Jesus made seven statements while hanging on the cross that are recorded in the New Testament. They are known as “the seven last words from the cross.”
First, He thought of others: those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34), the believing thief (Luke 23:39-43), and His mother (John 19:25-27). The central word of the seven had to do with His relationship with the Father (Matthew 27:45-49). The last three statements focused on Himself: His body (John 19:28-29), His soul (John 19:30), and His spirit (Luke 23:46).
The drink of vinegar the soldiers gave Him did not fully quench His thirst, but it did enable Him to shout this word of triumph in a loud voice, “It is finished!” The Greek word used here is tetelestai. It literally means, “It is finished, it stands finished, and it will always be finished!”
The word tetelestai is unfamiliar to us, of course, but it was used in various ways in everyday life in Jesus’ day. Merchants used it to say, “The debt is paid in full.” A servant would use it when reporting to his or her master, “I have completed the work assigned to me” (see John 17:4). When Jesus shouted tetelestai from the cross it meant, “The debt caused by sin is paid in full.” The Old Testament sacrifices only covered sin; the Lamb of God shed His blood, and that blood has the power to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).
When Jesus shouted the word tetelestai in a loud voice, His hours of extreme distress were over. The terrible agony was now behind Him. He would no longer endure the pangs of crucifixion, nor hear the taunts of the bloodthirsty mob. No longer would He experience the pain inflicted by the crown of thorns on His brow, the stripes on His back, or the nails driven through His flesh. He would no longer feel separation from His and our heavenly Father. He had accomplished what He came to do. His heart ceased to beat. Silence prevailed.
In the stifling silence following the death of Jesus, however, other sounds could be heard: the sound of bursting fetters, breaking chains, crumbling prison walls, the rending of veils, the overthrowing of barriers, the opening of gates. The last words of Christ on the cross were not words of defeat, but the cry of victory. He had finished the redemptive mission assigned to Him. “Finished” was the terrible ban of judgment upon the ages, the power of darkness and desolation, the curse of sin upon humanity. The debt was paid in full!
What Christ had finished, however, has scarcely begun for us. He accomplished what we cannot. He closed the unbridgeable gap between a holy God and sinful humankind. His daily visible teaching of His disciples was now behind Him. The work of His invisible presence would continue through them on the day of Pentecost and beyond. Forgiven by Christ, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, every single Christian to this very day is assigned the mission of spreading the good news of God’s love to the entire world.
What is the message that we as Christians are commissioned to share? No longer does any person have to live under the power of sin. Every person who believes is by God’s grace forgiven of his or her sin and given the opportunity to become a worshiping and serving member of the body of Christ known as the church. Christ’s redemptive mission was completed successfully; our mission as Christians is still ongoing.
The barrier standing between a sinful mankind and a holy God has forever been removed. God’s Son, Jesus Christ, bore our sins in His own body. Earlier in His ministry He had said, “The Son of man is come to seek and to save the lost.” The eternal life He came to give to those who believe is now forever guaranteed. It became a certainty the very moment on that fateful day when from the cross He said, “It is finished!”
The Paper Pulpit 
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