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22 March: The Final Words of the Lord on the Cross:
“I am thirsty.”
“It is finished!”
John 19:28, 30
John 19:28-30 “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty.’ 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. Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’. And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
Shall I dare say that this is the second shortest statement made by Christ. This statement is made by our Lord to describe the physical discomfort that He is suffering. A simple declaration: I am thirsty.
When you think on it, it is amazing that only one comment coming from our Lord’s lips addresses His personal suffering. He prays for those persecuting Him; He brings a promise of salvation to one hanging next to Him; He takes care of His mother and then eventually succumbs to the anguish of being rejected by His heavenly Father. Then finally He struggles and addresses His physical suffering.
After as many as twenty-four hours without food, drink, compounded by the loss of blood and physical abuse – He utters not one “cross” word from the Cross but only the brief expression – ‘I thirst’.
How does His thirst compare to the thirst of others:
Judas thirsted for money.
Pilate thirsted for appeasement.
The mob thirsted for blood.
The soldiers thirsted for sport.
The religious leaders thirsted for vengeance.
Is it fair to ask what we thirst for???
Jesus offered blessings for those who thirst for righteousness (Mtt 5:6).
We are promised that if we believe in the Lord we will never thirst (John 6:35).
In the depth of His passion of thirst – we find “full” – “fill”ment:
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.”
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
And of all the things the Lord brings us, the most wonderful gift of all is our soul’s salvation:
1 Peter 2:24 “and He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness – by whose stripes you were healed.”
Eph 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”
Rom 5:1,2 “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
Like all sinners who come to faith we have been forgiven; like the criminal we have been promised eternity; like His mother we have had our future secured by His love; and unlike Christ, we do not have to experience God’s rejection – if we too have a thirst for our Lord Jesus Christ and Savior! John 4:14 “But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life”.
As with all stories, this one also comes to an end: Luke 23:46 “And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.” And in John we read this: John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
Father – twice in the seven recorded phrases spoken from the cross, Jesus addresses God as ‘Father’ – first in the opening word of prayer and here in the closing words. Much has transpired between “Father, forgive them” and “Father, into Thy hands”.
This personal addressing of God as His Father is not an unexpected familiarity. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus calls God ‘Father’ 17 times; In the final discussion of Christ with His apostles, He used Father 6 times; when the Lord teaches His followers how to pray it begins with calling upon His heavenly Father.
This is a term of personal affection which we, each and everyone of us, can use as we come to God in prayer. John 1:12,13 “To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” Gal 4:6 “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” 1 John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
We too can enjoy the presence of the Lord in our lives. Col 1:13,14 “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
When Jesus commits His spirit to the Father and breathes His last - He has finished that cup of sorrow which the Father gave Him to drink: John 10:11,17,18 “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. . . . . For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. 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.” Satan did not orchestrate this death by his power, planning and might. It happens because this is the cup which the Father had planned since before the creation. In Mtt 16:21 and 20:18,19 Jesus warns His apostles what was about to transpire. The events which transpire around the cross and death of Christ is in fulfilment of God’s eternal plan: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
So, the question that remains to be answered is – to what have you given your life? Has your life, like that found in the Parable of the Sower become so wrapped up in the cares of this world that it is no longer being productive. Are your talents being used for God’s kingdom or have your buried them? Are you the ambassador which has become stuck at home or have you become a servant reaching out to the lost and feeding/clothing those who are suffering? Have you truly given your life to following Christ?
At the end, with His final breath Jesus declares: “It is finished”. Heb 9:12 “and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Heb 10:10,12 “By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. … but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God”.
Mission accomplished – every sin judged and paid for.
So, to pick up on the previous question: When our lives come to an end will we have done all that we could to love and serve God, to love and serve our neighbor? Have we faithfully carried our cross and been the faithful and trusting child of God that we have been called to be?
I do want to clarify one thing. We are not being faithful and obedient because we have to in order to earn our salvation. When Jesus declared that it was ‘finished” that means all that needed to be done for redemption was done. Now, all that remains is for our love and appreciation become the motivation for our lives and the way that we live. We live from love not necessity.
15 March: The Final Words of the Lord on the Cross:
Mtt 27:46 “My God, My God,
Why hast thou forsaken Me?
Last week I noted that on top of Jesus suffering physically He also suffered emotionally because there was only one of His apostles there with Him at the cross. On top of that there is one there which increased His emotional pain – His mother. In today’s lesson we are going to look at an additional cause of pain, probably the worse of all the pains He is going through – that of His heavenly Father departing from His presence and truly leaving Him alone!
Before we deal with our central idea today, I think that it would be best if we first looked at the bigger picture. The story which ends with Jesus hanging on the cross begins in Genesis chapter 3: Gen 2 & 3: “The Lord commanded the man, saying, ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.’ . . . . When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. . . . . And God asked, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ . . . . Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and not, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’ – therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. To the serpent (which led the woman to sin) the Lord God said, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle and on your belly you will go, and I will put enmity between you and the woman; and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise Him on the heel.’”
From this passage we understand that sin entered the world to the point that in Gen 6:5 every intent of man was evil so that God brings a world flood and erases every person on earth except for Noah and his family. We also see that the serpent was cursed to crawl on his belly and would eventually “bruise the heel of Eve’s seed” when Christ is crucified but would have his head crushed when Jesus is resurrected.
In the same way that Adam and Eve sinned it is our nature to also sin. It is our
sins which causes Christ to hang on the cross:
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God”.
Romans 5:8 “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
1 Cor 15:3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures”.
From the moment that sin entered into the world God’s plan of redemption also came into existence. It culminates in the nailing of our Lord Jesus Christ to the cross. Phil 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
So, when we find ourselves at the end of one of the gospels and we are reading of Jesus praying in Gethsemane that this cup be taken from Him we know exactly what that cup of sorrow is – His immanent flogging and crucifixion and death. But inherent within this event is something else even worse. When Christ is hanging on the cross, He is doing so while being straddled with our sins. And why is it necessary that He must take our sins upon Himself? The answer can be found in Hebrews chapter 10: “For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year make perfect those who draw near. But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take way sins.” So Jesus, hanging on the cross succeeds where the blood of bulls and goats cannot: 1 Peter 2:24 “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” 1 Cor 6:11 “…. but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
So, knowing the truth of the situation, that Christ was nailed and was hanging on the cross, we know He was doing so carrying our sins. And that is the reason that God the Father temporarily removed Himself from the suffering of His only Son. Mtt 27:45,46 “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani? – that is, “My God, My God, why have Your forsaken Me?”
Why did the Father take Himself away from His Son? Why did God pour out His wrath on His Son – because of us – because of our sins which HE was carrying and being punished for. 2 Cor 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin (to be forsaken) on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
So the next time we begin to participate in the Lord’s Supper – maybe we can stop and spend some time reflecting on the grievous suffering that Christ went through so that we could receive forgiveness for our sinful lives. Let us remember Him leaving heaven and becoming human; let us remember the anger and hostility and desertion that He had to deal with; let us remember the pain of having his mother see Him in this broken and rejected state; let us remember the rejection that He had to suffer when His Father turned His back away and the death that He had to subject Himself to. There should be such a state of joy/thankfulness and sorrow and regret that we are emotionally frozen at what we are contemplating.
When Peter’s audience at the Day of Pentecost realized what they had done – they asked Peter what they should DO? Peter’s answer was that they should repent, confess the guilt of their actions and be baptized so that their sin could be forgiven. If you have not been baptized your crucifixion of the Lord has not been washed away. You are still guilty of crucifying our Lord. If you have been baptized, then rejoice and be happy that you have been redeemed and saved.
8 March: The Final Words of the Lord on the Cross:
John 19:26,27 “Woman, behold thy son!
Disciple – behold thy mother!”
In Jesus’ finals words – one of His remarks are to His mother. He is not crying out to her asking for help or comfort or relief. Rather He comes to her aid with words of comfort and blessings!
In ancient Israel, widows and orphans were among the most vulnerable members of society, lacking the protection and provision typically provided by a male head of household. The Mosaic Law repeatedly emphasizes the need to care for these groups (Exodus 22:22-24, Deuteronomy 10:18). These commands reflects God's character as a defender of the helpless (Psalm 68:5). The prophets often rebuked Israel for failing to uphold justice for these individuals, highlighting societal corruption and neglect (Isaiah 1:17, Jeremiah 7:6).
This call to justice and care frequently comes to the surface in the messages of God’s prophets. Zach 7:8-10 “Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, “This is what the LORD of Hosts says: 'Administer true justice. Show loving devotion and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.'”
Recognizing this care, compassion and concern of God for His people makes it amazing but not surprising that in Jesus’ final hours that He seeks to ensure that His mother is take care of.
John 19:26,27 “When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Woman, behold, thy son!’ Then He said to the disciple, ‘Behold, they mother!’ From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.”
In the same way that it is no surprise to hear Jesus pray for His persecutors nor can it be surprising that Jesus seeks to take care of His mother during her remaining days. I believe, once again, that Jesus is setting an example that we are to follow. Our family is our concern and responsibility. This is obviously pertinent to our immediate family but I believe it includes our Christian family.
Consider some of the scriptures that we have been given: In Exodus when the Lord was lining out the lifestyle Israel was to follow He actually specified in a number of places the care and protection that widows and orphans were to be afforded. Ex 22:22 “You shall not afflict any widow or orphan.” Deut 10:18 “[The Lord your God] executes justice for the orphan and the widow and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing.”
These words remind me of the parable of the sheep and goats where their eternal reward is given them because when they gave food, water, clothing – or eternal life was REFUSED to them because they REFUSED to provide such care. Jesus states that their giving or refusing to give was as if they did nor did not do it to the Lord Himself.
Deut 24:19 ““When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you are not to go back to get it; it shall belong to the stranger, the orphan, and to the widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.” In many other circumstances the Lord provided that the widow be allowed to gather the goods lying on the side in order to give them from the food that they needed.
When Isaiah is attempting to bring Isarel back to obedience in the first message delivered to Israel they are told: Isaiah 1:16,17 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil. Learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.”
James sums faithful religion in this way: James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” He then concludes in the next chapter that our faith exists only if our lives produce or shows itself in our works.
So, Jesus, as He hangs there on the cross in His final hours – sees and cares for His mother. It is said that no parent should have to bury their own child. In Mary’s case, not only is she seeing her son die and be buried – but she sees him hated, betrayed, tortured and killed. She sees the son given her by God Himself; she sees the son who miraculously healed so many different people need mercy Himself but does not receive it. She sees her son hang for hours on something as cruel and painful as a wooden cross. She literally sees her Son take His last breath.
I haven’t thought of this before, but I think we can add to the list of Jesus’ suffering that of having His mother observe this ghastly situation. On top of His physical torture, His spiritual torture in God forsaking Him, He is also emotionally suffering by knowing this His mother is here going through all of this. I guess you could say the one redeeming thing about this situation was these very words spoken to His mother and His beloved disciple.
The one redeeming factor in this situation is Jesus caring for His widowed mother by giving the one disciple, who was brave enough to be a part of Jesus’ trial and letting Peter into it, the one disciple who Jesus loved, the one disciple standing there at His feet WITH His mother – He gave him the responsibility to take care of Mary.
And you know what is interesting? Remember how I just indicated that we have a responsibility to care for our family, and that extends to our caring for our Christian family? Jesus illustrates this very clearly right here. He asks John to take care of Mary even though Jesus had brothers and sisters. He asks His follower to take care of His mother. As followers of Christ, we are to take care of one another. John is a clear representation of the body, the Church, fulfilling its responsibilities. According to the divine plan – as the Head is being killed, the Body is being born. The fruit of John’s ministry to Mary has impacted the body of Christ since the beginning of the church as we minister the widows, orphans and those among us in need.
I guess the question we should ask ourselves is – are honoring God’s expectation that we are making a difference in the lives of those who are in serious need. Are we feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and visiting the sick and those in prison? Or – are we following the example of the rich man who ignored Lazarus during all the days of his life and ended up in Hades?
James 1:27 “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”
22 Feb: The Final Words of the Lord on the Cross:
John 19:30 “….It Is Finished!
And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
Last week we looked at Jesus’ first statement while hanging on the cross and determined that it was “amazing” what Jesus said – but it was not SURPRISING! It was a prayer of forgiveness for those responsible for what was happening.
And maybe I should repeat here that WE are as responsible for His crucifixion as those on the ground that day:
1 Peter 2:24 “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God”.
1 Cor 15:3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures”.
Romans 5:8 “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
In last week’s summary I suggested that Jesus has given us an example of love and forgiveness to follow: Luke 9:23 “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wished to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’” Luke 6:27,28 “But I say to you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you.’”
Luke 24:38-43 (paraphrased) “Now placed above Jesus was an inscription: ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ One of the criminals hanging at His side was hurling abuse at Him saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’ But the other one answered: ‘Do you not fear God, being at the same sentence of condemnation?’ And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come in Your kingdom!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.’”
You will notice that both criminals asked the Lord to save them. The Lord’s cross was placed between them, and they each had the same opportunity to see the plaque placed on Christ’s cross declaring that He was the King of the Jews. They both could hear the soldiers challenging Jesus to save Himself and prove that He was the Son of God. They also both could have heard the prayer that Jesus offered up asking the Father to forgive.
One of the criminals took up that challenge of Sonship and the other criminal accepted it as fact – he believed. One criminal will stand condemned on judgement day just as he was hanging in condemnation. The other criminal will hand in condemnation until he dies but he will then find life with the Lord.
What is interesting is that if Jesus would have come down off that cross to save Himself and the other criminals then all of mankind would find themselves in the place of Jesus - condemned on judgement day.
So, Jesus is hanging on that cross at yet another crossroad – do I save Myself or do I save God’s creation???? Thankfully Jesus chose to continue and finish His sentence of death for the sake of us all! Doing so ensured that you and I will also see Jesus in Paradise and ultimately find ourselves in heaven at the right hand of God with our Savior.
James 1:12 “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
Romans 8:34 “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”
Revelation 3:21 “The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with Me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on His throne.”
Are not these words in Revelations reminiscent of Jesus’ words regarding our taking up our cross and following Him. And when we do – we will receive the same reward this criminal and Jesus Himself receives – acceptance into the presence of God.
And what was it that rewarded this criminal with Paradise? It would seem that he is the only one at this moment who truly gets the idea that Jesus was not on this cross because of any wrongdoing or sin on His part. This man understands Jesus was innocent and He is who He claimed to be – the Son of God.
So, whose prayer is answered with the affirmative?
- The haughty criminal or the humble soul?
- That of the Pharisee or the publican?
- The repentant prodigal or proudful elder son?
- The faithful Able or the faithless Cain?
In the course of living our lives we need to ensure that our hearts are humble and appreciative. We need to make sure that we are taking up our cross and are living a crucified life: Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
There are simply too many passages to address at this moment which illustrate to us that it is our faith which saves us and our actions which bear out that faith in obedience. James tells us that our works show our faith and the parables of the one talent man with the goats and the Sower illustrate an unproductive life leads to eternal death.
So, in wrapping this up, let us make sure that our lives reflect a believing, faithful and obedient life in order to ensure that our eternity will be spent with our Lord and Father in heaven.
15 Feb:
The Final Words of the Lord on the Cross.”
Luke 23:34 "But Jesus was saying,
'Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.'"
If you get on the internet, you can find several documents about people’s final words: some famous, some infamous, deep and insightful. Here is brief, a very brief excerpt: