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Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”
Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
“Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
“They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.”
So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman, here is your son,” and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
John 19:17–30
“It is finished” is your reality.
There’s a good chance you’ve heard the parable of the fish, but I’ll remind you of it anyway. An author named David Foster Wallace was giving a commencement address at Kenyon College, and his first words of the address were these: “There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the hell is water?’” Wallace goes on to point out that “the most obvious, most important realities in our life are the hardest to see and talk about.” The things we believe about what the world is what guide our thoughts and words and actions without us even noticing, like the young fish living his whole underwater, never realizing that a completely different reality exists above the surface.
What’s the water that you swim in? What are the thoughts and habits that you return to over and over again, without even trying to?
In the crucifixion reading that we’re about to hear, we’ll hear of a confluence of different waters as we hear about the different people who had a hand in the death of Jesus. We’ll hear about Pontius Pilate, the man who grew up in Roman waters where seeking more and more status for oneself was the best thing anyone could dedicate their life to. And so Pilate found himself in the position of governor of Judea because his drive to get himself promoted led him to chase this promotion even though he hated the people he would govern. And on Good Friday he found himself up in the middle of the night being asked whether Jesus of Nazareth was guilty. Even though Pilate knew he was, he didn’t care enough to do what was right. He swam in the reality that his own status was worth more than anything else.
We’ll hear about the water of the chief priests, leaders of the Jewish people who were supposed to be religious but cared more about politics. These were men who knew that they part of the people God chose to use to bring the Savior into the world. But they let their pride at being God’s chosen people blind them so much that when the Savior actually showed up on their doorstep, instead of worshipping him they killed him. They swam in the reality that their familial pride was worth more than anything else.
We’ll hear about the water of the Roman soldiers, the ones who actually carried out the dirty work of crucifixions. These people had used their own hands to exact so much pain and suffering on other humans that they were immune to the cries of agony coming from the men on the crosses that day. Instead, they had a little fun gambling for the possessions of the victims. They swam in the reality that as long as they weren’t the ones suffering, life was good. And we’ll hear about the water of Jesus’ friends and family, specifically his best friend John and his mother Mary. They had loved Jesus, they had followed him for years, shared good times and bad with him. They had looked up to him as their teacher and put their hope in him as their Messiah. And now, they watched him suffer the worst kind of death, knowing that they had done nothing to prevent him from reaching this point. They swam in the reality of despair as they watched their love one expire.
What’s the water that you swim in? These waters haven’t stopped flowing. Their current runs strong still today. Maybe you sometimes swim in Pontius Pilate’s water, chasing status for yourself, elevating yourself above others. Maybe you swim in the water of the chief priests, ensuring that whatever you do or say, even if it’s wrong, is justifiable in your mind so that your pride is kept intact. Maybe you swim in the water of the soldiers, turning a blind eye to the people in very close proximity to you who are suffering, and looking to have the most fun you can. Or, as faithful Christians, maybe the water we swim in most often is the water of John and Mary, the water of despair, despair that try as we might we cannot help but continue to fall into temptations and continue to commit sins, each of which earned the wrath of God that Jesus was enduring.
But here’s the thing. None of those realities are the most important reality. In fact, none of those realities were even true. All of those different waters were polluted in some way. All of those waters are not the way reality actually is. Because there’s a far more important reality, a reality that Jesus desperately wants you to know is true. It’s the reason he asked for a drink as he sensed that he slipped into unconsciousness. He needed to make sure he could speak to tell you your new reality, defined by these words: It is finished.
This is the reality that Jesus was swimming in while he was on the cross: as others did various things, Jesus was completing God’s plan of salvation. He was fulfilling the last prophecies of the Messiah. He was reaching the finish line that he had begun ever since evil entered the world. He was restoring you back to the reality God wants you to live in. The reality wherein you and God live in perfect harmony together, he as your loving God and you as his grateful servant. He as your powerful creator and you as his wonderful steward of creation. When Jesus said it is finished, he wanted you to know that his work to rid you of all of the time you have spent in polluted water, seeking status or pride or fun or anything other than your God, was completed. He wanted you to know that there is nothing more that you can do that can bring your closer to your Heavenly Father. He wanted you to know that God no longer remembers your sins, so you need not despair of them any more either.
Now, because Jesus took on God’s wrath on your behalf, you can live in your new reality, the reality given to you by God. You can live in your new water, the one God brought you into when the waters of baptism were poured over you. In these baptismal waters, you enjoy a new reality. One where you enjoy the freedom to avoid sin and instead do what is good. One where you can know by hearing Jesus’ proclamation from the cross that you are more important to God than anything else.
Good Friday, April 3rd, 2026
