Utterances from the cross-I thirst, It is Finished!

Let's read together tonight again in John's Gospel chapter 19. Now we're continuing to look at the utterances of the Lord on the cross and tonight we're going to be looking at I thirst and then it is finished. Both of them are found in this section of John chapter 19.

Verse 28 says, after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that the scripture might be fulfilled saith I thirst. Now there was sent a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost.

Now this is the only gospel that records these two sayings but I want to take you to Matthew 27 to see how it is very closely intertwined with the one that we were looking at last night. Matthew chapter 27 and we'll start reading at verse 45. Now from the sixth hour, that is about noon, there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour or about 3 p.m. and about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is to say my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there when they heard that said this man calleth for Elias and straightway or immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him to drink.

The rest said let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice yielded up the ghost. So you can see that just as the darkness is lifting the Lord uttered that great cry of abandonment that we were looking at last night, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And then somehow in the confusion that followed while some of them thought that he was calling for Elias and you might say well how how you know don't they know the language? How could they be all mistaken like that? Well Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani is from Hebrew.

Some suggest Mark's version of it is Aramaic although I don't know enough about the languages to know there's a slight difference in the way it's recorded in Mark. Eloi, Eloi and there's a suggestion that that could be Aramaic and Elias of course is Greek, the Greek form of Elijah and so here are people who are more commonly in their everyday language speaking in Greek and so there's confusion as they are hearing him as to what he's saying and what what the meaning of it is. And in the middle of that confusion somebody runs for a drink and so I take it that the Lord must have almost immediately after making that great cry of being forsaken that almost immediately after that then he says I thirst and so you see the significance in John 19 and 28 here's what it says after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished so it fits with him having completed the sufferings of atonement it's accomplished and so now he says I thirst and while there's this confusion going on someone runs to get him a drink of this sour wine and the others are saying well just you know leave him alone leave him alone let's see let's see whether Elias will come to save him and then as soon as the Lord Jesus receives the vinegar then he cries again with a loud voice triumphantly it's finished and then Luke gives the final recorded utterance father into thy hands I come in commit or commend my spirit and so there's a very very close quite close intertwining tight intertwining of these last four expressions and now I want to take a little bit of time to think with you about the vinegar wine or however you want to describe it is described variously in these passages because this is the third time in the gospel accounts at the time of the crucifixion that someone offers him this to drink now the first two times he refused it and this time he accepts it the first time is given again in Matthew 27 verse 33 before he is actually put upon the cross it says and when they were come unto the place unto a place called Golgotha that is to say a place of a skull they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall and when he had tasted thereof he would not drink and they crucified him and parted his garments casting lots now in the Gospel of Mark which is the parallel to what we just read it's described as being wine mingled with myrrh but it says he received it not so what was offered to him then and why did he refuse it well it seems that again I don't know too much about the the medical category that myrrh comes into but apparently it was like a painkiller or an anesthetic that was used to dull sensitivity for those who are being crucified and mr. Paisley in his commentary on mark suggests that it was usually presented by some of the compassionate women of the city not by the soldiers necessarily but by some who would have pity upon those people who are going to be about to be crucified so the Lord refused that a little later in Luke's Gospel chapter 23 verse 36 after he's on the cross while they are mocking him part of the mockery is some of the soldiers came and offered him vinegar again I'll just read that again after they are beholding him it says a verse 35 the rulers also with them derided him saying he saved others let him save himself if he be Christ the chosen of God and the soldiers also mocked him coming to him and offering him vinegar and saying if thou be the king of the Jews save thyself so the Lord was offered this vinegar wine sour wine mingled with myrrh in the first place Psalm 69 but verse 21 or so suggests that it was in a sense of mockery they gave me gall also for my meat and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink and so it's presented as part of the reproach and contempt and so on that was poured out upon him so it seems to be from Psalm 69 linked in a negative sense even though you might think from some of the comments in the first three of Matthew 27 the vinegar to drink mingled with gall that perhaps it was compassion so however you look at it at least in some aspects the second one at least it was definitely in mockery or in and reproach that was offered to him so why does he accept it now well I think it's all to do with the reason that he was at Calvary as far as him accepting anything that would desensitize him or stupefy him he would not accept anything that would hinder his capacity to suffer now today pain control is a very important part of medicine isn't it and we appreciate it we don't have a very high tolerance for pain today if there is a pain you go and get something for it but there is suffering that almost no pain medication will touch and for those who are involved in palliative care it's an important element of care for people and I recognize that when the body is overtaken by pain it is very hard on the person and so it is an important element of care today but the Lord wasn't there to survive he wasn't there to have pain alleviated he was there to suffer and so he wouldn't accept anything that would interfere with his capacity to endure the suffering that he was going to be experiencing but now it's accomplished the work is done and then and we might say only then he considers his own need and to me that's a very touching thing to think that the Savior in all the extreme of the agony that he was going through and thirst apparently can become an almost overwhelming thing in those circumstances it's mentioned as well isn't it in Psalm 22 that we were looking at last night and it might be suitable to go back to Psalm 22 and just to connect something that I left you with last night unfinished and that is that in Psalm 22 with the dominant theme of being forsaken we have a progression down through the psalm coming to a climax from verse 18 down possibly I'll just start reading again from verse 18 Psalm 22 they part my garments among them and cast lots upon my vesture but be not thou far from me O Lord O my strength hasty to help me deliver my soul from the sword my darling from the power or the paw of the dog save me from the lion's mouth for thou hast heard me or answered me from the horns of the unicorns now I found it helpful some years ago to see in the New King James Version in verse 21 it's put in a little different order and I think it is more the literal a more literal rendering of this verse and to me it's very very helpful to see that he is giving these urgent appeals and every one of these is implying that he is at the point of being destroyed the paw of the dog the mouth of the lion the horns of the unicorn or the wild oxen now when when you're when you are on the horns of the wild oxen you are about to be impaled you are about to be destroyed and the way the New King James Version reads he would put it would be this way save me from the lion's mouth and from the horns of the wild oxen and then there's a break and then there is this declaration and an exclamation you have answered me now what's the significance of all that well this is where I see a very significant change a dramatic change I'm sure we're all aware of this some 22 is very decisively broken into two parts and from this point on there's a totally different atmosphere in the psalm I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee ye that fear the Lord praise him all ye the seed of Jacob glorify him and fear him all ye the seed of Israel now notice verse 24 for he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted one neither has he hid his face from him but when he cried unto him he heard what is this a declaration of praise to God for his faithfulness now for a long time I always just associated all of that with resurrection and it certainly is true in resurrection God proved his faithfulness to his son by raising him out of death and the Lord Jesus in John chapter 20 uses verse 22 of declaring the Father's name to his brethren it's quoted in Hebrews chapter 2 as well but something that I have come to appreciate and to me it is very very beautiful to see is that before the Savior physically died he experienced the renewal of the presence of God that abandonment that forsaken us on account of sin was accomplished and when it was all accomplished he asks for a drink and when he's given the drink he cries out in triumph it's accomplished it's finished and then he says father father into my hands I commend my spirit I have the sense that he died in peace with the enjoyment of the father's closeness to him and as a testimony in Psalm 22 to faith and God's faithfulness he makes a statement he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted one but when he cried he heard he answered and so this fits with what the Lord declared in John chapter 10 no man takes my life from me I lay it down of myself I have power or authority to lay it down I have power to take it again and so thinking of it from this perspective his enemies did not destroy him they couldn't crush him and they couldn't break his faith in God he kept trusting God and when all the issues of judgment were settled there is this joyful renewal being answered by God sustained through it brought through it and he closes it in triumph in utter peace and triumph in the presence of God and that is also demonstrated of course publicly outwardly to all of the world in resurrection so I think that is something that we can enjoy and appreciate just one more little detail in relation to I thirst and the idea of alleviation of pain and so on for a loved one at the end of death or at the end of life at the time of death this is a very difficult issue especially if a loved one is an unsafe person and we are caught between these two things of wanting them to be in comfort and their pain to be alleviated but also knowing that if they are given so much morphine that they are almost in a zombie land they may not be able to communicate they may not be able to speak or think and that is the only drawback that I see when it comes to the spiritual issues of end-of-life and suffering especially if someone is not saved but I wouldn't want to put any burden on any family as to what is appropriate or not appropriate in such a circumstance but as soon as he receives the vinegar he cries out with this great cry of triumph it is finished so I want to think with you about this cry now again it is only recorded in John chapter 19 but I believe that each of the other gospel accounts refer to it without identifying it and Matthew chapter 27 particularly would prove that he is it is in reference to the cry it is finished because it Matthew 27 does record Eli Eli lama sabbath and I as crying with a loud voice and then it says verse 50 Jesus when he had cried again with a loud voice yielded up the ghost so mark chapter 15 says in Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the ghost and Luke 23 and 46 and when Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said father into thy hands I commit my spirit so who do you think the Lord was talking to when he declares it is finished who was he speaking to well it might be kind of hard to decide I think he was talking to everybody so I want you to think about what this would mean to God what it would mean to the hosts of heaven well it's it's the climax it's the triumph it is the accomplishment of everything that he has been sent into the world to do to be the Redeemer remember on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses and Elijah are there with him what are we talking about they're talking about his decease which he would accomplish at Jerusalem now it's interesting in John 19 in these verses that we read from verse 28 down to verse 30 this same word is repeated three times when it says after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished that's the same word that the scripture might be fulfilled same word again and then when he received the vinegar he said it is finished exactly the same word and so this is the this is the strong emphasis that is being given to us it's accomplished it's finished it is fulfilled and so as far as what this means to God and to the heavenly hosts well it is the victory has been secured the foundation is now laid for God's eternal kingdom and we're going to look at that in just a moment what would it mean to the people gathered around the cross well it must have been perplexity it must have been astonishment here's a who's supposed to be dying he's supposed to be weak and now he's crying out with a with a strong powerful triumphant cry it is accomplished and certainly the centurion and those that were with him they recognize that this is an evidence of supernatural things the combination of him crying out with such triumphant power and then just deliberately yielding up his spirit and dying just right after that and then the earthquake that follows and all these accompanying things created in them this sense this must be the son of God this must be a righteous man and God is vindicating him so certainly there was some response of recognition among at least some who were there what do you think it meant to Satan have you ever been able to figure out Satan's role at Calvary I remember one dear preacher that I've admired and I've quoted him probably more than any other preacher but he made one comment about Satan and Calvary which I've never been able to think is correct his idea is that Satan did not want Christ to go to Calvary because he knew that would be his end somehow that can't be true you wonder why wouldn't Satan know surely he he was aware of prophecy I mean he could quote prophetic things relating to Christ why was Satan blinded to what was really going to happen at Calvary I can only suggest one or two things one thing is as in lifted up in his own pride and having this rivalry to God do you know what happens when you take somebody else as a rival you can't believe that they're good you have such an animosity toward that person that you impute evil motivations are wrong unjust motivations to them over and over again and I'm just going to suggest this that no matter how obvious God's plan should have been to someone as wise as Satan and all the prophecies that existed and God's Son coming into the world he knew he was the Son of God he knew he had come to bring the kingdom of God to the earth how could he not know that he was actually helping God out by bringing him to the cross well maybe it's just as simple as this that he could not believe that God could be that good to actually provide eternal redemption for man that he could not believe the grace of God which has never offered to him but has been offered to us somehow Satan in all his wisdom was blinded to the true meaning of Calvary or else he would never entered into Judas to betray him to seek his destruction but when this cry is uttered I have the idea at least that this was the first inkling to Satan and to the hosts of hell that God has defeated them that God has now established a righteous basis by which God does not have to punish us in hell he does not have to execute his wrath upon us because he has righteously dealt with our sin by means of a son so what spiritual truth is there flowing out from this what has been accomplished you know have you ever been involved in something I think about this when I go to conferences and conferences are always good aren't they and then afterwards we say what really was accomplished what really is the outcome after all is said and done is there any actual accomplishment from what we have just tried to do no one wants to labor at something and and have it accomplish nothing so we need to ask ourselves this question if he declared it's accomplished what really has been accomplished well I'm going to give you a few passages some of these will be so familiar that will hardly need to even go to them but in Daniel chapter 9 and that famous prophecy of the 70 weeks or 77 of years really Daniel is aware that it's a it's approaching the end of the 70-year captivity and he begins to pray to God for understanding of what God is going to do and so the vision is given verse 24 70 weeks or 77 are determined upon by people and upon my holy city to finish the transgression to make an end of sins and to make reconciliation or atonement for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy now some of these expressions are related particularly to the city of Jerusalem to the nation of Israel but you can see that it embraces the kingdom of God the establishing of everlasting righteousness the dealing with sin and so within the confines of these 70 weeks all of this is about to be fulfilled and within that time frame that mentions Messiah the Prince and then it says in verse 26 and after the three score and two weeks there's actually seven weeks plus 62 shall Messiah be cut off but not for himself or and he shall have nothing and the sense is that it will look like he has accomplished nothing so here comes Christ into the world he comes to the nation of Israel he proclaims the kingdom of God and everybody's getting built up that now the kingdom of God is finally going to come it's finally going to be brought in and then he's crucified he's cut off and it looks like he has nothing it's all for nothing as if he's accomplished nothing but in reality he has laid the foundation for eternity that's what was accomplished at Calvary 2nd Corinthians 5 and 17 it says if any man be in Christ he is a new creature or a new creation all things are passed away behold all things are become new so now what this is telling us is that the work that he accomplished upon the cross has laid the foundation for a new creation where God is going to be able to have a totally new creation everything in harmony with himself where sin will be absent and even though the physical creation hasn't experienced this yet every person who gets saved comes into a new and eternal relationship to Christ being born again really involves a new creation we are part of the new creation even though physically we're still part of the old creation if any man be in Christ connected to God in Christ he's a new creation so this is the extent of the value of this work on the cross Ephesians 1 and 3 also draws in a beautiful expression blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ and then there's a whole list of tremendous blessings that follow including the placing of sons adoption of children accepted in the beloved redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins and the obtaining of an inheritance so all of this list of eternal blessings that are secured to us are all through the accomplishment of the Lord at Calvary now the book of Hebrews gives us a lot of detail and maybe I should take you through a few of them at least but let's let's look at the book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high and you probably are very much aware that the book of Hebrews presents the Lord Jesus in this this special position of seated sitting he's finished the work he's not any longer offering sacrifice for sin he's not trying to bring the people to God and make reconciliation to provide atonement he has accomplished it once forever and he's seated in heaven itself and so we have this wonder of an eternal salvation and that's some of the language that is used further in the book of Hebrews Hebrews chapter 9 twice refers to the word eternal Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 11 says but Christ in contrast to the sanctuary of old and the priesthood of old it says but Christ being come and high priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is to say not of this building and literally not of this creation neither by the blood of goats and calves by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us the book of Hebrews is certainly one of the richest books in the New Testament because it is written especially to the people who were the covenant people of God under the Old Covenant but are now being invited and called to leave that behind and come into a relationship to God under a new covenant established through the Lord Jesus and his sacrifice and everything that the Old Covenant had the tabernacle system the priesthood the sacrifices all the rituals of cleansing all of those things are shown to have a fulfillment they were just shadows of the reality Christ has brought the reality he is high priest of the good things to come of the everlasting things he has the capacity to bring us into eternity and it's all founded upon this sacrifice which he accomplished once for all time and so the redemption as a comparison and a contrast with the redemption of Israel out of Egypt Christ has brought us into an eternal redemption delivered rescued redeemed bought back brought to God given an eternal inheritance an eternal rest so we have this expression having obtained eternal redemption now verse 13 for if the blood of bulls and of goats and ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctified to the purifying of the flesh how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God and for this cause he is the mediator of a New Testament and that again is the word covenant that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the First Testament or First Covenant they who are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance now eternal inheritance carries tremendous implications you know what there is such a an interest today in in getting rich suddenly and it seems like almost every week there's some you know either online or in the newspaper there's an announcement of someone who has won millions of dollars and they're suddenly very wealthy and they might even have the prospect of having more money than they can burn through in their lifetime what would be the use of having an eternal inheritance if you don't have eternal life to enjoy it if someone promises to you an eternal inheritance and you're going to die in six weeks you might say well what good is this going to do me and so if there is an eternal inheritance that we are given we also need to be made eternal with a capacity and fitness to be able to experience it and to enjoy it forever all of this rests upon the work of the Lord Jesus when he was made sin for us and he bore that divine judgment against our sin and we have been cleared and cleansed from it Hebrews 9 and 26 in again in contrast to the Old Testament ritual system of the great day of atonement which was done once a year it says let's go back to verse 24 for Christ is not entered into holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true that is the it's like a picture or a type of the true that is the real or the ultimate but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us nor yet that he should offer himself often as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year that's what it means every year with blood of others for then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world but now once in the end of the world or the consummation of the ages has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself and so here we have the assurance that what he did on the cross has truly put away sin from before God Hebrews chapter 10 again emphasizes three words sanctified perfected and forgiven verse 10 by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all verse 14 for by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified and then the terms of the new covenant are infant are mentioned again verse 17 and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more now where remission of these is or forgiveness of these is there is no more offering for sin based upon that he says we have freedom to enter into the very presence of God so there's tremendous consequences tremendous accomplishment brought into being by this work of Christ let me take you back to 2nd Timothy chapter 1 2nd Timothy chapter 1 speaking of the salvation that we have come into it says verse 9 who has called us who has saved us rather and called us with an holy calling not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel now that's saying a mouthful isn't it he has abolished death you say well how come death is still very much a part of our existence then well the word abolished here is nullified he has rendered it powerless and first of all he has done this in himself because he rose from the dead he has personally nullified death in himself and by virtue of his death being a sacrifice for our sins we also can look forward to this promise that for us to death will be ultimately abolished if we have to die we'll rise again but we may not have to die because when he comes this temporary in-between condition of incompleteness will be over with and all that he has accomplished will be instantly there and available and included in that is the abolishing of death itself now our world desperately needs this our world desperately needs this Savior and to think that for 2,000 years this kind of salvation has been available to mankind and all the world could have come into its blessing but he is still rejected every time I go to a funeral and I'm reminded of John chapter 11 where the Lord speaking to those two grieving sisters says your brother's gonna rise again and Martha says in her faith her knowledge of the revelation of God that she had at that time I know that my brother shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day and then Jesus says to her I am the resurrection and the life I am that power of resurrection and I'm here now and it has always touched me to think that as far as this earth is concerned there are 2,000 years of unnecessary suffering if Christ would only have been received and acknowledged as King and if the kingdom of God could have been welcomed in the earth 2,000 years ago there's 2,000 years of unnecessary sorrow and grief and cemeteries when the deliverer of mankind was here among us with the power over death and he himself personally showed that victory in his own sacrificial death and resurrection aren't you glad that he's still gonna come even though still despised and rejected still looked on and misunderstood but he's going to fulfill his promise he's going to come and the world is going to see the wonder of the sovereign with power over death itself so he is abolished death he has brought life and immortality immortality is deathlessness incorruptibility and as we think about all that exists today and to realize that he possesses the power to change that into a state of incorruptibility where there will be no breakdown and destruction now I should have mentioned probably earlier in this list one of the first primary blessings that we come into when we first get saved and that is justification justification peace with God reconciled to God Romans chapter 5 verses 1 to 10 bring those beautiful truths before us all of this comes to us by his death his sacrificial death the last one I wanted to just draw attention to is mentioned in Hebrews 2 and 14 and also in 1st John 3 and 8 Hebrews 2 he says verse 14 for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might again this word to destroy or to render powerless or nullify him that had the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage and 1st John 3 and 8 says that you know that the Son of God for this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil so the devil and all his destructive designs defeated by one man on the cross by dying for the rest of us because you might say well how is that possible but what did Satan used to destroy us in the first place he used God's righteousness against him he knew that God must judge sin and so he tricked Adam and Eve into rebellion against God to bring God's judgment upon us to bring us under the sentence of death to make us unusable for God and the Lord Jesus has overturned that by coming into our world and at Calvary representing us before God so that God's justice can be perfectly satisfied and removing that power of Satan to keep us from God and to keep God against us and so God at such cost to himself was willing to go through this extreme of the death of his own son to cause him to suffer for us so that his righteousness first of all would be satisfied so that his love could flow out to us without any hindrance and so Satan's works overturned now my time is gone I will try to touch Lord willing tomorrow night a little bit on the personal application of all of this to our faith and then to think with you for a little while on the Savior's final utterance of committing himself to the father in death shall we pray