{"id":941,"date":"2019-09-15T14:41:05","date_gmt":"2019-09-15T13:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/?page_id=941"},"modified":"2019-09-15T14:41:05","modified_gmt":"2019-09-15T13:41:05","slug":"john-1930-the-word-of-victory","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/?page_id=941","title":{"rendered":"John 19:30 The Word of Victory"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the most exciting of the\nwords of Jesus from the cross. Other words and cries we value so highly as\nprecious and important from our Lord and Saviour and each in their own way\ncause us to look within our own hearts at our own relationship with our\nheavenly father. However this cry of Jesus \u2013tetelestai <\/strong>is a declaration of joy, a statement of reality that\nno-one can deny. God has fulfilled in Jesus Christ His plan of redemption\nprepared before the creation of the world, but now executed in time with an\nimpact on the past, present and future of His people for all eternity. God had\ndeclared that He would redeem a people to Himself for His own glory. Here was\nevidence of the length to which He would go to achieve His goal. Here was the\ncost to Himself in the person of His precious and beloved Son that sinners\nmight be saved that you and I might know our transgressions forgiven, our debts\nwiped out and the barrier to fellowship with the living God obliterated \u2013Hallelujah!\nThis cry of victory is the ground of our assurance of salvation \u2013because of\nwhat Christ has done<\/strong> not based on\nwhat we hope we can do<\/strong>. It is an\nobjective fact not dependent on our feelings and emotions but on the finished\nwork of Christ. Hebrews 10:10 states: We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the\nbody of Jesus Christ once for all<\/strong>\u2026<\/em>but when this\npriest had offered for all time\none sacrifice for sins<\/strong>, <\/em>He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time\nHe waits for His enemies to be made His footstool, because by one sacrifice He\nhas made perfect for ever<\/strong> <\/em>those who are\nbeing made holy. <\/em>What an honour, what a privilege is yours and mine\nas sons and daughters of the living God to know this wonderful truth. However\ndo you here still need to put your trust in Jesus? Can I encourage you to take\nthat step without delay!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. A Familiar Word<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was not a unique word to Jesus;\nrather it was a common everyday word. It was used:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. By Servants \/Slaves <\/strong>Their masters gave them tasks to\nperform and when all their duties had been carried out in a satisfactory manner\nthey would report back and declared tetelestai<\/strong>\nfinished. <\/em>Jesus God\u2019s servant, the\none obedient to His father declared in John 10:17-18:The\nreason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life \u2013only to take it up again.\nNo-one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority\nto lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I have received\nfrom My Father.<\/em> Jesus was the true model servant. Philippians 2:5\nstates: Your attitude should be the same\nas that of Christ Jesus<\/em>. In our Lord\u2019s prayer recorded in John 17:4 he\nsaid: I\nhave brought You glory on earth by completing<\/strong><\/em> <\/em><\/strong>the work You gave Me to do.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. By Priests <\/strong>The Jewish people brought appropriate animals\nto the priests in order to offer the sacrifices prescribed in the Old\nTestament.The animals for sacrifice\nhad to be perfect, without blemish as only the best was acceptable to God. For\nexample Leviticus 4:23 with respect to the \u2018sin offering\u2019: he must bring as his offering a male\ngoat without defect. <\/em>A priest would examine the animal carefully \u2013if\nit was indeed without a blemish then in Aramaic he would declare the equivalent\nof tetelestai <\/strong>finished <\/em>to indicate that the animal could be used as a sacrifice in\nthe worship of Almighty God. Jesus was faultless. In John 8:46 to an angry mob who were using all kind of\nlanguage to attack Jesus, including some vocabulary that I trust will never\nescape through our lips, Jesus gives this extraordinary challenge: Can any of\nyou prove Me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don\u2019t you believe\nMe? <\/em>We can only grasp the powerfulness of these words by attempting\nto put ourselves in His place and family members or people we grew up with and\nwith whom we are have relational difficulties and imagine ourselves asking \u2013\ncan any of you ever recall a time when I spoke out of turn or when I ever did\nanything wrong? None of us would ever go there \u2013 we know we are sinners but\nJesus was not a sinner. In words that encourage us to seek His help in prayer\nthe writer of the letter to the Hebrews in 4:15 says of Jesus: For we do not have a high priest who is unable to\nsympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every\nway, just as we are \u2013yet was\nwithout sin.<\/strong><\/em> <\/em><\/strong>At His trial before\nPontius Pilate the Roman Governor stated: I find no fault in Him<\/em> (NKJV) or I find no\nbasis for a charge against Him. <\/em>(NIV)\u2019 Judas the man who betrayed\nJesus admitted: I have sinned, he said, for I have betrayed innocent blood<\/em>\n(Matthew 27:4). God the Father had already over the life of His Son declared: This is My\nSon whom I love; with Him I am well pleased <\/em>(Matthew 3:17). Jesus was the spotless lamb\nthe perfect sacrifice given in our place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

C. By Traders<\/strong> It was also a business term that would be\nheard regularly in the marketplace. In that context tetelestai finished <\/em><\/strong>meant\nthat a debt had been paid in full; that is a person was standing at the payment\npoint and had handled over the exact sum of money required to obtain the goods.\nOnce that amount had been counted and confirmed by the trader he or she would\nhave declared tetelestai<\/strong> the\ntransaction was now completed. The goods were now legally the property of the\npurchaser. In the context of the offering of Christ on the cross He offered in\nfull the payment to ransom our souls from eternal ruin. Naturally we are\nspiritually bankrupt but Christ paid in full to release us from our plight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D. New Testament Usage<\/strong>  In Matthew chapter 17 there is the account of\na discussion of whether Jesus pays one of the taxes levied on Jewish citizens\nin the Holy land in the 1st<\/sup> century AD. 24<\/sup><\/em> After Jesus\nand His disciples arrived in Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax\ncame to Peter and asked, Doesn’t your teacher pay<\/strong> the temple tax? 25<\/sup>Yes,\nhe does, he replied. When Peter came into the house, Jesus was the first to\nspeak. What do you think, Simon? he asked. From whom do the kings of the earth\ncollect duty and taxes\u2014 from their own sons or from others? 26<\/sup>\nFrom others, Peter answered. Then the sons are exempt, Jesus said to him. 27<\/sup> But so that we may not offend them, go to the\nlake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and\nyou will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and\nyours. <\/em>This word is also used in Luke 2:39 describing the actions of\nMary and Joseph on their trip to the Jerusalem\n Temple for the dedication\nand circumcision of Jesus. This verse records that: when they had performed<\/strong><\/em> <\/em><\/strong>all things\naccording to the Law<\/em> (NKJV) or when Joseph and Mary had<\/em> done<\/em><\/strong> [literally finished<\/strong>]everything\nrequired by the Law of the Lord they returned to Galilee to their own town of\nNazareth.<\/em> In Luke 18:31 we read: 31<\/sup><\/em> <\/sup><\/em>Jesus took\nthe Twelve aside and told them, We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that\nis written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled<\/strong><\/em>. 32<\/sup>He will be turned over to the Gentiles. They will mock Him, insult Him,\nspit on Him, flog Him and kill Him. 33<\/sup>On\nthe third day He will rise again.<\/em> The most famous usage of all is\nthat which occurs in out text in John 19:30 in which it is proclaimed that\nJesus in His death paid the price of our redemption. He performed the utmost\nrequirements of the law could exact. He accomplished the work which the Father\nhad given Him to do. He had finished the procuring of atonement for His people\nHallelujah!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. A Faithful\nSaviour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus modelled for us an example\nof dedication to the Father\u2019s will and purpose for His life, even though the\nwork was hard and centred on the pathway to Calvary.\nHow easy it would have been to opt out of such a mission, yet His commitment to\nthe calling He received even during His struggles in Gethsemane\nis an inspiration to us. In our own land how many Christians there are who opt\nfor an easy pilgrimage avoiding giving the kind of commitment to God\u2019s work\nthat He requires from us? The reasons too often given for choosing one church\nrather than another when people move to a new location is often couched in\nlanguage of what we can get out of it rather than opportunities for service in\nthe Lord\u2019s name. Some years ago in Fife Watson Moyes, then minister of the\nlarge Viewfield Baptist Church in Dunfermline, expressed deep concern about the\nnumbers of Christians wishing to leave smaller Baptist Churches in Fife to join\nlarger ones like His own congregation. In fact if the reasons given were less\nthan adequate there were occasions on which He declined to accept some people\nas new members telling them to return back to their former church where they\nwere needed to serve God in their local community. This was a most courageous\nstep to take and incredibly rare in our land today. This approach came from a\nkingdom perspective \u2013 looking at the bigger picture of what God would wish to\nhappen in that situation. Although we rejoice at the growth in our church in\nrecent years it is not about numbers but about the effectiveness of our service\nfor God. The larger the church becomes the greater our financial position, our\npool of talents and other resources the more the Lord will expect from us. Jesus\nin Luke 2:49 said to Mary and Joseph: Didn\u2019t you know that I had to be in my Father\u2019s house\n<\/em>(NIV) orabout My Father\u2019s business <\/em>(NKJV)?\nHis consciousness of the priorities of His calling was evident throughout His\nministry. He knew the difference between what he could do and what God expected\nHim to do in a variety of different situation. At the wedding in Cana in Galilee when\nasked by Mary to provide additional wine by a miracle replied (John 2:4): My time<\/em>\n<\/p>\n\n\n

[hour]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

has\nnot yet come. <\/em>To the disciples at Sychar in Samaria in John 4:34 who\nwere concerned about the priority of getting a meal after a long journey were\nreminded by Jesus that: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish<\/strong><\/em> <\/em><\/strong>His work.\n<\/em>Throughout His ministry the disciples were reminded that the pathway to Jerusalem and His\nultimate triumph was through the cross \u2013something from which they recoiled\nuntil after Pentecost. At His transfiguration (Luke 9:31) Jesus was revealed talking with Moses\nand Elijah. What did they talk about? His departure <\/em>[exodus<\/strong>]<\/strong>, which he was about to bring to\nfulfilment at Jerusalem. <\/em>On another occasion, recorded in Luke 12:50\nHe declared: I\nhave a baptism to undergo and how distressed I am until it is completed <\/em>[accomplished\n\/finished<\/strong> \u2013same root word as John 19:30]. <\/em>John 17:4 is a wonderful proclamation:\nI have\nbrought You glory on earth by completing<\/strong><\/em> <\/em><\/strong>[finishing<\/strong>] the work You gave Me to do. <\/em>How\ncould you in prayer to God honestly describe how you are getting on with the\nwork God has called you to do? I am sure all of us would say \u2018a work in\nprogress\u2019 \u2013more to be accomplished! It is important never to be complacent, yet\nat the same time to say with Paul to each other the words of Philippians 1:6: being\nconfident of this, that He who began a good work in you will<\/strong><\/em> <\/em><\/strong>carry it on\nto completion until the day of Christ Jesus.<\/em> Praise God for such\nassurance in Christ!\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. A Finished Work<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in this glorious moment of triumph, in this declaration of the victory\nof God in Christ we see: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.\nSuffering Consummated<\/strong> For Jesus used to the glory of heaven, to come to\nearth and face the restrictions of human existence; the restrictions of life in\nNazareth with its poverty and subsistence economy. The continual opposition of\nreligious leaders who questioned His every move and doubted His right and\ncompetence to teach the Word of God! His miracles attracted great audiences,\nbut His teaching and calls for discipleship were not accepted by the majority\nof those who heard Him preach. The number of committed disciples during His\nearly ministry was very small indeed. John 7:2-5 recorded the polite ridicule\nof His step-brothers who told Jesus at the time of the Feast of tabernacles: You ought to\nleave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do.\nNo-one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing\nthese things, show yourself to the world. For even His own brothers did not\nbelieve in Him.<\/em> His disciples abandoned Him in the garden of\nGethsemane first of all in spirit when He asked them to pray with Him, instead\nof praying they repeatedly fell asleep (Luke 23:39-46) and then when He was\narrested they forsook Him and fled (Mark 14:50). His lonely vigil in the trials\nbefore Pilate and Herod and supremely in His separation from His Father on the\ncross was His suffering intensified and reached its lowest depths \u2013it was now\nover for ever Hallelujah! tetelestai <\/strong>Finished <\/em>Philippians 2:5-8 declares: 5<\/sup><\/em> Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ\nJesus: 6<\/sup>Who, being in very nature God, did\nnot consider equality with God something to be grasped,7<\/sup>but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made\nin human likeness. 8<\/sup>And being found in\nappearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death\u2014 even\ndeath on a cross!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Satan\nConquered<\/strong> God created a perfect world Genesis 1:31: God saw all\nthat He had made and it was very good. <\/em>Yet right from the beginning\nSatan tried to subvert God\u2019s plan. In Eden\nhis insistent questioning (eg. Genesis 3:1 Did God really say<\/em><\/strong>you must not eat from any tree in the garden?<\/em>\nIf he could not make God\u2019s people divert from God\u2019s plan he tried to kill the\nroyal line at various points in history right down to the slaughter of babies\nand young children in Bethlehem on the orders of King Herod at the time of the\nbirth of Jesus (Matthew 2:16-18); from the temptations in the wilderness\n(Matthew 4:1-11) to the critical comments of Peter (Matthew 16:22) after the\nrevelation of the way of the cross. Peter said: Never Lord\u2026This shall never happen to You! <\/em>What did Jesus say to\nPeter in His stern rebuke (v23): Out of my sight Satan! You are a stumbling block to\nMe; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. <\/em>Even\non the cross itself the human beings used by Satan were the religious leaders\nwho taunted Jesus with these words: He saved others, they said, but He cannot save\nHimself! He\u2019s the king of Israel!\nLet Him come down now from the cross and we will believe in Him.<\/em>Yet\nJesus resisted all these and other temptations tetelestai <\/strong>finished. <\/em>I\nCorinthians 10:13 is a\nwonderful assurance to us in our Christian life: No temptation has seized you except what\nis common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond\nwhat you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so\nthat you can stand up under it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C. Salvation\nCompleted<\/strong> Years ago in England a picture was painted for the Royal Corps\nof Signallers. A signaller unarmed, lay dead in no-man\u2019s land. He had been sent\nto repair a cable snapped by shell fire and so restore contact again. The\npicture showed him lying dead in the fulfilment of his task, holding together\nin his stiffened hands the broken ends, so the current could go through.\nBeneath the picture is one word: Contact\n<\/strong>There is much in life that remains unfinished. The musical composer\nSchubert left his unfinished symphony, The sculptor Michelangelo left most of\nhis statues unfinished \u2013many more than his \u2018Moses\u2019 and \u2018David\u2019 could have been\ncompleted \u2013but they were not finished! Many a manuscript in an author\u2019s drawer;\nnumerous DIY tasks around vast numbers of homes\u2026.the list is endless, except on\nthe cross there was heard the cry of the victory of God tetelestai finished <\/em><\/strong>Jesus\nhad accomplished the work given to Him by the Father. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have four pieces of evidence<\/strong> of the\ntruthfulness of this declaration from the cross. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(i)The Torn Veil<\/strong> Matthew 27:50-51\nrecords: And when Jesus had cried out\nagain in a loud voice <\/em>[tetelestai<\/strong>]\nHe gave up His spirit. At that moment the\ncurtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and\nthe rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who\nhad died were raised to life\u2026 <\/em>Access directly into the presence of God\naccomplished through the atonement obtained by Jesus \u2013hallelujah! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(ii) The Resurrection of Jesus<\/strong> How\ncould we have known for certain that this was true the most public and\nverifiable way was in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Paul in I Corinthians\n15:12-20 proves this point. 12<\/sup><\/em>But if it is preached that Christ has been\nraised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of\nthe dead? 13<\/sup>If there is no resurrection of\nthe dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14<\/sup>And\nif Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15<\/sup>More than that, we are then found to\nbe false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised\nChrist from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not\nraised.16<\/sup> For if the dead are not raised,\nthen Christ has not been raised either. 17<\/sup>And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in\nyour sins 18<\/sup> Then those also who have fallen\nasleep in Christ are lost. 19<\/sup> If only for\nthis life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. 20<\/sup>But Christ has indeed been raised\nfrom the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(iii) The Exaltation of Jesus<\/strong>\nPhilippians 2:9-11reveals the\ncontrast to the humiliation of Jesus with His exaltation:9<\/sup><\/em>Therefore God exalted Him to the highest\nplace and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10<\/sup>\nthat at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and\nunder the earth, 11<\/sup>and every\ntongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. <\/em>What\nis He doing in heaven prior to His second coming? Hebrews 7:25: Therefore He\nis able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always\nlives to intercede for them.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(iv) The Gift of the Holy Spirit <\/strong>(John\n16:5-15) from Pentecost onwards to empower His people for service. Acts 1:8: But you will\nreceive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses\nin Jerusalem\u2026to the ends of the earth. <\/em>In reflection on this cry of\nJesus the great missionary statesman Hudson Taylor in his conversion testimony\nsaid: \u2018If then the entire work is finished, all\nthe debt paid, what remains for me to do? In another instant the light was shed\nthrough my mind by the Holy Spirit, and the joyous conviction was given me that\nnothing more was to be done, save to fall on my knees, to accept this Saviour\nand His love, to praise God forever.\u2019 Oh may each of us not leave this\nchurch today without accepting Jesus as Saviour and Lord! \u2018Lifted up was He to\ndie, it is finished was His cry, now in heaven exalted high, hallelujah! what a\nSaviour! Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction This is the most exciting of the words of Jesus from the cross. Other words and cries we value so highly as precious and important from our Lord and Saviour and each in their own way cause us to look within our own hearts at our own relationship with our heavenly father. However this … Continue reading John 19:30 The Word of Victory<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-941","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=941"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":942,"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/941\/revisions\/942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/broughtybaptist.org\/wpsite\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}