Today is Palm Sunday, the day Jesus Christ enters into the city of Jerusalem to make this memorable last week before His crucifixion. This week means so much as it culminates in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
The cross of Jesus means so much even all these years later.
Mary George was martyred around eight years ago this day in Cairo, Egypt. Many of you know the wonderful organization, The Voice of the Martyrs. The Voice of the Martyrs reports that Mary was taking medicine for a family when she was stopped by a group of pro-Muslim Brotherhood protesters. The reason she was stopped was they saw a cross dangling from her rear-view mirror on her car. Protestors climbed onto her car, collapsing the roof, then hauled her from the vehicle, beating and mauling her. She was stabbed multiple times.. Even after she was dead, the mob torched her car. All this because they saw a cross. The cross still causes powerful reactions all these years later.
On Friday, Jesus Christ hung on the cross for six agonizing hours before succumbing to the torture of crucifixion through asphyxiation. During that time, Jesus made seven statements on the cross that were recorded in the four gospels of the New Testament. Years before this, someone said of Jesus' teaching, "No one ever spoke like this man" (John 7:46)! As every time Jesus spoke, we can say of these seven utterances from the cross, "No one ever spoke like this man!" Each one of these statements is significant and worthy of all your mental power.
I invite you to turn to two places in your Bible with me. Find John 19 with me if you and put a bookmark there if you will. And I invite you to also find Matthew 27 with me as well.
The Julian Calendar
Today is April 10, 2022 AD. The AD is controversial in some circles and they want to change it. But the AD stands for the Latin term, "in the year of the Lord." Today, we follow the Gregorian calendar and it is used by most of the world today. The Gregorian Calendar replaced the Julian calendar. Now, I am not here to make you an expert in ancient calendaring systems, but I want to bring forward a calendaring facet of the old Julian calendar. In the old Julian calendar, if someone were to say to you, "Happy New Year!" and you looked at the calendar, you'd be surprised to know it wasn't January 1. Instead, under this old calendar, the new year was celebrated around the time when Jesus rose from the dead. In the sixth century, a monk in Rome came along and he made the first day of the new year around Easter Sunday. Now, his dates weren't always accurate but when the first day of the year was Easter, that also meant one of the last days of the year was Good Friday. So, "Happy New Year" was the resurrection of Jesus around March 25. Now, the reason the New Year started at the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is that nothing is more fundamental than this in the Christian faith.
Our hope is that this series will serve to energize you for worship as we approach Easter. The ground of Calvary is fertile for so many things. But best of all, Calvary's ground is ripe to grow fresh worship in each of our hearts.
Today's Scripture
"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, 'Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?' that is, 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, 'This man is calling Elijah.' 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, 'Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.' 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit" (Matthew 27:45-50).
And now, let's read from John 19: "After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), 'I thirst.' 29 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. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:28-30).
To prepare our hearts to celebrate Easter in a month, I want you to devote your mind and heart to these seven statements of Jesus while hanging on the cross. Today we examine Jesus' fifth and sixth statements while hanging on the cross: "I thirst" and "It is finished." Consider the seminal moments in front of you as all of history will change. Consider the One in front of you as your future will change because of this very moment. No time in world history is there so much tragedy; no time in worship history is there simultaneously so much hope. Worship with me this morning as we consider the last words of Jesus.
1. I Thirst
"After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), 'I thirst' (John 19:28).
This is the shortest statement in all the seven statements. It's two words in English but only one word in Greek. It's only natural that Jesus thirsts here. Jesus' suffering at this moment is beyond any measurement. In between Jesus' loud cry of, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" and His triumphant shout of "It is finished" is the soft sigh of "I thirst."
1.1 His Last Drink
The night before, Jesus had said, "I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom" (Matthew 26:29). While Jesus states He will not drink wine again until His return to the earth, Scripture doesn't record Jesus taking even one drink since the evening before the crucifixion. To say Jesus was thirsty is an understatement. We know He sweated a great deal the night before at Gethsemane, for it was there he sweated blood mixed with his normal perspiration. Then came the trial and the torture. Then came the carrying of the weight of the horizontal beam for some distance. And finally came the crucifixion itself.
Imagine Jesus' mental gymnastics all through the trials. Imagine if you could have free access to Jesus' mind as He endured one false accusation after another. What did He want to say but He chose not to say throughout the trials? He had wrestled with the powers of darkness in this, His darkest hour.
Yes, surely Jesus thirsted. After all, His hands and feet were full of sensitive nerve endings. It was there in these delicate nerve ending that the Roman soldiers thrust a spike to secure Him to the cross. Surely His body was going through trauma on a different scale.
1.2 What Does He Mean by "I Thirst"?
Now, when Jesus Christ said, "I thirst," what was He saying? Somebody says, "He was thirsty; that's all. It didn't mean anything more than He's thirsty." "After all, He's being crucified. He's in an arid climate. It's noon and the sun is coming down. That's ALL it means." No, that's not ALL it means. Why does it mean more than this? Because Jesus hasn't said a word up to now about any kind of discomfort or pain at all. He said nothing when He was tried by Herod. He said virtually nothing when He was tried by Pilate. Jesus is recorded as saying nothing in the gospels when He was whipped, scourged, or when the crown of thrones was placed on His back. None of the four gospels recorded anything from Jesus' lips when the Roman soldiers struck Him in the face. All of the gospel writers stress He never said a thing during all of this. He never complained. All the beating, the nails, the crown of thorns, clubs, and the piercing. Only now, He says, "I thirst." Why does He now break His silence?
John connects Jesus' statement of thirst to these words, "to fulfill the Scripture."
1.3 Psalm 22
Jesus knew the Old Testament really well and no doubt HE connected the dots of the ancient text to His life. A few verses before in John 19, John had referred to Psalm 22. The entire Psalm reads like a running commentary of Jesus' crucifixion.
"I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death" (Psalm 22:14-15).
Once again, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies, the Old Testament predictions. Even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus lived to please the heavenly Father. Even in the last minutes of His life, Jesus lived to fulfill the Divine plan for His life. Pain dried His tongue and made His mouth like an oven. Again, all the moisture in His body is gone due to the physical trauma. You can almost lay your hand over His forehead all these years later and feel His fever even now.
Remember, my Christian friend, He did all this for you. He suffered all this for you, His enemy. You were among those He said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34b). Never forget this for a moment.
1.4 Lazarus and the Rich Man
Jesus told this rich parable on one occasion of a rich and a poor man. Lazarus, the poor man finds Himself in Heaven while the rich man who lived with callous disregard for others on earth finds himself in hell. At the heart of the story, thirst comes up: "and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish" (Luke 16:23-25).
Friend, had Jesus not thirsted then every single one of us would thirst just like this rich man. Had Jesus not thirsted, every one of us would suffer in a place where there is an impassable gulf between Heaven and us. Thank God for every moment Jesus thirsted on the cross! Now, Jesus moistens his lips with vinegar, or "sour wine," just enough to eke out two more statements. Years before, He had turned water into wine with His mother watching at a wedding Cana. That was a distant memory now.
1.6 Imagine Jesus on the Cross
Can you imagine the scene in your mind's eye? What if you spent thirty minutes in solitary thought about one or two of these seven statements? Can you take in the horror of the moment? What if you spent thirty minutes in conversation about one or two of these seven statements? Do a wide sweep in your mind just now and see all those witnessing His crucifixion. Take it all in.
1.7 The Irony of His Thirst
"After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), 'I thirst' (John 19:28). Of course, what makes this even more astonishing is the One who He says He thirsts. He was the One who poured water out as streams along the hills. He made torrents of water rush down from the mountains. And He's the One who sends the rains that enrich our land. To paraphrase the psalmist for a moment: If Jesus were thirsty, He would not have told us. At a moment's notice, He could have called for the clouds to quench His thirst with a thunderstorm at Calvary. The irony of the One who created water itself is now dying of thirst.
Kings are not supposed to thirst, much less the Son of God Himself.
Think of the irony: the One who is called "Living Water" said He thirsts: "Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life'" (John 4:13-14). From His broken body will soon flow rivers of living water.
Jesus' death is now imminent. He has hung on the cross for close to six hours, but He's drawing His last breaths now.
1. I Thirst
2. It is Finished
"When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:30).
The mood is intensely somber now.
Shortly after Jesus passes, Luke's gospel gives us a better picture of the entire scene: "Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, 'Certainly this man was innocent!' 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things" (Luke 23:47-49).
Just before this, Mark simply says, "And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last" (Mark 15:37).
Matthew's gospel agrees with Mark.
While John doesn't say anything about the volume of Jesus' words, He does tell what Jesus utters, "It is finished."
2.1 Telelestai
In the Greek text, the cry itself is one word, telelestai. The word speaks of "perfect achievement." Jesus is telling us that all His work is now completed, perfectly completed. Two thousand years ago, Jesus said one word in Greek, which are three words in English that changed everything and has the potential to change anyone forever.
2.2 Unfinished Business
You and I never finish anything perfectly. If any of us were to die today, we would all die with some unfinished business. If you were to die right now, what would you leave unfinished? Some would leave a book unread, or others would leave some bills that are not paid. Some of you have not fulfilled important promises. Some of you would have words you would have wished you had said to dear loved ones.
When we die, the question is, "Did we do our will or God's will?" When we die, the question is, "Did we finish what we wanted to do or what God wanted us to do?"
Yes, there are a lot of things that go unfinished in this life.
2.3 Finished Business
Not so Jesus. From the beginning to the end of Christ's life there is nothing omitted, no single act of service was ever left undone! From the time He was born to the time that He died, He perfectly followed the path that God laid out for Him to walk.
And He walked it to the very last step! There was not a miracle that He did not perform! There was not an act of compassion that He did not accomplish! There was not a parable that He did not declare! He never performed anything with a careless or cavalier attitude. From His childhood right up to His death, He finished every single thing the Father wanted Him to do.
2.4 What Did He Finish?
Jesus did not say, "I am finished." He did not say, "Well, there is nothing more I can do here. I tried my best." Instead, Jesus said, "It is finished." When He said, "It is finished," He was effectively saying, "I've done all that I needed to do and I have succeeded." Just before Jesus was arrested, He prayed for His disciples. In this prayer, He said this: "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do" (John 17:4). Again, He uses the same word that He used at the cross. It's again the Greek word "tetelestai."
Jesus did not die one minute late or one minute early. It was the culmination of a life of perfect achievement
2.5 Jesus' Perfect Life
The Son of God has been made man. He has lived a life of perfect virtue and of total self-denial. He was rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. His enemies had been legion while His friends had been few, and those few friends were often faithless. He was at last delivered over into the hands of them that hated Him. He was arrested while in the act of prayer; He was arraigned before both the religious and government courts. He was robed in mockery and then unrobed in shame. Soon, He was set upon His throne in scorn and then tied to the stake in cruelty. He was declared innocent, and yet He was delivered up by the judge who ought to have protected Him from His persecutors. He was then dragged through the streets of that Jerusalem which had killed the prophets, and the city would now add the fresh blood of the prophets' Master Himself. He was brought to the cross and then He was nailed securely to the cruel wood. The sun burns Him. His cruel wounds only increase the fever. Even God, the Father forsakes him: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" While He hung there in mortal conflict with sin and Satan, His very heart was broken, His limbs were dislocated. Heaven failed him, for the sun was veiled in darkness. And then Earth forsook Him, for "his disciples forsook him and fled." He looked everywhere, and there was none to help; He cast His eyes around, and there was no man that could share His toil. 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 cried— "It is finished," and He gave up His life.
Hear it, Christians, hear this shout of triumph as it rings today with all the freshness and force that it had 2,000 ago! Hear it from the Savior's lips, and may the Spirit of God open our ears that you may understand what you hear! "It is finished!"
Conclusion
God had given Jesus a work that only He could do and He did it. Only He could redeem us and pay for our sins. Only He could satisfy the wrath of God against sin. Only He could save His people from their sins. He finished the work that God gave Him to do.
