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Author: Stephen Weller
573 words, 3 minutes read time

His Work Is Finished

Scripture: Matthew 27:48-50; Mark 15:35-36; John 19:28-30

In the previous lesson the transfer of sin was completed resulting in the Father forsaking Jesus. We ended the lesson with Jesus crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In this lesson we hear Jesus cry out again.

^{Mk 15:35} And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” ^{Jn 19:28} After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” ²⁹ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so ^{Mk 15:36} someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, ^{Jn 19:29} a hyssop branch, and held it to his mouth ^{Mt 27:48} to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ^{Jn 19:30} When Jesus had received the sour wine, ^{Mt 27:50} he cried out again with a loud voice ^{Jn 19:30} and said, “It is finished.”

Consider the “bystanders” for a moment. ‘And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”’ (Luke 23:35 ESV). The people were watching, and the rulers were scoffing. Now look at Luke 23:48 (ESV) which was after the death of Jesus: “And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts.” After what the crowds had witnessed from the cross, they now leave and return home in a state of grief and repentance.

The bystanders thought Jesus was crying out to Elijah when he cried out in Aramaic “Eli, Eli” as it sounds similar to the Hebrew name for Elijah (Eliyahu). After crying out, Jesus knew that all was now finished but there was still a prophecy to fulfill from Psalm 69:21 ESV: “and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” In response to his statement of thirst, someone quickly filled a sponge with sour wine and stuck it on the end of a reed, a hyssop branch, and held it up to his mouth to drink. Upon receiving the sour wine, Jesus cries out again with a loud voice, and said, “It is finished.” The work he was sent to do by the Father was now finished.

The harmonized narrative inserts the statement from others saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” The impression one gets here is that the one with the sour wine did not wait but gave to Jesus to drink. Another detail to address is what is a “hyssop branch.” “They are aromatic, with upright branched stems up to 60 cm long covered with fine hairs at the tips. The leaves are narrow ovals, 2–5 cm long. The small blue flowers are on the upper part of the branches during summer.”

Conclusion

The work Jesus was sent to do is now finished and he can die and return to his Father. In the next lesson we will witness his death and some powerful things that happened as a result. The death of Jesus was not like others who have died on the cross. God made it clear that the death of Jesus was different.