Seven powerful words, seven revealing words, seven intimate words: Christ’s final words from the cross. So here we are at the penultimate word, and I want to recap what we have heard so far with one word synopsis. The first word on forgiveness is really a demonstration of the selfless nature of Christ, followed by the generous nature of sharing paradise. Christ’s relational focus is seen in the third word between mother and son. Then we experience a shift from abandonment to clinging to God. Next Jesus expresses his physical experience on the cross through thirst- one I hope you consider on your own. Then we arrive at the temporal word, the conclusion of a life, offered up just before his final surrender.
These seven glimpses into the end of Jesus’ life help us to better understand who he was and how he saved us. The first three; selfless, generous and relational speak to the community Jesus was forming here on earth, showing us as Christians how to live a selfless, generous and relational life. That is what the church, Christ’s community, is called to be. Then Jesus addresses the internal world, the emotional and physical world we all have with our fears, struggles, and our trials living as humans. So as we strive to be the church in God’s world we have the compassion of Christ who knows our struggles in this life, as well as a Savior who knows our emotional and bodily pain. In that moment as Jesus takes his final breath and proclaims, “It is finished”, we might be more enveloped in sadness and defeat than thinking about our salvation. Let me explain.
We came here today to remember and love our Lord. He died on that cross so long ago- it was not a simple death but rather a painful one – nailed to the cross with all the weight of his body bearing down making it hard to breathe. He suffered this after being flogged and beaten so our first thought when he says it is finished might be the end of his suffering, or the end of his life.
For when something is finished it is over. Think of the times when you have been in a situation that comes to an end. When the love of your life turns to you and says we are through ending the relationship you loved so much. It is finished. Or how about the time when you go to work for the last day, maybe get a celebration for your grand retirement, your work career. It is finished. Or it is finished can be a time of celebration as well, when a major project is done or you are graduating from college and your days as a co-ed are over.
That might be how we hear the words “It is finished” but the people looking on would have heard them very differently. First the Romans might have heard these words as yes this problem is done. The Romans finished Jesus off and killed one more revolutionary. The Roman Empire was the most powerful political force on earth for three hundred years. The Roman Empire built arches and aqueducts, armies and armadas, and they ruled ruthlessly, stomping out all opposition. Throughout the conquered nations, there were always counter-revolutionaries for Rome to extinguish. There were political fires to put out. In the year 6 AD, in Galilee, the Romans killed 2,000 revolutionaries. And Jesus, he was one more revolutionary to be eliminated from the face of the earth. The Romans killed Jesus and finished Jesus and finished the Jesus movement. As far as Rome was concerned, it was all over. Finished and done with.
The Jewish leaders also thought it was finished, over and done with. The Jewish leaders assumed that Jesus was dead and so was his disobedience. The religious leaders had agitated the crowd into a riot, had falsely accused Jesus, and gotten the Roman ruler, Pontius Pilate, to condemn Jesus by execution. Jesus had dishonored their Sabbath, their sacrifices, their places of privileged authority. It was now finished. The job was done. Jesus and the Jesus movement were dead.
The disciples thought Jesus and all that he started was finished, over and done with. Their leader had been killed on a cross, there was nothing that they could do, so now they would grieve and go back to their occupations and jobs: fishermen, tax collectors or whatever.
Max Lucado a contemporary theologian writes, “The history-long plan of redeeming man was finished. The message of God to man was finished. The works done by Jesus as a man on earth were finished. The task of selecting and training ambassadors was finished. The job was finished. The song had been sung. The blood had been poured. The sacrifice had been made. The sting of death had been removed. It was over.”
Even though everyone thought Jesus was finished, you and I live as Easter people who know the reality of God’s love. So what was finished is certainly not over but is really made complete. For in the Greek that is what this phrase implies. Our redemption is complete. Jesus hanging from the cross has accomplished all that the world needs for its salvation. You can’t add to it. You can’t subtract from it. Jesus made a perfect redemption of humanity. He not only paid the total sum of human sin, He nailed it to the tree. That’s what He completed!!!
Maybe the 6th word, Jesus’ words of It is finished is not temporal after all, but rather victorious. God has completed all that God had desired and set out to accomplish in the life of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John makes explicit what all the Gospels assume—that is, the cross is not a defeat but the victory of our God. Earlier in the Gospel of John Jesus said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. So now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.” (17:1-5) Jesus is finishing what he started with God with the creation of the world, and it is culminating in our salvation from sin.
“It is finished” means all our sins are taken away. All our guilt that should have been imputed to us was imputed to Jesus and taken care of. And Jesus announced that here. Our salvation is won, our sins are forgiven! How do I know that? How do I know that with certainty? Because the Lord Jesus Christ announced so that all could hear, and the beloved disciple could record it: “It is finished.” Jesus did it all. It is all accomplished. It has all been done for you. The Lord Jesus Christ is a complete Savior. He is a sovereign Savior. We hear that from this word: “It is finished.” And we can shout, with all of the saints down through the ages, “Hallelujah, it is finished!”
Because God has finished what only God could finish. Christ’s sacrifice is a gift that exceeds every debt. Our sins have been consumed, making possible lives that glow with the beauty of God’s Spirit. What wonderful news: “‘It is finished.’ But it is not over.” It is not over because God made us, the church. The church, you and I, along with the Holy Spirit are what make this not over by a long shot. We are made witnesses to the world—a world with no time for a crucified God. We live Christ’s completed work so the world may know of God’s kingdom to live in peace with one another.
We are not alone in this task- Jesus promised to ask God the Father to send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth to continue the work. We live on in that tradition. We too have work to finish, the work of God to tell the world of God’s never failing love and all encompassing grace. We have the honor of sharing the reconciling work of Christ within our community, by feeding the homeless, reaching out to youths, being the hands and feet of Christ in the world.
Knowing this, Jesus is able to say confidently from the cross, “It is finished” then bow his head and give up his spirit. It’s all part of the plan put in place before the beginning of the world. Don’t let our precious Jesus down, but rather be lifted up unto our task, as fully as Christ was lifted up for our salvation. Amen.
