“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’ . . . 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 NKJV
“It is finished!” Jesus spoke these words during one of the darkest hours in the history of the human race. An angry mob had just crucified the Son of God.
Jesus’ final words marked the beginning of a new era. The dividing wall that separated man from God had been broken down (Eph. 2:16–18). Salvation and healing were now available to people from every nation, kindred, and tongue.
Words can’t adequately describe what our Savior went through before He uttered His last words. Although Jesus suffered during His life and ministry (Heb. 5:8), what He experienced on the cross was inhuman.
Go with me for just a moment back through time to the ancient city of Jerusalem. Jesus had just celebrated Passover with His 12 closest disciples. After their meal, Jesus walked to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. All the disciples went with Him—everyone, that is, except Judas.
While Jesus prayed, His disciples slept. Three times He woke them from their slumber. Knowing the hour of His crucifixion was drawing near, Jesus prayed more earnestly. As He prayed, His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood (Luke 22:44).
Jesus, the Lamb Of God, had shed His blood once and for all so humanity could be saved, healed, and delivered.
Finally, Jesus’ betrayer found Him at the foot of the Mount of Olives and planted the kiss of death on His cheek.
Armed with swords and clubs and sent from the chief priests and elders, the angry mob that followed Judas arrested Jesus (Matt. 26:47–50). They led him down a narrow, winding road and through the Eastern Gate into Jerusalem. During Jesus’ time, this gate was the main entrance into the Temple.
Jesus was first taken to the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jewish nation. False accusations were brought against Him. He was spit upon, blindfolded, and struck with fists. People shouted, “Prophesy to us! Who hit you?” (Matt. 26:67–68; Mark 14:65).
From there, He was taken to the courts of Pilate’s judgment hall. He stood innocent before His accusers. But the crowd pronounced Him guilty. “Crucify Him! Crucify Him,” they shouted (Luke 23:21).
Pilate argued His innocence but could not sway the unruly throng (Luke 23:13–25).
Jesus was handed over to the soldiers to be flogged. He was stripped of His garments and tied to a whipping post.
A burly Roman soldier with huge biceps and a big, muscular chest reached up on the wall and grabbed a cat-o’-nine-tails that had bone fragments and glass shards twisted into the end of each cord. The soldier systematically laid 39 stripes on the back of our Lord. The whip tore into His flesh and horribly mutilated His body.
The soldiers untied our Redeemer and dressed Him in a purple robe. They twisted together a crown of thorns—thorns that were two inches long and hard to break—and slammed it on His head.
Blood streamed down Jesus’ face and mixed with the spittle. Our Lord uttered not a word while the soldiers mocked Him. Bowing before Him, they sneered, “Hail, King of the Jews!” (Mark 15:18).
His body bloodied, broken, and bruised, Jesus was brought once again before the crowd. “Behold the man!” Pilate said to the mob (John 19:5). “Crucify him, crucify him!” they cried out (v. 6).
Jesus was led out of Jerusalem to Golgotha—which in Hebrew means the skull. He laid down His life and was stretched out on that cross.
With bludgeoning hammer blows, the soldiers drove nails through His hands and feet. The same hands that had ministered healing to people. The same feet that had carried Jesus as He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38).
The soldiers hoisted the cross and dropped it in a hole in the ground. And there Jesus hung—beaten and bloodied. Our Savior was so disfigured you couldn’t tell He was a man (Isa. 52:14).
The sky grew black. As the Son of God hung on the cross—bleeding, dying . . . His body wracked with pain—the soldiers beneath Him gambled for His clothes.
Others continued to mock Him: “He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God” (Luke 23:35).
When all things had been accomplished, He committed His spirit into His Father’s hands and uttered His final words—“It is finished.”
The earth shook like a leaf in the wind. And the omnipotent hand of God reached down from His throne on high into the Temple, into the Holy of Holies, and ripped in half from top to bottom the curtain that hung there (Matt. 27:51; Luke 23:44–45).
No longer was there a need for a mercy seat! No longer was there a need for the High Priest to offer the sacrificial lamb and enter the Holy of Holies to make atonement for the people.
Jesus, the Lamb of God, had shed His blood once and for all so humanity could be saved, healed, and delivered!
Thank God, it is finished!
Author
Kenneth W. Hagin
Share this Post