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It Is Finished
Brian Mashburn
April 17, 2011
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What Is Finished?
The last words that Jesus uttered from the cross, the words he spoke in his final seconds, maybe with the final breath of his worn down and punished body, were these:
"It is finished." (John 19:30)
What was finished? Was Jesus speaking of his temporary work on earth? Was he speaking of his more cosmic mission from Heaven? Or perhaps he was just speaking of the suffering that he had endured from the Garden of Gethsemane to Golgotha?
Was it a deeply human sigh of relief? Was it an academic statement of fact? Was it a theological reflection?
If Jesus was thinking of some singular aspect of his experience or mission when he spoke these famous last words from the cross, he doesn't bother to specify what that was.
So we are left to wonder, what was finished when Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit?
Since it is John telling this version of the story, let's ask him this morning. Let's search his gospel and see what he records Jesus saying will be accomplished on the cross.
And then let us measure our own lives to see if we believe in the finished work of Jesus on our behalf.