We read in John 9.28 that, "...Jesus, knowing that all things had been accomplished to fulfill the Scripture, said. 'I thirst!'" We can only imagine! So the Roman guard allowed Him to sip a bit of sour wine from a sponge, raised to His lips.
The way was clear now, for Jesus to lay down what was left of His life. It's not likely, by the way, that Mary was present at the exact time of her Son's death, because as we have seen, John had taken her to his own home, at "that hour". And when the horrible end finally came, it was Joseph of Arimathea who took the body secretly, and laid it in his own, newly hewn tomb (vs. 38). Then finally, we read in vs. 39 that, "He said 'It is finished'. And bowing His head, He gave up His Spirit."
You know, over in the Book of the Revelation, chapt. 21, we are given the account of the much older apostle John, and his vision of the new heaven and new earth, and New Jerusalem, "...coming down from Heaven from God". And in vs. 6 we read the words of Jesus announcing that, "It is done!" And, "...I will give to the one who thirsts, from the water of the river of life, freely." And that eternal-life-giving-water, is freely available, because upon His cross, He announced to all who would believe and receive that, "It is finished." The redeeming work of the Lamb sent from God, had been succesfully completed!
Now this was the briefest of Jesus' seven statements from the cross, yet you could discuss the theology here, for eternity! All that the Law required, had been finished; all that prophecy had announced, had been finished; all the Father's requirements of Him were finished; and every thing that was necessary to accomplish soul salvation was now finished! The sacrifice had been offered up, the ransom was given, the wages of sin were paid, the conflict with Satan was over, and justice was accomplished at last! All that remained was His resurrection, His ascension and His glorifed reign in eternity-come.
This had not been the last, gasping groan of a dying man, but a solemn declaration by the Son of the Most High God, of the fact that sin had been put behind, and that Satan had been put down, and that every last, painful second had been worth it! Going back to chapt. 10.17-18 we read the words of our Lord..."For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.” And so, "He bowed His head, and gave up His Spirit."
Now we referred to this in our last lesson...that in vs. 31 we're told these things had occurred on "a high day", and that it was absolutely essential that the cross be taken down, and that Jesus' body be taken off and removed for burial before sunset. The Jews were a pretty zealous lot when it came to picking nits from the Law, even though they were spiritually blind when it came to seeing Jesus, for the man He wasn't!
So we read how the soldiers came, first to the guilty, then to the Innocent, but that His legs remained un-broken, "...that the scripture be fulfilled". We know that crucifiction was a slow and painful process, unlike hanging, electrocution, or lethal injection. Crucifiction was intentionally as painful as possible, often resulting apparently, in two, or three days of suffering...torture, in fact. But relief came to Jesus in just a few hours. And Mark, in his record, tells us that Pilate marvelled, that He was already dead by the time the soldiers got to Him.
Now notice that all the fuss following the resurrection...and even yet today, with the claims that Jesus had never really died, are clearly disproved here. The Romans were well trained in the art of war, and with the dealing of death, and there could be no mistaking their diagnosis...the coroner need not be consulted...Jesus had died as a result of crucifiction! And no doubt they only pierced His side, to initiate the flow of both blood and water, being so symbolic of very life, and very death, and the crimson stream of the very means of our salvation...for the remission of our sins.
Then, as John has recorded in vs. 35, "...this is my testimony, and my testimony is true (that you may believe)!" Let there be no doubt that Jesus died, and that His blood was poured out as a sacrifice for all who would believe. And as verses 36-37 state again, the prophecies had thereby been fulfilled. And then, not John, nor any of the other disciples, but Joseph and Nicodemus (perhaps secret disciples themselves), secretly took Jesus' body, wrapped it in linen along with 100 pounds of spices, and laid it to rest in a new tomb, recently carved out of the rock in the nearby Garden.
Now as we know, Nicodemus was introduced to us back in chapt. 3, as the Pharisee who came to Jesus by night, having been advised by the Saviour that he "...must be born again!" And although we're not told there, we can see here, that he must surely have been, although he could have remained an example of the worst of all Christians...a secret Believer. When you think of it however, this was quite an act of love, by a man who had been "so loved" by the Lover of this entire world!
The Sabbath was to be a time of rest, at least for the Jews, but to Jesus, the finish of His long earthly commitment, to die and to be raised, for the lost souls of mankind.
I'm sorry but I just can't restrain myself, as I say once again...thank you Jesus!!
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