When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
Finished. It’s hard for us to think of many things actually being finished. Oh, little things get finished, I suppose. Writing an exam, reading a book—those sorts of things can be finished. Laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, car and home maintenance—those sorts of things are never really finished. They need our constant attention. There’s always something that needs redoing before long.
And who of us would dare to say that we are finished working on our relationships with others? Even if there isn’t something that needs fixing, there’s always something we can do better, to move the relationship closer to being perfect.
Many people think that same way about their status before God. They view their status before God as unfinished, as something always under construction. They not only talk about getting on God’s good side but also what they need to do to remain there. In other words, they think it’s never finished.
People who think and speak that way appear to be very humble, but they are in fact very wrong. When they think that way, they ignore and disregard Jesus’ words because he said, “It is finished.”
The sacrifices for sin? The writer of Hebrews says, “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). “This priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:12). Finished! The condemnation of God’s law? The apostle Paul says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “He was delivered over to death for our sins” (Romans 4:25). Finished!
The necessity of measuring up perfectly to God’s standards? The writer of Hebrews says, “By one sacrifice [Jesus] has made perfect forever those who are being made holy” (Hebrews 10:14). Finished!
Jesus’ sixth word from the cross was very literally a word. In Greek it is just one word: tetelestai. It was the word a shopkeeper would write on someone’s bill when it had been paid. Paid in full! Finished. The bill for our sins has been paid.
There’s a reason why Jesus summoned his remaining strength to speak these words. Jesus said these words because they needed to be heard. It wasn’t his Father who needed to hear these words—the Father already knew it was finished. No, it was those of us who are tormented by our sins against the holy God that needed to hear Jesus’ sixth word from the cross. Jesus spoke those words to us so that when the devil comes to us on our deathbed, when he holds the Ten Commandments before us to fill us with despair over our sin, we may speak Jesus’ words to the devil: “It is finished! It is finished! The blood of Jesus Christ his Son has purified me from every sin” (Cf. 1 John 1:7).
We will hear Jesus speak these words one more time, of course. On judgment day, when the whole world is judged, Jesus will stamp our bill “Paid in Full,” saying those glorious words: “It is finished.”