With Dale Ratzlaff
John 19:23-30
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His outer garments and made four parts, a part to every soldier and also the tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece.
It was expected that the soldiers involved in executions would receive the clothes of the condemned. The four soldiers divided the outer garments among themselves. The tunic was seamless, woven in one piece, and was considered to be of value. Rather than cut it up into four pieces, they cast lots to determine who would receive it.
24 So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be”; this was to fulfill the Scripture: “THEY DIVIDED MY OUTER GARMENTS AMONG THEM, AND FOR MY CLOTHING THEY CAST LOTS.”
Little did those ruthless Roman soldiers realize they were fulfilling a prophecy written by David hundreds of years before. The section is taken from Psalm 22. In context we note additional material applicable to Christ.
For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me; They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots (Ps. 22:16-18).
25 Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
John never mentions his own name, nor the name of his mother or any of his brothers or sisters. Here are four believing women who bravely come to the vicinity of the cross set over against the four unbelieving, ruthless Roman soldiers.
26 When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
The way this is worded implies that the disciple John was standing by Jesus’ mother. In spite of the severe suffering Jesus was going through in the last moments of His life, His thoughts are on the care for His mother. Therefore, by these few words he instructed His “beloved disciple” to care for His “beloved mother.” It seems strange that Jesus did not leave His mother in the care of His half-brothers. However, at this time they were not believers. The “family ties” among believers are often stronger than are the “familial ties” of blood relationships. Is this not what Jesus meant when He was told that His family was looking for Him?
Someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” But Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother” (Mt. 12:47-50).
27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.
After the resurrection James and Jude, brothers of Jesus, then believed in the divinity of Jesus and became leaders in the church. Nevertheless, John, writing many years later states, “From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.” One is left to wonder if Jesus’ half-brothers later tried to take custody of Mary. Probably not, for Jesus had given that responsibility to John.
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.”
In spite of the physical suffering Jesus still had a clear mind. He knew that He was bringing to a close all the prophecies pointing to the Messiah. One thing remained: the fulfillment of Psalm 69:22.
They also gave me gall for my food And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink
29 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.
The supplies for crucifixion included not only the nails but a jar full of vinegar, a sponge, and a branch of hyssop. The Synoptics state that Jesus did not take the drink. However, note that they place His refusal before Jesus was crucified.
Then they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull. They tried to give Him wine mixed with myrrh; but He did not take it. And they crucified Him, and divided up His garments among themselves, casting lots for them to decide what each man should take (Mk. 15:22-24).
Some time passed between His refusal to drink the mixed wine which might have deadened His thoughts and when He said, “I am thirsty.” Now Jesus accepts the offer to wet His lips to He can speak.
John often inserts little bits of detail that, upon contemplation, bring additional meaning. Such is the case by including the branch of hyssop. Hyssop seems to have played a secondary role in both the beginning and end of the old covenant. It appears to be associated with the application of blood and cleansing ceremonies. There is a very interesting ritual the priest was to perform for a person who had been healed of leprosy. This cleansing ceremony involved two birds, cedar wood, hyssop, and a scarlet string (Lev. 14:1-6, 49-52). The first mention of hyssop is in God’s instructions for the first Passover service while the Israelites were still in Egypt.
You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you (Ex. 12:22-23).
John, by including this detail, is calling to our attention to the true Passover Lamb who was giving His life as a ransom for our sin. The writer of Hebrews extends the thought showing that not only did hyssop point to the True Passover Lamb, it was also is associated with the termination of the old covenant.
For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people (Heb 9:19).
Then a few lines later we read.
So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him (Heb 9:28).
30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John does not tell us tone or volume of Jesus’ last words. However, the Synoptics state it was with a loud voice.
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit (Mt. 27:50).
This is a key verse in John’s Gospel. Jesus did not die as a defeated person. Rather, He died as a Victor—one who had completed the assigned work. The word in Greek translated “It is finished” is in the perfect tense. It is finished once and for all time. We might ask, “What was finished?” The answer is important as it is the foundation stone of Christianity. The atonement for sin was completed once and for all time. Any reference to a second atonement or to some future time when the atonement will be completed is unbiblical and undermines the truth of the gospel.
As I have mentioned before, Carolyn and I read one or two chapters of the Bible together each evening. We recently started reading the New Testament again. Last night our reading section included Matthew 5:17,18:
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished (Mt. 5:17-18).
This verse needs to be connected with the passage of this study in John. Matthew states that not one thing will be removed from the law until all is accomplished. And “the law” in context means the whole Torah ( For additional evidence for this statement see Sabbath in Christ, the chapter, “Jesus, the Law’s Fulfillment.”). Therefore, either we are to keep all the laws in the Torah, or all has been accomplished. There are no other choices. When Jesus cried out triumphantly, “It is finished,” the atonement for sin and the binding requirements of the old covenant were indeed finished, once and for all time.
Our text states that Jesus “bowed His head”.
It is perhaps worth noting that the same expression is used of going to bed: “the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Mt. 8:20; Lk 9:58). There is the thought of a peaceful death, the death of One who trust His Father” ( Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, p. 815.)
The final phrase describing Christ’s death is, He “gave up His spirit”. This is aorist active in Greek. “Yielding up His Spirit” was His action, and this action was done at a crucial point of time. This is the partial fulfillment of what Jesus said earlier:
No one has taken it [My life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father (Jn. 10:18).
Yielding up His Spirit does not mean that His Spirit died. Rather, it was released by the will of Jesus based upon the authority given to Him from the Father. His human body died as we will learn in the next study.
Application
- The humility of the Apostle John shines out of this Gospel. It does this by its absence of personal references to himself or family members. His focus of attention is always on Christ and not on himself. An example worth following.
- As a loyal Son, Jesus in the midst of His suffering does not forget His family duties. After our commitment to Christ, family loyalties should come first.
- The fact that Jesus committed the care of His earthly mother to John speaks of John’s love and loyalty to Jesus.
- We know Jesus drank wine at the Last Supper. At the same time Jesus did not drink that which would dull His mind. In this He is a good example for us to follow.
- We can rejoice that the atonement for sin is completed once and for all time. Jesus has dealt with all sin: past, present, and future.
Prayer
Father, how grateful I am to read the account of Jesus being crucified. Not that it is pleasant reading, but to know that my salvation was paid for in full by my Substitute once and for all. I am encouraged by the example of Jesus not forgetting His mother in such a traumatic time. May I be as caring in my family and the work you have given me to do as John was in taking care of Mary.
In Jesus name. †
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