It Is Finished

In one paragraph

This message walked through the crucifixion account in John 19, letting the Old Testament prophecies that surrounded it do much of the talking. The weight of what Jesus endured, and what it accomplished, was the center of the evening. Pastor Carlos closed by reading Isaiah 53 and inviting the room to sit with that weight before moving on to the resurrection. The evening opened with the observation...

Read together

1. Psalm 22 quoted multiple times as prophecy fulfilled at the crucifixion, including dividing garments and casting lots for clothing, dried up strength, tongue sticking to roof of mouth, pierced hands and feet, enemies surrounding like dogs, bones uncounted
2. John 19:25-26 Jesus speaking from the cross to his mother and to John, entrusting them to care for each other
3. Psalm 69 quoted as prophecy of the sour wine offered to Jesus, and of insults breaking his heart
4. Isaiah 53 read at length as a prophecy written seven hundred years before Jesus, describing his suffering, rejection, piercing for rebellion, being led like a lamb to slaughter, burial in a rich man's grave, and bearing the sins of many
5. John 19:38 Joseph of Arimathea, a secret disciple, asking for Jesus' body
6. John 3 Nicodemus visiting Jesus at night and Jesus telling him he must be born again to enter the kingdom of God

Talk about it

1. The sermon pointed to Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 as prophecies written hundreds of years before the crucifixion that were fulfilled in detail. What does it mean to you personally that God had this plan in place so far in advance?
2. From the cross, Jesus made sure John would care for His mother. The sermon described this as Jesus living out his own command to love and serve one another even while dying. Where in your own life do you find it hardest to serve others at cost to yourself?
3. The sermon said Jesus' words 'It is finished' carry the meaning of a debt stamped 'paid in full', and asked us to stop trying to earn God's favor because we already have it through what Jesus did. What does it look like practically to rest in that rather than striving to earn it?
4. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had heard Jesus earlier and then came back around to belief. The sermon suggested God was working on them in the in-between time. Can you think of a time when God was quietly working on you, or someone you know, before faith became visible?
5. Blake shared that when he looks at the blessings in his life, he knows they did not come from his own works but from what Jesus did. How does meditating on the crucifixion change the way you see the good things in your life?