Finished

Thirst. His final physical longing. To satisfy His request, he was offered a sip of sour wine by way of a saturated sponge on the tip of a javelin. He drank. Then, with all the gravity of earth and hell on His beaten and broken shoulders, he spoke these words divine,

“It is finished”.

Some may imagine He uttered these words in a solemn whisper, as if it were a faint auditory high five to His father upstairs for a mission completed--- His words being within earshot of only a few faithful disciples and maybe an expectant vulture perched on the horizontal plank of the cross.

Or. We can imagine He delivered a triumphant cry through a mouthful of blood and mangled teeth, exhausting every last electron of his vitality to jubilantly broadcast victory for His people-- an emancipation proclamation that forcefully sliced both the Golgotha air and the frayed cord that connected him to his life on earth.

“It is finished”. This was no impotent declaration. We’re told the earth shuddered and the rocks exploded. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The locked tombs of many holy people broke forth, resurrecting the bodies within. Not only were the physically dead brought back to life, but some of the spiritually dead found everlasting life -- as evidenced when a Roman centurion publicly pronounced at that moment that “surely He was the Son of God”. A man who a moment earlier likely took his turn delivering whips and quips was now bowing at the feet of his whipping boy. His victim now his Victor. Grace has its irony.

“It is finished.” The Lamb of God was slain and His blood washed the slate clean. No bull or goat or ram could do this. In fact, the tables at that moment forever turned. The old covenant practice that was once thought to provide remittance for transgressions would become, in itself, a transgression, as it displayed a disbelief in the work Christ did on the cross. By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:15).

“It is finished”. The words of the prophets throughout history pointed to this moment. God’s work through Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Isaiah, John, and so on found completion in the final breath of God the man.

“It is finished”. The final tick of the clock in The Greatest Hour. Jesus spoke repeatedly about His hour. That is was not yet here, and then that it was coming soon, and finally that it had arrived. He waited 33 years for this hour. It was for this hour that Christ became man. What was previously "Mission Impossible" for every human who ever walked the face of earth became "Mission Accomplished" for God upon the utterance of those words. And the mission was this: Luke 19:10-- "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” This was the plan all along—from the foundation of world. He came to finish the work of the Father and glorify Him in this work. Jesus said in John 4:34 "my food is to do the will of the Father, and to finish his work." In John 6:40 Jesus says the Father's will is that "everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life ".

"It is finished" is the gospel. God worked because we couldn't. We were too crippled and dead in our sins to lift a single finger in attempt to save ourselves. And then after He does all the work, endures all our punishment, He tells us to rest. God works all week and tells us to enjoy the weekend. To enjoy Him. He is our Sabbath! The Creation story illustrated this beautifully.

“It is finished”. The price was infinitely high and paid in full at that instant. No one south of the throne of God could foot this bill. No person but the Lord God, the Creator and Redeemer, Yahweh incarnate, could bridge the chasm caused by the first act of human disobedience in the Garden. The forbidden fruit proved fruitless in man’s search for God-like omniscience, but the omniscient God proved all-loving in His magnum opus of deliverance.

Picture this. A painter, after putting the final stroke on his finest masterpiece, takes a step back from the canvas, relishes in its beauty and says, “It is finished. I’ve had this design in my mind for a long time. It is perfect; I can do nothing else to make it any more perfect or any more complete.” With that he puts down the brush. He signs his name and with it comes fame and glory from those who truly accept and stand in awe of the genius of his work. His admirers not only take pleasure in the final product, but also appreciate the process-- the labor of love and the unwavering patience required to craft a painting of this magnitude.

I can see Jesus on the cross in that final moment, almost disembodying Himself to take a step back and have a look at the perfection displayed in this work, His greatest masterpiece. With blood the as ink, the final chapter of redemption was written. The final word of the chapter was “triumph”.

We should pray that we finish triumphantly. That when our eyes fall shut for the last time and we say, “It is finished”, it will be a cry of victory and not a bemoaning of a life wasted. We should hope our final reflection generates a sense of the completion and fulfillment that comes through a life of service at the feet of the One who came to serve. And, with an elated boast for what Christ has accomplished in us and through us, in our final breath before entering His presence, we can announce that, “It is finished!”