Amen!! "It is finished" means just that. Done. Complete. Paid in full. Christ's resurection was His victory over death. The price for our sins was paid in full at Calvary. :)

But you have to remember that Jesus hadn't "ascended unto my father" yet at the tomb when Mary came; she wasn't allowed to touch Him because the atonement hadn't yet been completed. Just make sure you aren't applying a Biblical truth incorrectly to fit your own beliefs.

"It is finished" is a reference to "all things that were accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled" in the previous verse John 19:28, it also signifies the end of His human life, for Jesus gave up the ghost in verse 29 immediately after he made the statement. He didn't say "it is finished" because his pain & suffering would be over.

The sacrifice of Christ's body was "finished" on the cross (Hebrews 10:8-12), and I believe that afterwards His soul was made an offering (scripture previously posted) for sin in the fires of hell, as our passover Lamb, and as Sin itself (He became sin for us) which had to be purged by fire. That 'fits' with the scriptures posted previously concerning Christ in the underworld, which many have difficulty with and can't explain.

The hell Peter is refering too is the dual holding place of the dead known to the jews as torment and pradise (Abraham's bosom). if he was left there that would mean non of us could have teh promise of resurrection. he was raised for our justification. if he did not rise we would not be justified either.

He did not sufer torments because Gods justice would not allow a sinless man to be tormented. Jesus physical life was the sacrifice not his spirit or soul. and it was only as far as the work of the cross only that Jesus had to be the substitute. His purpose to go to the prison or holdingplace was to preach to them in torments and to verify the faith of the righteous. when he rose the righteous souls went with him.

I'm confused on "paradise." The word only appears three times in the Bible; all three in the NT and in the original Greek, all three occurrences have the same meaning.

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

2 Corinthians 12:4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

Revelation 2:7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Is it the same paradise, or three different ones; a generic term for three different locations?

Thinking about it as I wrote this, I'm thinking it's a generic term.

Don't forget that Jesus, in God's eyes, was not sinless when He was upon the cross; God put the sins of the entire world upon Him and punished Him for them. It makes sense, if you think about it, that the person who bore our sin debt would also pay the eternal punishments of Hell, since that is the penalty for the sins He paid for.

Um, that's an obvious parable.


Lazarus and the Rich Man

[A Scriptural Journey Through the Intriguing Parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man]

L. Ray Smith

In Luke 16:22-23 where we learn of Abraham's bosom, the scripture makes a distinction between the two holding places, one being the place of rest, Ab's bosom, and the other being the place of torment, HELL. I don't believe Ab's bosom is a part of hell, but that the two are separate places with a great gulf between them.

You run the references on hell in the Bible and they ALL refer to that place of torment, and Jesus Christ preached about it the most, so when Peter is speaking of "not leaving Christ's soul in hell" it's clear where he was meaning, to me anyway! :cool:

I thought that I already clarified that the wages of sin is death?

Peace and Love,
Stephen