It Is Finished
"It is Finished."
JOHN 19:29-30
29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
A Victorious Shout
Only John records Jesus’ sixth word from the cross, “It is finished,” though it appears to be the same “loud cry” that Mark tells us Jesus uttered before he “breathed his last.” (Mark 15:37) What does this sixth word mean?
The crowds who watched Jesus dying probably thought that Jesus was just expressing the typical sadness and despair of any crucifixion victim: “I’m finished—they’ve killed me—my life is over!” But John wants us to know that something very different is going on. Jesus’ sixth word, “It is finished” is not the whimper of a victim. It is the shout of a victor! Jesus is declaring that his work is now complete, and he is inviting you and me to come rest in him.
The crowds who watched Jesus dying probably thought that Jesus was just expressing the typical sadness and despair of any crucifixion victim: “I’m finished—they’ve killed me—my life is over!” But John wants us to know that something very different is going on. Jesus’ sixth word, “It is finished” is not the whimper of a victim. It is the shout of a victor! Jesus is declaring that his work is now complete, and he is inviting you and me to come rest in him.
From All Eternity
John began his story about Jesus much earlier than the other gospels. Mark begins at Jesus’ baptism, Luke starts at Jesus’ birth, and Matthew leads us to Jesus’ Old Testament family tree. But in John 1:1–18, John begins Jesus’ story all the way back before the dawn of time. Here, we peek behind the curtain of eternity and discover that Jesus’ story did not begin as a baby in Bethlehem—Jesus has always existed! That is because Jesus is God himself, the Word of the Father, the eternal Son of God (John 1:1–2). Before the world was made, Jesus has been “at the Father’s side,” in close, perfect fellowship with him (John 1:18). We did not know this when we read about the creation of the world in Genesis 1–2, but Jesus was there with the Father “in the beginning;” in fact, it was through Jesus that God created all things (John 1:3–4).
But John also tells us more about what the Father and Son were doing before the world began: they were forming a rescue plan. Sometime in the misty dawn before time, Jesus and his Father made a sacred promise to one another: together, they would save the guilty sinners they loved (John 17:1-5).
But John also tells us more about what the Father and Son were doing before the world began: they were forming a rescue plan. Sometime in the misty dawn before time, Jesus and his Father made a sacred promise to one another: together, they would save the guilty sinners they loved (John 17:1-5).
God's Rescue Mission
Because God is perfectly holy and good, our sin against him deserves God’s judgment, his “wrath,” and eternal death (John 3:36). But amazingly, God still loves the sinners who “love the darkness” and have run away from him (John 3:19). God’s heart longs to restore us to a right relationship with himself. So God the Father proposed to send his Son on a rescue mission. It would be dangerous, and it would be costly, but it was the only way that a holy God could give “grace upon grace” to sinners like us.
(John 1:16)
This rescue mission would require Jesus to give up his position in heaven and go down into the world he had made. The mission would require Jesus to conceal his true identity and eternal glory, and accept the humiliation of “taking on flesh” like the people he was saving (John 1:14). But instead of the world receiving Jesus as its rightful king, he would be rejected and hated (John 1:10–11). The mission would require Jesus to place himself under the yoke of the Law of Moses, keeping all of its demands perfectly for thirty-three years. Finally, Jesus’ mission would require him to go to the cross. There, as the “Lamb of God,” Jesus would offer his life as a perfect sacrifice for sinners (John 1:29). The Father would lay on his Beloved Son all the hell-deserving crimes of his people, and in one dark afternoon, God would pour out on his Son all his just and holy wrath against sin, until the full price had been paid. But three days later, the Father would raise his Son from the dead, and receive him back into his rightful place of glory! Through Jesus’ work, all who believed in him would be forgiven of all their sins and receive “eternal life,” restored to the relationship with God we were made for.
This is the mission the Father proposed to his Son, and Jesus volunteered without hesitation. He accepted the dangerous assignment. He would go on the noble quest. He would carry out the sacrificial rescue operation, no matter what it cost him. He would do it all for the glory of his Father and for the love of his people.
This sacred mission grips Jesus’ heart on every page of John’s gospel. It’s why he talks so much about “doing the will of my Father who sent me.” It’s why he will allow nothing to keep him from “accomplishing the work” the Father assigned him. It’s why, on the night before the cross, we overhear Jesus talking with the Father about how close he is to completing his task and returning home: “Father, the hour has come…I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:2, 4–5) The mission is why, though Jesus can knock a Roman legion on their backs with a single word, he goes with them willingly when they come for him (John 18:1–9). The mission is why Jesus makes no attempt to defend himself in his trials before the Jews and Pilate (John 18:12–19:16). The mission is why Jesus endures at the cross all that we have been exploring in our earlier readings—drinking the cup of God’s wrath, experiencing the forsakenness of God, submitting to the thirst of God’s judgment. And the mission is why Jesus can finally cry “It is finished!” (John 19:30)
(John 1:16)
This rescue mission would require Jesus to give up his position in heaven and go down into the world he had made. The mission would require Jesus to conceal his true identity and eternal glory, and accept the humiliation of “taking on flesh” like the people he was saving (John 1:14). But instead of the world receiving Jesus as its rightful king, he would be rejected and hated (John 1:10–11). The mission would require Jesus to place himself under the yoke of the Law of Moses, keeping all of its demands perfectly for thirty-three years. Finally, Jesus’ mission would require him to go to the cross. There, as the “Lamb of God,” Jesus would offer his life as a perfect sacrifice for sinners (John 1:29). The Father would lay on his Beloved Son all the hell-deserving crimes of his people, and in one dark afternoon, God would pour out on his Son all his just and holy wrath against sin, until the full price had been paid. But three days later, the Father would raise his Son from the dead, and receive him back into his rightful place of glory! Through Jesus’ work, all who believed in him would be forgiven of all their sins and receive “eternal life,” restored to the relationship with God we were made for.
This is the mission the Father proposed to his Son, and Jesus volunteered without hesitation. He accepted the dangerous assignment. He would go on the noble quest. He would carry out the sacrificial rescue operation, no matter what it cost him. He would do it all for the glory of his Father and for the love of his people.
This sacred mission grips Jesus’ heart on every page of John’s gospel. It’s why he talks so much about “doing the will of my Father who sent me.” It’s why he will allow nothing to keep him from “accomplishing the work” the Father assigned him. It’s why, on the night before the cross, we overhear Jesus talking with the Father about how close he is to completing his task and returning home: “Father, the hour has come…I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:2, 4–5) The mission is why, though Jesus can knock a Roman legion on their backs with a single word, he goes with them willingly when they come for him (John 18:1–9). The mission is why Jesus makes no attempt to defend himself in his trials before the Jews and Pilate (John 18:12–19:16). The mission is why Jesus endures at the cross all that we have been exploring in our earlier readings—drinking the cup of God’s wrath, experiencing the forsakenness of God, submitting to the thirst of God’s judgment. And the mission is why Jesus can finally cry “It is finished!” (John 19:30)
Mission Accomplished
This sixth word means that Jesus has fulfilled his mission. He has kept his promise. He has completed his assignment. Jesus is no longer gazing into the horror of judgment; he is looking homeward, to “the joy set before him,” and his return to the Father’s side (Heb 12:2). Even while he hangs on the cross, three days before his resurrection, the tone of the story is already shifting: from tragedy to triumph, from despair to delight, from misery to majesty, from suffering to satisfaction!
After beginning his gospel with echoes of the Creation story, John may want us to hear them again. When God looked out on his work of creation at the end of the sixth day, he declared that it was “very good.” (Gen 1:31) God had done all he had intended to do, and was totally satisfied with his work. Nothing left undone. Nothing missing. Nothing lacking. Now, he could rest. Here at the cross, God the Son looks out on his work of redemption. All that he had done to secure the salvation of sinners as his Father had called him to do. And Jesus also sees that he has left nothing undone. Nothing is missing. Nothing is lacking. “It is very good.” Now, he can rest. And so it is only now, after announcing that “it is finished,” Jesus “bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (cf John 10:17–18)
Because Jesus cried “it is finished!” from the cross, he invites us to come rest in him. Every other religion in the world gives us something to do so that God will accept us. Only the gospel tells us that the work is done. When we could do nothing, Jesus has done it all for us. He now calls us to receive with the empty hands of faith his finished work on our behalf.
His words “it is finished” are really just one Greek word, tetelestai. If you came to my shop in the first century and paid off your account, I might write at the bottom of your bill tetelestai: paid in full, account settled, business closed. When you and I trust in Jesus, God writes tetelestai on our bill. We don’t have to work our way to God, or perform for him, or impress him. We are unfinished people resting in Christ’s finished work. The only work left for us to do is simply believe in him (John 6:28–29).
After beginning his gospel with echoes of the Creation story, John may want us to hear them again. When God looked out on his work of creation at the end of the sixth day, he declared that it was “very good.” (Gen 1:31) God had done all he had intended to do, and was totally satisfied with his work. Nothing left undone. Nothing missing. Nothing lacking. Now, he could rest. Here at the cross, God the Son looks out on his work of redemption. All that he had done to secure the salvation of sinners as his Father had called him to do. And Jesus also sees that he has left nothing undone. Nothing is missing. Nothing is lacking. “It is very good.” Now, he can rest. And so it is only now, after announcing that “it is finished,” Jesus “bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (cf John 10:17–18)
Because Jesus cried “it is finished!” from the cross, he invites us to come rest in him. Every other religion in the world gives us something to do so that God will accept us. Only the gospel tells us that the work is done. When we could do nothing, Jesus has done it all for us. He now calls us to receive with the empty hands of faith his finished work on our behalf.
His words “it is finished” are really just one Greek word, tetelestai. If you came to my shop in the first century and paid off your account, I might write at the bottom of your bill tetelestai: paid in full, account settled, business closed. When you and I trust in Jesus, God writes tetelestai on our bill. We don’t have to work our way to God, or perform for him, or impress him. We are unfinished people resting in Christ’s finished work. The only work left for us to do is simply believe in him (John 6:28–29).
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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church
Posted in cross, Crucifixion, Holy Week, Good Friday, Easter, Finished, Rescue, Rest, Tetelestai, John 19, It Is Finished
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