"And he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."-JOHN xix. 30.

BY THE REV. R. W. EVANS, M.A.,

AUTHOR OF "THE RECTORY OF VALEHEAD."

WHAT was finished? Was it the long weariness of His earthly sojourn in the flesh that the Saviour was glad to be released from, and expressed His satisfaction in these words? Was it the protracted agony of the cross, the end of which He hailed in this expression? No! it was not either of these. He did not love Himself, but He loved man, for whom He gave Himself. And, therefore, the thoughts of His last moments ran not upon Himself, but upon men. And in those words He expressed His satisfaction at the accomplishment of the end for which He had come. The payment for the penalty of Adam's transgression was finished. The banishment of man from the presence of God was finished. The tyranny of Satan was finished. The reign of the powers of darkness was