A great cry of conquest . . . “It is finished.”

Savior's declaration, "It is finished." John 19:28 tells us that "Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst". Having thus fulfilled the will of the will of the Father in every particular, and the prophetic description of the crucifixion in every detail, he said, "It is finished." I feel like this was not a sigh of release and escape, but a great cry of conquest. The echoes of this declaration shattered the gates of hell and destroyed the power of the grave. Certainly since his banishment from heaven and hope, Lucifer had never heard words to cause such terror. For with that cry, his hope to subdue and rule the human race was shattered forever. Those keys now belonged to the Redeemer:

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore . . . 

and have the keys of hell and of death".

Satan might continue to claim to be the god of this world, but when the work of Christ was finished, the devil knew and all of heaven knew that the claim was meaningless. 

"And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil  

"And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works".

At the beginning of this course of study we spoke of the angels who visited the shepherds to announce the birth of Christ, and who burst into song. I suggested that we might have been among them. Where else would we have been during the birth of the Redeemer? Watching the migration of Monarch butterflies? Having a Rook tournament? 

And on the day of his death, where were you? 

We know what the departed spirits of the just were doing:

"And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality; And who had offered sacrifice in the similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered tribulation in their Redeemer's name. All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrection, through the grace of God the Father and his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I beheld that they were filled with joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their deliverance was at hand".

The joy of the spirits of the just is a sobering contrast to the sorrow of the mortal disciples whose hope was on the edge of evaporation.

Again, what would we have been doing. If we shouted for joy and sang together at the time of creation, what were we doing at this time of redemption? Jesus told the Pharisees that if believers had held their peace during his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, "the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:40).

I believe that we did not hold our peace. Every righteous eye in the universe must have been on Gethsemane and Golgotha. 

Every voice in Heaven must have been raised:

"Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. Let the dead speak forth anthems of 

eternal praise to the King Immanuel....

Ted L. Gibbons