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Thoughts on John 19:28-29

John 19:28-29 states: After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 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.

These words in the gospel of John seem to indicate that there is a sequence of events or certain things that need to be accomplished. It also shows that Jesus is a participant in moving things along. We read…

After this: After what? After Jesus had given his mother into John’s care? That is the only preceding event in the gospel of John. We know that not every one of the seven phases on the cross are in every gospel. Therefore we do not know when this event comes, in relationship to the passage found in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34: 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?”. Many assume that it was at that moment, when Jesus cried out the first verse of Psalm 22, that the sins of the world were dumped on him and the wrath of God the Father poured out on him. This event is the central focus, the purpose of the cross. So, if John 19:28 is saying after this atoning event, then we have a context and an order of events.


Jesus, knowing that all was now finished: John continues. Once again we have to comment, what does “all was now finished” mean? Does it mean the forsaking? Probably. Since that is the central work of the cross, that had to be accomplished or the entire process was pointless. If no atonement occurred, the cross was a waste. So, let us assume that the atoning work had been accomplished, the care for Jesus’ mother was assured and so Jesus was done…or was he?

Said (to fulfill the Scripture): Jesus said one more thing to fulfill Scripture. Not to fulfill prophecy but to fulfill Scripture. What does that mean? First, let’s look at what he said. Jesus said, I Thirst. Nowhere in the Old Testament are those words given as a test of the Messiah or a prophecy of the coming Messiah. So what does this mean? The best guess of people much smarter than me, is that Jesus was touching on Psalm 69: 21. Psalm 69 is a lament Psalm and Jesus wanted to experience that lament. So to force verse 21: for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink, He said he was thirsty. He knew there was a jar of sour vinegar wine near the cross, so they took some and gave him some. Jesus, therefore, experienced the depths of the laments of that psalm.

Then Jesus was done. He had provided a way of salvation for billions of people. He would now die and raise on the third day. Praise God.



#Thoughts on Scripture#

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