Passage

John 19: 1-3, 17-18, 32-34

"(John 19:1-3, NASB) Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. [2] And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; [3] and they began to come up to Him and say, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and to give Him slaps in the face."

"(John 19:17-18, NASB) 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. [18] There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between."

"(John 19:32-34, NASB) So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; [33] but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. [34] But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out."

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Easter is the Feast to celebrate that Jesus broke the authority of death and resurrected.

We believe in the resurrected Lord, so we can be united with the Lord and participate in the hope of resurrection. We used to be sinners who were destined to die. But we are forgiven of our sins and now, we can go into eternal heavenly kingdom.

The souls who were subject to the curse of the law, received God's mercy and blessings.

All this grace is given for free, only if we just believe in the Lord.

But actually in the spiritual realm, there is nothing free. In order for us to receive this free grace, Jesus had to pay the price on our behalf.

That is why He took the sufferings of cross as described in today's passage. He wore the thorns; He was scourged, was nailed through His hands and feet, and was pierced in His side.

The sinless Jesus took all the pains that we would have had to suffer because of our sins.

Through this message, I hope you will once again feel the love of the one who died for us, Jesus.

Body

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, first, I hope you will realize the love of Jesus Christ through His sufferings. Usually, they say that the core of Christianity is love.
That love was shown through the cross of Jesus.

Because Jesus died on the cross, you and I are able to gain salvation.

Now, we can enter into heaven and not fall into hell.

We are freed from the curse of the law and we can live in grace and blessings.

The sufferings of the cross that Jesus took for this were so difficult that men cannot really bear it.

Thick sharp thorns pierced into His head, and His whole body was torn because of the scourging by the whip. Large nails pierced through His hands and feet. He had to hang on the cross for six hours.

Even when He had already breathed His last, the soldiers pierced His side with a spear.

Jesus wore the thorns to forgive us of the sins that we commit in thought. Instead of the painful thorns, He gave us the good crowns of the heavenly kingdom.

Jesus was nailed through hands and feet to forgive us of the sins that we commit with our hands and feet.

Because Jesus was scourged and His body was torn, we are freed from diseases.

He took all the pains of curse Himself. Do you really feel this love in your heart?

Since I was a new-believer, when I was reading about the sufferings of Jesus in the four Gospels, I had to stop many times. I couldn't continue reading because of tears that were pouring down. Before I met the Lord, I had no hope of recovery because of the long-lasting diseases. Then, my family members used to love me, but they also began to forsake me.

Finally, I was completely forsaken and neglected by this world. It was then and in those conditions that I met the Lord.

I was forsaken by everybody, but Jesus died on the cross for me.

He saved me by taking all the great pains and healed me of all my diseases.

When I realized this fact, that love was engraved deep inside my bones. And I could have the willingness to give my life for the Lord.

Can you give your life for somebody? Even if you love that person so much, it's not an easy thing to die for somebody.

Even those who confess they can give their lives often step back when they are actually faced with death. Especially, if you knew that you have to bleed so much from scourging and you would be nailed through your hands and feet, who could boldly volunteer to go through it?

And there is much less of a chance that you would do that for others whom you don't really know or those who hate you and stand against you.

But Jesus did it. When you and I stood against God and became sinners, He took all the pains for us.

If we truly know and feel that love, we cannot help but love God.

We cannot help but love the Lord, and His grace in your heart cannot disappear.

You can live each day of your life with the willingness to do anything for the Lord.

Brothers and sisters, the meaning of Holy Communion is to commemorate this love of Jesus. Spiritually, the bread refers to the flesh of the Son of Man, Jesus, and the wine, the blood of the Son of Man.

The Holy Spirit is to commemorate the love of the Lord who gave out His flesh and blood for us.

Also, the Holy Spirit contains the way of salvation.

It tells us how we can receive the love of the Lord and how we can be saved.

John 6:53 says, "So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves."

Then, how can we eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man?

First, to eat the flesh of the Son of Man refers to taking the word of God as spiritual food.

John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." And John 1:14 says, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,"

So, to eat the flesh of the Son of Man is to learn and understand the word of God.

To learn the word of God is not just to learn it as knowledge.

We have to change our heart with that word. We have to change our heart into heart of goodness and love.

To eat the flesh of the Son of Man in this way, we have to drink the blood of the Son of Man at the same time.

This means that in addition to learning the word of God, we have to obey and practice the word.

It's just like we have to take liquid when we eat food.

Only with the liquid can the body eliminate the wastes and absorb new nutrients. In the same way, if you learn the truth, you have to try and practice it. Only then the word of God that you learned will become your life and strength.

The untruths that were present in your heart will go away, and instead the truth will fill that place.

Where hatred goes out, love will fill that place, and where arrogance goes out, humbleness will fill that place.

1 John 1:7 tells us that we have life in us only when we drink the blood of the Son of Man.

It says, "but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."

Here, to walk in the light means to obey the word of God.

Jesus shed His blood and died for us to be able to receive forgiveness of our sins. To be forgiven of our sins by the blood of Jesus, we have to walk in the light.

I hope you will clearly understand this spiritual meaning of the Holy Communion.

Through this Holy Communion, I hope you will remember the sufferings of Jesus and feel His love more deeply in your heart.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, secondly, I hope you will realize how great the comfort and thanks you can have in your heart through the sufferings of Jesus.

Many people confess they love the Lord, but when they are in trials, their confession cools down.

They expect blessings, but if they face hardships, they get discouraged. If the answers to their prayers are late, they also lose thanks. When they are faced with little difficulties or persecutions, they lose strength.

They are not even nailed through their hands and feet. But they become disheartened and feel the difficulty of their situation when, in comparison, it is no more than a thorn's pricking of the skin. No matter what kind of situation you are in, it cannot be compared with the sufferings of Jesus.

When He was going through the sufferings of the cross, what kind of heart did Jesus have?

He is the Son of God, but He did not care about being mocked and killed at the hands of mere creatures.

He took the pains, not because He had sins, but He took them all voluntarily to fulfill the will of God.

Even when He was going the rough way of hardships, He never wanted the Father to be sorrowful because of His sufferings.

Even when it was difficult to breathe because of the pain of the cross and His sight was covered by the blood flowing down from His forehead, His heart was filled with thanks.

It's because He believed that countless souls would be saved and come forth as true children through that suffering. Of course, He had sorrow in heart, too. It was because there would be souls who would not believe in the Savior and fall into destruction.

The rejoicing was for the will of God and mourning was for the souls, too.

When we understand this heart of the Lord, what kind of heart should you and I have?

If we remember the love of the Lord always, we will not lose our thanks and joy in any kind of situation. There is no reason for us to be saddened or discouraged.

In reality, we may face hardships, but in heart, we will be filled with the comfort of the Lord.



A praise song that you often sing says, "Peter went to the cross upside down, so am I not able to follow? Is it because of the pain and because it is death?"

As said, you will be able to take the way of martyrdom with thanks and you can gain new strength thinking, "Jesus took the pains to save me and to bless me."

I hope this kind of thanks and comfort will fill and overflow your heart always.

Conclusion

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, since I first met the Lord until now, I have always been giving thanks for the love of the Lord.

With thanks for the inexpressible love of God, I have wanted to fulfill His will with all my life.

In the meantime, I had to go through many hardships. I was wrongfully accused and there were so many sorrowful things that were beyond explanation.

Sometimes, it seemed that I had no hope, being surrounded and hemmed in from all four sides.

But I never forgot the love of God in me. The love of the Lord who died for me, and my love for God and the Lord has never cooled down.

That love changed all despair into hope, and mourning into thanks and joy.

Romans 8:37 says, "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us."

Even in trials that men cannot bear, I could stand up again because of that love and could march forward step by step.
I hope this love will always remain in you, too.

I hope true thanks and joy will overflow you and you will fulfill God's will with great fervor.

By doing so, I pray in the name of the Lord that, you will all become true children who can pay back the great grace that you have received.

Amen