So far we have seen Jesus forgive those who crucified Him, including us, because it was because of our sins that Jesus went to the cross. We heard Him declare that the one believing thief would be with Him in paradise, today. We watched as He fulfilled His fourth commandment responsibilities by providing a new son, a care taker, the disciple He loved, John to care for His mother. And we watched as He became and orphan as God forsook Him in His dying hours. This evening we draw closer to the end.
As pathetic as this antidote may sound; I remember as a youth the “joy” of hauling hay. We would work through the day, lifting, loading, stacking and mostly sweating. By the end of the day we would be ready for something cold to drink. The work had been done and it was time to relax. Now, certainly I know that what I did was nothing compared to what Jesus endured on the cross, eternal death and hell, but I can understand in a very small way Jesus’ words in our text for this evening. Again reading, “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.”
Jesus knew that all things were now complete. He had given up the glory which was His in heaven. He had not always, nor fully used His divine powers. He had lived perfectly for us, in our place. He obeyed all God’s commands, perfectly. He fulfilled all the prophecies concerning Himself, perfectly. Of His own free will, because that was the purpose for which He was born, He took our sins, all our sins, the sins of all people, of all places, of all times, our sins of thought, word and deed, our sins of commission and our sins of omission upon Himself. He had suffered temptation, forty days by the devil in the wilderness and even more, suffering sin and temptation every day of His life. He suffered the same temptations we suffer and even greater temptations. He suffered the temptation to not go through with His plan of salvation for us. He was completely obedient to His Father’s will. Remember in the Garden just a few hours earlier when He prayed that this cup of suffering might be taken from Him, He prayed, “Not my will, but Your will be done.” He did everything that we are commanded to do and are unable to do, He did perfectly for us, in our place. Now He has taken all our sins upon Himself. He has become a curse for us. He has completed the suffering which we should have suffered. He suffered, for us, in our place. He has suffered the complete torment of hell for us. Now that everything is complete Jesus was ready to die.
Jesus had accomplished what He came to earth to accomplish. He had reached the end of the day and He asked for a drink. There is some discussion concerning the drink which was offered earlier and which was now given to Jesus. The discussion focuses on the understanding that what was usually given to those dying on the cross was something that was somewhat of a pain killer. Jesus did not drink anything of the sort while suffering for our sins. He suffered the whole suffering. He suffered with no pain killers. As we heard last week, He suffered complete absence from the love of God the Father as He had become orphaned on the cross, no mother, no Father, and deserted by His own disciples. He suffered beyond what you or I may ever imagine. Now His suffering was complete and so He asks for something to drink. Perhaps simply to wet His lips so He might speak yet again. Yet, even now the drink that was offered to Him was a vinegar drink, not too refreshing I would think.
Rest assured, Jesus suffered the torments of hell as well as physical hell on the cross. He suffered physically; being beaten, a crown of thorns pressed down on His head, the nails through His hands and feet, the suffocation. He suffered spiritually, the torments of the absence of love. He suffered completely. He suffered for the sins of all people of all places of all times. And His suffering was enough. Jesus had completed His suffering and now He wanted water, again, possibly to clear His throat for what was to happen later.
Our text for this evening reminds us that Jesus is the Messiah. He is the Christ. He is true God taking on human flesh and blood. He suffered physically as well as spiritually. Crucifixion is dying by suffocation. As the body hangs on the cross with no support of the legs, the muscles which are used to push up the diaphragm to breath out are not able to push the carbon dioxide air out of the lungs so that fresh oxygen can flow in, thus over a period of time the person slowly suffocates. Of course, for Jesus this suffocation came after public humiliation, a beating which would kill almost anyone, a crown of thorns being pressed down on His head and mocking. This punishment was just the physical suffering. The greater suffering that Jesus suffered was the spiritual suffering of the eternal death penalty, hell. Jesus suffered hell, total absence from God’s love. He suffered hell for all people of all places of all times. He suffered hell for you and for me.
Jesus did what Holy Scripture said He would do. He was the promised Messiah. He was the Word made flesh. He was true God, giving up the glory that was His in heaven and taking on human flesh and blood. He lived perfectly, never sinning, never falling for temptation, always doing right.
And He gave His life for ours. He became our substitute. He became the sacrifice for us. He gave His life that we might have life. Remember, the price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden. The price for sin was death, human death for human sin. No amount of animal sacrifices as prescribed in the Old Testament Ceremonial Law was enough, they simply were a reminder and pointed to the fact that the price for sin is death, eternal death and hell and physical death. And even though God had given the ceremonial laws and the sacrificial system in the Old Testament to the Children of Israel, again, those animal sacrifices were not sufficient for the sins of humans. Those sacrifices were merely a reminder that the price for sin is death and that blood needed to be shed. Those sacrifices merely pointed to the one ultimate sacrifice of a human, God in flesh, Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, once and for all.
Jesus suffered and died that we might have forgiveness and life, eternal life. And I can never say it too much, His suffering was enough. We do not have to do anything. He has done it all. We do not have to make any satisfaction for our sins. And although our desire, our response of faith is to live God pleasing lives, to live as priests in the priesthood of all believers, to offer our lives as living sacrifices, with the help of the Holy Spirit and always this side of heaven doing so imperfectly, for us, to claim that we need to do anything to add to what Jesus has accomplished is to say that Jesus’ suffering was not enough. We can be confident that Jesus’ suffering was enough and that His suffering and dying accomplished everything for us in our place.
This evening we are getting close to the end, that is the end of our Lent season, our being reminded of our sin and our part in putting Jesus on the cross. We are getting closer to Jesus’ actual death preparing us for our Easter resurrection celebration. Jesus has taken care of everything. He has suffered for our sins. He has made it clear that His suffering has earned heaven for us. He has taken care of His mother. He has suffered, alone, for all the sins of all people of all place of all times. He is ready to die, but before He dies He asks for something to drink to clear His throat for the words which He is to speak next. And if you remember what words come next, “It is finished,” followed by “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.” But those last two sentences are for services yet to come. Until then, may the Lord bless us as we continue to remember the suffering and death of His Son, our Savior, for us, because of God’s great love for us. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.