The Crucifixtion Finished It

The Crucifixtion Finished It

John 19:30 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International

Bible Society

30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said,

"It is finished." With that, he bowed his head

and gave up his spirit.


Hebrews 13

11 The high priest carries the blood of animals

into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but

the bodies are burned outside the camp.

12And so Jesus also suffered outside the city

gate to make the people holy through his own

blood.

13Let us, then, go to him outside the camp,

bearing the disgrace he bore.

14For here we do not have an enduring city, but

we are looking for the city that is to come.


Here's a quote from yesterday:
"Another metaphor as the Apostle translates it
in Hebrews. When he says,'go to him outside the

camp', does he suggest that, for the hebrew

believer there is a need to make a break with the

earlier covenant of temple worship? That all of

the requirements of temple worship were only to

make it easier to recognize the one who is

represented by the Passover lamb?

...the Apostle was looking into the future

through the lens of prophetic scripture. He saw

in the text of scripture, that there was more to

come. He saw that there was a future eternal

Jerusalem, that will replace the present

metaphorical dwelling place of G-d (the temple in

Jerusalem)."

'It is finished' brings to a close the drama of
redemption unfolding across the stage of history,

as it is recorded in the text of holy scripture.

What is finished is the offering up of sacrifices

that could never remove the stain of sin. Temple

worship is a metaphor for the final redemption of

all mankind. It is finished.


Hebrews 10:4 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain

4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls

and of goats should take away sins.

Only the blood of Jesus has the power to take

away sin. The result is that we now have a means

to approach G-d, that is not based on our own

feeble effort or goodness, but on the

righteousness of Christ. He did for us what we

were unable to do for ourselves.

Last night, in conversation, I was asking, How do

I as a parent talk to my kids? How am I supposed

to explain to them that this is the kind of world

that we live in. A world that is lost in sin and

whose future is described in apocalyptic terms in

the book of the Revelation. It's a world headed

for the brink. And there is nothing to do about

it except to watch the apocalyptic drama unfold.
They'd rather that I don't bother them so that

they can continue to watch the unfolding drama of

cartoon network.

It seems that we are not inclined to take notice

of the more unpleasant aspects of life. A

crucifixtion was not something you wanted to

spend alot of time looking at. It was a cruel

form of death. For some reason, it seems that

people are surprised by death, as if it were

totally unexpected. It says something about how

engaged with reality we want to be. The Roman

soldiers, whose normal routine was to participate

in crucifixtions and other military activities

may not have been entertained by it all, you can

draw your own conclusion from the passage in

Mark; but they were familiar with the nearness of

death. They saw that it was an illusion that

there was any permanent sense of security in

life. Death is only a breath away, even though

we prefer to think otherwise.

Looking into the future is tricky business. I

have no desire to make predictions about the

future. I'll leave that to the tabloids. But

there is in scripture a fool proof plan to avoid

the hazard of death, one of those things that's

certain in life, by taking refuge in the

salvation offered by Christ. It's there for the

asking.


Mark 15 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International

Bible Society

Jesus Before Pilate
1Very early in the morning, the chief priests,

with the elders, the teachers of the law and the

whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound

Jesus, led him away and handed him over to

Pilate.
2"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.
"Yes, it is as you say," Jesus replied.

3The chief priests accused him of many things.

4So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to

answer? See how many things they are accusing you

of."

5But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was

amazed.

6Now it was the custom at the Feast to release a

prisoner whom the people requested. 7A man called

Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists

who had committed murder in the uprising. 8The

crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them

what he usually did.

9"Do you want me to release to you the king of

the Jews?" asked Pilate, 10knowing it was out of

envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over

to him. 11But the chief priests stirred up the

crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.

12"What shall I do, then, with the one you call

the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.

13"Crucify him!" they shouted.

14"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked

Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify

him!"

15Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released

Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and

handed him over to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus
16The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace

(that is, the Praetorium) and called together the

whole company of soldiers. 17They put a purple

robe on him, then twisted together a crown of

thorns and set it on him. 18And they began to

call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!"

19Again and again they struck him on the head

with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their

knees, they paid homage to him. 20And when they

had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and

put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out

to crucify him.
The Crucifixion
21A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father

of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way

in from the country, and they forced him to carry

the cross. 22They brought Jesus to the place

called Golgotha (which means The Place of the

Skull). 23Then they offered him wine mixed with

myrrh, but he did not take it. 24And they

crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast

lots to see what each would get.
25It was the third hour when they crucified him.

26The written notice of the charge against him

read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27They crucified two

robbers with him, one on his right and one on his

left.[a] 29Those who passed by hurled insults at

him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who

are going to destroy the temple and build it in

three days, 30come down from the cross and save

yourself!"

31In the same way the chief priests and the

teachers of the law mocked him among themselves.

"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save

himself! 32Let this Christ,[b] this King of

Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may

see and believe." Those crucified with him also

heaped insults on him.

The Death of Jesus
33At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole

land until the ninth hour. 34And at the ninth

hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi,

Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my

God, why have you forsaken me?"[c]
35When some of those standing near heard this,

they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."

36One man ran, filled a sponge with wine

vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to

Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see

if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.

37With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.

38The curtain of the temple was torn in two from

top to bottom. 39And when the centurion, who

stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry

and[d] saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man

was the Son[e] of G-d!"


'The curtain of the temple was torn in two...'
The separation between G-d and men had been

removed at the cross of Christ -- the final

sacrifice for sin.