Later knowing that everything had now been finished…When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John 19:28 -30 (here and there.)

We come to Jesus’ sixth word on the cross.  After six hours hanging on the cross, slowly dying, Jesu cries out, “It is finished?”  John, the Gospel writer and a witness to these events, wrote that Jesus knew that everything had now been finished. We stand before a mystery here.

If Jesus is simply saying that he is dying, we have no problem with that.  But, listen my friend, what he had done changed the relationship between God and mankind forever, something so huge that we can scarcely grasp it.  So, it was Jesus announcing the coming of the new era in heaven and earth.

His shed blood, his poured-out life ushered in an entirely new era.  The victory is won. This is the praise song of all of us who believe, out of every tribe and nation.   Jesus was and is right!

One of my favorite passages is this cry of Jesus, It is finished.  For me, the ‘it’ is my salvation and that of every believer. And there is far more than that – which I am beginning to perceive.

That battle, the huge one, is over.  Victory is won. Now all mankind can be saved by believing on Jesus.