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      "The Death of Jesus Christ"
      John 19:28-30
      Theme: In the death of Jesus Christ, everything was accomplished for the atonement of our sins.

        1. The Demonstration of His Surrender – 19:28-29

          1. His Surrender to the Penalty of Sin – v. 28a (Passive Obedience)

            1. We come now to the end of the time of Christ Jesus on the cross – a world of iniquity had been taken upon Himself and He had paid eternally for our sin.
            2. We are told that "after this …" – referring to the vicarious nature of Jesus suffering for the sins of men – when all the suffering that ought to have been endured by men had been endured by Christ, He was ready to die.
            3. It is remarkable to see the extent of His presence – "knowing that all things had already been accomplished …"
            4. The concept of "all things" refers to two spheres of obedience that were undertaken by Christ – active and passive obedience.
              1. The idea of active obedience refers to all of the ways that Jesus fulfilled the Law and the requirements of righteousness.
              2. The idea of passive obedience refers to all of the ways that He surrendered Himself to pay for the sins of others – what He had to endure because of our sin.
            5. In this situation, the reference to the things that "had already been accomplished" is a reference to the passive obedience of Christ – that obedience whereby He took upon Himself all the wages that were due to others because of their sin, but were personally inappropriate.
            6. Truly, Jesus Christ suffered for our sins – cp. 1 Peter 3:18.

          2. His Surrender to the Precepts of Scripture – vv. 28b-29 (Active Obedience)

            1. We also see the other side of the issue of Christ’s obedience – not only that He suffered for us obediently, but that He actively accomplished everything that we needed for Him to accomplish in order that we might be declared righteous – "… to fulfill Scripture, said, ‘I am thristy’."
            2. Jesus during His life fulfilled every part of the Law of God – that is, He fulfilled all righteousness – accumulating for us a vast treasury of righteousness through His obedience that has been imputed to our account –
            3. Every detail of God’s purpose and plan was fully executed – down to the fulfillment of every last prophecy – "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."
            4. This brought fulfillment to the prophecy found in Psalm 69:16-21 whereby David foreknew the kind of suffering that the Messiah would ultimately endure in completion.
            5. The reference to "hyssop" here is interesting – being the instrument required by God to apply to blood to the doorposts during the Passover (Exodus12:22) as well as the ceremonial cleansing of the leper (Leviticus 14:4), as well as the sanctifying of the people – cp. Hebrews 9:19
            6. Here the point is that Jesus was careful unto the very last moments of His life to fulfill everything that was required of Him so that a full account of righteousness could be available to be imputed to sinners who come to Him by faith – cp. 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 3:21-24; Philippians 3:9

        2. The Declaration of His Success – 19:30a

          1. The Definitive Testimony of the Savior

            1. Jesus is the one who is the most attuned to the absolute requirements of God for the redemption of man.
            2. He came to do it all – to fulfill everything that needed to be done in order that we might be reconciled to God – cp. Luke 19:10
            3. Having made this the lifelong passion and mission, Jesus made sure that he fulfilled everything right up to the sip of sour wine at the hands of his enemies.
            4. We are then told that "therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished’!"
            5. This declaration is the epitome of the assurances that the necessary debt had been paid for sin as well as the necessary righteousness had been established for sinners to whom it is imputed to enjoy reconciliation with God.

          2. The Decisive Truth regarding Salvation

            1. The practical impact of this statement provides the sinner with the assurance that there is nothing left to complete by the sinner in order to be saved.
            2. There is no sacraments that are needed to provide a righteous standing before God, there is no purgatory to be served to complete any residual suffering that wasn’t performed by the Savior.
            3. Everything that needed to be done for salvation has been accomplished by Jesus Christ – and we are thereby saved by grace alone – cp. Titus 3:5-7.
            4. To attempt to add to the perfect work of Christ’s atoning sacrifice is to pervert the Gospel and make it something that man can somehow perfect – an insult to the efficacy of the blood of Christ – cp. Hebrews 9:12-14.

        3. The Dismissal of His Spirit – 19:30b

          1. The Death Was a Definite Decision

            1. We are now told by the eyewitness John that Jesus, having completed all suffering for sin decided that it was time to die – "And He bowed His head …"
            2. This indicates that Jesus was fully in control and had suffered with great dignity with his head held erect in that he bowed it here.
            3. Notice also the order – Jesus didn’t die and then allow his head to fall forward, but rather, showed His sovereign control to the very end.
            4. The term "bowed" literally means to "pillow" and refers to a gentle deliberate act of laying the head down.
            5. This was a holy hour – a moment of moments – when the Son of God gave His life for sinners.

          2. The Death Was a Deliberate Departure

            1. Then we are told that he "gave up His spirit." – signifying that His life was not taken from Him.
            2. This is significant in that it shows that Jesus was not a victim of the hostilities of man, but was a willing sacrifice who gave Himself because of love – cp. John 10:17-18
            3. One of the pieces of information that confirms that Jesus died in a deliberate act is the seeming prematurity of His death – cp. Mark 15:44; John 19:33
            4. Jesus’ body would have been of greatest health and strength – not having any deficiency whatsoever – and did not therefore die from some lack of strength or because of a weakness.
            5. He died at the hour that was appointed by the Father in obedience to the Father because of the completion of the work that the Father had given Him to do – cp. John 17:4
            6. This is further demonstrated by the terms used here – He literally "to hand over"
            7. The understanding is that Jesus handed over His spirit and immediately went to paradise where the Old Testament saints had been awaiting His accomplishment of redemption – cp. Luke 23:43.

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