John
19:28,30 After this, Jesus,
knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”.. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He
said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus died at about 3pm as the sacrificial
Lamb of God at the time of the evening sacrifice. He died very contented for He
had accomplished His work as given by God the Father. Though He appeared to be
suffering from the crucifixion, He was rejoicing for He knew that men would now
be passed from death to life. He knew that His success was mainly due to His
perfect love for the salvation of men.
His death destroyed the devil who had the
power over death and set Christians free from the bondage of the fear of death.
Heb
2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children
have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through
death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,
and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage.
Heb
2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a
little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and
honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.
Our Lord willingly suffered the taste of His
death, godly Christians who keep His word will not suffer the taste of death
being martyred or at their beds.
Painless
at Martyrdom
Mat
16:27-28 For the Son of Man will come
in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each
according to his works. “Assuredly, I say to you, there are some standing here
who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Stephen saw our Lord Jesus in heaven and the
Lord protected him before the first stone hit his body. Because Stephen was not
in pain but was rejoicing for being with the Lord, he was able to pray to God
to forgive them
Acts
7:55-56 But he, being full of the
Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at
the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of
Man standing at the right hand of God!”.
The New
Covenant
Mat
26:27-28 Then He took the cup, and
gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this
is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of
sins."
Our Lord Jesus was a devout Jew and He kept
the Law till death. At His death Jesus, having fulfilled the Law and the
Prophets, replaced the Old Covenant of the Law with the New Covenant of Grace
by His blood.
Heb
9:16-17 For where there is a
testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a
testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all
while the testator lives.
Paradise
for Believers
Luke
23:42-43 Then he said to Jesus,
“Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” And Jesus said to him,
“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
Christians (believers) whose sins are
cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus will go straight to Paradise instead of
being sent into the depths of the earth (1 Sam 28).
Resurrection
of the Saints of the OT
Mat
27:52-53 and the graves were
opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and
coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city
and appeared to many.
Jesus at His death, immediately, became the
sacrificial lambs offered by the saints of old, who had kept the Mosaic Law
(Moses, David, Daniel, etc.) and the Prophets (Abel, Enoch, Noah, etc.) so that
their sins were also cleansed by Jesus' blood, and just as the repented and
faithful Christians, they too were made righteous and holy by His blood. Only
then, they were worthy to be raised from the depths of the earth and follow our
resurrected Lord back to heaven.
