Inward Prayer

Small Group Questions:

1. 1. Who in your life has sacrificed for you? How did it make you feel? (Mom, sibling, friend, etc.)
   2. Why did Jesus have to die?
   3. What do you think the value of your life is worth based on what you heard today?
   4. How can you personally respond to the redeeming grace you’ve received through Jesus’ sacrifice?
   5. What practical steps can you take to share this message of salvation with others?

Outward Prayer

THE MAIN POINT

Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are the ultimate display of sacrificial love.

THE BIBLE

John 19:31-37

THE CONTEXT

This week we will look at the events upon which we derive our assurance of salvation. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are the ultimate display of sacrificial love. Though we do not deserve it, we receive the fruit of this love when we give our lives to God.

When we study the events surrounding Jesus’ death and resurrection, one cannot help but recognize the great suffering endured for the sake of humanity. The innocent Christ is arrested and put on trial. He is beaten and mocked, forced to wear a crown of thorns and a purple robe. He is then sentenced to death where he carries his own cross to the place where he would be hung. He is then propped up onto the cross.

Let’s now take a deeper look at one of the signs given in John’s gospel for the fulfillment of God’s plan for humanity:

A soldier pierces Jesus’ side, releasing blood and water (John 19:31-37), which holds a deeper significance than what one initially sees. This sign is representing the atoning power and cleansing grace of Christ’s sacrifice.

The blood represents the atoning sacrifice of Jesus. In the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were offered for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’s blood, shed on the cross, fulfills the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of humanity. It symbolizes the forgiveness and reconciliation between God and man, emphasizing the removal of sin’s consequences and the offer of eternal life through faith in Him.

The water symbolizes purification and cleansing. Just as water cleanses and refreshes, the water flowing from Jesus’s side signifies the spiritual cleansing and renewal that believers experience through His sacrifice. It reflects the washing away of sin and the transformation of the believer into a new creation.

The presence of both blood and water is a testament to Jesus’s real humanity. It confirms that He experienced physical death, as the separation of blood and water is a sign of a ruptured heart. This shows that Jesus was fully human, yet also fully divine and that His sacrifice was true in power.

From here Jesus is brought down from the cross and laid in the tomb, which is then sealed. At this point, it would seem all hope is lost. God did not do what he said he would and all we have learned about Jesus and the truth he bore is instead, a lie.

Our attention then shifts to the empty tomb, discovered by Mary Magdalene a few days later. In this moment, we learn that death was defeated and Jesus conquered over sin. What has been spoken to us about Christ being the way that we can be reconciled to the Father is indeed real. But what is one to do with this great truth? Jesus later commissions His disciples to carry His message to the world, empowered by the reality of His resurrection.

THE CORE

As you prepare the core of the message using personal story and questions keep in mind these points:

• Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are the ultimate display of sacrificial love.
• One cannot help but recognize the great suffering Jesus endured for the sake of humanity.
• Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross, fulfills the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of humanity.
• Jesus was fully human, yet also fully divine. His sacrifice was true in power.
• Death has been defeated and Jesus conquered sin.

THE APPLICATION

As you prepare the application, challenge and/or encouragement, keep in mind these points:

• It is important that we recognize the significance of Jesus’s ultimate sacrifice.
• Out of our own experience of this freedom from sins hold, we should praise the one who set us free.
• In response to this redeeming grace we have received, we should share with others what God has done for us.