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John 19 · a question people ask

Jesus said, "It is finished!" (19:30). What was finished?

In the text

John doesn't say, and these notes don't. Here is what John tells, in order. "After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty!”" (19:28) (tap finished). "Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth" (19:29). "When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (19:30). In the Greek, Jesus's words are one word, and the finished of 19:28 is the same word. John gives his words and no explanation of them. These notes quote no lexicon's reading of 19:30 and add none of their own.

The verses

“After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty!” Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
John 19:28-30 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of John 19

John 19: It is finished

In the WEB's John, the words crucify and cross come only in this chapter. Pilate says three times, “I find no basis for a charge against him” (18:38; 19:4, 19:6). And in the Greek, the finished of “seeing that all things were now finished” (19:28) is the same word as Jesus's “It is finished!” (19:30).

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions