John 19:28-30 English Standard Version

The Death of Jesus

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 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.

What did Jesus know that allowed Him to say “It is finished”?

Knowing all was finished implies there is more than just one thing that is finished. There is the obvious of course but are we missing something by accepting only the obvious? Let us address what is obvious.

He died.

Was that any surprise to any of us, to say the obvious is that Jesus died? It is so obvious that the significance of His death might be glossed over as if it were no big deal. It is a big deal, a very big deal.

What other god, little g, has sacrificed himself for anyone for any reason? I cannot think of one and a quick search by Google says false gods required the sacrifices of other humans and not themselves. In some rare cases humans have committed suicide in order to have their legacy elevated to worship status without any benefit being obtain to anyone by their loss.

The issue here is the benefits obtained by the sacrificial loss of not just the man Jesus but also that part of Him that was fully God. We do not see gods, little g, sacrificing themselves for the benefit of anyone anywhere in history except for the death of our Messiah on the Cross of Christ.

No other death had the power to give the benefits obtained by His death, the forgiveness of sins forever. All sins, past, present and future sins are covered. Only the blood of God Himself has that kind of power.

Matthew 9:17 English Standard Version (ESV) Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.”

The wine reference alludes to the differences in the influence of wine verses the influences of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:15 English Standard Version (ESV) for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Ephesians 5:18 English Standard Version (ESV) And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

The new wine, the Holy Spirit is to be placed in the new identity, this new creation in Christ. The reference to the wineskin bursting is a clear indication that the Holy Spirit is more powerful than flesh. The spilling of the Holy Spirit and destruction of the body is a warning about this new creation in Christ, our new identity, must take place before the power of the Holy Spirit is placed in us and takes His position within us.

Ephesians 5:18 is as much about giving power to anything that might become the motivation behind our choices and behaviors, not just wine. Wine or strong drink is just the more obvious influences to understand.

Romans 8:3-5 English Standard Version

³ For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,^{[a sin offering]} he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.