We turn to our Bibles this evening to the gospel according to John. John chapter 19. And reading the first 18 verses of this chapter, John 19, the sermon this evening is based on the verses 16 through 18, 16 through 18. And here we have a record of some of the events that took place that led to Jesus's crucifixion. John chapter 19 reading from verse 1. This is God's holy and inspired word. Then Pilate therefore took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns and put it on his head. And they put him a purple robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews. And they smoked him with their hands. Pilate, therefore, went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, and Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man. When the chief priests, therefore, and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, take ye him and crucify him for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, we have a law and by our law he ought to die because he made himself the son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid and went again into the judgment hall and saith unto Jesus, whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? Jesus answered, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. Therefore, he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, if thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the Passover in about the sixth hour, and he saith unto the Jews, behold your king. But they cried out, away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answered, we have no king but Caesar. Then the sermon is based on the next few verses. Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other with him on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. Thus far we read from God's sacred word. May he bless the reading of his word. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Beloved congregation, those are the moving and soul-stirring lyrics of that well-known African gospel spiritual, were you there? And they serve to take us in our mind's eye all the way to Golgotha 2,000 years ago to the scene there on that Good Friday where our Savior was crucified, don't they? And that will be similar to what we'll be doing tonight, Lord willing, through these verses 16 through 18 in John chapter 19. We are going to be led by the Holy Spirit through those verses and in our mind's eye to go forth with Jesus after he was unjustly condemned on that painful path and journey to Golgotha. Starting with him on that path, going through the streets of Jerusalem, And then, once having arrived at Golgotha to witness and to take in for ourselves by faith the scene, yea, indeed, the pain and sufferings of our Savior on the cross, beginning at nine in the morning when He was nailed to the cross and cried the first cry of forgiveness, and then concluding shortly after 3 p.m. when he finally commended his spirit to his Heavenly Father. That's the spiritual journey we'll take tonight. And my prayer is that in so doing, you and I will be renewed in heart and mind of our Savior's great sufferings, and therefore great love for us, and that we in turn grow and deepen in our love and appreciation for Him. So without delay, let's take that journey. Let's begin our journey with Jesus to Golgotha tonight. Will you notice with me? Going forth to Golgotha with Jesus. We want to see, first of all, our Savior's inexpressible anguish. And then, second, and therefore, understand His infinite love for us. And thirdly, and finally, conclude with our thoughtful contemplation. Going forth with Jesus tonight to Golgotha helps us understand and come to grips with something of that inexpressible anguish that our Savior endured on that Good Friday 2,000 years ago. And so we read in the text in verse 16, then delivered He, that's Pilate, Him, that's Jesus, therefore unto them to be crucified. The Holy Spirit then calls attention immediately to the hellish agonies endured by Jesus for us. The journey we take with Jesus this evening begins at verse 17. We read there, and He, bearing His cross, went forth Those words take us in our mind's eye to that journey that Jesus took, went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha. Verse 17 then speaks of a path, a path that Jesus took on that Friday. And that path that Jesus took to Golgotha from Jerusalem was a painful path. Really painful path. Literally, that's what the words Via Dolorosa, D-O-L-O-R-O-S-A means. Via Dolorosa. And those are the very words as we find them famously describing what is today in Jerusalem, in the year 2025, designated as the path that Jesus took after his sentencing by Pilate in Jerusalem on his way out to Golgotha. The Via Dolorosa today is about a half mile long, is clearly marked out, and also very well advertised. And quite understandably, because it is quite a draw, quite a draw and attraction for tourists, especially Bible-believing and loving tourists. But there are very real doubts about this Via Dolorosa that's marked out in 2025 as to its accuracy. Conservative Bible scholars believe the route that Jesus took 2,000 years ago was much longer and much windier going around many of the streets in Jerusalem, and for good reason. For the whole idea of this path, this Via Dolorosa, was to inflict maximum pain and shame upon those who were being led away to be crucified. A punishment reserved only for the scum, the scummiest scum of society, the worst kinds of criminals for that day. The Jews, understood well that shame and reproach is a very powerful form of punishment, and they used it well, very well indeed. Now while we may not be sure about the accuracy of today's Via Dolorosa in physical Jerusalem, What is for sure accurate is the anguish that Jesus was already experiencing at the very beginning of this path. And that is because Inspired Matthew tells us this in his parallel account of our text in Matthew 27 verse 32. You read there, and as they came out they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, him they compelled to bear his cross. In other words, Jesus at this time was already so drained and exhausted and already so weak that it became very obvious to the soldiers, having sight of our Savior, that he was in no physical shape to bear his cross. And his cross weighs something like 160 pounds, according to good conservative Bible scholars, 160 pounds. Just think about that. That's heavier than my weight. Jesus was unable to bear his cross on the Via Dolorosa that led to Golgotha, outside the city. And so they found one man, out of a crowd looking in, Simon of Cyrene, one who just happened, at least from his viewpoint, to be there, one who was just watching the entire scene, they picked him to bear his cross after him. And one further detail we may be sure of as well is that the anguish and sufferings of our Savior went beyond, way beyond His physical sufferings. And that's because verses like Hebrews 13, 11, and 12 speak of a deeper reality of the anguish of our Lord. Those verses read, For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, referring to the Old Testament tabernacle, are burned without the camp. Wherefore, verse 12, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. And that, beloved, is telling us that what Old Testament Israel did to the bodies of those animals taken as religious sacrifices was but a picture, just that, a picture of what was going to happen to Jesus as he goes forth to Golgotha. In other words, what's happening to Jesus is spiritual, mainly spiritual in nature. There is the deeper spiritual reality of Jesus suffering the punishment of the burning, fiery wrath of God for the sins of his people. And that becomes clearer when Jesus arrives, as we read in verse 18 of our text, at Golgotha, where they, we are told, crucified Him. What the people then at Golgotha witnessed and heard, beloved, is also recorded in Luke chapter 23. And Dr. Luke gives us more detail here. where after Jesus rebukes the women in Jerusalem who wept for him, we read there in verses 33 and 34, and when they will come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. And then verse 34, then said Jesus, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. It is nine in the morning when Jesus utters that cry shortly after he is nailed on the cross. It's rather striking, isn't it, beloved, that as he himself felt pain as he was nailed to the cross, his thoughts weren't about himself, but about others. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And then they parted his raiment. That's the first cry of the seven on the cross, which was a prayer to our heavenly Father for our forgiveness, yours and mine. For understand that by that cry, Jesus wasn't necessarily there praying for just anyone who contributed to Pilate's unjust decision to have him crucified there and then. Rather, he was praying for all his sinful elect people, then, in the past, as well as today, and into the future, because it is for the sins of all these ones, yours and mine, that gave to Jesus his terrible, inexpressible anguish he experienced. And so, beloved, We understand, don't we, that his anguish went far beyond the physical aspect, don't we? But what does modern Christianity see? What does modern Christianity hear? What does modern Christianity understand and in fact focus on today, on Good Friday? That's right, they focus on the physical, visible aspect of our Saviour's anguish and suffering. Isn't that the reason why books written by medical doctors, yes, I know, believing medical doctors, medical doctors nonetheless that catalog the very likely hemorrhaging and other painful bodily sufferings of Jesus being crucified. Isn't that the reason why these books are so often referenced and quoted to explain to the congregations the great sufferings of our Savior? And even more, isn't that the reason why movies, portraying Jesus Christ and His sufferings on the cross in gross violation of the Second Commandment are so very popular among churchgoers today? It's the physical aspect of His suffering that they are drawn to, aren't they? O Beloved, if we are to truly appreciate and understand something of the anguish and sufferings of our Savior, we need to go deeper, far deeper than the visible and physical sufferings of Jesus. Now, this is not at all to dismiss the great physical sufferings inflicted upon Jesus. They are great. But let's understand this. Let's understand that his spiritual sufferings from God was far, far, far greater. For that is what Scripture focuses on. His spiritual sufferings, the anguish and sufferings deepened from the moment he's crucified at Calvary at nine in the morning They were already intensifying during those first three hours from nine to noon. And they would come more and more hurriedly right in fact at Jesus's face from the other two malefactors being crucified there together with him, with him in the middle, in the midst of them as our text says. For you see, it wasn't just one of them, but both. both of those malefactors who mocked him and who poured scorn at him. And then something remarkable took place. Amazing grace changed the heart of one of these malefactors. when he was given eyes to see and to behold, to realize who Jesus truly was, that he was indeed suffering innocently. And to that penitent thief, Jesus uttered his second word on the cross, today shalt thou be with me in paradise. And shortly afterwards, knowing that he soon wouldn't be able to do so because of the increasing, deepening intensity of his punishment, Jesus took care of one last important earthly duty. the care of his beloved and aged mother. And so came the third word and cry of Jesus from the cross. First to his mother, woman, behold thy son. And then to his beloved disciple, John, behold thy mother. With that word, Jesus ensured that John would care for his mother, just as if Mary was indeed his own mother. And now it was 12 noon, it's 12 noon at Golgotha, and how the scene changes so drastically, so astoundingly, and so unbelievably, all at once, it's 12 noon, when suddenly, without any warning or announcement, darkness, complete darkness, engulfed Golgotha and all the land. It's daytime. It's 12 noon. Right, children? It's 12 noon. It's when the sun is directly up in the sky. It's 12 noon. There ought to be complete light and sunlight everywhere. But the sun is completely hid. It's all gone. And it's replaced by pitch black darkness. That's the scene at Golgotha on that Good Friday at 12 noon. No, it was not a solar eclipse. No, it wasn't any natural phenomenon. It was supernatural. And all who were at Golgotha knew it in their heart of hearts. They knew in their heart of hearts that God brought that darkness to descend on the land, to descend on them and to abide in the land for three long hours from 12 noon to 3 p.m. It felt like forever. They didn't know, of course, that it would last just three hours, but it felt like forever. If you were in the darkness, imagine pitch black darkness at Golgotha, beloved. Can you imagine the horror and the fear and the terrible guilt of all those who were present there on that day? It doesn't take a rocket scientist, does it? To connect the dots, the dots here of innocent Jesus being punished to the frightening darkness that suddenly and inexplicably came upon all of them at Golgotha. Wasn't God speaking? Isn't He telling them that He's angry? Wasn't He saying loudly and clearly to them concerning the one being crucified that He's the Christ, the Son of God, and that He's innocent? The Word of God tells us just what that darkness is saying about Jesus' sufferings, doesn't it? For what happened after three long, very long hours at 3 p.m.? A cry broke through in the darkness, the cry of Jesus, that most chilling fourth cry of Jesus on the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken That's the word, forsaken me. An awful cry, a cry of inexpressible anguish and pain, the pain of hell and its fiery intensity, especially during those hours on account of all your sins and mine upon Jesus. That's what that cry of God-forsakenness was all about. But it was also an unmistakably powerful cry that all at once dispelled that darkness that suddenly came upon the land, dispelled that darkness so that light suddenly and quickly returned all at once to Golgotha. again. That awful, chilling cry gives testimony to the fact of the holy wrath of God coming down upon Jesus, concentrated upon him at Calvary like no other time in his life. Forsakenness, a forsakenness felt and experienced by the one who was in the bosom of his father. And so, beloved, the darkness was but an indication of the fiery wrath of God and speaks of the terrible sufferings and inexpressible anguish that Jesus suffered for you and I. He became the object of God's holy wrath against the sins of all his people. For all we like sheep have gone astray, We have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. He spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Oh, beloved, do you know that? What do you see at Golgotha tonight in your heart of hearts? What do you see there? Is all that you see a nice man hanging and suffering there at Calvary for you? Is that all you see? That will not do. Is it that all you see is just the objective, you see, reality of three crosses, one, two, and three, with three persons, one, two, and three, and Jesus in the midst? Is that all you see at Golgotha? Or being a devout Calvinist, Is all you see just a demonstration of the doctrine of sovereign double predestination with election on the one side applied to the penitent thief and reprobation applied to the other one, the one who didn't repent of his sins? Is that all you see? And to be sure, those last two descriptions are realities rightly described and true. But here's the point. Here's the point. Our view of Jesus and Calvary needs to be much more than that. It needs to be personal. And it needs to cut deeply into your personal soul and mine. By faith, behold Jesus, your Jesus, whom you embrace, plunged into the terrible sufferings of hell for you, unworthy you and me. And here is one sure evidence that that's what you see and behold when you behold the cross. You'll see your sin and you'll make a real connection, a real and concrete connection of your sin to Jesus, to your Jesus, and His anguish He experienced on the cross. And in that way will you feel a deep sorrow for sin and a holy hatred for it. And the next time you are drawn and inclined to commit a sin, I guarantee you, there's going to be a sure pause, followed by a turning away, because of the solemn remembrance of what sin did to Jesus, your Savior. Beloved, you see the inexpressible anguish of your Savior, Jesus at Golgotha, don't you? You who see it, that isn't the only thing you see. Is it now when you go forth to Golgotha with Jesus, you also see His infinite love for you, don't you? What love, what great love to swallow up, to suffer and to bear all that He did for you on that cross. Do you not see the great love of God in Christ Jesus for you at Golgotha as you behold Jesus in the midst of those two thieves from nine to three on that Good Friday? Wondrous love! wondrous love to endure all of the burning, consuming, fiery wrath of God, a terrible suffering that Jesus confirmed by his fifth cry on the cross, I thirst. Of course you thirst, my Lord. I know why you thirst. You've been through hell. the flames of hell. That's why you thirst. Wondrous love that endured all, that paid all, that earned all that's needed to secure your salvation and mine. And the very benefits you and I are already enjoying at this time. What benefits? Peace. Peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith. Hope. You and I have hope when others who don't have Jesus have no hope. Faith. Hope. Love. And so much more. He's secure. Your salvation and mine and so Very quickly, after following the fifth cry, he cried the sixth and seventh cries. It is finished! I've done my work, Father. I've established Thy covenant with my blood. It is finished. And so shortly after, Father, into Thy hands I commend my The father didn't take the spirit from him. The son commanded his spirit to his father. Jesus was in complete control of his life. He uttered that because he had accomplished redemption once and for all, for all his sinful people. wondrous love, infinite love, that did that for you and for me. And so, beloved, children, are you listening? What is the greatest thing of all in your entire life? What is the greatest thing? Isn't it this? to be loved of God and to be one for whom Jesus died. Oh, the wonder, the wonder of this love that overcomes all, that defeats all, that is triumphant over all for nothing. absolutely nothing shall be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And so beloved as our journey to Golgotha with Jesus comes to a conclusion with the Via Dolorosa traverse from start to finish are not our hearts and minds in the way of thoughtful contemplation gripped by a deeper sense of shame and sorrow for our sins. And also a profound gratitude and indescribable joy for what Jesus did for us at Golgotha. May it be so. May our hearts and lives be lifted up and renewed unto a life of greater devotion, greater love, greater faithfulness for Him and unto Him and to one another. Amen. Father, bless this world as we have traced the footsteps of our Savior on that path and painful journey. all the way out of Jerusalem to Golgotha, and there spend time there with Him over His time on the cross, a time of hellish and inexpressible anguish and agonies. We pray, Lord, that as we have done so, that Thou would have spoken to us, that Thou would have written upon our souls and our consciences the sinfulness of sins, and the price, the dear price of sin being that of the blood of the Lamb of God, thy Son, shed so that we all might stand before thee as thy redeemed children through his blood. Grant us and our children, Lord, a deeper love for thee through a deeper understanding