“It is finished!”

John 19:23-42 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece. ²⁴ So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “They divided My outer garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots.”²⁵ Therefore the soldiers did these things.

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 then 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!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

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

³¹ Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), 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 man and of the other who was crucified with Him; ³³ but coming to Jesus, when they 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 immediately blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. ³⁶ For these things came to pass to fulfill the Scripture, “Not a bone of Him shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

³⁸ After these things Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate granted permission. So he came and took away His body. ³⁹ Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight. ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen wrappings 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 Therefore because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

2 Timothy 3:16 says:   All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.  It is important that we recognize that it is all scripture, the entirety of scripture not every scripture, as in each particular verse viewed out of context. The message of scripture, from Genesis to Revelation is all God’s plan to redeem creation and man from sin. Many people try to pick out or point out what seem to be discrepensies in the Gospel accounts to make a case that scripture itself is inaccurate. When we look at the gospel accounts, and the differences in what they say, we need to understand that it is not one or the other, but rather the sum of the parts that comprises the truth. It is much like investigating an accident or a crime.There may be multiple witnesses who all report seeing something different. It is not that one is right and the other wrong. Rather each one saw a part from their own perspective and remebers and reports what seems most important to them. The job of the investigator is to piece together all of the information, in order to understand everything. We too, when we read the different gospel accounts, need to put the information together to see the sum, rather than trying to detract from one account or another.

Matthew 27:45-51 says:  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 You forsaken Me?” And some of those who were standing there, when they heard it, began saying, “This man is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran, and taking a sponge, he filled it with sour wine and put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink. But the rest of them said, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him.”  And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.  And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.  Mark 15:20-38 says:  they led Him out to crucify Him.  They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, to bear His cross.  Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.  They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take.  It was the third hour when they crucified Him.  The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”  They crucified two robbers with Him, one on His right and one on His left.[And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And He was numbered with transgressors.”]  Those passing by were hurling abuse at Him, wagging their heads, and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking Him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” Those who were crucified with Him were also insulting Him.  When the sixth hour came, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.  At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  When some of the bystanders heard it, they began saying, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.”  Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.”  And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last.  And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.   Luke 23:26-47 says:  When they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.  And following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were mourning and lamenting Him. But Jesus turning to them said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ For if they do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death with Him. When they came to the place called  The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.  And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine,  and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”  One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!” And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”  It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, ^]because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.”  While there are similarities in these accounts, there are also differences. While they all report that the veil of the temple was torn in two, Luke is the only one that speaks of Jesus promise to the thief that he would be with Him in paradise. There are differences in the words of Jesus, again Luke is the only one to record the words: “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

John also shares some similarities with the other gospel accounts. But, perhaps the most important difference that John alone shares, are the words of Jesus saying:  “It is finished!”   Those three words followed by an exclamation point are the exclamation point to all of Jesus life and words. Every promise that He made was fully accomplished in the cross. The forgiving of even those who mocked and crucified Him, demonstrates what Romans 5:8 says:  God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  The tearing of the veil of the temple signifies that there no longer needs to be a barrier between man and God, because of the cross. The promise to the thief tells us that it is in believing in Christ; professing Him as Lord, and not by our own works that we are saved. The gospels together, give us all there is to know about Jesus life, His words, His death on the cross and His resurrection. In today’s text John recounts Jesus words. All that Jesus came to do, Jesus says: “It is finished!”

Thank You heavenly Father; Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; for the finished work of the cross; that everything we need was fully accomplished 2000 years ago. There is nothing more we can add to all that You did, but simply to believe.   Amen.