This series of meditations on the seven utterances made by our Lord Jesus in the hours when he was hanging on the Cross were originally given at Communion services, and subsequently produced as booklets.
This is the link to the Audio version of the meditation: CR 6 – “It is Finished” – Audio
“IT IS FINISHED”
I once saw a book with the title, “Famous Last Words.” You may have read it, or may have it. It professed to be a transcript of the words of some famous men and women in history just before they died. Of course, people’s last words are frequently remembered and sometimes, if not most times, treasured. But none more so than the last words of our Lord Jesus Christ from the cross.
Those are the words that are being considered in this series, and this is number six.
“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’”(John 19:30)
The words, “It is finished,” translate one word in the original language, “Tetalestai.” It means more than just that it has come to an end. It means that it is accomplished; it is fulfilled. And so, in this meditation we are going to consider: what was finished, what was accomplished, and to what was he referring when he said this?
The suffering God gave him to endure
For six hours Jesus hung on the cross in blistering heat, with festering wounds, aching muscles, raging thirst and agonizing pain. This was preceded, of course, by all the cruelties at the hands of the Jews, the Romans, and the Galileans. Torturing Jesus first came the Jewish High Priest Caiaphas and his temple guards; then came Pontius Pilate and the Roman soldiers; and, as if that was not enough, then came Herod and his Galilean gang. Add to all that the stirred-up crowd howling for his blood. Jesus suffered greatly. He was the “Suffering Servant.”
You will know that Mel Gibson’s famous and controversial film “The Passion of the Christ” immerses the viewer in the unrelenting depiction of the physical torture involved in the crucifixion of Jesus. Terrible as the physical suffering was, the emotional and especially the spiritual suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ was far, far worse. I will, therefore, dwell no longer on this aspect of the cross. However, I do not doubt for one moment that when he said, “It is finished,” he was, among many other things that we will see, giving a cry of relief. The suffering was over.
The Prophecies God gave him to fulfill
If you look a couple of verses earlier in John 19 to verse 28, we read this,
“Later, knowing that all was now completed…” (tetalestai) “…and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar of wine vinegar was put there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.”
You see, he would not take it before, would he? They had offered it to him earlier. Kind women used to prepare this bowl of anaesthetic – a blend of a wine mixed with vinegar and other herbs – that helped to deaden the pain of the poor victim. But Jesus had refused that because it would not only have deadened his physical pain, but clouded his mind. Nothing was to cloud the Saviour’s mind during these six hours. But now, knowing that all was accomplished he allowed himself some relief and some quenching of the thirst.
Besides he would take it now because he must not pass out with the pain and die prematurely of his injuries. Why? Because he had said that he would lay down his life. No one would take his life from him.
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I LAY IT DOWN OF MY OWN ACCORD. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (John 10:17,18).
And so he would remain conscious until it was time to lay down his life and die. Jesus was always in control, wasn’t he? He is still always in control.
Christian brother or sister, is he allowing you to undergo some trial? Think not that he has lost control. He is guiding everything and is with you and will bring you through.
But there was one other thing, and that was that the Scripture had to be fulfilled. It says so in verse 28, “…so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.” Jesus was always fulfilling Scripture. Scripture was always there. It was his guide on his road of destiny. Sixteen times it says in the Gospels, “He went as it is written of him . . .” Of course, he is particularly thinking of these events surrounding the end of his life. Other Scriptures had been fulfilled before.
It was prophesied where he would be born – in Bethlehem. It was prophesied how he would be born – born of a virgin. It was prophesied of his ministry. It was prophesied of his triumphal entry, of his betrayal, of those that would cast lots for his possessions. That he would cry from the cross, and the cry that he would be thirsty and take a drink.
Amazing details that were fulfilled in his life and in his death. Those concerning his death have now all be fulfilled, he says. Accomplished. Finished. Fulfilled. Others concerning his burial, his resurrection, and his ascension would soon also be fulfilled.
There were not only spoken and written prophecies to fulfill, but what I call picture prophecies. Some Bible scholars call them “types.” There were almost more of those than there were spoken prophecies. Think of all the sacrifices for sin that were offered daily – first in the Tabernacle, and then in the Temple. They were picture prophecies. They could never take away sin, but they were pointing forward like sign posts. So were the holy priesthood and the holy Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur – all now fulfilled in Jesus Christ on the cross. The ritual of sacrifice was accomplished, fulfilled, and ended. The order of the priesthood was accomplished, fulfilled, and ended. The shed blood of victims accomplished, fulfilled, and ended. That is what he means. All is now fulfilled. The prophecies God gave him to fulfill.
There were numerous other pictures pointing forward: for example, who can read the story of Abraham and Isaac told in Genesis chapter 22 and not think of God sacrificing his own precious Son on the cross? “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Or, who can read Exodus chapter 12 and the story of the first Passover and not think of Jesus dying as our Passover Lamb? “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'” (John 1:29). “For Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed” (1 Cor 5:7).
The risen Lord Jesus showed those two confused and despondent travelers on the road to Emmaus that the entire Old Testament was really foreshadowing the events which had just taken place in Jerusalem (Luke 24:13-35).
Do you know that in the Garden of Eden, following the Fall of Man, the promise of a Savior was given? One day One born of a woman would crush Stan’s head (that old serpent) but not without suffering himself (Gen 3:15). That is probably where Jesus began that wonderful Bible study.
The life God gave him to live
His death is very important. Of course it is. It is all important. And yet, so also is his life. Thirty-three very significant years of human life. From the womb to the tomb. Many Christians have never considered why the life of Jesus is important so allow me to mention some reasons. What did he come to do in his life? Why is it important?
a) He came to incarnate to us the nature of God
“Incarnate” means, to become flesh. We speak of “The Incarnation,” his becoming flesh. Who became flesh? Almighty God became flesh. Jesus’ disciple, Philip, expressed a wish to see God. Jesus responded, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9).
“In him,” we read, “dwelt all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
His life was to incarnate to us the nature of God who is otherwise invisible. “Almighty, invisible, God only wise.” The Spirit, the Everlasting Father, the upholder of all things. How can we know him? How can we see him? What is he like? The Son of God came to make him known.
Remember, Jesus shows us the HEART of God. How often we read of him “moved with compassion.” Children, prostitutes, criminals, traitors, the riffraff, the worst, he reached out and he hugged them and said, “Come unto me.” And that is the heart of God.
I sometimes say to children and young people: if you forget everything else always remember this; Jesus came for two reasons, to SHOW us God, and to BRING us to God.
b) He came to provide for us a perfect life
His life is also important because he came to provide for us a gift from God. The gift of his righteous life. You and I need a righteous life credited to us because we do not have one of our own, do we? The Bible says only the righteous can enter heaven. But the Bible also says, “There is NO ONE RIGHTEOUS, not even one” (Romans 3:10). Whose righteousness is God going to credit to us? Adam’s? Abraham’s? Moses, David, Micah the prophet, or Paul, or Silas, or Peter? No. They were all unrighteous like you and me. So, God looks about in the heaven and on the earth, and there is no human life He can credit to us. But there is His Son.
“It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our RIGHTEOUSNESS, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
So, you see, if you and I worship him imperfectly, and we do; it is his perfect worship which is credited to us. If you and I entertain impure thoughts, it is his pure mind that is credited to us. If you and I sometimes sin with this little member, the tongue, and say wrong things; it is his perfect, loving speech which is credited to us. If we are selfish sometimes, it is his selflessness which is credited to us. That is why his life is important.
c) He came to demonstrate to us the kingdom of God
He came not only to incarnate to us the nature of God, but to demonstrate to us the kingdom of God. Why did he feed some but not abolish hunger altogether and end starvation? Why didn’t he do that? Why did he heal some but not abolish and end sickness forever when he could have? Why did he still a storm and yet allow others to continue to the present day? Why did he raise the dead but, so far as it is recorded, only three? And so we continue to go to the grave side and weep.
The answer is because the end is not yet. One day he is coming again and he will abolish all these bad things, all destructive forces, everything that came in with the Fall. All sickness forever will be gone. All hunger will be gone. Death, the last enemy, will be no more. But the reason why he did those things when he was on the earth was because he was giving a glimpse of his kingdom and what it will be like when the king comes.
The theologians call this “realized eschatology.” Eschatology means the doctrine of the last things. It is as if Jesus is saying, let me give you a glimpse of some of the things that are going to happen at the end. Just so you will always know through this dispensation that I can do it, and I will when I return.
d) He came to teach us the truth of God
He came not only to demonstrate to us the kingdom of God, but to teach us the truth of God. You know, Jesus was a very important teacher. We should know these parables. We should know these discourses. We should know those great “I am’s…”. We should search the Scriptures and learn everything that he had to say. God said, “This is my beloved Son. Hear him.” Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The trouble is, some of us are still BOUND by this and that and the other because we do not learn the truth and apply it.
I sometimes see high school students wearing a bracelet inscribed with the letters WWJD. It stands for, “What Would Jesus Do?” I rejoice when I see that. When it is appropriate – either personally or from the pulpit – I say how glad I am that they want to live like Jesus and be guided by him. I then say, “If you want to know what Jesus would do make sure, won’t you, that you study what Jesus DID. Read the Gospels frequently. Know his life and teaching as thoroughly as you can.” We should all do that.
So, these are some of the reasons why his life was important. Now that beautiful God-revealing life is coming to an end. It is finished.
The work God gave Him to do
A most significant aspect of Jesus’ life was his ministry – that which he called his “work”. John 4:34, “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to FINISH HIS WORK.” That word, “finish” comes from the same root word as “tetelestai,” the same word he now uses on the cross. “My purpose for living,” he says, “is to do that work which God gave me to do.” And here on the cross he says, “I’ve done it. Now I’ve accomplished it.” (See also John 17:4)
What will you say at the end of your life? May I just pause and ask you something rather personal? What is your meat and drink in life? I mean, what is your purpose? What is your food? What sustains you and drives you on? Why do you live? Jesus said, “I came not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” Do you know we were all sent into this world? Jesus was sent into it, but there is a sense in which you were sent into it and I was sent into it. If somebody said, “Why was Harry Kilbride sent into this world?” I suppose you would say, to be a pastor and a preacher and a writer.
Why were you sent into it? Are you living to be what God wants you to be, and to do what God wants you to do, wherever that is and whatever it is? Or, have you never found that out? Young man and young woman, don’t waste your life so at the end you can have no “tetelestai.” Only regrets.
Now someone in their older years says, “Harry, you are too late.” No! Do you know, I believe in a miracle working God and, even if you are in your retirement years and you give him whatever is left, he is so wonderful that he can somehow accomplish everything through those days before he calls you home. “He will restore unto you,” says the Bible, “the years which the locusts have eaten.” Why not come to him right now whether you are young or old, single or married, a parent, a homemaker, whatever, and say to him: Father, I want my meat and drink, my purpose in life, which sustains me to be and do whatever you have appointed for me. And all I ask, Father, is that you show me what it is you want me to do and help me to fulfill it.
Remember, Jesus’ public ministry of teaching and healing lasted but three years. He did not do all he might have done; he did fulfill all he was given to do.
The death God gave Him to die
Of course, Jesus came to live the life we have spoken of but then to die. And his death was the culmination of it and the climax of it. Why did he die? Well, he told us quite plainly. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and TO GIVE HIS LIFE AS A RANSOM FOR MANY” (Mark 10:45). The Apostle Peter told us quite plainly, “For Christ died for sins, once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, TO BRING YOU TO GOD” (1 Pet 3:18). The Apostle Paul told us quite plainly, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).
Just as Christ’s life is reckoned to us so our sins were reckoned to him and punished there on the cross. O sweet exchange! The Bible says he became a curse for us for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree” (Galatians 3:13).
Don’t be vague about the Cross. C H Spurgeon, the Baptist preacher of the nineteenth century, said that there were those who just have this vague notion that the Lord Jesus did something or other, which somehow or other, was in some way or another connected to our salvation. You do not need to be vague about it. You are a sinner, my friend, and so am I. We have offended against the Holy God more than we could ever calculate. “…And the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
Do you know the Cross is at the very center of the Christian Gospel? One-third of the four Gospels are about the Cross. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Why did he not say, Jesus Christ incarnate, or teaching, or working miracles? Because the Cross is central. He wrote to the Galatians, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14).
The Lord Jesus commanded his followers to keep often the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper (Holy Communion) so we never forget the Cross.
Yet, sadly, in this day and age you might go to many churches and hear little or nothing about the Cross. Incredibly that is even true of evangelical churches. I heard one faithful preacher say, “Since preachers will not preach the Cross God has raised up Mel Gibson to do so through his film ‘The Passion of the Christ'”. Perhaps. But – as we said earlier – this movie focuses on the terrible sufferings of Christ’s scourging and crucifixion – in excruciating detail. The Cross is much, much more than this. We must explain the cross. We need to explain what was taking place when Jesus cried that awful cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?” And the sun went black at midday. The showing of the movie and the publicity surrounding it prompted many pastors to preach on the Cross and why Jesus died. We can be thankful for that. But it should be central all the time.
One reason churches have neglected to preach the Cross, I believe, is that they do not preach about the holiness, justice, and wrath of God anymore. And certainly not about hell. Such truths are foundational in the Bible yet many who profess to believe the Bible omit to preach them. “O,” they say, “talk about God’s wrath and about hell is offensive to non-church people in this day and age.”
I say, “When has it ever been anything else but offensive in ANY day and age?
Sinners do not want to hear that God is just and must punish their sin. Sinners just want to hear that God loves them and turns a blind eye to any bad things they do and say and that when they die they will go to heaven anyway.
Of course, if there is no judgment to come; if there is no hell; if God will not punish the sinner; then there is no need for the Cross. Jesus need never have come from heaven to die. The Cross was his destiny. The crib led to the Cross. Why? Because there was no other way whereby guilty sinners could be saved and go to heaven, “saved by his precious blood”.
What does the Bible say? What is the true Gospel?
The Bible says, “Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people…” (Hebrews 9:27).
Jesus said of this judgement that he will say to some, “…depart from me, you who are cursed…then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25:41,46).
Jesus said, “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, FEAR HIM” (Luke 12:4,5).
We do not hear much about the fear of God these days, do we? Yet the Bible says: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). Read Revelation 20, verses 10 to 15. Little wonder this is not preached. These are terrible words.
Jesus said, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for GOD’S WRATH REMAINS ON HIM” (John 3:36).
Some say: “But we must preach a message that is attractive and ‘seeker sensitive.'” We do indeed want unsaved people to come and hear the Christian message and we should indeed preach it sensitively. But what message? We have no right to water it down or alter it. The Bible warns that preachers who do that are under the severe condemnation of Almighty God, see Galatians 1:8,9. It is God’s Gospel not ours. As his ambassadors we have it in trust.
But do you know that Jesus spoke more about hell than he did about heaven. Why? Because he does not want anyone to go there. It is sadly true that some preachers have preached judgment very harshly even giving the impression they relish the thought of people going to hell. They do not have the heart of Jesus.
Jesus wept as he looked down over Jerusalem whose people were rejecting him. He knew what fate awaited them. The Bible says, As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live” (Ezekiel 33:11). We must be faithful and preach judgement but do so with great compassion and a tear in our eye. But preach it we must for the wonder of the amazing, gracious promises of God’s forgiveness in Jesus Christ is related to the gravity of the warnings of the consequences of rejecting him.
You may ask: how can God’s justice be satisfied by one dying in our place? It is a deep mystery. But if God says he is appeased by the Cross of Christ and sinners who put their trust in Jesus are forgiven, then I gratefully accept it whether I fully understand it or not. However – even in my very limited experience I have known of substitutions. A man might pay a fine on behalf of his friend. I have heard of instances during World War II where an innocent prisoner stepped forward and took the blame for others even though doing so would mean his death.
Shortly after we went to live in America I was taken to my first ever ice-hockey game to see the Philadelphia Flyers. My friend had to explain the rules. There was a penalty box into which offending players were consigned for a time-out. Toward the end of the game the Flyers’ goal-tender committed a penalty foul and was given punishment. Another player, however, was sent to the box. I asked about that and was told, “O, that is allowed where the goal-tender is concerned. Another substitutes for him and pays his penalty.” I remember sitting in my seat and thinking: that is what my Savior did for me.
Christ was the ultimate substitute for you and for me. As the Apostle Paul said, “He loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). So says every true Christian.
A lady in one of my churches who trusted Christ and who had been raised a Roman Catholic said to me, “Pastor, I was always taught to believe that Jesus died for sinners, but now I believe he died for ME. I knew he was THE Saviour, but now he is MY Saviour.”
Is that what you say? O, I pray it is so.
You may ask, “How can God be angry with us and yet love us at the same time?” Answer: Are you a parent? Have you never been angry with your child when they have disobeyed you or done wrong? Yet you love them nevertheless. I recently read of a mother who was devastated to learn that her son had been doing drugs and stealing to fund his habit. His mother was upset, angry and revolted by these and other bad things. Yet she loved him with a deep and enduring love and wanted to see him cleansed and cured and living a wholesome, useful life. That is what God wants of each of us.
And so Jesus says, “Tetelestai.” It is accomplished. I have done it. I have paid the price for the redemption of all who will come and put their trust in me. We have found business documents dating from Jesus’ time. They show that when somebody paid off his account the businessman would stamp across the invoice “tetelestai,” this word. And it means – “paid in full”. Is that the word that is stamped across your account in the record books of heaven? Tetelestai: “PAID IN FULL.”
Sinner friend, if you have put your faith in Jesus Christ and come to the Cross, there is nothing that you have ever done, or will ever do, that can alter that once-for-all accomplishment of your Saviour on the cross. Sin has been punished to the full; now it can be pardoned to the full. Is that not a wonderful Gospel?
Last of all:
The battle God gave Him to fight
Here are the points again. The suffering God gave him to endure; the life God gave him to live; the prophecies God gave him to fulfill; the work God gave him to do; the death God gave him to die. All accomplished. All finished. And finally, the battle God gave him to fight.
As Jesus approached the Cross he said, “Now is the time for the judgment on this world. Now the prince of this world will be driven out . . .” (John 12:31).
What does he mean? Well, he means that the crucial battle of all eternity is about to be fought. And it is about to be fought on the Cross. Since the beginning of time and the creation of man Satan has battled against God and all his works. Satan was thrown out of heaven because he usurped the place of the Son of the Morning, Jesus Christ. When he saw that God had made a man and a woman in his own image to have special friendship and relationship with him and to live in his paradise forever, he was jealous and envious and hateful.
Ever since then he has been trying his best to thwart the purposes of God and destroy God’s creation. He can never succeed but he keeps on trying. There must have come a point during World War II when Adolf Hitler knew that it was all up for him. He and his Nazi regime could never win. Yet he kept on fighting and trying to the bitter end. Satan organized every demon to gather from the far corners of the world to attack the Son of God. That is why there was so much demon possession at that time during Jesus’ earthly life.
He tried to destroy Jesus in the crib through Herod the king who murdered all the babies under the age of two in Bethlehem. He tried to destroy him, even by his own people with whom he had grown up, who tried to throw him off a precipice. He tried to destroy him, I believe, by an unusually ferocious demon-possessed storm on the Sea of Galilee, like hardened fishermen had never seen before.
And now as Jesus hangs on the Cross Satan thinks he has won the victory when, in actual fact, it was the other way around. The Apostle Paul writing to the Colossians says, “Having disarmed the powers and the authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM BY THE CROSS” (Colossians 2:15). See the wonder of that text. It must have seemed that Satan had made a public spectacle of Jesus Christ as he hung there naked and helpless, pinned like a moth to a piece of wood. But actually Jesus won the victory and saved an innumerable number of sinners, more than the stars in the heavens and the sand on the seashore. By his death Jesus snatched them from the possession and power of Satan.
That is why we can walk in victory. That is why Satan cannot have you. He will roar against you. He will try his darts, and his subtleties, and so on, but Jesus has his foot on the neck of this lion. And as we look to Christ and to the cross afresh for power and strength, we ought to remember that he has disarmed the principalities and the powers.
There is a note of triumph in that word: tetelestai. It is not a word just of relief, “Oh, I am relieved that it is over.” No, that was not it. That may have come into it . . . but that was only the beginning. That was only the smallest thing. It is a note of triumph and of victory. Tetelestai! And then he gives his spirit to the hands of his Father.
Ebenezer Wooten was an evangelist to rural villages and towns of some years ago. He used to take a tent around with him and hold meetings in the tent. In those days evangelists had to do everything themselves; put the hymn sheets out, take them up again, put the tent up, take it down again.
One night when everyone had left he was taking his tent down. As he was pulling out the tent pegs a young man came up to him and said, “Mr. Wooten, what must I do to be saved?”
And the evangelist, who was slightly eccentric, said, “It is too late.” And he continued pulling out the tent pegs.
“Oh, Mr. Wooten, don’t tell me that because the meeting has finished, and you have closed the meeting and are taking down the tent that it is too late for me to be saved.”
And the evangelist said, “It is too late for you to do anything to be saved because Jesus did it for you two thousand years ago on Calvary’s Cross. It has all been done. You have just to come before him, and trust him, and receive that salvation.”
And the young man did
Is someone reading this meditation who is not saved? You have never put your trust in Jesus Christ. Perhaps someone who loves you has shown you this meditation to read. Consider this: eternity is a long time. It is for ever and ever. Where will you spend it? Heaven or hell? Jesus died and rose that by trusting in him you might spend it with him and all the redeemed in heaven for ever. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
Do not put off trusting him a moment longer. The days and weeks and months are hastening on. Sometimes it seems at breakneck speed. Back in 2003 I was briefly interviewed in the pulpit of a church I had pastored in England more than twenty years before. An older member who served faithfully with us during those remarkable years said to my wife, “Where have all the years gone, June? Where have they gone?”
The Bible says, “Right now God is ready to welcome you. Today he is ready to save you” (2 Corinthians 6:2 Living Bible).
Have you ever done that? Why don’t you do it right now where you are reading this meditation?
Lifted up was he to die
It is finished, was his cry;
Now in heaven exalted high
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
(Philip Bliss)