John 19:16b-42
16b So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha.18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” 23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. 28 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. 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Today is known as Good Friday. It is the day in which the church traditionally remembers the crucifixion of Jesus. This evening, we will be concluding this service and departing after hearing the seven last words of the cross and observing the extinguishing of these seven candles which symbolize those seven last words. By “seven last words” I mean the seven sayings that Jesus spoke from the cross.
Our text this evening includes three of those seven last words. We will approach this text from the perspective of those three words. We will do this because the words of Christ from the cross each reveal something of the great person and the great work of Christ. They reveal, in other words, in ways powerful and poignant, who Jesus is and what He was doing on and through the cross.
I. The Christ Who Cares: “Woman, behold, your son!…Behold, your mother!” (v.16b-27)
Jesus is now taken to Calvary where the mockery and humiliation continue.
16b So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
This scene seethes with a kind of provocative mystery. What is going on in Pilate’s mind? Is he trying to work out his own frustration by intentionally goading the Jews with this sign? Is he trying to communicate that, through his brief encounter with Jesus, he had come to believe that there was something truly unique about this man? What is going on in Pilate’s mind? We do not know, but Pilate lets the sign stand as he had it prepared: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”
The soldiers who are overseeing this execution are less subtle in their actions.
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things,
These soldiers are no doubt continuing the games they normally play during these macabre spectacles of execution. Their indifference is shocking, but it cannot guard them from fulfilling earlier biblical prophecy that foretold their actions. They are more concerned with their games than with this Jesus.
Jesus, however, is more concerned about others than Himself.
25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
Here is one of the most moving scenes in all of Scripture: the crucified Son making provision for His grieving mother. Mary, His mother, is accompanied by family and friends: her sister Mary and Mary Magdalene are both mentioned by John. They do not abandon Jesus as His disciples have. They do not flee. They are faithful, resolved, grieving but present. Of course, one disciple remains: John.
When the caring eyes of Jesus behold His mother, He is moved by love and compassion and makes arrangements for her care: “Woman, behold, your son!” And to John: “Behold, your mother!”
How can our hearts not be overwhelmed at this display of love and concern and care? We are touched, deeply, as no doubt Mary and the women and John were, by the selflessness of the Lord Jesus, by His almost incomprehensible concern in this moment of His great trial. But we are touched by something even deeper.
Is this word not a reflection of Jesus’ love and concern for all of His people? Does it not help to define the cross itself? On the cross, Jesus thought of others. On the cross, Jesus though of His mother’s well-being. On the cross, Jesus thought of your well-being. The self-giving Christ gives Himself on the cross for others.
See Him there, thinking of His mother. See Him there, thinking of you! See the Christ who cares.
II. The Christ Who Suffers: “I thirst.” (v.28-29)
The beauty of this care is amplified by the grueling nature of the physical ordeal Jesus endured on the cross. We see this in the next word recorded in our text.
28 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.
“I thirst.”
This Jesus, fully God and fully man, suffered. His body begins to react to the scourging, the crucifixion, the beating, the brutality. This is more than a mere request for a drink. It is an amazing reminder of the raw and real physicality of the incarnation itself. He became a man! He did not become a man of superhuman strength. He became a man of simply human strengths and weaknesses…and men can thirst and hunger and hurt and bleed.
“I thirst.”
There is enormous pain wrapped up in that statement. That word, “I thirst,” reminds us in ways subtle but powerful that Jesus paid a price in His body. To be sure, the greatest pain of the cross was not physical. The greatest pain was, no doubt, the spiritual agony of His becoming sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21). Even so, the physical pain was no small or insignificant part of the cross.
“I thirst.”
“I hurt.”
“I feel.”
“I have a body…and My body is breaking for you.”
Are we offended by the thirst of Christ, the pain of Christ, the hurt, the tears, the blood? Do we romanticize the cross in an effort to avoid the raw, hellish, physicality of the event, the seering, stinging, flesh-and-blood reality of the event?
“The Word became flesh” (John 1:14). Flesh thirsts. Flesh hungers. Flesh aches. And, if you pierce it, flesh bleeds.
Our God is the God who came to bleed for us. It is an astounding and offensive thought…and yet our very salvation is bound up in it in ways that it make it impossible to ignore. Stanley Hauerwas once opened one of his classes at Duke Divinity School with this shocking prayer:
“Bloody Lord, you are just too real. Blood is sticky, repulsive, frightening. We do not want to be stuck with a sacrificial God who bleeds. We want a spiritual faith about spiritual things, things bloodless and abstract. We want sacrificial spirits, not sacrificed bodies. But you have bloodied us with your people Israel and your Son, Jesus. We fear that by being Jesus’ people we too might have to bleed. If such is our destiny, we pray that your will, not ours, be done. Amen.”[1]
Do not turn away from the thirsting Savior, the bleeding Savior, the wounded Savior. Do not minimize the sweating Savior, the gasping Savior, the Savior who breathes out these last words in tormented pain.
Look upon the Christ who suffers: “I thirst.” Look and behold His love for you!
III. The Christ Who Accomplishes: “It is finished.” (v.30-42)
Do not forget, though, that there was a purpose for the suffering, a reason for the pain. The cross was not an exercise in masochism, nor was it a mere physical trial. It was not some feat of strength, nor was it a display of Jesus’ courage, though courage it revealed. No, it had a grand purpose. It sought to accomplish something. The third word we find in our text confirms this truth.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
“It is finished,” Jesus says. Then He dies. He really dies. He dies upon the cross. But He dies only after He finishes “it.”
This act, this embrace of the cross, this suffering, this pain: it had a purpose. “It is finished.”
What was finished? What was “it”? First, note that John moves on to the final details of the cross and the events of the burial.
31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness— his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth— that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” 38 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. 39 Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
Even in the details of His removal from the cross and His burial, scripture is fulfilled. There is a definite finality about this scene. He is taken from the cross. The body is given to Joseph of Arimathea. Nicodemus is present as well. So are the women. So is John. And He is buried.
When they heard Jesus say, “It is finished,” did they take Him to mean simply, “I am dying now”? Did they think the “it” was His life? “It, My life, is finished. Now, I die.” Is this what they thought?
They could be excused in thinking so. After all, Jesus’ death on the cross was confirmed and sealed with the spear thrust. He was dead. He was really dead. Did they, like the hiding disciples who feared to draw near the cross, think that this was what Jesus meant by, “It is finished”?
They would have been excused had they done so. After all, what would you have though if you had seen the scourging, the crucifixion, the slowly agony of death and then His lifeless body? In Dostoevsky’s novel, The Idiot, Prince Myshkin stops before a painting of the crucified Christ and contemplates its image.
In the picture the face is fearfully crushed by blows, swollen, covered with fearful, swollen and blood-stained bruises, the eyes are open and squinting: the great wide-open whites of the eyes glitter with a sort of deathly, glassy light. But, strange to say, as one looks at this corpse of a tortured man, a peculiar and curious question arises; if just such a corpse (and it must have been just like that) was seen by all His disciples, by those who were to become His chief apostles, by the women that followed Him and stood by the cross, by all who believed in Him and worshipped Him, how could they believe that that martyr would rise again?
And later:
The people surrounding the dead man, not one of whom is shown in the picture, must have experienced the most terrible anguish and consternation on that evening, which had crushed all their hopes, and almost their convictions.[2]
Yes, this scene had crushed their hopes, but only “almost their convictions.” After all, there must have been something about the way Jesus said, “It is finished.” I suspect the words sat uneasily on their minds. I suspect that while their minds thought, “It is finished,” meant, “I am dying now,” something in their souls knew that, “It is finished,” must meant something more.
After all, had Jesus not made numerous strange statements about fulfilling the will of His Father? Had Jesus not offered odd and tantalizing images about “the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:40) or rebuilding the temple after three days (John 2:19)?
While they would not know definitively know until Easter morning what we all know now, did they dare even then to suspect that, “It is finished,” could actually be referring not to the finishing of Jesus’ life, but rather to the finishing of the old ways of the fallen world, the finishing of an old and fallen Kingdom which was giving way now, through this crucified Jesus, to a greater Kingdom of God? Perhaps they could not have expressed it in that way, until the world-altering events of Easter morning happened, but I cannot help but think that there stirred something in, say, the heart of Mary or the heart of John that held onto that, “It is finished.”
“It is finished.”
What is finished?
Ah, the events of Easter will tell us in no uncertain terms!
The work of Christ on the cross is finished.
Death is finished.
Satan is finished.
Hell is finished.
The earthly powers are finished.
The old life we used to live is finished.
“It is finished.”
Christ has done it. His work on the cross heralds the beginning of the end of so many things that need to pass away…and the revelation of the Kingdom of God into which we are not invited and able to come.
“It is finished.”
We need live in the prison of ourselves no more. We need die in our sins no more. We need be cast into hell no more. We need live in enmity with one another no more. We need despair no more.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, Christ finished paying for your sins on the cross. Christ finished His great trial on the cross. Christ was faithful to complete the task to which He was called. He finished it. He accomplished it.
Next, He will rise. Next, He will walk out of the tomb. Next, He will put the great exclamation point on the saving work He came to conduct.
Praise God for the caring, hurting, accomplishing work of Christ on the cross! Praise God for the lamb that was slain!
Hallelujah!