KJV John 19:30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished: and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost.”
NASB John 19:30 Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
This sixth utterance from the cross was indeed a cry —a cry of victory. Only one word in the original language, it not only echoed in the corridors of heaven, but shook the very gates of hell, and will fill eternity with the fruit of its finality.
Think of what that cry meant to God. All of His purposes and plans for eternity now had a righteous basis. All could be accomplished righteously because of the “finished” work. Nothing can possibly hinder the plans of God for Israel, the Church, the new heavens and new earth, and for His Son. “All the promises of God in Him are yea and in Him Amen!” But note as well, that the verse contains this important clause, “unto the glory of God” (2 Cor 1:20). God has maintained His righteousness and His character in all that He will do. Sin and its barrier have been removed, and the heart of God can flow out freely in grace and mercy.
No one can quote Deuteronomy 25:1 or Proverbs 24:24 and claim God has done that which is contrary to Scripture in justifying the ungodly. It is to God’s eternal glory that He has, in His wisdom, devised this wondrous plan of salvation.
For the Saviour
His mission had been accomplished. He had come to complete His Father’s will, to manifest His Father’s Name, and to bring glory to Him. His “Finished” cry meant that the ultimate had been accomplished. He had come to give His life, to be a corn of wheat falling into the ground to provide fruit, to be the “Serpent lifted up,” to reap worshippers for God from the silent planet.
But perhaps most of all, His suffering and shame were now over.
"Never more shall God Jehovah smite the Shepherd with the sword."
There was no longer any need for sacrifices for sin. Sin had been put away (Heb 9:26). The throne of God was satisfied by the finished work of the Son, and God’s Name vindicated. The lie of Satan introduced millennia earlier in the garden had been proven false: God was a good and giving God.
But the cry was also a cry of victory. Satan had been defeated. Death had been slain in His death. Heaven’s portals were now open wide. Life and immortality had been brought to light, and the abounding grace of God could now shower believers with the blessings God intended for humanity.
Contained in this cry is an indirect proof of the Deity of our Lord Jesus. Who, other than Deity, could possibly know when propitiation was complete? Who else could know when the full price of sin had been paid? It is only the One Who has been sinned against Who could know when all had been “finished.”
For Us
A Salvation that is free, full, and forever; The spiritual blessings of a New Covenant in which God has promised, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more,” are now ours. The blight of sin is gone, the barrier has been removed, and blessings flow freely from the righteous throne of God.
This finished work is God’s answer to every problem sin introduced, to every challenge that could ever be raised as to His justice, and the basis of every blessing we enjoy.