John 19: "It Is Finished," the Work That Gives Life

Introduction

If you could choose the last words you will speak before you die, which would you choose? That is the question Chihiro Kinoshita, pastor of the Kibōgaoka Christian Church on Kumejima, an island of Okinawa, asks at the heart of his sermon on John 19. Jesus chose a single phrase, cried out with a loud voice: "It is finished."

The chapter tells of the trial before Pilate, the crucifixion, the death and the burial of Jesus. The pastor reads it section by section, inviting the congregation to note the passages they will want to read again. He insists: the cross is nothing like a pretty picture, and we need to remember it "in a more real way."

The thread of the message is in its title: the work of Jesus, the work that gives life, is finished. And that announcement is addressed to you.

Outline of the message

1. A scourging with no limit and a crown of thorns (John 19:1-3)

Among the Jews, flogging stopped at 39 lashes, so as never to exceed by mistake the 40 allowed by the Law. Roman flogging had no limit.
The Roman whip had several straps fitted with animal bones or sharp stones. It was also used to extract confessions. Jesus, who had committed no sin, had nothing to confess: the soldiers most likely struck him to the limit of what a man can endure.
Thorns first appear in Genesis 3, after the fall. They are a symbol of sin. Placing a crown of thorns on the head of Jesus is a picture of the one who bears sin.
The pastor, who has seen thorns in Israel, speaks of points 10 to 15 centimeters long. The purple robe, a color reserved for nobles and kings, and the "Hail, King of the Jews!" complete the mockery.
The slaps recall what Jesus said about the right cheek (Matthew 5:39). In that culture, being struck on the right cheek meant being humiliated. Turning the other cheek means accepting to endure contempt, two or three times if necessary.

2. Pilate, the man who does not choose (John 19:4-16)

Pilate declares that he finds no crime in Jesus, and yet he has him flogged. For the preacher, it is a staged scene meant to calm the anger of the religious leaders, because Pilate wants nothing to do with Jesus.
The leaders demand the cross. They appeal to the Law: whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD must die (Leviticus 24:16). But the Law prescribed stoning. They want the cross because it inflicts the greatest suffering and the greatest humiliation.
The pastor sees in this what the flesh produces when we want revenge: we always want to punish beyond measure. "That is why vengeance belongs to God."
Pilate knows he has the power to release Jesus and the power to crucify him (John 19:10). He has the choice, but he fears being denounced to Caesar and losing his position. He is "neither hot nor cold."
Jesus answers that he would have no power unless it had been given him from above (John 19:11). From God's point of view, Pilate was not given the power to release Jesus, because the cross is part of God's plan. From Pilate's point of view, he has the choice. Both are true, like God's election and our response: our minds cannot reconcile them.
What to remember: "We always have a choice." As long as we seek to follow God's will and obey him, we are safe.
Further on, the pastor adds that Pilate is not innocent for all that: Jesus does not tell him that he is without sin, only that the one who delivered him up has a greater sin. Pilate chose not to release Jesus. He has no excuse.

3. "We have no king but Caesar" (John 19:14-16)

The day of Preparation is, more precisely, the preparation for the feast of unleavened bread, so tied to the Passover that the two are often named together. While Jesus is crucified, the Passover lamb is slain. The correspondence is perfect.
Pilate says "Behold, your King!", not "my King." He keeps his distance: his own king is Caesar.
The leaders' answer is terrible: "We have no king but Caesar." Yet the Old Testament says it plainly: the LORD is King (Psalm 10:16; Isaiah 33:22), and the promised Messiah will reign on the throne of David (Isaiah 9:6-7). To refuse this is to recognize neither God nor the Messiah as king.
The name Israel comes from Jacob's struggle, in which he would not let go until he was blessed. Hosea reports that he wept and begged. According to the pastor, the real struggle is not against God, but against one's own flesh, in order to be governed by God. The name carries this meaning too: the one whom God governs.
Through faith in Jesus Christ, we have become descendants of Abraham. Our struggle is not to impose our will on God, but to ask him to put our flesh to death.

4. The King of kings crucified in your place (John 19:17-24)

Jesus carries his cross to Golgotha, outside the city. According to the other Gospels, he cannot make it all the way. This sturdy man, a carpenter used to walking the roads, is at the end of his strength.
The inscription, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," is written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. Pilate refuses to change it: "What I have written, I have written." Pilate's pride or strength given by God, perhaps both: it is a prophetic message. The King of kings, the Lord of lords, has borne our sins and taken our place.
Isaiah 53 already said it: he had nothing left that would draw the eye. "The cross of Jesus Christ is not a beautiful thing." The pastor admits that he probably could not look at it face to face.
Why? "Because he loves you. There is no other reason." It is not because we can do something for him: "It is not because we can, it is because we cannot. It is not because we are righteous, it is because we are not."
"It is not we who loved God, it is God who loved us first. That is the order." He loved us when we were still weak, still sinners, still his enemies.
The soldiers divide his garments and cast lots for his seamless tunic, like that of the high priest. Psalm 22, written by David about a thousand years earlier, announced it. To make the distance felt, the pastor compares it to the Heian period in Japan: as if a court lady of the year 1000 had described his sermon on Kumejima.
Jesus was most likely crucified naked, according to Roman practice. The pastor reads Hebrews 12:2: for the joy that was set before him, he despised the shame. That joy is our salvation: the day when we will be with him for eternity.
"Jesus Christ rejoiced." Lowering yourself so far as to say "my sin nailed Jesus to the cross," without receiving his joy, is still pride, he warns. Even the sins you cannot confess to anyone, he forgives.

5. Loving to the end of the suffering (John 19:25-27)

Standing near the cross are the mother of Jesus, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Comparing Matthew and Mark, Mary's sister could be Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John. John would then be the cousin of Jesus. The pastor remains cautious: "we do not know for certain."
Jesus entrusts his mother to the disciple whom he loved: "Woman, behold, your son!" Then: "Behold, your mother!"
The essential point lies elsewhere: at the peak of suffering and humiliation, Jesus kept on loving others.

6. "It is finished" (John 19:28-30)

Jesus knows that all things are now finished. Three prophecies remain to be fulfilled: the thirst and the vinegar (Psalm 69:21), no bone broken, and the pierced side.
On the way to the cross, he had refused the wine mixed with myrrh, a painkiller (Mark 15:23), because he had to receive the punishment at 100%. Now that everything is complete, he takes the vinegar.
After six hours on the cross and a great loss of blood, with his throat parched, this small amount of liquid probably gives him the strength to speak one last word. Mark specifies that he gave a loud cry: that cry is "It is finished."
That word is not addressed to God, as if to say "I have finished my race." "It is a message for us." Jesus wanted to let us know, at the top of his voice, that the work that saves and gives eternal life is completely finished.
The pastor connects this cry to John 3:16, to Isaiah 53:3-5 ("with his stripes we are healed") and to Colossians 2:13-14: the record that condemned us was nailed to the cross. No one can love God with all their heart every day. By the Law, we are sinners, but the debt is wiped out.
"He gave up his spirit." No one took the life of Jesus, and no one could (John 10:17-18). He gave it of his own accord, taking our place.

7. The blood and the water, then two disciples step out of the shadows (John 19:31-42)

The coming Sabbath is a "high day." The leaders ask that the legs of the crucified be broken to hasten their death. The soldiers see that Jesus is already dead: "his death is confirmed by the Roman soldiers," against those who claim he was not really dead.
A soldier pierces his side, and blood and water come out. The pastor does not venture into the medical explanation. He offers two readings: cleansing by blood and water (Hebrews 10:22), and, as some understand it, the testimony that Jesus came "by water and blood," truly human (1 John 5:6-8).
The witness, John, affirms that his testimony is true. Bearing witness about God, the pastor explains, means accepting to be cursed if you lie.
Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin, was a secret disciple for fear of the others. In the end, he takes a step of faith: he asks for the body and offers a new tomb cut in the rock, which was very costly. Nicodemus brings about thirty kilos of spices, an amount worthy of a king's funeral.
It is a grace for them to take part in the burial. But the pastor refuses to make it a simple beautiful story: had they declared themselves earlier, they would have received far more blessings by walking with Jesus.

8. When you have missed grace

"The longer you put off following Jesus, the more the graces you do not receive pile up." The cross forgives those refusals, but it does not give back what you let slip by.
The pastor quotes a Japanese proverb: spilled water does not return to the tray. "What we have missed, we have missed."
Yet God never stops loving you. He does not move away, he does not reject you, he forgives you. "All that remains is to receive it."
Ask the Holy Spirit to help you remember every day that Jesus has accomplished the work of salvation for you. In his closing prayer, the pastor asks us to remember it above all in the moment of failure, to get back up, receive forgiveness and take the next step of faith.

Key takeaways

The cross is not a pretty picture: remember in a real way the price paid for your forgiveness.
We always have a choice. Pilate knew it, and he chose to give in to fear.
Jesus died because he loves you, not because you can do something for him.
"It is finished" is a message for you: the work of salvation is complete, and no one tore his life away from Jesus.
Putting off obedience makes you miss graces, but God never stops forgiving the one who comes back.

Personal application

When you think of the cross, do you see it as a pretty picture or as the real price of your forgiveness?
In what situation, like Pilate, do you tell yourself you have no choice, when what you fear most is other people's opinion?
Is there an area of your life where you still refuse to let God be your king?
Do you feel too unworthy to receive the joy of Jesus? What changes for you in the fact that he rejoiced over your salvation?
Like Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, what visible step of faith are you putting off right now?
The next time you fall, how will you remember that "it is finished" in order to get back up?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

What does "It is finished" mean in John 19:30?

For Chihiro Kinoshita, these are the last words Jesus chose, cried out with a loud voice (Mark 15:37). The work that saves and gives eternal life is finished. It is not a report addressed to God, it is a message for us: everything needed for our forgiveness has been done.

Why did Pilate hand Jesus over when he did not find him guilty?

Pilate wanted to release Jesus, but he feared being denounced to Caesar and losing his position. He first had Jesus flogged to calm the crowd, then he gave in. The preacher stresses that he had a choice and that he knew it: he is therefore not without sin, even if the one who delivered Jesus up bears a greater sin (John 19:11).

What do the blood and the water that came from the side of Jesus represent?

The spear thrust confirms the death of Jesus, as established by the Roman soldiers themselves. The preacher does not settle the medical explanation. He offers two readings: cleansing by blood and by water (Hebrews 10:22), and, as some understand it, the testimony that Jesus came by water and by blood, truly human (1 John 5:6-8).

What should you do when you have missed a chance to follow Jesus?

Chihiro Kinoshita is honest: the grace you did not receive by refusing to obey is lost. But God never stops loving you and does not reject you. He forgives you. What matters is to receive that forgiveness, to remember that the work is finished, and then to take the next step of faith.