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Great Friday 2026: It is Finished · CCC West Covina

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It is so good to have you with us tonight on this great Friday.
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This is the greatest of all, all days.
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It's the highest of all the the holy days.
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It is the the apex of redemptive history.
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Everything from Genesis 1 pointed to this day, the day in
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which our our Lord was was crucified on on Calvary's tree.
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But The funny thing about Resurrection Sunday and Great
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Friday is that it's only a weekend in our celebration.
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Christmas is a season. It begins basically in October,
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goes all the way through November into December, and we
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have parties and get togethers and gatherings and exchanging of
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gifts and all kinds of celebrations.
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And yet the highest of all holy days just gets a day.
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In fact, most churches don't even have a great Friday
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service. And yet it's the best of all the
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days. In fact, I've always thought
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about the fact that during Passion Week we should probably
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get together as a church every day of the week.
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We, we should meet on Sunday because that was the day of, of
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his reception in Bethany with Mary and Martha and Lazarus and
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they had dinner at the home of Simon the leper.
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And then we, we would come back from Sunday and gather together
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on Monday, because Monday was the day of his coronation.
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It was a day in which he wrote into Jerusalem on that palm
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Monday in which the the the cries of the people that blessed
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is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
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And then we get back together on Tuesday, because Tuesday was the
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day of indignation, the day in which he went in and cleansed
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the temple and and cursed the fig tree.
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And then we gathered back again on on Wednesday, because
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Wednesday was the day of instruction, instruction around
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the the the Temple Mount as he would answer and questions and
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even ask questions and instruct about his coming Kingdom.
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And then his instruction on the Mount of Olives, of course that
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late afternoon into the early evening with his men.
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And then we could gather again on Thursday, because that was
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the day of his affection for his men, which he would wash the
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disciples feet. He'd partake at the Lord's
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table, he'd give us High priestly prayer, and he'd give
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them great comfort and encouragement about his coming
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again. And then of course, we'd we'd
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gather together on on Thursday, because Thursday was the day of
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his incarceration in which they would gather him together and
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begin to, to interrogate him. And then we gathered together on
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Friday, which Friday was the day of his crucifixion.
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And then on Saturday was the day of his proclamation.
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First Peter, 3/19, he went to the lower parts of the earth and
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made a proclamation. They gained victory over sin,
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death and Satan. And then we gathered him back on
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Sunday, which is the day of, of resurrection.
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We should celebrate the the resurrection of Jesus Christ our
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Lord. And that would just be a week,
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but we could gather together just for that week.
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I remember when we went to the study of Luke, we spent five
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months on five days of Passion week just to cover all the
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details that that were there because there's so much to
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cover. And of course, most of John's
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gospel is about the last hours of our Lord's Lord's life.
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And yet today in modern day Christianity, we spend very
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little time ever contemplating the cross, ever celebrating the
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cross, ever considering the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord.
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And yet there are there are people who who will wear
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crosses. Maybe you have one on this
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evening. We've come to a place in in life
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where we've learned to venerate the cross.
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It's become a piece of exquisite jewelry that we wear.
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We wear it around our neck. We we put it on our lapel.
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We we have pictures of the cross in our homes.
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Some of them are are 14 karat gold, some of them are sterling
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silver. Some of them have diamonds on
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them, some of them have rubies on them.
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And we wear them to, to dress up our outfits because it is so
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becoming to those who see it. But just think about that for a
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moment. For those of us who who wear
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crosses and and put them on display, just think if you are a
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1st century Christian, I wonder what you would do.
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You certainly wouldn't be wearing AA14 karat gold cross
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around your neck. I mean, it would be like the 1st
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century Christian taking a image of a noose and making it into 14
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karat gold and putting it on their lapel or around their
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neck. We would ask the question, what
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are you doing? Or they would take the image of
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an electric chair or even a gas chamber and they would decorate
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it with rubies and all kinds of paraphernalia and maybe put it
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on their lapel or around their neck.
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We'd ask the question, what on earth were you thinking?
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Or if they were to take a a syringe and a needle and outline
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it with diamonds and and wear it around their neck, we'd ask the
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question, why would you wear something so cruel and brutal to
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symbolize a lethal injection around your neck?
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Makes you think of things a little differently, doesn't it?
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You see, we look at the cross and the 1st century Christian
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would say this is a symbol of brutality, a symbol of cruelty.
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No 1st century Christian would would be wearing a cross around
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their neck because of the the horrendous death in which it it
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causes. And even though the Persians
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were the ones who, who began crucifixions in 500 BC and then
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it moved to the Egyptians and then it moved to Rome.
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And in 63 BC, the Romes perfected the crucifixion.
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And even though they're they had gone through all these
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crucifixions and, and during the time of Christ, there were some
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30,000 crucifixions during his time on the earth.
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The only thing about that is that is that it it wasn't until
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500 BC that crucifixions were even thought of or first
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recorded, except in the book of Zechariah, wherein 550 BC, 50
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years before the Persians ever initiated crucifixions,
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Zechariah would prophecy about the Messiah being crucified.
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But in 700 BC, 200 years before the Persians ever thought of
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crucifixions, the prophet Isaiah would prophecy about the
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crucifixion of the Messiah. Better yet, in 1000 BC, 500
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years before the Persians ever enacted crucifixions, it would
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be David who would prophecy about the crucifixion of the
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Messiah. Because that was the plan.
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It was always the plan. And even though the world
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finally caught up to where the Bible really is, that's the way
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it always is, the Bible. I mean, the world has to catch
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up to where the Bible is. The Bible is not catching up to
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where the world is. The world has to catch up to
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where the Bible is. It was our Our Lord who had made
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sure that the prophecy of the cross was well written in the
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Scriptures and yet it was such a devastating way to die.
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It was William Barkley who called the crucifixion A
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dreadful routine. A man by the name of Clawson, a
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Jewish historian, says that crucifixion is the most terrible
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and cruel death man has ever devised.
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Cicero, who was well acquainted with it, says it was the most
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cruel and shameful of all punishments.
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And William Wilson, in his Judicial, Literary and
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Historical Investigation of the Cross of Christ, writes these
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words. Not only was the cross the most
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painful of deaths, it was also considered the most amazing.
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The condemned man was stripped naked and left exposed in his
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agony. And often the Romans even denied
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burial to the victim, allowing his body to hang on the cross
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until it disintegrated. We forget about the the cruelty
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of the cross. And yet when you read the Bible,
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it simply says, and there he was crucified.
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It doesn't give you any details. Oh, we have movies that that
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give you details, but the Bible doesn't give you any details.
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It doesn't have to because everybody knew about
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crucifixions. Everybody knew the details to
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the crucifixions. So the Bible just simply says,
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and there he was, was crucified. And yet our Lord would hang on a
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cross for for six hours, six hours, from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM.
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And during those six hours He would utter 7 sayings.
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The first was a word of pardon, he would say, Father, forgive
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them, for they know not what they are doing.
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The second word was was the word of promise that he gave to the
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thief on the cross. Today you shall be with me in
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Paradise. The third word was the word of
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provision. When he looked to his mother, he
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said Behold your son and then to John and said Behold your
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mother. That was all during the first 3
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hours in which it was as bright as day until noon, when all of a
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sudden the sky became darkened. And toward the end of those last
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three hours he would utter four more sayings.
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The 4th or the 5th 1 would be or the 4th 1 would be.
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A word of pain. My God, my God, why hast thou
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forsaken me? From there there was a word of
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petition. That petition was I thirst.
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Then came the word of purpose. It is finished.
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And then the word of peace. Father, into thy hands I commend
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my spirit. The fact that He even said one
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word was remarkable. The fact that he said 7 * 7
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different sayings is remarkable considering the the pain that he
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was in. And yet our our Lord was in
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complete control of everything. It's remarkable to, to
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understand the, the, the sovereign power of the, of the
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Lord Jesus Christ. And tonight I, I just want to
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mention one of those phrases to you tonight.
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We'll call it the word of purpose.
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And that is one word to Telestai.
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It is finished and that word tells us many, many things.
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But I'm just going to give you 4 very simple principles that that
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word explains to us. The first one is, is this that
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that word to tell us thy or it is finish, delivers for us the
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consummation of His mission. That word alone delivers for us
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the consummation, the completion of His mission.
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It is finished. A remarkable statement, our
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Lord, knowing that all the prophecy had been fulfilled,
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except for the one that says, I thirst.
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Having said that, He said it is finished, and he said it in such
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a way that that Matthew, Mark and Luke don't even tell us what
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he said. They just said he shouted.
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John doesn't tell us he shouted. John just gives us the word that
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he shouted. It is finished.
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Knowing that at the end of six hours he'd be out of breath,
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he'd be suffocating, he'd be at the point of death, he would
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yell it is finished. Because you see, our Lord was on
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a mission. It was a mission that that was
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granted to him, that was given to him that he accepted.
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And when he was 12 years of age, the mission is articulated when
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he says to his mother, do you not know that I must be about my
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father's business? In Luke's Gospel there are,
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there are 7 divine musts and they all center around his, his
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mission in life. He says, don't you know mother,
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I must be about my father's business.
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I, I have a mission and that that mission is to come and to
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die. And then in Luke's gospel in the
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4th chapter, he says I, I must preach the gospel of the
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Kingdom. Why?
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Because he's the king. He's presenting the king.
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He's only got the Kingdom. He as the king, he's presented
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the Kingdom. He only has a few short years of
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his ministry, so he must preach the gospel of the Kingdom.
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Then when you come to Luke Chapter 9, it says the Son of
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Man must suffer. He must suffer.
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It was his divine mission. It was the masters must mission,
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the three M's, the master had a mission and it was all a divine
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must. This must happen this way.
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And then you come to Luke chapter 13 and he says I must
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journey to Jerusalem. Why?
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Because the profit is not to die outside the city, but in the
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city. Again, the divine must was
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moving him toward a direction that would be the apex of all of
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redemptive history. Then you move on to Luke's
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gospel. I believe it's the 19th chapter
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in which you said, Zacchaeus, come down because I must go to
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your house. Why?
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Why? Because our Lord is the one who
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comes to seek and save that which is lost, and he must save
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Zacchaeus. And then when you come to the
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24th chapter of Luke, at the resurrection of the Messiah, and
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the men in white apparel, say to the women, Why do you seek the
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living among the dead? Do you not know that the Son of
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Man must suffer, die and rise again?
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And then when you come to the end of chapter 24 of Luke's
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gospel, our Lord says these words to the disciples after His
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resurrection. He says, these are my words
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which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things
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which are written about me in the law of Moses and the
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prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
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Seven divine musts all characterize the mission of the
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Lord. And so when he says it is
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finished, he is saying the mission's been accomplished.
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I've been born to die. I've come for this purpose.
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I've come to give my life a ransom for many, and I've come
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to give my life away. I've come to die as a substitute
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for those who cannot pay the price for their sins.
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I've come to take their place. I've come to die on Calvary's
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tree. And so you have our Lord, who
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said several times, I I've come to do the will of my Father who
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is in heaven. I've come to accomplish one
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thing. Everything that the Old
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Testament was looking forward to, everything that the Old
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Testament pointed to, was Calvary.
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That was the prophetic promise. And so his mission was
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fulfilled. And so when he says it is
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finished, it truly delivers to us the consummation of his
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mission #2 it describes for us the satisfaction of his
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redemption. It describes for us the
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satisfaction of His redemption. When He says it is finished,
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there's nothing to add to it. There's nothing to take away
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from it, because everything about salvation is wrapped up in
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the finished work of Christ on Calvary.
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So when Christ says it is finished, there's nothing you
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can add to the saving work that will get you into glory.
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It's the finished work of Christ on Calvary.
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When Christ says it is finished, that means all that prophecy
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about the seed of Genesis chapter 3 verse #15 that would
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crush the serpent's head. It is finished.
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It is completed. It has happened that that that
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Genesis chapter 22 prophecy about how the Messiah would be a
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substitute for you and me. It it has happened exactly as He
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said. The prophecy in Exodus chapter
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12 about the spotless Lamb Christ our Passover was
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sacrificed for us, that was accomplished.
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The prophecy about Isaiah 53, Him being a sin bearer that was
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scorned and that was slain has been fulfilled.
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And in Isaiah chapter 25, when it says that that the Messiah
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will swallow up death, He is the swallower of death.
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Christ says I have destroyed death.
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It is finished. I am the death conqueror.
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That's what Christ did, the satisfaction of redemption.
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So much so, so much so that Isaiah 5310 says that it pleased
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the Lord to crush his Son. That's the satisfaction of
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redemption, so much so that Hebrews Chapter 9 says these
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words, that He came to taste death for every man.
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Verse 14 of Hebrews 2. Therefore, since the children
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share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise also partook of
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the same, that through death He might render powerless him who
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had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those
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who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their
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lives. That's our Lord.
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So Paul would say, death, where is your sting?
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Death, where is your victory? It's gone.
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Why? Because redemption has been
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satisfied with the phrase. It is finished.
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So while that word delivers for us the consummation of His
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mission and describes for us the satisfaction of His redemption,
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that word also displays the perfection of His revelation.
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It displays the perfection of His revelation.
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Think about this with me for a moment.
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There is a centurion, the commander of 100 men, that is
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with Jesus the whole time. He's leading 100 men from the
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the temple over the Kitchen Valley to the Garden of
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Gethsemane on late Thursday evening.
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With him comes the temple police, which should be around
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600 people, along with him, the scribes and Pharisees and
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Sadducees. So you have of upwards of 800
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people coming with tortures and and lanterns to look for the
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light of the world, but they're coming to get him.
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They get to the garden entry in there, the Lord is waiting for
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them and the Lord asks them, whom do you seek?
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And they said Jesus the Nazarene.
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Christ just simply says I am. And they all fall over
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backwards, all 800 of them. And the remarkable thing is not
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that they fell over, but that they got back up again.
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And Christ re re asked the question, Whom do you seek?
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Jesus the Nazarene. This is his incarceration and
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this centurion is there to lead the arrest of Jesus, the
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incarceration. And from the incarceration he
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leads Christ to the interrogation, which is with
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Anas, and then with Caiaphas, and then with Pilate, and then
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with Herod. And then from that interrogation
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he witnesses the, the persecution and the humiliation
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as our Lord is, is beaten mercilessly.
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And then he, he takes the Lord down the Via Dolorosa to the
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place called Calvary. And there he is crucified.
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And as he, he is crucified, he, he hears, he hears this
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intercession. Father forgive them for they
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know not what they're doing. And then he, then he sees this
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conversion of a, of a thief and then hears the confession of the
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thief. Lord, Remember Me when you come
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into your Kingdom. He hears his confession that the
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one hanging next to him is the Lord of the universe and that he
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has a, a Kingdom because he's a king.
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He speaks to his deity and to his royalty and Christ gives him
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that great promise. Today you shall be with me in
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paradise. And the centurion is witnessing
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all of this because he is the one in charge.
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And then, and then he hears and witnesses the interaction of
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Christ with his Father in heaven.
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He can read the inscription above the cross, Jesus and
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Nazareth, King of the Jews. Then he hears Christ say, it is
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finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
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my spirit. And he, he pillows his head.
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He doesn't slump over as if to say, thank God it's over.
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No, he, he pillows his head because no one takes his life
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from him. He lays it down on his own
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initiative. He was laying his life down.
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And so he just pillowed his head.
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And the centurion watching all this, hearing all this, this is
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the perfection of his revelation.
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Because the centurion then says, surely this is the Son of God.
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And Luke's gospel tells us he began to praise and glorify God.
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You see, he came to saving grace.
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Faith cometh by hearing and hearing about a word concerning
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the Christ. And he heard all there was about
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the Christ. He witnessed all there was about
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the Christ, because that was the question, Who is Jesus?
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He witnessed Caiaphas saying, Who are you?
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Are you the Christ, the Son of God?
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To which the centurion would reply at the very end, truly
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this was the Son of God. And so when Christ says to
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Telestai, it is finished, it delivers for us the consummation
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of His mission. It describes for us the
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satisfaction of His redemption. It displays for us the
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perfection of His revelation. And one more, it declares for us
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the anticipation of His final declaration, which is Revelation
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21 verse #6 which says it is done.
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We live in anticipation of a a final declaration.
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It is finished says that redemption has been
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accomplished. It is done, says recreation of
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the universe has been accomplished because the
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universe will go out of existence and they'll be a brand
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new heaven and a brand new earth and Christ will say it is done.
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It is finished as the apex of redemptive history, but it is
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done is the apex of human history and everything is
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leading to that one time, that one event where Christ from the
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tree said it is done, but from the throne will say it is done.
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I'm sorry, from the tree said it is finished.
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From the throne he will say it is done.
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That's our Lord, that's our Christ, which leads us to to our
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time around the Lord's table, for which our, our our Lord
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would say, as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup,
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you do proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
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We're living in anticipation of his, of his coming again,
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knowing that one day there will be this final declaration that
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says it is done, it is completely over.
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No more sin, no more pain, all of righteousness, everything
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perfect as God had designed it to be from the very beginning.
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And that's what we're looking forward to.
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So we gathered together on the eve or this night of of great
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Friday, the greatest of all holy days, the most anticipated day
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of prophecy was this day. Oh yes, his birth was a a great
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prophetic fulfilment. It was, but He was born for one
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reason. He was born to die.
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He came for this reason. He came to be your sin bearer.
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He came to be your substitute. He came to be the spotless land
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that would be slain and scorned and crucified on Calvary's
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cross. For the wages of sin is death.
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So Christ paid the penalty for sin.
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He died in your place, so you would have to pay for your sins.
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So we gathered together to partake at the Lord's table,
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recognizing that our sins have been forgiven at Calvary.
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We've been set free from the bondage of Satan, and no longer
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did we fear death because the swallower of death has destroyed
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it. That doesn't mean we're not
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going to die or we will die, but we will live forever with the
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Lord Jesus Christ.