“When Jesus therefore
had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and
gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30, KJV).
We have to ask ourselves this Resurrection Sunday, as with
any day of our Christian lives, “what was finished”? We know that Jesus’
earthly ministry was done, as He had given up the ghost, or His spirit. But was
it that simple? Many atheists and followers of other religions would surely
like to think so. They would love to believe that Jesus was entombed and rotted
away like the nice man that He was. But was He more?
…It is finished…
First, we should note, is that Satan’s reign was finished.
In Genesis 3 God said to the serpent “And
I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (3:15). Since
man’s fall in the Garden of Eden it was prophesied throughout the Old Testament
that there would be a Savior. Sin is the poison the Satan serves us. We are
born in it (Psalm 51:5, Romans 3:23). And the wages of sin are death (Romans
6:23). So how can we be saved from this imminent death that is guaranteed to
us, the sinner? “For the wages of sin is
death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans
6:23). “That if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised
him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
(Romans 10:9-10). If we believe that Jesus is the Christ and has indeed risen,
and confess that we are a sinner in need of saving, and that only Christ can
save (John 14:6), then we shall be saved from Satan’s “death grip”. “For when ye were the servants of sin, ye
were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye
are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free
from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the
end everlasting life.” (Romans 6:20-22).
“Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.”
(Romans 6:18). Lots of great theology in the book of Romans.
Second is that religion was finished. What? Isn’t
Christianity a religion? It is classified as one, but it is really a faith that
draws upon the work of the Holy Spirit and not a system of laws and rules in
order to gain righteousness. In John 8 we find the scribes and Pharisees
bringing a woman to Jesus who was caught in adultery. They said “Master, this woman was taken in adultery,
in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned:
but what sayest thou?” (8:4-5). Jesus’ response was “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And
again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being
convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the
eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in
the midst.” (8:7b-9). Jesus caused the self-righteous religious elite to
turn their eyes inward. Their own system of laws that they strictly adhered to
wasn’t enough to save them from their own sins. They had no choice but to drop
each stone and walk away. Again, in Romans 6: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the
law, but under grace.” (6:14). However, it is important to remember “What then? Are we to sin because we are not
under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present
yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you
obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to
righteousness?” (6:15-16, ESV).
Third is that any debate of Jesus’ deity was laid to rest.
Notice it says that “he bowed his head,
and gave up the ghost”. The Greek term for “gave up” is paradidōmi, which means to surrender or
deliver. Typically, one does not involuntarily surrender or deliver something.
It is done by choice. Jesus said “Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17-18, emphasis mine).
Jesus chose to die once His work was finished. Death did not defeat Him at the
cross, He chose to draw His last breath. This leads us to…
…the resurrection. Notice in John 10:18 Jesus said “…and I have power to take it again.”
Jesus made the decision to rise again. His earthly ministry was finished, but
He was not. Satan was finished at the cross, as was death. Jesus also proved by
His power that He was indeed who He said He was….
“When Jesus came into
the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men
say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the
Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith
unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it
unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:13-17).
In Christ Alone.
