The Messiah Revealed

The Messiah Revealed
John 19:16-30
April 20, 2025

Today we are celebrating the wonderful, glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. To many, though, it has been watered down to a religious day to be observed devoid of meaning. To others it has totally been diminished into a day to get together as family or friends to eat too much, and search for some easter eggs laid by a rabbit! (which doesn’t make sense at all!)

But this day is the climax and culmination of God’s plan for redemption. Yet, it wasn’t a plan concocted as a kneejerk reaction, thought of by Jesus on-the-fly. It was masterfully planned before the ages with building blocks of evidence so there could be no denial that Jesus is the only Son of God, redeemer, Savior of the world, Messiah.

The evidences are numerous. It started with the first prophecy by God Himself:

Genesis 3:15, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”

What does this mean? A woman does not have seed. It must have been a conundrum for the enemy. The seed of man is tainted by sin. It could not bruise, (defeat) the head of Satan.

This referred to Jesus, being born of virgin, with God as His Father, and Mary His mother. Fully God, fully man but with His bloodline determined by His Father, not tainted with sin.

Then we have all the numerous types and prophecies of the sacrificial system of Israel pointing to Christ. We see an example of this where Jesus is the unblemished Lamb of God. The best God had to offer: Himself.  Not one of His bones were broken, another prophecy fulfilled. ( Psalm 34:20)

Today, we are going to focus on the types and prophecies that were fulfilled with the crucifixion. Each of these points can be an extensive study on its own, so we will only touch on each briefly to show the incredible wisdom of the council of God wrapped up in the sacrifice of Jesus.

They are critically important, because they confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised deliverer  and Savior of the world.

When confronted with this evidence, it becomes personal. You cannot treat Jesus as just a far-off abstract religious historical figure. It starts to ask questions of us.

He becomes a fact that needs to be applied to your life. And most of the prophecies He fulfilled pointed to what He has done for us, set us free from, and bought for us to ensure our access to life.

It can be an academic endeavor, but realizing what He has done, and applying it our lives is key. Making it personal, transforms you.

I. Prophecy Fulfilled ( It is Fulfilled)

• Starting with the holy week, we see prophecies of the Messiah that only Jesus fulfilled. No one else could have done it before, or after. Remember that all of these prophecies were uttered hundreds of years before Jesus lived.
• They are so compelling that some atheists say it must have been written into the law and prophets after the fact. This is impossible, because the ones reproducing it didn’t believe in Jesus. They were Jews.

A. Jesus, the only possibility

• Take for example the triumphant entry. It fulfilled the prophecy of the Messiah in Daniel 9.
• …From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem…. That moment started the countdown to the revelation of the Messiah.
• The decree referred to here was made by the Persian king Artaxerxes to Nehemiah on March 5 of 444 BC (Nehemiah 2:1–8).There are some calculations involved, but it boils down to 483 lunar years ( vs. solar years) from the day of the decree which brings us to precisely Monday, March 30, AD33, 173,880 days later, which was the exact day Jesus entered Jerusalem on the donkey.
• Jesus on that day entered Jerusalem on a foal.

Zech 9:9, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

• This is incredibly important, because the only day in all of history that the Messiah could ride into Jerusalem, could be on that day. Coupled with that, there had to be people rejoicing triumphantly before Him, while He is riding on a donkey.
• There wasn’t any other person coming into Jerusalem on that day on a donkey, proclaimed as the Messiah while people sang, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!

B. Betrayed by a Friend

• Jesus experienced also this heartache. His suffering was personal. Jesus experienced grief on many levels for a reason.

Hebrews 4:15, For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 

• The Betrayal of Judas was also prophesied. Not only that, but even the details of his reward and what would eventually be bought with it after his suicide.

Ps 41:9, Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.

Zechariah 11:13, So they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as my wages. Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” 

• Again, this is not purely an academic point. Betrayal was not only a prophecy that was fulfilled, but also something Jesus lived so that He could have compassion with the destruction it brings to the soul.
• Have you ever been betrayed by a friend, or a confidant, family, or even a spouse? We have a high priest who has compassion. He will never betray you. He understands the hurt and wants to heal you and set you free from it, because He also took that on Himself for you.

II. The Perfect Sacrifice

• Because Jesus was the only, holy, sinless, perfect one, He was the only one able to take the sins of others upon Himself.

Illus – Let’s say someone is caught after committing robbery homicide. He goes to court and is convicted. His friend comes in and tells the judge that he will pay his debt. The only problem is, the friend is also a thief and in so much debt that he cannot even help himself. The judge could ask: Is there anyone who is not in debt, able and willing to pay the debt of this person? Not only that, but someone who is not guilty and willing to also die in his place?

A. He bore your cross

• That was the point of the cross. The cross was a sign of the cursed, punishment for the most evil and vile. So much so that it was unlawful to crucify a roman citizen. It would be too degrading.

Deuteronomy 21:23, … for he who is hanged is accursed of God…

•  Verse 17- Bearing His own cross. Ironically, the cross wasn’t His to bear. It was our cross. Our sins. Both the individual, and the sins of all humanity.
• Bearing the cross also means the hurt, pain, baggage, and the consequences of sin that we carry.
• The prophecies of Christ is significant in showing us the practical ways Christ bore our cross.
• Don’t lose sight of the fact that He is the only one who fulfilled ALL these prophecies.
• He was crucified between 2 thieves/sinners.

Is 53:12, Because He poured out Himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors…

• He came among those who are sinful. Associated with them. This was the story of Jesus’ ministry on earth. Are you a fraud, a thief, or, a wider application that covers us all, a sinner? He came among us.
• What a beautiful picture. Jesus comes alongside you, where you are at, and says, like He said to the sinner on the cross: Today you will be with me in paradise.
•  Verse 24 – They tore His clothes and cast the lot for it. This was the fulfillment of scripture.

Psalm 22:18, They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

• Have you ever suffered loss of possessions? Been defrauded? How about gambling away your life? God can restore what the enemy has stolen.
• But even more than that: because of His sacrifice, God now becomes our exceedingly great reward. He becomes the one who is our source and supply of what we need.

Psalm 16:5-6, The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

•  Not only in this life, but we find hope and peace in the knowing that He is our eternal portion. Even when it feels like the things of this world are torn away. We know that He is our portion and will supply all our needs for all eternity.
• The cross also addresses grief and community.
• Verse 26 – ‘Woman behold your son.’ Jesus saw the grief in His mother’s eyes. But He showed them the power of community. But not any community. Community centered around Him. Family knitted together because of the cross.

Luke 8:21, “But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”

• Community, bound together by what? Their love for Christ. That stirred love for each other. Here Jesus was hinting to the powerful truth and mystery of the church that would be born through the Spirit after and as a result of His death.
• He was spat upon and beaten

Isaiah 50:6, I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.

• Have you ever been humiliated, beaten, felt disregarded? Made to feel like you are garbage, not worth it, not good enough?
• Jesus experienced this to the fullest extent as well. He took this on Himself so that you don’t have to bear that lie anymore. He will bear that cross for you.
• His death, taking it for you, was evidence that He saw the value and worth in you, wanting to set you free from that lie. He bought you with His precious blood because you were worth it.

B. Famous last words

• Luke 23:34, Father, forgive them…,
• Forgiveness in the midst of such agony. We must see that these words transcended time. Because he was taking all of my and your sin upon Himself as well. We were the ones responsible for Him being on that cross.
• The heart of Jesus, in the midst of all this, was to intercede for us. He was being the high priest in the middle of the agony.
• Then darkness fell, from about 12 noon until 3 PM. This was not a solar eclipse since the full moon of Passover would have put the moon out of place for an eclipse.
• But all of this is a picture of Christ taking our place and suffering instead of us. God turning His face away from Him. The darkness would have been the consequence we would have suffered for our own sins.

Isaiah 59:2, Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God; your sins have hidden His face from you…

Matthew 25:30, “Throw out that worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

• After that, more famous words. Jesus called out “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” meaning, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?”
• The Jewish leaders would have immediately recognized those words from Psalm 22, an amazing Psalm written by David that foretells the way that the Messiah would be killed.

Psalm 22:1, 16, My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?… A band of evildoers has encompassed me; they pierced my hands and my feet. (also fulfilled)

• Verse 28 – I am thirsty. All the requirements to fulfill scripture have already been met. Jesus went beyond that. He took the vinegar, sour wine – representing the bitterness of human suffering. The thirst of the human soul, being stuck in bitterness. He took that, saying I will take that from you.
• He received it on hyssop branch. Hyssop was used for cleansing in the sacrificial ceremonies. His receiving of the suffering, bitterness of this life on the hyssop branch becomes the type of the cleansing act of his sacrifice.

Psalm 51:7, Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

• When He takes it, it is transferred to Him. You can let go of it. Jesus exchanges our ashes for beauty, mourning for dancing. Our brokenness for healing.
• It is finished. I have fulfilled the prophecies. More than this. I have bought back that which is mine. I have paid the price. I have made a way. The enemy, hell and death are defeated. Whom the Son sets free now is free indeed!
• Luke 23:24, …they know not what they do. They should have known. All the prophecies were being fulfilled before their eyes!
• Verse 21- They were looking for a triumphant king – It was right there. Pilate wrote it. They missed what was written in plain sight.
• They were so focused on their anger, their selfish wants, their religious rote, their pride that they Missed the Messiah.
• This is the truth put before us today as well. What do you do with Christ when you see all this proof? This cannot purely stay an academic exercise, a clinical reading of statements.
• Jesus makes it personal. With His last breath, He ends His life with a personal statement.
• Luke 23:46, Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit. He made a way to draw near to God.
• In fact, Matthew wrote, “Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
• The veil in the Temple is what kept everyone separated from the holiest place in the Temple, the place where His glory dwelt. And by God making a way for us to have relationship with Him, it makes all the difference in our lives.

Ephesians 2:13, But now in Christ Jesus you who were formally were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

• Because the veil is torn, we can now also draw near, and say Abba, Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.
• Are you looking for answers? The King is right here. Right now. Many people are looking for answers, for fulfillment, for salvation in many other different other places. Don’t miss it!
• Hebrews 4:16, Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.