Jesus endured the excruciating agony of slow death by crucifixion. He languished for six hours, beginning at nine o’clock in the morning and continuing until three in the afternoon (Mark 15:25, 34).
Of the seven sayings Jesus spoke from the cross, the sixth was: “It is finished” (John 19:30). In order to appreciate the significance of these words (actually one word in the original) we must go far back in time.
In John’s Revelation letter, we find a verse that refers to “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8 KJV). In the Greek construction of this verse, it is difficult to determine whether “the foundation of the world” should be linked with “slain” or “written.” This explains why English versions differ. However, many grammarians observe that the above reading is more in keeping with the original word order and is more natural. The meaning would thus indicate that from God’s vantage point, His Son (the Lamb of God) was as good as dead (slain) from the foundation of the world. God’s plan to send Jesus to die for humanity can be traced back to the beginning.
This agrees with Genesis 3:15 where God foretold that the seed of woman (Christ) would suffer. Through the centuries, God gave brief highlights about the coming Messiah. Finally, “when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son” (Galatians 4:4). The reason for His coming was ultimately for one purpose. “For the Son of Man also came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). He came to die. Jesus was born to die. He died that we might live.
Part of the significance for His words, “It is finished,” was to indicate that what He came to do was done. Yet, His words also indicate something more. In His Sermon on the Mount He had said, “Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17). The word “destroy” is important. It means literally to “loose down.” Jesus had no violent intent to disregard the Law. Rather, He would, in Himself, fill it full. Until Jesus came, no Jew had ever been able to keep the Law with absolute perfection.
By His perfect fulfillment of the Mosaic code, “he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:14). “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second” (Hebrews 10:9). Read Galatians 4:21-31. Through Moses came the Old Law, but through Christ came the New Covenant (John 1:17). Jesus “is the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15).
