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

What a sigh of relief!
What a cry of deliverance,
that finally,
after seemingly endless pain
and gasping torment,
it is over at last.
The suffering is ended.
The ordeal is finished
and nothing remains
but the blessed peace of the absence of all sensation.

When all there is, is pain
its ceasing is the greatest blessing of all
even when its ceasing comes only with death.

But Jesus’ cry is more than just welcoming the ending of pain
it is more than joy at the deliverance death brings.

He does not merely say, “it is over”
he says, “it is accomplished,
fulfilled,
achieved”

Jesus’ cry isn’t a cry of defeat and despair

It is a cry of success and triumph
– even at the moment of death –
that the race has been run
that he has endured to the end
that the strife is over
and the battle is won.

Jesus’ cry is a cry of relief to be sure
but it is also a cry of victory:

“The work I came to do is complete”
there is nothing more to add
“it is finished”