It Is Finished

Tim Shaw
Adult Education Pastor

"…He said, 'It is finished!' And bowing His head, he gave up His spirit."
John 19:30.

For several weeks my son and I have been working on a rather large Lego building project. It was a building that had hundreds of steps in the instructions and even more pieces to put together. One night we completed the final step in the instructions and my son yelled with joy, "Dad, we finished it!" I think we were both happy to be done and proud of our accomplishment. During the recent Easter season I kept reflecting on three words that Jesus spoke while on earth. Perhaps they are the most significant words He uttered. “It is finished.” Here Jesus was not rejoicing simply because he had reached the end of his earthly journey. He loved life, and lived it with a glad heart. No, He proclaims that He had completed a task of supreme worth, much more than any earthly tasks of which we are familiar. He had not merely brought the task to an end; He finished it! His victory was not partial, but complete. Just as Jesus a few hours before had said to the Father, "I have finished the work which thou gavest Me to do," (John 17:4) even so now He was shouting the same triumphant words from the cross. He was rejoicing over finishing the greatest of all tasks.

What was the task the Lord finished? What had the Lord come to do? The Gospels give more than one answer. I want to address three.

1) The Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost. As the great physician, He had come to attend, not to those who are well, but to those who are sick. He came to save all the lost people of the entire world. The single Greek word "teleho" which translates "It is finished" has been found in the early papyri on tax receipts meaning "paid in full." Christ satisfied God’s justice by dying for all to pay for their sins. These sins can never be punished again since that would violate God’s justice. Our sins have been paid in full by our Substitute.

2) "I am come that you might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) He came not merely to preserve but impart life. Yes, eternal life in Heaven, but also meaningful, purpose-filled life here on earth.

3) The all-inclusive reason for which Christ came was to reveal God. "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared Him." It was to make God known! Therefore if we desire to know what God is like, we can find our answer in Jesus. Could we possibly imagine a more satisfying answer! When Paul sought to describe God as best as he could, he said that He was the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is, God is like Jesus. Jesus revealed God by what He did on the cross. Here on Calvary we see God's supreme revelation about Himself.

It is easy for us to sit back and look at this finished work in a trite fashion as it applies to us. We may look at Calvary, sit back and relax, and say, "Yes, Jesus paid it all." However, this contradicts Paul's teaching in Col. 1:24 when he says, "I… fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions." Paul does not mean that in any way the suffering of Christ on Calvary was incomplete or inadequate. He is however teaching that Christ, who gave Himself to the uttermost must have disciples that will give to the uttermost if they are to reach their highest usefulness. He was asserting with another apostle, "He laid down His life for us: we ought to lay down our life for our brethren." I wonder if you will reflect on this the way I did and ask yourself, “Can this be said of my commitment to Christ?”

Love so amazing, Love so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.