Here are notes from last Friday’s event at church: A Reflection on the 7 Last Words of Jesus.
Of course, being the overthinker that I am… I took notes until it was my turn, and then, checked out and relaxed while the last 2 ministers shared their own thing.
Lines that got to me during our worship:
‘You took the fall and thought of me above all’
‘Jesus You have overcome the world’
Well, apparently I ‘fixed’ my notes so I delivered them straight when it was my turn on the pulpit.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 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.
John 19:28
‘I thirst’ was what was assigned to me… and I needed help, so I pulled up the book I wrote last year, precisely for the 7 last words of Jesus… if only to share what I came up with back then.
Based on the 4 Last Words we’ve tackled, here’s what we see so far:
- The Son of God’s heart to forgive all, among them, those who condemn, mock, and taunt Him, and those who watch in mourning and lamentation, noting how with sin comes confusion along with death.
- The fundamentals of repentance (understanding who we are, who God is, and our need for a Savior), and of salvation (Guaranteed union with Christ, now and forever).
- The grace of God seen from another angle – Christ identifying those who were close to Him for who they really were, with the intent of taking on His responsibility alone; for He could only handle it alone.
- The ultimate wage of sin – separation from God, Life, and Light, resulting in darkness and death.So what was finished?The Son of God became sin and drained its cup of consequences, darkness, death, and all, down to the dregs, and guarantees salvation (unbreakable union with Him, now and forever) to whoever comes to realize who they are, who God is, and eventually believes in Him, even if they condemned, mocked, taunted, or otherwise doubted Him.
I’m on my sixth cup of coffee, and I’m pretty wired. Took a good bunch of notes, and considering I’m past half of the speakers this afternoon, I’m playing a game to validate my pulpit time…
It’s a simple game called checkpoint – where I share what we went through so far.
Father, Forgive Them, For They Do Not Know What They Do (Luke 23:34)
(Ptr Paulo)
Who was ‘Them’? It wasn’t just the Pharisees, not just the Romans or the onlookers, but all of us.
Obviously us too, right? Honestly, how many times have we been crying out: “Forgive me, I don’t know what I’m doing“?
Ptr Paulo’s 3 points:
Forgiveness isn’t always about reconciliation. It ideally leads to that, sure.
Forgiveness is the absence of bitterness
Forgiveness is the ultimate test of our faith.
- If I may add: Forgiveness is the ultimate demonstration of love.
Therefore, it makes sense for us to say what we’ve always been saying: Forgiveness is as much for us as it is for the other party.
Forgiveness is as much giving it to the Lord as it is choosing to forgive, each and every time.
Truly I Tell You, Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise (Luke 23:43)
(Ptr Alvin)
On Polletos and Resumes: Lots of promises and guarantees in both, in order for us to give them our vote.
Simple point: The thief never did anything… but he was in. Salvation is a gift to receive.
Christ’s words paint a picture of John 14:6; Indeed, by saying what He said, He guaranteed that He truly is the Way, Truth and Life.
Anyone who calls upon His name shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)
Finally, God’s grace is available to all.
* Something to think about: Was there any doubt in the Thief’s mind? Like how did he say it? Did he call Jesus, ‘Lord’ with conviction, or, as we say in Tagalog, ‘Baka sakali’ (just in case); Did he as Jesus like Joseph asked the Baker not to forget him either?
Dear Woman, Here Is Your Son. Here Is Your Mother. (John 19:25-27)
(Ptr Mavin)
Jesus did not neglect His Jewish responsibility.
Firstborn takes care of the Mother
Mother could have done what she could, motherly habits.
But she was already primed before Jesus was born.
John took care of Mary.
Could have been anyone else but John eventually went to Patmos
My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? (Matthew 27:46)
(Ptr Poppo)
We know the day as Good Friday but Ptr Poppo said, more than once, that this is ‘Holy Friday’.
Ptr Poppo pointed out that at the Cross, Christ did not just suffer physically and mentally: He suffered spiritual suffering from sin… and from His words, it’s an extreme case of Separation Anxiety.
But we praise God because Christ said ‘My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?‘ so we can say ‘Our Father is always thinking about us‘.
We’ve moved from Matthew 27:46 to 1 Peter 5:7.
Silence is not absence. Jesus secured our salvation; He is with us even when we don’t feel it.
Checkpoint, over. Two more points.. again, from the book:
First, before Christ said that He thirsted, the soldiers already offered Him ‘wine mixed with myrrh, but He did not take it’ (Mark 19:23). A quick Google search gives us pictures as to why Christ refused it: Wine may have been mixed with myrrh (1) to dull the pain, (2) to preserve the wine, or (3) to increase the pain, as it apparently has torturous effects upon people experiencing severe dehydration.
Christ’s thirst wasn’t out of nowhere. Like everything else He did in this existence, it all had reason, value and intention. He could have drank so many times before – and at least one time before, but refused… because the wine was laced with myrrh, and I proposed that He refused so He would take on all the pain, without any help.
The only reason that comes to mind goes back to when He spoke to the disciples regarding old and new wineskins, and old and new wine. In Matthew 9:17, Christ specified how only new wine is put into new wineskins, but if new wine is poured into old wineskins, the latter is ruined, and the former is spilled.
Second point: Well, to cut things short: At the cross, Christ became old wineskin and was filled with old and sour wine… So that eventually we would be made new creations, filled with ‘new wine’ – the Holy Spirit.
So from there, all I remember is that Ptr Val didn’t really repeat anything – because He was assigned ‘It is finished‘ which follows immediately after ‘I thirst‘- but was prepared to present that what was ‘finished’ was also detailed in the Passover.
Just as the Israelites were rescued from Egypt, so we were rescued from sin and death.
Finally, in what I personally think was an anticlimactic choice, Ptr Steve took on the final word: Father, Into Your Hands I Commit/Commend My Spirit. And the guy just went on and on about Christ finishing His mission, so we should focus on our mission, and so on.
However, as I was listening to Him, it’s nice because we thought of something more:
Once, Job’s wife saw all her husband’s misfortunes, and told him to ‘Curse God and die.’ (Job 2:9)
Christ took that curse, became sin, and died – that gives us more perspective on what was finished.
That’s where everything ended, more or less. We all prayed and had coffee and fellowshipped after.
Thought I’d share this before I go ahead and share how things went last Resurrection Sunday.
Until that next post, coming soon, God bless us all! Amen.
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