johnitisfinished

We have looked at the two trials where Jesus was accused of blasphemy by the Jewish Sanhedrin court and of being a traitor to Rome by Pilate’s court.

All that is left now to satisfy the blood lust of the Jews is to have Jesus of Nazareth crucified and they will be done with Him. Kill the itinerant rabbi and the people will forget about the miracles and the claims that He made.

John records the crucifixion is majestic simplicity. The other Gospel writers give more details but John writing some 30 years later than Matthew, Mark, and Luke writes the essential facts to show that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah promised over the centuries in the law, the psalms, and the prophets.

John 19:17-37

17 And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha,

18 where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

19 Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

20 Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

21 Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I am the King of the Jews."'"

22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece.

24 They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

"They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.

25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"

27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"

29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him.

33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.

35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken."

37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced." (NKJV)

As we continue in our exposition of John’s Gospel we have come to the actual crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it cannot be stated too often that Jesus was in complete control of what was being done. As evil and sinful as were the acts of the Jewish leaders and the Roman soldiers everything that was done was in the “determined counsel and foreknowledge of God.” [Acts 2:23]

Here is the Word made flesh, who in the mind of the Father was “as a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” [Revelation 13:8] And because He gave us the Word through the Holy Spirit every minute detail from the Scriptures as to how God provides the atonement for the sin of His people must be accomplished.

When we read and meditate on the crucifixion of the Christ, we should not think of Jesus as a helpless victim, but as the Victor over sin and death.

Popular movies can run on for hours with the most vivid portrayal of the physical sufferings of Jesus and they can bring forth tears of pity but those tears will soon be forgotten unless a person is given the grace to see what is really happening in the spiritual realm.

John 10:18

No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

That is the full force behind His last spoken word from the cross,

“It is finished!”

The Son of God has finished the work of redemption; the righteousness of God is proven; propitiation has been made; you may be justified freely! [Romans 3:21-26]

Even though Jesus was condemned by the Jewish court as a blasphemer and sentenced to die by the Roman court as a traitor He was given seven acquittals.

Briefly the seven acquittals are:

1) Judas, Matthew 27:3-4

3 Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 saying, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."

2) Pilate, John 19:4

Pilate then went out again, and said to them, "Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him."

3) Herod, Luke 23:13-15

13 Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14 said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him;

15 no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.

4) Pilate’s wife, Matthew 27:19

While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, "Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him."

5) The repentant thief, Luke 23:39-41

39 Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."

40 But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?

41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."

6) Centurion, Luke 23:47

So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"

7) Those who stood by the centurion, Matthew 27:54

So when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

Seven times He was declared “Not Guilty!”

Jesus was not personally guilty but God declared Him to be guilty by imputation. Jesus was put in the rank and order of sinners. The sin of His people was charged to Him and God considered Him to be guilty.

And every one of us is considered to be guilty, guilty of imputed sin and actual sin, and we will remain under the holy wrath of God unless and until God by His grace declares us “Not guilty!”

The sin of Adam is charged to our account and we compound that imputed guilt with our actual sin.

Whether or not you agree with God that you are guilty, you are nonetheless a guilty and condemned sinner if you have not been born again and judicially put “in Christ.”

Anyone who is justified [declared not guilty] is made so by imputation.

God does not make a person righteous by accepting their works of personal righteousness but God declares them to be righteous by imputing the righteousness of Christ to them.

2 Corinthians 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

That is the sum and substance of what we have before us in the death of Christ on a Roman cross.

“And He bearing His cross, …” [17]

After 2000 years and centuries of tradition and superstition it may be nearly impossible for someone to consider that the cross was anything other than the shape that is in your mind right now. What did the cross look like? Of course it was an upright pole with a crossbeam, you would say. You may even be wearing a replica of the cross. We have seen the portraits and the movies and we have an image firmly fixed in our mind.

But there are at least four possible configurations of a crucifixion cross.

One shape is like an X. Some ancient records describe some crucifixions on such a shape. Another shape is like a T and another is the shape that we all imagine. Whether or not it proves anything, the Greek word translated “cross” is “stauros” (an upright pale or stake).

stauros (stow-ros'); from the base of NT:2476; a stake or post (as set upright), i.e. (specifically) a pole or cross (as an instrument of capital punishment); figuratively, exposure to death, i.e. self-denial; by implication, the atonement of Christ: KJV - cross.

Without being dogmatic I believe the cross of Christ was a simple upright trunk of a tree.

This would come closer to the OT:

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

"If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

Paul quotes this in Galatians 3:13

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"),

Since the cross was carried by one man it could not have been the massive structure that is depicted in many paintings and movies.

“… went out to a place called …”

The Place of the Cranium (skull): Greek translated from Aramaic, Golgotha, means skull; Latin; calvaria becomes (Calvary) which also means, skull. But why was it called “the Place of a skull”?

Some writers say that looked on from above the area of the ground was shaped like a human skull.

According to Epiphanius of the 4th century it was so called because there were many dried skulls lying all around?

Best answer: We don't know.

“Where they crucified Him.”

Crucifixion was the mode of execution used by Macedonia, Persia, Syria, Egypt, and Rome. Romans reserved it for the grossest of crimes.

The Jews used stoning.

Crucifixion is thought to be the most cruel and painful way to put a human to death that has ever been used.

What is death by crucifixion? Basically death comes by suffocation and exhaustion.

My purpose is not to dwell on the physical aspects of the crucifixion because the Gospel writers do not say all that much about it.

John only says, “They crucified Him.”

So I believe that the emphasis should be on Who died on the cross and why He had to die instead of a lengthy description of how crucifixion was done.

The hands were pulled up over the head which is more likely on a pole rather than outstretched on a crossbeam. The hands and feet were nailed to the pole but without breaking the bones. The bones would be needed to allow the person being crucified to rise up to relieve the pain and suffocation. There was a sort of “seat” on the pole that a man could rest his bottom on as long as there was strength enough to push up. But as exhaustion takes over the legs cannot hold him and he drops down with the weight of his body supported only by the nails in his hands.

But when a man is suffocating he will desperately grasp for relief and push back up on the seat and this cycle of struggling for breath will continue until he dies. Death by crucifixion could take hours and even days.

In the case of our Lord the length of time on the cross is not a deciding factor in what is occurring on the cross.

The important things are Who and Why!

“… and two others with Him, one on either side,

and Jesus in the center.”

John is careful to point out that there were two others crucified with Jesus because Isaiah 53:12 says, “And He was numbered with the transgressors,”

[18-19] Pilate has the accusation against Jesus nailed over His head on the cross. The accusation is written in three languages [20]:

Hebrew for the Jews;

Greek for the educated crowd;

Latin for the Romans (legal);

Anyone there could read it.

There are different words recorded by the other Gospel writers and it is likely that they translated the three different languages.

Matthew gives the accusation: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Mark and Luke write: THE KING OF THE JEWS

John gives His title: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS

The Jews were offended by the title but God’s providence overrules their objections. [21]

The chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

Pilate has been intimidated by the threat of the Jews. He wanted to release Jesus but the Jews said, “If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar’s friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar.”

So in a last effort to be in control Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.” [22]

Verses 23-24 bring out an amazing bit of OT prophecy being fulfilled by the actions of the Roman soldiers.

24 They said therefore among themselves, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

"They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things.

Psalm 22:18

18 They divide My garments among them,

And for My clothing they cast lots.

God’s providence declares in:

Proverbs 16:33

The lot is cast into the lap,

But its every decision is from the LORD.

Here is the scene. The Roman soldiers are doing the awful job of crucifying a man. They had crucified many others before. They had probably never seen or heard any OT Scripture. And here they are doing what their wicked hearts led them to do while fulfilling the OT prophecy in exact detail.

According to I. P. Free, Archaeology and Bible History, there are 332 distinct prophecies in the Old Testament which have been literally fulfilled by Jesus of Nazareth. The mathematical probability that all of these prophesies could be fulfilled in a single person is one in 84 times 10 to the 97th power! (84 x 1097)

Therefore the soldiers did these things.

[25] Scholars disagree on the number of women at the cross. There were either three or four. To me it is significant that the mother of Jesus was there in fulfillment of Simeon’s prophecy:

Luke 2:34-35

34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against

35(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

And Mary Magdalene was there and she is the first one to see Jesus after He arose from the dead.

Except for John, where were the men?

26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"

27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

“woman” is not a harsh word. Cf. John 2:6 & 20:13

Seeing Mary, His mother, suffer added to His suffering on the cross.

It should reveal something about the power of tradition and superstition when an entire religion can be built on Mary when she is not mentioned in the Bible after Acts chapter 1.

Mary is blessed among women and commands every respect but Mary is not to be worshipped as “co-redemptrix” or as the “Mother of God.”

Notice that Mary is to depend on John, not John on Mary.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I thirst!"

29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth.

Psalm 69:21

They also gave me gall for my food,

And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psalm 69:21 is fulfilled. The "Rock" that followed Moses in the wilderness and watered the people is thirsty. Living Water is dying as a man.

At the beginning of His ministry of humiliation Jesus turned water into wine and the governor of the wedding feast said it was the best wine. Her on the cross Jesus is given the dregs of wine turned to vinegar, the worst wine.

30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!"

And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

"It is finished!" Literally: finished to stay finished; done once for all.

Every Scripture is fulfilled.

This is Psalm 22:31 “That He has done this.” "It is finished!"

There is a connection to the cry "It is finished!" [verse 30] and what Matthew records in Matthew 27:45-46:

46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

In Matthew 27:46 Jesus is quoting the first verse of Psalm 22: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

And in John 19:30, the last verse of Psalm 22 “That He has done this.” "It is finished!"

Listen carefully because I want to present a very different interpretation of what Jesus means as He quotes Psalm 22:1:

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

Every commentary and sermon that I ever read or heard on the so-called “Cry of Dereliction”, except for one, presents Jesus as utterly forsaken and abandoned by God the Father as the Son of God is made to be sin.

The idea is that Jesus, in order to suffer the wrath of God for His people, must be abandoned by God the Father on the cross. Where in the Scripture do we find the necessity that God the Father must abandon the Son in order for the Son to experience the holy wrath of God against sin?

On a human level, how could a father punish his son if the father abandoned the son?

The problem with the idea that the Father ever was separated from the Son, at least in my understanding, is that there are so many passages of Scripture that say that there is an eternal unity and coordination in the Persons of the Trinity and that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit always work in unity and that there is only one will of God.

Using a few texts from John’s Gospel I am only going to show that everything that Jesus said and did was from the Father. It is not conceivable to me that the Father would reject the Son as He carries out the Father’s will and eternal purpose to glorify the Father and the Son and to give a people to the Son. [John 17:1-2]

John 3:16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 5:16-17

For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."

John 5:18-19

18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

John 5:30

I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

John 6:38-40

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

John 8:28-30

28 Then Jesus said to them, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him."

John 10:17-18

17 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

John 10:30

“I and My Father are one.”

John 17:1-5

1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You,

2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him.

3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.

5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

John 18:11

So Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword into the sheath. Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?"

So then, if the Father has not abandoned the Son what does Jesus mean when He quotes the first and the last verses of Psalm 22?

We all agree that Psalm 22 is about the Messiah and that it describes in graphic detail death by crucifixion. The Jews could not grasp that Messiah would come and suffer and die. All they wanted was an earthly King.

What Jesus is demonstrating as He hung on that cursed tree is that He is the Messiah of Psalm 22!

My source for this interpretation is an article by Charles D. Alexander,

“The Concert of the Trinity”

and also a response by Mr. Alexander to the furor that was caused when this article was published.

"It is finished!"

WHAT IS FINISHED?

Finished is the promise of a “seed” that would bruise the head of the serpent.

Finished are the covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Finished are the sure mercies of David.

Finished are all of the types and shadows of centuries of blood sacrifices.

Finished are the prophecies of the prophets.

Finished is the OT economy.

Romans 3:21-26

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed,

26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

"It is finished!"

[… 30] “And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”

Literally: He bows His head on His bosom and walks out of His body.

John 10:17-18

17 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.

18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

We must always keep in mind that Jesus was a deliberate and willing Substitute for sinners. Jesus, in God’s eternal purpose, was in complete control of every minute detail of His life, trial, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.

On what day of the week did the crucifixion occur?

Well, on “Good Friday”, of course!

We are so bound up in tradition that it is virtually impossible for many Christians to sort out the truth of the Scripture from what man has added.

The current stir over the “Da Vinci Code” makes the point. A man writes a work of fiction and blends in a little Bible and the ignorant world is more than ready to take it up. Sad to say, many Christians are so weak in their ability to discern truth from error that they will be disturbed by this really stupid book and movie.

We either accept the authority and sufficiency of the Bible or we do not.

When something comes along, no matter how popular it may be, we must consider it from the view of whether or not the Bible is true. If the Bible is not true and sufficient then let’s go home.

That is what I mean by the power of tradition.

Then on what day of the week did the crucifixion occur?

John gives us a clear statement that Jesus was crucified before a “high day Sabbath.” The high day Sabbath was never the seventh day Sabbath.

There were two Sabbaths in the crucifixion week: a high day Sabbath and the seventh day Sabbath. The Jewish day is evening and morning, i.e., sundown of one day to sundown of the following day. That is a Jewish 24-hour day

My belief is that the crucifixion occurred on Wednesday by our calendar before the high day Sabbath which was on Thursday.

Tradition says that Jesus was crucified on “Good Friday.” There is no way that you can squeeze three days and three nights out of Friday evening through Sunday morning.

Matthew 12:38-40

38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from You."

39 But He answered and said to them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.

40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Jesus was crucified and buried before the high day Sabbath and He rose from the grave before the first day of the week that we call Easter Sunday.

“Good Friday” is one of those things driven by centuries of tradition and superstition and like the cry, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me” are so established that your mind is closed to any other explanation.

You are either open to the test of the Scripture or your prejudice closes your mind. Mr. Alexander warned: “Never underestimate the power of a preconceived notion.”

31 … , the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

They were so careful that the Law be kept while they commit murder!

32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs.

The purpose of breaking the legs of one being crucified was twofold: the shock could cause death; their ability to hold themselves up is gone so they cannot breathe.

The Roman soldiers are professionals. He was dead!

But they did put a spear in His side (Zechariah 12:10)

34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. 35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.

36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken." 37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."

Zechariah 12:10

"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Zechariah 13:1

"In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.

The physiological explanation of crucifixion: As a consequence of great mental agony of soul (remember He sweated drops of blood), His heart actually ruptured. Death would be instantaneous, and the blood would collect in the pericardium. Also, the limpid serum (water) would collect. The spear did not kill Him, but released the blood and water from around the heart to gush out.

WE MUST NOT CLOSE THIS SERVICE WITH A DEAD SAVIOUR.

We will, if the Lord wills, continue in the burial and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Everything that I have said today is the best of my understanding.

But agreeing with a factual account and an explanation of the details of the crucifixion will not save you.

You must agree with God that you are a guilty and a justly condemned sinner and that only by grace have you come to know that the death of Jesus was sufficient to satisfy the wrath of a trice holy God against you personally.

The invitation is for you to repent and look to Jesus Christ.

Can you do that?

Amen