The complicated (Old Covenant) system of animal sacrifice was about to be replaced by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.

Jesus would become the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin (John 20).

The Death of Jesus

Verse 28: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said to fulfill the Scripture, ‘I thirst.’”

The scripture that referred to his drinking the vinegar is Psalm 69:21: “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”

If you remember, earlier in this gospel Jesus used scripture as one of His witnesses to prove He was the Messiah.

By His saying, “I thirst,” it fulfills still another prophecy, offering more evidence He is indeed the Messiah.

Verse 29: “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.”

The sour wine was most likely the tart wine of the Roman soldiers. Although for the use of the soldiers administering the crucifixion, it was probably given to the person being crucifi ed and suffering a slow, tormented death.

The sour wine should not be confused with the drink mentioned in Matthew 27:34 and Mark 15:23 as vinegar and gall, which has been identified as the “stupefying potion” Jesus refused.

Although of little importance, a variety of conjectures exist concerning what type of reed, as mentioned in Matthew and Mark, or stick or stalk, was used to lift the sponge to Jesus.

But John says the sponge was lifted on the stalk of the hyssop.

The hyssop is thought to be used only to bind the sponge to the stalk. But, as a matter of interest, the hyssop was frequently used in the Old Testament during rites of purification.

Verse 30: “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

“It is finished!” or as we might say, “It is done!” He had followed and executed the mission assigned to Him by His Father, the Almighty God.

Through the death of Jesus, man was reconciled to God, opening the Holy of Holies and the Kingdom of Heaven to every believing soul.

Jesus’ Side Is Pierced

Verses 31-33: “Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews 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, and of the other who had been crucified with him.”

The Jewish law, in Deuteronomy 21:22-23, ordered that the bodies of criminals should not hang all night. They also did not wish to profane the Sabbath.