Chapter 11: It is Finished

After a ministry of preaching against sin and the good news of salvation, showing compassion to the poor and lowly, and performing miracles, Jesus was arrested by the religious leaders of the day. Previously we saw how these leaders did not respect Him because He did not fit in with their clique. As time went by, they saw Him as a threat. First, they were afraid of losing their nation to the imperial power, Rome (John 11:48). Israel was not an autonomous nation at this time, but rather was under the worldwide empire of Rome. If Jesus brought them too much attention, they might have lost their existence as a nation. It was also clear that they just simply did not believe in Him (John 3:19-20). They loved being a part of the religious establishment, and cared more about the appearance of religiosity than being honest about their own sin (John 12:42-43). They were even envious of Him, because of His power, knowledge of the Scriptures, and His perfection (Mark 15:10).

What we must understand is that God was not surprised by any of this (John 19:11). It was not that Jesus one day was taken off-guard by being arrested, but rather He knew it was coming, down to the exact minute. He even told Nicodemus ahead of time what was going to happen. All of what He was about to go through was to save people once and for all from sin, Satan, and the lake of fire.

He was arrested by the religious leaders, and ultimately was turned over to the political leaders to be put to death. For the sake of space, we will only examine some excerpts of this event. Before He was crucified, He was scourged and sentenced:

John 19:1-11: Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. (2) And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, (3) And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. (4) Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. (5) Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! (6) When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. (7) The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.

(8) When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; (9) And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. (10) Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? (11) Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

1. Jesus was scourged and beaten. The word scourged is very significant. Jesus was whipped with a cord of barbed whips that ripped his back off (John 19:1). He was beaten by soldiers and mocked (John 19:3) and His head was cut by thorns (John 19:2). Jesus is the real King (remember Christ means to be an anointed king), but they derided Him as less than nothing. The prophet Isaiah said centuries earlier that “his visage was so marred more than any man” (Isaiah 52:14).
2. Jesus did not try to save Himself from His death sentence. Pilate, the governor of Judaea, believed that Jesus was innocent (Mark 15:10) but had Jesus beaten anyway. When Pilate interrogated Jesus one last time, Jesus did not even try to defend Himself (John 19:9). It was God’s will for Him to be put to death (John 19:11). Isaiah also foresaw that “he was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth” (Isaiah 53:7).

After this, Jesus was crucified, dying an excruciating death:

John 19:16-18: Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. (17) And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: (18) Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst.

1. Jesus was crucified. Jesus was nailed to perpendicular wooden beams referred to here as a cross (John 19:17). Nails were inserted into His hands and feet to hold Him on the cross. His fleshless back rubbed against the wood. He spent a long time suffering, not for His own crimes, but for the sins of the world. The prophet Daniel tells us that “after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself” in the first century A.D. (Daniel 9:26). Isaiah said “for the transgression of my people was he stricken” (Isaiah 53:8).
2. Jesus was slain among criminals. Two other criminals were executed with Him (John 19:18). They were convicted thieves (Matthew 27:38). Isaiah said that “he made his grave with the wicked” (Isaiah 53:8).

After a long time of suffering, Jesus finally died:

John 19:28-30: After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. (29) Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. (30) When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

A lot more could be said about these verses, but let us look at the most important themes:

1. His death fulfilled prophetic Scriptures. Jesus knew that He had fulfilled the Scriptures as the suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. The drinking of vinegar is a fulfillment to Psalm 69:21, “They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Though we looked at a few prophecies fulfilled by Christ in this treatise, there are a multitude of others that He fulfilled, showing that Jesus is indeed the promised Savior and the God of the universe.
2. Jesus’ death paid for all of humanity’s sin. Jesus single-handedly, unilaterally suffered and died for us. No amount of good works will save us from the wrath of God and the lake of fire. When Jesus died, nothing else needed to be added to it.
   
   When I was in missionary training a number of years ago, it was said that there are two religions in the world: do and done. Every religion centers upon doing rituals or good works to manipulate the gods, obligating them to save them or get them to do what they want.
   
   The real God does not work that way. God does not need anything from us. He is holy and self-sufficient, not depending on His creation for anything. It was by His mercy that He chose to save sinners by dying for them. His death paid for our sins, which is why He said “It is finished.” “It is finished” once and for all and nothing or no one can add to or subtract from it.
3. Jesus Himself gave up His own life. He voluntarily gave up His life at exactly the right moment (John 19:30). The Bible reads, “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).

The day Jesus died, He was buried in a tomb:

John 19:38-42: And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. (39) And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. (40) Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. (41) Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. (42) There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews’ preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.

1. Jesus was buried. A man named Joseph buried Jesus. Joseph was a follower of Jesus who was rich (Matthew 27:57) and a counsellor (Luke 23:50). Isaiah also said that “he made his grave... with the rich in his death” (Isaiah 53:9).
2. Jesus was truly dead. After Jesus was dead, “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). There was no question that Jesus was dead.

Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, according to the Scriptures. He was seen by over 500 people after He arose (1 Corinthians 15:6). We will look at one of the encounters with the risen Jesus:

John 20:24-29: But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. (25) The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. (26) And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. (27) Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. (28) And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. (29) Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

1. Thomas was one of the core followers, referred to as “the twelve.” He saw all of the miracles Jesus did. He heard Jesus tell Him that He had to suffer and die, and rise again. Nonetheless, after all the others had said about Him being alive, Thomas did not believe it. He had to see Him to believe (John 20:25).
2. Jesus appeared inside with the doors shut. Being God, no one needed to let Him in the door (John 20:26).
3. Jesus was not a spirit; He still had a physical body. We saw earlier that a spirit is a being without flesh and bone. Jesus was not a spirit; He came to earth as a man, and He still is a man today, with flesh and bone. Thomas discovered this when he placed his finger in the hole of Jesus’ hand, and in His side (John 20:27). Thomas was convinced that He was the LORD God because of this great miracle.

Next: Chapter 12: I Declare Unto You the Gospel

Previous: Chapter 10: I am the Resurrection, and the Life

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