It is finished

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Amen. So good to sing those words and even as we focus in on the death of Jesus this morning to have that hope that uh preview of what we celebrate uh in force on Sunday uh if uh you don't normally have a church home I'd like to invite you to come and join us on Sunday as we celebrate that together our Sunday morning Services here at 9:00 a.m. uh which is our our usual time of uh meeting be great to have you uh with us then as well my name is Dave one of the is here it's a privilege for me to bring God's word to you this morning if You' got your Bible there open up to John chapter 19 as we look uh again at some of that reading from this morning as uh John records for us the events of Jesus death on that Roman cross we're going to focus uh in just on a few verses this morning from John chapter 19: 28 to 30 and look at Jesus final words on that cross his dying words so I think it helps us to understand something of the reason why uh we can celebrate today and call today Good Friday even though we're remembering uh what was for Jesus not a good day at all from the outside looking in it's a a strange thing to be remembering how Jesus died to Think Through how that could possibly be good but uh there is a good in it and I pray that we'll see that this morning but uh let's just uh Commit This Time To The Lord now father we thank you for your word to us and for John's account of that tragic day when your son was handed over innocent and yet accused crucified on that Roman cross we thank you Lord for your word to us and what it can mean for us to exam and understand Jesus words on that final day before he bowed his head and gave up his Spirit lead us this morning Lord by your spirit to hear your voice and to understand how this truly is good we pray this in jesus' name amen have a look at uh John 19: 28- 30 John record records it for us this way he says later knowing that everything had been finished and so that scripture would be fulfilled Jesus said I'm thirsty a jar of wine vinegar was there so they soaked a sponge in it put the sponge on the stalk of a hisop plant and lifted it to jesus' lips when he' received the drink Jesus said it is finished with that he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. some of Jesus final words his dying words on the cross there it is finished the other gospel accounts Matthew Mark and Luke's account of Jesus death uh we're told that this was not a whisper that Jesus uttered but it was a loud cry John tells us that Jesus cried these last words before he breathed his last before he bowed his head and gave up his Spirit Jesus cries out in a loud voice it is finished it's interesting to note that while we have this recorded for us as three words in our English translation in the original language in the language in which Jesus uted this it was one word Tesa it's an extended form of the word Telos which means the end or purpose or goal and Bible scholars who are much smarter than I am with regards to the these things they tell us the the way that Greek words work is you can add a prefix to a word to extend the impact of a word you can extend the tense of a word in the Greek by adding a prefix to the word and so to extend a word you can repeat the first syllable for some of the words and so tesi which is it is finished becomes tetes which is Amplified emphatically as Jesus cries it from the cross what he's saying is is well and truly finished it's completely and forever accomplished it's done Jesus cried this word in this loud voice signifying that the goal has been completed that the end is completely achieved it's a sentence in one word Jesus cry says that it remains completely finished so so finished in fact that it's finished forever once and for all there's nothing else to be doneer it's finished you think about that final word that Jesus offered on the cross and you have to wonder maybe what's he talking about what what is finished I wonder if those in the crowd watching on as he died asked the same question what's he talking about what what's finish maybe some thought that this was a cry of defeat I mean from the outside looking in if you're dying on a Roman cross and you scream out at the top of your voice it's finished a natural interpretation of that could be that you're simply saying that you're done I'm finished it's it's over a fail Jesus enemies probably hoped that this would be the case but this is not what Jesus was saying at all see it wasn't a cry of defeat was a cry of Victory Leon Morris an Australian New Testament scholar and the olian he said this of Jesus final word on the cross Morris writes he says this is not the moan of the defeated nor the sigh of patient resignation it is the triumphant recognition that he has fully accomplished the work that he came to do Jesus died with the Cry of the Victor on his lips so wonderful Last Breath of Jesus isn't it this cry saying I've accomplished the mission the father has sent me to do in full victory has been achieved that word in the original language we're told it in the perfect tense which implies that it has been and will forever be finished Jesus utters this cry to those who heard him to everybody that was there to us who read of it years later everything he came to do on Earth has now been fulfilled it's why we can say today is Good Friday as I've been reflecting on these words of Jesus this week I think there are at least four things that Jesus finished on the cross as he made that triumphant cry maybe there's more maybe you can think of more um encourage you to tell me about that later but uh I can think of at least four it might be more the first thing I think is that we see in this cry it is finished this Victory cry that the long night of Jesus suffering was was over we get a hint of that earlier in the reading that we had this morning as John describes how the soldiers gamble for Jesus clothing look back at verses 23 to 24 of chapter 19 when the soldiers crucified Jesus they took his clothes dividing them into four shares one for each of them with the undergarment remaining this garment was seamless woven in place from top to bottom let's not tear it they said to one another let's decide by lot who will get and John WR this happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said they divided my clothes among them and cast lots from my garment so this is what the soldiers did John cites Psalm 22 here which is a a prophetic Psalm of David some thousand years before Jesus was born at that time crucifixion hadn't even been invented yet or if it was it certainly hadn't reached the Mediterranean but Psalm 22 foreshadows many of the the sufferings that Jesus would endure at the cross you haven't read it I encourage you read it read it over the weekend and and meditate upon that we know from the other gospel accounts that Jesus suffered greatly over that that final evening before his death having being arrested and then unjustly accused in that sham Court in the middle of the night Jesus is wrongly convicted and he's handed over to to the Roman soldiers to be flogged and and we're told that they mocked him they they put a purple robe on him they pressed that Crown of Thorns into his head and and they spat on him and mocked him pretending to worship Him Jesus had already been rejected by the the leaders of Israel they had mocked him as they uh accused him in that sham tribe then we're told that later Jesus was spread out and pinned to that rough cut piece of Timber with those large iron nails like Railway spikes and then he's hoisted up on display for all to see as he's crucified on that Roman cross he shocking to think about all that Jesus suffered on that day it's sobering to think about that even this morning we're reminded that this wasn't a surprise to Jesus he knew that this would happen and he still went the way of the Cross Luke 9:22 Jesus told his disciples the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders the chief priests and the teachers of the law and he must be killed and on the third day raised to life Jesus suffering on the cross shows us something of the devastating nature of sin it shows us the wrath of God the cruelty of humanity and the hatred of Satan at Calvary mankind was allowed to do his worst to the son of man as he became the Redeemer of mankind John records for us these events leading up to the death of Jesus in chapter 19 and we can't help but see some of that cruelty of humanity playing out as the soldiers continued to taunt and mock Jesus as he died John 19:29 says that Jesus said to the soldiers I'm thirsty the soldiers continue their mocking ridicule by offering him this sour wine this this vinegar on a sponge stuck to a stick they lifted up to Jesus lips then we read those wonderful words in verse 30 when he received the drink Jesus said it is finished you can almost feel a sense of relief in Reading those words the long night of Jesus suffering was over that the agony of the Cross could now be behind him Bible commentator Matthew Henry says when Jesus received that last indignity in the vinegar they gave him he said this is the last I'm now going out of their reach Jesus suffering was over never again would he endure the mocking ridicule of Roman soldiers who beat and spat on him press the crown of THS into his head never again would he endure the ridicule of the Jewish priests and Pharisees worst of all he would never again suffer the wroth of God for the sins of the world wroth he bore on himself on our behalf Jesus had earlier experienced the horror of separation from God as he bore the weight of the sin of the whole world we read about that in all of the Gospel accounts but now he would suffer no more because it was finished done completed there's this sense of relief even as we read that that finally the agony and humiliation of the Cross was now at an end I imagine it would have been felt even more by those who were watching on as this unfolded as we consider all that Jesus suffered on the cross in our place I'm reminded of that hymn that line from the song that we sometimes sing uh here that the head that once was crowned with thorns was crowned with Glory now Jesus suffered and died in order to secure the salvation for all who would believe and thankfully Jesus Victory cry it is finished declared that he triumphed over suffering and that it was now finished the second thing that we see that Jesus fulfilled in that cry at the cross his victory cry it is finished was all of the Old Testament prophecy concerning the Messiah all of that is now completed fulfilled done in Jesus you can uh read about that uh in the in the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi there's something like 350 different prophecies detailing this coming Messiah God's anointed one and all of them were fulfilled in Jesus from the seed who would crush the Serpent's head in Genesis 3:15 to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 to the prediction of a messenger John the Baptist who would prepare the way for the Messiah Jesus all of the Prophecies of Jesus Life Ministry and death were fulfilled and finished at the cross we don't have time to go into them all today I encourage you to look them up uh check it out at some point Chuck it into Google when you get home now you need to put in Prophecies of Jesus fulfilled and you can easily find at least 300 51 Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus that were fulfilled in his lifetime there's a sample of some of them on the slides up there we're not going to go through them all one by one but Jesus was bet betrayed by a friend he he was uh falsely accused he remained silent before his judges he was publicly acquitted and exonerated he was declared not guilty in the trial and yet still he was numbered with the transgressors he was crucified on that cross mocked by the onlookers taunted about his failure to save himself we saw the G soldiers gambling for his clothes we hear Jesus on the cross praying for the Forgiveness of his enemies we see the the agony of his being forsaken by God as he takes the the weight of the sin of the world upon himself we read this morning as he cries out in thirst and was given vinegar to drink and and later yields his Spirit into the father's hands we know that Jesus bones were preserved from being broken sometimes they would break the legs of the criminals so that they would hasten the death and they could get them off the cross before the Sabbath and and and put them into their their burial place or whatever and uh Jesus bones were preserved not one bone was broken according to the prophecy and then he was buried in Rich Man's tomb John chapter 19 tells us that this happened so that scripture might be fulfilled even as Jesus hung on that cross dying he continued to fulfill all of the scriptures had said concerning him right up to that moment when he cried out in the loud voice it is finished all this foreshadowing in the Old Testament all of these prophecies concerning the Messiah they help us to see that God always had a plan to rescue his people Jesus entry into human history was not some accident or some afterthought but rather The Sovereign plan of God from the very beginning catch a hint of that in John 19:28 John says that knowing everything had now been finished and so that scripture would be fulfilled Jesus says I'm thirsty seems like an odd thing to say that John would record for us Jesus knew these things would be fulfilled and so he says to get a better sense of what's Happening here because John's hinting that Jesus knew that there's more going on even now on the cross as he's dying to get a sense of that you better to step back a bit further in this story to the night before Jesus is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane you can read about that in John chapter 18 you might already know the story but as Jesus is arrested in the garden as as he's betrayed by by one of his friends uh Simon Peter who was with Jesus in the garden he pulls out a sword to fight right back and Jesus stops him because he says there's a drink that's ready to be drunk John chap 18:1 Jesus commands Peter put your sword away shall I not drink the cup the father has given me Jesus says to Peter just chill just stop let them take me yes it's going to be a bitter cup to drink but it's all in Father's plan so I'll choose to drink it takes us back to the words of the Prophet Jeremiah about a a cup and a sword which could well be the the words that Jesus is saying and now completed and fulfilled on the cross Jeremiah 25 God speaks to the prophet about this cup of judgment or a cup of his wroth and a sword and God says to Jeremiah that he's to take this cup of wine bitter wine filled with God's Wrath and he's to make all the nations that God sends him to to drink it kind of a visual picture that we get of God's judgment that would soon come upon all the kingdoms of the Earth because of our sin every person near and far would soon drink from the cup of God's judgment then Along Comes Jesus he puts himself in the place of the world in the place of the ones who are under the Judgment of God and Jesus says take me instead I'll drink the cup so that they don't happy Jesus tells Peter put your sword away I'll drink the cup This Bitter wine of the Judgment that's due for the sins of the world instead of them being made a ruin an object of horror of scorn of ridicule instead of them facing the fierce anger of the righteousness of God Jesus says I'll do it because it's all part of God's Sovereign plan for salvation Jesus said I'll willingly carry out that plan this leads us to the third thing that we see Jesus finished on the cross and that was God's will for Jesus it was accomplished in his perfect obedience to the father earlier John tells us that Jesus told the disciples the reason that he came was to do the will of God the Father the one who had sent him he didn't come to do his own will he came to do the will of the one one who sent him you look at jesus' life as his at his ministry you see that he lived the perfect sinless life fully obedient to God we see the Son of God took on flesh and and dwelt among us so that he could live the life that you and I would need to live in order to be made right with God Jesus perfect obedience to the father's will meant that he could say on the night that he died as he prays to God God I glorified you on Earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do John. 17:4 one commentator I read during a week said it this way said examine the life of the Savior from Bethlehem to Calvary look minutely at every portion of it the private as well as the public the silent as well as the spoken part you will find that it is finished complete perfect Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 do not think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets I've not come to abolish them but to fulfill them throughout his life we see that Jesus loved God with all his heart mind soul and strength Jesus loved his neighbor as himself and he's probably the only person who who ever truly done he is the only person who's ever truly done and because Jesus perfect life of obedience was now complete he was about to lay his life down he could confidently cry out in John 19:30 it is. finished this brings us to the fourth and final thing I want us to consider this morning morning that Jesus completes on the cross and this is the most important thing this is the reason why we celebrate and remember the cross every year at Easter time it's why this cry from the cross tesi it's finished is probably one of the best things Jesus ever said that's because he completed his mission to bring about the salvation for all who would believe in him Jesus comp completed the work of atonement for our sins in the late 1890s a couple of archeologists Bernard grenfell and Arthur hunt they were digging through an ancient Egyptian rubbish pile They Came Upon a pile of ancient Papyrus documents not so much fine Literature Like the classics or a stack of religious Literature Like The Dead Sea Scrolls but but this was ordinary everyday documents papers you might keep in the cupboard for tax time and and then throw out every seven years papers from everyday life there were letters accounts some receipts as it turns out that some of the receipts when an account was paid there's a Greek word scribbled across the top and a abbreviation of the word Jesus uttered from the cross it is finished the account has been fully paid nothing nothing more is required this is the main thing that Jesus accomplished at the cross Jesus said it himself in Matthew 20:28 he said the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many his death in our place as our substitute means that our account with God is paid in full so much so the Bible says that if we turn to Jesus in faith for forgiveness of sins if we stand in the shadow of that cross then there's nothing more that we need to do it's been completely and forever paid for it's finished since wages have been paid Redemption has been achieved for all of Christ's people when he said it's finished there remains nothing else for Jesus to do in terms of that atoning work at the cross Jesus completed the Salvation plan of God perfectly and completely for all time this means that those moments when you're thinking man I hope I've been good enough I hope I've been Pious enough I I hope I've prayed enough I hope I've done enough I hope I've given enough for God to accept me the answer is always going to be well no I haven't but Jesus has for me Jesus said tedes it's finished paid in full and as the father looks at Jesus he then looks at us and he says teder it's finished paid in there's nothing more to do this is why the gospel is good news this is why this news of Jesus death on the cross and his resurrection is good new news because the finished work of Jesus At The Cross we can know that God is satisfied we can have peace with God freedom from sin we can know forgiveness and mercy and receive the gift of eternal life that Jesus offers all who believe and this was the plan all along it's the good news of Good Friday that Jesus Christ God's promise Messiah the anointed one who would come to rescue God's people from sin and death He Has Come Just As the scriptures said he would he lived that perfect life of obedience to the will of God so that he could stand as our substitute he willingly suffered and laid down his life so that we might live and know peace with God and enjoy eternity with him it's good news I wonder where you are this morning I wonder what you think in those Bleaker moments of Life what do you think it would take for God to be satisfied with you in light of your failures in light of your imperfections in light of your. unimpressively someone like me and be completely satisfied and say Paid in Full the good news is friends that if we put our faith in Jesus if we cling to this gospel this good news of Salvation if we come to the cross and we understand that all that Jesus endured was for you then the incredible truth is that God is completely satisfied and that's guaranteed sometimes I think we can think that more is needed that there's more to pay maybe we need to add a little bit more to top it up maybe you're already feeling a bit like that maybe you have added a little bit more you think and you could top it up before the Reformation the Roman Catholic Church taught that you you could never know that God was satisfied you'd have to sacrifice the mass over and over and over again you'd have to go through these same rituals repeated in order to keep God satisfied but then during the Reformation as they started recapturing the significance of what has happened at the cross as people like Martin Luther started reading Romans and the book of Hebrews it it all becomes clear there's nothing more to offer it's finished it's done in fact it's a heresy and an offense to think that we could do more or be more for God to be satisfied with us the reform realized that to try and add to Jesus finished work on the cross it was it was a blasphemy the Writ it to the Hebrews in chap 10: 10 to 14 uh 10 to 12 and then vers 14 he says this he says and by that will we've been meant holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all day after day priests stand and perform his religious duties again and again he offers the same sacrifices which can never take away s but when this priest Jesus had offered for all time one sacrifice of s he sat down at the right hand of God for by one sacrifice he's made perfect forever those who are being made holy we can see again can't we why Jesus says it's finished and why we today on Good Friday can say the same we've be made holy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ once for all and because of that we can stop looking we we can stop striving we can stop fearing that we've never done enough to please God cuz the Bible says the reality is we never could but Jesus did all we need to do is simply trust in him and rest right there in his finished work at the cross for our sins this is what it means to be a Christan to to rest in what Jesus has done at the cross and to trust that his finished work work is sufficient to save us the Bible says if we own up to the fact that we couldn't save ourselves if we believe in the Salvation that is offered to us through faith then we never have to fear the punishment of our sins we never have to fear the Judgment that awaits us on the last day our Salvation is finished completed Tes Jesus has done it there's an opportunity for us today for you to today if you've never accepted this offer of Salvation before today is the day maybe that you can put your faith in Jesus right now for the Forgiveness of your sins I'm going to pray and you can pray along with me you don't even need to pray out loud God knows your thoughts but in the quietness of your own mind just acknowledge that Jesus death on the cross was indeed for your sin just as it was for my sin and for the sin of the whole world thank God for the gift of Grace that he offers and believe in Jesus commit your life to him he's promised that all who would believe would receive life in his name know today that God has a plan and a purpose for your life if you pray this prayer today if you decide to trust in Jesus would you tell somebody tell a friend or family member that you came with if you're visiting with us for the first time you didn't come with anybody else come and tell me after the service we'd love to encourage you as you begin your journey with Jesus I'm going to pray and then the stewards are going to come and we're going to share in a moment of reflection as we remember jesus' death with communion but let's uh bow in prayer before we get into. that father we thank you for the good news of Good Friday which says that because of your finished work on that cross because of what Jesus did we can find Hope and peace and joy in you for all eternity thank you for John's account of jesus' death which records for us this wonderful Cry of Victory it is finished we're humbled Lord as we consider all that Jesus suffered at that cross as he died in our place as he bore the punishment for our sin and endured the agony and humiliation of the Cross we Marvel in the way in which Jesus life and death was all a part of your Sovereign plan a plan that you had in mind from the creation of the. world father we give thanks for this amazing way we see that plan unfold in scripture as every promise you made concerning the coming Messiah was fulfilled in Jesus because of that we can have confidence in your promise of eternal life for all who put our faith in him thank you that because of Jesus perfect obedience he's the he alone could atone for our sins thank you that we can rest in him and receive full forgiveness peace with you our God for those that are here this morning that want to do that today just in your own heart of hearts your own mind admit you can't do it on your own believe in what Jesus has done for. you and commit your life to. Jesus know that he has done. it and you have forgiveness freedom and life in his name we pray this in the name of Jesus our savior amen got the stewards to come forward and uh serve the uh communion what we're doing this morning is uh remembering jesus' death as he's asked us to remember on that uh night before he was betrayed where told that Jesus met with his disciples in that upper room he shared a meal together with them and then he after the meal he had took some bread and when he'd given thanks he he broke it and uh he said to them this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me I ate the bread together and and then in the same way he took a cup of wine after supper and he said this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes Jesus wanted us to remember how he died he wanted us to remember why he died he wanted us to remember that it was finished accomplished done I don't know if you noticed in the reading this morning from John chapter 19 but after he said those wonderful words it is finished we read that he bowed his head and gave up his. Spirit we might think at first glance that the Roman soldiers kill him so they put him on that cross tore his body open and made him bleed and suffocate and die that's not the case you might think that it was the Jewish leaders who wrongly accused him and took him to Pontius pilot and and had him accused and and brought up on those false charges but it wasn't them who killed him Jesus bowed his head and gave up his. Spirit Jesus said earlier to his disciples that he had the authority he alone had the authority to lay his life down and to take it up again this was something that Jesus willingly did so that we might live there's a power in the cross because we see the power of Jesus not only to die in our place but as we've been saying this morning the the joy of Sunday that we'll celebrate together is that he rose again Victorious over sin and death give us a gives us a confidence that we can trust him doesn't it because he did everything that he said he would do he finished it all once everybody has uh been served the little cracker of bread and the the little cup of juice I would invite all of you who believe in Jesus even those of you that may have prayed that prayer this morning for the first time take that cup of bread that piece of bread and that cup of juice and just in your own time eat that bread and remember Jesus offer up thanks to him for his death in your place if you've already got your bread you can do that. now in a little while once everybody's been served and we've all got a cup we'll drink that together to remember Jesus blood that cleanses us from our sin let's remember. Jesus said whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup we Proclaim his death until he comes let's drink and remember. Jesus oh Father what Joy fills our heart this morning it's an OD Joy when we consider it all that we would rejoice in the death of your son but Lord we can only do that on this Good Friday because we know that this was your Sovereign plan this was the way that you had ordained for us to be brought back into right relationship with you through Jesus finished work at the cross we thank you we praise you that we can remember that with joy this morning we give thanks and praise to Jesus Who Loved Us and saved us by his blood it's in his name we pray. Amen.