24 IT IS FINISHED-It was a great shock to Jesus' disciples, and to all the people that The Messiah seemed so vulnerable. He suffered and took mental and physical pain for the sake of mankind. Not only Israel, but also the whole world needs redemption from all sin, transgression, iniquity, and of all error. This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 52:15. Through the suffering of Christ the nations will be cleansed, and the nations will understand His exaltation. The righteousness of the Gentiles has always been Israel's mission that is now fulfilled in Christ. He was successfully carrying out the purposes for which He was sent. He did not fail. He was taught of God, He had the strength of God, even though He was scarred and scorned by men, He was uncomplaining.

At about 12.00 p.m. a great darkness covered the land for three hours and the people became afraid. God had laid upon Jesus, The Christ, the guilt and punishment for the sins of the world, so that sinners could be brought back to God. God's wrath no longer to be held against those who are repentant, and God is available to all through Christ.

The Divine nature and human nature of Christ was never separated, but Jesus' intimate relationship with The Father was broken as He took upon himself the errors of humanity, His communion with The Father that he had always shared was shattered. No other godly person has ever been forsaken by God at the time of death. God does always come to the aid of the cry of a righteous person, but not so in the case of His Son Jesus; it was God's plan for Him, for the sake of mankind. The agony of the separation from The Father took place because of mankind's sin upon Jesus and although Jesus did not complain but appealed to God as to how long and when would the separation end.

At Jesus' death, He committed His Spirit into the hands of The Father, the earth shook and the thick Temple curtain that separated The Most Holy Place from the people ripped in two, starting at the top down to the bottom. This was to show it was not done by man, and it signified that all can approach the presence of God at any time and not just the Jewish High Priest, once a year.

Jesus had complete dependence upon The Father for the control of Body, Spirit and Soul. The way He died was observed by the Roman Officer in charge of the crucifixion who exclaimed, "Surely, He was The Son of God". Fulfilling the prophecies of scripture, the death of Jesus was part of God's Plan. What others had meant for evil, God had orchestrated all for the good of others. The death of Christ was for the forgiveness of man's sins, and by His death He was able to bring mankind spiritually back to God.

"He was wounded and bruised for our sins. (He took the punishment, and God's wrath upon sin on the behalf on mankind) He was chastised that we might have peace; (Peace with God) He was lashed and we were healed (forgiven)". (The repentance of mankind brings forgiveness of sins) Isaiah 53:5.

Both the Love and The Plan of The Father were involved as was all persons of the Godhead. Christ obediently had chosen to die, otherwise His Life could not be taken from Him. Nothing, absolutely no being had the power to kill Him, and because of what Jesus did, God's wrath is no longer against those who accept Him as God's Anointed Son and Lord and Saviour. Christ shall live forever and have thousands upon thousands of spiritual offspring. The standard of consecration was maintained in the crucifixion of Christ that had been celebrated the night the Israelites left Egypt with Moses under God's guidance. Jesus, The Passover Lamb for mankind followed the same procedures. There was a great deal of correct preparation and extraordinary details paid to the The Passover Lamb, and these same details were applied and fulfilled in the death of Christ. (e.g. a hyssop branch was given to Him).

The two criminals who were crucified that day had their legs broken to hasten death. Although it was the custom of the Roman Empire to break the legs of crucifixion victims to hasten death, not one of Jesus' bones were broken, fulfilling scripture, according to the details of The Passover Lamb. This speaks of the preservation of the righteous. Those in charge of the crucifixion were surprised that Jesus had died quickly, therefore a spear was thrust through His heart to prove that it was so, releasing blood and water. The prophecy of Jesus being pierced in His side was fulfilled at this time, on the cross.

Eventually all people will realize that Jesus, the man who was pierced was the Saviour of mankind, who fulfilled prophecies of Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Psalm 34:20, and Zechariah 12:10.

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