It is Finished!
April 14, 2019
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. [John 19:30]
I read a devotional by Greg Laurie the other day and I thought I might use it for this Sunday.
In it he asks us to ponder what Jesus meant when He said: “It is finished.”
AS we know the ultimate goal for the life of Jesus was death on the cross. The living of the sinless life was done so that He could present Himself as the unblemished sacrifice for the atonement for our sin. So when He gave up His life on the cross that day He ended it with: “It is finished.”
In the Greek “finished” is a simple common word. It was used all the time just as we probably do whenever we complete a task.
So what exactly had Jesus completed? He had just ended the suffering of the punishment before and during the crucifixion. He was done with the pain inflicted by evil men. He had borne once for all the sins of the world. He had felt the emptiness of being forsaken by God for that brief moment and that was done.
But do you know what else was finished? The stronghold of sin Satan had on humanity. The power Satan had held on humanity was gone. Hebrews 2 tells us; 14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through His death He might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the Devil— [Hebrews 2:14] Because of this sin has lost its grip on us.
Lastly, because of this we now have salvation. The task was completed, the job was done. He had taken on all our sins and carried them to the cross for us. Instead now we have righteousness from Him transferred to us.
So when Jesus cried out the words, “It is finished!” It was God’s deliberate and well-thought-out plan. It is finished—so rejoice!
Be Blessed