The Last Words of Jesus

Therefore 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)Having received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is finished!” (Gk. tetelestai). Actually, the Lord shouted those words with a loud cry (Matt.27:50; Mark 15:37). It was a shout of triumph; the proclamation of a victor. The work of redemption that the Father had given Him was accomplished: sin was atoned for (Heb. 9:12; 10:12;), and Satan was defeated and rendered powerless (Heb. 2:14; cf.1 Peter 1:18–20; 1 John 3:8).Every requirement of God's righteous law had been satisfied; God's holy wrath against sin had been appeased (Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2; 4:10); every prophecy had been fulfilled. Christ's completion of the work of redemption means that nothing needs to be nor can be added to it. Salvation is not a joint effort of God and man, but is entirely a work of God's grace, appropriated solely by faith (Eph.2:8–9).His mission accomplished, the time had come for Christ to surrender His life. Therefore, after“ crying out with a loud voice ...‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit”(Luke 23:46),He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Jesus voluntarily chose to surrender His life by a conscious act of His own sovereign will.“No one has taken it away from Me,” He declared,“ but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father”(10:18). That He still had the strength to shout loudly shows that He was not physically at the point of death...