What did Jesus mean when He said "It is finished?" What was finished?

The job that the Father had sent Him do was finished. He took the penalty for the sin of the world in His own body and bore the wrath of God so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Both the suffering and the work that his Father had given him to do was finished.

Because the sacrifices of the past had had no effect on the hearts of God's people the LORD God had sent His son. In the words of the parable he taught the owner of the vineyard said ,"Surely they will respect my son." But as in the parable they hadn't respected him, they were envious of his authority and killed him.

The LORD God knows the end from the beginning, as we see in Scripture, but Jesus willingly went through this dreadful ordeal for our sakes. Jesus has blotted out our sins by his sacrifice if we trust in him and in the LORD God.

So Jesus' earthly work as a mortal finished and he received everlasting life and is on the right hand of his Father in heaven. As he told his disciples he will return in the glory of his Father at a time when we don't expect him. He will raise the dead and there will be judgement. After that Jesus is to set up the Kingdom for his Father as the Scriptures tell us.

What we have to do meantime is to be faithful and obedient and watch for his coming and read our Bibles so that we understand more of his Father's plan and purpose with the earth.

It is finished refers to the live passover in which Jesus was the sacrificial Lamb. If you read about the Passover meal, there are 4 cups of wine drunk at Passover. After the fourth cup, the blessing that concludes the Seder meal and it is over. Jesus was given the 4th cup while on the cross it was after he drank from the reed that he said this. It is the end of the OLD covenant and at Passover the night before, we had the beginning of the NEW covenant to be members of the Church that Christ established, when he said in Matthew 26:26 And whilst they were at supper, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat. This is my body. 27 And taking the chalice, he gave thanks, and gave to them, saying: Drink ye all of this. 28 For this is my blood of the new testament(covenant), which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins. 29 And I say to you, I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father. 30 And a hymn being said, they went out unto mount Olivet. This was solidified on Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came to dwell amongst us and lead us in establishing the Church that Christ founded.

It was the Passover that was now finished. More precisely, it was Jesus’ transformation of the Passover sacrifice of the Old Covenant into the Eucharistic sacrifice of the New Covenant. I learned Scripture teaches that the Passover sacrifice of the New Covenant began in the upper room with the institution of the Eucharist, not merely with Jesus being crucified on Calvary, as I was taught and had been teaching. In Jesus’ mind, his Eucharistic sacrifice as the Passover lamb of the New Covenant was not finished until Calvary. In sum, Calvary begins with the Eucharist and the Eucharist ends with Calvary. It is all of one piece.

The battle is over. Jesus defeated sin and now his plan is your to claim. This song helps explain it.

There's a line that is drawn through the ages

On that line stands an old rugged cross

On that cross, a battle is raging

To gain a man's soul or it's loss

On one side, march the forces of evil

All the demons, all the devils of hell

On the other, the angels of glory

And they meet on Golgotha's hill

The earth shakes with the force of the conflict

And the sun refuses to shine

For there hangs God's son, in the balance

And then through the darkness he cries

It is finished, the battle is over

It is finished, there'll be no more war

It is finished, the end of the conflict

It is finished and Jesus is Lord

Yet in my heart, the battle was still raging

Not all prisoners of war had come home

These were battlefields of my own making

I didn't know that the war had been won

Oh, but then I heard the king of the ages

Had fought all the battles for me

And that victory was mine for the claiming

And now praise his name, I am free.

What Jesus has done is the salvation of mankind.

Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

Hebrews 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

C.J. One thing you don't understand,you are accountable only for the light you have been given and understand.Jesus paid it all,yes Just serve him in the little bible study(gospels)you can.Those things he said that look impossible to do ask him to do through you.Trust and abide(stay in daily study).Ask his forgiveness for any sin you see but

your relationship with him in simple prayer and studyis most important.The do's and don'ts will take care of themselves.It is finished ,believe he has paid it all now and forever and serve him.Finished means redemption from all sin and securing an eternal home of peace with him.

What was finished was Jesus work on this earth. He lived a sinless life, thus conquering death, for death could not hold him. So from birth to his death, his life was without sin. He was the unblemished lamb of God, sacrificed for the world.

Once Jesus died, he went and preached to them in the upper part of hell known as the bosom of Abraham. These are they who were righteous in the eyes of God, but were being held prisoner by satan because of original sin. And by Jesus proving it was possible for a man to live a life without sin, he defeated the hold death had on all mankind, so that whoever believeth in him shall not perish, but will have life everlasting.

So by the sin of one man death came to all. By the sacrifice of one man life was again restored to all.

He meant that the Passover sacrifices were finished and a New Covenant and new one ongoing never ending sacrifice to the Father has replaced the temple sacrifice for the family of God. The Lamb of God has established His kingdom with the perfect sacrifice once for all humanity.

It did not mean that His redemptive work is finished but just starting. God bless!

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

Calvary really began in the Old Testament Passover being celebrated in the Upper Room, when the Eucharist was instituted and the Passover Eucharist of the New Covenant really isn't over until Calvary, when He says, "It is finished."