A hinge of the whole story
The Cross
Everything the story has been moving toward gathers at a hill outside Jerusalem. The cross is the center of the whole Bible, the place where the sin of the fall is answered and the true Passover is offered, and where the dying Saviour cries, "It is finished."
“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
What happened
What happened. The Son of God, having lived a sinless life, was betrayed, arrested, and condemned though no fault was found in Him. He was scourged and led out to Golgotha, where "they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst" (John 19:18). Over His head hung the charge, "JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS" (John 19:19). He was mocked by the rulers and reviled by one thief, yet He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34), and promised paradise to the other thief who turned to Him. Darkness covered the land, and He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matt 27:46), bearing what we cannot fathom. Then, His work complete, "he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost" (John 19:30). At that moment "the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom" (Matt 27:51). The Lord of glory was crucified, dead, and buried; the sun of the world seemed to go down at noon.
Why the whole story turns here
Why the whole story turns here. The cross is the center of the Bible, the point toward which all before it flows and from which all after it draws its meaning. The wound of the fall, sin and its death sentence, is answered here, for on the cross the promised seed of the woman crushes the serpent's head while His own heel is bruised (Gen 3:15). This is the true Passover, the real Lamb slain, the deliverance every exodus foreshadowed. This is where the sacrifices of Sinai find their meaning and their end, the one offering that does what the blood of bulls and goats never could. This is where the Servant of Isaiah is "wounded for our transgressions" and the LORD lays "on him the iniquity of us all" (Isa 53:5-6). The exile of humanity from God is ended here, for the Son enters our God-forsakenness so that we might come home. The torn veil declares the meaning of the whole event: the way into God's presence, shut since Eden, is now open. "It is finished" is not a cry of defeat but of completion; the debt is paid, the work of redemption accomplished. Every earlier turning point was leaning toward this hour.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The cross does not merely point to Christ; it is His central work, the reason He came. "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3). He "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree" (1 Pet 2:24), and "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom 5:8). Here justice and mercy meet: God does not overlook sin but bears it Himself, so that He might be "just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom 3:26). The One who framed the worlds allowed nails to hold Him, not because He was weak but because love held Him there. The King reigns from a tree, and by His death "we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins" (Eph 1:7). What the whole Bible was straining toward is accomplished in these three words, It is finished.
Questions people ask
Why is the cross called the center of the Bible?
Because the whole story converges there. The fall's sentence is answered, the Passover is fulfilled, the sacrifices of Sinai find their meaning, Isaiah's suffering Servant bears our sins, and the veil shutting us out of God's presence is torn. Paul says he resolved to know nothing "save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor 2:2).
What did Jesus mean by "It is finished"?
Not that His life was merely over, but that His work of redemption was complete. The debt of sin was fully paid, the sacrifice fully offered. It is a cry of accomplishment (John 19:30), which is why the temple veil tore open at that moment, the way to God now made.