John 19: 30When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
Three crosses on a hill, three men crucified; one innocent of all charges, one damned and one saved. This is the picture of an event one Friday almost two thousand years ago, the day our Lord and God in the flesh, Jesus of Nazareth, was to perish as an innocent sacrificial lamb because man had allowed sin and separation to enter the world.
That scene speaks the Gospel in the most visual terms. Jesus as the Messiah just as the prophets had foretold. One thief mocks Him and the other asks Jesus to remember him when He goes to paradise, one statement of unbelief, the other of faith. Jesus says nothing to one, and gives a promise to the other.
Today, there is a thief who hung on a cross in heaven, and a thief who mocked and rejected Him waiting for the Judgment Day. Jesus may have not responded to the mocker then, but there will come a day when the mocker will answer to Jesus and be judged.
How do we know for sure? Jesus made a statement of three words that sealed everyone’s fate in the eyes of God. The plan was complete, the door was opened, the way was shown, and the promise kept. When Jesus said “It is finished” He had just put Satan, the world and all creation on notice that prophesy was fulfilled. Satan’s head was crushed and he couldn’t have those who turned to Christ.
The death of Christ was just one of three things to happen, but the sacrifice had been achieved. The burial and resurrection was to come, final proof to those doubting Thomases.
What about your salvation this Easter? Is it finished?
