It Is Finished

John 19:28-30 IT IS FINISHED

John 19:28-30 – The Death of Jesus

28After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29A 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. 30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

JOHN tells us Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, cried out, with his last breath, “It is finished!”

• Matthew and Mark in their accounts tell us Jesus cried out in a loud voice. They did not tell us what He said.

• John gave us the content of this loud cry: “It is finished!”

Few people died this way. We pass on with a whimper or in silence.

• But Jesus, having been crucified for so long, garnered all His strength for this final breath. He was declaring His victory when He cried out, “It is finished!”

This was significant. He did not die a victim. He did not die defeated. His life wasn’t taken from Him; He gave it up on His own.

• John puts it very accurately, Jesus “bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

• Jesus said it himself – John 10:18 “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

These are the THREE thoughts I like to share today:

• Jesus died having completed the purpose for which He came.

• He died having fulfilled the commission God gave him.

• He died having revealed the Father’s heart for the lost world.

What was finished at the cross, with the death of Christ?

1. THE WORK OF REDEMPTION ACCOMPLISHED

This was the reason He was born. He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

• He was born to die for sinners. He offered himself as the sinless sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. With His death, we are redeemed.

• We are forgiven today because Jesus shed His blood, died on our behalf and paid the penalty of sin.

The work of our salvation has been accomplished and it was achieved by the sinless Christ, the righteous for the unrighteous.

• In the past, the Jews had to bring an unblemished lamb to be sacrificed but the blood of animals cannot remove sin for good.

• It covers them momentarily but they had to do it again and again. Heb 10:4 says the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins.

• Heb 10:11-12 11And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…

• When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Only the sinless and perfect man Jesus can do it. He doesn’t “cover” sins but “take it away” for good. We are made righteous in Christ.

• That’s the cry of Jesus. It is finished. The work of liberating man from the clutches of sins has been achieved by Jesus Christ.

It is finished, it stands finished, and it will always be finished.

• There is nothing to add to it. We can add nothing to it. The debt of sin has been paid in full. The account against us has been closed.

• If anyone comes and claims that he has to add to the work of Christ, he is mistaken and deceived. He is a false prophet.

We are called to believe what Christ has done on the cross for our salvation because it is finished. He is our Saviour and the only One.

• Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

• Forgiveness of sin is available to all who are willing to trust in the sacrifice of Jesus.

• Acts 4:12 “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

You may not like the fact that Christianity is exclusive but that’s the truth. No one else died for our sins except Christ. No one else comes from God except Christ.

• There is no salvation outside of the Person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

• Our salvation is a divine act and not a human achievement. Believe in Jesus today.