When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished” and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
– John 19:30
Wow. I mean, every time you read one of the chapters in the gospels that describes Jesus’ death on the cross, is so sobering, humbling, overwhelming.
John 19:30 Teaches Us that Jesus Paid the Price for Our Sin
When you think about the magnitude of what was happening in that moment, the darkest day, in one sense, and all of history as God in the flesh as nailed to a cross, by the people He created, by rebellious sinners, to pay the price for all of our sin. My sin. Your sin. All of the sins we’ve committed against God, that we deserve eternal judgment for, which makes these last three words in John’s account of Jesus crucifixion, so awesome.
I wish I could think of a better word. I just don’t think there is a sufficient word to describe the wonder of Jesus saying, as He pays the price for my sin on a cross, and your sin on a cross, assuming you put your trust in Jesus. He declares, “It is finished.” The price has been paid.
Jesus has taken your sin and my sin, the sins of all who trust in Him upon himself. And in this moment, He speaks a final word over our sin. “It’s finished.” “As far as the East is from the West.” A quote from Psalm 103. “God has removed our transgressions from us, by pouring out the judgment do us, upon His son.”
Romans 3, maybe the greatest paragraph in all the Bible “God has presented Jesus as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood.” God has poured out the judgment we deserve upon His son, in our place, so that we might be justified before God, through faith in Jesus and His blood. Through faith in the finished work of Jesus. There’s no more atonement for you and I to do. No more work for us to do, to overcome our sin. To remove our sin. Jesus has done all that work.
John 19:30 Reminds Us We Are Free from Condemnation
It is finished and we live today in freedom, from the penalty of sin. From the power of sin. It is finished. So be encouraged in a fresh way today with these words from Jesus on a cross, and let’s pray accordingly.
God, we praise you for presenting your son as a sacrifice of atonement for our sin. Jesus, we exalt you as our Savior, as the one who saves us from our sins. As the one who has paid the ultimate price, endured the judgment we deserve, so that we might be forgiven of all our sins, so that we might be dressed in your righteousness, clothed in your sinless righteousness by faith in you. Yes, we say in a fresh way, all over again today, our faith is in you. Our trust is in you and the righteousness you bought for us when you finished this work on the cross.
And God, I pray that over the guilty, or the ashamed right now, that they would know their guilt has been taken away. Their shame has been removed. They’re clothed with honor. That you see all who trust in Jesus as righteous before you. God, help us to live in the joyful standing you have given us before you and to live out practically this righteousness you’ve made possible for us. God, help us to hate sin in our lives. To run from it. And to turn quickly from it. To resist temptation today, knowing how precious your sacrifice on the cross was for us.
God, we pray that you would help us to share with somebody today, about the finished work of Jesus.
Praying for the Uzbek People
We pray for the spread of this good news to the ends of the Earth. God, we pray for Uzbek people in Uzbekistan and surrounding countries. God, we pray for this Muslim people group. The gospel will spread. The finished work of Christ. The good news of Jesus’ death on the cross. Even thinking about it is finished.
Revelation 5, “Ransom has been paid for every tribe, nation, language and people.” Ransom has been paid for Uzbek people. So bring it about, oh God. Send laborers into the harvest field, cause success among all those who are working among Uzbek people, for the small number of Christians in Uzbekistan and surrounding countries working with Uzbek people. God, we pray that you give them success. That your finished work, Jesus, would be made known and would spread. We pray like wildfire among Uzbek people. Among all the nations, that all the peoples would know, it is finished. The price for sin has been paid by Jesus.
We praise you, Jesus, and we pray all these things in your name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
