Continue looking at the seven final sayings Jesus made on the cross. As we look in the context of the story of God’s love for us, our need for Him, and his plan to redeem us, we see the heart of the Savior.
So Far >>
“Father, forgive them.” (Luke 23:34)
The Big Idea: Christ gives us the example of forgiveness.
Today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43)
The Big Idea: It’s never too late for God’s mercy and grace.
Woman, behold your son. John, here is your mother. (John 19:26-27)
The Big Idea: Christ demonstrates his compassion in the midst of our pain.
"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:45-46)
The Big Idea: Christ was abandoned so we might be adopted.
“I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
The Big Idea: Christ experienced thirst on the cross so ours might be quenched.
This Week >> The sixth saying of Christ from the cross. Some say this is the most powerful/important …
"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
>> Prayer <<
Ever started something and didn’t finish it?
For me > books and projects – It’s always something . . . time / money / boredom / tyranny of the urgent
Can you imagine what it would be like to sit down at the end of the day and say, “Everything I set out to do today got done.”
Can you imagine what it would be like to say at the end of your life, “I’ve completed everything I needed to.”
As we look at the sixth cry of the cross, we see Jesus make this incredible statement, “It is finished.”
At first glance it may not look all that incredible. At first glance it may sound as if he’s just making an obvious statement. But this is more than the statement of a tired, worn-out, beaten man saying, “I give up!” This is not a cry of surrender. Rather it is a cry of triumph.
Let’s look a little deeper at this statement and see if we can come to a better understanding . . .
“It is finished” – Greek > tetelestai – to end, ie. complete, execute, conclude
Tetelestai is in the perfect tense – a completed action with a resulting state of being.
It implies a process but looks upon the process as having reached a consummation and existing in a completed state. It is finished and remains finished. It signifies the successful end to a particular course of action. The action happened in the past, but the results are still effective today.
The word was also used as an accounting term to describe when a debt was paid off --> Paid in Full
It’s the word you use when you pay off your car or your mortgage. It’s the word you use when graduate from college. It’s the word you use when you finish a race. The word means more than “I reached the end.” It means “I did exactly what I set out to do.”
“This was not the despairing cry of a helpless martyr. It was not an expression of satisfaction that the end of His sufferings was now reached. It was not the last gasp of a worn-out life. No, it was the declaration on the part of the Divine Redeemer that all for which He came from heaven to earth to do, was now done; that all which was needful to reveal the glorious character of God had now been accomplished; that everything necessary for the putting away of the sins of His people, providing for them a perfect standing before God, securing for them an eternal inheritance and fitting them for it, had all been done.” ~ A.W. Pink
The Big Idea:
Christ paid my debt in full.
Why tetelestai is significant:
• This didn’t happen by accident or chance – it was the plan all along
At birth > “He will save his people from their sins.” Matt 1:21 NIV
Early ministry > "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."
John 4:34 NIV
End of ministry > “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
John 17:4 NIV
• It put an end to the old system of law and ushered in grace
"He [ended] the system of law with its commandments and regulations." Eph 2:15 NLT
"Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins." Heb. 9:13-14
• It meant that payment was made – once and for all.
"So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever."
Heb 9:11-12 NLT
"For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time." Heb 10:10 NLT
“It is finished” – tetelestai -- It doesn’t need to be done again. It is complete. Paid in Full!
Jesus was able to leave this earth knowing that he had finished what he was supposed to do. Was everyone healed? Was everyone delivered? Was everyone fed? Was everyone a follower? No. Yet, he was able to shout, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished. I have completed my mission. The debt is paid in full.”
His mission was not to work miracles. They were not an end unto themselves. His mission was to show us the Father . . . to reconcile us back to God.
Throughout his ministry Jesus made various statements about what He came to do:
• Came to do the will of the Father
“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.” John 6:38 (NIV)
• Came to give us abundant life
“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.” John 10:10 (NLT)
• Came to give his life for others
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." Mark 10:45 (NIV)
• Came to lead us out of darkness
“I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the darkness.” John 12:46 (NLT)
• Came to seek and save the lost
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10 NASU
At the end, he could say, “Tetelestai!” “It is finished.”
What this means to us today:
• My debt to God is paid in full.
It’s already been paid for me. For me to try to pay my debt would be like trying to pay for a gift. It’s unnecessary and insulting.
"You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross." Col 2:13-14 NLT
• I have freedom and victory in Christ.
"In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross." Col 2:15 NLT
Don’t let anyone tell you that you have to do something to earn the favor of God. Don’t let anyone put a burden on you of things you must do make God like you. Trying to add to the work of Christ would be like adding eyebrows to the Mona Lisa. It is complete the way it is, to add to it would cheapen it.
• I must accept it and use it to activate it.
"But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God."
John 1:12 NLT
If I give you free tickets to a ballgame, but you don’t go, then you didn’t really accept the full value of the gift. The full value is realized when the tickets are not only accepted, but put in to use. Then they are activated.
If you don’t use them, it doesn’t change the fact that I paid for them in full. The payment was made, you just didn’t accept the benefit.
There may be a lot of unfinished business in this world, but Christ was able to proclaim, when it came to paying the debt between us and the Father – “Tetelestai – it is finished! Paid in full.”
