IT IS FINISHED John 19.30 Good Friday April 22, 2011 elmspringschurch.org

IT IS FINISHED John 19.30 Good Friday April 22, 2011
April 24, 2011 at 6:49 pm by Carl
Filed under Sunday Sermons
Imagine the scene with me: It is the middle of the day, yet it is darkest night. It is the brightest day on the Jewish calendar, and it is the blackest point in human history. It is the day when Mary’s son who healed many is gasping, bleeding, dying on the cross. “This was not the way it was supposed to be!” she cried. His followers were gone; His closest companions, the ones who swore to be with Him to the end just yesterday have today denied Him and deserted Him. He is left to do this work alone. And the final word from the cross? A plea for His Father’s angels to rescue Him? One simple word from that mouth had healed the sick, calmed the storms, raised the dead would be all it would take. And can He not speak the word to remove Himself from this suffering? He raises His head, that sacred head now wounded; He parts the lips caked with blood and vomit, moistened only with gall because He has no more of the spit that opened blinded eyes; He pulls upon the nails in His wrist to fill His lungs with enough air to mouth one last proclamation. And what does He say? “It is finished.”
It is finished. It is finished. The work for which He came to earth has been completed. The sole purpose of His humbling Himself into human form has ended. For it was not in His life that we find His task completed, but in His death. It was not in His life that we receive eternal life, but in His death are we offered the keys to heaven. It was not in His life that God’s holy justice was met; it was in His death that the ransom was met. He lived to die. He taught so that He might reveal God; He died that we might see God. He healed so that we might recognize the Kingdom of Heaven; He died to grant us entrance. He drank of death that we may never thirst again. The work that was begun before the creation of the world Jesus has now slammed the book on!
Jesus said, “It is finished.” These were words of resignation, but of satisfaction; words of a cosmic artist putting the final brushstroke on a universal masterpiece. Not surrender; not defeat. The culmination of his birth, life, teaching, and suffering now gloriously culminated in this one incredible final moment: the moment when everything is done. “It.. is… finished.” The stamp of the Master Crafstman on his greatest work.
Jesus said, “It is finished.” He finished what we could never begin. He provided the pure and holy sacrifice and was the pure and holy sacrifice. To the Jew, He sprinkled his own blood on the mercy seat as atonement for our sins. To the lawyer, He proclaimed the verdict “Guilty!” and then met the death sentence for us. To the businessperson, He has paid the price we could not pay and purchased us with His own blood. To the teacher, He taught the holiness of God coupled with the love of God in His sacrificial example. To the soldier, He has freed the prisoners of war. To those at odds, He has provided a reconciliation through the One Mediator between God and man: His own Son!
Jesus said “It is finished.” What was finished? He finished the strivings of man trying to reconcile ourselves to God by demonstrating God reconciling Himself to us! He finished the oppression of humans by sin and separation by flinging open the gates of hell! He wrote the last word of the Law, and satisfied it completely! He finished the curse of the Law by satisfying it for us. And most importantly, He finished the battle of sin and death and gave us the freedom to act in righteousness, not in sin! He kicked the Devil in the pants! He beat him at his own game! The Devil thought he could shut this Jesus up by killing Him; but it was only killing Him that He gave Him His loudest voice!
What does this mean for us? It means that when we are tempted by any temptation, we can say, “It is finished! I don’t have to take it any more, Devil, because I am bought with the blood of Jesus!” When someone who always gets under your skin starts working your last nerve, instead of blowing up, we can say “It is finished! Christ has restored my relationship to Him, and has brought peace to the world; he has commanded me to even love my enemies, and I should take His lead!” When we are feeling trapped or tangled by sin, and Satan is on our backs taunting us, saying “where is your God now?” we can say “It is finished! Christ has freed me to joyful obedience, and forgiven me of that sin, so get thee behind me, Devil! It is finished! It is finished! It is finished!”
I’ll tell you the truth: ever since that time, the Devil and his demons have been running around putting out the fires started by that phrase. He’ll try to tell you that you need Christ’s death, PLUS this and this and this. Don’t believe it. It is finished. He’ll try to tell you that Jesus’ death was metaphorical and therefore not real. Don’t buy it. It is finished. He’ll try to convince you that His teaching was the real work, and His death was just an accident. Don’t bite. It is finished. He’ll promise you riches, he’ll tempt you with power. He may even tell you that you can be like God; he’s done it before. But he has lost, with those three simple words: “It is finished!”