Final sayings of Jesus

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Luke 23:33-35 ESV

And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. 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!"

When we are sick, we tend to focus on ourselves. Our self preservation kicks in. We are concerned about our health. But Jesus is not concerned with himself. As he is crucified, he thinks of others. During the most painful and excruciating time,  Jesus is praying for those who crucified Him. He is praying for His executioners. He is concerned with the welfare and state of those who are inflicting pain on Him. He asks for mercy and forgiveness for His enemies.

Who are His enemies? Those who wanted Jesus dead. They could have been the Jewish leaders, the Roman governor, etc. We can count ourselves among them. The enemies of Jesus have one thing in common. We all want our kingdoms intact; we don't want Jesus's kingdom to infringe on ours. We want to be kings of our own little kingdoms. We don't want to live for Jesus. We want to live for ourselves. We don't want to die to ourselves. We reject the kingship of Jesus. Christians know who Jesus is. They know his glory, his kingship, and his kingdom. But we still push back against the King of Kings. We excuse our sin. We still wish Jesus to go away. Wish him to die so we can live as we wish. We are treacherous, like Judas. But Jesus still intercedes for us, those who know him yet still rebel.

Mark 15:33-34 ESV

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.  And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

It is noon, when the land is full of light and no shadows are there. Yet this day, there is darkness. Darkness is associated with the curse of God. Blessedness is associated with God's face shining on us. But during this time, there is darkness. God's face has turned from Jesus. So he cries out, as an innocent sufferer. For the first time, Jesus is cut off from His father. Jesus takes all of our sins upon Himself. God sees the sin and the Father is filled with anger and wrath. This is worse than death and physical torture. A place where God has forsaken. God is the source of all good things. When we are cut off from this, all goodness will be gone.

John 19:29-30 ESV

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. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

This sour wine is a fulfillment. Psalm 69:21 speaks to this. Jesus' life was about fulfillment. This was not giving up. In Jesus' cry, he was speaking as one who had completed a financial transaction. Transaction complete. Jesus has paid for it all. We no longer owe God for our sin. Jesus has paid in full for us all.

When we rejected God, we aren't just autonomous. We fall under the reign of Satan, sin, and death. So Jesus freed us from the other kingdom. He had defeated sin, Satan, and death. This is the finished that Jesus spoke of.

The power of Jesus

John 6:1-21 ESV

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"  He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost."  So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Science has not disproved miracles. It presumes that there are only natural causes. It does not examine supernatural forces. It assumes none. Miracles are presumed to be supernatural. They are God suspending natural processes. The gospels were written within the lifetimes of those who were eyewitnesses to the miracles of Jesus. For more info, read "The reason for God" by Tim Keller.

Our limited power/resources

Jesus' disciples see these crowds following Jesus. The crowd is the size of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA (full capacity of 19,000). Jesus asks Phillip what needs to be done to feed these people. Phillip says that we need a lot of money. Andrew says that this boy has five barley loaves and two fish. But this is not two nice loaves and two pieces of salmon... This boy was poor. Barley bread is the cheapest bread available. And the fish was probably sardines. So the picture is five little crusty pieces of bread and two sardines. No way, Andrew, no way can this work. Jesus did this on purpose. The disciples wanted to send these people away. Jesus was the one that stopped them.

We often feel powerful, but we are really weak. We are educated, good at our jobs. But our home is chaos, we can't keep our kids under control. Or marriage is struggling. Or we aren't getting anywhere in our job search. There are plenty of things that we have no control over. Far less than we would like to believe.

The abundant power of Jesus

So... after Phillip was done calculating and Andrew had contributed this poor little boy's food. Jesus sits them all down. And the crowd ate. Not just a little, but until they were full. Like a buffet...all you can eat. Then Jesus sent them to pick up the leftovers. They picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. One basket for each disciple. One for each tribe of Israel. Jesus is enough for them. All of them. The disciples were probably humbled. Jesus has enough to meet our every need.

The promise of power for God's purposes

The people wanted to make Jesus king. They wanted him to free them from the oppression of the Romans. But Jesus knew this and He withdrew. They wanted Jesus's for their own purpose. An earthly kingdom. God's promises are not for our kingdoms or our purposes. They are for His kingdom.

Jesus confronts religion

John 5:1-47 ESV

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.  One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?"  The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk."  And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed." But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, "Take up your bed, and walk." " They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, "Take up your bed and walk"?" Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you."  The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."  This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.  For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.  The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,  that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.  Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.  "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.  And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice  and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.  "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.  If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true.  There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.  You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.  He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.  But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.  And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,  and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.  You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,  yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.  I do not receive glory from people.  But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.  I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.  How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

Jesus confronts religion

Jesus healed the Sabbath. For the Jewish people, no work was to be done on the Sabbath. Jesus clearly heals this man. Then he tells the man to pick up his mat and go home. Did Jesus break the Sabbath? No.

The Jewish people had created a large categorical law with regards to work. There were over thirty categories for work alone. This was the law as interpreted by the Pharisees. The Pharisees had complicated rules and technical details above and beyond the law given by God. God's law was clear and could be further simplified and summed into two commands. This looks very much like the U.S. tax code. Even the IRS gets the tax code wrong and ten percent of the time. But don't consider these Pharisees as sinister or evil. This set of laws was their attempt to be right with God. They wanted to dot their i's and cross their t's. So they mapped out these categories to make righteousness actually doable. They wanted to make holy living reachable by human ability. How do they observe the Sabbath? They avoid work... and by this they extended out to avoid those 30-some categories of work. Jesus accuses them of outward actions but missing the heart of the law. Jesus wants obedience, not sacrifice.

For instance, we may be struggling with a sin. But instead of repenting, we serve or try to be good in other areas. This is legalism... attempts to be self-justified. It makes us rigid and judgmental. We make standards which may not be biblical and apply them to others. We don't love. Instead our technical rules block love.

Jesus confronts the Pharisees

Jesus deliberately heals and deliberately tells this man to grab his and wall home. This was done in clear violation of Pharisees' rules.

How does Jesus respond to their accusations?

Jesus tells them that God, His father is always working. This is because the Pharisees had an exemption for God. God never stops working. God works on the Sabbath as the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus was claiming to be an equal with God. So the Pharisees wanted to kill Him as a blasphemer.

Jesus confronts Christianity

Jesus tells them that His testimony alone is not valid. So he speaks of his witnesses, John the Baptist, His miracles, and the Word of God. John testified that Jesus was the Messiah. His miracles were done in the midst of the Pharisees. But they did not believe. So, Jesus speaks of the Word of God. He says that Moses speaks of Him. But that they missed the point of the Word. The Pharisees were full-time scholars of the scriptures. But they had the wrong motivation, they thought that the Word was life giving simply by studying alone...This world earn them a right standing with God. Jesus teaches that studying the Word without a right understanding does not give life or salvation. The Pharisees thought that God's law was actually doable. God's law is not humanly doable. It is to show that we are all lawbreakers in need of grace. Christianity is both law and grace. We need to know of our sinfulness as well as the covering that God gives through the provision of His son. The ten commandments doesn't start with commands. It starts with God repeating how He had saved the people of Israel. Salvation starts. For the Christians out there, even if the law did not exist, we would still seek to serve and love God. This is genuine Christianity. Love the Lord, your God. Love your neighbor. We obey from the inside out because of the grace of God in our lives. We obey in freedom rather than fear.

Invitations

For the Christian, consider all these external constraints and how much of your inner Pharisee had been exposed. Leave these rigid rules behind and seek God from whom our righteousness comes.

For the non-christian, consider that the Pharisees who were so in the Word and in the chosen people, so close yet so far. You need to know that you need to be born again. Consider the great cost that Jesus paid for you.