The Unbreakable Word: The Finished Work Text: John 19:28-37
Introduction: The Unraveling of Unbelief
We come now to the very center of all history, to the moment upon which all of human destiny turns. The cross of Jesus Christ is not a mere historical event; it is the linchpin of reality. It is the place where the wisdom of God confronts the foolishness of men, where the power of God is displayed in what the world calls weakness, and where the meticulous, sovereign plan of God is brought to its triumphant completion through the very actions of His enemies.
Our modern world, much like the ancient one, is desperate to avoid the meaning of this moment. It wants a Christ without a cross, a savior without substitution, a kingdom without a king. The world wants to believe that history is a random, chaotic series of events, driven by chance and human will. The men at the foot of the cross certainly thought they were in charge. The Jews believed they had successfully manipulated the Roman authorities to eliminate a rival. Pilate believed he had washed his hands of a messy political problem. The soldiers believed they were just carrying out another routine execution. They all believed they were writing the story.
But John, the beloved disciple, standing right there as an eyewitness, pulls back the curtain to show us what was actually happening. He shows us that every event, down to the smallest detail, was not an accident, but a fulfillment. The thirst of a dying man, the drink offered, the timing of His death, the breaking of bones, the piercing of a spear, all of it was written down centuries before it happened. This is not a story of human cruelty triumphing over a good man. This is the story of God's unshakeable, unbreakable Word being fulfilled to the letter. Every action of Christ's enemies, every sneer, every nail, every gamble for His clothes, was simply another stitch in the grand tapestry that God Himself had designed. They thought they were killing Him; in reality, they were crowning Him. They were not the authors of this tragedy; they were merely actors, reading lines from a script they had never seen, a script that God had written from before the foundation of the world.
This passage is a profound declaration that God is in absolute control. History is not a runaway train; it is a story moving toward its appointed end. And at the center of that story is a cross, where God, in His infinite wisdom, used the greatest act of human injustice to accomplish the greatest act of divine love.
The Text
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been finished, in order to finish the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. Then the Jews, because it was the day of Preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe. For these things came to pass in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, “NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.” And again another Scripture says, “THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED.”
(John 19:28-37 LSB)
The Final Fulfillment (vv. 28-30)
We begin with Christ's conscious fulfillment of the final details of His appointed suffering.
"After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been finished, in order to finish the Scripture, said, 'I am thirsty.' A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." (John 19:28-30)
Notice the sovereign awareness of Jesus. He is not a passive victim. He knows that all things appointed for His atoning work are now finished. The work of bearing our sin, of satisfying the wrath of God, of reconciling us to the Father, is complete. But there is one last detail of prophecy that must be tied off. So, "in order to finish the Scripture," He speaks. His thirst is real, a genuine aspect of His humanity and suffering, but His timing in declaring it is deliberate. He is orchestrating His own death according to the script. Psalm 69:21 says, "And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Jesus, the author of Scripture, ensures its every word is honored.
The soldiers offer Him sour wine on a sponge attached to a branch of hyssop. This is not a small detail. Hyssop was the branch used to paint the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts in Egypt (Ex. 12:22). Here, the true Passover Lamb is offered that same sour wine on a hyssop branch, linking this moment to that great act of deliverance. This is God's poetry, written in blood and history.
Having received the wine, and with the final prophecy fulfilled, Jesus cries out, "It is finished!" This is not the gasp of a defeated man. It is the triumphant roar of a conqueror. The Greek is one word: tetelestai. It was a common word in the ancient world, used on receipts and legal documents. When a debt was paid, the scribe would write "tetelestai" across the document: "Paid in full." This is what Jesus is declaring. The debt of sin that stood against us, a debt we could never pay, has been paid in full by His blood. He did not say, "It has started," or "I have done my part, now you do yours." He said it is finished. The work of salvation is accomplished, completed, and perfected. To add anything to it, whether our works, our rituals, or our righteousness, is to insult the sufficiency of His sacrifice. When He cried this, He wasn't just announcing the end of His suffering; He was announcing the beginning of our salvation.
And then, notice the manner of His death. "And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit." He did not die of exhaustion. He did not die because the Romans took His life. He dismissed His own spirit. He gave it up. He laid down His life of His own accord, just as He said He would (John 10:18). This was a sovereign death. From beginning to end, He was in complete control.
The Unbroken Lamb and the Pierced Side (vv. 31-37)
The actions of the Jews and the soldiers that follow are dripping with irony. They are trying to maintain their religious purity while orchestrating the murder of God, and in doing so, they fulfill two more critical prophecies without any idea of what they are doing.
"Then the Jews, because it was the day of Preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken...but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out." (John 19:31, 33-34)
The Jews are concerned about ritual defilement from dead bodies on a high Sabbath. They are meticulous about the ceremonial law while trampling all over the moral law. This is the essence of dead religion. They strain out a gnat and swallow a camel. But their fastidiousness serves God's purpose. They request that the legs of the crucified be broken to hasten death. The soldiers oblige, breaking the legs of the two thieves. But when they come to Jesus, He is already dead. His work was finished, and He had given up His spirit.
And John tells us precisely why this matters. "For these things came to pass in order that the Scripture would be fulfilled, 'NOT A BONE OF HIM SHALL BE BROKEN.'" (v. 36). This is a direct reference to the instructions for the Passover lamb in Exodus 12:46 and Numbers 9:12. Jesus is the ultimate Passover Lamb, and God ensures that His body conforms perfectly to the type. The Word of God is unbreakable, and so the bones of the Word Incarnate would not be broken. [29] His bones were made of the same stuff as ours; they were entirely breakable. But because Scripture cannot be broken, they were not broken.
To make certain He was dead, a soldier thrusts a spear into His side. And John, the eyewitness, records what he saw: "and immediately blood and water came out" (v. 34). Medically, this likely refers to the piercing of the pericardial sac and the heart itself. But John sees far more than a medical phenomenon. He sees theology. He sees the fountain of our salvation. The blood is for atonement, the cleansing from the guilt of sin. The water is for purification, the washing from the filth of sin. Here, flowing from the side of the second Adam, put into a deep sleep of death, is the substance from which His bride, the Church, will be built. Just as Eve was taken from the side of the first Adam, so the Church is born from the wounded side of Christ. [9] John emphasizes this because it was a direct refutation of an early heresy, that of Cerinthus, who taught that the divine "Christ" departed from the man Jesus before the cross. John says no, He came by water and blood, at His baptism and at His death. This was the God-man, fully present, dying for you. [5]
And this piercing fulfills yet another prophecy. "And again another Scripture says, 'THEY SHALL LOOK ON HIM WHOM THEY PIERCED'" (v. 37). This is from Zechariah 12:10. That day, a Roman soldier looked upon the one he pierced. The disciples looked upon Him. And one day, all of Israel and all the nations will look upon Him whom they pierced and mourn in repentance, recognizing Him as their King and Messiah. This prophecy began its fulfillment here, and it will find its ultimate fulfillment when every eye sees Him.
Believe the Eyewitness (v. 35)
John inserts a personal, pastoral, and urgent note in the middle of this description.
"And he who has seen has borne witness, and his witness is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe." (John 19:35)
John is not telling a cleverly devised story. He is not relating a myth. He is giving sworn testimony in a court of law. He is saying, "I was there. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the spear go in. I saw the blood and water come out. And I am telling you this with all the solemnity of a legal witness, not to impress you, but so that you might believe." Christianity is not based on abstract principles or religious feelings. It is based on historical facts, attested to by reliable eyewitnesses. The entire Christian faith hangs on the reality of these events. If Jesus did not die, if He did not shed His blood, then we are still in our sins. But He did. John saw it. And he tells us so that we might abandon all self-reliance and trust completely in the finished work of this pierced and unbroken Savior.
Conclusion: The Unfailing Christ
What does this mean for us, two thousand years later? It means everything. It means that our salvation is not a fragile, flimsy thing that depends on our ability to hold on. It is a solid, objective, historical reality, accomplished by Christ and recorded for us in the unbreakable Word of God.
Because He cried "It is finished," our status before God is not "in progress." It is secure. The debt is paid. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. When Jesus declared the work finished, He did not mean He was starting a project that we had to complete. He meant He purchased a people, and He will not fail to bring every last one of them home. [23] His atonement is definite; it accomplishes what it was intended to accomplish.
Because not a bone of Him was broken, we know that He is the perfect Lamb of God, whose sacrifice was accepted. And we know that God's Word never fails. If God kept His promise about the bones of His Son, He will keep every promise He has made to you in His Son. He will keep you. He will preserve you. He will bring you to glory.
And because He was pierced, a fountain has been opened for sin and for uncleanness. The blood and the water that flowed from His side are the source of our new life. It is there we are washed, and it is there we are forgiven. We are called to look upon Him whom we have pierced. We must see that our sin drove the spear into His side. And in that look of faith and repentance, we find our only hope. We look, and we live.
This is not a sad story with a happy ending. This is a triumphant victory from start to finish, orchestrated by a sovereign God who wrote the script, directed the actors, and accomplished the redemption of the world through His beloved Son. Therefore, believe the witness. Trust the finished work. And look to the Lamb of God, whose death is your life.