It Is Finished - April 9, 2025 - Sixth Lent Midweek - Text: John 19:29-30

Some of you know that I enjoy working with my hands. Three things I like to do are working on my own and my children’s cars, working with leather, and working with wood. If you have been to any one of our open houses during Advent you have seen the furniture I have built in our house. My goal is to, someday, have built all the furniture in our house. The thing about working with your hands is that when you have accomplished your goal, your task, your project, you feel pretty good. You put your head up, throw your chest out and proclaim, “It is finished.” Those are the words we hear from Jesus on the cross this evening, but Jesus pronouncement that “It is finished” is nothing like our pronouncement of the same, as we will see.
 

Last week we heard Jesus, knowing that all things were complete, that is knowing that He had lived the perfect life demanded of us, for us in our place, that He had perfectly obeyed all God’s commands, that He had perfectly fulfilled all God’s promises, that He had taken all our sins and the sins of all people of all places of all times on Himself, that He had suffered the complete death penalty of hell for us, in our place, He then asked for a drink. We watched as the soldiers gave Jesus a drink, a drink of wine vinegar. The drink was a sour wine which I do not think would ease anyone’s thirst.
 

The drink which was given to Jesus was not necessarily meant to prolong His death, nor was it intended to take away any of His suffering. Remember, the goal of crucifixion was to be a long torturous death in order to give an example and warning for others so that they do not commit the same or worse crimes. So, it was not likely that they were giving Jesus a nice ice cold cup of water or iced tea as we would request here in Texas during a hot summer.
 

I believe Jesus’ request for something to drink had nothing to do with either His thirst, nor His desire for relief. I believe that the drink that Jesus requested and that was given to His was so that it might clear His throat so that He might speak the rest of the words which He wanted to say. Because the last two phrases from Jesus mouth are so very important.
 

Jesus drinks and then He says, “It is finished.” But when Jesus says, “It is finished,” He means more than just the sip of wine vinegar, more than some little project is finished. When Jesus says, “It is finished,” He means that His suffering is complete. He has finished suffering the eternal death of hell for all people of all places of all times. The price, the wage, the cost, for sin, which is eternal death in hell, has been paid. All sins have been paid for, the eternal death penalty has been served, “It is finished.” No more needs to be suffered, on our part, no other satisfaction needs to be made, as if Jesus work was not enough. Our sins, all sins, have been accounted for and paid for.
 

When Jesus says, “It is finished,” He means that the Scriptures have been fulfilled. All the prophecies that foretold of His virgin birth, humble and in a manger, His living in perfection, His being true God, giving up the glory that was His in heaven, His taking on human flesh and blood, His suffering and dying for our sins, all the prophecies, every single one have been fulfilled, they are finished.
 

When Jesus says, “It is finished,” He means that His work of redemption was finished. He had suffered completely for all the sins of all people of all places of all times. His suffering was so complete that nothing else needs to be done on our part. To suggest that we need to do anything to make any kind of satisfaction for our sins is to suggest that Jesus suffering was not enough and that we must in some way help to gain forgiveness by earning some of it ourselves. Jesus says, “It is finished,” satisfaction has been completed. The Father accepted Jesus suffering as being complete.
 

When Jesus says, “It is finished,” He means that He has accomplished all that needed to be accomplished. Before the Reformation and still today in the Roman church it was and is taught that a person is saved by faith and good works. There was a demand for penance. After the Reformation the pendulum has swung to the other extreme, that is that one is saved by faith and “all you gotta do is . . . ” Luther was fighting against the teaching that still goes on today that a person is saved by faith and good works, meaning that all the perfect living and obedience of Jesus was not enough. Today we hear similar words pointing us to ourselves suggesting, and although it is not stated as doing a good work it is pointing us to our having to do something, which is truly a good work. Today we hear how we have to (and this is the “all you gotta do is”) make a choice, make a decision, dedicate our lives, make Jesus Lord of our lives and then be obedient. Again, any time we add anything to our salvation we are making Jesus’ work incomplete and not “finished.” Just as in math, zero plus anything is the anything, so it is with grace, grace plus anything is no longer grace, but the anything.
 

But wait, there is more. The word for “finished” is “tetelestai” the word that is used in connection with a debt being owned. It is finished means, the debt is paid. In the time of Jesus, when someone was put into prison for a debt, the debts the person owed were posted on a list beside the person’s cell. As each debt was paid by that persons family or friends, they were marked “finished.”
 

When Jesus announces that “It is finished,” He is announcing that the debt of our sin is paid and that it is paid in full. He is announcing that we do not have to suffer eternal death in hell, because He has suffered it for us. He is announcing that the complete punishment for sin, for all sin, for original sin, for actual sin, for sins of omission, our failure to live as we should, our sins of commission, our doing those things we are forbidden from doing, the punishment for all sins has been completed.
 

Jesus words reminds us that His work on the cross was for you and me. Yes, Jesus died for all people of all places of all times, what we call universal atonement. He made atonement, satisfaction for all people, but more specifically, He died for you and for me, what we call vicarious atonement. Both universal atonement and vicarious atonement are important because although someone may believe Jesus died for all people they may not believe He died for them, such as was the case with Judas who was condemned because He did not believe Jesus could forgive him, in other words that Jesus did not die for him. And there are those who may believe that Jesus died for them, but not for all people, such as some denominations call “limited atonement.” But Jesus’ death brought both universal atonement and vicarious atonement as the Gospel writers and the apostle Paul all attest. Jesus’ death means that when I die I will only die a physical death, I will not have to die a an eternal death. I will never have to suffer hell. Certainly, I may have to suffer some of the temporal consequences for my sins from time to time, while I am here on this earth, although He suffered many of those as well, but I will never have to suffer eternal punishment.
 

And most importantly, and I cannot stress it too much, and that is why you have heard me say it several times this evening, Jesus’ work on the cross was enough. We must never think that there is something more that we need or must do in order to help Jesus earn forgiveness for us. If we were to think such, we would be depending on ourselves, on what we do for salvation. No, Jesus work was for me, and you. His work was complete and His work was enough, thanks be to God.
 

This evening we are almost at the end. We have only one more phrase to go, Jesus committing Himself into the hand of His Father, God the Father. Jesus has reached the end. His mission is accomplished. No, He does not lift His head up high in pride. No, He does not stick His chest out to boast, as if He could do either while suffocating on the cross. No, but He does give a bold shout of victory over sin, death and the devil as He announces, “It is finished,” then He bows His head to die.
 

Hopefully, prayerfully, as we have been following along, listening to the words Jesus spoke from the cross we may be reassured of the fact that God created us to love us and that the whole while Jesus was on earth and on the cross He had you and me on His mind. He was thinking about us and His love for us. May the Lord have mercy on us all. Amen.