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It is finished. That’s usually good to say or hear after completing a project, or paying off a debt, doing your taxes, or some other stressful chore. For my college students that I work with, it’s long papers, final exams, or just the end of a semester.
But “it is finished” doesn’t seem good for Jesus to say; he’s dying, his life is finished. But that’s not what it is; it isn’t his life. So what is Jesus talking about here? What does he mean? What is finished?
What is it? It is the entire work of the Son of God coming into our world, living with us, suffering like us, and dying for us. It is the entire work of Jesus Christ needed to save His people from their sins and forgive them. It is the payment for our sin. It is the work of Christ taking yours, mine, and all of the sins of the world onto Himself. It is His all-atoning sacrifice. It is Jesus being arrested, tried, beaten, whipped, mocked, spit on, nailed to a cross, and dying there. It is the work of Jesus to finish death and finish the devil.
Hebrews chapter two says, “‘Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, Jesus himself likewise partook of the same things that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil.'” It is the law of God requiring us to obey it and keep it, and we can’t, but it is perfectly kept by Jesus. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, “Do not think I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.”
It is the judgment and condemnation for your sins. They’re finished. Romans chapter 8 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” It is finished. It is good for us to hear because basically, it is everything about our sin, everything you owe, everything you should be punished for, everything you should suffer for, is finished. It is our sins. And as Jesus dies, our sins are finished.
And we need this. We need to hear this. We need to hear Jesus say, “it is finished,” because we are all so full of it, full of sin. Maybe you don’t think so, and if you don’t, look at the cross. Look at a crucifix or look at a painting, a statue, or even a movie of Jesus’s crucifixion and see how horrible it is. That’s our sin that did that. Your sin did that. That’s how bad it is in us.
So what does this mean for you today? It means that whatever sin you’ve done or said or thought, whatever guilt or shame you have from sin, whatever it is that you’re full of, it is finished. It’s done. Paid for. It’s gone.
Now, you may be struggling with some past sins or present ones. Struggling with guilt and shame about them. And sometimes, your “it” may persist, and you struggle with feeling that you are forgiven.
Forgiven, you are forgiven. Because Jesus said so. Jesus said, “it is finished.” All of your “it.” Christ died to finish it. And this work of Christ is ongoing. It’s not just a one-time deal.
In the Greek language, “it is finished” is in a tense that indicates an ongoing effect of a present action. In other words, something happens, and the result of it, the benefit of it, is still valid after that. We have that in Jesus’ death. It is always finished.
What his death and resurrection finished then, it’s still finished now. It’s interesting, Jesus said, “it is finished,” not “I am finished.” He continues to forgive you.
“It is finished.” That is good for Jesus to say and even better for us to hear. It’s good to hear? No, it’s completely awesome to hear Jesus say this for us. And we praise and thank God for finishing it for us on the cross. In His name, Amen.
