John 19:23-30

John 19:23-30 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, “They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” So this is what the soldiers did. Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

As John looks back in time through the anointing of the Holy Spirit to recount his memory of the crucifixion of his Lord, his description of Christ's death takes on a simplicity. From the moment we hear the people cry, "We have no king but Caesar," until we hear the Son of the Living God cry out, "It is finished," we read very few words, no parables, not discourses or long debates, no detailed accounts of the import or the impact of the situation. John shows us the last moments quickly as the soldiers took charge and Jesus, carrying his own cross. . .went to the place of the Skull where they crucified him. As we saw in our last study, Pilate prepared a sign to fasten to the cross, reading: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Now all the characters in the final moments stand at the foot of the cross in a tableau as John describes what they did, how they acted as Jesus drew his last breaths on this earth. Soldiers divide his garments. Three women, all named Mary, stand near the cross. When Jesus sees his mother, He commits her into John's care, showing that even in the midst of the agony of his death, Jesus exemplifies a servant's heart and models lovingkindness for those witnessing his suffering. Later, realizing He has done all He needs to do, Jesus thirsts and receives a sponge soaked with wine vinegar on a stalk from a hyssop plant, fulfilling these Old Testament prophecies: My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst. (Psalms 22:15 & 69:21) Finally in the most effective use of understatement ever penned, John writes: When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

It is finished! Wonderful words of life, hope, peace, and victory for all who would call upon the name of the Son of God who had just given all for God's beloved sons and daughters that they might find eternal life. Christ's death and his resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit opened wide the door for every man, woman, and child to find eternal life. Jesus said those words trusting in the Father's love and in the fulfillment of scripture as well: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (Psalm 16:10 KJV) We all memorize scriptures as children in Sunday School or we hear this word preached: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17) But do we realize what these words mean: the power and authority behind the words, the cost to the Godhead. Christ's life, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection fulfilled the plan of God, confirmed Old Testament scriptures regarding the Messiah who would suffer and die to redeem mankind. Jesus' redemptive work on the cross satisfied God's anger and judgment against sin. He paid the penalty of death for all people for all time. Man, originally created in the image of God, would not merely be restored to walking in the garden with God as his created beings. Through the blood of the Lamb, all who received Christ would literally be adopted into God's family as sons and daughters, joint heirs with Christ, partakers of his life and love. With the indwelling Holy Spirit, believers now have a wellspring of living water flowing from our innermost being. As we choose light and love in Christ our old lives are finished and we have new life, new water to quench our thirsty souls and new water overflowing in a dry and thirsty land where others thirst for water that satisfies forever.

Today we know for certain, IT IS FINISHED. We no longer have to display the anger, pain, sorrow without hope, and the viciousness of the flesh that demands an eye for any eye, a tooth for a tooth, and the "I will get even no matter how long it takes" mentality of the world in which we live. We can become as Christ, servants of the world with genuine love and forgiveness in our hearts. Jesus made that possible for each of us by shedding his blood and sending the Spirit of Truth to abide in our hearts, filling us with the fruit of the Spirit that we might show the world we are Christians by our love. As Jesus was dying on a cruel cross between two criminals, He could have done and said so many things. He could have judged the world for its sins and wicked deeds, but He did not. He cried out, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Then when the criminal at his side said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom, Jesus said, "Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:33 &42-43 KJV) As always, Jesus was doing the work of his Father, listening to the Holy Spirit's voice, loving the unlovely, holding forth mercy and grace, reminding the people God is slow to anger and quick to forgive, full of tender mercies for a fallen people, not willing that any should perish. When we receive God in all his fullness, yielding to his will and not our own, the Spirit leads us into all truth. He shows us the nature of God. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4) This is the perfect will of God; this is his plan, his purpose, his design. We are his workmanship, his beloved, his chosen ones. Rejoice, the battle is over: Christ has won!