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. John 19:28–30
Have you ever undertaken a task so large that it seemed you could never finish? Maybe it was a home improvement project or a college degree. When you finally reach the end, it is a great feeling to know that it is finished. When Jesus did on the cross, many things were finished that had begun in the mind of God before times eternal.
On the cross was finished a perfect life. A mortal mind cannot begin to comprehend the task set before Jesus when He came to this earth. Jesus told His disciples, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Unlike anyone before Him or after Him, Jesus lived His entire life without committing a single act of sin. Paul wrote, “We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Paul further explains that Jesus was made perfect through His suffering (2:10), thereby being able to aid us when we are tempted (2:18). If Jesus had offended in one thing, man would have been in a hopeless situation!
On the cross was finished the annulment of the Law of Moses. To those who may have thought that Jesus would remove law from its proper place, He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18). Before breathing His final words from the cross, Jesus saw that “all things were now accomplished” (John 19:28). After His resurrection, Jesus explained concerning His death: “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me” (Luke 24:44). With the Old Testament fulfilled and its purpose having been served (Galatians 3:19), Jesus “took it out of the way, having nailed it to his cross” (Colossians 2:14). Thanks be to God that Jesus endured the cross’ shame and the contradiction of sinners against His perfect self (Hebrews 12:2–3) so that we might have the hope of which we would otherwise have been totally destitute!
On the cross was finished God’s eternal plan for man’s redemption. The phrase translated “it is finished” is one word in the original Greek—tetelestai. The word telos refers to the end or limit at which something ceases to be. The verb is perfect-tense, which means that the action was completed in the past, but has effects which remain until the present. That which was finished on the cross was something that began long before Jesus was born to the virgin in the town of Bethlehem. That which was finished in Christ on the cross was something that had its conception in the mind of God before the creation itself (Ephesians 3:9–11). With the death of Christ on the cross was finally accomplished a plan so intricate in its design and so beautiful in its conception that it could only have found its origin in the mind of our omnipotent God!
Like the apostle Paul, we all have a course to finish (2 Timothy 4:7), but thankfully we do not have to finish it with perfection, because Jesus Christ already has!