In the previous B scene the soldiers took (ελαβον) the clothing of Jesus and thus enabled
the scripture (Ps 22:29) to be fulfilled (19:23-24). In development Jesus now
took (ελαβεν) the vinegar the soldiers
offered him and enabled τηε
scripture
to be completed, declaring, “It is accomplished,” as he died (19:30). Jesus thus completes the scripture not only of Ps
22:19 with Ps 22:16 but also of Ps 69:10 with Ps 69:22. His thirst in
fulfillment of Ps 22:16 completes the soldiers’ fulfillment of Ps 22:19 by
taking his clothes. And by taking the vinegar as he dies in fulfillment of
69:22, Jesus completes the scripture of Ps 69:10, he dies in fulfillment of Ps
69:22, Jesus completes the scripture of Ps 69:10, “Zeal for your house will
consume me” (2:17), that his disciples remembered when he drove the sacrificial
commerce from the temple (2:13-16). The soldiers play their part in fulfilling
the scripture, but it is Jesus himself who brings the scripture to completion.
Jesus is the speaker of Ps 22:19 (“my clothes; my clothing”), the
one who says, “I thirst” (Ps 22:16 in 19:27), the one who predicts that zeal
for God’s house “will consume me” (Ps 69:10), the one who takes the
vinegar (Ps 69:22), and the one who climactically pronounces the final
accomplishment (19:30). No one takes Jesus’ life from him. As the good shepherd,
he lays down his life on his own in accord with the command of his Father
(10:18; 18:11), as recorded in the scripture.
Now that the scripture has been completed (τελειωθη), Jesus authoritatively announces, “It
is accomplished” (Τετελεσται).
Not only does this powerful pronouncement indicate the completion of scripture,
but is also climactically reinforces the narrator’s report that everything the
Father has given Jesus do to (13:3) has already been accomplished (τετελεσται) (19:28). Jesus has done
the will of the one who sent him and completed (τλειωσω) his work (4:34). He has accomplished
the works the Father gave him to complete (τελειωσω), the works that testify that the
Father sent him (5:36). Having completed (τελειωσας) the work the Father gave him to do, Jesus
has glorified the Father on earth (17:4). Now those who believe in him, including
the audience called to believe through the word of the disciples (17:20), can
be “completed” or “brought to perfection” (τετελειωμενοι) as “one” final and
absolute unity, so that the world may know that the Father sent Jesus and loves
them as he loved them (17:23). (John Paul Heil, Blood and Water: The Death
and Resurrection of Jesus in John 18-21 [The Catholic Biblical Quarterly Monograph
Series 27; The Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1995; repr., Eugene, Oreg.:
Pickwick Publications, 2023], 101-2)
Further Reading:
Full Refutation of the Protestant Interpretation of John 19:30
