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Sermon Notes: notes.cornerstonesj.org
Tetelestai
All right, my first announcement is one you do not want to miss.
You'll find it the most important. There are free sandwiches after church today in the classroom on your left as you're leaving.
And these are intended for us to hang around a little bit after church. Grab a sandwich and then return into the sanctuary to eat and hang out because we're going to have a congregational meeting right after second service.
And that is to vote on an associate pastor. We have Tim Robinson, who the church is proposing that Tim become an associate pastor.
He's already been 25 hours a week, but we're going to bring him up to full time and give him that title as an associate pastor if it be
God's will. So please stick around. You don't have to be a member to come to that meeting or to get a sandwich.
But in order to vote, you do have to be a member. So yeah, please stick around after the service.
Another announcement, we do not have prayer meeting at six o 'clock this afternoon, and it has nothing to do with the
Eagles game. We're too spiritual for that. It is not because of the Eagles game. You got it? No, it really isn't.
It's because we're going to be hanging around after church and spending time into the afternoon. So that would be a bit much to come back at six.
So do pray, though, on your own. And let's open the service in prayer. Gracious Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this opportunity on Tetelestai Sunday.
It is finished, Lord, to come into this place and proclaim the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Help us to do it, Lord, with joy and with bringing glory to your name, for you are worthy.
We pray that you would be present in this service in a very special way, Lord. And we do also ask,
Lord, if there's any that come today that maybe don't yet believe in Christ, that they would leave as believers in the
Son of God. So open hearts to believe, God, and open all of our hearts to believe more firmly and to be reassured in the faith and to be motivated and encouraged to go out preaching that it is finished.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Stand with me. See the
Virgin is delivered in a cold and crowded stall.
Mirror of the Father's glory lies beside her in the strong.
He is mercy's incarnation, marvel at this miracle.
For the Virgin gently holds her, glorious, impossible.
Love has come to walk on water, turn the water into wine.
Touch the leper, lust the children, love both human and divine.
Break the wisdom of the Father who has spoken through His Son.
Speak and thrill me, call us to the glorious impossible.
Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, glorious impossible.
He was bruised for our transgressions and He bears eternal scars.
He was raised for our salvation and His righteousness is ours.
Praise, oh praise Him, praise the glory of His lavish grace so full.
Lift your soul now and receive the glorious impossible.
Glorious impossible. Glorious impossible.
Lord, we stand before You, a people that needs Your redemption.
We are grateful and thankful that You loved us so much, that You came from earth, came from heaven to earth as a baby to live a life like we live.
But Lord, to die on the cross so that we may live forever with You. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that we can put our hope in You because You came to this earth to die as a man.
What hope we hold this starlit night, a
King is born in Bethlehem. Our journey long, we seek the light that leads to the hallowed manger ground.
What fear we felt in the silent age, 400 years can
He be found. Unbroken by a baby's cry, rejoice in the hallowed manger ground.
Emmanuel, Emmanuel, God incarnate, here to dwell.
Emmanuel, Emmanuel, praise
His name, Emmanuel.
The Son of God, here born to bleed, the crown of thorns would pierce
His brow. And we beheld this offering, exalted now, the
King of kings. Praise God for the hallowed manger ground.
Emmanuel, Emmanuel, praise His name, Emmanuel. It's great that we get to sing praises to His name even through the holiday season that we have among us.
But it's all about the cross, isn't it? It really is why He had to come as a baby.
As we prepare our hearts for communion this morning, let's focus in on what
He's done for us. That it is finished, and we can rejoice in that. All -sufficient merit, shining like the sun.
A fortune I inherit, by no work
I have done. My righteousness
I forfeit at my Savior's cross.
Where all -sufficient merit did what
I could not. In love
He condescended, eternal now in time.
A life without a blemish, no maker made to die.
Though love could never save us, while lawlessness had won.
Until love pure and spotless then had finally come.
It is done, it is finished, no more dead
I know. Made in full, all -sufficient, merit now my own.
I lay down my garments, any empty clothes.
Good works all corrupted by the sinful host.
Dressed in my Lord Jesus, a crimson robe made white.
No more fear of judgment, His righteousness is ours.
All -sufficient merit, firm in life and death.
The joy of our salvation shall be my final breath.
And when I stand accepted before the throne of God.
I'll gaze upon my Jesus and thank
Him for the cross. Yes, I'll thank Him for the cross.
Oh, your merit now my own. Oh, your merit now my own.
You may be seated. with Christmas.
So I always like to, you know, we do this like once a month, like to talk about like the theme for this month, right?
And, you know, we celebrate the fact that the God of the universe, right, the creator of all things, condescended to take on flesh as a man to provide salvation for His creation.
Sometimes we say that flippantly though, sometimes we talk about Jesus being God and He certainly claimed to be
God. But really think about what that meant, right?
The God of the universe, right, the creator of all things, knowing all things, being outside of time and creation, knowing what
He would suffer as a man, knowing that He would suffer the sort of day -to -day sufferings that we as humans suffer on a daily basis, but also knowing that He would suffer and die for our salvation, that He would suffer unimaginable pain and anguish, being scourged.
You know, it was prophetically talked about in the Old Testament and God certainly being, you know, the
God of the universe and knowing all things knew that He would suffer that. He also knew the unimaginable anguish He would suffer by taking on our sins.
And Pastor's going to talk more about that and talk a little bit in Aramaic, so I hope you guys all studied your
Aramaic today, about when Christ said those things. So He decided to suffer and die on the cross and it's truly an incredible gift and we are so very grateful for it.
So this month marks the coming of our Lord and King and in a few months we're going to celebrate His death and resurrection, right, which culminated the actual, you know, making a way for us to be reconciled to a holy
God. So we're going to take communion today to remember His suffering,
His sacrifice. Jesus Himself instituted this and told us, commanded us to do this in remembrance of Him so that we wouldn't forget the price that He paid on the cross for us.
Now this ordinance was instituted for believers and I know we, on Tetelestai Sunday today,
I know you may have walked in thinking this is a lodge meeting with all of the Tetelestai shirts, but it's not a lodge meeting, it's actually a church.
Tetelestai just means it is finished and as we sang in the song, as Pastor's going to talk about later, but He instituted this ordinance for believers.
So if you're here and you're a guest, thank you for coming, we're so happy that you're here, but don't feel awkward about not partaking if you're not a believer, we're just so grateful that you were able to come out today.
Now for those of us who are believers, and I know I say this every time I come up for communion, Jesus, you know, there's a warning in the
Bible for those of us who are believers and taking communion that we are to examine ourselves and repent of our sins.
It says in 1 Corinthians 11, 27 through 29, whoever therefore eats the bread and drinks the cup of the
Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then and so eat the bread and drink the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself without discerning the body, without taking account for the cost of our salvation.
So clearly the Lord's table should be taken seriously and each one of us should examine ourselves and repent of the sins that we've committed and thank
Jesus for his sacrifice for our sins. So I'm gonna ask the ushers to come down now and then we're gonna take a moment to do that together.
And Lord, as everyone's bowing their heads and contemplating the marvelous gift that you've given us,
God, the gift of salvation, freedom from sin, Lord, I just,
I come to you as an unworthy sinful man and I just ask Lord God that you would forgive me of the sins that I've committed,
Lord God, and I just, I pray that you would put my sins as far as the east is from the west,
Lord God, that you would throw them into the depths of the sea and remember them no more, Lord God. And I just thank you so much for the sacrifice that you gave for us, the grace and mercy that you gave for us,
Lord God. And I pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. It continues in verses 25 and 26.
It says, in the same way also, you took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the
Lord's death until he comes. Father, thank you so much for what we just celebrated at the
Lord's table. The body of Jesus broken, the blood of Jesus shed for sinners like us so that now we can say it is finished.
The price of our sin has been paid in full. Thank you, Jesus, for dying for our sins and rising for our justification.
And now, Lord, as we open the text to learn more carefully and deeply what this means, that it is finished,
I pray that you would help me, give me words to say and help us all in hearing your word, in Jesus' name, amen.
Well, Tetelestai Sunday has finally come. If you're new here, I don't usually preach in jeans.
This has to do with going with the sweatshirt kind of look. We encourage many people to wear the
Tetelestai shirt because this word, Tetelestai, means it is finished.
And in a word, it communicates the meaning of the gospel, that Jesus has paid the debt of sin once and for all.
If you imagine trying to earn heaven as being like climbing a ladder, like Jacob's ladder, to get from earth to heaven, there is no man or woman on earth who could climb that ladder.
No one is good enough. No one does enough good and avoids the wrong to the extent that they could earn heaven by climbing that ladder to heaven.
But what Jesus has done is he came down from heaven, born to the
Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, died the death that we deserve, and so he finished on our behalf.
His work for us, not our work for him. This is the meaning of Tetelestai, but it raises an important question.
If it is finished, why do good? In other words, if the work has already been done, what motivation do we have to do good works?
Well, paradoxically, it turns out that evangelical Christians who believe that there's nothing we could do to earn heaven have been, over the course of the last 2 ,000 years, the most active in doing good.
Think of the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross, Samaritan's Purse, and all of the disaster relief, the care for the poor around the world.
Just this church alone, a couple of weeks ago, sent out almost 400 boxes of Christmas presents to the ends of the earth.
Why did you do that? If you're not trying to earn anything from God. We support compassionate children all over the world, many of us in this church.
And notably, right now our church is engaged in an effort this month to raise $45 ,000 to build an orphanage in Malawi.
Why are you doing that? Someone here might be able to give $5 or $10. Somebody else might be able to give $100 or $1 ,000.
But together, as a church, we hope to raise $45 ,000 to build an orphanage in Malawi through the work of Hamilton Banda, who's the missionary we support and know and trust and we visited.
One of our own went and helped him. Not you. I thought he was,
I thought Ron, there he is. Hey, Ron. Almost gave Ian the credit for Ron's trip to Malawi.
But why do we do that? If we're not climbing a ladder, if we're not earning anything from God, if it is finished to tell us,
Stuy, why the pure and undefiled religion, James 1 .27 says, this is pure religion, to look after orphans in their distress.
To keep yourself and widows, and to keep yourself from being polluted from the world.
There's only one word that can answer these questions. To tell us, Stuy, it is finished.
The power to do good is in his finished work.
And how does that fit together? Well, see, here's the thing. Once you have caught a glimpse of the glory of what it means that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, you are spoiled for every lesser pursuit in the world.
You will find that glorifying Jesus Christ, that making him known, that doing things in his name and for his sake, becomes the only thing that satisfies your soul.
You will find that your joy and his glory are inextricably linked.
You see, fear of punishment, the law, which condemns those who sin, never stopped a sinner from sinning.
It might have deterred the sinner a little bit and given him pause and slowed him down, but what man among us has ever ceased sinning altogether?
And yet the law hangs over us. The law could not restrain evil, because our hearts are wicked.
But what God did in the finished work of Christ paid entirely for our sin. And so in that display of glory on the cross, our hearts are so captivated.
And out of a spirit of gratitude and thankfulness, out of a love that does not come from us, supernaturally a new life implanted in the one who has understood to tell us die, we now do from the heart what we would never have done.
Look around town, I don't think that secular people who mock Christianity are building orphanages in Malawi.
And it's not that other people don't do good as they're trying to earn heaven and try to climb the ladder, but they'll never earn righteousness by works.
What we have is the finished work of Christ to tell us die, it is finished. And so we go to these words in John 19.
I've been waiting for this one. John 19 verses 16 and culminating in verse 30 as we go through where Jesus says from the cross to tell us die.
It means it is finished. The sin debt has been paid in full on behalf of those who believe in Jesus Christ.
Let's begin with verses 16 to 18 and we'll take a couple of verses at a time. John 19, 16 and following here, picking up the story, the trial with Pontius Pilate, he,
Pontius Pilate, hands Jesus over to be crucified. Even though Pilate knew he was innocent and said as much a couple of times, he capitulates to the wishes of the mob, the mob mentality and hands
Jesus over, verse 16. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.
So they took Jesus and he went out bearing his own cross to the place called the place of a skull, which in Aramaic is called
Golgotha. There they crucified him and with him two others, one on either side and Jesus between them.
Now notice the first emphasis of John's in recounting the story is place.
To the place called a place of a skull. And then even in Aramaic, we learned it's called
Golgotha. The emphasis is on this place. Jesus finished his work at the place of the death of the wicked.
When Jewish people were to put someone to death for a capital crime, say adultery or blaspheming, making themselves equal to God or even taking
God's name in vain. The Jewish people would take the person who did this just outside the gates to an 11 foot precipice, just outside of Jerusalem.
And the person who witnessed this and brought the charge, the accuser, would be the one to come behind that person and push him down off the cliff, 11 feet down.
And as he hit the ground, the people would then come to the edge and surrounding on the bottom, they would stone him to death.
Throwing stones, big boulders from the top and all around the people of Israel would cast him down.
This was the penalty, the capital crime for capital crimes, stoning, being cast down.
And yet as we read this story, we just read and it was emphasized, they did not go to that place.
And we learned last week, it's because Jesus had prophesied that he would be handed over to the
Romans in order to be lifted up. And I, if I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself.
He was not cast down. Instead, show a picture guys of where he went. He went to a place of the skull.
And why was it called the place of a skull? Because just outside of Jerusalem, outside of the gate, there is a cliff, very high.
And in the circled area, you can see that it has the appearance of a skull.
I'm of the opinion that this is the place where Jesus was crucified. There is another candidate where there is a church called,
I think it's the Holy Sepulchral, something like that. But I think this is the place. It actually looks like a skull.
Now notice, this place is significant because it is where wicked sinners were hung up on a cross to be exposed and mocked and scorned as a deterrent to all those who pass by.
Lifted up high to be crucified. And so our text tells us, look carefully now at verse 18.
There they crucified him. There at Golgotha, he was crucified and with him two others.
One on either side and Jesus smack dab in the middle between them.
And that is significant because this was the place where wicked sinners die.
The robbers who used to lay in wait and jump out at passersby and assault them and rob them and often kill them.
These were wicked people. And one of these robbers was on Jesus's left and the other on Jesus's right.
And Jesus right between them in that place. You know what this means? That Jesus finished his work in the place of sinners.
Oh, we can rightfully condemn the robber and the thief on the right and the left of Jesus for the horrible things they've done.
But how often do we excuse ourselves because we never murdered anyone.
Maybe we never stole anything of significant value. But the truth is everyone who's broken even one command of God is guilty of the whole law.
And the wages of sin is death. The soul that sins must die. Adam and Eve, if you eat of this fruit in the garden, you will surely die.
And so there between the sinners belonged you and me. Sinners.
And yet here hangs Jesus in the place of sinners. In their room. In their stead.
As a substitute. Here Jesus goes to the place of the death of the wicked.
That's the first thing to note. He finished his work where sinners die. But he is without sin.
We'll bring this together. Notice next. Jesus finished his work under the sign of his identity.
The sign of his identity. Pilate, verse 19, also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross.
It read, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the
Jews. It identified him. That's the sign. It's right over his head.
So no one can miss it. And many of the Jews read this inscription for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, just outside the gate.
And it was written, notice, in Aramaic and Latin and Greek.
So everybody in Jerusalem could read one of those languages. Everybody noticed it said,
King of the Jews. So the chief priests and the Jews said to Pilate, whoa, do not write the
King of the Jews. But rather, this man said, I am
King of the Jews. You see their concern? They don't like that it's identifying him.
But this is the point. A sign is something that points to something else.
A sign indicates what is. A stop sign means stop.
A stop light is a kind of sign, a red light that tells you when you're driving your car, you need to stop.
When I was growing up, as my grandmother began to age, she was driving and my mom was riding shotgun and the three boys were in the backseat.
Well, grandma came upon a red light and just blew right through it.
Just shot right through the red light like it wasn't even there. And my mom gasped and said,
Mom, you just ran through a red light. And she casually, cavalierly glanced over, disturbingly said, if there was a red light there,
I'm sure it was green. And then went back to driving. If there was a red light there,
I'm sure it was green. That was concerning. That was concerning. In the backseat, this is when we know we should be a little afraid because a sign really does need to be heeded, right?
And God wrote a sign through the providence of Pilate's pen.
And Pilate would say, what I have written, I have written. I'm not changing it. It is what it says. King of the
Jews. In John chapter five, Jesus said, if I testify about myself, my testimony means nothing.
He was acknowledging that there needs to be signs to validate his claim.
He is claiming the most remarkable thing that this world has ever heard. He's claiming to be
God, born of a virgin, dwelling among his people. He's claiming to be
God. And so there needs to be a sign to testify to what he says.
And he says, here's my sign, not just my own testimony, which is one witness. He makes a claim that no one else has made.
He says, look also to John the Baptist. He testifies of me. The final
Old Testament prophet who himself was prophesied in Malachi three and four.
And in Isaiah, a forerunner of Messiah who announces him and says, behold the lamb of God.
The second witness was John the Baptist. He was a sign, but you missed it. The third witness were the miracles, what were called signs and wonders.
They're signs and wonders because they're meant to, like a wonder, inspire awe when you see it.
But it's more than that. It's a sign that the one doing this is more than a man.
He walks on water. He calms hurricanes. He raised dead Lazarus. This is a sign, and you need to pay attention to it.
It's a sign that points to who he is. God in flesh dwelling among men. And the last sign was the voice of the father, not only audibly, which did come in Jesus' baptism, but also in the writing of scripture.
You search the scripture, John 5, 29, because in these you think you have eternal life, but these are they that testify of me.
The signs were given, and it was right over his head so no one could miss it. Jesus finished his work under the sign of his identity.
Next, he finished his work in fulfillment of prophecy. We began to touch on that a moment ago in John 5, 29, but notice how explicit it becomes in verse 23 and following.
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier.
So you have these four soldiers that are executing Jesus and the ones that put him on the cross. Now they're waiting under the cross to watch him die, and they're dividing up his clothes, but here's what happens.
Also his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
So one of them had a bright idea. Now notice they're not saying, hey, guys, let's fulfill
Psalm 22, verse 18. They're saying, I want that coat.
But if we tear it up into four pieces, yeah, the fabric has some value. We can make ropes and different things.
It's valuable in that culture, but how much more if we keep it intact? I got an idea. Let's cast lots for it.
And of course, the soldiers, you can picture this, right? Good idea, man. Let's do this. So what is it?
What happens? So they said, let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.
Notice John's commentary. This was to fulfill the scripture, which says, they divided my garments among them, and for my clothing, they cast lots.
Pretty specific prophecy. And odd if it doesn't refer to this. So the soldiers did these things.
And so the soldiers did these things. They didn't know it. They didn't mean it for this reason, but they were doing according to God's foreordained plan.
Acts 4, 27 and 28 makes that explicit. They are accomplishing God's plan without even knowing it.
And so they are fulfilling scripture. I mentioned Psalm 22.
And in that 18th verse, it says they will gamble for his clothes. It also records in the first verse, my
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He cries out from the cross, the very words of Psalm 22.
That'll be important in a moment. But I want you to note just one more thing. Yes, he's pierced through his hands and feet, bones out of joints, surrounded by wild dogs, dried up like a pot shirt.
But it says in verse 15 of Psalm 22, listen, his tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth.
That's important. And I'll tell you why in just a few more minutes. But what we're seeing here is all these prophecies are being fulfilled and it goes back to Moses, the first five books of the
Old Testament. In Genesis, Abraham was told to take his son, his beloved son, his only son.
And Isaac was to carry the wood of his own sacrifice up the mountain on the mountain of the
Lord. It would be provided. There, Abraham went to slay his son, Isaac, and God stopped him because Isaac was not that sacrificial son to die for the sins of the world.
Here in Jesus, we see back in verse 16 and following, he carries his own cross.
Jesus carries the wood of his sacrifice up the mountain called Golgotha, outside the gate,
Hebrews 13. And that brings us to Exodus because in Exodus 29, the sin offering, listen, had to be offered outside the gate.
It's not the Levitical offering at the Temple Mount. The sin offering goes outside the gate,
Exodus 27, outside the camp where Jesus is taken and discarded outside the gate as a sin offering,
Exodus 29. Also a Passover lamb, Exodus 12, where his bones are not broken.
The other thieves to his right and to his left, they break their ankles so they die more quickly, but Jesus was already dead.
And so none of his bones were broken. Like the Passover lamb, none of its bones were to be broken.
Leviticus 17 .11, life is in the blood and God gives the blood to make atonement for sin.
Jesus went to the cross drenched in blood, a crown of thorns on his head, scourged in his back, a bloody mess.
But that blood, his life draining out, was the atonement for sins.
Life is in the blood. And Hebrews tells us without the shedding of this blood, there is no forgiveness of sin.
Bloody sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin, Leviticus 17 .11. Remember Numbers chapter 21?
Remember this story? Moses was helping the people because they were being bitten by snakes because of their sin, their sexual sin.
And so God says through Moses, take a bronze fiery serpent.
That is make a serpent out of bronze, fiery, representing the evil and the wrath of sin.
Make this serpent and put it on a pole and lift it up.
And anyone who sees that serpent lifted up will be forgiven. Remember Jesus was not crushed down under stoning.
He was lifted up on a Roman cross like that serpent. And you know the verse
John 3 .16, but take it back a couple of verses. John 3 .14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the son of man must be lifted up so that whoever looks at him or believes in him will have eternal life.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.
Do you see the prophecies? Lastly, in Deuteronomy, the last of Moses' books, we're told cursed is anyone hung on a tree.
And if there's a capital punishment, Deuteronomy 21 verses 22 and 23, and one is hung on a tree, his body cannot be left on the cross until morning.
It must come down before nightfall. For cursed is anyone hung on a tree.
When Jesus was lifted up on the cross, on that tree, he was cursed, not for his sin.
He took the curse of our sin on himself, treated like the serpent that should have been crushed under Adam's foot.
You see the prophecies fulfilled in this. He was lifted up, cursed, hung on a tree, his body taken down before nightfall.
And so it goes on and on. I just quoted from the first five books of the
Old Testament, but every Old Testament book has prophecies of this Messiah. Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 are famous ones.
Daniel 9, 27, Messiah cut off. And Daniel says this in chapter 12, shut up these words and seal them until the time of the end.
Daniel was perplexed by what he was hearing. He couldn't put it all together until the time of the end.
Church, we live in the time of the end. We live on this side of the cross.
Jesus has gone to the cross and died for sinners. We can look back now at all of the prophecies written of Messiah and see that he fulfilled every single one of those that refer to his first coming.
And there are yet prophecies of his coming in glory to reign on earth, the second coming. So the big point here,
Jesus finished his work of fulfilling prophecy. When we say to Telestai, we're saying he paid the sin debt in full.
It is finished. We're also saying he finished the prophecies. You'll see that in verse 28.
One more quick thing before that. Let's look at 25 to 27. But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister.
Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, woman, behold your son.
Then he said to the disciple, behold your mother. That's one of the most beautiful sentences in the
Bible. Because you take that in the context of what's happening to him. The thief on one side is cursing
God. He's mocking and spitting. He's in such agony. All he can do, imagine if you're suffering like that.
Wouldn't you want to cuss? Wouldn't you just have every sinful thought in your heart welling up?
But there's nothing impure in Jesus. He had in the center cross, his heart is filled with compassion.
Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And he looks and sees his mother and his heart is moved with compassion for her.
His widowed mom. Where's Joseph at this point? He's died many years ago probably. And Jesus is seeing his mom, the widow.
And then he sees young John, this young man who could step into his role to care for his aging mom.
We don't know exactly why the brothers weren't included in this. It's probably because they were not believing for some time.
Jude and James. Mary had not perpetual virginity as the
Roman Catholic Church says, but she had kids. She went on to have children with Joseph after Jesus was born, the virgin born.
And on that note, church look carefully at verse 27. It says, from that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.
What's the point of our text here? Jesus is caring for the widow and he assigns
John to this task and John now, James 127, pure religion. He's gonna take care of Mary.
That's the point. It is not what the Roman Catholic Church began to assert after the
Protestant Reformation. In the 1700s, one of the great doctors of the church, there are very few doctors in Roman Catholicism, Augustine, one of them, wrote a prayer to the mother of perpetual help, referring to Mary in that way.
His name was St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguri. I'm just gonna read two sentences from this so you can understand what the
Roman Catholic Church has done in the last couple of centuries in exalting Mary to the place where only
Jesus belongs, this doctor of the church.
So all of Catholic teaching would agree with this. Writes this to Mary, O mother of perpetual help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which
God grants to us miserable sinners. And for this end, he has made thee so powerful, so rich and so bountiful in order that thou mayest help us in our misery.
She has this treasury of merit to help poor sinners in this view. Thou art the advocate.
No, church, there's one advocate between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners and have recourse to thee.
Come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation and to thee
I entrust my soul. And it goes on like that for the remainder of the prayer.
A hundred years later in 1854, the Roman Catholic Church taught and by ex cathedra, the
Pope speaking infallibly on behalf of God taught the immaculate conception that Mary was conceived without sin and never sinned.
A hundred years after that in 1950, Vatican, they taught the bodily assumption of Mary.
And so what you see happening here is Mary being exalted to the place where only Jesus belongs.
You're not to exalt her by bodily assumption as Jesus ascended to heaven.
Now the Roman Catholic Church taught this. This was because when the Protestant Reformation came from God, the
Roman Catholic Church rejected that at the Council of Trent in 1546, anathematized the gospel in article nine and since departed into Mariolatry.
I bring this up not to demean any person but to call all people.
Maybe half of this church used to be Roman Catholics. To call all people hearing this word to understand the meaning of Tetelestai.
It is finished that we have one advocate between God and man. His name is
Christ Jesus. There is no other substitute. Christ alone. So let's read these final words now and conclude this sermon in verses 28 to 30.
This is key. It all culminates here as Jesus breathes his last. After this,
Jesus knowing that all was now finished. There's our word Tetelestai, the only other occurrence.
But notice in verse 28, it's going back to prophecies said to fulfill the scripture.
The scriptures are fulfilled. The scriptures are finished and pointing to what's about to happen.
He gives up the ghost. He says, I thirst in verse 28.
A jar full of sour wine stood there so they put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth.
Now before we read verse 30, I want to point something out to you. Many people have been tripped up by this.
He asked for the sour wine. But do you recall when he was taken to the cross before he laid down and was nailed to it in Mark chapter 15?
He was offered the sour wine and he said, no, this is interesting.
He rejected the sour wine because this was a vinegar kind of solution which had bitter elements put into it which had an anodyne effect that is a pain killing effect.
It was meant to dull the pain as an act of mercy to the one going on the cross.
And Jesus said no. He purposed to drink the sin of us who believe in him to the dregs.
To take that cup and drink the suffering that we deserve to experience in full and pay it in full.
And so he said no to the sour wine. That's significant. And then they hoist him up on the cross and Luke tells us that they offer him the sour wine again explicitly this time to mock him.
Hey King, how are you doing up there? You need some help? Here, take some of this. We'll dull the pain.
And he turns his face away. He refuses it. And so we come to John and John says just before dying he says
I thirst. Doesn't that seem contrary to what you would expect? Is he asking to dull the pain?
Is he asking for help? The answer to this riddle I think is unlocked in Matthew 27.
So you need all four gospels to put this together. Don't you love the cohesion of God's word? But here's what happens.
Follow this. You can look it up later. Matthew tells us in chapter 27 when
Jesus yelled out Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani which in Aramaic means my
God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Eloi, it comes from the root El for Elohim, God.
My God, Eloi, Eloi. The people did not understand what he said.
The Roman soldiers and the bystanders thought he was calling for Elijah.
Not Eloi, but Eli. And they began to say oh, he's asking for rescue.
He's giving up. He's calling on Elijah to come in that chariot of fire and rescue him from the cross.
Let's see if God saves him. They've been mocking him that way the whole time. God will save you if you call on him.
Come down from the cross. Save yourself, king. So they think he said that.
Why did that happen? I told you earlier. Remember Psalm 22 verse 15.
His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He said I am dried up like a pot shirt.
Picture him bleeding and draining out his life, dried up, sweating profusely, so dehydrated that his physical tongue is now clinging to his jaw and the roof of his mouth so that when he tried to say
Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, he said it, but it was unclear. And so when he said
I thirst, and they put that sour wine to his lips, listen, he was only breaths away from death.
The anodyne effect, the pain killing effect, the dulling of the pain would not have had time to operate.
That takes minutes at least. He took that wine upon his mouth not to dull the pain.
He drank that in full. He took it to loose his tongue, to open his mouth for a final proclamation that he wanted everybody in this room and for all time to hear, to telestai, that he would say it is finished and no one would miss what he said.
The debt is paid in full. He said I thirst to open his mouth and proclaim in a word the gospel that he has come and paid the sin debt that you and I could not.
All we like sinners have gone astray. We've wandered each one to his own way. And the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He's being crushed for transgressors like us.
And once he drank that cup in full and paid the full debt of sin, breathing his last, he shouts a victory chant.
It is finished. That's why he said I thirst.
Amen. And so in closing, when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Now the synoptics will tell us, Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit. It's the last words he speaks.
He releases his spirit. He has paid for sin in full. So maybe you came this morning or maybe you're listening later online and you're hearing it is finished.
And it's such a different message from any other religion. Every other religion is saying you need to do more.
You've got to earn this. And here's Jesus dying on a cross saying it is finished.
Very different. Where does that leave you this day? Well, you're either to the right or left of Jesus because all of us have sinned and we are like the thieves who died next to him that day.
The one on his left continued to mock and scorn. There are those who mock the gospel and even mock this idea that the prophecies were fulfilled.
But even in doing that, they're fulfilling prophecy. 2
Peter 3, verses 2 and 3 reminds us of the prophecies of Jesus Christ and how when taught these things, men will begin to scorn and mock them.
So by mocking and scorning them, they're fulfilling yet another prophecy. Maybe you're here this morning and you've been thinking about these things.
You're not sure where you stand. I'll tell you the good news. The thief on the right had no merit of his own.
He had nothing to appeal to. He was guilty as charged and dying justly for what he deserved.
And he said to Jesus, remember me when you go into paradise. And that compassionate, merciful
Savior looked right at him from the cross and without requiring any work of righteousness, he said, today you will be with me in paradise.
And the same promises for everyone listening to this sermon. Jesus died the death that we deserve.
Whoever looks to him in faith, confessing, repenting, believing will be with him in paradise.
That is the ladder to heaven. His name is Jesus. He's Jacob's ladder. He is the way to be saved and there is no other way.
So which thief are you this morning? There's no question that you've sinned. We're all thieves in this story.
But Jesus is in between. Will you be the one who mocks and scorns to your own destruction?
Or will you simply look and believe? Do you feel his compassion?
When he spoke to Mary, woman behold your son and to John behold your mother.
The compassion of the one who died on the cross. Do you see the sign over his head?
It tells you who he is, the king of the world. It was written not only in Aramaic for the
Jewish people, but written also in Greek and Latin for all the world to read.
The sign says king of the Jews, Isaiah 49, 6.
It was too small a thing that he would die only for the Jews. But it goes on to say he is a light to the nations, salvation to the ends of the earth.
It's written in every language, king of the Jews. It's a sign over his head.
Do you see that this is who he is? Will you let him be your king? Will you submit and surrender to him?
It requires repentance. You must turn away from sin and realize there's no life there, it's only death.
It ends in destruction. To put your hope fully in Jesus Christ, to repent of your sin, to beat your chest and be sorry for your sin, confess it to him and ask him to save you too.
Let's do that now. So I'll just bow our heads. If you'd like to talk to him now, he will hear you just in the quietness of your heart.
I'm not going to ask you to do anything publicly right now. You'll do that later.
You'll put the T -shirt on and say, Tetelestai from the joy of your heart, not out of duty.
But right now, anyone can pray these words in the quietness of your own heart.
I am a sinner. I deserve to die like a thief on a cross and I repent of my sins.
I see Jesus hanging on the cross for my sin and I believe.
Jesus finished the work that I could not do.
Jesus was buried and on the third day, he rose from the dead.
Father, thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus. Thank you for paying for my sin in full in his blood on the cross at Golgotha.
Forgive me of my sins. Please give me eternal life. In Jesus' name
I pray. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, please come talk to me or maybe come talk to the person that brought you.
Email us. Reach out. We'd like to give you a Bible. We'd like to encourage you and continue to disciple you in the faith.
And so in closing for the service, we're going to watch a video. Instead of singing today, we're going to watch a rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful.
However, it's been tweaked a little at the beginning to remind us that we're unfaithful. It was not by our faithfulness that we are saved.
Let's watch this and think about what Jesus did for our sins.
O come, all you unfaithful. Come, weak and unstable.
Come, know you are not. O come, barren and waiting ones, weary of praying.
Come, see what your God has done.
Christ is born. Christ is born.
Christ is born for you.
O come, bitter and broken. Come, with fears unspoken.
Come, taste of His perfect love.
O come, guilty and hiding ones, there is no need to run.
See what your God has done. Christ is born.
Christ is born. Christ is born for you.
He's the Lamb who was given, slain for a pardon.
His promise is peace for those who believe.
So come, though you have nothing. Come, He is the offering.
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished.
And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. I'm going to close in a word of prayer and also for the food because we have 180 sandwiches from Dad's Deli.
And I say the number because that means everybody gets one, no more than one, because that's how many we have.
So just grab a small water bottle and a sandwich and make your way back in here for the congregational meeting if you're able to stay for that.
So let's pray for the food and give thanks for the stay. So Father, thank you so much for what we experienced today to go through your word and understand the depth of what it meant when you said to tell us thy
Jesus. Thank you for this. It is finished. And now Lord, we pray for the food and ask that you would bless it to our bodies and we pray for the congregational meeting that your will would be done.
We look to you and we give you all the thanks and all the praise and all the glory, which is our joy in Jesus name.