What Was Finished When Jesus Said “It is Finished” (Tetelostai)?

That’s a great question because Jesus’ life on the cross was not “finished” when He made that statement.  Those were not His last words.  

Jesus said seven things while He was on the cross, and each one pointed toward a fulfillment.

1. ”Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). This fulfilled Isaiah 53:12 – He made intercession for the transgressors. 

2. ”Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43) fulfilled the prophecy of the angel to Joseph—”thou shalt call his name Jesus, for He shall save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). The thief on the cross next to Him was forgiven only minutes before dying.

3. ”Woman, behold thy Son” (John 19:26) fulfilled Simeon’s prophecy—”A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also” (Luke 2:35). Mary looked upon her son with a broken heart and a sorrowing soul.

4. ”My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mat 27:46, Mark 15:34). These words fulfilled the centuries before psalm that declared identical words and pictured the crucifixion of Jesus (Psalm 22:1).

5. ”I thirst” (John 19:28). This fulfilled Psalm 69:21 — “In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” 

6. ”It is finished” (John 19:30). These are almost the same words as those at the end of Psalm 22. That psalm, which prophetically points to the crucifixion, ends with “He hath done” or “He hath finished.”

7. “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). With His last breath, Jesus fulfilled the prophetic words of Psalm 31.

So What Was Finished?

It wasn’t God’s plan of salvation for the world.  And it wasn’t an end to sin. 

What was completed, i.e. finished, was the atonement for the sins of mankind.  Jesus paid the penalty for all the sins of all mankind.  The atonement was finished with Jesus’ death.

His Death Brought Forgiveness, but the Best Was Yet to Come

An old song, “There’s Power in the Blood,” speaks of the necessity of Jesus’ atoning work.  Because He gave His life for us to pay for our sins, God is just in forgiving us when we come to Him in trusting faith.  

But the blood alone does not give us new life.  Nor did it remove the curse of death.  Jesus’ resurrection was the victory over death and the grave.  Because He lives, we can live.

It wasn’t until Sunday morning after He was seen by Mary at the Tomb and after He ascended to His Father in Heaven, that Jesus had the power to give eternal life. 

• In rising from the grave, He conquered death. 
• In ascending to His Father, He was exalted and received a new glorified body.
• And in returning to earth and appearing to many, He gave hope of everlasting life.

Jesus’s real power and our true hope are because of His resurrection. Exalted to His position as the second person of the Trinity, Jesus took back His divine powers, which He had set aside when He was incarnated in human flesh (Phil 2:7).

Because He is the risen Son of God, Jesus has the power to forgive sins, wash away sin’s stain, make alive (regenerate) a dead soul, and give the Holy Spirit to indwell a believer’s soul.

Jesus is

• the hope of the world,
• the true light of Life,
• the love of the Father,
• the joy that blesses,
• the peace and patience that gives rest,
• the kindness, goodness, and gentleness that warms the heart,
• and the Faithful and True, One and Only God who calms the storms and pours out amazing grace on all who are His.

Because He Lives, We Can Face Tomorrow

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