Finished!
Opening Prayer
Lord, I need You. I need You more today than I did yesterday. Fill me with Your power and love as I wait here in Your presence.
Read John 19:28–37
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
28 Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 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. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken,” 37 and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Do you find it hard to wait? On this most precious day, will you wait in quiet praise as long as you can before the cross?As we wait, two more phrases are heard. “I am thirsty.” The experience of intense physical thirst was one of the worst agonies of crucifixion. But things are never quite as they seem with John. As the end approaches, the physical thirst Jesus experiences is matched by a deep spiritual longing to see the work of redemption completed as the cup assigned to him is drunk and a lost world is restored to the heart of the Father. Lord, help me this day to thirst more deeply for your presence.
Then the cheap wine is mercifully put to his lips, and the final cry rings out: “It is finished.” It is a loud shout of victory as Satan is finally beaten down (Col. 2:15); the old order of sin and death is defeated and a new world of forgiveness and freedom is born. The end is a new beginning. Jesus bows his head in death so that ours can be lifted into new life. Lord, help me this day to take hold of eternal life.
Apply
Surely these truths are worth waiting for. So don’t rush away. Stay, wait and think on these things.
Closing prayer
Thank God for what his salvation means to you.
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