The Cry of Victory: It Is Finished!

John 19:28-30 - After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.

It is finished! Jesus’ final word (tetelestai in the ancient Greek) was the cry of a winner. Jesus had finished the eternal purpose of the cross. It stands today as a finished work, the foundation of all Christian peace and faith. The debt we righteously owed to God was paid in full by Jesus on the cross, thus making peace between God and man.

At some point before He died, before the veil was torn in two, before He cried out “it is finished,” an awesome spiritual transaction took place. God the Father laid upon God the Son all the guilt and wrath our sin deserved, and Jesus bore it in Himself perfectly, totally satisfying the wrath of God on our behalf.

“It was a Conqueror’s cry; it was uttered with a loud voice. There is nothing of anguish about it, there is no wailing in it. It is the cry of One who has completed a tremendous labor.” (Spurgeon)

“Jesus died with the cry of the Victor on His lips. This is not the moan of the defeated, nor the sigh of patient resignation. It is the triumphant recognition that He has now fully accomplished the work that He came to do.” (Morris)

“The verb “teleo” (meaning “to finish”) was used in the first and second centuries in the sense of ‘fulfilling’ or ‘paying’ a debt and often appeared in receipts. Jesus’ statement ‘It is finished’ (“tetelestai”) could be interpreted as ‘Paid in full.’” (Tenney)

It was all finished, paid in full, accomplished.

· The types, promises, and prophecies of Scripture were finished.

· The sacrifices and ceremonies of the priesthood were finished.

· His perfect obedience was finished.

· The satisfaction of God’s justice was finished.

· The power of Satan, sin, and death was finished.

Bowing His head: This speaks of a peaceful act, like lying down on a pillow to sleep. Jesus did not hang His head in defeat; He bowed it in peace.

Gave up His spirit: No one took Jesus’ life from Him; He, in a manner unlike any man, gave up His spirit. Death had no righteous hold over the sinless Son of God. He stood in the place of sinners but was never a sinner Himself. So He could not die unless He gave up His spirit.

As Jesus said in John 10:17-18, “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”

“No one took His life from Him: His death was a voluntary surrender: a surrender which He had authority to make, because the authority to surrender His life was accompanied with an authority to resume it (John 10:18).” (Trench)

Jesus’ work as a substitute on the cross, connected to His yielding to death on the cross, was the most important act of His life - the most important life ever lived.

Based on The Enduring Word Bible Commentary by David Guzik.