Over the course of the last several weeks, we have spent time observing Lent in careful self-reflection, taking a hard look at our own lives and allowing the Holy Spirit to show us areas in which we need to ask God to make us better people. There have been times where this self-discovery has been difficult. Perhaps you have found areas in your life that need some work. Maybe it’s in your relationships with other people, your prayer life or another area that isn’t in complete subjection to God’s plan for you.
Passion Week, or the seven days between Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and His resurrection marks the end of Lent. Over these last few days leading up to Easter, we have been looking at each of Jesus’ seven declarations from the cross. The words that Christ spoke in His final hours of life contain as much power as any of the other words that He spoke.
The Bible doesn’t discuss a lot of what happened on Holy Saturday. We know that Christ descended into the innermost parts of the earth and delivered the Old Testament heroes of the faith who never had the chance to believe in Jesus as the Promised Messiah. While we should certainly spend some time today reflecting on the price that Christ paid for our salvation and the power of His death and resurrection, we don’t have a lot of details about Holy Saturday. However, it does provide us with the chance to look at the sixth declaration that Christ made from His cross.
It Is Finished
John 19:30 (TPT)
When he had sipped the sour wine, he said, “It is finished, my bride!” Then he bowed his head and surrendered his spirit to God.
The sipping of the sour wine was the last prophesy that Christ had to fulfill during His life. Once He had taken a drink, He knew that He had done everything that He was supposed to do in His role as the Promised Messiah. What Jesus knew when He said He was thirsty in John 19:28, He verbalized in John 19:30. His job was completed. The role that He was assigned in the eternal salvation of humanity was over. It was finished.
Everything was completed. Yes, Jesus was going to rise again from the dead, but He would be resurrected in a supernatural, glorified body. His natural life on earth was completed. His earthly ministry was done. His suffering had ended. But that wasn’t all that Jesus was saying when he cried out, “It is finished.”
Take note of the fact that He said, “It is finished, my bride!” The church is often referred to as “the bride of Christ.” You and I are part of Christ’s bride and the Bible promises that we will have a seat at the wedding feast of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9. When He cried out that everything was finished, He wasn’t addressing the unbelieving mob who demanded that He be crucified. He wasn’t speaking to the Roman soldiers who were responsible with nailing Him to the tree and overseeing His execution. He was speaking to believers. He was speaking to John, who was comforting a grieving Mary at the foot of the cross while trying to navigate his own feelings of sorrow. He was addressing the other women who had devoted their lives to following Him. He was talking to us. Thousands of years before any of us would ever enter into a relationship with God, He told us that everything was finished.
It’s also important that we remember that Jesus didn’t speak English. Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the word that He used when He said, “It is finished,” was “Tetelestai.” In common terms, tetelestai signified the completion of a task. However, the term also had another meaning. It was an accounting term that signaled that an outstanding debt had been completely repaid. When someone owed a lender money, they would receive something marked “tetelestai” when they had finished repaying their debt. So when we read that Jesus cried out, “It is finished,” He actually cried out, “Paid in full!”
What was paid? The sin debt of all of humanity. While Christ was the victim of a completely rigged trial that saw him stand before six judges or juries before He was sentenced to die, He wasn’t a victim in regard to God’s plan for humanity. He was the payment. Sin comes with a cost. In the Old Testament, there was a yearly sacrifice of spotless, unblemished animals were sacrificed by the priest. Every family was responsible for providing an animal that met the criteria laid out in Leviticus 4 that would serve as the payment for their sins. The animal would be sacrificed according to the rituals that God gave to Moses and the atonement would suffice for the family for the next calendar year.
Blood was always a part of paying the price of sin. In fact, Leviticus 17:11 says that, “without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins.” The same verse teaches us that “the life is in the blood.” The only repayment for the debt incurred by sin is a life. When Adam and Eve committed the first sin in the Garden of Eden, God covered their sins by killing an animal and clothing them with its skin (Genesis 3:21).
Jesus’ declaration that everything was finished was actually a decree that our debt had been paid in full. Offering His Son as the perfect, spotless sacrifice for sin had always been God’s plan to pay for our redemption.
Revelation 13:8 (NKJV)
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
When God created the world in Genesis 1 and 2, He knew that we would sin. That’s why He created a plan in that moment. God had a Son, but He wanted a family. The only way that He could have that family come to where He is was to create a way to pay the debt associated with their sin.
What It Means for Us
Our debt being paid in full allows us to walk in the freedom associated with God’s forgiveness. The enemy of our souls wants to ensure that you don’t feel like you have truly been forgiven. If you don’t believe that you have been forgiven, you are more apt to return to a life of sin. Satan’s accusations have no weight for the child of God, though.
Revelation 12:11 (TPT)
They conquered him completely through the blood of the Lam and the powerful word of their testimony. They triumphed because they did love and cling to their own lives, even when faced with death.
The “him” that Revelation 12:11 references is Satan. Even though this verse discusses the faithfulness of those who have been martyred for their faith, the fact that they overcome the accuser (Revelation 12:10) because of the blood of the Lamb. His blood ensures that we can rest in the promise of God’s forgiveness for our sins.
On this Holy Saturday, spend some time reflecting on the price that was paid for your soul on Good Friday. But also spend time thanking God for the fact that your sin debt has been paid in full. There was nothing we could have done in order to repay that debt. It took the sinless, spotless Lamb of God’s willingness to shed His blood on the cross. Because of that sacrifice, we can stand on the truth that our sins are forgiven and our eternity is sealed. Our price has been paid in full!
A Closing Prayer
God, thank You for offering Your Only Son as the sacrifice that was required to cover my sin debt. Jesus, thank You for willingly laying down your life in order to repay the debt that I owed. I fully realize that I could never repay that debt. I could never be the sinless sacrifice that was required to pay a debt of that magnitude. Your love, Your willingness to die for me and Your holiness ensures that I can stand against the accuser and overcome him because of Your blood. For that, I am eternally thankful. In Your name, Amen!