It is Finished

If you have your Bibles, turn with me this morning to John's Gospel, chapter 19 and verse 30.

And I'm going to preach just a single verse this morning.

In fact, I'm not even going to preach all that verse, just three words within that verse.

And I'm going to be preaching this morning on the cross.

The title of the message is, It is Finished.

Jesus, I don't know if you've ever thought about this or not,

but he was a man of exceptionally few words.

When I read James and he tells us we ought to be slow to speak and quick to listen and slow to anger,

I get it that Jesus was such a man of very, very few words.

The more words we speak, the more we get ourselves in trouble.

His longest sermon is found in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, the Sermon on the Mount, obviously.

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

You can read that in less than 15 minutes.

And the truth of the matter is, his longest message was shorter than most of our shortest messages.

Right?

Jesus just didn't use a lot of words in saying what he ever said.

Interestingly, when he hung on the cross for six hours from 9 in the morning to about 3 in the afternoon,

he only spoke 44 words that are recorded in English.

He had seven statements he made.

And just before he died, I mean just seconds before he died, the sixth saying he made,

and it's one word in the Greek and three words in the English, and it's that expression, it is finished.

And that's going to be the subject of our discussion this morning.

And as I said a moment ago, it was one word in the Greek, tedlestai, and those who heard it,

if they understood what he said and thought about it, they should have grasped the meaning of what he was saying.

But when we read it in English, there's little ambivalence about that.

We read that and we just wonder what was he in fact saying.

Coming at the very end of his life, in fact, he's going to say this in just a moment or two,

less than probably 60 seconds or two minutes, Jesus passes from this life until the next.

And so in that context, I can understand how some would read the English words

and would wonder what in the world was he in fact saying.

You would think at face value in the English, he's certainly saying to us,

well, it has come to an end.

My life is over.

I'm getting ready to die.

I'm going to exist no longer.

You could even have a fatalistic view of what he said, that this is it.

There's nothing more after this.

Many have read these words and they've tried to say,

well, what he's saying, and maybe even some in the crowd interpret it this way,

he's telling us that this plan, this scheme he's had to become the Messiah has failed.

Make no mistake about it, Jesus was a revolutionary.

In the very beginning of his ministry, he does a radical thing.

He has John the Baptist baptize him.

And then suddenly he calls these 12 men who come to his side

and they walk with him and live with him each day of his life

for the three and a half years that he's engaged in ministry.

He has campaigns, a preaching campaign in Galilee and in Judea.

There's a period of time where he's very, very popular.

And then the second year, he begins to be rejected

and people begin to abandon him.

By the third year, there's even a lesser crowd

that are following the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so as he says,

Ted Lestai, it is finished.

Many probably thought, or some might have thought,

he's admitting defeat.

He's saying to us,

this plan to revise Judaism has failed.

This plan to reform how we worship God,

it has gone up in smoke

because after all,

one had sold him out for 30 pieces of silver,

one less than 24 hours earlier

had denied even knowing him three times,

and all the disciples initially had fled

in the garden as he was arrested.

So what in the world was Jesus saying

when he said, it is finished?

I wanna briefly tell you three things

I think he was saying.

Can I tell you something?

It was not at all a cry of defeat.

In fact, it was probably the most victorious statement

Jesus had ever made.

What he was saying to begin with is this,

Father, I have completed everything you've sent me to do.

It is, in sense of the work,

it is finished.

It is completed.

Everything you ever said regarding my life,

I have fulfilled in my birth, life,

and now even in my death.

I don't know if you know it or not,

but there are over 300 prophecies

regarding the life, the birth, the death,

and the subsequent resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And everything that God ever predicted about Jesus,

Jesus fulfilled in his lifetime.

How many of you have ever been out west to the Badlands?

Can I see a hand?

If you've ever visited the Badlands, raise your hand.

If you've been to the Badlands,

and that's not a lot of you, I'm surprised,

you need to go to the Badlands sometime.

Go to Yellowstone.

How many of you have ever been to Yellowstone?

A lot more of you.

On the way to Yellowstone, go to the Badlands.

When you go to the Badlands,

you'll find about six miles from the Badlands,

a drugstore known as Wall's Drugstore.

How many of you ever heard of Wall's Drugstore?

Because a lot more of you heard of Wall's Drugstore, right?

If you get within 200 or 300 miles

of the Badlands in South Dakota,

you're gonna know about Wall's Drugstore.

I've actually researched this.

They have over 300 billboards advertising Wall's Drugstore.

They're more than 200 miles away from their location.

You know why they do that?

Whether you're coming from the west or the north

or the south or the east,

they want you to come visit them at Wall's Drugstore.

And so they put signs up beginning over 200 miles away

and then every 50 miles or so away

and then every 25 miles away

and then 10 miles and 8 miles and 7 miles and 6 miles

and there are barrages of signs

so that you've gotta be blind not to know

that Wall's Drugstore is right here close to the Badlands.

Now think of this for a moment.

You're God and you're going to send your son

into the world.

God is going to leave heaven.

He's gonna take on human flesh

and he's gonna walk among men.

And he's gonna convince men

that he is God in human flesh

and he's come to save them from their sins.

How do you pull that off?

Imagine today you're out at lunch

and you turn to someone and say,

hi, I'm Ralph Carter and who are you?

Well, I'm the son of God.

Can you imagine how difficult it is

to get anybody to believe that you're who you claim to be?

So God in his infinite wisdom,

hundreds and hundreds of years

before he ever sent his son,

begins to put up billboards.

Hey, here's a bit of information about my son

that only he will be able to fulfill.

And then there's another sign and another sign

and another sign until ultimately there are 300 in all.

Listen for just a moment to these following prophecies.

Did you know in Micah chapter five and verse two,

hundreds of years before Jesus was ever born,

God predicted the very town

in which Jesus would be given birth,

the city of Bethlehem.

In Isaiah chapter seven and verse 14,

again, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years

before Jesus was born,

God said he's going to be born of a virgin.

The scripture said in Isaiah 53 and verse 12

that he would die among criminals.

In Psalm 22 and verse 18,

that soldiers would cast lots for his garments.

Now I want you to see

what all these prophecies have in common.

There's no way a person even aware of these prophecies

can orchestrate these on his own.

You can't control where you're born.

You can't control to whom you're born.

You can't control what happens after you die

or what will happen to your clothes

by those who are persecuting you.

In Isaiah 53, nine, the scripture says,

he would be buried in a rich man's tomb.

And of course, in the New Testament,

we find that comes to pass in Joseph of Arimathea.

In Psalm 22, 16, it was predicted

they would drive nails through his hands

and through his feet.

And then finally in Isaiah 50 and verse six,

he would be beaten and spit upon.

Can I tell you something?

Everything that God ever said would mark his son,

not to mention the hundreds of miracles

that he performed, all said one thing.

This is without question the son of God.

So Jesus was saying,

Father, every word of prophecy regarding my life

has now been fulfilled.

But there's a second thing Jesus was saying.

It was also a cry that indicated

that all the anguish and suffering

was now completely over.

Now, I hope I can drive this point home

so that you get it perhaps better

than ever you have in your life

if you don't understand this.

Jesus, you need to know,

was fully God,

but he was also fully, completely man.

If you had this notion in your mind

that he was God veiled in human flesh,

you have a wrong impression of who Jesus was.

It's not like God donned a man suit

and that here in his essence,

he is really and truly God,

but he's just dressed up like a man.

That's a wrong idea altogether.

He is completely and fully 100% man.

He is completely, fully, 100% God.

It baffles our mind,

but I'll tell you something.

If you think of him as anything less

than completely a man

like every one of us in this room,

you have the wrong impression of who Jesus is.

Real flesh adorned his bones.

Real blood coursed through his veins.

The nerve endings for Jesus

were exactly like the nerve endings in your body.

He had real DNA just like you have real DNA.

He experienced real thoughts and emotions

just like you have thoughts and emotions.

He knew everything that we endure as human beings.

In fact, the writer of Hebrews says that.

He was a high priest after the order of Melchizedek,

but he was a high priest

because he could identify with every single one of us,

a man in every sense just like we are.

Can I tell you something?

When he walked in the rain, he got wet.

When he was in the elements that were cold,

he felt cold.

When he was in blazing hot sunshine,

he felt heat.

If someone struck him, he felt pain.

His nerve endings felt those nails

just like your nerve endings would have felt the nails.

He knew sadness just like you know sadness.

He knew joy and elation

just like you know joy and elation.

He knew what it was to be tired.

He knew what it was to be energetic.

Everything you've ever experienced in your life,

Jesus experienced as well.

And so I've heard some folks foolishly say at times,

the suffering he endured on the cross

wasn't such a big thing to him.

That's utter foolishness.

Listen to what Mark says in Mark 14, 34.

This is the night before he died.

He's on the rock of agony praying

and he says,

my soul is swallowed up in sorrow

to the point of death.

Jesus did not look forward to the cross at all.

In fact, he prayed,

Father, if there is any other way,

let this pass from me.

Can I tell you,

I believe all the demons of hell were unleashed

that day that Jesus died on the cross

and that men did things

they would never have thought about doing

any other time in their life.

They absolutely brutalized our Lord.

It began at that first trial

in the high priest's home.

They took their fist.

The King James Version says they buffeted him.

Not a good word for us

because it's not one we're familiar with.

You know what that literally means?

They took their fist

and they pummeled his face.

You ever seen a man hit around the eyes

or nose or mouth?

Instantly, blood begins to flow.

The eyes swell shut.

Isaiah says this,

He has no form or comeliness

that we should behold him and desire him.

Isaiah goes on to talk about the fact

that he has no comeliness

that we should even recognize him.

You know what I think he's saying?

They beat Jesus to such a bloody pulp

that had you known him well,

you could have stood at the foot of the cross

and looked and you would not have recognized him.

They took a crown of thorns

and meshed it into his brow.

They didn't gingerly set that on his head

as you see in the movies.

They no doubt in their anger and meanness

poured it into his brow

and you know how facial cuts bleed?

The blood must have flowed from his face

into his eyes and his mouth.

It stained his clothes.

It was in his hair.

He was a bloody beaten mess.

Finally, when they sentenced him to die,

they scourged him.

They took a cat of nine tails

and they tied up his arms

and hit him around the waist

and when they would pull it back,

it would literally pull away the skin.

Many people died from disembowelment

through scourging.

He makes his way to Calvary.

They lay him on the ground.

They take those spikes

and they place them in his hands

and they drive those through his hands.

Can you imagine the pain he felt?

His nerve endings are the same as yours.

Can you imagine how it would feel to you?

And they drove them through his hands

and through his feet

and then they hoisted him up on that cross

and dropped it into a hole.

His skin must have torn.

I can hear him screaming now.

Can you?

The pain must have been agonizing.

And so Jesus, when he cried,

it is finished,

I think we're saying this,

Father, I paid the price for man's sins.

The suffering is finally coming to an end.

He endured suffering on the cross

like we cannot imagine.

But I want to tell you something,

the suffering wasn't just physical.

It was emotional.

It was spiritual.

It was mental as well.

Now, there is a painting that has been done

of Jesus standing in his father's carpentry shop

as a little 11, 12-year-old boy.

And the painting depicts Jesus standing there

with his hands on each side of the door frame.

And the son is coming through the door of the shop.

And as the son hits his body,

it casts a shadow on the far wall of the carpentry shop.

And the shadow it casts is the shadow of the cross.

Can I tell you something?

For six hours, he hung on the cross in physical agony.

But for 33 and a half years,

he lived in the shadow of the cross.

While others were laughing at the wedding

in Cana of Galilee,

Jesus is living in the shadow of the cross.

When the disciples are bantering over

who will be greatest in the kingdom,

he's living in the shadow of the cross.

For 33 years, he lives knowing

there's a death sentence on his head

and that the noose is getting tighter

day by day by day.

And the time will quickly come

when he will be called forth

to pay for humanity's sins.

When Jesus died on the cross

and when he uttered, it is finished,

I think he was saying,

all the physical mental anguish is over.

I'm gonna tell you,

everything they could do to humiliate Jesus,

they did on the cross.

The scripture says when he was being questioned

by some of the political leaders,

some of the soldiers,

they had their way with him.

They placed a crown mocking him on his head.

They put a robe of scarlet on his shoulders.

They shoved a scepter into his hand.

They bowed and they mocked him in worship.

They took their open hand

and they slapped him across the face.

Can I tell you something?

You do more damage

when you punch someone in the face with your fist.

But the open hand slap

is far more humiliating.

It leaves a stain,

an imprint of a man's hand.

Can you imagine they slapped God

in the person of Jesus in the face?

But not only that,

they got up closer

and they spit

in the face of the creator.

But worst of all,

and we don't talk about this much in church.

We never see it depicted.

When he hung on the cross,

crosses like this one,

you've seen them in the baptistry.

We'll put someone on a cross.

They have that little towel,

apron across their lower section.

They didn't treat Jesus that way.

They stripped him of all of his clothes

and there before his mother,

he hung naked before the world

as he paid for our sins.

They did everything they could possibly do

to humiliate the Lord Jesus Christ.

There's one final thing I want you to see

that I think he was saying

when he said,

it is finished.

He was signaling that his mission was complete,

that payment for man's sins

had finally been successfully made.

Now listen carefully.

That single word,

tetelestai,

that I told you about earlier,

that's a commercial word.

It was a word that was used by merchants,

by traders,

by bankers.

It meant that a business transaction

had been completed,

that a debt had been paid.

I don't know about you,

how you pay your bills,

but my wife and I,

we didn't start out this way,

but about 30 years ago,

we came to the place,

we started not using money anymore.

And so everything we buy,

virtually everything I buy,

99.9% of everything I buy,

I put on a credit card.

We pay it off at the end of every month

so we don't ever have to pay interest on it,

but at the end of every month,

that bill comes and we pay it.

You know why I do that?

Because it gives me the opportunity

to track everything I spend

in a number of areas

and my credit card company

even categorizes it for me.

So I can look at the end of the year

and I can say,

here's to the penny

how much I spent in gas.

I've got all those receipts

right there before me.

And so it's convenient for doing taxes

and things like that.

In Jesus' day,

in biblical times,

they didn't have printed receipts.

When you borrowed money from someone,

the one who was loaning the money

would write on a parchment,

this person,

the one who is going to pay the debt,

is going to pay so many payments

on this basis,

at this price,

and here's the ultimate note.

And the one who was loaning the money

held the note

until the debt had been paid.

And when the debt had been paid in full,

the one who owed the money

would come and make that last payment

and he would get the signature

of the person

to whom he'd owed the debt

on that sheet of parchment.

You know what he did

with that parchment then?

He would take it sometimes

if it was something of public interest

and he would nail it

to the doorpost of his home

so that folks coming by his house

could look and say,

well, you know what?

He paid off that piece of land.

He paid that debt he owed.

His credit is still intact.

I want you to listen

to what the Apostle Paul says.

If you have your Bibles,

I want you to turn with me

and actually see this for yourself.

Look with me to Colossians chapter 2.

Colossians 2 · chapter mention

It's one of the most incredible verses

in Scripture.

Colossians chapter 2, verse 13 and 14.

Colossians 2:13

I'm going to give you a chance to find that.

You need to mark this in your Bibles.

Mark 2, or excuse me,

Colossians 2, 13.

And when you were dead in trespasses

and in the uncircumcision of your flesh,

he, speaking of Jesus,

made you alive with him

and forgave us all our trespasses.

Now look up for just a minute.

Isn't that a wonderful thing?

He says, Jesus came when you were dead

in your trespasses and sins.

He made you alive.

He talks about that in Ephesians.

And he did so by forgiving all of your sins.

But wait a second.

How can you prove your sins have been forgiven?

You ever thought about that?

What proof do you have

that God has forgiven your sins?

Well, look at verse 14.

He erased the certificate of debt

with its obligations that were against us

and opposed to us

and has taken it out of the way

by nailing it to the cross.

Jesus' lifeless body on the cross

is God's receipt

for man's sins

having been paid in full.

I want to show you

one other passage of scripture.

Go with me quickly

just a few pages to the right

to the book of Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

and verse 1.

Have you found that?

Hebrews chapter 1

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

and verse 1.

Long ago

God spoke to the fathers

by the prophets

at different times

and in different ways.

In these last days

he has spoken to us

by his son

whom he has appointed

heir of all things

and through whom

he made the universe.

He is the radiance

of his glory

the exact expression

of his nature

and he sustains all things

by his powerful word

and after making

purification for sins

he sat down

at the right hand

of the majesty

on high.

Did you hear that?

Do you understand

what he's saying there?

You know what

high priest never did

in the Old Testament era?

They never sat down

when they were going

about their most

important task

which occurred

on the day

of Yom Kippur

they would go

into the Holy of Holies.

Many priests

went in the Holy Place

but only one

on the day of

on the day of

Yom Kippur

the Day of Atonement

he would open

that veil

and he would pass

through that veil

leaving behind

the Holy Place

and he would go

into the Holy of Holies

and there he would

atone for men's sins

for a period

of one year.

He wore little bells

around the bottom

of his garment

and they tied a rope

to his leg

because he was fearful

that while he was in there

he might do something

he shouldn't have done

and would have been

struck down

dead

and so they listened

for those bells

to constantly ring

and if the bells

ever stopped ringing

they knew that he'd

stop moving

he'd fallen dead

and they would be

prepared to pull him out.

Jesus does something

no high priest

has ever done.

He's seated

at the right hand

of the Father

and you know why?

Because he made

a one time sacrifice

that paid for our sins

for the balance

of eternity.

His work is done

it's completed

and there's nothing

left to be done

for you to be forgiven

but for you to receive

him as your Savior

and Lord.

And the English

of Angelus

was preaching

in London

he'd had a crusade

under this big tent

for a week.

People had come

and many had been saved

this one young man

had come night

after night

after night

and every night

he fell under conviction

knew he needed

to make a decision.

Well the last night

came he really

was in an internal

battle

but he let the invitation

come and go

without ever having

stepped out.

He left and went

to his home

and he'd been gone

about two hours

from when the Spirit

of God so got a hold

of his heart

he couldn't stand it

and he jumped up

and he ran out the door

and he ran back

to the side

of that revival.

They were already

taking down the tent

in fact all that

remained to be done

was to pull up

a couple of tent pegs.

The evangelist

who had preached

the meeting

was there

and he changed clothes

and he was pulling up

the tent pegs

to leave and go

to the next city.

When the young man

came to him

standing behind him

he said

sir I came to this

revival every night

for the last seven nights

and I know I need

to be saved.

Tell me

what can I do

what can I do

in order to

get my salvation

and the evangelist

didn't even look up

from his work.

He just said

still with his back

to the young man

it's too late

I'm sorry.

The young man

couldn't believe

what he heard.

He thought

man the meeting

has only been over

two hours

and so he

appealed to the evangelist

again this time

walking in front

of the evangelist

he said

sir it's only been

two hours

since the meeting

has ended

surely it's not

too late.

He says

yes you're too late

you're not two hours

too late

you're two thousand

years too late.

You see everything

that could ever be done

for you to be saved

has already happened.

Jesus paid for your sins

I want to tell you

today in this world

we live in

people have this

crazy notion

that because I'm a sinner

the only way I can

have my sins

for you is for me

to rectify my sins

by doing something good.

I'll go join the church

I'll be baptized

I'll start giving my money

I'll be regular

and faithful

in my attendance

I'll be a good person

can I tell you something

you'll never be good

enough for God

you just never will

and the only way

you come to have

salvation

is to come to the place

that you recognize

man I'm just a sinner

and there's nothing

I can do about that

I can't change my stripes

I'm who I am

I'm a sinner

but God loved me enough

that he sent his own son

to die for me

and his death

on the cross

is payment

for my sin

and all I need to do

is to claim that gift

God has given to me

by coming to him

and saying

I have sinned against you

I repent of my sin

I turn my life

over to you

from this day

going forward

I want you

to be my savior

and that can belong

to anyone in this room

I don't care

how bad you've lived

how sinful you are

if today

you would trust Christ

as your savior

and Lord

he would give you

eternal life

beginning this very moment

today

wouldn't you like

to have that

I'm telling you

Jesus paid it all

all to him

I owe

sin had left

its crimson stain

but he'd washed it

white as snow

amen

you come as we stand

and sing our hymn

of invitation

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