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With His last words Jesus cried out, "It is finished!" But what does that mean? Today we discover the prominent role those words play in the weekend that changed the world.

People came to be baptized by John to 1) be cleansed from sin and 2) prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Before Jesus gave His first teaching or performed His first miracle, He came to be baptized by John “to fulfill all righteousness.” (Mt 3:15)

After baptizing the Son of God, hearing the voice of God the Father, and being allowed to see God the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus, there was no question that something incredible was going on. What happened that day pointed to the weekend that would change the world. 

• Jesus wasn’t baptized to cleanse sin, nor to prepare for the coming of the Messiah. He was the sinless Messiah. 
• Baptism was imagery for what awaited Jesus - death, burial, and resurrection.

John recognized that Jesus had come like a lamb, to be the sacrifice who takes away the sin of the world. 

The lamb of God was a term that the Baptist’s Jewish disciples would have been familiar with, since male lambs (young sheep) were used for daily sacrifices as well as other special sacrifices throughout the year.

But how could a man become a sacrifice for the sin of men/women? 

John said Jesus ranks ahead of me, because He existed before me. We know that Jesus was about 6 months younger than John (Luke 1:56-57). John recognized Jesus was fully man, but Jesus was more than man. Jesus is God in skin (see John 1:14-18), who came to be the final, perfect sacrifice who takes away the sin of the world.

This was foreshadowed hundreds of years earlier. 

About 2000 years before Jesus sheds His blood, Abraham took his son up on a mountain to obey what God commanded. When Isaac asked where the sacrificial lamb was, Abraham replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” (Gen. 22:8 CSB)

God provided a mature male sheep (ram) as a substitute sacrifice for his Abraham’s son. Because of the substitute sacrifice, Isaac would be spared from death.

Roughly 500 years later came the first Passover. Jewish slaves in Egypt were told to sacrifice unblemished, 1-year old, male sheep or goats, and spread the blood on their doorposts. God would send an angel to bring death to the firstborn to all the homes in Egypt…EXEPT for those who had applied the blood of the unblemished animals to their doorposts. The angel would “pass over” those homes (Ex. 12:1–36). 

Those who obeyed God were 1) protected from God’s wrath and 2) released from their bondage.

700 years later Isaiah writes about One who would be despised and rejected by men, one who would be struck down by God - not for HIS sins, but for ours.

›Isaiah was writing about 700 years before this was fulfilled in ONE PERSON.

Jesus is the man who be rejected and abused, despite being sinless. Jesus would be pierced and punished as a substitute for the sin of others - the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world to 1) keep them from God’s wrath that must be poured out on sinful people AND 2) set them FREE from the bondage of sin.

All this happened during Passover, and on what many believe to be Mount Moriah, the same place where Yahweh provided the substitute sacrifice for Isaac!

What was now finished? Jesus was about to complete the reason He had come to Earth - to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Jesus wrestled with the reality of what was about to happen.

Just before being arrested, Jesus fell facedown and praying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Mt 26:39) There was no other way, Jesus - the perfect man - had to drink from God’s cup of wrath (language of God’s punishment for sin - Job 21:20; Ps 75:8; Is 51:17; 63:6; Jer 49:12; Rev 14:10) instead of US.

• Knowing that it was almost over, Jesus says, “I’m thirsty”, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, referring to the Messiah’s death (Ps 22:15 “My strength is dried up like baked clay; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You put me into the dust of death.”; Ps 69:21 “Instead, they gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”)
• A hyssop branch with a sponge full of sour wine was intended to keep the dehydrated victim alive longer. Check out the imagery: as the hyssop branch was used to spread the blood of the lamb on the doorposts during Passover (Ex 12:22), the hyssop branch was lifted toward the final Passover Lamb Who has shed His blood on the cross. 
• Finally, Matthew’s account says Jesus “cried out with a loud voice” (Mt 27:50), and John notes that He cries out “It is finished!”, and then gave up His spirit. The Ultimate Sacrifice, the One that the thousands of other sacrifices were pointing to…has finished the task. The Lamb of God has taken away the sins of the world!    The price has been PAID, never needing to be offered again!

This isn’t the END of the story. As we celebrate next Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead! Forty days later (Acts 1:3), Jesus ascended to heaven where He rules and reigns as King over everyone and everything (Acts 1:9). And still, that is NOT the end of the story.

• Are you a follower of Jesus, basking in the beauty of what He’s done for you?
• Are you claiming Christ, yet living for sin that Jesus died to pay for? Is His death for your sin insignificant? 
• Or maybe you’ve never claimed to follow Jesus so that question has never meant anything to you. Are you willing to consider the claims of Jesus and His 1st followers? Do you have questions? Call us!

Take some time to discuss these questions with your family, friends, or group.

1. What challenged or encouraged you most from today’s teaching? Explain your answer. 
2. Read Matthew 3:16-17. How do you know that Jesus wasn’t baptized to be cleansed from sin or to prepare for the coming of the Messiah? What is the most likely reason that Jesus was baptized? How did his baptism impact John and who he believed Jesus to be?
3. After reading about the substitute sacrifice (Gen 22:12-14), remembering the sacrifice of unblemished Passover lambs, and reading about the suffering servant (Isaiah 53), spend some time talking about the specific prophecies that Jesus fulfilled by His death.
4. Read John 19:28-30. What does “It is Finished” mean for your life? Are you struggling with trusting you are forgiven? Do you need to share with a trusted same-sex believer about a sin habit you need to turn from? Minister to one another based on your answers.
5. Share prayer needs and pray for one another. Continue to pray for our Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade. Pray for Christians in Ukraine and Russia to carry the message of Jesus with them wherever they go. Also, PRAY that God will greatly use us during this Easter season, to impact people who need to follow Jesus.