"THE GREATEST THING JESUS EVER SAID"

                                 (THE WORD THAT SHOOK THE WORLD)

                                                 JOHN 19:30

INTRODUCTION:

VERSE 30 "WHEN JESUS THEREFORE HAD RECEIVED THE VINEGAR, HE SAID, 'IT IS FINISHED': AND HE BOWED HIS HEAD, AND GAVE UP THE GHOST."

           JESUS' PASSIVE (patior) OR SUFFERING MINISTRY IS NOW COMPLETED.  IN VERSE 30, JESUS SAYS "IT IS FINISHED" (telciousas) (telelest!) WHICH MEANS " I HAVE MADE PERFECT OR COMPLETED" OR "PAID IN FULL, COMPLETED, SUMMED UP IN ESSENCE".

          WHEN JESUS SAID, "IT IS FINISHED", HE ALSO MEANT THAT ALL OF THE PROPHECIES HAD BEEN FULFILLED.  IT IS ABSOLUTELY, INDESCRIBABLY AMAZING TO STUDY THE PROPHECIES THAT DEAL WITH THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

          ONE SUCH PROPHECY IN PSALM 69:21 IS FULFILLED IN OUR TEXT FOR THIS STUDY.

         ANOTHER POWERFUL EXAMPLE IS IN PSALM 22.  IT READS AS THOUGH THE WRITER WAS ACTUALLY STANDING AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS AND YET IT WAS WRITTEN CENTURIES BEFORE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST WAS EVEN BORN.    

          1. THE WORDS JESUS SPOKE ON THE CROSS ARE SIGNIFICANT:

     *  THE FIRST WORDS CONCERN THE ROMAN SOLDIERS WHO WERE CRUCIFYING HIM: 

"FATHER, FORGIVE THEM; FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO" LUKE 23:34.

     *   THE SECOND STATEMENT IS MADE TO THE PENITENT THIEF:

"TODAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE" LUKE 23:43.

     *   THE THIRD STATEMENT COMES WHILE LOOKING AT HIS GRIEF-STRICKEN MOTHER:

"WOMAN BEHOLD THY SON!" AND TO JOHN HE SAYS, "BEHOLD THY MOTHER" JOHN 19:26-27.   

     * THE FOURTH CRY IS ADDRESSED TO GOD AT THE 9TH HOUR AND COMES FROM PSALM 22 "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?" MATTHEW 27:46; MARK 15:34.

     *   THE FIFTH STATEMENT IS "I THIRST" JOHN 19:28 FOLLOWED BY HIS TAKING OF VINEGAR FROM A SPONGE.

     *   THE SIXTH CRY IS "IT IS FINISHED" VERSE 30.

     *   THE SEVENTH CRY WAS ADDRESSES TO HIS FATHER: "FATHER, INTO THY HANDS I COMMAND MY SPIRIT" LUKE 23:46.

          WHEN JESUS SAID "IT IS FINISHED", HE WAS TELLING THE WORLD THAT SOMETHING GREAT HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED!

          WHAT IS THE LESSON FOR US?

          JUST AS SURELY AND ACCURATELY AS THE PROPHECIES CONCERNING HIS FIRST COMING WERE FULFILLED, THOSE CONCERNING HIS SECOND COMING ARE GOING TO BE FULFILLED!

           THERE ARE TWO THREADS OF SCRIPTURE: 1.   THE RED THREAD OF BLOOD REDEMPTION AND 2.  THE GOLDEN THREAD OF HIS SECOND COMING.

           IN FACT, THERE WERE THREE GREAT MATTERS THAT WERE FOREVER SETTLED THE DAY JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS.

          1.  THE PAIN OF REDEMPTION WAS FINISHED - VERSE 28

          IN UTTERING "TETELESTI", JESUS IS ALSO SAYING THAT THE ANGUISH AND THE HEARTBREAK OF THE CROSS IS FINISHED.

          I DON'T BELIEVE THAT YOU AND I IN OUR WILDEST IMAGINATION CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND WHAT JESUS CHRIST SUFFERED UPON THAT CROSS.     

         WE REALLY NEED TO COMPREHEND THAT UPON THE CROSS OF CALVARY, JESUS CHRIST PAID FOR ALL OF THE SIN FOR ALL OF THE WORLD, FOR ALL OF THE TIME, FOR ALL OF THE ETERNITY THAT ANY MAN, ANY WOMAN, ANY BOY, AND ANY GIRL WOULD EVER HAVE TO PAY.  

          JESUS CHRIST IN SIX HOURS UPON THE CROSS SUFFERED ALL THE HELL THAT YOU AND I WOULD SUFFER FOR ETERNITY.    THAT CAN BE SAID FOR EVERYONE WHO BY FAITH RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR.

          A.  THE DEATH CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS WAS ONE OF ABSOLUTE TORTURE.

          YOU AND I CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO IMAGINE ALL THE PAIN THAT JESUS WAS FORCED TO ENDURE FOR OUR SAKES.    LET ME REFRESH YOUR MIND ABOUT THE TERRIBLE PRICE JESUS PAID FOR YOU AND I AS HE SUFFERED FOR SIN THAT DAY:

     *   THEY SCOURGED HIM (WHIPPED WITH WHIP) - MATTHEW 27:26.

     *   THEY BEAT HIM - LUKE 22:63-64.

     *   THEY PLACED A CROWN OF THORNS UPON HIS HEAD - MARK 15:17

     *   THEY SPIT UPON HIM - MATTHEW 27:30.

     *   THEY MOCKED HIM - MATTHEW 27:26-29.

     *   THEY NAILED HIM TO THE CROSS - MATTHEW 27:38; JOHN 20:25.

     *   THEY STRIPPED HIM NAKED - MATTHEW 27:35; MARK 15:24.

     *   THEY PLUCKED HIS BEARD FROM HIS FACE - ISAIAH 50:6.

          THESE TRUTHS DON'T EVEN BEGIN TO SCRATCH THE SURFACE OF WHAT JESUS SUFFERED FOR ALL PEOPLE, ISAIAH 52:14.     HIS WAS A BITTER CUP, BUT ONE THAT HE DRANK OF WILLINGLY SO THAT WE MIGHT BE SAVED, LUKE 22:41-42.

          THE CRUELTY OF THE CROSS WAS THE FINAL SUFFERING.  THERE WERE SO MANY OTHER WAYS HE SUFFERED EVEN BEFORE HE GOT TO THE CROSS - THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANE, BEING ABANDONED BY HIS DISCIPLES, THE MOCK TRIALS, DENIAL BY PETER, ETC.

           BUT IT WAS NOT THE PHYSICAL SUFFERING THAT REDEEMED US.  AT MIDDAY THE GLOWING OF THE SUN HID AND THE SHADE OF NIGHT AND DARKNESS WAS PULLED OVER THE WORLD.  THE VEIL WAS PULLED ACROSS THE SUN SYMBOLIZING THE GREATER SPIRITUAL DARKNESS THAT JESUS WAS IN.  AND JESUS GAVE THESE WORDS FROM PSALM 22, "MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?"

          JESUS CHRIST HUNG ON THAT ROSS FORSAKEN OF GOD, DESERTED BY MAN. ALONE...JESUS CHRIST DIES.

          B.  NOT ONLY WAS THERE PAIN WHICH THE SAVIOR ENDURED FOR YOU AND ME, BUT THERE WAS ALSO SHAME.

HEBREWS 12:2b "WHO FOR THE JOY THAT WAS SET BEFORE HIM ENDURED THE CROSS, DESPISING THE SHAME,"

          THINK OF IT, THE SON OF GOD WAS STRIPPED NAKED BEFORE THE WORLD AND NAILED TO THE CROSS.  HE ENDURED THE MOST SHAMEFUL DEATH THAT ANYONE COULD EVER KNOW, GALATIANS 3:13.     JESUS TOOK YOUR SUFFERING, YOUR SHAME, AND YOUR SEPARATION.

          HE WAS SEPARATED FROM GOD THE FATHER AND ALL THE WHILE MEN JEERED AND TAUNTED, AND GOD THE FATHER TURNED HIS BACK.

          I THANK GOD, JESUS WILL NEVER GO TO THE CROSS AGAIN.     I WANT TO TELL YOU AND FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND, ONCE FOR ALL, FOREVER AND EVER - HE HAS BOUGHT REDEMPTION FOR YOU AND ME AND ALL THAT PLACE THEIR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST.

          IT IS FINISHED!

          C.   THERE WAS SEVERE PAIN, CRUEL SHAME, BUT PERHAPS THE GREATEST AGONY JESUS SUFFERED WHILE ON THE CROSS WAS THE JUDGMENT THAT CAME FROM HIS FATHER, MATTHEW 27:46.

          WHEN JESUS WAS ON THAT CROSS, HE LITERALLY BECAME THE SINS OF THE WORLD,

2nd CORINTHIANS 5:21.    THEN, THE FATHER, UNABLE TO TOLERATE SIN IN HIS PRESENCE, JUDGED THE LORD JESUS AS IF HE WERE EVERY SINNER THAT EVER LIVED.

THIS WAS THE GREATEST AGONY THAT JESUS WAS FORCED TO ENDURE, BECAUSE WHILE HE WAS ON THAT CROSS, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, THERE WAS A GULF BETWEEN HIM AND THE FATHER.

          JESUS LITERALLY EXPERIENCED EVERY MAN'S DEATH AND EVERY MAN'S HELL WHILE ON THE CROSS, 2nd THESSALONIANS 1:8-9.

          2.   THE PLAN OF REDEMPTION WAS FINISHED - VERSE 28

          WHEN JESUS REACHED THE END OF HIS MINISTRY ON THE CROSS, HE WAS FINISHING A WORK THAT HAD BEGUN BEFORE THE WORLD WAS EVER FORMED, REVELATION 13:8.

          FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME, GOD HAD ALWAYS PLANNED TO SEND HIS SON TO DIE FOR LOST SINNERS.

          EVERYTHING GOD REQUIRES TO MAKE MEN AND WOMEN RIGHTEOUS AND TO TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS IS FOUND IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST.

          THERE IS JUST ONE MEANS OF SALVATION, AND REGARDLESS OF WHO YOU ARE, YOU MUST BE WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF JESUS IF YOU EXPECT TO SEE HEAVEN, REVELATION 1:5; 1st PETER 1:18-19.

          3.  THE PAYMENT OF REDEMPTION WAS FINISHED - VERSE 30.

     A.  WHEN JESUS SAID, "IT IS FINISHED"' IT MEANT THAT GOD THE FATHER IN HEAVEN WAS SATISFIED WITH WHAT JESUS THE SON HAD DONE ON THE CROSS.

          GOD ACCEPTED THE SON'S DEATH AND SHED BLOOD AS THE PERFECT PAYMENT FOR OUR SINS, ISAIAH 53:11.     THIS IS WHY THE BIBLE CAN TELL US THAT JESUS IS THE "PROPITIATION" FOR OUR SINS, ROMANS 3:25; 1st JOHN 2:2; 1st JOHN 4:10.

     B.  THAT IS GOOD NEWS FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU AND ME.

           AFTER ALL, WE COULD NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH TO GET TO GOD.  THE BIBLE PLAINLY TELLS US THAT THE BEST WE CAN DO IS LIKE FILTHY RAGS IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, ISAIAH 64:6.

          THE BIBLE GOES SO FAR AS TO REMIND US THAT IN OURSELVES, WE ARE "NO GOOD", ROMANS 3:12.

          HOWEVER, SINCE JESUS HAS SATISFIED THE FATHER, THEN I DO NOT HAVE TOO.     IF I AM IN HIM, THEN THE FATHER ACCEPTS CHRIST'S APPEASING, ATONING DEATH FOR ME ALSO.

     LET ME SAY IT THIS WAY.

          EVEN IF WE TRIED, WE COULD NEVER PLEASE THE LORD, BECAUSE WE WILL NEVER BE MORE THAN SINNERS.

          HOWEVER, THE FATHER IS ALREADY PLEASED WITH JESUS.

          IF I CAN BE FOUND IN HIM, THEN I WILL BE ACCEPTED BY THE FATHER BECAUSE OF MY RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST, PHILIPPIANS 3:9.

          IT MEANS THAT WHILE GOD WOULD NEVER ACCEPT ME AS I REALLY AM, HE WILL RECEIVE ME IN HIS SON.

          NOW DO YOU SEE WHY I SAID THIS IS THE GREATEST THING JESUS EVER SAID?

          BECAUSE "IT IS FINISHED", YOU AND I CAN ENJOY SALVATION THROUGH THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST.

     C.  THE WAY OF SALVATION.

          GOD'S MIGHTY WORK OF REDEMPTION WAS FINISHED, WHEN JESUS DIED, ALL THAT WAS NECESSARY FOR YOU AND I TO BE FORGIVEN AND TO BE SAVED WAS DONE.

          THERE IS NOTHING FOR YOU AND ME TO DO BUT TO RECEIVE CHRIST BY FAITH AND REPENTANCE WHAT JESUS CHRIST HAS ALREADY DONE FOR "IT IS FINISHED".

          YOU SEE, THAT'S WHY JESUS CAME.     JESUS SAID IN LUKE 19"10, "FOR THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH IS LOST".

          WE ARE THE ONES THAT HAD THE DEATH SENTENCE PRONOUNCED AGAINST US.

          BUT JESUS CHRIST TOOK IT OUT OF THE WAY AND NAILED IT TO HIS CROSS.

          ALL YOU AND I NEED TO DO NOW IS TO RECEIVE WHAT HE HAS DONE.

          EVERY STAIN, EVERY BLOT, EVERY BLUR, EVERY BLEMISH THAT EVER CAME ACROSS YOUR SOUL, JESUS HAS DONE IT ALL, OUR SIN DEBT IS PAID IN FULL.

          YOU SEE, IT IS NOT WHAT YOU DO, IT IS WHAT HE HAS DONE.

          JESUS CHRIST HAS PURCHASED OUR SALVATION.

          "TETELESTI",  "IT IS FINISHED"

          ARE YOU SAVED, BORN AGAIN BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST?

          IF NOT, YOU CAN BE.

          COME TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND RECEIVE HIS AS  YOUR SAVIOR.

          AMEN!