JOHN 19.28-30: 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 they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. (30) When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (ESV)
A contemporary interpretation of Jesus of Nazareth is that he was a tragic figure, needlessly crucified because his sense of mission didn’t allow him to see himself as he should. This interpretation says that he got carried away with himself, thought he was divine, and didn’t know when to say when. There is a famous music drama from many years ago that I believe communicates just this.
But all of the foregoing is merely a secular understanding that does not allow for even the possibility that Jesus could have been who the Gospels say He is. That is, God’s only Son. The one sent from heaven to carry out the mission of providing humanity with the ultimate and final act of redemption. The Mediator between God and all people, wherever they may be.
And this mission of redemption carried with it very strict requirements according to the Law of the Old Testament. And it also required the precise fulfillment of a great number of specific prophecies written about Him. Jesus was required to live a perfect, sinless life so that He could be the final sacrifice under God’s Law, and thereby bring into being on our behalf the New Covenant with God the Father, as written in Jeremiah 31.31-37.
And so in the verses above, we see Jesus faithfully carry out His mission all the way to the end. He knew at that time He had succeeded in living the life required of Him. But He also knew that there was one last prophecy written about Him that had not yet been fulfilled. In Psalm 69.21 David wrote, speaking prophetically of Jesus, “and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” (ESV) Jesus knew that His mission of redemption and accordingly all prophecies written of Him, would not be finished until He was offered the sour wine to drink. This sour wine was already there, and after Jesus said, “I thirst”, action was taken to offer Him the sour wine and thus fulfill this final prophecy.
And when Jesus was offered the sour wine, His act of redemption was finished. And when “he bowed his head and gave up his spirit”, no force or being in all the universe could undo or take away what Jesus had done. It truly was all finished. Jesus, the Way and Mediator between God and all people, had once and for all completed His mission.
Jesus’ death on the cross is referred to as the “substitutionary atonement” on our behalf. He paid the penalty for our sin so that we do not have to be eternally punished. We are not able to provide for our own salvation, because we have never lived up to the requirements of the Law. Nor could we ever.
In order to receive the substitutionary atonement of Jesus on our behalf, we must put our faith in Him and receive Him into our lives. John 1.12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (ESV)