April 6, 2025
It Is Finished
John 19:30
Springtime is finally here and with it comes the annual tradition that we call spring cleaning. We’ve been getting into the cleaning spirit at my house recently. While going through some older things, we came across an old computer we forgot we had set aside. My son was able to get it running again and on it, we found a treasure of old digital family photos. Now if we had just donated this computer, whoever would have received it would have just seen the pictures of some little kids being goofy and would have not thought twice about deleting them all. However, for us who are family in those pictures, each one of these pictures told a story — just like the adage says, “A picture is worth a thousand words”. Our attempt to see what old video games were still loaded on this computer turned into a much longer reflection of the meaning and stories that stood behind each of these pictures and videos we found. The reason I wanted to start with that story this morning is because of the words of Jesus we will be looking at today. This proclamation that is recorded in John 19:30, carries the message of the Gospel in a single word, and just as 1 Corinthians 1:18 says “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Just like those photos would not have meant a lot to anyone else, except my family, these words of Jesus might not have meant much to those who were around the cross that day. However, for those who have been brought into the family of God through the Blood of Jesus — these words contain the power of God.
John 19:30
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” …
After Jesus’ cry of thirst from the cross, the soldiers there offered Him a little of what they had to drink to help. It was right after this that Jesus cried out with a loud and powerful shout (according to Matthew). It is a phrase that is denoted by a single word in the Greek "τετέλεσται“ pronounced “Tetelestai”. This word was a common word that many who would have been gathered that day would have been very familiar with. For the servants, this would have been a word that they would have used once the job they were given was completed. For the merchants present, this would have been the word they would have used when a transaction was finished. For the soldier, this would have been the word he would have used to tell everyone that the battle was over. For the religious leaders, who were seemingly responsible for this event, this would have been the word that the Chief Priest would have shouted once he found the perfect spotless lamb that would have been suitable for the Passover sacrifice. While many writers and preachers through the years have spoken on how Jesus' cry of “It is Finished!” fulfilled each of these common uses. I want to look at something a little different this morning. I want to look at the “it” of Jesus’ cry. What exactly was finished on the cross and why does it matter to us some 2,000 years later?
The Fulfillment of Scripture was Finished.
If you remember last week’s sermon, we spoke about how John starts verse 28 with the statement, “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled…”. I mentioned that it was referring, not just to the saying “I thirst”, but to a larger overarching idea that John was trying to communicate. This statement by John as well as Jesus' cry of “It is finished” was a triumphant cry that all of Scripture had been fulfilled, not just a single piece. Ever since the fall of man, God had been promising a redeemer who was coming. This Redeemer was the one promised in Genesis when God spoke after the fall and described one who would crush the head of the serpent and the serpent would only bruise His heel. This Redeemer was the Suffering Servant and the Man of Sorrows prophesied of in Isaiah 53 — the one who would be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our sins. He is the one whom John the Baptist spoke of when pointing to Jesus and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” When Jesus was crucified all of the Old Testament prophecies proclaiming the coming Redeemer or Messiah were completed and fulfilled in Him. At this point, there were no more prophecies to be fulfilled concerning the Messiah’s birth, life, and death. The fulfillment of prophecy was finished, but that wasn’t the only aspect of the Old Testament that Jesus finished on the cross.
As we briefly mentioned last week, when Jesus came to earth, He did not come to abolish the law, but He came to fulfill the law. He said so Himself in Matthew 5:17, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Hebrews 10:1 tells us that the law and the things of the law were only a shadow of things to come and not the ultimate reality we needed to look to. Therefore when Jesus came and lived perfectly, the law was fulfilled for the first and final time — it was finished. The Old Testament temple and all of its rituals were finished because Jesus came and fulfilled the law. The Old Testament’s ceremonial laws and festivals were all finished because they had all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The sacrifices required under the Old Covenant were finished because Jesus came and fulfilled the requirements of the perfect sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:12). His sacrifice was once and for all. When Jesus proclaimed that it was finished, He was also talking about the Law and the Old Covenant. They were all finished because a New Covenant was made and was sealed by the blood that Jesus shed on the cross.
The last part of Scripture that Jesus was declaring that was finished was the plan of salvation. We see this not only in the words of Jesus but in what happened after He shouted “It is finished!” All of the other three Gospel accounts of the crucifixion contain a very interesting event that happened once Jesus shouted this powerful statement. After this declaration, the curtain in the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. This was the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. This curtain was the symbol of the barrier between a sinful man and a Holy God. This was where the Shekinah Glory of God would dwell. However, when the barrier between God and man was bridged by the Blood of Jesus Christ, the veil in the temple tore because there was no longer a barrier between sinful man and a Holy God. They could come boldly into the presence of God because of the Blood of Jesus. The Spirit of God no longer dwelt in the Holy of Holies at that point because the work of Salvation was now complete. God had atoned for our sins, the Holy Spirit would now dwell in a new temple. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” The work of God had been completed. The price had been paid and now whosoever would call upon the name of the Lord would be saved. The Gospel was on full display when Jesus said, “It is finished!”
The Power of Death was Finished.
We run into many people in our lives with selective listening. Usually, those people are our children and from time to time, a husband, I know husbands can tend to have selective hearing as well. I wonder if any selective hearing was happening at the cross that day. We have seen some who either just misheard Jesus or had selective hearing when Jesus cried out “Eli, Eli, Lama, Sabathani”. Some people thought they heard Him calling for Elijah to come and save Him. That confusion is recorded in two separate Gospels. I wonder if those present might have thought He said, “I am finished” that day. That is a very different proclamation than Jesus made. That kind of proclamation would have made the soldiers congratulate each other on a job well done. They had carried out their orders perfectly. It would have been the kind of proclamation that would cause the religious leaders to let out a sinister chuckle because their plan to end Jesus was carried out to perfection. It could have been a proclamation that would have caused the remainder of Jesus’ followers to give up hope and walk away in despair. But “I am finished” was not what Jesus said. He proclaimed this loud enough for its power to be noted in Scripture. He wanted to make sure there was no confusion about what He was saying. We saw how this proclamation told of the finish of the fulfillment of Scripture. It also proclaimed the finish of the world's all-time most feared enemy — Death. Any chance I get, especially in foreign countries, I try to go on walks through graveyards and read the tombstones. I had a chance during our last mission trip to London to walk through the graveyard where Charles Spurgeon is buried. While that was interesting to see, the other graves were much more interesting to me. As you walk through the long-neglected tombstones, you start seeing this fear of death communicated on the epitaphs on the tombstones. However, that fear was not communicated on all the tombstones. Some contained great statements of hope. This hope was not just wishful thinking. It was a hope that was grounded in the truth. It was grounded in Jesus and His work on the cross. They knew something that we know today as well, because of the redemptive work Jesus accomplished on the cross. We no longer have to fear death, because Jesus finished it off once and for all on the cross. This was predicted in Hosea 13:14 when God spoke and said “Should I ransom them from the grave? Should I redeem them from death? O death, bring on your terrors! O grave, bring on your plagues!” It was the truth told by the author of Hebrews in Hebrews 2:14-15 when He said “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.” It is because of this that Paul could arrogantly and confidently declare in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 “Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Death can no longer hold us in its fear-inducing grip because Jesus finished death and the grave once and for all. When we have Jesus, death is not something to fear because it is the doorway that leads us into the presence of our King. Just like the assurance the thief had that day on the cross when you put your faith in Jesus Christ for Salvation, you and I can both have the assurance that the moment we pass, we will be with Jesus in Paradise — It is finished!
Suffering was Finished.
The final thing that Jesus declared was finished was His suffering. As we will see next week, this cry was seconds before Jesus' death, so from a human perspective, it was all almost over for Him. The pain and the suffering (physically, mentally, and spiritually) were concluding. Everything that Jesus pained over in the Garden of Gethsemane was now finished. The suffering Jesus warned His disciples of was not done. While this is the most simplistic understanding of Jesus' cry, we need to understand that because the suffering of Jesus was finished. Our suffering is finished as well, but only once we make Jesus the Lord of our lives. Now we will have suffering on this side of eternity, but the suffering that we experience here will not continue on that side of eternity, because there is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus (Romans 8:1). Sin is what causes all the suffering we experience on this side of eternity, it’s the cause of all the suffering Jesus experienced as well. When we trust Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We no longer have to worry about suffering the consequences of our sins for all eternity because Jesus paid the price of that on the cross. We get to look forward to a paradise that has been prepared for us that will have no more pain, no more suffering, no more tears, no more sin. Even though we will still suffer in this sinful and broken world, there are freedoms we have in Jesus that help us to look forward to the day when we will be free from the suffering that sin causes. We are no longer slaves to sin, that relationship is done, sin is no longer the one who leads us, but it is now Jesus because He is our Lord. We have freedom from guilt and shame of those sins because Jesus has brought those to light and has dealt with them and has forgiven us for them and made us new in Him (Romans 10:11, 2 Corinthians 5:17). We have freedom from legalism, we don’t HAVE to follow Jesus’ rules, but because of His love for us, we get to follow Him knowing He only wants what is best for us (Galatians 5:1). We have freedom to approach God at any time, we don’t need a priest to intercede for us, but because of Jesus we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us. We can boldly approach the Throne of Grace and ask for forgiveness of our sins (Hebrews 4:16). It is also a freedom to truly love others for the first time because we have experienced the true love of God firsthand (1 John 4:7). This list goes on and on and on. To coin a phrase from the Gospel of John, I’d imagine if we were to list everything Jesus bought us with His finished work on the cross, it would fill all the libraries in the entire world. What joy a single word can be for those who have trusted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Scripture was fulfilled. Death was done for and hopelessness was destroyed once and for all. It was celebrated with a single cry of Jesus, “It is finished!”.
