Friday, April 4—Day 31

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John 19:30

The Triumphal Ending
Jesus’ words had stilled the sea, raised the dead, awed the crowds, and confounded the accusers. He had spoken with startling authority and audacity everywhere he went. No exchange had been insignificant or unintentional.

But what would such a man say in the face of death?

Here in John’s Gospel, we witness Jesus as he musters his final words. Gasping, weak, he wets his mouth with sour wine and forces out a cry — “It is finished!” — recorded as a single Greek word, tetelestai.

I wonder how this shout must have sounded to those who stood around the cross, watching this man suffer and die. “It is finished!” What did it mean?

There in that moment, on that side of the empty tomb, I imagine the words may have hit the onlookers as a cry of both relief and resignation. Relief because this tattered, unrecognizable man had finally reached the end of his suffering. He was out of his misery. Resignation because whatever it was that Jesus had set out to accomplish, he had apparently failed. By all appearances, another would-be Messiah had been snuffed out.

Vasilievich’s Night at Golgotha depicts the mournful aftermath. The one who had declared, “I am the light of the world,” now lay under the cover of thick darkness, his pale body lit only by a torch. He is limp in the arms of the few followers who had not abandoned him — grief in their faces, defeat in their hung heads. They, like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel (Luke 24:21), but that hope seemed to have been misplaced.

Jesus, whoever he was, was finished.

And yet, as would soon be clear, “It is finished!” was no cry of defeat. It was a shout of triumph!

With these words, Jesus declared the arrival of the climactic turning point of history. The mission of redemption that the Father had entrusted to the Son was now completed. He had dealt righteously with the penalty and power of sin, taking it all upon himself. The work was accomplished. The debt was paid. The victory was won.

And the way had been made for renewal and re-creation to begin — an idea captured powerfully in the final moments of The Crucifixion Re-Envisioned. N.T. Wright writes of Jesus’ final words, “The echo is of Genesis: at the end of the sixth day, God completed all the work that he had done. … Now, and only now, and only in this way can new creation come about.” Indeed, it is only because of the first “it is finished” on the cross that we can look forward with joyful expectation to the final “it is done” of Revelation 21:6, spoken by the one who is making all things new.

Jesus’ triumphant words on the cross reverberate as a promise to his followers throughout the centuries. We who are in Christ, who have been raised to life as part of his new creation, can rest secure in his finished work. There is nothing to add. There is nothing for which we can atone. He has made the sacrifice “once for all,” as the writer of Hebrews puts it. “Stand in him and him alone, gloriously complete,” the Bifrost Arts hymn exhorts. “It is finished, finished! What more could we ever do?”

Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for the finished work of your cross. Thank you for your once-for-all sacrifice, which has saved me, purified me and reconciled me to you. Thank your for raising me to newness of life. Rid me, Lord, of my prideful tendency to think that there is anything more I could do to merit your favor or grace. May my heart today echo the words of the old hymn: “Nothing in my hand I bring; simply to thy cross I cling.” Amen.
Jason Newell, Editor in Chief, Biola Magazine