Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ 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. 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 NIVUK
My wife and daughter have caught from me my love of the city where I was born, educated and worked for many years: the city of Glasgow.
Due to its history, musicality and (at times brutal) sense of humour, it’s quite a unique place.
But right on the edge of the city centre, as you venture towards the more upmarket West End, there are a couple of landmarks that aren't ever likely to make it onto Instagram.
The first is an office block. Nothing wondrous there. However, when the M8 motorway was built to the north of the city centre and curved round back south towards the River Clyde, some bright spark came up with the idea of building two office blocks on either side of it and then linking them together with a set of offices in a bridge.
Nice idea. Or it would have been if he'd have had the money to finish it. He built one block, built the bridge and ran out of money for the second block. So what you have is a strange building that juts out over the motorway and then sort-of stops, and is propped up by metal poles.
To the south of that weird building, you have a series of pedestrian bridges, built over the M8 and the Clydeside Expressway, one of which gives you a rather discombobulating view into a roofless underground railway station from above, and another that juts out into the air and just stops, and goes absolutely nowhere.
Things that are not completed are weird.
Jesus even mentioned them:
‘Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.” ‘Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
Luke 14:28-33 NIVUK
Let me tell you something: Jesus didn’t ‘just stop’. He started the plan of salvation. He was there in the very beginning (John 1:2). In fact, John refers to Jesus as ‘the Word’ (John 1:1, 14) – God’s logos (in Greek). The word logos means so much more than just ‘the word’. It means the very expression of the mind of God. So He didn’t just write the plan of salvation. He didn’t just initiate it. He was it. He was the plan of salvation in flesh and blood.
And He worked that plan through right to its very bloody end.
How do we know?
The last word Jesus spoke on the cross: the Greek word tetelestai.
The word translated into English as ‘it is finished’.
But what is finished?
Obviously the plan of salvation, but also His suffering. The writer to the Hebrews tells us:
In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
Hebrews 2:10 NIVUK
The word ‘perfect’ here really means ‘complete’ or ‘finished’. In other words, Jesus, who is the One who pioneered and brought us salvation, has a full and complete experience of all that it means to be us because He suffered, and the end point of His suffering was the cross.
He also brought an end to debt, and to the greatest debt we have that we can never pay – our sin debt.
I remember when we sat in the lounge of the apartment above our church with our mortgage broker, signing the papers for the loan that would pay for our first apartment, we were handed a mound of paperwork. Seriously, it was intimidating. Buried deep in those contracts was a breakdown of how much we would have to pay if we let the twenty-five year mortgage go its full term. My wife saw it, her eyes widened and she told me ‘We are not paying that.’
No wonder she said it. The amount we would have to pay was more than double the price of our new apartment. Interest rates and various charges had hiked the price until we felt like we were getting conned.
Of course, we didn’t. As soon as we could, we re-mortgaged to a provider that would let us pay it off quickly and that’s what we did.
But the debt we have to God is way too big.
Right in the Lord’s Prayer, sin against each other and God is described as a debt (Matthew 6:12) – a debt so large that no endowment or inheritance or trust fund will ever clear it.
And debt is a subtle form of slavery. The creditor owns the house or apartment or car or whatever else you borrowed to purchase. They own a substantial part of your income. To break free of their clutches, you need to pay them off.
But this verse contains a beautiful truth. The Greek word Jesus shouted from the cross – tetelestai – was written on receipts as proof of payment when a debt was cleared. In other words, from that cross Jesus declared that our sin debt was paid in full. We have no more obligations to it. We are free.
Jesus also finished and brought an end to sin, as Paul explains:
For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
Romans 6:6-7 NIVUK
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 NIVUK
Jesus was also proclaiming that the power of sin to keep us captive and destroy us is also finished, because His death on the cross sets us free from it.
He also finished death.
Now, I realise that’s a really strange thing to say, when John is very specific about the fact that Jesus died (John 19:31-37). But Jesus died as a trailblazer through the realm of the dead into Heaven.
Let me explain it another way. Not far from our house there is some woodland on the edge of a steep gully down to a river. Ordinarily, if you were to go there, you’d have to be so careful. The ledge at the top of the gully can be quite thin. If you are too hasty and aren’t careful about where you put your feet, you could easily end up taking a painful tumble down the gully to the river. But over the years, successive walkers have beaten paths: paths that are safe and allow you to enjoy the woodland walks in the knowledge that someone has been there before and lived to tell the tale.
That's what Jesus did. He died to lead the way for us so that we might live. That’s why we see these words in the Bible:
‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’
1 Corinthians 15:55 NIVUK
I like watching the Olympics. The endurance races in particular can be quite thrilling in the end. Not necessarily for the speed – someone who has just ran twenty-six miles is never going to match the speed of a sprinter. More for the drama, because when someone has ran that distance, anything can happen in the last few hundred metres. Not only that, but you can see what it means to them. You can see the pain and the effort written large across their faces.
It must feel so amazing to break through the pain barrier and finish one of those races.
As we go through life, there may be many projects that we leave unfinished.
But aren’t you glad that Jesus did not? Aren’t you glad that He finished His race, despite the intense pain and suffering? This is why we see these words in Hebrews:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1-3 NIVUK
He broke through the pain barrier. He persevered. He endured.
He followed the plan of salvation and had the resolve to complete it.
The Christian life is not always easy. Sometimes it requires endurance. But if we are following Jesus, let’s not quit or give up. Let’s keep going to the end, just like Jesus.
Because that is what it takes to have the Mind of Christ.
Questions
1. What things did Jesus finish on the cross? How does this encourage you in your Christian life?
2. What do you have to endure for being a Christian?
3. What did He endure to save you? How can this encourage you to keep going?
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