"It Is Finished" - John 19:28-30 ESV
March 22, 2026 - Lent 5

It feels good when a long project, or season, or even a trip is finished, right? When that moment arrives, we feel relief. The work is done.

There are other parts of life that seem to go on and on ... never finished. Have you carried something for so long you can't imagine putting it down? Have you ever quietly wondered if you have done enough or are enough? Have you ever been worried that you haven't done enough to get right with God?

As we continue our series, Echoes From the Cross, we come to a moment that is completely unique in all of human history! Jesus is hanging on the cross. His body is exhausted. His breathing is labored. Darkness covers the land. And, with one last breath, Jesus says, "It is finished." John 19:30 Then He bows His head and gives up His spirit.

That short sentence carries the weight of the whole world. In Greek, it is just one word: tetelestai. It means something has been completed, accomplished, and brought to its intended goal. This is NOT the statement of a defeated man. They are the words of someone who knows He has fulfilled His mission. Jesus is not breathing His last in despair. He is announcing His victory!

Jesus spoke about His mission throughout His ministry. In John, chapter 4, He said, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." John 4:34 ESV The work is complete. / The story of salvation that runs through the entire Bible is focused right here at the cross. / The promise made in the garden of Eden. / The covenant given to Abraham. / The sacrifices offered in the temple for generations. / The words spoken by the prophets across centuries. All of it was pointing to this moment. When Jesus says <if possible, stamped across the list>"It is finished," He is stating, with His final breath, God's plan of salvation is complete!

Our sin debt has been paid. The barrier between God and us has been shattered. Our burden has been carried by Jesus. Nothing else can be added. Nothing needs to be improved. Jesus has done it all. The work is done. The debt is paid.

Let that sink in. One of the heaviest burdens we carry is the quiet fear that we have to do something more. We try to make up for our failures. We try to prove that we are worthy. We try to repair what is broken in our lives.

We carry guilt from the past. We carry regrets about things we said or did ... or things we left undone. Sometimes we carry the fear that maybe we haven't done enough for God to accept us. That fear is heavy. And it is a lie.

We are so ingrained in performance that we cannot accept that trying harder has NO PLACE in the Gospel. It is NOT about being more faithful. Doing better. If you struggle with those thoughts, listen! This word from the cross is for you. Jesus did not say the work is almost finished. He said, "It is finished." Nothing left to do. Jesus did it all. That is the message of the cross! It crushes any thought that we need to or ever could earn our salvation. It is finished! Our hope does not rest on our ability to fix our lives. Our hope rests securely on what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Jesus did the work. We receive the benefits.

John's Gospel adds another layer of meaning that deepens this moment. At the very beginning of the Gospel, John writes words that take us back to the opening of Genesis. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him all things were made." John 1:1-3 ESV. Like Pastor Steve emphasized last week, John wants us to understand that Jesus is not only the Savior who dies on the cross. He is God. He is the Creator through whom the world was made. The man hanging on the cross is the same One who spoke the universe into existence. Think of it: The Creator has entered His creation.

After Jesus cries out, "It is finished," notice what follows. His body is taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb. John tells us that the next day is the Sabbath. He says, It was the day of Preparation, and the coming Sabbath was a special one. John 19:31 ESV Jesus is buried before the Sabbath begins at sunset. And His body rests in the tomb during the Sabbath.

The connection to Genesis is striking. In Genesis, we read that after God finished the work of creation. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Genesis 2:2 The work was complete. The Creator rested.

Here at the cross, the Creator has finished the work of redemption, recreation. Jesus says, "It is finished," and His body rests in the tomb on the Sabbath. The pattern holds true. Work finished, time to rest.

All of this flows from Jesus' statement on the cross. "It is finished." Sin no longer has the final word. Guilt no longer has the final word. Death will not have the final word. Jesus has the final word!

Jesus finished the work that saves us. And because of that, we are invited to do something many of us struggle with. We are invited to rest. Not because life suddenly becomes easy. Not because suffering disappears. But because the most important work has already been completed.

Our salvation does not depend on our strength. It depends on Christ's finished work. Our hope does not rest on our ability to fix things that are broken. It depends on what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

This week, when you are tempted to believe that there is something you should do... Make a fist and say: Jesus did it all. If He said it, it is true! Then open our hands and let it go. You are free! And you are saved!

The questions we started with: Have I done enough? Have I worked hard enough? Will God accept me? Jesus answered every one of them on the cross. His answer was a single word in Greek. Tetelestai ... It is finished. A sentence that changed the world.

Let us pray: Lord Jesus, you said it. The work is finished. Not almost. Finished, complete. Help us remember that when we forget. Remind us: Our standing before you rests completely on Jesus and His work on the cross. That is enough. Amen.