It is Finished!

John 19

"​The Greek word “Tetelestai” translated “It is finished!” was a familiar word in that day. Bankers used it when the final payment had been made on a debt. In AD 33, Jesus completely paid the debt we owed, and it will be remembered against us no more forever. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

"Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” 6 When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” 8 When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid. 9 He entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” John 19:1-10 (ESV)

Given the fact that he judged Jesus innocent, Pilate surely thought the Jewish crowd would be satisfied with the brutality and humiliation that Jesus had experienced. But only one thing would satisfy them. They wanted Jesus crucified. Jesus had made claims that only God could make. The Jews therefore accused him of blasphemy, saying, “You—being a man—make yourself God.”

“What would make Pilate fearful? Jesus had told Pilate that he ruled a kingdom that was “not of this world.” Now the Jews were telling him that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. In Matthew 27:19 we learn that Pilate’s wife told him she had dreamed about this “righteous man” and that he should have nothing to do with him. Pilate was likely a superstitious pagan who feared the gods. He was perhaps thinking, “Who is this guy?” Given Pilate’s rising fear, he was essentially saying, “Where are you from, really?” When someone insists on shouting, “Don’t you know that I’m in charge here?,” it usually means he’s uncertain himself.” Dr. Tony Evans, (TE Study Bible)

“Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” 12 From then on Pilate sought to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Everyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar.” John 19:11-12 (ESV)

Dr. Tony Evans writes, “If a person exercises any authority on earth, ultimately that authority has been granted by God (from above). Whether or not an individual chooses to wield that authority for kingdom purposes has serious consequences because we all will one day be called to give an account for our use of authority—whether in government, at work, in the community, or even at home. Remember, God is the ultimate authority. While the human in charge may be a boss, he or she isn’t the boss. God would hold Pilate accountable for his gross violation of justice. The sin of the Jewish high priest was much worse though since he had the Scriptures available to him and was aware of Jesus’s teachings and miracles, yet closed his eyes to the truth.”

“So when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Stone Pavement, and in Aramaic Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” 15 They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” 16 So he delivered him over to them to be crucified.” John 19:13-16 (ESV)

Mention of the judge’s seat here is a subtle reminder that one day every Christian will stand before the judgment seat of Christ so that he may render a verdict, not regarding salvation, but regarding service and faithfulness to him.

Dr. Evans continues, “That these events coincided with Passover was no accident. When the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, God had commanded them to slaughter a lamb and place its blood on the doorposts of their homes. Then, when he struck down the firstborn of Egypt, he “passed over” the homes with a blood covering. By means of this, God rescued his people from slavery. Jesus, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” was about to shed his blood so that all those who believe in him would be saved from slavery to sin. Notice that the chief priests didn’t say, “We have no king but God.” Their hatred of Jesus was so great that they were willing to disregard their divine ruler and align themselves with a pagan king. Placing human government above God never ends well.”

Warren Wiersbe says in his Word Commentary that John 19 unpacks the delivery of Jesus to be crucified by a simple outline of “the crown, the cross, and the conquest.” In the first third of this passage, Jesus and Pilate had been talking about a kingdom, so it was only right that the King have a crown. But, what was meant for mockery, preached a message. Jesus was wearing the consequences of Adam’s sins, but also a crown as a sign of victory for He has overcome!

“So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’ ” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.” John 19:16–22 (ESV)

Pilate had made the sign read as a title, a fact. The Jewish leaders wanted it to clearly indicate that this was merely Jesus’s claim. But Pilate rebuffed them, saying, What I have written, I have written. He meant for the sign to sting the Jews. But, in his sovereignty, God meant it to declare to the world the truth about His Son.

“When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, “They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. John 19:23–27 (ESV)

"Jesus started out bearing His own cross, but then Simon was drafted to carry it for Him.
And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross.” Mark 15:21 (ESV).
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We are not told why, although tradition says that Jesus fell and could not carry it. Considering all He had been through, that is not difficult to believe. Criminals carried the cross as a sign of guilt, and Jesus was not guilty!

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. 31 Since it was the day of Preparation, and so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. 32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who had been crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe. 36 For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” 37 And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced.” After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.” 39 “Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. 40 So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. 42 So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.” John 19:28–42(ESV).

Today, know that “It is finished!” was the cry of a conqueror. Jesus accomplished what all of the old covenant sacrifices could not do. The prophecies and types were fulfilled and the sacrifice for sins made once and for all forever. It was not a martyr that Joseph and Nicodemus put into the tomb; it was a Victor.
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Do you know this Victor? Have you chosen to follow Jesus the One who was born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, was crucified, buried, rose from a borrowed tomb, and ascended into heaven? What would it take for you to surrender your life for the One who surrendered His for your eternity?

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