It is Finished
Jesus and a Cup of JoeMarch 27, 202400:27:1024.88 MB

It is Finished

Jesus' words “it is finished” seem strange. After all, he was dying on the cross. What had he finished? What his audience didn't know was that his death on the cross was accomplishing something life-changing.

[00:00:00] Hi everybody, I'm Jerry Wicker, the host of the Savvy Beach Bums Podcast, which is

[00:00:06] a personal development podcast focused on exploring the day-to-day behaviors.

[00:00:11] We all engage in that determine the results we gain in our lives.

[00:00:16] It's where I share simple strategies you can use to help you live the Beach Bum Life,

[00:00:21] which is a life of freedom like a beach bump without being broke.

[00:00:25] You can always check out all the latest with the Savvy Beach Bums Podcast on our blog,

[00:00:30] which is www.savvybeachbums.wordpress.com.

[00:00:33] You can email us at www.savvybeachbums.com and be sure to click subscribe wherever you

[00:00:39] listen to podcasts to the Savvy Beach Bums Podcast.

[00:00:43] And as always, Beach Bums and Mermaids, live free.

[00:00:47] Peace.

[00:00:49] Right now, though, let's get back to more of the Jesus and a Cup of Joe podcast with my

[00:00:54] good friend Royce Bottoms.

[00:00:59] Hello and welcome to the Jesus and a Cup of Joe Podcast to show that brings you a conversation

[00:01:04] about Jesus, the Bible and life.

[00:01:06] Here is your host Royce Bottoms.

[00:01:12] Hey, welcome to the day show.

[00:01:13] Glad you're able to join me.

[00:01:14] Hope in prayer you're having a fantastic day.

[00:01:16] I'll see you in the next episode.

[00:01:17] I'm going to get you a great cup of Joe and let's get ready to go.

[00:01:19] So at the time of this recording, it is Palm Sunday.

[00:01:21] We are going to be entering the Holy Week.

[00:01:26] Talk about everything that Jesus did as he's coming into Jerusalem and everything that

[00:01:30] leads up to the crucifixion and the resurrection which we celebrate as Easter, which like I

[00:01:36] said, we're a week away from that.

[00:01:40] But today, I want to focus on three simple words.

[00:01:46] It is finished.

[00:01:49] And so that's what I want to focus today.

[00:01:50] I want to look at this, dig into this and see what it means when the words it is finished

[00:01:59] is spoken.

[00:02:00] All right?

[00:02:01] So, so let's get into this.

[00:02:03] We know that every year typically on Good Friday, the churches preach Jesus in the last

[00:02:09] seven sayings on the cross.

[00:02:12] Some churches use the seven different speakers.

[00:02:15] Each person covers one of the sayings, okay?

[00:02:19] One of the last things that Jesus said on the cross was it is finished.

[00:02:24] Why did Jesus say this?

[00:02:26] Why did He say it is finished?

[00:02:29] What does it mean for you and me when He said this?

[00:02:34] Sometimes you don't need to say a lot to mean a lot.

[00:02:37] This is one of those times because there's so much packed into those three words.

[00:02:45] Four gospels provide four different accounts of Jesus' death, finding seven things Jesus

[00:02:50] said on the cross requires you to read all the accounts of the gospels.

[00:02:55] It is only in the gospel of John where you will find Jesus saying it is finished.

[00:03:01] John 1930 and when he received the drink, Jesus said it is finished.

[00:03:06] He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

[00:03:10] The Greek word for it is finished is totelicite, okay?

[00:03:16] Totelicite that's the Greek word for it is finished.

[00:03:21] But see what happened before Jesus said this?

[00:03:24] What all took place?

[00:03:26] If you look at the different accounts of Jesus in the crucifixion we know that he cried

[00:03:31] out in a loud voice right before he died.

[00:03:34] To bind with the evidence from the four gospels I believe that it is possible with a reasonable

[00:03:39] certainty to figure out the last things Jesus said before he died.

[00:03:43] Based on the gospels it is finished, it's more likely to be the next and the last thing

[00:03:48] he ever said.

[00:03:49] In all accounts of the crucifixion especially in Matthew, Mark and John we know that Jesus

[00:03:54] was offered a sponge of wine vinegar to drink.

[00:03:58] John's gospel, it is one that lets us know that Jesus says I'm thirsty.

[00:04:05] And after being offered this drink in Matthew and Mark tells us that Jesus cried out

[00:04:10] in a loud voice as he gave up his spirit.

[00:04:13] But John's gospel simply says that Jesus said it is finished.

[00:04:19] With no mention to him crying out loud, Luke quotes the words that he cried out loud

[00:04:25] father into your hands I commit my spirit.

[00:04:29] Considering these factors and we're looking at the four gospels collectively, I believe

[00:04:32] it's reasonably to assume that Luke's account for these last words of Jesus to be close

[00:04:40] to what took place following all the lines of reasoning.

[00:04:45] But see one thing I want to do real quick is to say this don't get wrapped around the

[00:04:51] axles with this.

[00:04:53] Don't get wrapped around the axles looking at the four gospels going I wonder why they

[00:04:57] said this and why they didn't say this.

[00:05:00] Remember, four different accounts of Jesus's life.

[00:05:04] Luke was the great physician he was going to write in a different manner than everyone else.

[00:05:11] Luke wrote as a physician of what he was told the evidence that he saw and that's how

[00:05:17] he wrote.

[00:05:18] Matthew recorded the way Matthew recorded John and Mark.

[00:05:22] It was all done in their different perspectives.

[00:05:26] But the key to this is to say this before we continue on that Palm Sunday, which is today

[00:05:37] Jesus is riding into Jerusalem on a cult.

[00:05:42] The crowds are throwing prom branches down they are they are singing in Chantin, Hosea,

[00:05:49] Hosea to the highest.

[00:05:51] They are praising him as he's coming in.

[00:05:54] And then the things that take place over the next five days changes the entire course

[00:06:02] of history.

[00:06:03] Now it's not a surprise.

[00:06:07] It's not a surprise to Jesus.

[00:06:08] It's not a surprise to God on what is going to take place because that has already been

[00:06:13] set in motion.

[00:06:15] That was set in motion from the prophecies, from the scriptures that had to be complete.

[00:06:20] And that's what we'll get into in a minute.

[00:06:22] But it had to be done.

[00:06:23] But to everybody else, it was a surprise to the readers of the scriptures.

[00:06:28] It's a surprise, especially if you are not a follower of Jesus.

[00:06:34] So how did these people go from praising Jesus to call him for his crucifixion?

[00:06:42] What change?

[00:06:43] What switch was flipped to make them want to lift up this man who is the Messiah, who is

[00:06:51] the Savior of the world, who's the Savior of the Jews, the King of the Jews to want to

[00:06:56] crucify?

[00:06:58] It's interesting once you get into the scriptures and you start reading on what, what all

[00:07:03] you see.

[00:07:04] But I don't want to digress on that right now.

[00:07:06] I want to stick with today's topic.

[00:07:10] So why did Jesus say it's finished if the resurrection hadn't happened yet?

[00:07:20] The term, it is finished only appears in John's Gospel.

[00:07:23] So why did he say it was finished after all there was more to do.

[00:07:27] For example, the resurrection when Jesus uttered these words, he could have said confidently

[00:07:34] three things were finished by the death on the cross.

[00:07:38] But listen, we know that everything led up to this.

[00:07:44] We know that everything was leading up to the prophecies being fulfilled.

[00:07:50] So the scriptures would have been fulfilled.

[00:07:53] In Jesus said, I am thirsty.

[00:07:54] A jar of wine vinegar was also there and they soaked a sponge and put it up to his lips.

[00:08:01] He received a drink and then he said it was finished.

[00:08:04] Okay?

[00:08:05] So with that, he bowed his head and gave up the spirit that's found in John 1928 through

[00:08:10] 30.

[00:08:11] Jesus' life and death complete many of the prophecies which we find throughout the Old Testament

[00:08:17] even when Jesus was in the place of agony close to the point of death.

[00:08:21] He remembered every prophecy written and it made sure that each one would be fulfilled.

[00:08:29] When he was certain that all the prophecies were fulfilled including the ones about

[00:08:33] his resurrection, that's when he knew that everything was fulfilled in three days and

[00:08:39] he knew his aspect of work was finished.

[00:08:43] Okay?

[00:08:44] So why did he say it was finished?

[00:08:46] He was completing.

[00:08:48] He was completing the job he had to do that it was put on this earth to do which was to

[00:08:55] make a way for us to have that relationship with God again.

[00:08:59] Alright, another work that was finished on the cross was the judgment and the punishment

[00:09:03] of sin necessary for our redemption because if you go back to the Garden of Eden after

[00:09:09] Adam and Eve sin, God covered them with garments made of the skin of the animals and that's

[00:09:15] found in Genesis 321 and last time that I know, removed the skin of an animal, you had

[00:09:22] to kill it by doing it and by doing this God established the principle that something

[00:09:26] or someone had to die for sin to be covered or dealt with.

[00:09:31] Have you ever thought about that?

[00:09:34] When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden when they ate the forbidden fruit, they

[00:09:40] had to cover themselves with animal skin as clothing.

[00:09:44] Well, you just can't walk up to an animal and take its hide off of it once still alive.

[00:09:50] You had to kill it so you had to shed the blood.

[00:09:53] Isn't that the same thing that they did at the altar with Abraham or Moses or whoever

[00:10:07] they had to offer a sacrifice correct?

[00:10:11] And something I'll draw your attention to and I'll show you how the connection is.

[00:10:14] We talk about this judgment of sin and the animals dying for the sin to be covered, right?

[00:10:22] But if you have studied the Bible think back for a second.

[00:10:25] Let's look back real quick to Abraham.

[00:10:29] When Abraham is taking Isaiah to the mountain because God says you're going to sacrifice

[00:10:34] him to me.

[00:10:35] And so they're going up on the mountain and Isaac says these words and now I'm paraphrasing

[00:10:40] because I don't have the scripture open in front of me.

[00:10:42] I'm paraphrasing on this but he says he's talking to Abraham and he says he said father we

[00:10:48] have the wood.

[00:10:50] We have the fire, we have the ropes, we have the knife, we have everything for the offering

[00:10:56] but where is the sacrifice?

[00:10:58] And what did Abraham say it?

[00:10:59] He said God will provide the sacrifice and he did.

[00:11:03] He provided the perfect sacrifice Jesus.

[00:11:09] That's what he did.

[00:11:10] All right, the killing of these animals to cover the sin of Adam and Eve was foreshadowed

[00:11:17] by the sacrifice required by the law to cover the Israelite skin.

[00:11:22] Ultimately you got to understand this.

[00:11:24] Ultimately at this point the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was to cover our sins and

[00:11:29] remove them.

[00:11:30] Period.

[00:11:32] It wasn't to do anything else but to cover our sins just like they did in the Old Testament

[00:11:39] by sacrificing for their sins.

[00:11:44] Because of sin the price needed to be paid to satisfy the judgment of the sin that requires.

[00:11:52] When Jesus was on the cross God placed him, placed all the sins of the world only and

[00:11:58] by doing that he fulfilled the required judgment and we're reminded of this in Isaiah 53,

[00:12:04] 5 and 6 where we know that all of the iniquities were laid on the Jesus because he became

[00:12:10] wants and all the sacrifice that was needed to meet God's justice.

[00:12:17] It was foretold even with Isaiah.

[00:12:20] So I hope you understand what all is happening and how all of this is fitting in because

[00:12:27] this all goes to point to what happens on Good Friday.

[00:12:34] And I've had people say, well why do you call it good Friday when Jesus dies because

[00:12:39] he paid the price for us to have a relationship with God without that we would have never

[00:12:45] had a relationship with God.

[00:12:47] We would have never had eternity in heaven.

[00:12:49] We would have been damned to hell because of our sins but what Jesus did on the cross

[00:12:56] was able to rectify us and make a way for us to have a relationship with God again.

[00:13:03] So forgiving the sins that were made available through the shedding of blood.

[00:13:08] Think about that, forgiveness of our sins were made through the shedding of blood.

[00:13:12] In fact, the law required that nearly everyone to be cleansed with blood without shedding

[00:13:18] of the blood there would be no forgiveness.

[00:13:21] Hebrews 9 and 22, by Jesus dying on a cross and shedding his blood he provided forgiveness

[00:13:26] of sin because of the judgment of sin which is death and the payment of the sin which

[00:13:31] is the blood they were both complete.

[00:13:34] Jesus could say it is finished.

[00:13:39] The judgment of sin the wages of sin is death.

[00:13:44] The payment was the shedding of the blood.

[00:13:47] Remember you had a sacrifice, something or someone.

[00:13:52] So why not the perfect Lamb?

[00:13:54] Why not the Son of God?

[00:13:56] Why not the perfect Lamb that paid the perfect price?

[00:14:02] Pay the price that you and I could never pay.

[00:14:05] You and I could never fathom trying to pay that price but Jesus did it for us.

[00:14:12] He knew us before we were born.

[00:14:13] He knows us today.

[00:14:16] You might want to figure out how could all this be a finish to the work if they are still

[00:14:22] the raising of the dead or the resurrection.

[00:14:25] The work of Jesus did on the cross to pay the full price of our redemption and provide

[00:14:30] a remedy for forgiveness of sin just as it was required.

[00:14:37] That particular part of the work was finished and the payment for our redemption was forever

[00:14:42] satisfied.

[00:14:43] And so we can learn that not only did Christ shed his blood for us but he did it and he

[00:14:50] only did it once to pay for everything and to pay for each and every one of us.

[00:14:56] Christ shed his blood for you and I.

[00:15:00] He shed his blood for all of us.

[00:15:05] That's why when Jesus can say it is finished on the cross, that's why it was truly finished

[00:15:10] because of all that he had done for us.

[00:15:15] Everything that he endured, the work that was necessary for our salvation and completely

[00:15:23] forgiveness into to have that relationship with God was fulfilled.

[00:15:30] The last fact that we need to address which ties all of this information together, we must

[00:15:35] talk for a moment about the resurrection.

[00:15:38] Now it's true that the work on the cross to pay the price was in full, which Jesus did.

[00:15:45] And that's why he said it is finished.

[00:15:48] It is the resurrection that sealed the deal.

[00:15:51] When Jesus rose from the dead, he demonstrated that he was Lord over sin, death and the grave.

[00:15:57] His resurrection also proved that Jesus who was who he said he was.

[00:16:03] It is through the resurrection that we are giving hope for an eternal life because

[00:16:07] he lives we can also live.

[00:16:11] His resurrection set to stage so what we can believe in him, therefore the foundation of

[00:16:17] our faith and hope is in Jesus because Jesus is our raisin savior.

[00:16:24] We can confidently trust in him knowing that our sins are forgiven because of the cross

[00:16:30] and because of the eternal life is secured through the resurrection.

[00:16:35] The work is already finished.

[00:16:38] This means that the salvation, our redemption, our eternal life is complete and sealed by

[00:16:43] Jesus forever.

[00:16:45] This provides hope in Christ which is not only in this life but eternity.

[00:16:54] If it was Paul would have said it in 1 Corinthians 1519, he would have said it because he says

[00:17:03] if you have hope in this life only, you are the man most miserable.

[00:17:07] That is true because if we don't have the hope that Jesus did do exactly what he was

[00:17:12] supposed to do and he didn't resurrect because there are some people in this world that

[00:17:17] don't believe that.

[00:17:19] They believe Jesus was a good man.

[00:17:20] They believe he was a great prophet.

[00:17:22] They believe he did great things but see they don't want to believe that he was the son

[00:17:25] of God.

[00:17:26] A lot of people don't want to believe that he resurrected on the third day like he said.

[00:17:31] When Jesus told him, even told the Pharisees, you tear down the temple and I'm rebuilding

[00:17:37] three days they thought it was a physical building.

[00:17:40] He was talking about his body.

[00:17:44] Because Jesus is our Savior we can trust Him and that's what we need to take away from

[00:17:51] this.

[00:17:52] It's having our trust and our hope in Lord Jesus Christ because of the work that he did

[00:17:57] on the cross.

[00:17:59] We can rejoice today because no matter what happens in our life, you can be certain that

[00:18:03] the work is finished.

[00:18:05] Your salvation is forever secured because of this.

[00:18:10] So the last words that were on the cross that Jesus said.

[00:18:15] So I have pulled up some information all from the gospels and I'll share this in closing.

[00:18:23] So besides it is finished, what was the last words that Jesus said?

[00:18:28] Well, if we look at Luke 2334's his father forgive them for they know not what they do.

[00:18:35] Luke 2343 truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise.

[00:18:40] He's talking to one of the thieves right?

[00:18:43] I talked about that in the last episode about three crosses.

[00:18:50] Two needed salvation and one could provide it.

[00:18:53] So if you haven't had a chance to take a listen to that, please do.

[00:18:56] All right.

[00:18:57] John 1926 through 27 woman behold your son son behold your mother.

[00:19:02] This is where Jesus is telling him say hey take care of her because I'm about to leave

[00:19:07] here Matthew 2746 and also found in mark 1534 my God my God why have you forsaken me?

[00:19:15] And I want to stop right there real quick.

[00:19:17] I want to own a key in on this one because this one used to use to bother me when I read

[00:19:23] it all the time on my God my God why have you forsaken me?

[00:19:28] And I often always wondered I said I wonder why God did what he did when Jesus called out

[00:19:34] to him.

[00:19:35] Why did he do this and then throughout the years of learning and throughout the years

[00:19:39] of study and pray and and and learning.

[00:19:42] He came to me that not only to God not see sin and all the sin of the world was placed

[00:19:50] on Jesus.

[00:19:53] But remember Jesus some believe is God in the flesh.

[00:19:59] He's a part of the Trinity the father the son and the Holy Spirit.

[00:20:02] So I believe that there was a moment where God had to turn his back in a sense to take

[00:20:09] away that spiritual aspect to allow him to suffer and die as a man.

[00:20:16] That's what I believe but it breaks my heart to hearing cry out my God my God why have

[00:20:21] you forsaken me?

[00:20:23] So John 1928 he says I thirst 1930 it is finished Luke 2346 then Jesus called out and loud

[00:20:32] voice father into your hands I commit my spirit and after he said this he breathed his

[00:20:39] last so seven other things that Jesus said besides it is finished.

[00:20:47] So what does all this have to do with it you're going to ask what does all this have to do

[00:20:52] about about a good Friday about the resurrection about any of this well it's like this without

[00:21:06] Jesus we would not have salvation without the works that Jesus did the three years on

[00:21:16] the ministry that he did on this earth we would not have an eternal life with God the father.

[00:21:27] Everything that Jesus did he did to fulfill all that was written because you got to remember

[00:21:34] it was it was prophesied way before this prophesied belief through Daniel through Isaiah

[00:21:41] Jeremiah speaks about it all the prophets talk about the coming Messiah Isaiah talks the

[00:21:47] most when he says that there will be born a savior and his name will be Emmanuel which

[00:21:58] means God is with us.

[00:22:00] And so Isaiah really goes into great details on this.

[00:22:05] So as we get ready to celebrate Easter we get ready to celebrate the resurrection of our

[00:22:11] Lord and Savior we need not forget all that took place that got us to good Friday all

[00:22:21] that Jesus endured in those five days when he was taken and he was whipped he was beaten

[00:22:28] he was scorned he was mocked he was spit on in our behalf.

[00:22:34] He was drug from court to court he was slapped around he was treated worse than a criminal

[00:22:42] for our behalf and own our behalf when he did the last supper when he shared the last

[00:22:52] meal with his disciples when he told Judas to go do what he needed to do.

[00:23:00] He did all of it because he knew what was coming now did Jesus in a sense really want to

[00:23:08] die on a cross did you want to die the way he was going to die there's been a lot of

[00:23:13] different speculations throughout the years I can tell you he had a job to do.

[00:23:20] Do you want to wrap his arms around it full court and say this is what I want to do.

[00:23:26] Not if you read what he said in the garden of Cassimony when he was praying that God would

[00:23:30] remove that cup from him but he ended it with let your will be done but not mine because

[00:23:37] he knew what he had to do right there's not one of us today that we would be facing death

[00:23:44] that we wouldn't be doing the same thing. That's why there's a book from a great author

[00:23:51] it's called No Atheist and Foxholes and it's written by a naval chaplain who wrote this

[00:23:58] book through all the accounts of different conflicts and different stories because I'm

[00:24:03] going to tell you what when the bullets start flying and things start blowing up there's

[00:24:07] not an atheist around because everybody starts praying to God everybody starts calling

[00:24:12] out on the God's name it's amazing on how everybody wants to quit being an atheist when

[00:24:19] it comes to their life being in danger but like I said I don't want to digress it just

[00:24:24] all I find that as that very interesting so as I get ready wrap up with this week being

[00:24:31] Holy Week Easter Sunday next Sunday I won't each and ever one of you to take the time

[00:24:35] an opportunity to spend it with your friends and family spend it with your loved ones reflect

[00:24:41] on to what the true meaning of Easter is and what our Lord and Savior did for us. He went

[00:24:48] to the cross he paid a price that we couldn't pay so we could have eternity with him and

[00:24:55] our Father and the tomb's empty it's empty today ladies and gentlemen there is nobody

[00:25:04] to be found in that tomb okay so I want all of you to have a wonderful Easter I want all

[00:25:11] of you to have a wonderful week as we're celebrating the Holy Week going into Good Friday and may God

[00:25:19] bless each and ever one of you please subscribe following share subscribe to the podcast and the

[00:25:24] newsletter follow us on our social media and share us with your friends and family before I get

[00:25:30] out of here though I want to give a special shout out to one of my listeners she knows who she is

[00:25:38] she's been enjoying what she's hearing may God bless her and her family and just the generous donations

[00:25:47] guys right there's been there's been a lot of folks step up that that's showing love with donations

[00:25:53] and and kind words and I thank you for them bottom of my heart for that okay that just that just

[00:25:59] tells me it's not the job that I'm doing but it's it's seeing God work all right it's seeing God

[00:26:05] uses podcast for his purpose and go out there and touch lives and change lives that's what it's about

[00:26:12] all right so may God bless each and ever one of you once again happy Easter be with your friends

[00:26:18] of family and just remember you'll always start today with Jesus in the cup of Joe I'll catch you next time

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