What did Jesus mean when He said, “It is finished”?

What did Jesus mean when He said, It is finished? Of the last sayings of Christ on the cross, none is more important or more poignant than It is finished.

Found only in the Gospel of John, the Greek word translated It is finished is Tetelestai, an accounting term that means paid in full.

When Jesus uttered these words, He was declaring the debt owed to His Father was wiped away completely and forever.

Not that Jesus wiped away any debt that He owed to the Father, rather Jesus eliminated the debt owed by mankind, the debt of sin.

Just prior to His arrest by the Romans, Jesus prayed His last public prayer, asking the Father to glorify

Him. Just as Jesus had glorified the Father on earth, having finished the work you have given me to do.

The work Jesus was sent to do was to seek and save that which is lost. To provide atonement for the sins of all who would ever believe in Him, and to reconcile sinful men to a holy

God. All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sin against them, and He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

None other but God in the flesh could accomplish such a task. Also completed was the fulfillment of all

Old Testament prophecies, symbols, and foreshadowings of the coming Messiah. From Genesis to Malachi, there are over 300 specific prophecies detailing the coming of the

Anointed One, all fulfilled by Jesus. From the seed who would crush the servant's head, to the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, to the prediction of the messenger of the

Lord, John the Baptist, who would prepare the way for the Messiah, all prophecies of Jesus' life, ministry, and death were fulfilled and finished on the cross.

Although the redemption of mankind is the most important finished task, many other things were finished at the cross.

The sufferings Jesus endured while on earth, and especially in His last hours, were at last over. God's will for Jesus was accomplished in His perfect obedience to the

Father. Most importantly, the power of sin and Satan was finished. No longer would mankind have to suffer the flaming arrows of the evil one.

By raising the shield of faith and the one who completed the work of redemption and salvation, we can, by faith, live as new creations in Christ.

Jesus' finished work on the cross was the beginning of new life for all who were once dead in trespasses and sins, but who are now made alive with Christ.