TETELESTAI! IT IS FINISHED. PAID IN FULL. JUSTICE IS SATISFIED. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. THE SACRIFICE IS PERFECT.

TETELESTAI! IT IS FINISHED! Jesus’ last words before He bowed and gave up His spirit, recorded in the book of John, chapter 19.

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” 29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. - John 19:28-30

We know this is not the end of the story. As Apostle Paul summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:3-8:

3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.”

Jesus is risen! Any of us who have a relationship with God can testify to the fact that we have a relationship with the risen King who came to serve, Jesus Christ our Lord.

But what about His last words: “It is finished,” in Greek, “Tetelestai.”

First off, tetelestai is a perfect tense verb in Greek, meaning:

“It has been finished”“It stands finished”“It will always be finished.”

Moreover, the word “tetelestai” has four distinct meanings or contexts in which it was used that help us grasp the weight of Jesus’ triumphant victory, definitively proven through His sinless life, sacrificial death, and resurrection from grave.

THE DEBT IS PAID IN FULL - The Merchant’s Receipt

Context #1: Tetelestai was written on receipts when a debt was fully paid off.

The good news for us: Our own record of sin has been nailed to the cross, stamped with the word tetelestai. We owe nothing more because Jesus paid our debt in full. It says in Colossians 2:13-15:

13 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

Hallelujah!

JUSTICE IS SATISFIED - The Judge’s Legal Verdict

Context #2: In courtrooms, a judge might use tetelestai to declare that a sentence was completed and justice had been fully served.

The good news for us: On the cross, God’s perfect justice against sin was satisfied in Christ. He bore our guilt, paid our penalty, and took our place.

The case is closed. The all-knowing just Judge has ruled: “Not guilty—because of Jesus.”

Romans 3:23-26 testifies:

23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

Hallelujah!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED - The Servant’s Cry

Context #3: Servants used the word tetelestai to report a job completed with excellence.

The good news for us: Jesus, the King who came to serve, completed the Father's will perfectly, fulfilling the Scriptures, including every Messianic prophesy about the coming Messiah.

See Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53. The exact manner of Christ’s death on a cross were prophesied hundreds of years before His sinless life and atoning death on the cross for us.

The last words of Isaiah 53, in verse 12:

“…He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors;yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

The last words of Psalm 22, in verses 30-31:

“…it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that HE HAS DONE IT.”

IT IS FINISHED. JESUS HAS DONE IT. The Lord came to save sinners from eternal separation from God, to ransom and redeem us from sin, death, and darkness and deliver us into the Kingdom of the Beloved Son, Jesus, the Kingdom of Light. The King laid down His life to transform slaves into beloved sons and daughters.

Jesus won! The victory is complete! Mission accomplished!

Hallelujah!

THE SACRIFICE IS PERFECT - The Priest’s Declaration

Context #4: Tetelestai was used by priests when an offering was deemed acceptable to God.

The good news for us: Jesus, the Lamb of God without blemish, offered Himself once for all, satisfying the righteous requirement of the Law.

Hebrews 10 lays out the case for Christ as the perfect sacrifice once for all. It says in Hebrews 10:5-18:

“Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,

“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’”

8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”

17 then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”

Hallelujah! JESUS is the perfect sacrifice for us.

JESUS IS VICTORIOUS!

Remember it, write it on the tablet of your heart, share the good news, and do not forget that:

* THE DEBT IS PAID IN FULL.

* JUSTICE IS SATISFIED.

* THE MISSION IS ACCOMPLISHED.

* THE SACRIFICE IS PERFECT.

TETELESTAI! IT IS FINISHED.

Amen! Thank You, God! Thank You, Jesus!

If you were blessed by this, feel free to leave a comment or share it with a friend. May the risen Lord, our resurrected, victorious King, bless you today.