On Easter Sunday I shared a message entitled ‘it is finished,’ based on the final words of Jesus before his death. I love studying and writing sermons, but this sermon left me with more content then I’ve probably had before, and that meant much of it (rightfully) got left on the cutting floor. But this week, parts of what I did and didn’t share have kept coming to mind. Easter, after all, was never meant to be confined to one weekend of the year.
Jesus’ words ‘it is finished,’ followed of course by his resurrection, bring to fulfilment all that Jesus taught and did while here on earth, and opened up a new way of living for us every day of our life. Understanding those not-so-final words of Jesus becomes pretty important if we desire to follow him every day of our lives, so I thought I’d reproduce what I wrote for easter Sunday in a four part blog, mainly for my own enjoyment, but perhaps it will be of interest/help for you, as you seek to be a Jesus’ follower, living in the truth of Jesus words and in the life his resurrection brought.
Our words matter don’t they. Many of us have had words spoken over us that stick whether encouraging or discouraging. Just this morning, my eldest son wrote me a loving heartfelt letter (it’s his new favourite thing), telling me he was praying for me as I’ve now become ‘a third father’ (our daughter Beau was born four weeks ago). Those words will stick with me, even if I lose the letter, I’d like to think I will remember Reuben’s words.
There are times when we really want our words to count, like in a card, a speech, or on a gravestone. Or what about our final words. If you knew you were about to say your last words, what would you say? You would want them to count, hence the saying ‘famous last words,’ they are meant to be memorable. When looking into last words they were some interesting ones out there (go on, give it a google), but perhaps none as striking as Jesus’ final words on the cross:
It is finished.
We read these words in John’s gospel:
28 Later, 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
Looking at John’s account of Jesus' life in his gospel, Jesus' words, "it is finished," are in fact one word in the greek - tetelestai.
With one word, Jesus life and ministry was fulfilled. Once spoken, Jesus bows his head and gives up his Spirit. But what did Jesus mean by ‘it is finished?’ What was it that Jesus achieved on the cross?
Jesus death on the cross is so often reduced to payment for our ticket to heaven. Jesus died so that we can be forgiven and go to heaven. Yes, Jesus died so that we could be forgiven, but the good news of Jesus is so much bigger than this one truth. John, in his gospel, paints a much much bigger picture, Jesus did not come to take us to heaven, but to bring heaven to earth.
John chooses his words carefully, he even tells us that he has been really selective about what stories he includes (John 20:30-31). It’s why John's gospel (like all four of the gospels) is a really carefully crafted telling of Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection. John knows his stuff, crafting his gospel with Old Testament allusions, challenges to greek philosophy, alongside first hand experience, to share the wonder and beauty of the Lord and Saviour that he met and knew. Far from being about our ticket to heaven, Jesus' words are the fulfilment of not just his work while on earth as a man, but as far as John is concerned, Jesus' words are a fulfilment of all that Jesus has been doing since the very beginning of everything, hence, John starts his gospel with three other famous words; In the Beginning.
These words echo Genesis 1, and John keeps the echo resounding by continuing his gospel with a poetic intro, introducing us to the divine Word, who took on flesh and dwelt among us.
This is the beginning of the story. Before Jesus took up his cross, he took on flesh.
And at Easter we celebrate the end of the story:
Before Jesus rose from the grave, he was lifted up on a cross.
And central to it all is Jesus death and the words spoken from the cross - IT IS FINISHED. Words that reverberate throughout human history. And in three separate posts I will unpack what Jesus was saying was "finished" by looking at:
THE BEGINNING - INCARNATION (in the beginning)
THE END - CRUCIFIXION (it is finished)
THE THE NEW BEGINNING - RESURRECTION (the empty tomb)
But before we leave post #1, one more thing, looking at some more of Jesus’ words from John’s gospel.
In John 12, Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection using the metaphor of a seed:
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. JOHN 12:23-24 NIV
Jesus loved to talk in parable and imagery, an amazing tool to teach those with open ears and hearts, and to baffle and frustrate those with hard hearts and closed minds. Elsewhere Jesus predicts his own death using the metaphor of the temple, saying it will be destroyed and he will rebuild it in three days. Here in John 12, Jesus uses the image of a seed. A seed which falls to the ground and dies, and in so doing produces many seeds. In this metaphor we see our beginning, end and new beginning; to die Jesus would need physical form (incarnation), which then would die (crucifixion), but come back to life bringing life to many (resurrection). Keeping this image of a seed in mind may be helpful in what we look at in the posts to come for a number of reasons:
1. John starts his gospel with the theme of creation, using the language of Genesis and the garden of Eden throughout his gospel. Picturing a seed in a garden, as a metaphor for life may be helpful.
2. Just as a seed breaks and dies, Jesus did this for us. But he was not a seed, he was a man. A man broken, beaten and killed all in the name of love for his own - us. It can be easy to reduce Jesus death to a story we’ve heard hundreds of times before, but Jesus was willing to give it all, so that we could have all that God has to offer. We reap the benefits of Jesus death and resurrection life.
3. When we picture resurrection it can be hard to picture what this means for us in our day to day life. But picture a seed burst to life, and spreading. Not a weed, a fruitful beautiful life giving crop. What if that seed, was the son of God and the fruit was the things of God, bursting forth, entering your life and making all things new. Jesus said in John 10:10 he came to give us life and life in all its fulness. With his resurrection this life is NOW possible.
But now, in the beginning…
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