A small crowd gathered a short distance away from three crosses rising from the hill just outside the city gates. A condemned man on each, the middle cross bearing a hand scrawled sign – King of the Jews. Nailed to that cross, hung a Galilean, allegedly born in Nazareth, a carpenter’s son. What crime had led to his arrest just hours ago, and trial in a Roman court? Weakened from flogging and beating, his body rent and bloodied, even his followers could be excused for not recognizing the man they had spent the last three years with. Three years of ministry, training, miracles performed. Lives changed, the ill healed, lives made whole. And it comes to this – what had gone wrong? The sky had been dark for the past three hours. He spoke infrequently, he had instructed John to take care of his mother, had spoken with one of the men dying beside him. He asked God to forgive those who were crucifying him. And now, 28 knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19;28-30 NIV His last words, a simple phrase – just three words if we translate into English - IT IS FINISHED. It is finished. It is complete, it is accomplished. It’s a statement of fact. A statement of victory. John records that Jesus knew that everything had now been finished. This is a statement for man, for us, for our benefit. The truth passed to us that IT. IS. FINISHED. But what is - IT? IT, starts for man, in Eden. Man had just been found having taken of the forbidden fruit, cajoled, or duped by Satan into breaking God’s command. God tells the serpent, that He will put enmity between the serpent and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Mankind started in perfect communion with God, and, through our disobedience, our sin, this perfection was severed. There needed to be a way to rebuild it, but humans are powerless to do so. It was God only who could restore what we broke. In due time, Jesus, was born, raised and began his ministry. And so it was that after his baptism by John, and the 40 days in the wilderness, he returned to his hometown of Nazareth where sitting in the synagogue, he reads from Isaiah: 18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him.21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” It is the embodiment of his conversation with Nicodemus- “For God so loved the world that he gave His only son so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life” LUKE 4:18-21 And that is where he starts. Jesus begins his earthly ministry by saying that he is here to proclaim the good news, to proclaim freedom, to recover sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free. But who are these unfortunate ones? We need look no farther than ourselves. We are the oppressed, captive to sin. We are all bound, unable to help ourselves. We are weighed down by the power of sin in our lives, and unable to do anything about it. We were dead in our transgressions. We even reveled in them, and encouraged others to gratify the desires the world had to offer. We were deserving of wrath. But God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. That is the IT that was finished. We don’t know how it was done, but Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, through whose sacrifice God now sees those who accept that offer of grace. Jesus has broken the power of sin and darkness. Our shame is changed to honour. Chaos comes back into order. We have been restored and the serpent’s head had been crushed. All this is by God’s grace. That is the “finished” part of the statement. It is finished. The penalty of our sins has been paid for in full, completely. Nothing more needs to be done. Nothing can be added to it. We cannot be good enough, or strong enough, or smart enough, or kind enough to earn it. We can’t add to it. We can’t take away from it. We can’t alter it. There is absolutely nothing we can do to merit it. It is not a favour bestowed by God upon us for doing a good job. It is not a frivolity. It came at a great cost – the life of Jesus, poured out on that cross outside Jerusalem, so that you and I could be free from the bondage of sin. And yet, unfortunately, people still seek to add to the “it is finished”. We tag on rules, or behaviours to be followed. We add ceremony and pageantry. We risk forgetting that it is finished. Now to be clear, there is no problem with ceremony, there is nothing wrong with pageantry. Rules and behaviours help guide our actions. But we cannot allow ourselves to believe that adherence to rules and participation in these things somehow earns our salvation, or that they themselves are sufficient to cleanse us. We cannot allow them to become our boast. If we fall into that error, we at best trivialize the cross work of Jesus. At worst, we risk trying to use our works (and failing) instead of relying on the fullness of God’s grace for our salvation. That is blindness, or madness. It is not possible to add to the reality of what happened on the cross. Jesus, through His death gives us a path to freedom, freedom from the guilt and burden of sin. Jesus, and Jesus alone removes the penalty of our sin. We must beware that we do not adopt a new set of manmade burdens, no matter how appealing, honourable or spiritual they may seem. It is a gift of God’s grace, for it is by grace we are saved, through faith, and not from ourselves. But there is a catch to this, a small one, perhaps. Yes, the penalty for your sin, for my sin has been paid. But notice, there are two thieves being crucified with Jesus, and while surely he died for the sins of both of them, only one is promised that he will be in paradise with Jesus. While there is nothing I can add to, or subtract from that payment, I must accept that payment. If I reject the payment, then I am still under the burden of my sins and my guilt remains. Salvation requires an act of faith on our part. Being born into the right family, or economic bracket won’t claim it for me. Going to a particular church, or reading a certain bible translation won’t claim it for me. Giving my time, talents and / or finances in support of the message will do nothing to claim it for me. The only thing that will claim it for me, for you – is to accept, through faith, that your payment has been made. The only way to be free from the bondage of sin is to accept the gift of God’s grace. It is finished. A final note, notice he did not say “I am finished”. He wasn’t through, the work he came to do was finished. He would come back in three days. He could not be silenced or halted, he had completed what he came for, but he later promises he will be with us unto the end of the age. As his followers stand on that hillside outside of Jerusalem, the day looks bleak. They wonder, maybe like we do at times, what hope is there? Is there a plan? But that is a story for another day – for Sunday is coming. It is finished. Jesus isn’t. Now it’s your turn.
(all verses NIV)
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