The Fulfillment
Scripture Reading — John 19:28-37
When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
I have seen it so often that I almost missed it in this passage: when Jesus died for my sins, he fulfilled all of the prophecies that someday someone would rescue me—rescue all of us. I think I would have missed it, but I was feeling ill when I started writing this meditation, so I postponed writing until the next day, a Sunday.
That morning I went to worship, and then I saw again just how important this story from John really is. “Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’” And that means that if Jesus had not done all that had to be accomplished, we could still be waiting for the Messiah to come.
John takes great care in this passage to state that the Old Testament Scriptures were fulfilled in Jesus. In fact, John points out some details here—details so small that I wonder if we ever would have noticed them if Jesus hadn’t fulfilled them. But Jesus did fulfill every little detail of God’s plan to save us—and nothing was left unfinished.
There are many amazing things about Jesus’ dying for us, and one of those is that our waiting is over. All has been completed. “It is finished.” And with those words Jesus bowed his head under the weight of the world’s sins. Giving up his spirit, he paid for those sins once and for all.
And the brokenness of the world began to heal.
Dear Jesus, there are so many details in Scripture that you have fulfilled—more than a lifetime could discover. Thank you for saving us so completely. May we never stop trusting you. Amen.
About the author — Scott DeVries
Scott DeVries has served as a church pastor and as a ministry coordinator in the Holland, Michigan, area. He currently works at facilitating connections between the more than twenty ministries and 1,100 churches of the Christian Reformed Church in North America. He has a passion for prayer, church organization, and studying the Scriptures in their original languages.
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