“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28-30, English Standard Version).

“It is finished.” Those three words can bring many different meanings and express diverse feelings. For some, they proclaim relief, like when you make the final payment on a debt that has weighed you down for years and realize that this large monthly installment will not appear in your budget next month. It is finished. The weight is gone!

A little over a year ago I was working on a three-book series at my job. I work for a scientific journal publishing company that had started a short-lived books program two or three years earlier. We were ending this program, and I was assigned this group of books as some of the final publications in the program. Tight deadlines (the manuscript was actually sent to production after the book program was supposed to end) and a demanding author/editor led this trio of books to consume an excessive amount of my time and energy for about four months.

However, the day finally came: I checked the proofs for the online e-book version, confirmed everything was in order, and clicked the button to post the e-book online. It was finished. A weight was lifted. Mission accomplished! Perhaps you have felt the same relief when working on a stressful project that suddenly successfully ends.

Is that what Jesus meant when He shouted “It is finished!” from the cross? He had spent His entire ministry—perhaps much of His life—aware that the cross lay before Him. That awareness increased as the day drew closer. In the last 24 hours, He had eaten His last supper with His disciples—knowing that Judas Iscariot would betray Him, Peter would deny knowing Him, and most of the disciples would abandon Him. He had prayed in agony in a garden, been arrested, tried, condemned, beaten, mocked, ridiculed, and nailed to a cross. He bled in agony for hours. Perhaps, as He felt His life slipping from His body, He knew He had completed the course. “It is finished.” He took His final breath, bowed His head, and died, knowing that He would rise again on the third day.

“It is finished” is a declaration for us as well. His death was not a publicity stunt to make sure people would talk about Him for years to come. He died so that we could receive forgiveness of our sins and receive eternal life:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5).

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“It is finished.” We should feel the relief of having our sins forgiven. Jesus bore the weight of our sins on the cross. When He said, “It is finished,” it was not only His suffering that ended. The burden of sin could now be lifted from every man, woman, or child. As we receive Jesus by faith, we receive eternal life because He took our sins upon the cross:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

As we have remembered Jesus’ death this weekend and celebrate His resurrection today, we can celebrate the new and everlasting life He gives us. If you have not accepted His gift of salvation, this can be your day of salvation. You can begin your new life with Jesus by saying this prayer:

“Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be” (from The Four Spiritual Laws).

Copyright © 2024 Michael E. Lynch. All rights reserved.