It is Finished (John 19:30)

Think of the most influential people in history: Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Churchill, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs.

For me, one of them has to be Queen Elizabeth I. When she died aged 69, she had ruled England for 44 glorious years. Imagine what you could do in that time! Yet, when she was dying, she is reported to have said, ‘It is over. I have come to the end of if – the end, then end. To have only one life, and to have done with it! To have lived, and loved, and triumphed; and now to know it is over! One may defy everything else but this.’

If even kings, queens, and rulers die feeling their lives are unfinished, what about us?

How many of your projects are still unfinished? What problems will you never solve? What relationships will you leave unrepaired? What will you leave incomplete?

Do you unfinished business with God?

If we don’t know the purpose of our lives, we’ll live and die unfinished lives.

But not Jesus. When He died, He cried out, “It is finished!” (v30). Jesus knew the purpose of His life. He finished it. And because He did, our lives have purpose too. So long as we don’t have unfinished business with God. So, what difference does Jesus’ finished life make to my life and your life?

1. Finished Suffering
2. Finished Work
3. Unfinished Business

John 19:17-30 (NIV 2011)

¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others – one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth, the king of the jews. ²⁰ Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, ‘Do not write “The King of the Jews”, but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.’

²² Pilate answered, ‘What I have written, I have written.’

²³ 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 one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴ ‘Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another. ‘Let’s decide by lot who will get it.’

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,

‘They divided my clothes among them
    and cast lots for my garment.’

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵ Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. ²⁶ When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing near by, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’ ²⁷ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.