“IT IS FINISHED” Is it really? A Saturday Devotional before Easter

“It Is Finished”

Pastor Calvin Cook –

Silent Saturday, April 19, 2025

Scripture focus:

“When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” — John 19:30 (ESV)

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” — Isaiah 43:18–19 (NIV)

At the cross, Jesus didn’t speak words of defeat—He declared victory. “It is finished” was not a quiet whisper of surrender but a triumphant cry that echoed through eternity. The weight of our sin, the separation from God, the bondage of death—finished. Completed. Paid in full.

And because of that, we are invited into something new.

Isaiah 43 reminds us that God is always doing a new thing. But in order to receive that new thing, we must stop clinging to the old. What in your life still lingers unfinished—unforgiveness, secret sin, broken trust, misplaced priorities?

If Jesus finished the work of salvation, what must be finished in you so that new life can begin?

What is God calling you to release today?

I confess there are times in my life when I thought it was over. Finished! Sometimes it has been a job, a situation, a problem, a circumstance. In these instances I have said “I’m done” “It’s over”. These are the times where I have allowed doubt to enter in.

I can only imagine between the cross and the tomb what the early followers of Jesus must have been thinking. The doubt that must have entered in. But then, they hear, and I hope we all can hear the words of Jesus as well “ I am doing a new thing”. What is the new thing that Jesus is trying to do in your life today.

Don’t linger at the tomb too long, because Resurrection is coming!

What unfinished thing in your life is keeping you from walking fully in the new thing God wants to do?

Prayer with me: Jesus, thank You for declaring, “It is finished.” Help me to let go of the past, surrender what’s unfinished in me, and step into the new life You offer. I want to walk closely with You—freely, fully, and faithfully. Amen.