It Is Finished

Lesson #319

Now that Jesus has entrusted the care of Mary into the hands of John he now considers his own need. “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.”” (John 19:28 ESV). Jesus came into the world to live a sinless life and without guilt be nailed to a cross and take upon him our sin and die in our place. In just a short time, Jesus will surrender to death, completing the work he was sent to accomplish. Jesus knows the exact time he will do this and so now he speaks at though his work was finished. Now that the end was so close, Jesus says, “I thirst.” Psalm 22:15 speaks of this thirst: “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death.” In response to this request, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink” (Psalm 69:21 ESV). Surely he was thirsty, but I think he also had a great thirst and desire for the salvation of his people.

A soldiers responded to his thirst. John 19:29 (ESV) informs us that “A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.” The sour wine that was offered to Jesus was probably there for the soldiers use and is different from that which was offered to him on the way to the cross. That drink was wine mixed with myrrh to reduce his pain, which Jesus refused to take. At the cross the sponge full of the sour wine was lifted up to Jesus using a hyssop branch, which was mentioned in 1 Kings 4:33 as a simple shrub that could grow out from a crack in a wall. In Exodus 12:22 we find a bunch of hyssop was dipped in blood and then used to place the blood on the lintel and the two doorpost of a home at the original Passover.

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30 ESV). Since this wine was not mixed with Myrrh, Jesus accepted it and then made his final statement, declaring that he had finished the work that his Father had sent him to do. The wage of sin is death and Jesus took upon him our sin and he died in our place. Justice has been served and we can now be forgiven and receive eternal life and be clothed in his righteousness, allowing us to come into God’s presence.

Jesus was in complete control of his death. He received the sour wine, made his statement, bowed his head in surrender to death, and gave up his spirit. Many thought this was the end of him, just as the world thought it was the end of the two witnesses in Revelation 11, but in three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them and they stood up on their feet. Jesus would be placed in a tomb and after three days he would be raised from the dead and have a most profound effect on humanity.

Prayer

Father, it is very clear that the death of Jesus was not just a normal death. The obvious control that he had on when he would die, the darkness that covered the city, the earthquake, and the tearing of the curtain, bear witness that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. Father, you had a plan for our salvation and now the death portion of that plan is complete; Jesus died for our sin. We will soon see the life portion be completed when Jesus rises in victory over death to provide us with the availability of eternal life. What a journey it has been to see this plan unfold, but there is more to come.