Good Friday The Sixth Word From The Cross: The Adulteress

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The Sixth Word From The Cross:

The Adulteress

John 8:2-11, John 19:29-30, Matthew 26:39, 42, Matthew 20:22,

2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 3:13

This woman who encountered Jesus has her story recorded in John’s gospel. When she thought her life was finished, Jesus invited her to a new beginning. The scene from John 8:2-11 unfolds with tension but ends in relief.

“Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.” John 8:2-11

Indeed, this woman caught in adultery was finished according to what the law in that day said should happen next. Death by stoning was the written consequence for her sin. However, Jesus had a different plan for her on this day. She was not finished. She was to be forgiven and set on a new path with a fresh start. Perhaps Jesus thought about how His approaching time on the cross would pay the price for her sin. Soon, it would be finished so she could be free to live a new life.

It is Finished

It would not be long from the scene in John 8 until Jesus was experiencing the moment where all who had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God would have the crushing weight of their sin being dealt with on the cross. John 19:29-30 captures the culminating moment when the final payment of all sin was paid in full. Jesus had been on the cross for six hours at this point and had just called out concerning His thirst from the crucifixion process which led to deep dehydration among his other painful ailments in His body, mind, and soul.

“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. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:29-30

The sixth word of Christ from the cross is spoken in verse 30.

“It is finished.” John 19:30

These are just three short words in the English language; only one word in the Greek. Tetelestai: it is in the perfect tense, and it means “it has been and will forever remain finished and there is nothing that can ever happen to unfinish what Jesus just finished.”

IT IS FINISHED!

What comes to mind when you hear those words? For those who have young kids or have raised kids, perhaps a question comes to mind that often is heard at the dinner table when kids are present.

“Can I be finished?”

Many kids in America seem to ask that question at dinner.

“Can I be finished?

Then the negotiations begin.

Adult: “You can be finished when you eat three more bites.”

Kid: “Three more bites and then I can have some dessert?”

Adult: “Well, five more bites and then dessert. Three more bites and no dessert.”

Some parents bypass negotiations completely and get “old school” on their kids when asked: “Can I be finished?

And the response is: “You can be finished when you clean your plate.” Followed by the reminder that: “There are starving kids in ________(fill in the country that your parents used).” However, Jesus was not about finishing what was on His plate, but rather finishing what was in the cup.

Jesus took on our sin, Drank the Cup

The night before the cross when Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane praying to His Heavenly Father, Jesus asked if He had to drink the cup that was before Him. The conversation went like this:

“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Matthew 26:39

The Father said, “No. I’m sorry, but you have to finish the cup. It’s the only way to rescue humanity from the consequences of their sin.”

Jesus was overwhelmed to the point that He was sweating drops of blood as His soul was filled with sorrow. The conversation in prayer wraps up like this:

“Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’” Matthew 26:42

And the answer was the same. The only way to rescue humanity is to drink all the contents of the cup of sin, shame, and suffering that comes with the cross. This was not a surprise to Jesus. He knew this day would come. This is why Jesus came from heaven to earth. He came to drink the whole cup. He even had a conversation on the matter earlier with His disciples who were wanting a place of prominence in His Kingdom. The question Jesus asks them concerning the cup is found in Matthew 20:22.

“Jesus answered, ‘You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?’ They said to him, ‘We are able.’” Matthew 20:22

What was in the cup that Jesus did not want to drink? All the wrath of God and all the sin of humanity all swirled together that was a deep, dark, death potion. In the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was asking His Father about the cup, He knew how gross that cup would taste because He knew the ingredients. He knew the saying was about to come true for Him in a very real way:

“You are what you eat and drink.”

The Apostle Paul tells us what Jesus was about to become as He consumed the cup. 2 Corinthians 5:21 is where Paul writes:

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus became sin; His cup was filled with the sin of humanity from all people of all times. He drank it to the last drop and became what He drank. Jesus became sin for all humanity when He consumed the cup and sacrificed His life on the cross as a sin offering for all people.

Galatians 3:13 tells us what also was mixed in the cup when again Paul writes:

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.’” Galatians 3:13

Jesus became a curse; His cup was filled with the curse from God that would have and should have been our curse. However, Jesus made what has been called the Great Exchange. He became the curse on the tree for all humanity for all time in exchange for all humanity having the opportunity to be redeemed by what Jesus finished. Tetlestai: “by what has been and will forever remain finished, and there is nothing that can ever happen to unfinish what Jesus finished.”

The sixth last word of Christ from the cross was: “It is finished.” John 19:30 In this word, Jesus proclaimed that He had drained the cup of wrath filled with the sin of the world and our curse; and He drank it all the way to the bottom. It was a bitter drink over a six hour slow, sacrificial sipping, and consuming of all the contents of the cup from 9am-3pm on Calvary’s Cross.

What do we do with the fact that it is finished?

Perhaps we could do what Jesus invites us to do: Remember. Remember that “It is finished.” The sacrifice and the slow death sip of the cup was drained to the bottom of every drop. And His mission to rescue the world includes rescuing you from sin, death, Satan, and hell is finished and will forever remain finished, and there is nothing that can ever happen to unfinish what Jesus finished. Your sin and my sin have been consumed by Jesus. Forgiveness is ready to be experienced by all who allow the deep, dark, drinking of the cup to be done on all our behalf.

For those who have placed their faith, hope, and trust in Jesus and have allowed Jesus to drink their cup of wrath and sin and curse, today we pause and remember that He is a great God who rescued us and gave us back our lives. The way Jesus asks us to remember His sacrifice is by cleaning our plates and drinking our cups of remembrance through the Lord’s Supper.

The broken pieces of bread represent the broken body of Jesus that was cursed on the cross for us. On that cross when Jesus’ body was broken, we got our lives back.

The contents in the cups are a reminder of the precious blood of Jesus that was poured out at the cross to cleanse us from all our sin, cursedness and unrighteousness.

As we prepare to eat the bread and drink the cup, may we remember today that what Jesus said on that day at the cross still has implications on this day and throughout eternity for our lives: It is finished!

No stones of condemnation need to be thrown. Only humble adoration and thanksgiving need be given for what Jesus has done to remove our sin and shame and give us a new beginning to go and sin no more because it is finished.