Great Friday 2026: It is Finished

It is so good to have you with us tonight on this great Friday.

This is the greatest of all, all days.

It's the highest of all the the holy days.

It is the the apex of redemptive history.

Everything from Genesis 1 pointed to this day, the day in

which our our Lord was was crucified on on Calvary's tree.

But The funny thing about Resurrection Sunday and Great

Friday is that it's only a weekend in our celebration.

Christmas is a season. It begins basically in October,

goes all the way through November into December, and we

have parties and get togethers and gatherings and exchanging of

gifts and all kinds of celebrations.

And yet the highest of all holy days just gets a day.

In fact, most churches don't even have a great Friday

service. And yet it's the best of all the

days. In fact, I've always thought

about the fact that during Passion Week we should probably

get together as a church every day of the week.

We, we should meet on Sunday because that was the day of, of

his reception in Bethany with Mary and Martha and Lazarus and

they had dinner at the home of Simon the leper.

And then we, we would come back from Sunday and gather together

on Monday, because Monday was the day of his coronation.

It was a day in which he wrote into Jerusalem on that palm

Monday in which the the the cries of the people that blessed

is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

And then we get back together on Tuesday, because Tuesday was the

day of indignation, the day in which he went in and cleansed

the temple and and cursed the fig tree.

And then we gathered back again on on Wednesday, because

Wednesday was the day of instruction, instruction around

the the the Temple Mount as he would answer and questions and

even ask questions and instruct about his coming Kingdom.

And then his instruction on the Mount of Olives, of course that

late afternoon into the early evening with his men.

And then we could gather again on Thursday, because that was

the day of his affection for his men, which he would wash the

disciples feet. He'd partake at the Lord's

table, he'd give us High priestly prayer, and he'd give

them great comfort and encouragement about his coming

again. And then of course, we'd we'd

gather together on on Thursday, because Thursday was the day of

his incarceration in which they would gather him together and

begin to, to interrogate him. And then we gathered together on

Friday, which Friday was the day of his crucifixion.

And then on Saturday was the day of his proclamation.

First Peter, 3/19, he went to the lower parts of the earth and

made a proclamation. They gained victory over sin,

death and Satan. And then we gathered him back on

Sunday, which is the day of, of resurrection.

We should celebrate the the resurrection of Jesus Christ our

Lord. And that would just be a week,

but we could gather together just for that week.

I remember when we went to the study of Luke, we spent five

months on five days of Passion week just to cover all the

details that that were there because there's so much to

cover. And of course, most of John's

gospel is about the last hours of our Lord's Lord's life.

And yet today in modern day Christianity, we spend very

little time ever contemplating the cross, ever celebrating the

cross, ever considering the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord.

And yet there are there are people who who will wear

crosses. Maybe you have one on this

evening. We've come to a place in in life

where we've learned to venerate the cross.

It's become a piece of exquisite jewelry that we wear.

We wear it around our neck. We we put it on our lapel.

We we have pictures of the cross in our homes.

Some of them are are 14 karat gold, some of them are sterling

silver. Some of them have diamonds on

them, some of them have rubies on them.

And we wear them to, to dress up our outfits because it is so

becoming to those who see it. But just think about that for a

moment. For those of us who who wear

crosses and and put them on display, just think if you are a

1st century Christian, I wonder what you would do.

You certainly wouldn't be wearing AA14 karat gold cross

around your neck. I mean, it would be like the 1st

century Christian taking a image of a noose and making it into 14

karat gold and putting it on their lapel or around their

neck. We would ask the question, what

are you doing? Or they would take the image of

an electric chair or even a gas chamber and they would decorate

it with rubies and all kinds of paraphernalia and maybe put it

on their lapel or around their neck.

We'd ask the question, what on earth were you thinking?

Or if they were to take a a syringe and a needle and outline

it with diamonds and and wear it around their neck, we'd ask the

question, why would you wear something so cruel and brutal to

symbolize a lethal injection around your neck?

Makes you think of things a little differently, doesn't it?

You see, we look at the cross and the 1st century Christian

would say this is a symbol of brutality, a symbol of cruelty.

No 1st century Christian would would be wearing a cross around

their neck because of the the horrendous death in which it it

causes. And even though the Persians

were the ones who, who began crucifixions in 500 BC and then

it moved to the Egyptians and then it moved to Rome.

And in 63 BC, the Romes perfected the crucifixion.

And even though they're they had gone through all these

crucifixions and, and during the time of Christ, there were some

30,000 crucifixions during his time on the earth.

The only thing about that is that is that it it wasn't until

500 BC that crucifixions were even thought of or first

recorded, except in the book of Zechariah, wherein 550 BC, 50

years before the Persians ever initiated crucifixions,

Zechariah would prophecy about the Messiah being crucified.

But in 700 BC, 200 years before the Persians ever thought of

crucifixions, the prophet Isaiah would prophecy about the

crucifixion of the Messiah. Better yet, in 1000 BC, 500

years before the Persians ever enacted crucifixions, it would

be David who would prophecy about the crucifixion of the

Messiah. Because that was the plan.

It was always the plan. And even though the world

finally caught up to where the Bible really is, that's the way

it always is, the Bible. I mean, the world has to catch

up to where the Bible is. The Bible is not catching up to

where the world is. The world has to catch up to

where the Bible is. It was our Our Lord who had made

sure that the prophecy of the cross was well written in the

Scriptures and yet it was such a devastating way to die.

It was William Barkley who called the crucifixion A

dreadful routine. A man by the name of Clawson, a

Jewish historian, says that crucifixion is the most terrible

and cruel death man has ever devised.

Cicero, who was well acquainted with it, says it was the most

cruel and shameful of all punishments.

And William Wilson, in his Judicial, Literary and

Historical Investigation of the Cross of Christ, writes these

words. Not only was the cross the most

painful of deaths, it was also considered the most amazing.

The condemned man was stripped naked and left exposed in his

agony. And often the Romans even denied

burial to the victim, allowing his body to hang on the cross

until it disintegrated. We forget about the the cruelty

of the cross. And yet when you read the Bible,

it simply says, and there he was crucified.

It doesn't give you any details. Oh, we have movies that that

give you details, but the Bible doesn't give you any details.

It doesn't have to because everybody knew about

crucifixions. Everybody knew the details to

the crucifixions. So the Bible just simply says,

and there he was, was crucified. And yet our Lord would hang on a

cross for for six hours, six hours, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

And during those six hours He would utter 7 sayings.

The first was a word of pardon, he would say, Father, forgive

them, for they know not what they are doing.

The second word was was the word of promise that he gave to the

thief on the cross. Today you shall be with me in

Paradise. The third word was the word of

provision. When he looked to his mother, he

said Behold your son and then to John and said Behold your

mother. That was all during the first 3

hours in which it was as bright as day until noon, when all of a

sudden the sky became darkened. And toward the end of those last

three hours he would utter four more sayings.

The 4th or the 5th 1 would be or the 4th 1 would be.

A word of pain. My God, my God, why hast thou

forsaken me? From there there was a word of

petition. That petition was I thirst.

Then came the word of purpose. It is finished.

And then the word of peace. Father, into thy hands I commend

my spirit. The fact that He even said one

word was remarkable. The fact that he said 7 * 7

different sayings is remarkable considering the the pain that he

was in. And yet our our Lord was in

complete control of everything. It's remarkable to, to

understand the, the, the sovereign power of the, of the

Lord Jesus Christ. And tonight I, I just want to

mention one of those phrases to you tonight.

We'll call it the word of purpose.

And that is one word to Telestai.

It is finished and that word tells us many, many things.

But I'm just going to give you 4 very simple principles that that

word explains to us. The first one is, is this that

that word to tell us thy or it is finish, delivers for us the

consummation of His mission. That word alone delivers for us

the consummation, the completion of His mission.

It is finished. A remarkable statement, our

Lord, knowing that all the prophecy had been fulfilled,

except for the one that says, I thirst.

Having said that, He said it is finished, and he said it in such

a way that that Matthew, Mark and Luke don't even tell us what

he said. They just said he shouted.

John doesn't tell us he shouted. John just gives us the word that

he shouted. It is finished.

Knowing that at the end of six hours he'd be out of breath,

he'd be suffocating, he'd be at the point of death, he would

yell it is finished. Because you see, our Lord was on

a mission. It was a mission that that was

granted to him, that was given to him that he accepted.

And when he was 12 years of age, the mission is articulated when

he says to his mother, do you not know that I must be about my

father's business? In Luke's Gospel there are,

there are 7 divine musts and they all center around his, his

mission in life. He says, don't you know mother,

I must be about my father's business.

I, I have a mission and that that mission is to come and to

die. And then in Luke's gospel in the

4th chapter, he says I, I must preach the gospel of the

Kingdom. Why?

Because he's the king. He's presenting the king.

He's only got the Kingdom. He as the king, he's presented

the Kingdom. He only has a few short years of

his ministry, so he must preach the gospel of the Kingdom.

Then when you come to Luke Chapter 9, it says the Son of

Luke 9 · chapter mention

Man must suffer. He must suffer.

It was his divine mission. It was the masters must mission,

the three M's, the master had a mission and it was all a divine

must. This must happen this way.

And then you come to Luke chapter 13 and he says I must

Luke 13 · chapter mention

journey to Jerusalem. Why?

Because the profit is not to die outside the city, but in the

city. Again, the divine must was

moving him toward a direction that would be the apex of all of

redemptive history. Then you move on to Luke's

gospel. I believe it's the 19th chapter

in which you said, Zacchaeus, come down because I must go to

your house. Why?

Why? Because our Lord is the one who

comes to seek and save that which is lost, and he must save

Zacchaeus. And then when you come to the

24th chapter of Luke, at the resurrection of the Messiah, and

the men in white apparel, say to the women, Why do you seek the

living among the dead? Do you not know that the Son of

Man must suffer, die and rise again?

And then when you come to the end of chapter 24 of Luke's

gospel, our Lord says these words to the disciples after His

resurrection. He says, these are my words

which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things

which are written about me in the law of Moses and the

prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Seven divine musts all characterize the mission of the

Lord. And so when he says it is

finished, he is saying the mission's been accomplished.

I've been born to die. I've come for this purpose.

I've come to give my life a ransom for many, and I've come

to give my life away. I've come to die as a substitute

for those who cannot pay the price for their sins.

I've come to take their place. I've come to die on Calvary's

tree. And so you have our Lord, who

said several times, I I've come to do the will of my Father who

is in heaven. I've come to accomplish one

thing. Everything that the Old

Testament was looking forward to, everything that the Old

Testament pointed to, was Calvary.

That was the prophetic promise. And so his mission was

fulfilled. And so when he says it is

finished, it truly delivers to us the consummation of his

mission #2 it describes for us the satisfaction of his

redemption. It describes for us the

satisfaction of His redemption. When He says it is finished,

there's nothing to add to it. There's nothing to take away

from it, because everything about salvation is wrapped up in

the finished work of Christ on Calvary.

So when Christ says it is finished, there's nothing you

can add to the saving work that will get you into glory.

It's the finished work of Christ on Calvary.

When Christ says it is finished, that means all that prophecy

about the seed of Genesis chapter 3 verse #15 that would

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

crush the serpent's head. It is finished.

It is completed. It has happened that that that

Genesis chapter 22 prophecy about how the Messiah would be a

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

substitute for you and me. It it has happened exactly as He

said. The prophecy in Exodus chapter

Exodus 12 · chapter mention

12 about the spotless Lamb Christ our Passover was

sacrificed for us, that was accomplished.

The prophecy about Isaiah 53, Him being a sin bearer that was

scorned and that was slain has been fulfilled.

And in Isaiah chapter 25, when it says that that the Messiah

Isaiah 25 · chapter mention

will swallow up death, He is the swallower of death.

Christ says I have destroyed death.

It is finished. I am the death conqueror.

That's what Christ did, the satisfaction of redemption.

So much so, so much so that Isaiah 5310 says that it pleased

the Lord to crush his Son. That's the satisfaction of

redemption, so much so that Hebrews Chapter 9 says these

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

words, that He came to taste death for every man.

Verse 14 of Hebrews 2. Therefore, since the children

share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise also partook of

the same, that through death He might render powerless him who

had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those

who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their

lives. That's our Lord.

So Paul would say, death, where is your sting?

Death, where is your victory? It's gone.

Why? Because redemption has been

satisfied with the phrase. It is finished.

So while that word delivers for us the consummation of His

mission and describes for us the satisfaction of His redemption,

that word also displays the perfection of His revelation.

It displays the perfection of His revelation.

Think about this with me for a moment.

There is a centurion, the commander of 100 men, that is

with Jesus the whole time. He's leading 100 men from the

the temple over the Kitchen Valley to the Garden of

Gethsemane on late Thursday evening.

With him comes the temple police, which should be around

600 people, along with him, the scribes and Pharisees and

Sadducees. So you have of upwards of 800

people coming with tortures and and lanterns to look for the

light of the world, but they're coming to get him.

They get to the garden entry in there, the Lord is waiting for

them and the Lord asks them, whom do you seek?

And they said Jesus the Nazarene.

Christ just simply says I am. And they all fall over

backwards, all 800 of them. And the remarkable thing is not

that they fell over, but that they got back up again.

And Christ re re asked the question, Whom do you seek?

Jesus the Nazarene. This is his incarceration and

this centurion is there to lead the arrest of Jesus, the

incarceration. And from the incarceration he

leads Christ to the interrogation, which is with

Anas, and then with Caiaphas, and then with Pilate, and then

with Herod. And then from that interrogation

he witnesses the, the persecution and the humiliation

as our Lord is, is beaten mercilessly.

And then he, he takes the Lord down the Via Dolorosa to the

place called Calvary. And there he is crucified.

And as he, he is crucified, he, he hears, he hears this

intercession. Father forgive them for they

know not what they're doing. And then he, then he sees this

conversion of a, of a thief and then hears the confession of the

thief. Lord, Remember Me when you come

into your Kingdom. He hears his confession that the

one hanging next to him is the Lord of the universe and that he

has a, a Kingdom because he's a king.

He speaks to his deity and to his royalty and Christ gives him

that great promise. Today you shall be with me in

paradise. And the centurion is witnessing

all of this because he is the one in charge.

And then, and then he hears and witnesses the interaction of

Christ with his Father in heaven.

He can read the inscription above the cross, Jesus and

Nazareth, King of the Jews. Then he hears Christ say, it is

finished. Father, into thy hands I commend

my spirit. And he, he pillows his head.

He doesn't slump over as if to say, thank God it's over.

No, he, he pillows his head because no one takes his life

from him. He lays it down on his own

initiative. He was laying his life down.

And so he just pillowed his head.

And the centurion watching all this, hearing all this, this is

the perfection of his revelation.

Because the centurion then says, surely this is the Son of God.

And Luke's gospel tells us he began to praise and glorify God.

You see, he came to saving grace.

Faith cometh by hearing and hearing about a word concerning

the Christ. And he heard all there was about

the Christ. He witnessed all there was about

the Christ, because that was the question, Who is Jesus?

He witnessed Caiaphas saying, Who are you?

Are you the Christ, the Son of God?

To which the centurion would reply at the very end, truly

this was the Son of God. And so when Christ says to

Telestai, it is finished, it delivers for us the consummation

of His mission. It describes for us the

satisfaction of His redemption. It displays for us the

perfection of His revelation. And one more, it declares for us

the anticipation of His final declaration, which is Revelation

21 verse #6 which says it is done.

We live in anticipation of a a final declaration.

It is finished says that redemption has been

accomplished. It is done, says recreation of

the universe has been accomplished because the

universe will go out of existence and they'll be a brand

new heaven and a brand new earth and Christ will say it is done.

It is finished as the apex of redemptive history, but it is

done is the apex of human history and everything is

leading to that one time, that one event where Christ from the

tree said it is done, but from the throne will say it is done.

I'm sorry, from the tree said it is finished.

From the throne he will say it is done.

That's our Lord, that's our Christ, which leads us to to our

time around the Lord's table, for which our, our our Lord

would say, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,

you do proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

We're living in anticipation of his, of his coming again,

knowing that one day there will be this final declaration that

says it is done, it is completely over.

No more sin, no more pain, all of righteousness, everything

perfect as God had designed it to be from the very beginning.

And that's what we're looking forward to.

So we gathered together on the eve or this night of of great

Friday, the greatest of all holy days, the most anticipated day

of prophecy was this day. Oh yes, his birth was a a great

prophetic fulfilment. It was, but He was born for one

reason. He was born to die.

He came for this reason. He came to be your sin bearer.

He came to be your substitute. He came to be the spotless land

that would be slain and scorned and crucified on Calvary's

cross. For the wages of sin is death.

So Christ paid the penalty for sin.

He died in your place, so you would have to pay for your sins.

So we gathered together to partake at the Lord's table,

recognizing that our sins have been forgiven at Calvary.

We've been set free from the bondage of Satan, and no longer

did we fear death because the swallower of death has destroyed

it. That doesn't mean we're not

going to die or we will die, but we will live forever with the

Lord Jesus Christ.