THE WORD OF VICTORY
JOHN 19:30
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished.”
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished.”
Introduction:
The ancient Greeks boasted of being able to say much in little – to give a sea of matter in a drop of language – was regarded as the perfection of oratory. What they were looking for is here found. “It is finished” is one word in Greek, ?????, “yet in that word is contained the ground of the believer’s assurance; in that word is discovered the sum of all joy, and the very spirit of all divine consolation.”
In Jesus’ words, “My God, my God, why has Thou forsaken Me?” we heard the Savior’s cry of desolation; in His words, “I thirst,” we listen to His cry of lamentation; now there falls upon our ears His cry of jubilation – “It is finished.” We have come from the TRAGEDY of the cross to the TRIUMPH of the cross.
I. “IT IS FINISHED.” WHAT WAS FINISHED?
A. All Scripture concerning His suffering and shame was not yet fulfilled.
1. There still remained the dismissal of His spirit, Psalm 31:5, “Into thine hand I commit my spirit:”
2. There still remained the “piercing” with the spear, Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
3. There still remains the preserving of His bones unbroken, Psalm 34:20, “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.”
II. “IT IS FINISHED.” WHAT? HIS SACRIFICIAL WORK WAS FINISHED.
A. What yet remained was His death.
B. These are the primary elements of propitiation:
1. Three hours of darkness had passed.
2. The awful cup of God’s wrath was drained.
3. His precious blood had already been shed.
4. The outpouring of the wrath of God had already been endured.
III. “IT IS FINISHED.” THE FULFILLMENT OF ALL THE PROPHECIES WRITTEN OF HIM BEFORE HE SHOULD DIE.
A. Centuries before, the prophets of God had described step by step the humiliation and suffering of the coming Saviour.
1. Of the woman’s seed, Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”
2. Born of a woman, Galatians 4:4, “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,”
3. His mother should be a “virgin,” Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
4. The seed of Abraham, Genesis 22:18, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.”
5. Of the lineage of David, 2 Samuel 7:12-13, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. 13-He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever.”
6. Named before He was born, Isaiah 49:1, “Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.”
7. Born in Bethlehem of Judah, Micah 5:2, “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
8. Of the tribe of Judah, Genesis 49:10, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”
9. Of His flight to Egypt and return to Palestine, Hosea 11:1, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”
10. Of His forerunner, John the Baptist, Malachi 3:1, “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.”
11. Of His miracles, Isaiah 35:5-6, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 6-Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.”
12. He was prophesied as “poor and needy”, Psalm 40:17, “But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.”
13. That He would speak in parables, Psalm 78:2, “I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:”
14. That He would still the tempest, Psalm 107:29, “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.”
15. Of His “triumphal entry,” Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”
16. That His person should be despised, Isaiah 53:3, “He is despised and rejected of men;”
17. Rejected by the Jews, Isaiah 8:14, “And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
18. That He should be “hated without a cause,” Psalm 69:4a, “They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head:”
B. Just as there is a set of prophecies regarding His first Advent, there is also a set of prophecies regarding His Second Advent
1. The first set of prophecies was literally fulfilled.
2. The Second set of prophecies regarding His Second Coming will also be fulfilled literally.
CONCLUSION
The word of VICTORY!! Jesus cries out the victory. He accomplished God’s will in order TO SAVE YOUR SOUL.