Bible Reading: Ezra 1-2; John 19:23-42
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” – John 19:30 (KJV)
Jesus cried out from the depths, but now He is announcing His victory. He moves into death, not defeated, but triumphant: “It is finished.”
Jesus the Son of God came into the world, became a man to live the life you and I would have to live in order to enter heaven. Jesus lived the perfect life. There was no sin in Him. The night before He died, He was able to say to his Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” – John 17:4 (KJV).
Jesus said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” – Matthew 5:17 (KJV). Every commandment of God was fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ.
Throughout his life, Jesus loved God the Father with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and he loved his neighbor as himself. He is the only perfect person who has ever lived on earth. Jesus’ perfect life of obedience was now complete and he was about to lay it down, so he said, “It is finished.”
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He came to give his life as a ransom for many, and on the cross he says, “It is finished.” He has borne the guilt of our sins. He has endured the punishment of our hell. The divine wrath has been spent on him. The justice of God has been satisfied in him. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” 1 Peter 2:24 (KJV).
The perfect sacrifice has been offered. Complete atonement has been made. Hell has been vanquished. The condemnation has been removed. What can be added to Jesus’s redemptive work, his death and resurrection? It is finished! His long night of suffering is over and he has paid for all our transgressions with His precious blood.
Jesus Christ has finished everything to redeem us back to God with the free gift of salvation. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians 2:8 (KJV). We only need to receive the free gift by faith in the finished work of Christ.
Prayer: Jesus, thank You for Your redemptive work of finishing all things for my redemption on the cross.
Pastor Alfred Samuel