His ancestry reads like a veritable who's who of movers and makers and military shakers. He was a descendant of England's King Edward I. He was a descendant of the French Huguenot, Louis de Bois. He was a descendant of numerous military men from the American Revolutionary War, the Civil War. His name, George S. Patton, born in 1885. He wanted nothing more than to be a fighting man. Graduated from West Point, he proved himself as an equestrian leader. But at the beginning of World War I, he was assigned to lead first-generation tank brigades. His leadership and his military contribution, however, was most notably seen in the Second World War. Patton was an aggressive, strategic, salty, demanding leader. He possessed great oratory skills, inspiring troops under his command. Patton was a man who led from the front, and he demanded that his subordinate officers do the same. One article about General Patton described him in this way. He had a preoccupation for bravery, wearing his rank insignia conspicuously in combat. And at one point during World War II, he rode atop a tank into a German-controlled village, seeking to inspire courage in his men. He earned the nickname Old Blood and Guts. One plebe mused, yeah, our blood, his guts. Following his death in Europe shortly after the end of World War II in December 1945, five-star General Dwight Eisenhower wrote this tribute to Patton. He was one of those men born to be a soldier, an ideal combat leader. It is not an exaggeration to say that Patton's name struck terror in the hearts of the enemy. However, and Patton had many howevers. But I want you to listen to this. After wresting Sicily from the hands of the Axis armies, a military governor met up with Patton, praising him for his courage, his bravery. Listen to Patton's reply. Sir, I am not a brave man. The truth is, I am an utter coward. I have never been within the sound of a gunshot or in sight of battle in my whole life that I wasn't so scared that I have swept in the palms of my hands. On the outside, old blood and guts looked fearless. But on the inside, he was fearful, full of fear, just like you and me. The well-known theologian John Wayne once quipped, courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. Mark Twain added, courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. Boldness and courage is what we need in our day. But sometimes, because of the focus of our heart, we are instead frozen in fear. This morning in our continuing study through John's gospel, we conclude chapter 19. We have spent the last couple of weeks together looking at the crucified Christ and the things that he said from his cross and the things that supernaturally attended his death. Things that were signs that pointed to who Jesus was in his person and the purpose of what Jesus was accomplishing there on his cross. We're gonna be looking at verses 31 through the end of this chapter of this morning. And at the end of this chapter, we meet up with two men who were frozen in fear. And how they overcame that and saddled up anyway. I invite you to read along with me as I read from John chapter 19 beginning verse 31. Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for that Sabbath was a high day, asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with him, but coming to Jesus, When they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe. For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, not a bone of him shall be broken. And again, another scripture says, they shall look on him whom they pierced. After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. And Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus, who had first come to him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pounds weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore, because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. The first half of our text this morning, from verses 31 to 37, confirm Jesus' death. Verse 31 begins with a request by the Jews Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath, for the Sabbath was a high day, asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. The iron fist of the Roman Empire never relaxed. They were always looking to control those peoples that they governed, and they never let up. They were always in intimidation mode. Even in crucifixion, that heinous form of death could cause a man, a healthy man, to stay in that torturous state for three days. But the Romans were not satisfied simply by crucifying a person, and they were most interested in executing those criminals convicted of sedition, convicted of being against the government. they allowed someone who was crucified, they allowed their bodies to stay on the cross so that as death was swirling around the crucified, so would the vultures. And once they died, they became the food of the vultures, and the Romans would leave the bodies on the cross until they rotted or until whatever remained simply fell off of the cross. The Jews, however, would not tolerate that kind of activity by the Roman soldiers. And particularly on high and holy days, In Deuteronomy chapter 21, we read these words. This is what Mosaic Law declared. If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree. But you shall surely bury him on the same day, for he who is hanged is accursed of God. so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance." So here's the problem. Jesus and two other men, supposed criminals as they were, were crucified on the night, on the day rather, prior to the Sabbath. This was the day of preparation for the Sabbath. The problem was these men were crucified, but they weren't dead. What would happen if they died during the Sabbath? Well, their bodies would have to be removed lest the land become defiled, but they couldn't do that kind of work on the Sabbath. So they went to Pilate, the Jewish leaders did, and said, here's the problem. You have these men who have died or that are dying. They haven't died yet. They might die on the Sabbath. They need to be dead, and they need to be removed before the beginning of the Sabbath. So as was the custom in cases like this, that the soldiers would use leg mallets. That is a highfalutin word that describes the process, but basically they would take this mallet and shatter the legs of those who were crucified. Now, if the pain and the suspected blood loss did not hasten death, certainly the inability of them to push themselves up so that they could breathe would cause them to die by asphyxiation much more quickly. So the soldiers Verse 32, went to Golgotha, to the place of execution, and they carried out Pilate's instructions. They broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with him. But coming to Jesus, verse 33, when they saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Now, we are not told why. We are told that Jesus was in the middle of these two other thieves. The legs of the thieves were broken first. They were obviously still alive, and so they smashed their legs, and subsequently these two men died. But on looking at Jesus, they were able to quickly discern that he was already dead. Hence, the leg mallet was not needed and not used. Their objective was to make sure that these men were all three dead so that the bodies could be removed. John gives this report in verse 34. one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear and immediately blood and water came out. Now evidently, the soldiers at the cross, responsible for making sure that these three men were dead, they reported to Pilate We broke the legs of the two thieves, but this Jesus was already dead. And that report evidently caused some curiosity, piqued some interest in Pilate that he died so quickly. Mark 15, verse 44 reads this way. Pilate wondered if Jesus was dead by this time. He summoned the centurion, questioned him as to whether he was already dead. So to satisfy Pilate's need to make sure that each of the victims were indeed dead, he asked the centurion in charge, Is this Jesus indeed dead? And it appears as though it was because of that question that the centurion required of one of his men to make sure that Jesus was dead. So he pierced the side of Jesus. He didn't pierce the side to see if there was life, that is to kill him, but to confirm that he was already dead. Now, verse 35, John writes, he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true, so that you also, oh, and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. It's almost as though John is taking an oath saying, I am standing before you or writing to you that I'm declaring the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth. I am telling you I saw this. When the soldier pierced his side, from that wound came water and blood. Now medical experts debate even to today what exactly the soldier did when he pierced Jesus' side. There are some that say that he sliced open the pericardium, a sack that holds the heart. And there were others that say, no, it was a little bit more general. He penetrated the chest cavity, and from that flowed water and blood. Now, anatomically speaking, these medical experts will agree, when the heart stops and fluids begin to just separate as they normally would do, the lighter, clearer, water-like serum will rise to the top. If this is the sac of the heart or if it's the general chest cavity, the heavier dark red particles of the blood will sink to the lower part of whatever region that is. And when the soldier pierced the side of Jesus, these two different kinds of fluids flowed out separately. It verified that Jesus was dead, all dead, and had been dead for a period of time so that this separation of fluids could take place. So the question is this. Why did John see it necessary to report this? Well, he was an eyewitness to this event. The other synoptic gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, do not inform us of this. They weren't there. John was there. He saw this. He reported it. But why? Well, in the... Later part of the first century, the church had to deal with a heresy called docetism. And docetism, the name comes from a Greek word, doceo, meaning to seem or to think. And the very heart of this heresy was that Jesus was not truly human. It only seemed like he was human it only appeared as though he was human to look at him you would think that he was human but he wasn't really human and so john goes out of his way in this gospel record as well as in his epistles to confirm that jesus is fully god and fully man his body responded like any other human body in similar circumstances, when he was dead and he was in that upright position to have a sword thrust his side, out flowed what appeared to be water and blood, just like any other human. There's a second reason why John probably included this. In the fifth chapter of his first epistle, he makes a comment that verifies the Jewish view that a human body was made up of half water and half blood. In 1 John 5, verse 6, we read this. This is the one who came, speaking of Jesus, this is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with water only, but with water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are in agreement. And here again, dealing with the heresy of Docetism in front of him, John is affirming, Jesus is fully man. Back in our text, in verse 36. John says, these things came to pass to fulfill the scripture, not a bone of him shall be broken. I have quoted a couple times over our recent studies 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7 where the Apostle Paul says Christ is our Passover and he has been sacrificed. The whole Passover event foreshadowed the coming of Christ, and there are so many, many similarities and connections between that ancient event and the death of Christ. In Exodus chapter 12 and in Numbers chapter 9, we read that Passover lambs were to be treated differently. They were to be sacrificed in such a way that none of their bones were broken. This is unusual for the whole sacrificial system as it was instituted. Jesus, our Passover, died without any of his bones being broken. It was not an accident. that Jesus died at approximately 3 p.m. that fateful Friday afternoon, and that it was subsequent to that, maybe an hour later, maybe two hours later, that his side was pierced and that water and blood separated, flowed from that wound. We all know that he was dead. Didn't have to break any of his bones. Leg mallet was not used. And then in verse 37, John uses a reference from Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10, they shall look on him whom they pierced. The look of mourning we will look at carefully on Good Friday, this upcoming Friday. But John's point in using that particular verse here is simply to say that Jesus sighed, or not specifically sighed, but that He was pierced. All of this was a fulfillment of Scripture. Second page of your notes. When we get to verse 38 in our text here, second point here, we find these two men who were struggling with faith and instead were wallowing for a good long while in fear. Verse 38, after these things, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus. This is the only place we read of this Joseph of Arimathea. Scholars have no idea where Arimathea was, but that's inconsequential to us. We don't need to know where his town was. We have quite a bit of information given to us by the other gospel writers as well regarding this man. He only shows up here at the death and burial of Jesus. Let me read to you from Matthew, Mark, and Luke's account about this man. Matthew says, chapter 27, that he was a rich man who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. Mark 15, he was a prominent member of the council who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Luke chapter 23, he had not consented to the plan of the Sanhedrin and action concerning Jesus. And here in John 19, he was a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews. So this is what we know about this Joseph of Arimathea. He was a wealthy man. He was a prominent member of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court. He would have had a place of prominence in society. He did not agree to what the council wanted to do with Jesus. He was a dissident. He was in the minority report. and three places. We're told that he was a disciple when waiting for the kingdom of God. How do we put all these together? Nobody knew. He was like a closet Christian. Is there such a thing? Is there such a thing? He was unwilling to make his allegiance to Jesus public. Now I want you to turn with me to John chapter 12. I want you to find verse 42. This is a statement that the Apostle John makes, and there is the ring of disdain and disappointment in these two verses I'm going to read. John chapter 12, verse 42, 43. Many, even of the rulers, the rulers of the Jews, many of the rulers, even of the Jews, believed in Him, in Jesus, but because of the Pharisees, they were not confessing Him for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. For they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God. That is a difficult verse. How can one be a genuine disciple of Jesus and not be willing to confess Him? Is that person genuinely redeemed? The word disciple, Joseph is called a disciple. The word disciple simply means follower. It does not necessarily mean a converted man. It is possible that Joseph admired Jesus, looked up to Jesus, certainly didn't want Jesus to die, to be crucified, to be removed. So it's possible that it was now that he was actually converted. We don't know when that took place. He's called a disciple. And yet he was secretly one. Because he didn't want to be kicked out of the synagogue. He didn't want to lose his position on the council. He was afraid more of men than of God. But it's here in chapter 19, while he is staring at a dead Jesus, that he saddles up, finally. And Joseph does two things that shows this man is stepping out of the shadows. The first is, he asks Pilate to take away the body of Jesus. Now in order to do that, he had to go onto Pilate's turf. You remember when the religious leaders initially brought Jesus to Pilate. His quarters, his headquarters, his residence is called the Praetorium. And the religious leaders would not go into the Praetorium. They demanded that Pilate come out to talk to them outside. He acquiesced and did as they requested. But the Jews refused to go into the praetorium because, according to rabbinic law, not Mosaic law, this was not scripture, but this was part of their religion, they could not go into the home of a Gentile because they would be defiled. And if they were defiled, they could not participate in the Passover meal that night. But here, Joseph of Arimathea was willing to violate rabbinic law by going and knocking on Pilate's door, probably because of his position, he was allowed entrance and asked for permission to take the body of Jesus. Well, as soon as he's seen hanging out with dead Jesus, Word is out. He is no longer a secret disciple. Second thing that he did, we find in the end of verse 38, he came and he took away the body of Jesus. Now it is clear in Mosaic law that for one to handle a dead body, they are defiled until evening. Meaning that in this act, Joseph of Arimathea is not able to participate in the Passover meal that night. Previously, Joseph had not counted the cost of what does it mean to follow Jesus. He sought for the approval of men more than the approval of God, but now things were different. He was spiritually awakened, and he valued what God thought of him more than man. He counted the cost and paid the price. Verse 39, we find another man. A man that's mentioned only in John's gospel, and only a couple of times. Chapter 3, chapter 7, and here in chapter 19. Verse 19, I'm sorry, verse 39 in chapter 19, John writes, Nicodemus, who had come to him by night, This is the second time we find that this man comes to Jesus under the cover of night. And John's referring back to chapter 3, where we read in the first two verses, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night. Another secret disciple. Another one who was more concerned about the approval of men. Another one who had not counted the cost. This Nicodemus, who first came to Jesus by night, also came Also, just like Joseph. He also came and he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. The Egyptians embalmed their dead. And that process involved removing the internal organs of a corpse and replacing them with burial spices. The Jews did not embalm. They used burial spices, but topically. They didn't cut open the body. They didn't remove anything. They simply put the burial spices on top of the dead body in order to stifle the stench. It didn't do anything. other than made it maybe a little bit more pleasant for those who might walk closely by the tomb. You remember from the birth narrative of Jesus that the Magi presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Well, to give you some perspective, If gold is $600 a pound, frankincense in that day would have been, in its equivalent, $500 a pound, and myrrh would have gone for $4,000 a pound. You can do the math. We don't know the mixture of myrrh and aloes. Aloes is a powder from the sandalwood tree. The best of it comes from India, meaning this is not inexpensive material. We don't know the mixture of myrrh to aloes, but if we're talking A hundred pounds weight, more accurately in our day, the weight was between 65 and 75 pounds. You do the math. We are easily talking about a series of bags of these burial spices that approach $100,000, maybe far more. What we have here is burial spices for royalty, and appropriately so. These two men, men of the Sanhedrin, prominent men in the Sanhedrin, these are leaders among the leaders. They were not going with the majority with regard to Jesus. They were followers of Jesus, secretly so. But now these men step into the saddle. It tells us in verse 40 that they took the body of Jesus, bound it in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Please note, contrary to the NIV, which is giving you yet another inaccurate rendering, These are not strips of linen. Do not think of an Egyptian mummy that's wrapped up with linen. No, this is a piece of cloth. Mark uses that language specifically. In that large piece of cloth, The body is placed and it's wrapped around the body and interspersed there are packed these burial spices. 65, 75 pounds worth of this stuff. It was really an unnecessary gesture. Unnecessary because Jesus was there only for three days. He was there for part of Friday, last couple of hours, or maybe just the last hour of Friday, all day Saturday, and just a few hours on Sunday. How was that three days? Well, in Jewish reckoning, a portion of a day, any small portion of a day, was a whole day. easily. This is three days, as the Jews reckoned a day. Additionally, Jesus' body did not decay in any way. There was no smell. All of these aromatic spices did nothing, except for the ones who gave this as an offering. For them, it was an expression of a turning point in their life. Verse 41, now in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden. And in the garden, a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore, because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Isaiah chapter 53 prophesies that the Messiah, the servant of Yahweh, would be buried with a rich man. Joseph of Arimathea, the owner of this tomb, is the rich man. Again, there's another fulfillment of prophetic scripture that was prophesied centuries before Jesus showed up on the scene. And he was placed in this tomb, owned by Joseph, that had never been used, new. No body had ever been placed in it. That note, that detail, is significant for this reason. That's where, in this particular tomb, where Jesus was raised. There was no other potential body that had ever been in that tomb that they could mistake as being raised from the dead. Jesus was the only one who had ever been in that tomb. That is, as a dead person. By way of conclusion, let me ask a couple questions. What was it? What was it for Joseph and for Nicodemus that caused them to saddle up? They were men of fear. Their hands were sweaty. What was it? Is there something for us to take away? You and I are sometimes frozen in fear for all kinds of reasons. Would the Lord be pleased for us to be men and women of courage and boldness? Indeed He would. Is there something that we can learn from these two men on how to saddle up anyway? One, Christian leaders, one Christian leader of the past generation said this, courage is contagious when a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened. By the mercy and the grace of God, Joseph and Nicodemus became men of courage. and they stiffen our spines when we look at the reason for their boldness. They saddled up anyway when they looked at the cross and they saw this one, this perfect man dying for them. And they realized, if God would give me this kind of gift, can I not, in response, give him my all? I'd like you to turn with me to the book of Psalms. Psalm 56. Psalm 56, the superscription of this psalm gives us a little bit of insight into what we're going to read, what follows in Psalm 56. We find that it is written by David when the Philistines seized him in Gath. If you remember your Old Testament history, David was hunted by his boss, his father-in-law, the first king of Israel, King Saul. Saul was grossly jealous of David and sought to take his life. David was, at this point in his life, running from Saul. But he ran from one enemy into the arms of another enemy, the Philistines. And he pens this psalm while he is in custody, if you will, with yet another enemy, realizing if he left this enemy, he's got another one to face him, that he's gonna have to face. Look at verse 11 of Psalm 56. David writes, in God I have put my trust. I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? David here is taking his eyes off of the Philistines. He's taking his eyes off of King Saul. He's putting his sights and his focus on the living Lord. And he knows that his hope, his refuge, his rescue is right there. the Lord. That emboldens him, that strengthens him, that thaws out his frozenness. We turn then in the New Testament to the book of Hebrews, and we find the same kind of exhortation, Hebrews chapter 12, where the author says, verse three, consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. I was pleased when I found this quote by a Canadian journalist and novelist, Sarah Jeanette Duncan, from a previous century. She wrote this. I put this quote in your notes. Clothes and courage have much to do with each other. Think about it. Clothes and courage have much to do with each other. When you put on clothes, you're hiding what's on the inside. Sometimes, when we put on courage, we're hiding the fear inside. And yet, we saddle up anyway because our eyes are not on our problem. Our eyes are not on the source of our fear. Our eyes are on that one who is willing to die on our behalf in order to bring us life and freedom and the opportunity to serve Him. Let's pray. Our blessed God, how I thank you for the testimony that we find here of Joseph and Nicodemus. We don't know when these men were converted. We don't know when you saved their souls. What we have here, though, is a reference to when they woke up spiritually. and they acted. Though fearful, they got in the saddle anyway, because they kept their eyes on the Lord Jesus, giving themselves wholly and fully to the one who had given his all for them. Father, I pray in this Easter season that we would be so increasingly aware of the sacrifice of Christ that it would dominate our thinking and our acting and our choices. Give us courage. Give us boldness to stand for and to speak for Him who is the truth. In His holy and righteous and resurrected name do we pray.