The Way to Finish

In this episode of Seed in the Closet, we are focusing on John 10:10, the sixth I am saying, which Jesus States, “I am the way, the truth, and the Life,” and John 19:30, the sixth Saying of Jesus on the Cross, which is “It is finished”.

When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life," he comforts his disciples and reminds them of the plan. He is going to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house. His father has plenty of room, he informs them. He tells them they know the way. He is coming back to get them, but they know the way. Then he says, "He is the way, the truth, and the life."

The entire conversation is interesting because it occurs at what we have deemed as The Lord’s Supper: Jesus’ last Passover dinner. Jesus predicted his death and gave his disciples instructions and encouragement. Over the years, Jesus has talked to his disciples about “the way”. Many Jews believed there was a “way” to God. They believed in a way to life and a way to death. It is recorded in Matthew 7:13-14 where Jesus says there are two ways, wide is the one to destruction, and narrow is the one to life, and few people find it. Notably, years have passed. At the Passover dinner, Jesus tells his disciples that they know the way. This way the Jews have been looking for, they know it. What has happened during this time that they should know the way? Jesus' plan was clear as mud. Thomas asks, What is the way because they do not know where he, Jesus, is going. Keep in mind this is “doubting” Thomas, the same disciple who would state he needs to see Jesus' hands and feet to believe it is Christ Crucified. Nonetheless, Jesus told them that this path is supposed to be narrow, the gate small, and only a few even find it.

And here we are, Jesus reveals that he is the way, the truth, and the life. By knowing and understanding Jesus, we know the way He lives and breathes the truth, and it is in him we have life. We know the way because we know him; we know Jesus. We know the way because we are his sheep and we know his voice. We know the way because Jesus is the truth. He made the crooked and twisted way straight. Remember, Jesus already told us He is the gate. His sheep know His voice. So even though the way is narrow, the gate is small and only a few find the gate, we know the way, because we know Jesus. The more we know Jesus, the clearer the mud becomes and the more we love Jesus. The more we love Jesus, the closer we follow him in truth, doing what He does, obeying the Father to the point of death in exchange for life.

Jesus statement at Passover dinner, the evening he will be taken into captivity, as the Passover lamb is telling. He is the way. He is the lamb. Thinking back to Israel’s way out of Egypt at the first Passover dinner. How God had made a way then is how Jesus is the way now. The Exodus from Egypt and the first Passover foreshadow Jesus's crucifixion at the Last Supper.

Now here we are at the crucifixion. Jesus has been beaten, and the crown of thorns has been pushed down on his head, more than likely damaging his eyes, with blood and sweat running down his face. He is physically in pain and drained. He stated that He was thirsty and they offered him wine.

Now, this is the second time Jesus is offered wine. The first time Jesus was offered wine was by the soldiers when he was being beaten. The wine provided by the soldiers is recorded in Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23, and Luke 23:36. This mixture was usually called gall and was used as a pain suppressant. They would give it to those they were going to crucify. David speaks of his adversary giving him gall for food and vinegar to drink in Psalm 69:21. This symbolizes adding insult to injury. Numbing the pain as you die. But Jesus refused the drink and endured all of the pain.

The second time is just after Jesus says, “I thirst, " before he says, “It is Finished.” Our statement for today. Here, Jesus is offered sour wine by a bystander. This drink is slightly different; it is a mixture of wine and vinegar, which would have been cheaper than regular wine, and was designed to satisfy thirst more than just water. It was used by the nonelite, such as the workers in the area, reiterating Jesus’ humility, the King dying on the cross, who offered wine mixed with vinegar for his thirst. The one who is the spring of water. This account is recorded in Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, and John 19:30.

There is a canonical resonance between the Exodus accounts and Jesus' crucifixion, where we see a hyssop branch dipped in a basin. The Exodus accounts are recorded in Exodus 12:22. It is the eve of the first Passover dinner. The children of Israel have been given specific instructions as God is preparing to deliver them out of Egypt. They are to choose a lamb for Passover, kill it, and drain the blood into a basin. Then they are to take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the lamb's blood, then raise the dipped hyssop to apply the blood to the lintel and two doorposts of the home. These intertextual parallels bring our focus from the entrance of the Passover lamb and the Law down to the fulfillment of the Law with the perfect Lamb of Jesus Christ, who is the fulfillment of the Law. So this act of bringing up the hyssop dipped in the basil to the mouth of Jesus reiterates that He is the way, it is finished!

Jesus endured physical, mental, psychological, and spiritual pain. Even offered a sedative, he refused. Some believed the soldiers offered him the sedative mixture in a cup presented to him as a mockery of his Kingship. He did accept the nonelite wine used by the workers, the wine that satisfied thirst, and he lowered himself even in that stance, and then the Spirit in him, giving him life, keeping him connected to the Father, He, Jesus, gave up the Spirit. We now have that Spirit, the Holy Spirit, in us. The Holy Spirit equips us with a new heart from the Father, like Jesus’. So now we have a new life and a heart of flesh, tender towards God, with our new spirit causing us to walk in God’s statutes and ordinances.

Jesus—the way is the truth to Life. Jesus finished what began in the Garden of Eden; by the exodus from Egypt, through the wilderness, to the promised land. He is the capstone, the author and finisher of our faith. He is The Way to finish.