John 19:28-35
Everything the Father had given the Son to do had been accomplished. The obedience that would accomplish the redemption of sinful man was fulfilled. Jesus has a sip of wine from a sponge and utters the words “It is finished”. The Greek word there was used in business and meant “Paid in full”. Having done this Jesus gave up His Spirit. As disciples we can never grasp the full enormity of this moment, but we can always try. To daily return to the cross gives meaning to our faith and strength to our practice of that faith.
That is important to us in view of what John recorded next. The “Jews”, John’s code word for the evil religious elite, requested of Pilate to have the legs of the crucified broken so they would die quicker. They wanted them dead so they could be taken down before the beginning of the Sabbath in keeping with the Law. Do not miss the irony or better yet hypocrisy of the moment. These same people who have conspired to murder an innocent man, tried Him in an illegal court, convicted Him after the false testimony of lying witnesses which they provided, are now concerned with fastidiously keeping the Law concerning an important Sabbath. With one hand they propagate the greatest of evils with the other they carefully keep religious regulations? Is something wrong with this picture?
We must be constantly vigilant to check ourselves and see if we have become like the “Jews”. Where our keeping of regulations is inconsistent with holy living. These men demonstrated the capacity of all of us to use religion as a means to our own personal end.
“Lord, save me from all kinds of hypocrisy, God save me from myself. AMEN”
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