It Is Finished: The Final Moments of Jesus on the Cross

You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk

about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Well, good morning everyone,

and welcome to the Bible Guys, or good evening if that's when you

choose to listen to us. Welcome, Yes, welcome, Welcome. You're

definitely welcome at all hours, So welcome, you are the most welcome.

You're assuming they're thanking us, well, no, no, I mean they're

welcome to join us. I see, Jeff, we are going to do

a segment that is very sophisticated and very near and dear to our hearts.

Right that we only bring the finest news to our listeners. So if you're

brand new with us today, just understand that we search far and wide to

find the most important and authentic news, and we've found maybe the most authentic

news on the planet. It's the Babylon Being. And we would say that

this is a half a step more reliable than CNN, OH or any of

the news channels. Right, So, any news channel that sells advertising is

not giving you the news, giving you the news that they need you to

listen to to be able to watch the commercials they sold that's how it works.

So anyways, the Babylon Bee, we think is they also sell commercials,

but they're more honest about the fact that it's just satire. So the

Babylon b says this article today that we felt like you should read and listen

and hear about is The title is, I don't need church. I study

the Bible for myself, says man who has clearly never studied the Bible for

himself. Austin, Texas, a local man declared himself free of any need

to belong to a local church, relying instead on the fact that he studies

the Bible for himself, clearly indicating he has never studied the Bible for himself.

I don't need the church, the man said, confidently. I'm perfectly

capable of reading my Bible and knowing exactly what it says. Maybe some people

need pastors and teachers and other believers, not me. I have a full

understanding of absolutely everything. I've got it covered. Despite repeated invitations from family

and friends, the man has remain convinced that belonging to a local church is

entirely unnecessary. Frian Nah, I'm good, he said. The way everyone

keeps talking about it, you'd think there was something in the Bible about it,

but being really important to gather with believers to study it. Not for

me. There's nothing anyone else could do to help me comprehend the Bible better

than I already do. When asked to listen list some of his favorite passages,

the man was quick to offer multiple examples. Definitely the positive stuff,

he said, you know, the Jesus stuff, loving everyone, the part

where says nobody's ever allowed to judge anyone's really good and God helps those who

helps themselves part so good. At publishing time, the man had also reassured

his family of friends he was totally fine with his way of life, with

the way his wife was crumbling down around him. So there you go.

Yeah, So it's so funny, because that's a pretty clever angle on the

fact that the Bible talks about how we need church, right, we need

each other, and God designed the church for us and it's a necessity.

That's correct. It's so funny. Well, you cannot, you cannot grow

into the Christian God designed you for it to be without being in a body

of believers. It's not possible. Right. The Bible says that the church.

Every person that's a believer is a part of the church, the big

Church, and you can't but we're a part of a body. And you

can't sever a peace from the body and have the peace still thrive and grow.

Instead it rots and stinks, right, right, And that's been my

experience with people who sever themselves from the body. Yeah, yeah, for

sure. And then also I thought it was funny he quotes here, God

helps those who helps themselves. So which is in case you want to know,

I want all of the listeners to know this. So you guys are

a Bible experts, that phrase God helps those who helps themselves is not in

the Bible. Correct. Correct? In fact that after Easter, I'm not

sure if this will air during this series or not, but right after Easter,

we're going into a series called did Jesus Say that? Oh right,

And it's actually like four it's a four week series on misconceptions on what Jesus

said. Are you doing that one? God helps those who helps themselves?

No, we're doing as we just covered it. No, we're doing God

never gives me more than I can handle. Oh yeah, yeah. People

always say that God never give you then you can handle that's that's the phrase

that people. It's a misquote right of a verse on temptation. That's right.

Yeah, okay, well, hey man, there you go, only

the finest news for our people. If you never watch their read The Babylon

b you should go check it out when you're done with this podcast today.

We think they're funny, right, and they have both social and political commentary

from a satire standpoint, and I just I think they're hysterically. I laugh

and laugh and laugh all day long when I get into that. So okay,

well, here we are. We are continuing with our study through all

of the two hundred and fifty events in the life of Jesus. And yesterday

Jesus had gone to the cross as we were talking on the on the podcast,

Father forgive them Today you'll be with me in paradise. He asks John

to take care of his mother. So these are really significant. And then

we're going to continue on and this again is in all four Gospels, Matthew

chapter twenty seven, Mark fifteen, Luke chapter twenty three, and John chapter

nineteen. So we're going to read all four. Listen along and see if

you can see the differences or the extra information that you pick up from each

of the passages. So it says, remember they crucified Jesus at nine am,

and then it says at noon, darkness fell across the whole land until

three o'clock. At about three o'clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice,

Eli Eli Lama sabaktinae, which means, my God, My God,

why have you abandoned me. Some of the bystanders understood and thought he was

calling for the prophet Elijah, or misunderstood, I'm sorry, and thought he

was calling for the prophet Elijah. One of them ran and filled a sponge

with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he

could drink. But the rest said, wait, let's see whether Elijah comes

to save him. Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit.

At that moment, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn

into from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and

tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were

raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after jesus resurrection, went into

the Holy City of Jerusalem and appeared to many people. The Roman officer and

the other soldiers at the crucifixion were terrified by the earthquake and all that had

happened, and they said, this man truly was the son of God.

Many women who had come from Galilee with Jesus to care for him were watching

from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James

and Joseph, and the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

In Mark chapter fifteen, verse thirty three, it says at noon,

darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock. Then at three o'clock Jesus

called out with a loud voice, Eloi Lama sabactny, which means, my

God, My God, why have you abandoned me. Some of the bystanders

misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah, and one of them

ran and filled a spongeous our wine, holding it up to him on a

reed stick so he could drink. Wait, he said, let's see whether

Elijah comes to take him down. Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed

his last, and the curtain in the sanctuary of the temple was torn into

from top to bottom. When the Roman officer, who stood facing him,

saw how he had died, he exclaimed, this man truly was the son

of God. Some women were there watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene,

Mary the mother of James the younger, and of Joseph, and Salimay.

They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was

in Galilee. Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also

there. Then, in Luke chapter twenty three, says by this time,

as about noon, darkness fell across the whole land, until three o'clock the

light from the sun was gone, and suddenly the curtain in the sanctuary of

the temple was torn down the middle. Then Jesus shouted, Father, I

entrust my spirit into your hands, And with those words he breathed his lass.

When the Roman officer, overseeing the execution, saw what had happened,

he worshiped God and said, surely this man was innocent. And when all

the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw what had happened, they went

home in deep sorrow. But Jesus' friends, including the women who had followed

him, from Galilee stood at a distance watching, and then in John chapter

nineteen, verse twenty eight, it says Jesus knew that his mission was now

finished, and to fulfill scripture, he said, I am thirsty. A

jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge on it,

put it on a hissup branch, and held it up to his lips.

When Jesus tasted, he said, it is finished, and then he

bowed his head and released his spirit. It was the day of preparation.

The Jewish leaders didn't want the bodies hanging there the next day, which was

the Sabbath, in a very special sabbath because it was the passover, so

they asked Pilot to hasten their dads by ordering that their legs be broken,

then their bodies could be taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the

legs of the two men crucified with Jesus, but when they came to Jesus

they saw that he was already dead, so they didn't break his legs.

One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with the beer, and

immediately blood and water float out. This report is from an eyewitness given,

giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also can believe

these things happened in fulfillment of the scriptures that say no one of his bones

will be broken, and they will look on one they pierced. So we

covered a lot there. Yeah, that's that's so sad. It's so sombering.

You know. You read that and you're like, oh, I'm just

somber at this point. So, you know, so we talk about this

on Good Friday especially. We should talk about it more, but on Good

Friday that you know, the greatest the greatest difficulty that Jesus experienced on the

cross wasn't the physical pain, although that was excruciating. It was the fact

that Jesus looks up into heaven and says, my God, my God,

why have you abandoned me? Or why have you forsaken me? And so

it's the belief that, you know, based on everything that is explained to

us, that Jesus became sin, that Jesus took on all the sin of

humanity at that point, you know, fulfilling the scripture being the perfect sacrifice

for humanity. And then God the Father turns his back and for the first

time and only time, and eternity past and eternity future. God the Father

and God the Son are separated. And so the idea that Jesus is now

separated from his father, and he cries out and say, why have you

forsaken me? You know, that is the darkest time in all of history,

and so that that would have been something that obviously we don't understand,

but it seems to be way more excruciating as an experience. Yeah, you

know, so you know, the Father, so of the Holy Spirit worked

together relationally and intrinsically, and you know, in a dynamic in such a

way that you and I can't even possibly comprehend. So he had never been

separated from the Father in all of eternity, not just in time. Right,

there had never been so there had never been a beginning or an ending

to Jesus Christ. And so to be now separated from the Father. Why

it's because the Bible says in a couple different places that God cannot look upon

sin, right, he can't tolerate sin. And so second of these,

chapter five says, and here's a quote, he became sin for us,

who knew no sin, so that we might be made the righteousness of God

in him. And so the idea is that he embodied all of the sin

of humanity. So think about that, every bad thing you've ever done,

every lie you ever told, every time you ever heard of person, every

time. But he also took on the sins of every despot and every horrible

dictator, every child molester and every murderer and every genocidal leader. He took

on every horrific sin that has ever been committed, and he paid for all

of it on the cross. So he embodied, literally embodied all of the

collective evil for all of humanity. Right, and in that moment, Jesus

says, God, why did you abandon me now in this, in this

moment, this total desperation of God turned his back. Yeah, right and

symbolically, yeah, symbolically And and by the way, one little caveat.

I think what you said and what you meant to say were you said God

couldn't look on sin. But I think what you meant to say was God

cannot have sin be a part of who he is. Yeah. Well,

it says in the Old Testament that he won't won't even look at it.

God the Father will not look at sin. Does say that, Yeah,

did not know that, huh, yeah, and so so because of that,

then God rejects it. This is why you and I have to be

clothed in Jesus righteousness, because we are sinners. Right, So the only

way he can look upon us with favor would be the fact that we're clothed

in Jesus when he looks at me and you now by faith in Christ and

any of our listeners who've placed to faith in Christ Jesus. Right, So

that's it is, he became sin for us who knew no sin. He

was sinless, and they became the embodiment of all of the collective sin of

all of humanity from all time, past, present, future. He became

sin for us who knew no sin, so that we might be made the

righteousness of God in him. So theologically he looks upon me and you and

sees no sin, and it's because we're clothed and the righteousness clothes. Well

yeah, so, but the theological nuance is that is that he turns back

as he could look on sin. And that's what That's what the Old Testament

tells us, right. That is interesting. I'm not sure I've hung on

to that nuance. Yeah, yeah, I mean either way, it's you

know, it's really powerful, the same application. But but yeah, the

reason why that's interesting, that's really interesting. The uh uh so, so

Jesus dies at three o'clock, and let's let's not overlook the fact, I

guess we can get to in a minute. But uh, there's darkness that

falls across the land. The sun. The sun goes away at noon,

right, right, so at the heat of the day. Everybody knows that

noon is is the high the high point of where the sun is. But

darkness falls across the land and then it goes further. It doesn't just say

darkness, Oh, it must have been a cloudy day. No, it

says there is no light from the sun, right, which means like this

is an unbelievable miracle. And then let's not overlook the fact that it says,

ready for this one. We don't talk about this very often. The

bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead,

and they left the cemetery after Jesus's resurrection, So this would have been

three days later, right or you know, on the third day, and

went into the Holy City of Jerusalem and appeared to many people zombies, my

mom, So they're not zombies, they're they're like the resurrection, rigid people.

But I mean, in our world, the only visual that we have

in our minds of people rising from a grave out of the cemetery the Thriller

video. Right, So they were completely restored. They would have been back

fully alive like Lazarus. I just go ahead and take away my fun.

No no, no, no. Yeah, So this wasn't a horror movie.

This was a celebration. Yeah, hi, mom, it is hilarious.

So so holy cow, I mean, what an unbelievable Like, we

don't talk about that that often. So then you wonder why so many priests

and so many religious leaders became Christians almost immediately, right, Well, that's

why it wasn't just one guy, right, it was all these many godly

men, right right, It's all these people. And I wouldn't be surprised

if a bunch of them were former prophets and religious leaders and people that they

would have respected, that were followers, true followers of God coming back,

not just you know, random people, probably random people to but people that

would have credibility, but mental life. The Bible says a bunch of people

became followers of Jesus that day, right, and that's why. So so

it goes dark from noon to three. Now keep in mind, uh,

six six thirty or six o'clock is rather sorry, was the start of the

sabbath and not just any Sabbath in the morning. Uh oh night, Yeah,

Sundownyeah, sundown, because this would have been noon to three. So

Jesus gives up the ghost or his spirit at three o'clock, that's right,

right, so in three hours in other words, he had three hours to

spare there where it was going to be the sabbath. And it actually says

in parenthes in one of the versions, this was a very special sabbath,

right because it was the passover. So so so legally they have to hurry

up and push through this illegal uh just you know this this illegal trial and

execution where they're where they're crucive. They're having Jesus being crucified by the Romans

illegally, and it's against uh their custom uh to crucify anybody in the sabbath

or kill anybody in the sabbath. Really, so anybody has to be buried

before the beginning of this, which I mean especially the passover. They're really

pushing this thing through. Well, so anyway, that's that's why that details

there, and then let's let's talk about the fact that the veil rips into

Yeah, oh that's huge. That's a huge sermon altogether, isn't it.

But before we get to that part, you're talking about trying to bury him

right away. That's why they went to a pilot, said hey, would

you break their legs right? Just because they needed to kill him right and

they knew that the idea of being crucified. Sometimes people would be on a

cross for days. Sometimes they would just die from a lack of water,

right from thirst, they would die from exposure, they die from the birds

come in and picking out their eyes and just horrible stuff. It was a

horrific death. But here it's just a few hours and they're like, oh,

hey, we need to cut this off. And the other way people

died with suffocation. So your arms are stretched out. You can't stay with

your body hanging below your arms at your arms over your head for very long,

and eventually your ship you become very shallow and you're breathing, your lungs

begin to fill with water. You can't breathe, and so people would pull

themselves up to breathe on their their nails and then have to let themselves back

down because you can't hold yourself up that long either back and forth. So

the idea is go break their legs. Now they can't pull themselves up at

all because it's only your arms instead of pushing right, So you could push

up on the nail and then let yourself down on the nails on your wrists,

and then push yourself up on the nails on your feet and let yourself

your weight down on the wrists. Well, break the break the legs,

and then they'll just suffocate right and die pretty quickly, you know, within

a within an hour or so they would die. So that meant that Jesus

died first, because Jesus died first because they broke the two revolutionaries that's right,

legs, right, and then they saw no need to break Jesus legs

because he had already died, which again, just like we said yesterday,

just another one of those things to fulfill prophecies. And then he's finished,

no bone is broken, that's right, he's finished with all the commitment.

So he says it is finished, right to tell us die at painton full

and then into your hands I commit my spirit. And it's in that moment

the Bible says that the tombs open and the veil splits. So that gets

you to the point that you were talking. Yeh yeah, yeah, yeah,

okay, yeah, So the veil ripping in two. You know that

most of us who are listening, I'm sure are Christians. We all understand

the significance of this, but just as a reminder for those who may not.

So the temple is where God lived. God lived in one location,

and this is the moment, the single moment where the huge symbolism happens,

where later in the New Testament it says, now we are the temple,

right, our bodies are the temple that God ceases to exist in one location,

in the Holy of holies inside the temple. But the veils ripped in

two, which means everybody has access. Hebrew says, we can boldly go

before the throne, which is unheard of. And God basically rushes out from

one location and his spirit floods out, and now He is in the hearts

and in the minds and the souls of every believer, and the Holy Spirit

is the part of God, the part of the Trinity, that that Jesus

says is better for us, right, because Jesus is only one person.

He's God in the flesh, representative of the Father in one person, physical

person. But he says, it is going to be better for you,

remember when I leave, because I'm going to send the Spirit. And so

now we have God in us. So the Bible says that we are in

Christ. But then also that that Christ is in us, and so if

the Holy Spirit dwells in every believer, that makes us you know, uh,

the actual temple, and symbolically it says that we're the priest and then

Jesus and we're a nation of priests, and Jesus is the high priest.

So all of that symbolism that happened for sept yes, all that symbolism for

centuries was you know, the priest and the high priest and that temple and

the sacrifice and the lamb. Well, Jesus is the lamb, that's right.

Jesus is the high priest. Jesus is the lamb. Right, he

took care of all of it. So when Jesus says, why did you

forsake me? This isn't like a desperation thing. He's quoting Psalm twenty two,

and if you read some twenty two, it talks about what the Messiah's

death it's going to be like. And then when you and I hear the

story of how horrific crucifixion is, it's almost mind boggling. It's a terrifying

thing. But to Jesus, the devastating element was not just the physical.

Even more at times, a million was the idea of becoming sin, the

embodiment of sin for one who had never sinned. And then Jesus, when

it's all done in a short amount of time, what didn't require three days

to die? Here? For him, in a short amount of time,

he had done everything you needed to do. He took the punishment for our

sin in his body. If you sin, you will die, and he's

taking that punishment, but he pays the price like the lamb. Right without

the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins. So he took the

punishment for your sin and my sin in his body in his day. But

he paid the price for us sin with his blood. And with that then

he shouts out, it is finished, to tell us did it literally means

it's paid in full, like there was a debt, and he stamps at

the big rubber stamp, paid in full. That's what he did for all

of us. And then he says, now into your hands, I commit

my spirit right and he gives up his life in that moment, and it's

an astounding thing. But literally, it doesn't matter what you've done past,

present, of future. Jesus was looking back at every sin that ever been

committed, every sin that was being committed in the moment. He forgave right

there on the cross, and everything that would ever happen in the future.

Jesus pre chose to forgive. And all of that forgiveness is available to us

when we choose by faith. Salvation is by grace through faith right, and

so by faith we just choose to believe and accept this free gift that he

offers us forgiveness and every sin that you have ever committed or will ever commit,

Jesus forgave in that moment. And then his job was done. It's

finished. Yeah, And he goes to his father and Romans tells us,

if we confess with our mouth and we believe in our heart that God raised

Jesus from the dead that we will be saved, and whoever calls upon the

name of the Lord will be saved. And then in passing that one little

caveat that I mentioned where God can't look on sin yep is out of Haubacic

chapter one, where it says he can't look on sin. Now I understand

God's asking a bunch of questions there. It doesn't mean that God does not

have the ability to notice sinful people. It's that God cannot participate with sin

of any way. And so at this moment, understand that in the perfect

unity of the Trinity, it's NonStop, perpetual, perfect participation all the time.

And when Jesus took on the embodiment of all the sin of humanity,

God was like, I can't participate with that, and for the first time

Jesus was like, I feel abandoned. Yeah. Well, hey, that's

a great place to end, and that's well past our time. So there's

a lot in there. Yeah, so we'll continue next time on the Bible. Guys,