John 19:30

30 Then when he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, "It is completed," and bowing [his] head, he gave up [his] spirit.

John 19:30 Meaning and Commentary

John 19:30

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar
Of the Roman soldiers, who offered it to him, either by way of reproach, or to quench his thirst; and he drank of it, as is very likely:

he said, it is finished;
that is, the whole will of God; as that he should be incarnate, be exposed to shame and reproach, and suffer much, and die; the whole work his Father gave him to do, which was to preach the Gospel, work miracles, and obtain eternal salvation for his people, all which were now done, or as good as done; the whole righteousness of the law was fulfilled, an holy nature assumed, perfect obedience yielded to it, and the penalty of death endured; hence a perfect righteousness was finished agreeably to the law, which was magnified and made honourable by it, and redemption from its curse and condemnation secured; sin was made an end of, full atonement and satisfaction for it were given; complete pardon procured, peace made, and redemption from all iniquity obtained; all enemies were conquered; all types, promises, and prophecies were fulfilled, and his own course of life ended: the reason of his saying so was, because all this was near being done, just upon finishing, and was as good as done; and was sure and certain, and so complete, that nothing need, or could be added to it; and it was done entirely without the help of man, and cannot be undone; all which since has more clearly appeared by Christ's resurrection from the dead, his entrance into heaven, his session at God's right hand, the declaration of the Gospel, and the application of salvation to particular persons:

and he bowed his head;
as one dying, and freely submitting to his Father's will, and the stroke of death:

and gave up the ghost;
his spirit or soul into the hands of his Father; freely laying down that precious life of his which no man could take away from him.

John 19:30 In-Context

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that now at last everything was completed, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty."

29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there, so [they] put a sponge full of the sour wine on a [branch of] hyssop [and] brought [it] to his mouth.

30 Then when he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, "It is completed," and bowing [his] head, he gave up [his] spirit.

31 Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was an important day), asked Pilate that their legs could be broken and they could be taken away.

32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or (traditionally) "it is finished"
• [b]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun
• [c]. *Literally "the"; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun