“It is finished.” He said that and died.
I’m not sure what all was finished. Jesus had just provided for his mother, entrusting her to John. Then John says to fulfill Scripture, Jesus said “I am thirsty,” tasted the wine and died. We know from Matthew that the way he died was unusual. But it was finished–his life, his ministry, fulfillment of prophecies.
Jewish leaders had won. They got the Romans to execute their adversary. But it was a short-lived victory. In 40 years the Romans had enough of the rebelliousness of the Jews and sent in an army big enough to crush them, destroy the Temple and disperse them. The Romans were not known for treating people kindly.
Life was much different in those days than we have it in western Europe and America. We are supposed to be much more “civilized” (although I’m willing to bet that there are peoples in the world who aren’t so sure about that). But their treatment of Jesus was not one of sympathy and understanding. They beat him (a common occurrence) and hung him in such a way that he would die slowly. In other words, an instrument of public torture.
This had all happened so quickly. The leaders were afraid of the crowds. They did the arrest at night and hurried his trials early the next day. The idea is get it done before anyone realizes it. Then it would be too late for a rebellion. So it took only a few hours from Jesus teaching his followers to Jesus being killed.
It’s amazing how life–and history–can change in such a short time. The changes were momentous. Within 50 years, Jewish leadership and the Temple were gone. Jesus was living with an increasing number of followers who lived throughout the Roman Empire. Even reaching into Rome, itself.
But it took an agonizing death to change everything.
Faith Venture 
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