John 19 Verses 28 to 30 The End of the Beginning May 21, 2023

John 19 Verses 28 to 30 The End of the Beginning May 21, 2023

Class Presentation Notes AAAAA

Background Scripture:

Hebrews 2:14-15 (NASB) 14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (NASB) 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

Main Idea: The Cross is where the full force of God’s judgment against sin fell.

Study Aim: To understand that when Jesus died, He became sin for us.

Create Interest:

· The last words a person shares just before dying are generally well thought through and very meaningful. Those that hear them often mull them over in their minds many times in the years to come and often are affected in many ways by them. Can you imagine the importance we can gain by Jesus last seven statements from the cross, knowing that He knew what He would say since the beginning of all creation?

o Let’s explore those words together and find comfort and encouragement in all He did for us.

· In addition, I would call your attention to the fulfillment of prophesy in everything that Jesus did. I pray this will add new light to your knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Lesson in Historical Context:

· The Son of God has been made man. He has lived a life of perfect virtue and of total self-denial. He has been despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His enemies have been legion; His friends have been few, and those few faithless. He is at last delivered over into the hands of them that hate Him. He is arrested while in the act of prayer; He is arraigned before both the spiritual and temporal courts. He is robed in mockery, and then unrobed in shame. He is set upon his throne in scorn, and then tied to the pillar in cruelty. He is declared innocent, and yet He is delivered up by the judge who ought to have preserved Him from His persecutors. He is dragged through the streets of that Jerusalem which had killed the prophets and would now crimson itself with the blood of the prophets’ Master. He is brought to the cross; He is nailed fast to the cruel wood. The sun burns him. His cruel wounds increase the fever. God forsakes Him. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” contains the concentrated anguish of the world. While He hangs there in mortal conflict with sin and Satan, His heart is broken, His limbs are dislocated. Heaven fails Him, for the sun is veiled in darkness. Earth forsakes Him, for “His disciples forsook him and fled.” He looks everywhere, and there is none to help; He casts His eye around, and there is no man that can share His toil. He treads the winepress alone; and of the people there is none with Him. On, on, He goes, steadily determined to drink the last dreg of that cup which must not pass from Him if his Father’s will be done. At last he cries— “It is finished,” and He gives up the ghost. Hear it, Christians, hear this shout of triumph as it rings to-day with all the freshness and force which it had eighteen hundred years ago! Hear it from the Sacred Word, and from the Savior’s lips, and may the Spirit of God open your ears that you may hear as the learned and understand what you hear![1]

Bible Study:

John 19:28-29 (NASB) 28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, *said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth.

· In verse 28 we read, “After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished.” We have here, first of all, a concession of Christ’s knowledge of Scripture. Had He not known the Scriptures He would not have known when the Scriptures were fulfilled.

o We have also the concession that Christ knew those particular Scriptures which had reference to His death upon the Cross.

§ In other words, Christ knew beforehand every prophesied detail which lay before Him on that hour.

o With what sense of satisfaction did the Lord see each foretold event accomplished, as He went round the cycle of His suffering.

§ With what particular satisfaction did He realize that “all things were now accomplished.” His agony was almost over; there remained but one thing yet to be fulfilled.

· Christ’s supplemental work. In order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled He said, “I thirst.” Let us quote for you the very passage which Christ had in mind. It is found in Psalm 69:21, “They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink.”

o We have already seen that the Scripture found in Psalm 22:18 had been fulfilled. That Scripture read, “They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture.” This one Scripture in Psalm 69:21, now awaited fulfillment before He willingly died.

o Having cried, “I thirst,” 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 His Spirit.” We can almost catch the exultant spirit of our Lord in this cry, as He realized that He had accomplished the work that His Father had given Him to do.[2]

· Jesus said, “I thirst.” It had been hours since He had had a drink of water. But note: the stress of Jesus’ words was not that He was physically thirsty. He was not complaining of thirst, not even asking for a drink. The stress was upon His fulfilling Scripture (Ps. 69:21) …

o to show that Jesus was truly the Promised Messiah, the One who fulfilled Scripture.

o to show that Jesus’ mind was set onfulfilling the Scriptures of the promised Messiah.

o to show that Jesus had come as the Promised Messiah to do the will of God, dying as the sacrifice for man. He refused to do God’s will unthoughtfully, with deadened senses and a semi-conscious mind. He had work to do in sacrificing His life for man: He was to taste death for all men, and He would taste it in full consciousness, being as mentally alert as possible.

§ Leviticus 10:9—Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:

§ “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Heb. 2:9).[3]

· The words, “I thirst” show the humanity of Jesus Christ.

o Jesus was the God man, Son of God and Son of Man.

§ As a man He got tired, but as God He said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest.”

§ As a man He got hungry, but as God, He fed thousands with a little boy’s lunch.

§ As a man He got thirsty, but as God He gave living water.

§ As a man He was tempted in all points as we are, and as God, He was tempted without sin.

§ As a man He slept and as God, He awoke to calm a raging sea. As a man, boats carried Him across the sea and as God, He walked upon the waters of a rolling sea.

§ As a man, He wept at Lazarus’ grave and as God, He raised Lazarus from the dead. He was the God man! Nailed to the cross, Jesus said, “I thirst.” This was one of the seven sayings on the cross.[4]

Let’s pause here and illuminate Jesus’ seven statements on the cross. They were words of pardon, promise, preparation, pain, privation, performance, and prostration..

· Words of Pardon

o Luke 23:34—Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

· Words of Promise

o Luke 23:43—And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Thoughts to soak on before moving forward with the next five statements from the Cross.

· To examine the promise of paradise in this saying, we note the affirmation of the promise, the foundation for the promise, the limitation in the promise, the acceleration of the promise, the association in the promise, the location in the promise.

o Affirmation of the promise. “Verily.” The word translated “verily” is a transliteration from the Hebrew “amen.” It is also rendered in the English “amen.” It occurs 151 times in the New Testament. Of these 151 times, it is translated “verily” 106 times and “amen” 45 times. Twenty-five of the times it is translated “verily,” it is the double “verily, verily.” At the beginning of a sentence this word means surely or truly making it a strong affirmation of a truth or statement about to be made. At the ending of a sentence it means so be it or so it is which is a strong affirmation of the truth of a statement just made. The “verily” here means that the promise of Christ is absolutely certain.

o Foundation for the promise. “I say.” There are two great foundations for this promise. They are the mandate of Christ and the mercy of Christ. First, the mandate.“I say” expresses the mandate. The mandate is the Word of God. Salvation is based on the Word of God. Salvation is not based on wistful thinking or myths. It is based on the best foundation of all—the Word of God. Second, mercy. Salvation is based on the mercy of God. This thief certainly did not deserve salvation. He was a wretched sinner who deserved to die. All salvation is of Divine mercy and grace. “For by grace are ye saved” (Ephesians 2:8). “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us” (Titus 3:5).

o Limitation in the promise. “Thou.” The promise was given only to the repenting thief. Only those who call upon Christ will be saved. Salvation is freely offered to all, but it is limited to those who call upon Christ for salvation. Do not count upon salvation just because your parents or friends or wife or husband are saved, or because you live in a certain country or belong to a certain church. “Thou” refers only to those who have repented of their sins and ask the Savior for soul salvation.

o Acceleration in the promise. “Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” The thief had prayed to be remembered “when thou comest into thy kingdom” which was sometime in the future. But Christ accelerated the promise to “today.” The word “today” refutes three popular false doctrines. (1) “Today” refutes purgatory. The thief was not going to purgatory to stay for a number of years until some priest prayed him out when his relatives crossed the priest’s palm with enough money. (2) “Today” refutes soul sleep. The thief was not going off into some prolonged period of unconscious sleep and then later being ushered into heaven. He was going to be in paradise with Jesus Christ that very day. (3) “Today” refutes baptismal regeneration. The thief could not be baptized because he was attached to the cross. Yet, Christ promised that he would be saved. Baptism is a testimony of one’s salvation, not a condition of one’s salvation.

o The association in the promise. “With me.” The thief would be with Christ. That is the greatest blessing of salvation. When Apostle Paul spoke of the coming of Christ, he stated that the great blessing was “so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). The disciples had many faults, but one fault they did not have was their desire to be with Christ. So, when Christ gave them their commission (the great commission) of service after the resurrection, the great motivation for fulfilling the commission was “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world”(Matthew 28:20). When Moses was in a crisis regarding leading the Israelites to Canaan, he pleaded with God to be with him. Moses so valued the presence of God that he said, “If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence” (Exodus 33:15). So, the promise of the presence of Christ actually made paradise real eternally. Without the presence of Christ, heaven will not be heavenly.

o The location in the promise. “ in Paradise.” The location in the promise was “paradise.” The word “paradise” was originally used to speak of a beautiful garden full of every blessed thing on the earth. The Septuagint (Greek translation of Hebrew Bible made several hundred years before the birth of Christ) used this word for the Garden of Eden. Obviously, the word here means a wonderful and delightful place. We can get more specific about the eternal abode of the righteous when we read of some of the descriptions of the place in the book of Revelation. The one thing we can be assured of is that it will be a more wonderful place than anything on this earth.[5]

· Words of Preparation & Precepts

o John 19:26–27.… When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! [27] Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. John was the only one to record these words of instruction for Mary and John.

· Words of Pain

o Matthew 27:46—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?

· Words of Deprivation or Parchment

o John 19:28—After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

· Words of Prostration

o Luke 23:46—And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. In death, He was yielded to His Father.[6]

John 19:30 (NASB) 30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!”And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

· He didn’t say, “I am finished.” He said, “It is finished.” This statement is from the Greek word tetelestai which means “it is finished; it stands finished; and it always will be finished.” It was a word that was commonly used in Jesus’ day. Let’s marvel and the use of that word by Jesus!

o It was used by slaves or servants.

§ When they completed an assigned task, slaves would report to their master and say, “Tetelestai… the job is finished you assigned to me.” Jesus was a servant of His Heavenly Father. He came to do His Father’s will and did just that.

📷 John 17:4—I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gave me to do. Beloved, find God’s will and do it!

o It was used by the Greek priests.

§ When sacrifices were brought to the temples by worshipers for the purpose of dedicating them to their gods or goddesses, the animal was examined by the priests for blemishes and imperfections. If the sacrifice was found faultless and acceptable, he would say, “Tetelestai … it is perfect.” Jesus, the Lamb of God, was without blemish and perfect.

📷 1 Peter 1:19—But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Because He was perfect, He could die for us.

o It was used by a person who was an artist.

§ When a sculptor or painting was completed, the artist would say, “It is finished.… Tetelestai.” The picture or sculpted image is completed. The death of Christ fulfilled the Old Testament types and pictures that pointed to Him: the Ark in Genesis, Isaac, Joseph, the Passover lamb, the scapegoat the Levitical offerings, the manna in the wilderness, the shew bread in the Tabernacle, the Seed of the woman, all pointed to Christ.

o It was used by businessmen.

§ If you purchased something on credit and paid the debt off completely, the receipt would says, “Tetelestai, the debt is paid in full.” It is finished. The debt is paid, it stands paid, and always will be paid. Jesus paid our sin debt on the cross.

📷 Romans 6:23—For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

📷 John 1:29—The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. The price of redemption was paid for in Christ. The requirements of God’s law were fulfilled.

The Manifestation of Supernatural Knowledge and Control

· His mission accomplished, the time had come for Christ to surrender His life. Therefore, after “crying out with a loud voice … ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46), He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

· Jesus voluntarily chose to surrender His life by a conscious act of His own sovereign will.

o John 10:18 (NASB) 18 “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”

o That He still had the strength to shout loudly shows that He was not physically at the point of death. That He died sooner than was normal for someone who had been crucified. (Mark 15:43–45) also shows that He gave up His life of His own will.

§ Mark 15:43-45 (NASB) 43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45 And ascertaining this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.

Thoughts to Soak on:

· Every clause in this verse stresses the voluntariness of his sacrifice.”[] The fact that the verb tetelestai, meaning “completion in terms of a set goal,” is in the perfect tense, gives double emphasis to the idea of perfect completion. The plan of redemption is complete both in the historical sense and in its perfect adequacy to meet every need of sinful man. “Tetelestai is not a cry of relief that all is over; it is a shout of victory”[](cf. Matt. 27:50; Mark 15:37).[7]

· No human words, no matter how eloquent, can adequately express the meaning of Christ’s death. But the words of the familiar hymn “At Calvary” express the gratitude every believer feels:

o Years I spent in vanity and pride,

Caring not my Lord was crucified,

Knowing not it was for me He died

On Calvary.

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;

Pardon there was multiplied to me;

There my burdened soul found liberty,

At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned,

Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,

Till my guilty soul imploring turned

To Calvary.

Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus ev’rything;

Now I gladly own Him as my King;

Now my raptured soul can only sing

Of Calvary.

O, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

O, the grace that brought it down to man!

O, the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary![8]

The Power of Satan Was Finished

· Now is Satan’s power finished. The power of Satan is finished .

o He says, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out”(John 12:31)

o “… that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death …” (Hebrews 2:14). And, that is the devil. And, Satan now is a defeated enemy and because Jesus has won the victory—as a warrior—he can say, “It is finished.”

§ Never was another who was wounded by Satan, and who at the same time, crushed Satan.

§ Never was another who saved others and Himself could not save, like this situation.

§ Never was another who had no sin in Him, yet all sin was onHim.

§ Never was one who was incarnate wisdom, yet, derided as a fool.

§ Never was one who was the king of glory yet wore no crown but a crown of thorns.

In Conclusion:

· Jesus came out of the ivory palaces into this world of woe and right into Satan’s domain and there Jesus ripped the crown from Satan and there Jesus pulled the sting out of death.

· Jesus won the victory through death He destroyed him that had the power of death. That is the devil and said, “It’s finished, it’s done.”

· Satan hopes that you’ll never ever learn the power that Jesus has over him and the authority that you have in the finished work of Calvary.[9] But now you know😊.

Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Submitted by Peter Marshall

· When we consider who were there, and when we are honest with ourselves, we know that we were there and that we helped to put Christ there. Because every attitude present on that hilltop that day is present in our midst now. Every emotion that tugs the human heart then, tugs the human heart still. Every face that was there is here too. Every voice that shouted then is shouting still. Every human being was represented on Calvary. Every sin was in a nail or the point of a spear or the thorns. And pardon for them all was in the blood that was shed.

· Nineteen hundred years have passed away. But the range of the centuries with our callused tears have not yet washed away the blood from the rotting wood of a deserted cross. Nor have the winds covered His footprints in the sands of Judea. Calvary still stands, and you and I erect the cross again and again and again every time we sin. The hammer blows are still echoing somewhere in the caverns in your heart and mine. Every time we deny Him, every time we sin against Him or fail to do what he commanded, He is being crucified again and again and again.

· Were you there when they crucified my Lord? I was. Were you?

o Lord Jesus, have mercy upon us. Grant us thy forgiveness. Make our hearts to be contrite before thee. And by thy grace make us clean. Amen.[10]

Truth for today

· It is not enough to stand sorrowfully at the foot of the cross. To wag the head or cluck the tongue does not adequately respond to what happened. It was not a tragedy. It was a deliberate act of sacrifice. You regret a tragedy. A sacrifice must be accepted.

· From the first, John said Jesus was the “Lamb of God.” When the Lamb was offered up as a sacrifice for sin, it was our sin. The only way to have the pardon is to accept the sacrifice as one’s own.[11]

Just One More Thing

· There is one more thing that John wants to say, and the allusion to chapter 2 reminds us of this as well.

· The changing of water to wine was, as he told us clearly, the first in the sequence of ‘signs’ by which Jesus revealed his glory. The second was the healing of the nobleman’s son at Capernaum (4:46–54). From then on he leaves us to count up the ‘signs’, and different readers have reckoned them differently. I think the most convincing sequence goes like this. The third ‘sign’ is the healing of the paralyzed man at the pool (5:1–9).The fourth is the multiplication of loaves and fishes (6:1–14). The fifth is the healing of the man born blind (9:1–12). And the sixth is the raising of Lazarus (11:1–44).

· John cannot have intended the sequence to stop at six. With Genesis 1 in the back of his mind from the very start, the sequence of seven signs, completing the accomplishment of the new creation, has an inevitability about it.

· Now here we are, at the foot of the cross. John has told us throughout his gospel that when Jesus is ‘lifted up’, this will be the moment of God’s glory shining through him in full strength.

· And the ‘signs’ are the things that reveal God’s glory. I regard it as more or less certain that he intends the crucifixion itself to function as the seventh ‘sign’.

· As though to confirm this, Jesus gives one last cry. ‘It’s finished!’ ‘It’s all done!’ ‘It’s complete!’

o He has finished the work that the father had given him to do (17:4).

o He has loved ‘to the very end’ his own who were in the world (13:1).

o He has accomplished the full and final task.[12]

Grace and Peace to all who read this.

Yes, it is long, but was it worth your time? If so, share it with someone along the way who could use the knowledge and encouragement offered.

[1]C. H. Spurgeon, “‘It Is Finished!,’” in The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 7 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1861), 586. [2]R. E. Neighbour, Wells of Living Water: New Testament, vol. 9, Wells of Living Water (Union Gospel Press, 1940), 275–276. [3]Leadership Ministries Worldwide, The Gospel according to John, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 2004), 371–372. [4]Rod Mattoon, Treasures from John, vol. 2, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2006), 319–320. [5]John G. Butler, Jesus Christ: His Crucifixion, vol. 8, Studies of the Savior (Clinton, IA: LBC Publications, 2005), 301–304. [6]Rod Mattoon, Treasures from John, vol. 2, Treasures from Scripture Series (Springfield, IL: Rod Mattoon, 2006), 318–323. [7]Joseph H. Mayfield, “The Gospel according to John,” in John, Acts, Beacon Bible Commentary (Beacon Hill Press, 1965), Jn 19:30. [8]John F. MacArthur Jr., John 12–21, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2008), 356–357. [9]Adrian Rogers, “The Finished Work of Calvary,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Jn 19:30. [10]Christianity Today, Today’s Best Sermons: 52 Sermons on Contemporary Living, vol. 1, Today’s Best Sermons (Christianity Today, 1998). [11]J. P. Allen, “John,” in The Teacher’s Bible Commentary, ed. H. Franklin Paschall and Herschel H. Hobbs (Nashville: Broadman and Holman Publishers, 1972), 685. [12]Tom Wright, John for Everyone, Part 2: Chapters 11-21 (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 130–131.