IT IS FINISHED
Atonement Lutheran Church
GOOD FRIDAY
Homily on John 19:17-30
John 19:30: “30When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Are you familiar with a show called “Undercover Boss”? If you are not familiar with the show, it is a reality TV show where the boss, or high-level executive, of a company, usually a retail store or restaurant, disguises him or herself, and goes “undercover”. The boss would pose as an entry-level employee in one of the company stores or restaurants. Over the course of a week the undercover boss will work the most minimal, sometime humiliating, jobs a new employee does, experiencing the work of his or her employees. Also in that week, the undercover boss would get to know some of his employees, some of whom are terrible and some who are great. The terrible employees typically would break the company rules, lie to both employees and customers, still, and abuse their position if they were a manager. The great employees would follow the rules, promote the store, keep it clean and presentable, help their fellow employees and customers – above and beyond what is expected –, and would sacrifice their time, money, and relationships to help the company.
When the week is finished the undercover boss reveals him or herself to the employees. In most cases the boss punishes the terrible employees usually by demotion, retraining or firing them. Then the boss rewards the good employees by promoting them, giving them the tool or skills needed, or by paying their debts.
Does this sound familiar? It should. The show “Undercover Boss” in a way mirrors what God has done for us. God left His Heavenly throne and took on the form of a servant, in human flesh named Jesus Christ. Thirty-three years Christ lived with us, getting to know us in a way that He could not from His Heavenly throne. God experienced the highs and lows of human life. He experienced the sense of loss, when a loved one died. He experienced the trials and temptations of our daily life. He experienced the heart break of betrayal. And He experienced pain, humiliation, torture, and the bitterness of death. Worst of all, He experienced something we have not, that God the Father forsaking, abandoning Him, God the Son, on the cross.
The last words recorded words of Christ, by the Apostle John, before His death were “It is finished”. What did He mean? The Greek word used for “it is finished” is Tetelestai, which carries the meaning of an action/task brought to its end, completion, or perfection.
Think of it like a room in your house full of unorganized books, papers, furniture, etc. You spend all weekend cleaning and organizing the room. Finally, when the last piece of trash is thrown away and the last book is placed in the right spot of the bookshelf. You say to yourself that the room looks perfect, it’s finally finished.
So, when Christ said, “It is finished”, He is saying that He completed a task to its perfect completion. But what is that perfect completion that He finished?
The Apostles did not know what that perfect completion was, as Apostle John wrote, when they saw the empty tomb on Easter morning, “for as yet they did not understand the Scripture” (John 20:9a). For three years the learned at the feet of Jesus and yet did not understand His teaching on the purpose or nature of the Messiah. The Apostles lack of understand cause them to fear the death of Christ instead of celebrating it. They did see the purpose or the reason for Christ death on the cross. For them “it is finished” was not the perfect completion but a terrible, horrific end.
But You and I know why Christ is on the cross. We know what lead Him to the cross on Calvery. We know it was because of our sins. Our sins brought Christ to the cross, our sins drove the nail through His hands and feet. It was our sins that pierced Christ side, that spilled both blood and water. It was our sins that caused Christ to bleed and die on the cross.
Our sins break our relationship with God, it separates use from Gods’ love, mercy and grace. Sin causes our hearts to harden like stone and wither. Sin causes us to stop truly caring for others but only care for ourselves and our needs. When sin separates us from God, we are empty, lifeless and without hope. The promises of God, the promises of peace, forgiveness, and eternal life, seem foolish and are beyond our understanding. Our sins remove us far from God.
Even though we are far removed from God. Even though we desire God temporal and eternal punishment. God Love us and cares for us, “4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love” (Ephesians 1:4). God so loves us, that he gave his only Son to live and die for us.
When Christ said, “It is finished”, that task of perfect completion was our salvation. Sin did not drove Christ to the cross. Christ love for us drove Him to the cross. Christ willingly went to the cross to bear our sins and shame. The writer of Hebrews states “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2).
Like in “Undercover Boss”, were the boss paid the debt of his good employee. Christ has paid our debt of sin and death. Christ “himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
Do not think for one moment that there was anything you could have done to prevent Christ from going to the cross. The book of Romans states, “20For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” (Romans 3:20–22).
Seen Christ died for us, not out of obligation but out of His great abundance of love for us. We are no longer alienated from God but are now made blameless and upright in His sight. We have become a new creation in Christ Jesus. Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” And seen we are a new creation in Christ, our old harden heart of stone has been replace with a heart of flesh and we are given a new spirit for Christ. Our old desires of ourselves have been replaced with a desire for Christ and others.
The promises of God that once were hidden from us, are now made known too us. In our Baptism, we are united with Christ death and resurrection, “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) In the Lords Supper we are given Faith and the forgiveness of sins, “1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)
Dear friends, remember and meditate on the death of Christ. Mediate on how our sin drove the nails into his hands and feet and pierced his side. Mediate on Christ love for use that He willingly took on our sins and paid our debt. Mediate on the Christ final words “It is finished” that it is Christ shout of victory of sin, death, and devil.
In the Name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
