Consider the Cross, Part 5

The seven words of Christ from Calvary. Three were recorded in the light. Four were recorded in the dark. Three happened and were spoken directly to the needs of those around him. Four of those words centered around his death and its accomplishment. But our Lord would speak seven times from the cross, each of those seven times having great significance to our lives. He would speak, first of all, that word of pardon.

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. That he would speak that word of pro: Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother. And then he would speak, thirdly, that word of promise today.

Today you shall be with me in paradise. And then the earth became dark. And then he would speak after the sixth hour of hanging on the cross. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The word of pain. Because you see the separation of God the Father from God the Son was greater than any physical pain he experienced that day. Any humiliation he experienced that day. The greatest of all pain is separation from God. And then he would speak three more times. The last four times, all pretty much together.

The first three words were spaced out over the first three hours. The last four words that he spoke were fairly close together at the end before he bowed his head. And he gave up the ghost. He died. I want to pick up where we left off last week by looking at the word. petition the wor of petition John chapter 19 verse number 28 if you have your Bible I would invite you to turn there with me please John 19 verse number 28 It says these words, after this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, said, I am thirst.

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. I am thirsty. A word of petition. I want you to notice three things about this word this morning.

In fact, I'm going to give you three principles under each of these last three words this morning. The first is this: this phrase, I am thirsty, proves.

The humanity as well as the divinity of our Savior. The humanity as well as the divinity of our Savior. All the horrors of hell had come to Calvary that day during those three dark hours. When God the Father was separated from God the Son, through the loss of blood, through the nervous tension, through the exposure to the weather, Jesus was thirsty. He hadn't drunk anything since the night before, when he had the last supper with his men. And now he is thirsty. But note something. God is never thirsty.

Angels are never thirsty. And when we die and go to heaven, we will never be thirsty. But the God-man became thirsty. It proves the humanity of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Notice what the text says.

In verse number 28, knowing that all things had al been accomplished. This proves his divinity. He knew that all things had already been accomplished. Everything that he set out to do was now finished. Therefore, having full knowledge, Of what had taken place, and being in full control of what was going to happen next, he said, I am thirsty. He knew what prophecy needed to be fulfilled next. And in saying, I am thirsty, he controlled the soldier's response. To give him the vinegar for his thirst.

I am thirsty proves the divinity as well as the humanity of our Savior. Number two. It portrays the intensity as well as the severity of his suffering. It portrays the intensity as well as the severity of his suffering. If he hadn't drunk anything since the evening before. And now he says, I thirst. It highlights his anguish. And not only does it prove the fact that he was in all points tempted as we are tempted, that he was. Fully man, but it helps us understand the intensity of his suffering. You will note that at the beginning of his ministry in Matthew 4, he was hungry at the end of his ministry.

He is thirsty. At the beginning of the crucifixion, they had offered him gall to drink, which was that sedative that they would have him suck on that would cause him or cause the pain to be numb. But you realize that he never partook of that. Why? Because he wanted to experience the full severity of the suffering on the cross. He wanted no numbness. He wanted to experience everything full throttle. So it portrays to us the intensity as well as the severity of his suffering. He wanted no deadness.

He wanted no numbness. He wanted to experience all the pain and he did. And thirdly, it presents to us the superiority and the authority of the Scripture.

It presents to us the superiority as well as the authority of the scripture. It says that the scriptures might be fulfilled. Remember over John 17, verse number 4, it says, I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. Listen, as great as his suffering was, as great as his thirst was, it was not as much a desire. For relief, that caused him to say, I am thirsty, as much as it was his comm and desire to fulfill the word of God. I am thirsty. It was prophesied in Psalm 69, verse number 21.

They gave me vinegar for my thirst. It pres to us this phrase: I am thirsty, the superiority and the authority of the scripture. He was God. He had turned water into wine at the very outset of his ministry. He had caused water to flow from the rocks. For the nation of Israel. If he wanted to get something to drink, all he had to do was speak the word, and his thirst would be fulfilled. But our Lord was concerned about the fulfillment of the Word of God because his whole life He subjected himself to the authority and to the superiority of the scriptures.

When he was tempted in the wilderness, For 40 days, he still submitted himself to the authority and the superiority of the scriptures because that's what marked his life more so than anything else. He wanted to know what the Word of God said. And that should be the example for you and me, right? That we should want to do what the Word of God says more than the satisfaction.

Of our thirsts. And that's what Jesus did. His phrase, I am thirsty, fulfilled scripture. Because it was prophesied that that's the way it would be. He didn't have to have anything to drink. He could have just died. He was at the end. He was just moments away from his death. What difference does it make if he has his thirst fulfilled? He's going to die anyway. Ah, but he had to fulfill the scriptures because he was committed to that. No matter how thirsty he was, he want to do what the word of God said.

And if 1 Peter 2 is true, and it is, that he left us an example to follow, we learn from this that our hearts. Desire. At the base of our heart's desire, we should say, I want to do what God says, no matter what my thirst are.

And Jesus, being thirsty and fulfilling Scripture, said, If any of you Thirst. Let him come after me, and I will give to him the well of living w. That's what he promises us. He promises to satisfy our greatest thirst because that's the way our God is. A word of petition. Next phrase. Next verse. A word of per. It says in verse number 30, when Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished. And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. It is Finished. Three things I want you to see from this phrase.

Number one, this phrase declared The consummation of his mission. It declared for all to hear the consummation. his mission. You can read about it in Luke 2, verse number 49. Because before the Lord came, he had a definite mission. It says, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John 5:3, but I have a greater witness than John's for the works which the Father has given me. To finish. John:, we read about it earlier. I have glorified thee on earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

He had a mission. It was to finish a particular work. So now, at the consummation of that mission, he could declare it is finished. Why? Because he did what he came. To do, he finished it. The mission had been accomplished, the divinely given task had been completed. Every man dies, but Jesus purposely came to die. That was the crux of his mission. That's what he was about. 1 Timothy 1, verse number 15. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's why he came. To do that, he had to die for sinners.

He had to pay the price for sinners. Having paid that price, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The word of pain, he can now say declare the word of Of completion, the word of perfection. It is finished. What I came to do, I accomplished. It is now complete. He came to seek and save that which was lo. That 's why he said it is finished. Nothing can be added to the work of Christ. Nothing. It's done. It's complete. You can't add anything to what he did in order to save your soul because he did it all.

He did everything. He paid the price that you could not pay. So he says, This is it. It is finished. It is complete. It is the word of perfection because it's the word of completion. It's the word of fulfillment. It's over. It's done. Nothing you do will ever add to what Jesus did. Nothing. Because it is finished. It describes the satisfaction of his redemption. That's why the text says, And he bowed his head. Literally, he pillowed his head. He didn't just fall over. No, he pillowed his head. Why?

Because you see, he was in complete control of his death. No one took his life from him, John 10, right? 17 and 18, speaking of the fact that he lays his life down on his own initiative, his own accord. And so he would, he would. Through his death, and saying it is finished, describe to us the satisfaction of redemption. It's done. I did what I came to do. He gently placed his head down. To show that the work was complete, it is finished, declares the consummation of his mission, describes the satisfaction of redemption.

And thirdly, it displays the perfection of his revelation. It displays the perfection of his revelation. Because the Bible says in Mark chapter 15, verse number 39, that the most unlikely individual would look at him after he said this and say, truly, this was.

The Son of God, the centurion, the centurion who had been through the whole process with him, through the beatings, through the carrying of the cross. Standing there beside him, watching him, listening to everything he said, watching everything that took place. Would say, truly, this was the Son of God. Why? Because the Son of Man. Was the perfect revelation of God. That's why. And through his whole life. As he embarked on his ministry at his baptism, the voice came down out of heaven saying, You are my bel Son.

On the Mount of Transfiguration, the similar voice said, This is my beloved Son. And now, from the most unlikely source, This centurion, he says, truly, this was the Son of God in all of his humiliation, in all of his helplessness. In his death, this man recognized Jesus as the Son of God. It is. Finished. One more phrase that's recorded over in the book of Luke. The 23rd chapter, the 46 verse. We 'll begin with verse number 44, and it says, Then it was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour.

The sun being obscured and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus crying out with a what kind of voice? Loud voice, just thought I'd let you read that for yourself. A loud voice said, Father, into thy hands I comm. My spirit. Wow. Three things I want you to notice about this last word.

This word, which we call the word of peace. The word of peace. It expressed his confidence in the Father. It expressed his confidence in the Father. Father, he says, he spoke for all to hear. Those who had deemed him forsaken by God Those who had mocked him, those who thought that he was no longer in commune with his Father who was in heaven, he would say it for all of them to hear. You see, that communion, that fellowship that he had from all eternity was gone for three hours. That's the word of pain.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? But after he had paid the price. He could say, it is finished. What was finished? The work of redemption was accomplished. He had paid the ransom. He had paid the price for your sin and for my sin. Now Having paid the price, he was in full communion with his father. So he could say, Father, into thy hands I comm my spirit. His father gave him to humanity. His father guarded him all the way to Calvary. And now his father would guide him all the way back to glory.

He expresses confidence in the Father. Number two. It evidenced his control over his fate. It evidenced his control over his fate. He says, Into thy hands I commit my spirit. In other words, I entrust my spirit or I deposit my spirit. I am willingly depositing my spirit into your hands. I am willingly giving my life into your hands. I am now going to die. Very simply, it evidenced his control over his own fate. The Bible says in Revel chapter 1, verses 17 and 18, that he holds the keys to death in Hades.

He gave of his life. Willingly, sacrificially, voluntarily, because that's the way he wanted it. Jesus did exactly what he wanted to do. Matthew 27 says he yielded up his spirit or he dismissed his spirit. John 18:3 says that he bowed his head and gave up the spirit or literally delivered the spirit. He dismissed his spirit. He delivered up his spirit. He deposited his spirit. All things demonstrating the fact that he did what he wanted to do when he wanted to do it. not when somebody else wanted to do it, because he controlled his own fate.

He act of his own volition. Only the divine God could do that. And last. He explained, through this phrase, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. He explained his contentment about the future. He explained his contentment about the future. Into thy hands I deposit my spirit. You see, he had willingly given himself into the hands of wicked and evil men, right? Matthew 17 tells us that the Son of Man shall be betrayed into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. Matthew 26, 45 says, Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.

Luke 24, 6 and 7. The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third day rise again.

But never again will he ever be in the hands of wicked, evil men. Never. Because now he was in the hands of security. Into thy hands, I commit my spirit, the Father's hands. The place of supreme security. Those are the same hands, by the way, in which he committed you. When he said in John 10, 29, my Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all, and none is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. That same hand, my Father's hand, is the same hand that He committed himself to. I comm myself into your hands, Lord, my Father.

He committed himself into the hands of security. That's why the Bible says in 1 Peter 1:5 that we, the children of God, are kept by the power of God.

The place of security. You are either securely joined to the hands of God Or you will be severely judged by the hand of God. Did you know that? For the Bible says it is a fearful thing to f into the hands of the living God.

So if you're not securely joined to the hand of the F, then you will be severely judged by the hand of the Son. Severely. Because vengeance is mine, he says, I will rep. I wonder this morning whose hands you are in. If you are in the hand of God the Father. Securely joined to that one who will never let you go. That no man can ever pluck you out of his hand. Nothing you can do will ever sever that relationship. Nothing. It is secure for all eternity. If you can't say that today, then you are outside the hand of God.

And you're in danger of being severely judged by that fear hand of the living God. Where you are today, I do not know. But I do know this: that what Jesus Christ did at Calvary, he did for you and for me. And if you don't appropriate that work today, having not done so before this day, you're in danger of being severely judged by those hands. But if you are joined together with the Father's hands, you are protected. And you can be sure of this very thing: that what the Son of Man did that day. He did because he believed in his father and was content with letting the father hold his future.