“It is finished

and he bowed his head, and gave up His Spirit.”

John 19:30

In everything we experience, reflect on, and remember on Good Friday, the most succinct and poignant words we can remember is when Jesus said, “It is finished”, on the cross.

What was finished?  What was it that Jesus accomplished?

Was he simply a good example of love? Was he was saying, “This example is now finished?”  No, because he continues to love us.  He continues to be our example of love. 

Was he simply a good leader and now the disciples can take it from here?  Was he saying, “My leadership is finished?” No, because the Holy Spirit was necessary to continue to lead the apostles and the church.  His leadership is still necessary.

Was he saying that his life was finished and this is the reason he gave up His Spirit at that moment?  No, because although he died, his life wasn’t finished.  He will raise in 3 days!

So what is finished?  

The answer:  The Redemption of all Things.  The “already, not yet” of redemption has begun, but the work was finished.  The redemption of us and this world will continue, but the cross of Christ was what accomplished it all.  

The cross as an instrument of death wasn’t born in the heart of God. God is goodness itself there’s no evil in him.  The cross was created in the heart of man.  If we needed more evidence, the mere existence of such a cruel tool of execution proved our need for redemption. It was one of the most painful, inhumane deaths our depraved minds could conjure.  

Jesus, God himself, submitted himself to that horror.  The Father didn’t mandate the death of His Son in some sort of cosmic system of justice.  No, Jesus willingly died on that cross for you and me to defeat death once and for all.  He redeemed our flesh by becoming a man and in the process He showed us how to truly love.  The Crucified One willingly laid his life down so we could have eternal life in Him.

C.S. Lewis put it this way:

“In the Christian story God descends to reascend. He comes down; down from the heights of absolute being into time, and space, down into humanity; down further still, if embryologists are right, to recapitulate in the womb ancient and pre-human phases of life; down to the very roots and seabed of the Nature He has created. 

But He goes down to come up again and bring the whole ruined world up with Him. One has the picture of a strong man stooping lower and lower to get himself underneath some great complicated burden.

He must stoop in order to lift, he must almost disappear under the load before he incredibly straightens his back and marches off with the whole mass swaying on his shoulders…” (C.S. Lewis, Miracles)

Jesus took humankind’s worst, the Roman Crucifixion, and turned it into our best.  He took our sinful flesh and redeemed it so we might be restored to our created image – reflecting God and being in fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

May we rejoice, as we approach the communion with God, taking the bread and wine, representing this death.  Then we look toward the greatest miracle of all:  Easter – the day of resurrection.  The reason Jesus can say, “It is Finished.”

Blessings and peace,

Rev. Todd