Finished

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. – John 19.30

There are certain sets of words that really stand out in scripture. There is not a whole lot more profound than the three words ‘it is finished.’

We might take this to mean only that Jesus’ work on earth was done and that His life was over, but it says so much more. All that needed to be done for us was complete. There was nothing anyone could ever do to add more to the work of salvation.

There are a lot of hymns and Christian songs built around these words. As I read the passage this year though one song came to mind. It is sung by the Gaithersburg Vocal Band and in a very dynamic way it describes the power of ‘it is finished.’

There's a line that is drawn through the ages
On that line stands an old rugged cross
On that cross, a battle is raging
To gain a man's soul or it's loss

On one side, march the forces of evil
All the demons, all the devils of hell
On the other, the angels of glory
And they meet on Golgotha's hill

The earth shakes with the force of the conflict
And the sun refuses to shine
For there hangs God's son, in the balance
And then through the darkness he cries

It is finished, the battle is over
It is finished, there'll be no more war
It is finished, the end of the conflict
It is finished and Jesus is Lord

Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging
Not all prisoners of war had come home
These were battlefields of my own making
I didn't know that the war had been won
Oh, but then I heard the king of the ages

Had fought all the battles for me
And that victory was mine for the claiming
And now praise his name, I am free

The cross was the ultimate battle. Satan fought till the end to cause Jesus to fail. If Jesus had backed down at anytime man would be doomed. But when Jesus said ‘it is finished’ he gave up the ghost and paid the price for our sin. We were redeemed and sanctified and made holy and my eternity was secure. The payment for sin was paid. Nothing else could be done.

The author of death may have thought that he had won. Little did he know that not only was the battle one, but the ultimate victory was about to be secured.