Seven Sayings of Jesus on the Cross #6

“It is finished” — John 19:30

Philip Bliss’ hymn: Man of Sorrows, What a Name reads,

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Jesus sixth saying came right after His shortest saying on the cross, “I thirst”. “Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19:29-30).

Jesus had finished what He was sent to Earth in human flesh to accomplish. It was not an easy task. Many men and women struggle to finish the simplest of tasks. How many of the readers have a car up on blocks, a marriage on the rocks, a half-read book, or an abandoned diet. Jesus did not give up on His eternal plan to save man.

The phrase “it is finished” in our text comes from the single Greek word: tetelestai. It comes from the Greek noun telos meaning “a goal” and teleo a verb meaning “to bring to an end, to complete, to accomplish.” The verb is here in the perfect tense, meaning what has been accomplished is now and forever done. When an ancient transaction of a purchase was complete, the purchaser was given a bill of sale with the Greek word written: Tetelestai, translated “Paid in Full.”

What did this saying mean? Sometimes it is easier to explain first what something does not mean in order to discover what is the true meaning of a statement. The saying was not used to announce the termination of Jesus’ physical life. It was not merely a scream of a persecuted soul. This cannot be the resignation of a defeated Messiah. Although His sufferings were coming to an end this saying is not an expression of mere relief. It could not be the fulfillment of everything pertaining to His mission. The seventh and final saying remained unspoken (Ps. 31:5); his side not yet pierced with a spear (Zech. 12:10); the bones preserved from being broken (Ps. 34:20), and the burial in the rich man’s grave (Isa. 53:9). Furthermore, Jesus had to raise from the dead, show Himself alive to many witnesses, prepare his disciples for Pentecost, and ascend into heaven to sit upon the Throne of David and rule as King over His Kingdom.

So, what does the saying “it is finished” mean? Primarily, Jesus has paid in full for the redemption of sinful man.

Paid in Full…

□ Mission of the Incarnation

The goal of the incarnation is reached. As the angel said to Joseph concerning Mary’s first child, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21), His 33 to 34 years of life on the earth to fulfill the Divine motive had come to fruition. Jesus had claimed to come to do the Father’s Will. “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). He would pray I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). He is the only person who fully did what God wanted done

He became human and died that we might live with God forever. Christ Jesus came into the world “to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15; Luke 19:10). “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost” (Matt. 18:11).

□ Sufferings

Jesus drank the cup of sufferings down to the very last drop. He was fully immersed in suffering in the events of the Passion. He said, “but I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!” (Luke 12:50). He was a “The Man of Sorrows.” Now the tragedy of the crucifixion has become the triumph in suffering. Jesus came and ended the suffering of many through His miracles of healing, casting out demons, feeding the hungry, raising the dead. But the effects of these miracles were only temporary. The healed would get sick again, those filled with food would soon hunger again, and the resurrected would eventually die once more. However, His suffering on the cross would lead to an eternal solution to the cause of suffering: sin.

□ Messianic Predictions

Over two dozen messianic prophecies were fulfilled on and around the cross. He had Himself predicted His coming death in Jerusalem by the rulers by means of the cross. “He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished” (Luke 18:31). “For I say to you that this which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end” (Luke 22:37). “Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb” (Acts 13:29).

□ Crushing of Satan and Defeat of Death

The very first Messianic Prophecy is found in Genesis 3:15. God promised: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” Jesus is the seed of woman whom the Devil bruised on the cross. Jesus’ death and resurrection crushed the serpent’s head in victory. Christ went from victim to victor destroying the power of Satan: death. “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” (Heb. 2:14).

□ Sealing of the New Covenant

Jesus’ blood sealed the New Covenant (Heb. 9:13-17). It paid the debt of sin against us. It redeems us from slavery to sin. It canceled the certificate of “debt” listing the crimes of sin and their consequences by nailing it to the cross (Col. 2:14). With the Old Testament or Will or covenant fulfilled in Christ, the way is open for the New Testament.

All three of the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) record the event of the curtain or veil of the Temple being torn. “Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split” (Matt. 27:51). The veil of the Temple separated the common man from the Holy of Holies. The rending of it symbolizes the removal of the barrier and the opening of the way through Christ. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).

□ Purchase Price of the Church

Christ paid the purchase price for the church. “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood” (Acts 20:28).

□ Atoning Sacrifice Once for All Time

To appease the judicial wrath of God against sin, blood sacrifices were made to make atonement (Lev. 17:11). God’s anger is justly aroused by our sin. In sin we are the enemies of God (Rom. 5:10). Jesus’ sacrifice is the ultimate final one for sin. “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:12-14). His sacrifice on the cross completed atonement for sin both past and present and future. The endless line of sacrificial animals has finished.

□ Redemption Price for Sinners

Man has been enslaved by sin. To deliver man from slavery someone had to buy their freedom. Only the sinless Son of God could pay the redemption price or pay the ransom. He shed His blood “to redeem them that were under the law” (Gal. 4:4) and “to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). The price of redemption had been paid in full. It is finished.

Albert Barnes wrote, “The work long contemplated, long promised, long expected by prophets and saints, is done. The toils in the ministry, the persecutions and mockeries, and the pangs of the garden and the cross, are ended, and Man is redeemed” (Barnes, “John”, in Notes, p. 372).

Now it is up to us to do our part. Are we willing to finish the work begun by Jesus to redeem our souls? Are we going to quit before getting started? For those who have been redeemed, are you going to stop just short of victory? Are you willing to be faithful until death? At the end of his life, Paul wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7-9). At the end of your life will you be able to say, “It is finished”?

– Daniel R. Vess