It is finished (John 19:30)
There’s something satisfying about completing something. Whether it’s decorating the bedroom, writing a report for the office or reading a book, it’s a good moment when we come to the end and can say, ‘It’s finished!’
There is all this – and so much more – in the sixth word of Christ from the cross. Let’s put it in its context. John, in his Gospel, writes, ‘Knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit’ (John 19:28–30).
Wrapped up in that little word that we translate as finished are ideas of fulfilment, accomplishment and achievement. It is a word not of despair but of triumph, the sort of word that you might gasp out when we cross the finishing line of a marathon.
It is clear that Jesus is not saying ‘I am finished’ but rather ‘it is finished’. But what is the ‘it’ that has been finished? In John’s Gospel Jesus describes himself several times as someone who has been given work to do by his Father (John 4:34). That work, it is clear, is not just calling his disciples or teaching, but dying on the cross. To someone familiar with the Jewish faith of Jesus’ day what is going on at the cross is almost unsubtle in its obviousness. At this point in the afternoon before the start of Passover, in the temple barely a mile away from the cross, lambs are being sacrificed for the sins of the people of God. Actually, what is being ‘finished’ here is not just Jesus’ work, but the whole Old Testament system of practices.
That long story of priests, kings, temples and sacrifices is completed and fulfilled in Christ’s death on the cross. In the time before the cross, men and women could only look forward in hope that God would someday find a way to pay off what they had done wrong.
In the time after the cross, men and women look back to this moment with faith and gratitude.
We can actually see in this word ‘finished’ something very personal. Human religion has often been summarised in the phrase ‘the search for salvation’. In every race, culture and age, men and women have struggled to find a way through so they can be right before God. So we find people trying every sort of religious practice – making vows, giving up pleasures, going on pilgrimages and making sacrifices – in order to try to make themselves right with God.
Here at the cross, we see the end of humanity’s long quest. If we understand what Jesus did on this cross and trust in him then we can say about our own personal search for salvation, it is finished.
Ponder: Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.
Ephesians 3:12, NLT
Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that you have wiped our lives clean. May we express our gratitude to you by living our lives in the knowledge of your unconditional love for us. Amen.
