According to Plan

John 19:30

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, "It is finished," and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

...............

Jesus died according to plan.

We know this from the first chapter of John, where the writer alludes to his rejection and where John the Baptist calls Jesus the lamb of God. We know this death was planned from Jesus' description of himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. We saw in John 17 how Jesus prayed about this plan which was set in place from all eternity. And we know it was planned from how so many scripture passages were fulfilled in such detailed ways. John 19 gives four explicit fulfillments:

1. So they said to one another, "Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be." This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, "They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots." So the soldiers did these things. (19:24)

2. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), "I thirst." (19:28)

3. For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken."  (19:36)

4. And again another Scripture says, "They will look on him whom they have pierced." (19:37)

Why does it matter that Jesus' death would fulfill these detailed predictions? For one, it is evidence that gives credibility to Jesus' claim to be the Son of God and long-expected Messiah. Jesus had claimed to be older than Abraham. He claimed to speak for God. He claimed to have shared glory with the Father from eternity past. In short, he claimed to be God, and these fulfillments of Scripture are mentioned by John to further prove who Jesus really was. He even says so in verse 35:

He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.

John knew that many would find these claims outrageous and that many would accuse the early Christians of believing a lie. So, these Scripture fulfillments matter because they make it hard to claim a coincidence has occurred. The fulfilled prediction of events makes it appear that it was all planned -- and therefore it has real meaning for us.

I think that these fulfillments matter for another reason: they reinforce the feeling that something historic has just been accomplished. When a Scripture is fulfilled hundreds of years after it was written, you know something climactic has occured. This death was the culmination of a much longer story -- the story of man's broken relationship with their Creator. This sense of culmination is underscored by the phrase "it is finished."

What exactly did this death finish? It's honestly not clear from the context. Was Jesus just stating the obvious, that his life is now ended?

No, this means far more than that. The early believers would flesh out the atoning work of Christ in fascinating detail in the other books of the New Testament. In Romans 8, we learn how Christ's death fulfills the law for us. In 2 Corinthians 5, we learn how his death was an exchange that makes us righteous before a holy God. In Hebrews, we learn even more aspects of this finished work and how it atones for us in ways that the priests and sacrifices of old could never do.

In fact, we will spend an eternity pondering the riches of this finished work. There will always be more to understand and appreciate as this work is applied to us personally by faith. Consider the finality of this forgiveness and remember that nothing you do can undo it. It is final and it is complete and it is effective. Live in that freedom and rejoice!

And when before the throne
I stand in him complete
"Jesus died my soul to save"
my lips shall still repeat.

Jesus paid it all!
All to him I owe
Sin had left a crimson stain
he washed it white as snow.