On the cross, Jesus cried out, “it is Finished.” What was finished? What did Jesus mean by these words?
Sin, Evil, Death, Dying, and What Happens After We Die
This series addresses the concerns we all have: the concern for sin, evil, death, dying, and what happens after we die. Is there hope after death? When God created us humans, he intended for us to live forever in a loving, peaceful relationship with him. But this relationship has been broken by sin.
Here, we address the origin of sin and look more closely at death and dying.
But, instead of looking at death negatively, we look at it in the context of hope, the promised hope based on what Jesus did for us when he died and came back to life again.
From the Sabbath School Adult Bible Study Guide 2022 Quarter 4: Sabbath.School (See also Hope Sabbath School and 3ABN Sabbath School)
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Inviting God’s Presence
Holy Father, thank you for sending your Son, Jesus to finish the work designed to save us, humans. Helps us learn and appreciate what this means for our salvation. In Jesus’ Name Amen
On Day 3, we discovered that Jesus came to this world with the intent to die. He lived to die. And every step He took brought Him closer to his death. You can find out more about this by reviewing Quarter 4, Lesson 6, Day 3 at Sabbathschooldaily.com.
John 19:1–30 tells us about the final hours of Jesus before He died on the cross. It concludes with Jesus crying out “It is finished”. What did Jesus mean by this statement and why is it so crucial?
Reading from the Clear Word Bible
The Soldiers Made fun of Jesus and whipped him.
1 Pilate determined to do what he could to free Jesus. Though He was innocent, he decided to have Him scourged to appeal to the sympathy of the crowd.
2 Then the soldiers took Jesus to the courtyard below to have some fun with Him. One of them got a thorn branch, twisted it to look like a crown of laurels such as the Caesars wore, and forced it down on Jesus’ head. Another brought an old purple robe and threw it over His shoulders.
3 They all saluted and shouted, “Hail to the King of the Jews!” Each one stepped forward and slapped Jesus. When they finished mocking Him, they scourged Him as Pilate had ordered until His back was shredded.
4 Finally Pilate called for the guards to bring Jesus back. He then said to the Jewish leaders, “In a minute I’ll let you see what I’ve done to Him. I want you to reconsider and let Him go.” (John 19:1-4)
Pilate Then Attempts to Set Him Free
5 Then he called for Jesus, who was brought out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said, “Look at the Man! He’s covered with blood! What more do you want?”
6 When the chief priests and Temple officers saw Jesus, they said, “We want Him crucified!” Then the mob started shouting, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Their lack of sympathy for an innocent man really upset Pilate. Finally, he said, “If you want this Man crucified, then go ahead and crucify Him. But I find Him ‘Not guilty’!” (John 19:5-6)
Unsatisfied, with mere punishment, the Jewish Leaders Insisted that Jesus Die.
7 The Jewish leaders said, “According to our law, He ought to die because He claims to be the Son of God.”
8 When Pilate heard that, he was afraid.
9 So he took Jesus back inside and said to Him, “Where did you originally come from?” Jesus stood without answering.
10 Pilate looked at Jesus and said, “Aren’t you going to answer me? Don’t you know that I have power to have you crucified or to let you go?”
11 Jesus answered, “Actually, you couldn’t do a thing to me unless heaven allowed it. But those who brought me to you will have the greater guilt.” (John 19:7-11)
Pilate, sensing the seriousness of the situation, pronounced Jesus King of the Jews
12 After this, Pilate tried even harder to release Jesus, but the Jewish leaders kept reminding him that such an act would put him in opposition to Caesar by letting someone go who claimed to be the King of Judea. Pilate immediately sensed the seriousness of the situation.
13 He knew that the Jews would not hesitate to accuse him of protecting a rival king before the emperor. So he had Jesus brought out again and took his seat as Roman judge on the platform called Gabbatha, meaning The High Stone Pavement.
14 By this time it was about six o’clock in the morning on the preparation day before the weekly Sabbath, which that year was also the Sabbath of the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. After Pilate took his seat, he said to the Jewish leaders, “Here’s your King! Look at Him!” (John 19:12-14)
The Mob Insist that Jesus be Crucified
15 The mob shouted back, “Take Him away! Crucify Him!” Pilate cried out again, “You mean I should crucify your King?” The crowd, encouraged by the Jewish leaders, shouted louder than ever, “We have no king but Caesar!” (John 19:15)
Pilate Sentences Jesus to Death and turned him over to the Roman Soldiers to be crucified.
16 Then Pilate pronounced the sentence and turned Jesus over to the soldiers for crucifixion. And they led Him away. (John 19:16)
The Roman Soldiers take Jesus to be Crucified
17 They took Jesus to the courtyard below and placed on His shoulders the heavy crossbeam to carry to a place outside the city called Golgotha, meaning The Place of the Skull. (John 19:17)
Roman soldiers hang Jesus on the cross between two prisoners sentenced to die.
18 There they crucified Jesus between two of Barabbas’ men, one on His right and the other on His left. (Split)
19 Over His head they nailed a sign that Pilate had ordered which said, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”
20 This attracted people’s attention and brought many visitors who were in Jerusalem for the Passover out to the crucifixion site. The sign was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, so that as many as possible could read it.
21 The chief priests went to Pilate and said, “The sign shouldn’t read, ‘Jesus, the King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He Claimed to Be King of the Jews.’”
22 Pilate replied, “What I have written stays written!” (John 19-22)
The soldiers Gamble for Jesus Rob
23 Meanwhile, at the crucifixion site, the soldiers took what Jesus had worn and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier, but when they looked at His warm outer robe, they noticed that it was seamless, woven from top to bottom.
24 So they said, “This is too nice a robe to tear and divide. Let’s gamble for it.” This is what David had prophesied centuries before. So the Scripture was fulfilled which said, “They will divide my clothes and gamble for my robe.” And this is what the soldiers did. (John 19:23-24)
Meanwhile, Mary the mother of Jesus was Entrusted to John
25 Standing near the cross crying were Mary the mother of Jesus, her sister Salome, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene the sister of Lazarus.
26 When Jesus saw His mother in tears and John the disciple trying to comfort her, He said, “Mother, don’t cry. Take John to be your son in my place. He’ll take care of you.”
27 Then He said to John, “John, take care of my mother for me and consider yourself to be her son.” From that moment on, John took care of Mary and took her home to live with him. (John 19:25-27)
Lastly, Jesus Cries Out it is Finished and died.
28 Jesus knew that as soon as He died, His redemptive act would be complete, but His sufferings were intense. Being thirsty, He asked for a drink of water as the Scriptures had said He would.
29 Nearby was a jar of fermented wine mixed with a drug to help deaden pain. When the soldiers heard Jesus asking for water, they thought He wanted some painkiller. So one of them took a stick, put a sponge on the end, dipped it in the mixture and held it up to Jesus’ mouth for Him to drink.
30 When Jesus tasted it, He knew what it was and spit it out. Then He raised His head and cried out with an unexpectedly strong voice, “It is finished!” With that, He bowed His head and died. (John 19:28-30)
Thus, In verse 30, Jesus says, “It is finished” (John 19:30, ERV). Why are these words so important? What do they mean?
Jesus’ final scenes were the most crucial moments for Him, for humankind, and for the entire universe. During these moments he struggled against the powers of darkness, the powers of evil.
Jesus prayed and made his way through the Garden of Gethsemane. Then Jesus was arrested, dragged from court to court, and given unfair trials. Then He went on to the mountain of Calvary, and there he died. All the while, evil angels were there trying to overcome Him.
Matthew 27:42 lets us know that while Jesus was hanging on the cross, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders mocked Him, saying “ ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him ” (Matthew 27:42, NKJV).
Did Jesus have the power to come off the cross and save Himself?
Yes, he did! But he was not willing to do so. Why, because of his unconditional love for humanity and his commitment to saving us, sinners.
Thus, Jesus did not try to save Himself. He cared more about saving us, humans. He loves us so very much. He not only loves those who accept him as Savior, he even loves even the ones who crucified him and made fun of Him while He was dying on the cross.
You may have heard the word, Gospel. Gospel means Good News! The Good News is Jesus won the war against Satan and his kingdom. How? By His suffering. It was Satan who was responsible for instigating the events that led to Jesus’ death on the cross.
It was Satan himself who led Judas to betray Jesus as indicated in John 6:70; and John 13:2, 27.
John 6:70
70 Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?” (John 6:70)
John 13:2, 27
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him,
27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, “What you do, do quickly.” (John 13:2, 27)
Thus, When Jesus cried, “ ‘It is finished ” in John 19:30, two things happened.
First, His agony and suffering on the cross had come to an end.
And Second, He won the cosmic war against Satan and his evil forces.
“All heaven triumphed in the Saviour’s victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 758.
For it to require the death of Jesus, God’s Son, the Creator of the Universe to come and die to save humanity, sin must be awful, really bad!
What Jesus did lets us know that our good behavior or good works have no merits when it comes to our salvation.
There is nothing we can add or take away from the ultimate price that Christ has already paid to save us.
Jesus went through all that agony and died to save us. How can we, you take advantage of his saving grace? Find out in Day 5: He Died for Us
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