It is finished

 

The final words were muttered today.

‘It is finished’, came the cry…

How did he say those words?

Remember, he has been screaming in pain…

Remember, he is so so thirsty…

Remember the torture he has been through…

Remember that the way people die from crucifixion is through suffocation – the inability to breath.

So, hear these last words through gasped breath… through searing pain… 

 

But also hear them said, almost unbelievably, joyfully!

‘It is finished’

Hear it said through a slightly crooked grin or blood-stained smile,

‘It is finished’

In the same way as Michael Angelo would have shouted as he painted the last brushstroke on the Sistine chapel.

In the same way as Mozart would have shouted as he penned the last note of a requiem

Jesus full of accomplishment manages a victory cry ‘It is finished’.

 

But what has Jesus finished?

 

Jesus said earlier ‘my nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work’.

The will of God was to win us

To sacrifice himself – so that we may know love

And now today ‘it is finished’. 

 

Jesus came to reveal the heart of God.

Reading the OT without Jesus, its easy to misunderstand God.

To see hate when there is only love

To see rules and regulations when there is only freedom.

Jesus came so that we may never misunderstand God again.

Jesus said earlier in his great prayer ‘I have revealed you to the world’

An echo of the introduction to the gospel of John ‘nobody has seen God, the one and only has made him known’.

And my, how Jesus has shown the father’s heart.

Welcoming the sinner

Loving the outcast

Healing the sick

Standing up against injustice

To name a few… and now the great crescendo of love – death – dying so that others may have life

Showing the heart of God to the world – ‘It is finished’!

 

John has what is called the seven signs.

First – Jesus turning water into wine – 987 bottles of chateau neaf de Nazareth!  

Jesus’ dancing and having a great time.

That is what God is like.

 

Second – healing of the roman royal officials’ son

A man of high standing in the kingdom of herod.

Who swallows his pride to ask a carpenter for help?

And Jesus heals the boy from a distance.

That is what God is like!

 

Third – a healing of a paralysed man

A man stuck on the edge of a pool with supposedly magical powers

Desperate to be healed – desperate to be well

And with one word from Jesus – all is well!

That is what God is like.

 

Fourth – the feeding of the 20,000 people (they only counted the 5000 men)

A bit of fish, miserly rubbish bread – yet all were filled with leftovers. 

Abundance.

That is what God is like!

 

Fifth – walking on water

And when all who see are terrified

We hear the most common command in scripture

‘Do not be afraid’

That is what our God is like.,

 

Sixth – The man born blind able to see

That is what our God is like.

 

Seventh – raising of Lazarus from the dead. 

Raised with tears of passion in the eyes of Jesus.

That is what our God is like.

 

And now the incredible crescendo – the cross

Where all is sacrificed

Where the price was paid.

That is what our God is like.

 

Showing God’s heart

It is finished!

 

Jesus came to redeem the entire world

To bring back the paradise of the garden

To begin enlarging shalom once again

Making all right – with self – with other – with land and with God and…

‘It is finished’

 

Grace – Grace – utter amazing grace

‘It is finished’

The redemptive purposes of God fulfilled.

Now no sacrifices needed

It is finished.

 

And he shouts it and gives himself up to death – the lamb of God – perfect – spotless – sinless – righteousness – and takes away the sin of the world –

 

It is finished – hallelujah – hallelujah – hallelujah.

It is finished.

 

And then finally, almost peacefully,

‘into your hands I commit my spirit’– and Jesus died…

 

 

What is your it is finished?

 

Back to Sunday – father forgive.

Still beating yourself up about mistakes – sin – shame

IT IS FINISHED! 

You are forgiven – now go and fall into the arms of your saviour.

IT IS FINISHED

 

Back to Monday – paradise

Are you always waiting for life to be sorted in the magical fictional place of tomorrow? 

Are you waiting for the next best thing?

For this or that to be sorted to be finally free to enjoy life…

IT is finished.

Paradise is a relationship not a place

And on that Friday we call good – the curtain that kept God’s presence was split open – and what was once only available to one person – one time of the year was now available for everyone.,

IT is finished.

What ever you are going through – wherever you are – whatever you face

Paradise. 

And you can bring that paradise to others. 

Today – you can know paradise because

‘It is finished’

 

What is your ‘it is finished’

Feeling alone – lack of family – lack of community

Tired of little support

It is finished

A new community – a new family – the church – created at the cross.

A place to belong

A place to be seen

A place to love and be loved

A place to share joy and sadness

A place where Jesus is…  

Come because…

‘It is finished’.

 

Back to Wednesday – ‘my God, My God why have you forsaken me’

Filled with private doubts – deep searching questions – pain beyond belief

Tired of putting on an act – wearing a mask – trying to be someone you are not…

‘It is finished’

Jesus’ cry of doubt and of pain – allows us to be authentic – real – honest

And we find around us a community who will sit in the darkness and walk with us to light

And a God that understands and empathises,

It is finished.

 

Back to last night – I thirst

All those with low self-esteem – it is finished –

How dare we see that which God loves as imperfect and floored!

It is finished.

God thirsted after us – pursues us with goodness and love

It is finished.

 

Anxiousness – little hope – no purpose

It is finished

We can now be who we were created to be

In relationship with God

Forgiven

Paradise

Eternal life

Healed

Family

Shalom…

 

All because Jesus shouted, ‘It is finished’!

 

We thank you Lord – for ‘It is finished’. 

 

Everything has changed because of ‘It is finished’.