Passion Week Devotion #6

Oak Valley Church
Passion Week 2021
Passion Week Devotions
Devotion 6 – April 3, 2021
Text: John 19:30-42; Hebrews 10:12-14

Focal Text: John 19:30, 40-42; Hebrews 10:12-14 – “When Jesus had received sour wine, he said,
“It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit…So they took the body of Jesus
and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. Now in the place
where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had
yet been laid. So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand,
they laid Jesus there.”

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand
of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a
single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
We certainly have not exhausted the abundant and multidimensional aspects of the
significance of the cross of Christ. We have but continued what should be a lifelong gaze upon
the beauty and benefits of Christ’s loving sacrifice. But as we close this season’s consideration
of the cross, for we now await Resurrection Sunday, let’s pause in the silence and reflect on the
finished work of Christ on the cross. Our text points us to those very words, which came not
from those who gathered around that hill and the three crosses outside of Jerusalem and not
from the executioners, but from the very lips of Christ, “It is finished.”
What did he mean? Much has been said and written about what he meant. But if we do not
separate the Person and Work of God Incarnate, Christ, and we take him at his word then we
can understand that all that his earthly life was to be about was finished. Let’s look at why he
said he came to earth.
• Matthew 5:17 – “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”
• Matthew 20:28 – “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his
life as a ransom for many.”
• Luke 12:49 - “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!
• Luke 19:10 – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
• John 10:10 – “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

The question we may have or at least some may have is: Does “finish” mean a state of
completion or just an end to something left incomplete? There are times when we say, “I am
finished or I am done.” We don’t mean that the work or job is complete. We just mean that our
efforts toward the objective is complete. And then there are times with great satisfaction we
say, “I am finished!” In those instances we mean the job is complete; it is finished.
What did Jesus mean? Let’s look ahead a bit to find the answer. We could recount promises
that he made throughout his earthly ministry and these would certainly point to the fact that at
least he intended to finish the job. An example of one of these promises is found in John 14:2-6.
“I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I
will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you maybe also…I am the way,
and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” It is clear that he
intends to complete his work, be resurrected, go to the Father and make preparations for those
who follow him, return to get them, receive them and welcome them to their new home, a
home where the Father is.

Now let’s take that look ahead. Listen to the words of a Resurrected Jesus. We are drawing a
distinction between a pre-cross Jesus and a post tomb Jesus. The post tomb Jesus said, “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end
of the age.”

What did he mean when he said, “It is finished.” He meant that all that he came to do was
done, complete, finished, finished to perfection! The justice of God was meted out. Jesus bore
the wrath of God for our sin. Do you remember our third devotional text, Colossians 2:13-14?
“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made
alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt
that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” The very
reason Paul was able to write, And you, who were dead in your trespasses…” is because Christ
did complete the work.

So, today as we wait in silence anticipating tomorrow’s journey to a tomb that we know is
empty and we gather with other believers and erupt into a time of great celebration for the life
that we now enjoy, remember that it is possible only because when he gave up his spirit, “It
was finished!” Nothing else in the way of payment for sin was necessary ever! “But when Christ
had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting
from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single
offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Heb. 10:12-14).

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for not quitting! Thank you for remaining faithful to your Person
and work! Thank you for suffering temptation yet not succumbing to it ever! Thank you for
enduring the cross! Thank you for finishing the work! Amen!

Hymn: It Was Finished Upon That Cross