“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” — John 19:30

Last week we looked at the authority of Jesus.

The authority of Jesus is not merely something we acknowledge—it is something that has implications for how we live.

If Jesus speaks with the authority of God, then His words are not simply good advice or opinions we can accept or reject; they demand a response.

His authority reaches into every part of our lives: our marriages, finances, relationships, priorities, private thoughts, ambitions, fears, and the choices we make when no one is watching.

Recognizing Jesus as Lord means surrendering our claim to be the final authority over our own lives and allowing His Word to shape what we believe, how we behave, and what we value.

It means saying, “Jesus, you know better than I do. Your Word has greater authority than my opinion. Your will matters more than my preference.”

Yet this submission is not something we should fear, because the One who possesses ultimate authority is also the One who loves us, welcomes sinners, heals the broken, and gave Himself on the cross for our salvation.

The question Mark places before us is therefore not simply, “Does Jesus have authority?” but, “What will I do with what Jesus says?”

“It Is Finished”

When Jesus tasted the sour wine, He was ready to die.

But before Jesus died, John records the final statement of Jesus from the cross.

That word, Tetelestai in the Greek, Consummatum est in the Latin, “It is finished” in English.

“It is finished” has reverberated down through Christian history and theology as an expression of the finished work of Christ.

In Mark’s Gospel Jesus was plain:

“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” — Mark 8:31

This is the central moment of Jesus’ ministry.

No! It is the ministry of Jesus, and here in John’s Gospel we read Jesus’ final words:

“It is finished!”

Three words spoken by the One who holds all authority.

“It is finished!”

The Judgment Is Finished

We find a similar statement twice in Revelation.

First, in Revelation 16:17:

“The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, ‘It is done!’”

Revelation 16:17 occurs at the climax of the seven bowls of God’s wrath. Beginning in Revelation 16:1, seven angels pour out bowls representing God’s final judgments upon a world that has persistently rejected God and aligned itself with the beast. The seventh bowl brings this sequence to its conclusion.

The Old Testament centers ultimate judgment in the day of Yahweh, when the Lord rids His world of every evil: haughtiness (Isaiah 2:12–17), idolatry (Isaiah 2:18–20), compromise with paganism (Zephaniah 1:8), violence and fraud (Zephaniah 1:9), complacency (Zephaniah 1:12), and all that brands people as sinners (Isaiah 13:9).

The problem is that when subject to these standards, no one can survive this coming judgment!

Jesus is clear:

“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” — Matthew 5:20

Over and over again Jesus would demonstrate the failures of the Pharisees’ righteousness.

It’s almost as if:

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” — Romans 3:10–11

Do you believe this?

This might seem like a strange question to ask a Christian, but be careful.

A Christian who never realized that they were deserving of judgment is a Christian who thinks they are getting into heaven because they have been good enough.

Most non-Christians in our culture think they are good enough to get into heaven, if only because they are not bad enough to warrant hell.

We are all products of that culture, and it’s not a far stretch to believe that we are getting into heaven because we are good enough Christians.

Paul was quick to remind the Christians in Corinth:

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived… And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” — 1 Corinthians 6:9–11

Something Has Changed

The second similar statement found in Revelation is Revelation 21:6:

“And he said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.’”

Revelation 21:1–8 comes at a crucial point in the book of Revelation.

The final judgment has taken place in chapter 20. Satan has been defeated. Death and Hades have been thrown into the lake of fire. John now sees what comes after judgment: the final renewal of God’s creation and the eternal dwelling of God with His people.

How has anyone survived the final judgment?

Something has to have changed.

Sin is the barrier that separates mankind from God.

“Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.” — Isaiah 59:2

The Bible, though, insists that God has dealt with the problem.

Revelation tells us:

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” — Revelation 5:9–10

Paul wrote to those in Corinth:

“You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.” — 1 Corinthians 7:23

Notice the lack of payment here in Revelation:

“It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” — Revelation 21:6

And, of course:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” — John 3:16

“It is finished.”

Perhaps the most important statement of the Messiah.

Adam Clarke summarizes it well: Christ had accomplished the designs of God, satisfied the demands of justice, fulfilled what had been written by the prophets, endured the malice of His enemies, and through His blood opened the way to God.

An awful, yet glorious finish.

Through this tragic death, God is reconciled to man and the kingdom of heaven opened to every believing soul.

“It Is Finished” Demands a Response

All of this demands a response.

And the key to this response just might be found in Paul’s second letter to Corinth:

“You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” — 2 Corinthians 3:2–3

This passage comes at an important point in Paul’s defense of his ministry to the Corinthians.

Paul is not simply talking about recommendation letters; he is contrasting human credentials with the transforming work of Christ through the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s defense is that the Gospel message he delivered to them has transformed them.

A transformed life becomes a letter from Christ—written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

“It is finished” demands a response, and make no mistake: to respond in the negative, to disbelieve, or to simply hear and make no decision are all responses.

But to respond in belief is to be transformed by those words into a living letter from Christ to an unbelieving world.

Paul’s picture of the Corinthians as a “letter from Christ” shows that responding to “It is finished” involves more than simply hearing or understanding His message.

Christ, through the Holy Spirit, writes this message upon the human heart so that it produces a living response.

Your life should testify that “It is finished.”

The contrast between ink on a page and the Spirit writing on human hearts is especially important.

Paper passively receives ink and remains unchanged.

But when the Spirit works in a person, Christ’s “It is finished” is received, understood, and acted upon.

It takes root and bears fruit.

The Corinthians themselves were evidence of this. Paul had ministered the Gospel to them, but Christ was the author of their transformation and the Spirit was the One who made that transformation possible.

Therefore, responding to “It is finished” means allowing His Word to move from something we merely hear to something that shapes who we are and how we live.

The Christian becomes, in a sense, a message from Christ that other people can “read.”

Something Should Be Different

Jesus said, “It is finished.”

And if we believe Him, those words cannot simply be words that we read in our Bibles.

They cannot simply be words that we hear on Sunday morning.

They cannot simply be words that we agree with intellectually.

“It is finished” demands a response.

Paul told the Corinthians that they were a letter from Christ.

Not written with ink.

Not carved into stone.

But written by the Spirit of the living God upon human hearts.

And that means something should be different.

If Christ has written “It is finished” upon my heart, then eventually it ought to become visible in my life.

The world ought to be able to read something of Christ in me.

But here is where it gets difficult.

I don’t think I can completely answer that question for you.

Your pastor can’t completely answer it for you.

I can tell you what Jesus said. I can point you toward what Scripture teaches. I can tell you that Christ’s finished work should transform you.

But I cannot tell you exactly what that transformed life is going to look like in every circumstance of your life.

Because I don’t live your life.

And neither does anyone else.

The Spirit writes upon human hearts—individual human hearts.

And the letter Christ is writing through your life will not look exactly like the letter He is writing through mine.

What Does “It Is Finished” Mean for You?

For one person, “It is finished” may mean finally letting go of guilt for something Christ has already forgiven.

For another, it may mean forgiving someone who hurt you.

For another, it may mean admitting that you have been wrong.

For another, it may mean ending a pattern of sin that you have spent years excusing.

For another, it may mean repairing a relationship.

For another, it may mean becoming more generous.

For another, it may mean finally doing the thing that you know God has been calling you to do.

And for someone, the response may simply begin with surrendering your life to Jesus Christ for the first time.

I can’t tell every one of you exactly what your answer is.

But I can tell you that there must be an answer.

Because “It is finished” demands a response.

Perhaps this is where we sometimes get Christianity backward.

We want somebody to give us the checklist.

Tell me what to do.

Tell me what this means for my marriage.

Tell me what this means for my money.

Tell me what this means for my career.

Tell me what this means for the person I can’t stand.

Tell me what this means for the thing I’m afraid to surrender.

Scripture certainly gives us commands and boundaries. There are things Christ has clearly told every Christian to do and things He has clearly told every Christian not to do.

But within those boundaries, there comes a point when the question becomes intensely personal:

If I really believe that Jesus said, “It is finished,” what needs to change in me?

I can’t answer that for you.

Your spouse can’t answer that for you.

Your parents can’t answer that for you.

Even your pastor can’t answer that for you.

Because eventually you have to stand before Christ yourself and ask:

“Lord, what are You writing on my heart?”

That’s what it means to be in a relationship with Christ.

Let Your Life Become the Letter

Maybe that’s the question I want you to leave with.

Not simply:

“Do I believe that Jesus said, ‘It is finished’?”

But:

“If I believe Him, what difference should that make in my life?”

And don’t answer that question for the person sitting beside you.

That’s easy.

We are remarkably good at knowing what Jesus needs to change in somebody else.

Ask it about yourself.

What does “It is finished” mean for me?

What does it mean for the guilt I am carrying?

What does it mean for the sin I am hiding?

What does it mean for the person I refuse to forgive?

What does it mean for the way I treat my family?

What does it mean for my money?

My time?

My priorities?

My ambitions?

My fears?

What does it mean for the choices I make when nobody else is watching?

Because somebody is reading your letter.

Your family is reading it.

Your neighbors are reading it.

Your coworkers are reading it.

An unbelieving world is reading it.

And what they should encounter is not a carbon copy of your pastor.

Not a carbon copy of another Christian.

They should encounter Christ at work in you.

A unique human life being transformed by the same finished work of Jesus Christ.

And that means the final application isn’t something another person can simply hand to you.

You have to wrestle with it.

You have to pray about it.

You have to listen to the Word.

You have to listen to the Spirit.

And then you have to respond.

Jesus has already done what only Jesus could do.

The sacrifice has been offered.

The price has been paid.

The way has been opened.

“It is finished.”

What more does Jesus need to do?

Because Jesus has done it, what does that mean for me?

I cannot answer that question for you.

But I pray that you will not finish reading without asking it.

And when Christ answers—when His Word is written upon your heart—live the answer.

Let your life become the letter.

Let the people around you read what Christ has done.

And let the unique story of your transformed life testify to the same glorious truth:

“It is finished.”