It is accomplished!

 

Reflection Good Friday 2021

 

Many church services around the world today will focus on “the seven words” spoken by Jesus on the cross. The phrase “seven words” is slightly misleading as there are not literally seven words. It is probably better to think in terms of “seven sayings” or even “seven statements”.

The “seven words” can be found in Luke 23: 34, Luke 23: 43, John 19: 26 – 27, Matthew 27:46, John 19:28, John 19:30 and Luke 23:46

For my Reflection today I want us to think about the sixth word -  John 19:30

³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30 NIV

“It is finished”. What does this phrase mean? It could mean that the Jewish leaders and Roman government have achieved what they wanted. They have killed Jesus. They’ve finished him off.

I feel sure that for many of Jesus followers the phrase means that their hopes of a revolution, a new ruler, a new king, and kingdom had finished. 

"It is finished." That sentence is just one word in Greek--"Tetelestai." That sentence can have varied meanings depending on the context and the tone even suggesting ‘I quit’.

When Jesus cried out "It is finished," he was not quitting. Had he been announcing defeat, he would have spoken with a whimper. But that's not how Jesus said it. John is the only one of the four gospel writers who tells us precisely what Jesus said at this point. The other three report just the tone and volume and demeanour of Jesus. They are unanimous in reporting that he threw back his head and shouted. That was the shout of a marathon runner who has finished successfully that gruelling 26-mile race. And as he crosses the finish line, he throws back his head and shouts, "I have done it. I have completed the race!" The New English Bible renders "tetelestai" as follows: "It is accomplished."

When Jesus threw back his head and screamed "Tetelestai," he was declaring, "I have accomplished this awesome, painful mission. I have poured out every ounce of devotion, almost beyond my capacity to bear. Now it's done. I have not been defeated. History's most difficult assignment has been accomplished. Those who believe in me are set free from sin and death”

The American theologian Stanley Hauerwas has written an excellent small book on Jesus’ last words “Cross shattered Christ – meditations on the seven last words”. And in relation to the sixth word Hauerwas says:

“‘It is finished’ is not a death gurgle. It is not ‘I am done for’. It is a cry of victory. It is the triumphant cry of what I came to do has been done. All is accomplished, completed, fulfilled work.”

Jesus’ death is not a moment of defeat or despair (contrast what are Jesus’ last words in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 – “My God my God why have you forsaken me”). What Jesus is saying in this moment is a moment of confidence by Jesus that God’s work in the world, the work of salvation, has been completed. Jesus is picking up on what he has said to God in John 17:4

⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

The work is finished. The cross has achieved its purpose of salvation. But that is not to say all is now right with the world. We know it is not.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams said that “Jesus will be in agony until the end of the world”. This is a reminder that we live in the between times. God’s kingdom on earth has begun in Christ. But it will not fully come into being until the end of this world when Christ shall come again.

Rowan Williams' comments are a helpful reminder to followers of Jesus that we should not become nostalgic for a less complicated past, or take refuge in some imagined perfect future. Rather we must live in the here and now, in the between times. We must remain with our Lord in his ongoing agony over the world.

Nevertheless, we can be assured that the new kingdom has been started. Pilate mocked Jesus and called him “the King of the Jews”. But “It is finished” signifies the start of the new kingdom and its king Jesus. The Crucifixion does not delay the kingdom, rather crucifixion points to how the new king rules. The crucifixion is kingdom come. It is with the crucifixion that the powers of this world are subverted once and for all. On the cross the old world is finished, and a new world begins.

It is on Good Friday that a new age begins. Out of Jesus’ death on the cross comes a new creation. A new world is created out of the world of sin. As for the work of the new creation- “It is finished”.

Look back to the opening verses of John’s Gospel John 1: 1 – 5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.

Jesus, the light of the world, has conquered the darkness of sin and set in motion a new creation of salvation for his followers. “It is finished” and it has started!

What has finished is humankind’s attempts to be our own creators. If we accept Christ’s new creation, we are overwhelmed by Christ’s love for us, his outpouring of God’s love for us, through the crucifixion. Through the sacrifice of God’s only Son. If we accept that love into our lives, if we accept to be overwhelmed by it, then we can see the beauty of God’s care for all. If we truly accept the love poured out via Jesus’ blood shed on the cross, then it is possible to transform the world, to live in peace, to be God’s agents of peace and love in the world – until such time as the kingdom comes.

But to live like that does not mean we will be free from suffering. That is not promised. It is a theme Paul in his letter to the Colossians picks up on (Colossians 1: 24 – 27) In the passage Paul talks of our ongoing suffering. Paul makes the point that we do not continue to suffer because Christ’s sufferings on the cross were insufficient. Rather we can suffer because the work of the cross is finished. The new creation is initiated. Christ is triumphant.

It is something that we know challenges us all. But that is part of living in the in the between time.

“It is finished”. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross our sins have been forgiven, our new lives in Christ have begun.

“It is finished. It is accomplished”