“Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfil Scripture he said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
John 19:28-30 NLT
The crucifixion account in John’s Gospel lacks the other details contained in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, but John recorded the way Jesus finally died. The Scripture that Jesus fulfilled was in Psalm 22:15, “My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead” and Psalm 69:21, “But instead, they give me poison for food; they offer me sour wine for my thirst”. There was nothing more that Jesus had to do, to complete His mission to Planet Earth. He had done everything that His Father in Heaven had asked of Him. Even on the cross, Jesus could remember the Scriptures and the prophetic words uttered in Psalm 69 would resonate with Him. But it was more than coincidence that there was some sour wine available, because it was used, when mixed with gall, to provide a little pain relief to those being crucified. On its own, the sour wine would have provided a little alleviation of thirst, and perhaps would have extended the time of consciousness for the dying. Jesus tasted the wine and then called out the timeless three words, “It is finished”. He finally then “gave up His spirit”.
Jesus made it clear in John 10:17-18 that He had the power to allow Himself to be killed but would also return to life. “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded“. Back in the Garden during His arrest Jesus reminded the disciples that He could call upon a large number of angels to protect Him, but He didn’t and what followed, right through to His final words, demonstrated Jesus sacrificing His life voluntarily. Without His death there would be no resurrection. Without His willingness to take on the sins of humanity there would be no salvation and eternal life with God.
John’s account told us that Jesus “gave up His spirit” when He died. His dead body remained on the cross but His spirit went elsewhere. There are an intriguing couple of verses in Peter’s first epistle – “So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood” (1 Peter 3:19-20). What that is all about I’ll leave to the theologians, but the point is that, although His body was of no use any more, Jesus’ spirit was alive and well. And so it is with human beings. After death our spirit lives on and dwells somewhere else. Paul referred to it as being “unclothed”. Will believing spirits end up in the “many rooms” or “mansions” that Jesus taught His disciples about? Perhaps, but it is clear that the place for spirits after death will either be in “Paradise” (read the account of the thief on the cross next to Jesus, a sinner saved in his final moments) or in prison, like the people who died in the flood. Also worthy of mention is the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, where the Rich Man ends up in torment, and the poor man “in the bosom of Abraham”. Spirits after death go to one of two places that we can refer to as either Heaven or hell.
Of course, we pilgrims know where we are going. We have no doubts. But many around us are like lemmings, heading for destruction over the cliff of death. Once beyond life, there is no going back. We pilgrims have a mission and we mustn’t give up spreading the Good News about Jesus.
Dear Lord. We thank You for sacrificing Your life so that we could receive forgiveness for our sins. We worship You today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 