The sixth “word” of Jesus, spoken from the cross.

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“It is finished.”

John 19:30

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On the bustling streets of Jerusalem, it was business as usual.

The markets thronged with finely clothed merchants, contracts were being negotiated, loud traders were selling their wares and customers were busy haggling for discount. Thousands of deals were done in this city every single day, but with the Sabbath fast approaching, there was an urgency to complete your business before the holy day began. This was part of the regular, weekly rhythm of life in the city. And despite the unseasonal darkness that had lingered all afternoon, the streets were awash with colour. Spices and fabrics, textiles and animals. There was a cacophony of sounds and smells too.

But on a quiet, lonely hill, just outside these city walls, another transaction was taking place. One that was quite different from the routine, everyday business of the city. Not produce being bought, not animals being auctioned, not jewellery being sold. This was a ransom being paid. And not with gold or silver. But with blood. The blood of the Son of God.

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“It”

Jesus was done for. This much was obvious to the small group of people still gathered by the cross. His breaths were getting shallower. The colour was draining from his face. The flows of blood were slowing to a trickle. His race was ran. The course of his interesting, but short life, was complete. 

It was pretty clear that he was finished, never mind it. He hadn’t even put up as much of a fight as the criminals on either side. And as with all crucifixions, it was over before it had even really began. As soon as he was nailed to that crossbeam, his fate was sealed. He was finished.  

So, as he spoke these words, you might think he was simply stating the obvious. It was hardly an original idea that the cross meant death. But the question you should be asking, is what the “it” is, that is finished at the cross? What was it the end of? Was it just a reference to his impending death, or was he speaking of something more? Was there another journey reaching its destination? Another story’s final chapter being written? Another symphony approaching its last crescendo? 

To understand what the “it” is, that finishes at Jesus’ death, we need to know what the “it” is that had begun in his life.  

In the 4 gospel accounts, Jesus gave several mission statements for his life. What he was here to do. Why he bothered to come in the first place. Here are a couple: He had come to be as a light to a dark world. To fulfil the law. To teach. To disrupt the status quo. To shake up families. To do the Father’s will. To give his people life, and life to the full. Whatever you think about Jesus, he did not come to live an ordinary life. And nor did he come to die an ordinary death.

Perhaps the most controversial of all his “I have come” statements, was when he told his disciples that he had come to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

So Jesus was here on business. The peculiar business of sacrificial service and redeeming ransom.

And so, in all the gory, gruesome cruelty of the cross, we can see the shocking summit of his service. Jesus shows us just how far he was willing to go to make his payment. We are shown the costly climax of his life’s work, the ransom finally being paid, at the cross.

The Calvary road is Jesus making a trip to the bank, so to speak, to settle an account. He has made it to the front desk, where the ledgers are laid out, full and numerous beyond counting. And what they are filled with, is the whole record of our sin. With nothing left out. And as he hangs on that cross, it is as if his payment is being considered, weighed in the balances.

So it’s worth considering for a moment, the debt that I am talking about being paid for here. The vastness of human sin is a pretty scary thought. I can’t really even fathom it. The list of my own failings and mistakes is long enough. But to imagine the scale of wrongs that have been committed against God and man throughout all of history, well, I simply don’t know how to. But what I do know, and have felt for myself, is something of the deep hurt and trauma of sin, both in my own life and in those dear to me. Sin hurts like hell. And what the cross proves to me, is that it hurts God too, and even more so. It is an offense against him, and one that he grieves over, one that he rages against, but ultimately, it is one that he comes to cancel at the cross.

The staggering summary statement of the cross is this: That God himself settles the debt of our sin that is owed to him. The debt of our sin against God, is paid for us by God.

And the payment? His own precious son, bleeding, thirsting and dying on a cross of wood. The one who never sinned, for the many who did. The lovely, for the unloveliest. The innocent, for the guiltiest. He gives his life, so that by his death, our debt of sin may die! He lays down his own infinitely valuable, wholly perfect, incredible life, to make payment for each and every terrible sin that you’ve ever done, or has ever been done to you.

“Is”

Notice the present tense. The “it” that took place 2000 years ago, is a present reality to be reckoned with today. It “is” finished!

The “it” of the cross is not just another dusty page in the annals of global history. It is to be alive and efficacious in the life of believers to this very day. When you embrace this mind-boggling truth; that your sin is no more in Jesus, it will genuinely change your life forever. You will be relieved of the heavy burden of your sin. Maybe you know what I am talking about. For years before I came to trust in Jesus, I knew all about this heaviness. Despite trying my best to rectify my sins and mistakes, I knew I could never do it fully. And so I would carry them with me. And sometimes, even now, when I am feeling particularly feeble, I start to feel the weight of them drag me down again, but when, with the help of friends and church and the prayer of so many wonderful people, I am prompted to turn my gaze back to the cross, I hear again the resounding victory of Jesus words, as they declare that it “is” finished! My sins are as dead and dealt with today, as they were on that fateful Friday long ago, when The King of kings died for me. It is for freedom that Christ died to set us free! And that freedom is yours to enjoy today, if you would turn to him in faith.

And, having been set free, the liberation of the cross means that we are able to fight against sin today as freed men and women. As ransomed people, who find themselves basking in the glorious freedom that is now ours because the sinless saviour died.

And this changes the landscape of our lives decisively. If you have tried to fight sin without knowing the victory of the forgiveness of God first, you will know that your fight is fatally flawed. You can’t fight sin and win, unless you’ve first embraced the death of Christ as the death of your sin. When you do that, you will come to properly realise the ghastly cost of your sin, you will see it nailed to the blameless son of God on the cross, and then you will feel the shackles on your heart break and loosen, you will come to know and taste and enjoy true freedom, and then you will be able to wage war against your current struggles, with the newfound confidence of one who knows the battle has already been won for them.

The “is” of the cross is certainly worth embracing, I have known the wonder of it in my own life and would encourage you to investigate it for yourself. There is a wonderful scene in the Pilgrim’s Progress where the main character finally realises these wonderful realities for himself. Long burdened and weighed down, he chooses to follow the “King’s road” despite it not making full sense. I make no apologies for the animation or the fact it was written for children, it helps convey truths that have changed my own life and can turn yours upside down too, so check it out.

“Finished.”

John records this saying of Jesus with the Greek word “Tetelestai”. Scholars note that this term was often written on transaction receipts at the time. The meaning? That a price had been paid, and paid in full.

And so, we are back in that bank, with the records of all your sins laid out before you. With Jesus having made total payment for them on the cross, by the deposit of his perfect life. I picture a large, brass stamp, the ink as red as blood, and God the Father, having reckoned the Son’s payment as satisfactory, presses that stamp firmly into the paper, sealing the final page of your ledger with the words “Paid in full”. It. Is. Finished.

There is no further payment to be made. The account is settled. The price is paid. And yes, I am talking about the price for every sin you have ever committed, and every sin you ever will commit in the future. If you are trusting in the finished work of Christ on the cross, then all future sins are included in this once-for-all-time payment. This is a shocking freedom. Some people in the early church thought this gave them the liberty to sin and do whatever they wanted. But that makes no sense. That is not a life that testifies to the infinite worth of the wonderful intervention of God on the cross. Christians are called to obedience not in order to earn anything, but in response to God’s gracious payment on their behalf. And we strive to live for God in order to demonstrate to the world just how worth knowing he is. Fun does not end, adventure does not cease to exist. There is an incredible “life to the full” that is waiting to be lived whilst trusting that “it is finished“.

So consider these things for yourself. That by faith in Christ, your guilt can be gone, your debt can be done and your sinful past can be finished. These words of Jesus from the cross are more than a cry of dying anguish, they are the triumphant, life-giving victory shout of the one who knew he was setting his people free as he spoke them. The full wonder of Jesus’ death is realised on Easter Sunday. That is when the new, eternal life of the Christian really begins. Because Jesus died for our sin. We won’t. Because Jesus rose from the grave. So will we. The cross is not just the death of your sin, it can mean the death of death itself.

It really is finished.