answer comes to the surface: Jesus was sent by the Father to stand condemned as the true and better, substitutionary, Passover-fulfilling Lamb of God.
In this sermon, we take a look at John 19:16b-27 and see the obedience of Jesus to the Father’s will in the crucifixion. As we do, we will see how John quickly diverts our attention from the man on the cross to two items: a sign and a tunic. In these, we see the Father’s sovereign plans unfolding, reminding us that none of what takes place here is apart form the Father’s will. 
We then see how Jesus, as He makes provision for our eternal security, also secures earthly provision for his mom. As such, we see the tender care of God, who saves our eternal souls and also who cares about our daily provisions and relationships.
This leads us to examine our personal and corporate identity as the people of God and consider how we are to live our lives in light of these glorious truths.

Who is Jesus?
Pilate isn’t sure.
The chief priests think they know and they want Jesus dead.
John has been writing so that we might know who Jesus is, why He came, and so that we might believe Him to be the Christ, the Son of God.
But what do you say? Is He your King? 
And, if so, what does it mean for Jesus to be your King? What practical implications does this have on our lives?
Join us as we dive into John 19:1-16a.

Defilement.
It’s that feeling of being “unclean” or “dirty.”
It’s this godly recognition that we are those who are not clean, righteous enough, to approach God based on our own merits.
When we feel defiled or unclean, however, we respond in interesting ways.
Some of us seek to make ourselves clean by good works, religious effort, or generosity. We try to earn forgiveness through “penance.”
True cleanness, however, can never come through human effort; no, we must be washed, cleansed, made holy by God - and this is why Jesus has come. He has come so that we who are in the shackles of sin, convicted of sin and awaiting judgment, that we might be set free, declared innocent, washed white as snow.
Jesus comes to take our place.
That we, who are defiled, might be declared clean.
This is what we are going to be talking about in John 18:28-40 today.

Have you ever tried to be grateful for your greatest failure?

Our failures are often things we wish we could forget, but should that be our desire? Instead, we ought to consider how Jesus uses even our greatest failures to accomplish his purposes for us and in us.

In John 18:15-27 Jesus is questioned by the corrupt former high priest, Annas, at a trial that is a far cry from fair or just. And yet, what we see of Jesus is that even in his darkest hours his strength is unwavering. At the same time we see Peter’s strength fail on the day of his greatest failure, denying Jesus three times.

Though it may be painful, consider those failures that you too wish you could forget, especially those that you committed as a disciple of Jesus.

Remember, that when your strength has failed and will fail again, Jesus was strong in your place.

What fills your heart when you consider these things?

Pray that God would grant you eyes to see the grandeur of his work in you, that even our greatest failures are used for our good in Christ as we gather and study this text.

Betrayed.
Arrested.
Bound.
This week, we dive back into our study of John and begin to see in John 18:1-14 how Jesus walks through one of the darkest nights of his life … and all of human history.
Yet, we need not think Him a victim of circumstances beyond His control. Rather, step after step, Jesus demonstrates His mastery over the place of His arrest, the soldiers themselves, and even assures the security of His disciples as He gives commands to the soldiers … and they obey Him … even after Peter takes a swing at Malchus’ ear 🤯
We are getting pumped to study this week’s text so that we might be reminded that He who was sovereign over this dark night is sovereign over every dark night and providence in our lives; so that what the enemy intends for evil, He intends for our good and His glory.

Promises.

They are the one thing that we are used to hearing from people around us: politicians, spouses, children, employers, friends, etc.

But we also know that promises have context surrounding them. If someone promises a wonderful pool party, they aren’t in charge of the rain. We get that.

The same is true with promises in the Bible. We have to understand the promise and the context around that promise. As we do, we can understand the real promise and hope of the promise being made.

That’s what we are going to talk about in this sermon: two foundational promises that are made by Jesus in John 6:37 and how they are incredibly important for every Christian, and equally important for those considering Jesus.

We are stuck in the losing game of comparisons. The temptation to compare our lives to others is ever-present, and the envy and jealousy it creates makes us miserable. And since it is hard enough to fight comparison when things are going well, how much harder is it when we experience unfair difficulty and suffering?

David's praying in Psalm 17 helps us to learn how to play the Comparison Game a completely different way. In this prayer David cries out to the Lord for justice, favor, and deliverance as he is suffering unjustly at the hands of his enemies.

Even though he had already been anointed by the prophet Samuel as the new king of Israel, David lived on the run, his life constantly in danger from Saul and his men. Even so, David refused to harm Saul. Instead, he patiently and prayerfully waited for God to deliver him from death and raise him to the promised throne. If you were king David, how would you pray when you learned of Saul’s death? The men who used to seek your life would do so no longer. You would now know God's blessing, his delight, and his victory. How would you process your sudden salvation?
Psalm 18 is a lengthy prayer of David when the Lord finally gave him victory over King Saul and all his other enemies (we will return to Psalm 17 next week). In it, David credits his salvation to the God who delights to purify, uphold, and show mercy to the humble, even as he opposes the crooked and prideful – a simple enough biblical truth. Yet between David’s references to the Exodus and the conquest of Canaan, and the use of this Psalm by both the prophet Jonah and the Apostle Paul, this psalm reverberates throughout the Scriptures as a radical and misunderstood manifesto of the principles and extent of salvation: God saves and purifies the humble, no matter how far from his grace they seem. What wonderful news for any of us who can admit we desperately need a God who rescues!

No man is an island 🏖️
The older we get, the more we recognize the profound influence that our parents, coaches, and mentors have had upon us as they have shaped the people we have become and helped show us what it means to be good spouses, parents, coworkers, friends, entrepreneurs, etc.
They instructed, taught, corrected and modeled for us how to practically walk through life. We all need people like this in our lives. 
Last week, we saw how you and I are commanded by God to live in Psalm 15.  Well, this week, we see how David, the King of Israel, models the righteous life that God’s people are called to live.  As such, David instructs, teaches, corrects and models for us what it means to have a righteous life; a life that runs from wickedness and submits to God, is governed by God’s Word, and seeks to obey all of the righteous requirements of Psalm 15. 
In fact, the Bible explains that living a righteous life was the expectation of every Israelite, but especially the King.  Thus, God’s King was to be an exemplary Israelite, modeling what a lifestyle that honored God looked like so that the nation of Israel might see his example and follow him in living righteously so that God is glorified in their shared faithfulness. 
Now, while David’s rap sheet shows that he wasn’t a flawless model for the nation of Israel, the Old Testament constantly assesses kings who come after David by asking: did they walk in the ways of David?  If so, they walked righteously.  If not … well, they were wicked.
Before we gather this weekend, spend some time thinking about Psalm 16 and reflecting on David’s words and how crucial it was for him to model righteousness for Israel.  Then, flip over to Acts 2:22-41 and Acts 13:13-52 and see how the NT authors quoted Psalm 16 and even call David a prophet who spoke about the resurrection of the Christ. 
Then, revisit Psalm 16, seeing how this Psalm is perfectly fulfilled in Jesus, the truly righteous and flawless Anointed King. 
If He is our Anointed King who models righteousness for us and beckons us to follow His example, in what ways are you not doing so?

Who is it who gets to enjoy the presence of God?
Simply put: the righteous. 
But who are the righteous?
This Sunday, we are going to be processing through Psalm 15 and beginning to see who the righteous are: what their character is like, what makes up their relationships, who is their conduct, and how they relate to money. As we do so, we will see a completely different presentation from the wicked that we’ve seen in Psalm 3-14. 
As we do, we will ask: am I righteous? Do I measure up? Do I match the qualifications that God gives for the righteous? 
For, if not, Jesus says: “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
As we are approaching Psalm 15, spend some time thinking through the requirements that God gives and honestly assess your life to see how you measure up to God’s requirements. As you do so, think about how someone who doesn’t match up to God’s requirements could ever possibly expect to be welcomed to God’s table.
This is also a good reminder of the Gospel; for we all only deserve the eternal judgment of God, yet we receive mercy and grace because Jesus was righteous in our place. 
Spend some time thinking about Jesus’ righteous life and how His righteousness is given to you, by faith. Then, think about how your life should look differently because of what Jesus has done for you. Spend some time in prayer, asking God to reveal areas of your life that are not being lived in conformity with holiness and ask Him to convict you of your sin so that you might turn from sin and live out your new identity as a Christian. 
All of this is the beautiful reminder of Psalm 15 that the Lord calls us to live righteously