When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished.” And bowing His head, He yielded up His spirit.When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
5 sermons cite this verse
… When Jesus hung on the cross, remember some of his final words. John 19 30 were, it is finished. Tetelestai, paid in full. Jesus is the one who has paid our sin debt for us. But secondly, it is a ransom for our freedom. That's another image used in the Bible. In Matthew 20, verse 28, Jesus said, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. The only way Jesus could pay our sin debt, The only way he could secure our freedom was by his own death. And that's why he said in John 14, verse 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except by me. If there is any other way to have paid our debt, if there is any other way to have secured our freedom, then the death of Jesus was totally unnecessary. But there was no other way. That's the reason he came. …
… to satisfy that sin debt for us. When Jesus hung on the cross, remember some of his final words, John 19 30 were, it is finished. Teta lestai, paid in full. Jesus is the one who has paid our sin debt for us. He doesn't force us to accept that payment. We get to choose how we're going to pay for our sins. We can pay for it or let Christ pay for it. Jesus' death was first of all, the payment for our sins. But secondly, it is a ransom for our freedom. That's another image used in the Bible. In Matthew 20 verse 28, Jesus said, just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. That word ransom is a word that was used to describe payment that had been made for a slave. If you were in the market in Jesus' day for a slave, you would go to the slave market where men and women and boys and girls who were born into slavery were held in chains. And if you paid the appropriate price, you could redeem them, buy them out of the slave market, and they became yours to do whatever you wanted with. …
… Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there, and they filled a sponge with sour wine, and put it on hyssop, and put it to his mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, it is finished. And now he said, he gave up the spirit. Wow. Therefore, because it was the preparation day that the bodies should 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. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and the other to the second child again. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. And he who has seen has testified and his testimony is true and he knows that he is telling the truth so that you may believe. For these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled. …
… And that is one of the places where Jesus said those words. Look at John chapter 19, verse 30. One of the times where Jesus says, It is finished. This is where we often think of, immediately think. When Jesus said He had finished, He was done. He had finished all that He was supposed to do. It was John chapter 19, verse 30. And He said on the cross, it says, When He had received the drink, Jesus said, It is finished. And with that He bowed His head and He gave up His spirit. But does anybody know the other time when Jesus said that he was finished? Turn back two chapters to John chapter 17. You look at John chapter 17, verse 4. Jesus uses the same word there. We kind of miss it because it's translated in some of our translations differently. But it says in verse 4, I brought you glory. This is Jesus praying to the Father. I brought you glory on earth by completing or finishing the work you gave me to do. …
… But at verse 30 of John 19, this is a critical moment. John writes, "'Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, Te telestai, it is finished,' and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit." This is an act of His divine will. You remember He said, "'No man takes My life from Me, I lay it down of Myself.'" He not only offered Himself to die, He controlled His death. He is the one, according to the book of Revelation, who has the keys to death. And when it was time to die, He willed His own death. You say, well, didn't the crucifixion kill Him? No. No, He gave up His life. A normal crucifixion would leave a suspended victim alive for up to three days or more. Jesus was on the cross six hours, and the robbers were still alive when He died, but He died when He died, because that was God's plan. Now, dead bodies were an issue with the Jews. …