When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.
When He had received the vinegar, Jesus declared His work finished and bowed His head and died, not giving up His life until He had accomplished what He came to do. His cry marks the triumphant completion of His earthly mission and suffering from Bethlehem to the cross, carrying the great plan of redemption to fulfillment through His death. It fulfills the covenant pledged with the Father before the foundation of the earth to become humanity's substitute and surety, completing that compact to the letter. The Guiltless had sins laid upon Him and bore their penalty, curse and condemnation as though guilty, freely giving His life as ransom, sin-bearing sacrifice and propitiation to satisfy justice and make pardon, reconciliation and immortality possible. As Conqueror He won the battle by His own arm, defeated Satan and broke his power, decided the great controversy, and made the final removal of evil and the eternal security of the universe certain.
Words and Death Setting
Jesus did not give up His life until He had accomplished the work He came to do, and then He declared that work finished, bowed His head, and died. His parting cry announced that the plan of redemption was being carried out triumphantly to the success of His mission, that through a life of obedience Adam's descendants could be brought into God's presence, and that He had willingly borne the world's sin and death. As conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights by His own right hand and holy arm, and the finished work brought joy and triumph through all heaven among the angels and was for humanity, the angels, and the unfallen worlds. After enduring the sense that He had lost His Father's favor, He committed Himself to God and rested in faith in His Father's justice, mercy, and love.
After receiving the vinegar offered on the sponge on hyssop, Jesus spoke His final declaration and expired. At that point the wrath of God had fallen on Him and the Father's countenance was hidden, and He had drained the last dregs of the cup of bitterness while bearing the imputed sins of the world as the Innocent treated as a sinner so guilty sinners might be treated as loyal and obedient through His imputed righteousness. His heart was broken by mental anguish under the sense of loss of His Father's favor, proved when the spear thrust in His side brought forth blood and water.
He spoke in clear, trumpet-like tones that seemed to resound throughout creation, uttered after the darkness and gloom lifted from the cross. With that cry and the committal of His spirit to the Father, a light encircled the cross and His face shone with glory like the sun, and then He bowed His head on His breast and died. The cry came when after the sun had shone again darkness still enveloped the cross, while priests and rulers looked toward Jerusalem where a dense cloud had settled over the city and plains with fierce lightnings of wrath directed against it, leaving all spectators paralyzed and gazing with bated breath.
The cry came after My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me, and after long hours of agony in which He was gazed upon by the jesting multitude under the tremendous weight of sins transferred to His soul and laid upon Him as the Guiltless treated as guilty. Darkness like midnight mercifully hid His dying agony from the eyes of the spectators, covered the earth and hid His face, while God the Father kept the sight open before Him and angels would not look upon the agony of their beloved Commander who chose to travel as One among His brethren to share their afflictions. In the final agony brought upon Him by the sins of the world He declared His work of suffering as the sinner's substitute complete, bearing sin's penalty and God's condemnation as an offering for sin that puts away the sins of every believing soul and shows the terrible cost of sin.
He died after about six hours on the cross, unusually quickly for crucifixion, unlike the slow, lingering death usually caused by crucifixion. His voice remained powerful and clear just before He died, and He declared His work finished with a powerful, clear cry of victory and died immediately afterward. The strength and clarity of His voice just before dying astonished the Roman officers, and the centurion recognized Jesus as the Son of God, so that the cry of victory stood as testimony to His identity as the Redeemer.
The death belongs to the crucifixion at the place called Calvary outside the boundaries of Jerusalem, outside the gate where felons, murderers, and criminals were executed. It followed betrayal, repeated trials before rulers and Herod, mockery with thorns and purple robe, insults and spitting, scourging, rejection for Barabbas, and condemnation, and after condemnation the news spread throughout Jerusalem and a vast multitude of people of all classes and ranks with disciples and believers from the city and surrounding region flocked toward the place and followed Him from the judgment-hall on the journey to Calvary. His humiliation and suffering continued through the judgment hall and the journey to Calvary before bowing His head and dying on the cross, and the loud final shout was given at the hour of the evening sacrifice while priests were officiating in the Temple with the Passover lamb brought to be slain and the priest standing with lifted knife.
Finished Redemptive Work
"It is finished" marks the completion of the earthly mission, the saving work, the suffering and the humiliation from Bethlehem to the cross, carrying the great plan of redemption thus far to triumphant fulfillment through death. With His last breath Jesus declared the work He came to do finished, freely giving His life and not forced to yield it, bringing the hope of life and immortality. His death, not His life of holiness and compassion alone, accomplished the work, as He descended into the depths of humiliation and ended His life of humiliation and suffering. The conflict was won, the plan of salvation had succeeded, and Satan was defeated and his kingdom lost.
The cry fulfills the covenant and pledge made with the Father before the foundation of the earth to become humanity's substitute and surety, completing that compact to the letter. With clasped hands Father and Son had pledged that Christ would become substitute and surety for the human race, and the dying cry is His testimony to men and angels that the work the Father gave Him to save a perishing world by His death was accomplished. Addressed to the Father in full consciousness that the battle was won, it declares the covenant fulfilled, the battle won, and the redemption price paid, so that He could ask that those given Him be with Him where He is. In death He is more than conqueror, a moral conqueror planting His banner on the eternal heights by His own right hand and glorious holy arm, every son and daughter of Adam now able to lay hold on the merits of the spotless Son of God as personal Saviour through blood that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Through thirty-three years beset by all the temptations of the human family yet without stain, He remained pure, spotless and sinless after being mocked, derided, spat upon, crowned with thorns and crucified. Only one who was Himself perfect could bear sin and pardon sinners, offering Himself without spot to God as the sin-burdened Surety bearing the sins of others. He remained faithful to God, committed no sin, yielded to Satan in nothing in particular, and did not give up His life until He had completed His work.
Sins were transferred to His soul and laid upon Him, and the Guiltless bore sin's penalty, curse, condemnation and strokes as though guilty. He was treated as guilty and suffered under their tremendous weight at the lowest point of humiliation, descending step by step to stand beside fallen beings, draining the last dregs of the cup of bitterness while bearing imputed sins as an innocent treated as a sinner. He bore the world's sins as though He were a sinner after the agony of losing the sense of His Father's favor, His heart broken by that mental anguish, expiring of a broken heart proved when the spear thrust brought forth blood and water. By that sacrifice He puts away the sins of every believing soul, so that guilty people may receive His righteousness, be treated as God's loyal obedient children, become clean through faith, and learn the terrible cost of sin.
By freely giving His life as ransom for the world, sin-bearing sacrifice, propitiation for sins, and one offering for sin, He paid the price of redemption, satisfied divine justice, and made salvation, pardon, reconciliation and immortality possible. He endured a humiliating agonizing death as the penalty of guilt so sinners could stand guiltless and innocent before God, dying in humanity's place and carrying the great plan thus far to fulfillment. His death defeated Satan, broke Satan's tyranny, secured the possibility of reconciliation through lives of obedience, and revealed the cost of redemption.
At the cross holiness and justice united with mercy and truth, and righteousness and peace met together, testifying that God is true. His death displayed the glory of God's justice and holiness, His spotless purity, utter hatred of sin and solemn purpose to punish it, borne in the only Innocent who could bear the strokes in behalf of the sinner without being consumed, magnifying God's glory in glorious perfection. Bearing sin's penalty shows God righteous, merciful and self-sacrificing, that justice and mercy unite in His government, that the law was not abolished but lifted to eternal dignity, its demands satisfied and the way to the throne of grace opened for every sinner to receive forgiveness and through Christ's strength obey the whole law. With the redemptive work complete the enemy no longer had power to tempt or trouble Jesus, and faith has the testimony it needs with no further proof to demand.
The finished work ratified the promise made in Eden, held the world fast against Satan who claimed it as his rightful territory and sought by every device to wrench it away, drew the world back into favor with God, and united earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God amid praise of cherubs and seraphs. It purchased the world, secured eternal redemption, established the kingdom of grace, and opened another trial in which Adam's children through a life of obedience may gain victory over sin in God's appointed way, be reconciled, be saved, finally be exalted to God's throne and brought into God's presence as heirs with Christ. Uttered in clear trumpet-like tones seeming to resound throughout creation, with light encircling the cross and His face shining like the sun as He committed His spirit to the Father, then bowed His head and died, the victory proclaimed Satan's death sentence and showed his triumph short.
His final struggle fully demonstrated love stronger than death, enduring and growing stronger through suffering against the powers of darkness. He endured suffering for guilty sinners and paid the price that purchases redemption, His love demonstrated fully to completeness in condemnation, crucifixion and last soul-struggle amid the hiding of His Father's face, resounding through creation. That immeasurable infinite love in dying for guilty sinners, which no riches equal and no mind fully measures, stands forth as the exhibition of the new love believers are commanded to show one another and are enabled to obey.
Victory Over Satan
"It is finished" is the shout of a Conqueror announcing that the battle has been won. Though the powers of hell seemed to prevail in His death, from pale and trembling lips He proclaimed victory over the power of darkness, having remained faithful to God, committed no sin, and yielded to Satan in nothing. By His own right hand and holy arm He had gotten Himself the victory, and as Conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Midnight-like darkness mercifully hid His dying agony from the jesting multitude who had gazed on Him through long hours of suffering.
His death defeated Satan, broke and limited his power, and brought the author of death under death's dominion. Satan had overreached, and Christ's death accomplished his destruction and brought immortality to light, at infinite cost becoming the ground of human salvation. By dying in humanity's place He paid the redemption price and carried the great plan of salvation thus far to fulfillment, defeating Satan and opening the way for Adam's children through obedience to be exalted to God's throne and share life with Him. Satan knew his kingdom was lost.
Satan himself had planned the murder and made it as horrible as infernal wisdom could make it, hoping to the last that Christ would not endure and thereby proving his claim that Christ was not self-sacrificing. Men clamoring for crucifixion acted under satanic influence while all heaven watched each step of His humiliation in trial, rejection, and death. By enduring the cross and its fiercest temptations without yielding, to the final cry, He shed the blood of the Innocent for the guilty. The life He gave up ransomed man from eternal death and sealed the doom of the devil who has the power of death.
The cross exposed Satan in his true character of malignity, lying, and murder before all created beings who had not fallen. His cruelty toward the innocent Son of God ended the last sympathy and doubt the angels had felt for him, uprooting him and his angels from the affection of the universe. What had been obscured by his deception and exalted position was made clear, so the universe could see the contrast between his principles and God's government of goodness, mercy, love, and truth. By causing Christ to be crucified Satan struck a blow against himself, standing revealed after working in disguise under the close watch of the unfallen worlds, and heaven was made forever secure against his accusations and deceptions.
That victory decided the great controversy over the plan of salvation and sounded Satan's death-knell. Christ completed the work Satan had tried to prevent, bringing the controversy to its decisive end, and He foresaw that heaven would triumph and His name would be proclaimed throughout the universe. His final destruction and the end of evil would follow, making the final removal of evil and the destruction of sin and Satan certain, bringing peace to heaven and earth and assuring human redemption and the eternal security of the universe. Satan's gaining power would have meant death for the world.
His death answered forever whether the Father and the Son loved humanity enough to deny themselves and sacrifice themselves for others. It forever answered Satan's argument that self-denial was impossible with God and therefore unjustly required from created intelligences, proving self-denial possible with God and forever setting aside his claims. His final cry rang through heaven and every world declaring the great contest practically over and Christ the Conqueror. The loyal universe recognized His victory and was secured in eternal allegiance.
Through that mighty achievement in the conflict with Satan the veil was cast aside, the world was brought back into God's favor, humanity was reconnected with God, and earth was connected with heaven. In dying agony by His life and death of humiliation He held the world fast against Satan, who claimed it as his rightful territory and sought by every device to wrench it from His grasp, drew it back into favor with God, proclaimed Satan's death sentence, and showed his triumph was short. The finished work brought joy and triumph through all heaven among the angels, and was heralded with praise by all the heavenly host of cherubs and seraphs. That accomplishment mattered not only to humanity but also to angels and unfallen worlds, who share the fruits of His victory, for whom the battle was fought and the victory won.
Redemption of the human race was thereby made certain. After resisting Satan's temptations and enduring death He gained an everlasting victory for all who receive Him. His followers can accept His victory over the enemy as their own, overcoming sin through God's provision and His merits, so that tempted believers need not be defeated.
End of Sacrificial System
The death is the fulfillment of all that the Jewish sacrifices pointed to, for shadow met substance and type met antitype when the Lamb slain for the sins of the world died. His prescribed limit as sacrifice was then finished, though not His work as Redeemer, and the rebellion controversy was answered with an open door set before the human race. At His cry an unseen hand tore the temple veil from top to bottom, throwing open the Most Holy Place where the Shekinah had dwelt above the mercy seat and which only the high priest entered once a year. That rending showed the old priestly service ended and the way into the Holiest laid open by a new and living way with no veil between, so sinful humanity no longer needs to await the coming of the earthly high priest. The accepted sacrificial offering thus opened the way for humanity to receive another trial and to claim salvation through His merits, where justice and mercy could meet.
The torn veil signified that sacrificial offerings were no longer accepted, because their purpose had been fulfilled in the one great offering of the Son of God. It signified that God departed the earthly temple and would no longer meet the people there or grace it with His presence, and never again would grace it with His presence. It declared that the Jewish nation, in rejecting the reality to which types and shadows pointed, separated itself from God. It signified that God would no longer accept the priests' temple sacrifices and ordinances, and that the barrier between Jews and Gentiles was broken down.
The cry came at the exact hour of the evening sacrifice while priests were officiating in the temple, at the time the Passover lamb was brought to be slain with the priest standing with lifted knife and the lamb ready for slaying. At that moment the earth quaked, the priest's knife dropped, and the lamb escaped unfettered. A new and living way is thereby opened by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, rich and poor, hopeless and perishing, can come to God and find pardon and peace. They come without sacrificial offerings, earthly priests, or rulers, through faith in Him as the only offering for sin and the Saviour of the world. Christ Himself took the place of the types and shadows as the reality to which they pointed, for people of every tongue and nation.
When He cried that it was finished His sacrificial offering was accepted, and God bowed satisfied. His justice and mercy now blend so He can be just and yet the justifier of all who believe, where mercy and truth meet together and righteousness and peace kiss each other. By His death He perfected forever those who are sanctified, His human flesh rent on the cross opening the new and living way and removing the barrier between Jew and Gentile. Having finished His work on earth, His work of humiliation and conflict, He ascended and took His place at God's right hand, for He is Himself priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By His own blood He entered to obtain eternal redemption, cleansing the conscience from dead works and securing redemption, and henceforth officiates in the heaven of heavens as High Priest and advocate to represent, intercede for, and minister His shed blood for humanity in the heavenly sanctuary. At the end of the 2300 days in 1844 He entered its Most Holy Place to make final atonement for those who could benefit from His mediation and to cleanse the sanctuary.
Signs and Immediate Witnesses
Midnight-like darkness mercifully hid the dying agony from the eyes of the gazing, jesting multitude after long hours of suffering under their gaze. When the gloom lifted and the sun shone again, light encircled the cross while darkness still enveloped it, and priests and rulers looked toward Jerusalem where a dense cloud had settled over the city and plains with fierce lightnings directed against it. Immediately afterward darkness again settled over the earth with hoarse rumbling like heavy thunder and violent earthquake that shook the multitude together, rent rocks crashing into the plains, burst rocks asunder in the mountains, broke open sepulchres and cast out the dead, so that creation seemed to shiver to atoms in sympathy with her dying Author. The cry shook the earth, rent the rocks, opened the graves and alarmed the people, while God kept the sight open before Him and angels would not look upon the agony of their beloved Commander who chose to travel as one among His brethren to share their afflictions.
The voice declaring the work finished pierced the tombs and summoned sleepers to rise, being heard even among the dead as a sign of victory over death and a pledge of the resurrection of the righteous. At the cry a mighty earthquake opened the graves of faithful witnesses, and when He rose He summoned these saints from the dead as firstfruits and trophies to everlasting life. A small company of righteous people who had lived from creation through His time came out of their graves glorified, as witnesses to His resurrection and glory, to His power over death and the grave, and to the completeness of the sacrifice.
That same voice anticipates the time when His voice from heaven will again shake heaven and earth, penetrate graves, unbar tombs, and call the righteous dead to glorious immortal life. At the end of time God's voice will again shake the earth, open the graves, and call the righteous dead to immortal life, and at His second coming the dead in Christ will hear Him and rise. The same power that raised Jesus will raise His church and glorify it with Him above every power and name, in this world and the world to come.
The loud cry with sudden death, darkness and convulsions of nature brought overpowering conviction to many that He was righteous and the Son of God. The centurion in charge at the cross heard it amid the darkness and other signs and declared Him the Son of God, and the strength and clarity of the voice just before dying after only about six hours astonished the Roman officers, unlike the slow lingering death usually caused by crucifixion. All spectators were left paralyzed gazing with bated breath, enemies were troubled, murderers trembled, scoffers fled beating their breasts for fear the shaking earth would swallow them, and priests, rulers, soldiers and executioners fell mute with terror prostrate on the ground. That conviction was seed that later bore fruit when the disciples boldly preached the gospel.
Heard again in memory together with His prayer for His murderers, His answer to the dying thief, the reeling earth, the darkened heavens, the torn veil and the shattered rocks, the conqueror's cry convinced Nicodemus and Joseph of His divinity and settled and established their faith forever. The shout changed the religious ideas of many Jewish priests and sowed seed that ripened into harvest after Pentecost, when the disciples boldly proclaimed the gospel and a great company of priests became obedient to the faith. The very event that destroyed the hopes of the disciples overcame their fears with courage of a firm and unwavering faith.
Priests and rulers who heard the cry at the hour of death and saw His surrender were left restless and uneasy rather than feeling victorious. The words later returned to the minds of the Jewish rulers while they held Him under their cruel power, leaving them uneasy about what would happen next.
His death seemed to end the disciples' hopes and crushed their expectation that He would reign as a temporal prince and take His place on David's throne. In grief they even doubted whether He had deceived them, hope and courage failed, His mother wavered in her faith that He was the Messiah, and those who witnessed His suffering were overcome with sorrow. Beholding that terrible trying hour of gloom and darkness brought them over the ground of test and trial, and because they had been overcome with sleep and had failed to watch and pray and receive the light about His sufferings and the glory that should follow, they did not endure the proving but lost their faith. Had they remained watching and shared His self-sacrifice, some rays of hope from that light would have lighted up the darkness and sustained their faith as they beheld Him die.
The Jewish leaders crucified the long-expected Messiah, the Son of God, and refused the only One who could save them from national ruin. In a dream Pilate's wife heard the words as Christ died on the cross amid darkness, then saw Him seated on a great white cloud while the earth reeled and His murderers fled from His glory, joining His death to His future appearance in glory and judgment.
Future Hope and Response
The cross presents a bleeding sacrifice that supplies grace and power and stands as proof of present help in need. The endurance of crucifixion to death measures what was given up for humanity, beside which the self-denial asked of followers is small. That great sacrifice on Calvary, joined with the suffering in Gethsemane, is the measure of what the church should be and do, and in comparison the church, though advanced over past years, remains far behind in carrying out the greatest work ever given to mortals.
Calvary reveals the immense price paid to redeem humanity and calls for gratitude, humility, obedience, and freedom from pride and self-worship. The closing cry in the last soul-struggle paid the price that purchases redemption and brought salvation, resounding through creation after fearful conflict with the powers of darkness and the hiding of the Father's face. It proved a love stronger than death and ever increasing toward perishing sinners, an immeasurable infinite love in suffering for the guilty that no riches of the world can equal and no mind can fully measure. Fully comprehending its magnitude magnifies the plan of salvation, awakens sacred emotion and praise to God and the Lamb, kills pride and self-worship in hearts that keep Calvary fresh in memory, and makes this world appear of little value beside the great price of redemption. The agonized completion of the price for guilt means the sinner may stand guiltless before God, revealing the depth of humiliation and love and calling people to humility rather than pride.
Because the work of salvation is complete, believers need not wait for a future work or try to make peace with God themselves but accept Christ as their peace. By bearing sin's curse on the cross, the curse and condemnation are removed for those who believe, and sin's controlling power in the heart is broken. The completed work brings pardon and peace, while the Holy Spirit continues to deliver from pollution and shape life through righteousness. His blood is the price by which people are bought, so all that they have and are is to be surrendered to keeping power and brought into conformity to His will, and His saving power restores both soul and body.
Perseverance to the final declaration was reached only because He did not grow weary from ingratitude and abuse on every side and did not return discouraged by His reception, but remained joined to His plan of labor by a love without parallel and unswerving devotion to the Father's will. He toiled for the good of humanity up to the very hour of humiliation, spending His life in poverty and self-denial for the degraded sinner in a world that was His own where He had no place to lay His head, and passing through soul-agony in Gethsemane that forced great drops of blood from His pores. That perseverance made possible the salvation of souls and produced the infinite self-sacrifice whose fruits are now reaped. It rebukes ignoble sloth, careless indifference, and wicked selfishness when labor is to be done and means are wanted to aid the Redeemer's work in the salvation of souls.
Unlike Isaac, who was spared at the last moment, Jesus bowed His head and died after enduring humiliation and suffering without being spared. His humiliation and suffering continued through the judgment hall and the journey to Calvary, where He endured mockery, insults, and spitting before dying on the cross as the fulfilled sacrifice for the sins of the world. His sacrifice was not interrupted by a voice nor were angels permitted to intervene, though He endured insult, mockery, derision, torture, and crucifixion. Abraham's offering of Isaac prefigured this sacrifice, and Abraham's anguish helps reveal the Father's self-denial and the reality of the Son's suffering. The death is thus the supreme proof of love and gift to humanity, calling for complete, willing obedience and the full surrender of the heart.
The same final words are also applied to the future close of the work for saving souls, when priestly ministry and intercession end. Then mercy will no longer invite sinners, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse or spare those who rejected salvation. Those who chose not to accept life will face the consequences too late, marking the finality of the completed plan of salvation. The One who will then proclaim the close with a loud voice has united divinity and humanity and holds all power in heaven and earth, has opened a fountain of living waters for a perishing world, and has ordained that angels and men through the churches shall unite to carry the work forward and proclaim the free gospel invitation until He arises and declares it finished.
Until that time the work for souls will not decrease but will grow in importance and reach. Probation continues with places to labor and hearts ready, and divine and human instrumentalities unite to proclaim the invitation and offer living water to a perishing world. The infinite-cost sacrifice provided the way of salvation and must not be in vain, so the salvation of souls depends on the consecration and activity of church members working together with Him. While life lasts no believer is to feel his work done but to keep working consecrated with Christ for the salvation of souls throughout life.
When He had received the vinegar, Jesus declared His work finished and bowed His head and died, not giving up His life until He had accomplished what He came to do. His cry marks the triumphant completion of His earthly mission and suffering from Bethlehem to the cross, carrying the great plan of redemption to fulfillment through His death. It fulfills the covenant pledged with the Father before the foundation of the earth to become humanity's substitute and surety, completing that compact to the letter. The Guiltless had sins laid upon Him and bore their penalty, curse and condemnation as though guilty, freely giving His life as ransom, sin-bearing sacrifice and propitiation to satisfy justice and make pardon, reconciliation and immortality possible. As Conqueror He won the battle by His own arm, defeated Satan and broke his power, decided the great controversy, and made the final removal of evil and the eternal security of the universe certain.
Words and Death Setting
Jesus did not give up His life until He had accomplished the work He came to do, and then He declared that work finished, bowed His head, and died. His parting cry announced that the plan of redemption was being carried out triumphantly to the success of His mission, that through a life of obedience Adam's descendants could be brought into God's presence, and that He had willingly borne the world's sin and death. As conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights by His own right hand and holy arm, and the finished work brought joy and triumph through all heaven among the angels and was for humanity, the angels, and the unfallen worlds. After enduring the sense that He had lost His Father's favor, He committed Himself to God and rested in faith in His Father's justice, mercy, and love.
After receiving the vinegar offered on the sponge on hyssop, Jesus spoke His final declaration and expired. At that point the wrath of God had fallen on Him and the Father's countenance was hidden, and He had drained the last dregs of the cup of bitterness while bearing the imputed sins of the world as the Innocent treated as a sinner so guilty sinners might be treated as loyal and obedient through His imputed righteousness. His heart was broken by mental anguish under the sense of loss of His Father's favor, proved when the spear thrust in His side brought forth blood and water.
He spoke in clear, trumpet-like tones that seemed to resound throughout creation, uttered after the darkness and gloom lifted from the cross. With that cry and the committal of His spirit to the Father, a light encircled the cross and His face shone with glory like the sun, and then He bowed His head on His breast and died. The cry came when after the sun had shone again darkness still enveloped the cross, while priests and rulers looked toward Jerusalem where a dense cloud had settled over the city and plains with fierce lightnings of wrath directed against it, leaving all spectators paralyzed and gazing with bated breath.
The cry came after My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me, and after long hours of agony in which He was gazed upon by the jesting multitude under the tremendous weight of sins transferred to His soul and laid upon Him as the Guiltless treated as guilty. Darkness like midnight mercifully hid His dying agony from the eyes of the spectators, covered the earth and hid His face, while God the Father kept the sight open before Him and angels would not look upon the agony of their beloved Commander who chose to travel as One among His brethren to share their afflictions. In the final agony brought upon Him by the sins of the world He declared His work of suffering as the sinner's substitute complete, bearing sin's penalty and God's condemnation as an offering for sin that puts away the sins of every believing soul and shows the terrible cost of sin.
He died after about six hours on the cross, unusually quickly for crucifixion, unlike the slow, lingering death usually caused by crucifixion. His voice remained powerful and clear just before He died, and He declared His work finished with a powerful, clear cry of victory and died immediately afterward. The strength and clarity of His voice just before dying astonished the Roman officers, and the centurion recognized Jesus as the Son of God, so that the cry of victory stood as testimony to His identity as the Redeemer.
The death belongs to the crucifixion at the place called Calvary outside the boundaries of Jerusalem, outside the gate where felons, murderers, and criminals were executed. It followed betrayal, repeated trials before rulers and Herod, mockery with thorns and purple robe, insults and spitting, scourging, rejection for Barabbas, and condemnation, and after condemnation the news spread throughout Jerusalem and a vast multitude of people of all classes and ranks with disciples and believers from the city and surrounding region flocked toward the place and followed Him from the judgment-hall on the journey to Calvary. His humiliation and suffering continued through the judgment hall and the journey to Calvary before bowing His head and dying on the cross, and the loud final shout was given at the hour of the evening sacrifice while priests were officiating in the Temple with the Passover lamb brought to be slain and the priest standing with lifted knife.
Finished Redemptive Work
"It is finished" marks the completion of the earthly mission, the saving work, the suffering and the humiliation from Bethlehem to the cross, carrying the great plan of redemption thus far to triumphant fulfillment through death. With His last breath Jesus declared the work He came to do finished, freely giving His life and not forced to yield it, bringing the hope of life and immortality. His death, not His life of holiness and compassion alone, accomplished the work, as He descended into the depths of humiliation and ended His life of humiliation and suffering. The conflict was won, the plan of salvation had succeeded, and Satan was defeated and his kingdom lost.
The cry fulfills the covenant and pledge made with the Father before the foundation of the earth to become humanity's substitute and surety, completing that compact to the letter. With clasped hands Father and Son had pledged that Christ would become substitute and surety for the human race, and the dying cry is His testimony to men and angels that the work the Father gave Him to save a perishing world by His death was accomplished. Addressed to the Father in full consciousness that the battle was won, it declares the covenant fulfilled, the battle won, and the redemption price paid, so that He could ask that those given Him be with Him where He is. In death He is more than conqueror, a moral conqueror planting His banner on the eternal heights by His own right hand and glorious holy arm, every son and daughter of Adam now able to lay hold on the merits of the spotless Son of God as personal Saviour through blood that speaks better things than that of Abel.
Through thirty-three years beset by all the temptations of the human family yet without stain, He remained pure, spotless and sinless after being mocked, derided, spat upon, crowned with thorns and crucified. Only one who was Himself perfect could bear sin and pardon sinners, offering Himself without spot to God as the sin-burdened Surety bearing the sins of others. He remained faithful to God, committed no sin, yielded to Satan in nothing in particular, and did not give up His life until He had completed His work.
Sins were transferred to His soul and laid upon Him, and the Guiltless bore sin's penalty, curse, condemnation and strokes as though guilty. He was treated as guilty and suffered under their tremendous weight at the lowest point of humiliation, descending step by step to stand beside fallen beings, draining the last dregs of the cup of bitterness while bearing imputed sins as an innocent treated as a sinner. He bore the world's sins as though He were a sinner after the agony of losing the sense of His Father's favor, His heart broken by that mental anguish, expiring of a broken heart proved when the spear thrust brought forth blood and water. By that sacrifice He puts away the sins of every believing soul, so that guilty people may receive His righteousness, be treated as God's loyal obedient children, become clean through faith, and learn the terrible cost of sin.
By freely giving His life as ransom for the world, sin-bearing sacrifice, propitiation for sins, and one offering for sin, He paid the price of redemption, satisfied divine justice, and made salvation, pardon, reconciliation and immortality possible. He endured a humiliating agonizing death as the penalty of guilt so sinners could stand guiltless and innocent before God, dying in humanity's place and carrying the great plan thus far to fulfillment. His death defeated Satan, broke Satan's tyranny, secured the possibility of reconciliation through lives of obedience, and revealed the cost of redemption.
At the cross holiness and justice united with mercy and truth, and righteousness and peace met together, testifying that God is true. His death displayed the glory of God's justice and holiness, His spotless purity, utter hatred of sin and solemn purpose to punish it, borne in the only Innocent who could bear the strokes in behalf of the sinner without being consumed, magnifying God's glory in glorious perfection. Bearing sin's penalty shows God righteous, merciful and self-sacrificing, that justice and mercy unite in His government, that the law was not abolished but lifted to eternal dignity, its demands satisfied and the way to the throne of grace opened for every sinner to receive forgiveness and through Christ's strength obey the whole law. With the redemptive work complete the enemy no longer had power to tempt or trouble Jesus, and faith has the testimony it needs with no further proof to demand.
The finished work ratified the promise made in Eden, held the world fast against Satan who claimed it as his rightful territory and sought by every device to wrench it away, drew the world back into favor with God, and united earth to heaven and finite man to the infinite God amid praise of cherubs and seraphs. It purchased the world, secured eternal redemption, established the kingdom of grace, and opened another trial in which Adam's children through a life of obedience may gain victory over sin in God's appointed way, be reconciled, be saved, finally be exalted to God's throne and brought into God's presence as heirs with Christ. Uttered in clear trumpet-like tones seeming to resound throughout creation, with light encircling the cross and His face shining like the sun as He committed His spirit to the Father, then bowed His head and died, the victory proclaimed Satan's death sentence and showed his triumph short.
His final struggle fully demonstrated love stronger than death, enduring and growing stronger through suffering against the powers of darkness. He endured suffering for guilty sinners and paid the price that purchases redemption, His love demonstrated fully to completeness in condemnation, crucifixion and last soul-struggle amid the hiding of His Father's face, resounding through creation. That immeasurable infinite love in dying for guilty sinners, which no riches equal and no mind fully measures, stands forth as the exhibition of the new love believers are commanded to show one another and are enabled to obey.
Victory Over Satan
"It is finished" is the shout of a Conqueror announcing that the battle has been won. Though the powers of hell seemed to prevail in His death, from pale and trembling lips He proclaimed victory over the power of darkness, having remained faithful to God, committed no sin, and yielded to Satan in nothing. By His own right hand and holy arm He had gotten Himself the victory, and as Conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Midnight-like darkness mercifully hid His dying agony from the jesting multitude who had gazed on Him through long hours of suffering.
His death defeated Satan, broke and limited his power, and brought the author of death under death's dominion. Satan had overreached, and Christ's death accomplished his destruction and brought immortality to light, at infinite cost becoming the ground of human salvation. By dying in humanity's place He paid the redemption price and carried the great plan of salvation thus far to fulfillment, defeating Satan and opening the way for Adam's children through obedience to be exalted to God's throne and share life with Him. Satan knew his kingdom was lost.
Satan himself had planned the murder and made it as horrible as infernal wisdom could make it, hoping to the last that Christ would not endure and thereby proving his claim that Christ was not self-sacrificing. Men clamoring for crucifixion acted under satanic influence while all heaven watched each step of His humiliation in trial, rejection, and death. By enduring the cross and its fiercest temptations without yielding, to the final cry, He shed the blood of the Innocent for the guilty. The life He gave up ransomed man from eternal death and sealed the doom of the devil who has the power of death.
The cross exposed Satan in his true character of malignity, lying, and murder before all created beings who had not fallen. His cruelty toward the innocent Son of God ended the last sympathy and doubt the angels had felt for him, uprooting him and his angels from the affection of the universe. What had been obscured by his deception and exalted position was made clear, so the universe could see the contrast between his principles and God's government of goodness, mercy, love, and truth. By causing Christ to be crucified Satan struck a blow against himself, standing revealed after working in disguise under the close watch of the unfallen worlds, and heaven was made forever secure against his accusations and deceptions.
That victory decided the great controversy over the plan of salvation and sounded Satan's death-knell. Christ completed the work Satan had tried to prevent, bringing the controversy to its decisive end, and He foresaw that heaven would triumph and His name would be proclaimed throughout the universe. His final destruction and the end of evil would follow, making the final removal of evil and the destruction of sin and Satan certain, bringing peace to heaven and earth and assuring human redemption and the eternal security of the universe. Satan's gaining power would have meant death for the world.
His death answered forever whether the Father and the Son loved humanity enough to deny themselves and sacrifice themselves for others. It forever answered Satan's argument that self-denial was impossible with God and therefore unjustly required from created intelligences, proving self-denial possible with God and forever setting aside his claims. His final cry rang through heaven and every world declaring the great contest practically over and Christ the Conqueror. The loyal universe recognized His victory and was secured in eternal allegiance.
Through that mighty achievement in the conflict with Satan the veil was cast aside, the world was brought back into God's favor, humanity was reconnected with God, and earth was connected with heaven. In dying agony by His life and death of humiliation He held the world fast against Satan, who claimed it as his rightful territory and sought by every device to wrench it from His grasp, drew it back into favor with God, proclaimed Satan's death sentence, and showed his triumph was short. The finished work brought joy and triumph through all heaven among the angels, and was heralded with praise by all the heavenly host of cherubs and seraphs. That accomplishment mattered not only to humanity but also to angels and unfallen worlds, who share the fruits of His victory, for whom the battle was fought and the victory won.
Redemption of the human race was thereby made certain. After resisting Satan's temptations and enduring death He gained an everlasting victory for all who receive Him. His followers can accept His victory over the enemy as their own, overcoming sin through God's provision and His merits, so that tempted believers need not be defeated.
End of Sacrificial System
The death is the fulfillment of all that the Jewish sacrifices pointed to, for shadow met substance and type met antitype when the Lamb slain for the sins of the world died. His prescribed limit as sacrifice was then finished, though not His work as Redeemer, and the rebellion controversy was answered with an open door set before the human race. At His cry an unseen hand tore the temple veil from top to bottom, throwing open the Most Holy Place where the Shekinah had dwelt above the mercy seat and which only the high priest entered once a year. That rending showed the old priestly service ended and the way into the Holiest laid open by a new and living way with no veil between, so sinful humanity no longer needs to await the coming of the earthly high priest. The accepted sacrificial offering thus opened the way for humanity to receive another trial and to claim salvation through His merits, where justice and mercy could meet.
The torn veil signified that sacrificial offerings were no longer accepted, because their purpose had been fulfilled in the one great offering of the Son of God. It signified that God departed the earthly temple and would no longer meet the people there or grace it with His presence, and never again would grace it with His presence. It declared that the Jewish nation, in rejecting the reality to which types and shadows pointed, separated itself from God. It signified that God would no longer accept the priests' temple sacrifices and ordinances, and that the barrier between Jews and Gentiles was broken down.
The cry came at the exact hour of the evening sacrifice while priests were officiating in the temple, at the time the Passover lamb was brought to be slain with the priest standing with lifted knife and the lamb ready for slaying. At that moment the earth quaked, the priest's knife dropped, and the lamb escaped unfettered. A new and living way is thereby opened by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, rich and poor, hopeless and perishing, can come to God and find pardon and peace. They come without sacrificial offerings, earthly priests, or rulers, through faith in Him as the only offering for sin and the Saviour of the world. Christ Himself took the place of the types and shadows as the reality to which they pointed, for people of every tongue and nation.
When He cried that it was finished His sacrificial offering was accepted, and God bowed satisfied. His justice and mercy now blend so He can be just and yet the justifier of all who believe, where mercy and truth meet together and righteousness and peace kiss each other. By His death He perfected forever those who are sanctified, His human flesh rent on the cross opening the new and living way and removing the barrier between Jew and Gentile. Having finished His work on earth, His work of humiliation and conflict, He ascended and took His place at God's right hand, for He is Himself priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. By His own blood He entered to obtain eternal redemption, cleansing the conscience from dead works and securing redemption, and henceforth officiates in the heaven of heavens as High Priest and advocate to represent, intercede for, and minister His shed blood for humanity in the heavenly sanctuary. At the end of the 2300 days in 1844 He entered its Most Holy Place to make final atonement for those who could benefit from His mediation and to cleanse the sanctuary.
Signs and Immediate Witnesses
Midnight-like darkness mercifully hid the dying agony from the eyes of the gazing, jesting multitude after long hours of suffering under their gaze. When the gloom lifted and the sun shone again, light encircled the cross while darkness still enveloped it, and priests and rulers looked toward Jerusalem where a dense cloud had settled over the city and plains with fierce lightnings directed against it. Immediately afterward darkness again settled over the earth with hoarse rumbling like heavy thunder and violent earthquake that shook the multitude together, rent rocks crashing into the plains, burst rocks asunder in the mountains, broke open sepulchres and cast out the dead, so that creation seemed to shiver to atoms in sympathy with her dying Author. The cry shook the earth, rent the rocks, opened the graves and alarmed the people, while God kept the sight open before Him and angels would not look upon the agony of their beloved Commander who chose to travel as one among His brethren to share their afflictions.
The voice declaring the work finished pierced the tombs and summoned sleepers to rise, being heard even among the dead as a sign of victory over death and a pledge of the resurrection of the righteous. At the cry a mighty earthquake opened the graves of faithful witnesses, and when He rose He summoned these saints from the dead as firstfruits and trophies to everlasting life. A small company of righteous people who had lived from creation through His time came out of their graves glorified, as witnesses to His resurrection and glory, to His power over death and the grave, and to the completeness of the sacrifice.
That same voice anticipates the time when His voice from heaven will again shake heaven and earth, penetrate graves, unbar tombs, and call the righteous dead to glorious immortal life. At the end of time God's voice will again shake the earth, open the graves, and call the righteous dead to immortal life, and at His second coming the dead in Christ will hear Him and rise. The same power that raised Jesus will raise His church and glorify it with Him above every power and name, in this world and the world to come.
The loud cry with sudden death, darkness and convulsions of nature brought overpowering conviction to many that He was righteous and the Son of God. The centurion in charge at the cross heard it amid the darkness and other signs and declared Him the Son of God, and the strength and clarity of the voice just before dying after only about six hours astonished the Roman officers, unlike the slow lingering death usually caused by crucifixion. All spectators were left paralyzed gazing with bated breath, enemies were troubled, murderers trembled, scoffers fled beating their breasts for fear the shaking earth would swallow them, and priests, rulers, soldiers and executioners fell mute with terror prostrate on the ground. That conviction was seed that later bore fruit when the disciples boldly preached the gospel.
Heard again in memory together with His prayer for His murderers, His answer to the dying thief, the reeling earth, the darkened heavens, the torn veil and the shattered rocks, the conqueror's cry convinced Nicodemus and Joseph of His divinity and settled and established their faith forever. The shout changed the religious ideas of many Jewish priests and sowed seed that ripened into harvest after Pentecost, when the disciples boldly proclaimed the gospel and a great company of priests became obedient to the faith. The very event that destroyed the hopes of the disciples overcame their fears with courage of a firm and unwavering faith.
Priests and rulers who heard the cry at the hour of death and saw His surrender were left restless and uneasy rather than feeling victorious. The words later returned to the minds of the Jewish rulers while they held Him under their cruel power, leaving them uneasy about what would happen next.
His death seemed to end the disciples' hopes and crushed their expectation that He would reign as a temporal prince and take His place on David's throne. In grief they even doubted whether He had deceived them, hope and courage failed, His mother wavered in her faith that He was the Messiah, and those who witnessed His suffering were overcome with sorrow. Beholding that terrible trying hour of gloom and darkness brought them over the ground of test and trial, and because they had been overcome with sleep and had failed to watch and pray and receive the light about His sufferings and the glory that should follow, they did not endure the proving but lost their faith. Had they remained watching and shared His self-sacrifice, some rays of hope from that light would have lighted up the darkness and sustained their faith as they beheld Him die.
The Jewish leaders crucified the long-expected Messiah, the Son of God, and refused the only One who could save them from national ruin. In a dream Pilate's wife heard the words as Christ died on the cross amid darkness, then saw Him seated on a great white cloud while the earth reeled and His murderers fled from His glory, joining His death to His future appearance in glory and judgment.
Future Hope and Response
The cross presents a bleeding sacrifice that supplies grace and power and stands as proof of present help in need. The endurance of crucifixion to death measures what was given up for humanity, beside which the self-denial asked of followers is small. That great sacrifice on Calvary, joined with the suffering in Gethsemane, is the measure of what the church should be and do, and in comparison the church, though advanced over past years, remains far behind in carrying out the greatest work ever given to mortals.
Calvary reveals the immense price paid to redeem humanity and calls for gratitude, humility, obedience, and freedom from pride and self-worship. The closing cry in the last soul-struggle paid the price that purchases redemption and brought salvation, resounding through creation after fearful conflict with the powers of darkness and the hiding of the Father's face. It proved a love stronger than death and ever increasing toward perishing sinners, an immeasurable infinite love in suffering for the guilty that no riches of the world can equal and no mind can fully measure. Fully comprehending its magnitude magnifies the plan of salvation, awakens sacred emotion and praise to God and the Lamb, kills pride and self-worship in hearts that keep Calvary fresh in memory, and makes this world appear of little value beside the great price of redemption. The agonized completion of the price for guilt means the sinner may stand guiltless before God, revealing the depth of humiliation and love and calling people to humility rather than pride.
Because the work of salvation is complete, believers need not wait for a future work or try to make peace with God themselves but accept Christ as their peace. By bearing sin's curse on the cross, the curse and condemnation are removed for those who believe, and sin's controlling power in the heart is broken. The completed work brings pardon and peace, while the Holy Spirit continues to deliver from pollution and shape life through righteousness. His blood is the price by which people are bought, so all that they have and are is to be surrendered to keeping power and brought into conformity to His will, and His saving power restores both soul and body.
Perseverance to the final declaration was reached only because He did not grow weary from ingratitude and abuse on every side and did not return discouraged by His reception, but remained joined to His plan of labor by a love without parallel and unswerving devotion to the Father's will. He toiled for the good of humanity up to the very hour of humiliation, spending His life in poverty and self-denial for the degraded sinner in a world that was His own where He had no place to lay His head, and passing through soul-agony in Gethsemane that forced great drops of blood from His pores. That perseverance made possible the salvation of souls and produced the infinite self-sacrifice whose fruits are now reaped. It rebukes ignoble sloth, careless indifference, and wicked selfishness when labor is to be done and means are wanted to aid the Redeemer's work in the salvation of souls.
Unlike Isaac, who was spared at the last moment, Jesus bowed His head and died after enduring humiliation and suffering without being spared. His humiliation and suffering continued through the judgment hall and the journey to Calvary, where He endured mockery, insults, and spitting before dying on the cross as the fulfilled sacrifice for the sins of the world. His sacrifice was not interrupted by a voice nor were angels permitted to intervene, though He endured insult, mockery, derision, torture, and crucifixion. Abraham's offering of Isaac prefigured this sacrifice, and Abraham's anguish helps reveal the Father's self-denial and the reality of the Son's suffering. The death is thus the supreme proof of love and gift to humanity, calling for complete, willing obedience and the full surrender of the heart.
The same final words are also applied to the future close of the work for saving souls, when priestly ministry and intercession end. Then mercy will no longer invite sinners, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse or spare those who rejected salvation. Those who chose not to accept life will face the consequences too late, marking the finality of the completed plan of salvation. The One who will then proclaim the close with a loud voice has united divinity and humanity and holds all power in heaven and earth, has opened a fountain of living waters for a perishing world, and has ordained that angels and men through the churches shall unite to carry the work forward and proclaim the free gospel invitation until He arises and declares it finished.
Until that time the work for souls will not decrease but will grow in importance and reach. Probation continues with places to labor and hearts ready, and divine and human instrumentalities unite to proclaim the invitation and offer living water to a perishing world. The infinite-cost sacrifice provided the way of salvation and must not be in vain, so the salvation of souls depends on the consecration and activity of church members working together with Him. While life lasts no believer is to feel his work done but to keep working consecrated with Christ for the salvation of souls throughout life.