Listen up, little ones
Listen for the word finished.
Reading
John 19:28-30—It Is Finished
Optional Reading
Zechariah 3:6–10
Keys for kids
- Zechariah promised sin’s removal in one day.
- Jesus shouted that His saving work was finished, then He died.
- His once-for-all sacrifice removed our sin.
Questions
- What was the day of removing the iniquity of God’s people?
- How did Jesus finish His saving work?
- What do we add to Jesus’s finished work?
Notes
(See Saturday for authors.)
Zechariah promises that the Lord will remove the iniquity of His people in a single day. When was that day and how was the iniquity removed? In our reading today, Jesus speaks of finishing His saving work. Sproul notes that the Greek word translated as “finished” here is tetelestai. It is in a form of the Greek that indicates an action that has been totally completed. It comes from the verb form of the Greek word telos, which is a very important word in the history of Greek thought. It is the word that means “end” or “goal.” Hughes adds that “It is finished” was not a submissive cry but a shout of victory. In the Greek it was only one word in the Greek perfect tense, meaning, “It is finished and always will be finished!” What had Christ finished? The Law itself (he had completed and fulfilled it). The Old Testament types in the ceremonial law. The Messianic prophecies. But most of all, he had finished the atonement.
It is that once-for-all finished work that we cling to as Christians. In Jesus’s death, our iniquity is removed. In Jesus’s death, all iniquity of all those whom the Father had given Him was removed. That is, the penalty for sin was paid (see Hebrews 10:12–14). Further, the bondage of sin was broken (see Romans 6:6).
It was finished. In one day, in His once-for-all sacrifice, Jesus declared victoriously, It is finished!
Swedish Method questions
Praise
Psalm 22e, 119u
Prayer
- Give thanks for Jesus’s once-for-all finished work of salvation.
- Give thanks for something from last Lord’s Day’s sermons.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.