most of the comments and remarks today will come directly from Scripture. It’s important to be able to see where the prophecy had come from that was being fulfilled in this moment. It’s also important to point out how New Testament writers, especially Paul, understood and developed their theology.
John 19:28-37
The Death of Jesus
Verse 28 opens with the phrase, “After this. ” After placing the care of his mother with the disciple that he loved. The time had come, prophecy had been fulfilled in Jesus spends his last moments on the cross.
Jesus had predicted to his disciples several times that he would die as they made this last trip up to Jerusalem. He made it clear that it was to fulfill prophecy, and not to be avoided.
prophecies like what…?
Psalm 22:15
15 My strength is dried up like baked clay;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You put me into the dust of death.Psalm 69:21
21 Instead, they gave me gall for my food,
and for my thirst
they gave me vinegar to drink.
Other gospel writers speak of the jar of vinegar and gall that was set before him in this way:
Matthew 27:34, 48
34 they gave him wine mixed with gall to drink. But when he tasted it, he refused to drink it.
48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and offered him a drink.Mark 15:36
36 Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, fixed it on a stick, offered him a drink, and said, “Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down.”Luke 23:36
36 The soldiers also mocked him. They came offering him sour wine
TS K: hyssop.
This hyssop is termed a reed by Matthew and Mark; and it appears that a species of hyssop, with a reedy stalk, about two feet long, grew about Jerusalem.
the plant was a natural brush and was used when Israelites sprinkled blood on their Doorpost in the Passover, as described in Exodus. It was used during cleansing rituals with water, as mentioned in Numbers. It is described as a plant that grew out of a wall.
It is finished! Paid in full! This is the task Jesus referred to as being completed and his high priestly prayer in chapter 17.
John 17:4
4 I have glorified you on the earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
The moment had come that was predicted back in Genesis 3:15.
Genesis 3:15
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.
It’s the moment that was prophesied in Isaiah:
Isaiah 53:10, 12
10 Yet the LORD was pleased to crush him severely.
When you make him, a guilt offering,
he will see his seed, he will prolong his days,
and by his hand, the LORD’s pleasure will be accomplished.
12 Therefore I will give him the many as a portion,
and he will receive the mighty as spoil,
because he willingly submitted to death,
and was counted among the rebels;
yet he bore the sin of many
and interceded for the rebels.
Zechariah predicts the shepherd will be struck, and the sheep will flee.
Zechariah 13:7
7 Sword, awake against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate—
this is the declaration of the LORD of Armies.
Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered;
I will turn my hand against the little ones.
the importance of the blood price that Christ paid for sin was taught from the earliest times by the apostles.
Romans 3:25
25 God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.Romans 10:4
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes,
1 Corinthians 5:7
7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
Colossians 2:14-17
14 He erased the certificate of debt, with its obligations, that was against us and opposed to us, and has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.
15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him.
16 Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of what was to come; the substance is Christ.Hebrews 9:11-14
11 But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation),
12 he entered the most holy place once for all time,
not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow, sprinkling those who are defiled, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works so that we can serve the living God?Hebrews 9:22-28
22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that he might now appear in the presence of God for us.
25 He did not do this to offer himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another.
26 Otherwise, he would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared one time, at the end of the ages, for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.
27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment—
28 so also Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
finally, Christ gave up the ghost.
John 10:11, 18
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again. I have received this command from my father.”
Matthew 20:28
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
The other gospel writers also make note of Jesus giving up his ghost. For now, let’s shift our sites to other teachings on the matter.
Philippians 2:8
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
It’s important to understand that Jesus had human attributes as well as divine attributes.
Hebrews 2:14, 15
14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—
15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.Care of the Body of Jesus
despite the ruthlessness in arranging Jesus death, the religious leaders still found compassion on these Jewish victims. They still had at least a shred of respect for the teachings of the law as we see in the next few verses.
both Matthew and Mark described preparation day as the day before the Passover. Deuteronomy describes that being hanged on the tree is cursed by God, once dead, the body is not to be left overnight on the tree.
Leviticus describes that the day after Passover began the feast of grain offering. It was to be followed up 50 days later with another offering.
TS K: their (legs might be broken).
Lactantius says that it was a custom to break the legs of criminals upon the cross; which was done, we are told, at the instep with an iron mallet; and appears to have been a kind of coup de grace, the sooner to put them out of pain.John remarks that one of the criminals had his legs broken first, and then the other. Luke makes an interesting distinction when he describes the one thief mocked Christ, while the other asked to be in his kingdom.
a Roman soldier new a dead body when he saw one. Jesus was clearly dead, but why take chances? One of the soldiers pierced his side with his spear.
all through the Scripture the need for purity is described. Sins are atoned for and purified through blood. Washing in the cleansing purification of material artifacts are done through water. In the imagery described in verse 33, we see that Jesus has both water and blood within him.
Verse 35 contains a testament to the trustworthiness of John, and is eyewitness.prophecies contained in Scripture are to alert us of God’s truth. Witnesses, and Scripture are to proclaim truth to allow us to take the testimony on faith. It’s a trustworthy faith, because the witnesses are trustworthy.
The gospel writer points out 2 specific prophecies that were fulfilled. in the matter of the Passover lamb, none of its bones were to be broken, and it was not to be left until morning.
Psalm 22:14
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed;
my heart is like wax,
melting within me.Psalm 34:20
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.Psalm 35:10
10 All my bones will say,
“LORD, who is like you,
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor or the needy from one who robs him?”the 2nd prophecy is that he would be pierced and be looked upon.
Psalm 22:16, 17
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of evildoers has closed in on me;
they pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones;
people look and stare at me.Zechariah 12:10
10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the house of David and the residents of Jerusalem, and they will look at me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly for him as one weeps for a firstborn.
Credit
Thanks to the recorded comments from J Vernon McGee. His ministry and daily bible study live on through Through the Bible Ministries (ttb.org)
When Scriptures in the show notes and episodes are quoted from the NASB. “Scripture is taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.
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!–Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.–>
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