Words at the Cross – Part 7

‘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.

The Bible begins with the account of the finished work of creation. ‘Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them’, Gen. 2. 1. The subject of John chapter 19 verse 30 is the finished work of redemption.

This was the sixth, the penultimate, cry of the Lord Jesus from the cross. Three words, in the English language, but one word in Greek. The word tetelestai is found twice in the New Testament, the other occurrence being verse 28 where it is rendered ‘now accomplished’. In verse 28, the word is in His mind, ‘Jesus knowing’. In verse 30, it is expressed with His lips. He said, ‘It is finished’. The verb in both cases is in the perfect tense to stress the certainty of the fact expressed. J. C. Ryle wrote, ‘The word is rich and full and replete with deep truths, there is an inexhaustible fulness in our Lord’s words’.¹

It was spoken with a loud voice, adding emphasis to the amazing truth being expressed, Matt. 27. 50. Some of the meanings of tetelestai given by Strong in his concordance are ‘to end, i.e. complete, to discharge a debt, to pay, to accomplish, to make an end, to finish’.²

He made an end of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant

In the Jewish temple, sacrifices were offered, yearly, Heb. 10. 1, 3, daily, 10. 11, often, 9. 25 and repeatedly, 10. 11. There were so many required that one of the gates to Jerusalem was named ‘The sheep gate’, Neh. 3. 1. All were superseded by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus who offered ‘one sacrifice for sins for ever’, Heb. 10. 12. The priests in the temple were effectively redundant when the Lord cried on the cross, ‘It is finished’, even though the rituals and sacrifices may have continued until the destruction of the temple in AD 70. Some continued in unbelief, but it is thrilling to read in Acts chapter 6 verse 7 that ‘A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith’.

He accomplished the will of God on earth

This was something that animal sacrifices could never do. They died unwillingly and unwittingly. ‘In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God’, Heb. 10. 6, 7. On one occasion when His disciples brought the Lord Jesus food to eat, He said, ‘My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work’, John 4. 34. In anticipation of the work which He would complete on the cross, He said in prayer to His Father, ‘I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do’, John 17. 4. What a cry of victory from the cross, ‘It is finished’.

Every prophecy fulfilled regarding His life and death

Although neither Pilate nor the soldiers knew anything of the scriptures, God saw to it that every prophecy relating to the death of the Lord Jesus was fulfilled. The words of John chapter 19 verse 24 are significant, ‘These things therefore the soldiers did’. God was in control of everything that happened at Calvary.

The words of Peter bear out the truth, ‘For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done’, Acts 4. 28. The words of Paul are similar, ‘And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre’, 13. 29.

All of the types and prophecies in the archives of the Old Testament concerning Him were now complete. Micah foretold the place of His birth. Isaiah revealed He would be born of a virgin. Zechariah spoke of the King who would come to Jerusalem meek and lowly and riding on a colt the foal of an ass. Daniel foretold His death, ‘Messiah [shall] be cut off, but not for himself’, 9. 26. ‘To Him give all the prophets witness’, Acts 10. 43. All was being accomplished.

He paid in full the price of our redemption

That the believer could be set free from sin’s penalty and power, our Redeemer shed His blood on the cross. John could not refrain from expressing his doxology of praise, ‘Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood’, Rev. 1. 5.

An unnumbered throng in heaven sing the new song, ‘Thou art worthy … for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation’, 5. 9. There are dialects spoken in remote parts of the world that have never been written, but how wonderful to remember that with every tongue the great Redeemer will be praised.³

He defeated Satan and the powers of darkness

The words spoken by the Lord to the serpent in the garden of Eden were, ‘And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall crush thy head, and thou shalt crush his heel’, Gen. 3. 15 JND.

The words spoken by the Lord in the garden of Gethsemane were, ‘When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness’, Luke 22. 53. The combined forces of darkness were arrayed against Him, but He prevailed over them all, Rev. 5. 5, cp. Col. 2. 15.

He became answerable for the broken law

‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree’, Gal. 3. 13. He was the only man who ever lived on earth who fulfilled the law in every respect. He magnified the law and made it honourable, Isa. 42. 21. He became answerable before a holy God for the transgressions of others, 53. 5. ‘But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons’, Gal. 4. 4, 5.

The glory of God was seen in a finished work

This is seen in three examples:

1. The building of the tabernacle by Moses, ‘And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle’, Exod. 40. 33, 34.
2. The building of the temple by Solomon, ‘So was ended all the work that king Solomon made for the house of the Lord’, 1 Kgs. 7. 51. ‘The priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place … And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord’, 8. 6, 10.
3. The rebuilding of the temple by Zerubbabel, ‘And the elders of the Jews builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai … And they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel’, Ezra 6. 14. ‘I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts’, Haggai 2. 7.

God was glorified in the ‘finished work’ of Calvary

The tabernacle and the temple were constructed to a divinely given specification. When they were finished, each was filled with the glory of the Lord. In an infinitely greater measure, God was glorified in the finished work of His Son at Calvary. He could say, ‘Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him’, John 13. 31. He was glorified as the Son of man by suffering the death of the cross.

1. ‘It is finished’, John 19. 30. ‘Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him’, Eccles. 3. 14. The finality of the work of Calvary.
2. ‘It is enough’. David sinned by numbering the children of Israel. The Lord sent an angel to destroy Jerusalem. As he was destroying the city there came a moment when the Lord said to the angel, ‘It is enough, stay now thine hand’, 1 Chr. 21. 15. When the judgement ceased, the angel stood between earth and heaven, v. 16, at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. From 2 Chronicles chapter 3 verse 1, we learn that it was there the foundations of the temple were laid in Mount Moriah. What a picture of Calvary is presented in this threshing floor. It was the place of a sure foundation. There the sword was stayed, and the judgement was past. It was at Moriah the place of sacrifice. A picture of the sufficiency of the work of Calvary.
3. ‘It is done’, Rev. 21. 6. Clearly, it is the voice of the Lamb who speaks, cp. 1. 8; 22. 13. Jim Allen points out that the word used, gegonan, is a comprehensive plural word; it summarizes all that now has been completed to bring the purposes of God to fruition.⁴ The cross was the foundation, the new creation is the fulfilment. The glorious outcome of the work of Calvary.
4. ‘He has done [it]’, Ps. 22. 31. ‘They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done it’, JND. The Saviour who accomplished the work.

‘“It is finished!” sinners, hear it,
Tis the dying victor’s cry
“It is finished!” Angels, bear it,
Bear the joyful truth on high:
“It is finished!”
Tell it through the earth and sky.

“It is finished!” all is over,
Yes the cup of wrath is drained;
Such the truth these words discover,
Thus the victory was obtained;
Tis a victory,
None but Jesus could have gained.

Crown the mighty conqueror, crown him,
Who his people’s foes o’ercame!
In the highest heaven enthrone him!
Men and angels, sound his fame!
Great his glory!
Jesus bears a matchless name’.

[Thomas Kelly, 1769-1855]

The practical lesson for every believer

The letter to the Colossians was read publicly to the gathered assembly. How thrilling it must have been for those believers to be reminded of these precious truths concerning Christ and the blessings of our union with Him.

As the reading of the letter drew to a close, one brother must have been surprised to hear his name mentioned, with a message directly for him. ‘And say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it’, Col. 4. 17. To every Christian there comes the challenge of an unfinished task.