FINISHED BUT NOT COMPLETE 

JOHN 19:28-30

          Over the last month I have preached a number of messages relating to the suffering of Christ.  We talked first about Gethsemane and the fact that it was an oil press, representing a place of complete surrender.  Then we talked about Jesus our example of suffering, showing the attitude that we should have when we suffer.  Finally last week we used Left But Never Leaving as our title and talked about the agony Jesus experienced in being spiritually separated from God.  On this morning on this resurrection Sunday, I again want to focus on Jesus and use as a title for this morning’s message, “Finished But Not Complete”.  

         In this passage Jesus says “It is finished”.  Note that He said “It is finished”, not I am finished.  What is the “it” that Jesus is referring to?  The word that is being used here is the Greek word tetelestai, which was commonly used to say the price is all paid or paid in full.  Here Jesus meant that his redemptive work was complete.  He had been made sin for all people and had suffered the penalty of God’s justice which sin deserved.  In other words that which was required to pay the price for man’s sin was finished.  However, this did not end the work of Christ, for He still had several more tasks to perform.

In this message I want to focus on what happened between the burial of Christ late on Wednesday and the resurrection of Christ sometime between Saturday night and sunrise Sunday.  Now I know that some of you thought that Jesus died and was buried on Friday and that is why we celebrated Good Friday, wrong.

Matthew 12:40

          Jesus had to be in the ground for 3 days and 3 nights.  In order for him to be rising before sun rise on Sunday morning he would have had to be in the grave during the day on Saturday, Friday and Thursday.  This means he had to go into the ground sometime late on Wednesday.  Our task today is to look at what occurred after he died.

EPHESIANS 4:9

          I will come back and talk about the ascended part of this verse at a later time.  But, I wanted to show that first of all he descended into the lower part of the Earth.  Jesus went to hell.  This is the punishment that man would have to suffer if he died in his sin.  Well Jesus did die in sin.  However, it was not his sin, but mine and yours.  Therefore the devil could not hold him captive in hell.

COLOSSIANS 2:15

          While in the lower part of earth He spoiled the enemy’s camp.  The word used here for spoiled means to strip of clothes from another.  Here it means that Satan and his forces were stripped of their powers to condemn and kill mankind.  Jesus stripped Satan of his power and made an open shame of him.  The example here points to the custom of conquerors making a public demonstration of conquered enemies.  Satan and his human cohorts made a public shame out of Christ by crucifying him.  By crucifying him they thought that they would triumph over him, putting an end to his new religion.  Satan shamed Jesus on the cross, but Jesus went right into the enemy’s camp defeated and shamed him.  How did he shame the devil?

REVELATION 3:19

          To have the keys to something symbolizes having power or authority over that thing.  Imagine Jesus in hell snatching the keys of hell and death from the devil.  In other words he took the power that Satan held condemning mankind to death and hell so that Satan could no longer hold the fear of death and hell over us.  Jesus stripped Satan of his authority right there in front of Satan’s host of demons.  The showing Satan that he now held the authority he walked right out of hell.  But on His way out He made a couple of stops.

I PETER 3:19

          These spirits in prison are fallen angels who sinned in the days of Noah.  According to Genesis 6:4, their sin was that they, the sons of God, had sex with the daughters of men and thus produced giants.  These angels are being held in chains.  2 Peter 2:4 says, “God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.”  While in hell Jesus stopped by Tartarus, the holding place for these imprisoned angels and preached to them.  What he said to them is not recorded.  Did he preach the plan of salvation to them?  We don’t know.  Can these angels be forgiven?  I don’t know.  But I do know that there will be a day of judgment for them.

EPHESIANS 4:8-10

          Who are these that were being held captive that Jesus led out of captivity?  On his way out of hell Jesus stopped by Abraham’s Bosom and there he found Old Testament saints. 

LUKE 16:19-31

          Abraham’s Bosom was an upper section of hell where Old Testament saints went after death before Jesus opened the door to God for us.  Note that the spirits in Abraham’s Bosom were not tormented, in fact they were comforted.  They could hear and see those being tormented in hell but there was a great gulf between them to prevent those in hell from coming over into Abraham’s Bosom.  The spirits in Abraham’s Bosom were resurrected with Jesus when he got up.  Jesus brought them up with him.  He led captivity, captive.

MATTHEW 27:52-53

          These are Old Testament saints.  They come out of their graves after Jesus is resurrected.  Jesus led these saints out of hell and back to heaven.

JOHN 20:1-2, 11-17

          On the way back to heaven Jesus stopped by the tomb and had a conversation with Mary.  Mary reached to touch him but Jesus stopped her because he did not want her to defile him.  You see he still had one more task to complete.

HEBREW 9:11-14, 24

          Jesus took his blood into the Holy of Holies in Heaven, to the very altar of God and offered it as a sacrifice to God.  He went not to the earthly temple, but right into the very presence of God to offer his blood as a sacrifice for the sins of the world.  We have spent weeks talking about what Jesus had to go through in order redeem mankind back to God.  Hebrews 10:28-29 says, “He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much greater punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 2:3 says “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”  The price of our redemption was the shed blood of Jesus, which he poured on the mercy seat of God in the presence of the almighty God himself.

MATTHEW 28:8-10

          Here he allowed them to touch him, implying that he had already been to heaven and completed his final task; the offering of himself as a pure, holy and righteous sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

ACTS 1:3, 9-11

          After meeting with and giving instructions to his disciples, Jesus was taken up to heaven.  It is this same Jesus that will one-day return to take his followers with him and later again to show forth his power over the enemy and to set up his eternal kingdom.

I CORINTHIANS 15:24-28

          In the end, Jesus will show forth his triumph over death, hell, the grave and all who exhort themselves against God.  He will one day present to God a people who love God and express their love through obedience to Him.  Then the goal will be complete.