What was finished?

Joh 19:30
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

When Jesus spoke those powerful words on the cross, what precisely was the "IT" that was finished. Bible students down through the ages have used this phrase of Jesus to mean many things including the "finish" of ages, dispensations, justice, the law, His sufferings, redemption... etc. etc.

What was He talking about?

FYI, the Greek for the phrase is actually "It has been finished"... meaning whatever it is that was finished was finished before he said the words. It was two verses prior to this that He realized that it was indeed finished:

Joh 19:28
28 After this, when Jesus realized that everything was now completed, he said (in order to fulfill the Scripture), "I'm thirsty."


Here are the literals showing the tense:
Joh 19:30
(LITV) Then when Jesus took the vinegar, He said, It has been finished. And bowing His head, He delivered up the spirit.
(YLT) when, therefore, Jesus received the vinegar, he said, `It hath been finished;' and having bowed the head, gave up the spirit.

If you respond, please answer this also....
If you think He was saying that all the requirements of redemption had been met and therefore it was the redemptive work that was finished, then why did He proceed on and die?
Why did He lie in the grave for three days and three nights? (I won't even get into the "hell" idea!).
Why did He not just swoop down off the cross and ascend unto the Father?
If "it is finsihed" referred to "finishing the covenant", then it would not make sense to say He then had to do something else to "seal it" with His death and resurrection. If He had to do something else, then He was not finished. Either the words "it is finished" applied to something else, or the death and resurrection were intended to accomplish something else.
I favor the latter.

Many believe that Psalms 88 is a picture of Jesus as he suffered the torments of hell. The exact moment is the evening before the resurrection. There is a case that this psalm could not refer to anyone else other than Jesus.

Psalms 88:1-18 YLT
1 A Song, a Psalm, by sons of Korah, to the Overseer, `Concerning the Sickness of Afflictions.' --An instruction, by Heman the Ezrahite. O Jehovah, God of my salvation, Daily I have cried, nightly before Thee,
2 My prayer cometh in before Thee, Incline Thine ear to my loud cry,
3 For my soul hath been full of evils, And my life hath come to Sheol.
4 I have been reckoned with those going down to the pit, I have been as a man without strength.
5 Among the dead--free, As pierced ones lying in the grave, Whom Thou hast not remembered any more, Yea, they by Thy hand have been cut off.
6 Thou hast put me in the lowest pit, In dark places, in depths.
7 Upon me hath Thy fury lain, And with all Thy breakers Thou hast afflicted. Selah.
8 Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me, Thou hast made me an abomination to them, Shut up--I go not forth.
9 Mine eye hath grieved because of affliction, I called Thee, O Jehovah, all the day, I have spread out unto Thee my hands.
10 To the dead dost Thou do wonders? Do Rephaim rise? do they thank Thee? Selah.
11 Is Thy kindness recounted in the grave? Thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Are Thy wonders known in the darkness? And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 And I, unto Thee, O Jehovah, I have cried, And in the morning doth my prayer come before Thee.
14 Why, O Jehovah, castest Thou off my soul? Thou hidest Thy face from me.
15 I am afflicted, and expiring from youth, I have borne Thy terrors--I pine away.
16 Over me hath Thy wrath passed, Thy terrors have cut me off,
17 They have surrounded me as waters all the day, They have gone round against me together,
18 Thou hast put far from me lover and friend, Mine acquaintance is the place of darkness!

I guess someone has already pointed out that Greek has no comma..... so you could read this either way:

Amen, I say unto you, today you will be with me in paradise.
Amen, I say unto you today, you will be with me in paradise.

 

Just a side note...
I happen to believe that Jesus was made sin with our sin (1 Corin 5:21), and was not raised up from that spiritual condition until the third day. Because I was brought up in the Episcopalian Church with the old version of the Aposlte's creed which said "he descended into hell". I assumed for many years that he went to hell because that is where all unbelieving "sinful" people go.

I am now somewhat undecided. If you have been following the discussions here and elsewhere you will know that we also hold that those believers who died before the resurrection went to "Abraham's Bosom"... or the "cool side" of hell ("the park"). Since all the people in "Abrahams Bosom" were believing unregenerate sinners, nothing says that Jesus (who was still sin with our sin but certainly a believer) did not go directly there.

But I am have no particular conviction either way.


Jesus had to die to insure the resurrection, to overcome the power of sin AND death so that he would be the first-fruits offering, that those who follow will also share in the resurrection. If Jesus was not raised up, neither shall we. Before he can be raised up, he must first die.

So when He said "...it is finished..." on the cross, He was not talking about the entire plan of God for our salvation.
This is one of the things that I was trying to get someone to confirm for me. I have known this... but many out there insist that when Jesus said "...it is finished..." that was the end of His redemptive work on our behalf. As you say, it was not the end. He did have to die and raise from the dead so that we too would have newness of life... His life.

This is something that many people miss!
Dear readers. If you do not get anything from this writing other than this; understand that the cross and the sufferings of Jesus did not obtain eternal life for us! The cross and the sufferings of Jesus took care of all the individual sins of all mankind. But if Jesus had stopped there and decided He did not want to die, nobody would have ever been born again. We would not have the new birth. When Jesus said "...it was finished..." He was talking about being made a curse for us and having the law nailed to the cross. It was His resurrection that obtained for us the new birth and the ability to be children of God. If He had not died and been raised from the dead, we would only have been hosed down children of the devil. The new birth is what has enabled us to not only be children of God, but it has enabled us to walk as children of God.... holy and righteous. The cross dealt with the law and sins, but the resurrection dealt with spiritual death and eternal life.

Everything in the OT regarding the law was merely a type and shadow of the true system that existed and continues to exist in Christ. Christ predates the law, the OT, and everything in all creation. Christ and the priesthood that we now belong to are the real and true. The OT is only a vague representation of what has been manifest in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, who is the Hight priest of of our confession. We should not bind outselves to that which was merely an instrument intended to reflect the real when we have the real manifest at the right hand of the Father and in our very hearts!
Read the book of Hebrews, especially chapters 5-6 and see how dangerous it is to misplace your Word priorities. The law of love is written in our heart, which is the new man, which was created after the image of God. This is the real thing! Not some vague representation written in stone.
Blessings In Our Eternal High Priest Jesus Christ, who is before all things, and for and by whom all things were created, exist, and will submit.