Charles Spurgeon Commentary John 19:30

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up his spirit." — John 19:30 (ASV)

He said, It is finished:

What was it, this "it," that was finished? I will not attempt to expound it. It is the biggest "it" that ever was. Turn it over and you will see that it will grow, and grow, and grow, and grow, until it fills the whole earth: It is finished.

And he lowered his head, and gave up the ghost.

He did not give up the ghost, and then bow his head, because he was dead; but he bowed his head as though in the act of worship, or as leaning it down upon his Father's bosom, and then gave up the ghost. Thus we have had two gospel pictures of our dying Lord.

May we remember them, and learn the lessons they are intended to teach.

He said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.

Incarnate love has fulfilled its self-imposed task. Jesus, as the substitute for sinners, was condemned to die, and he died that he might finish the work of our redemption.

"It is Finished.'
Hear the dying Saviour cry."

When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished; and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30)

It is not that he died, and that then his head fell forward; but while he still lived, having previously maintained an erect, noble bearing even in the pangs of death, he now, to show his perfect resignation to his Father's will, bows his head and yields up that saved spirit of his which dwelt within his body.