It Is Finished.... But the story isn't ! Good Friday reflection 2023

Good Friday 2023 April 7

The story is not finished.  We stop for a while to strive to grasp all that has happened and try to comprehend what it means.  We do this naturally, when significant things happen to us.  We must pause and take stock before continuing, and this is what we do today.

Today is a day most holy.  We are remembering a sacred and significant event, of such extreme, far reaching and eternal significance, that if you try to perceive it, you can almost sense all of nature taking pause.  But the story is not finished.

On the cross Jesus said, “It is finished”.  The Greek word written in our Bibles which has been translated, rightly, as “It is finished”, is Tetelestai.  This is something we might cry as we reached the top of Mount Everest, or reached a destination that we had to work hard to achieve.  It is a victory cry.  Mel Gibson in his movie, Braveheart, cried “Freedom”, as they killed him.  It was a victory cry that claimed ultimate victory, as his spirit was not something they could take, even if they killed him.  Jesus’ victory cry is “Tetelestai”, “It is finished”.  The story is not finished.  Jesus is not finished.  Yet the victory cry of Jesus was, Tetelestai – It is finished.  Why was this his victory cry?

Jesus’ life had a specific central purpose.  There were many things that Jesus achieved and many wonderful things that he did.  There were many restored relationships with God and there were people who were healed and even raised from the dead, but there was something that Jesus needed to accomplish… something more specific and central to the purpose of Jesus.

Jesus came to be the Lamb of God.  Jesus came to be the sacrifice to atone for our sin.  But why?  Why did he need to do this?  Why was it necessary?

God created us and gave us free will.  An incredible gift of God!  He gave us autonomy and independence and gave us every good thing.  However, not only the very first man, Adam, but every one of us since, has chosen to try to be our own god – controlling our own destiny.  In doing so, we have brought back the chaos that existed before God’s spirit brought order.  And, we have unwittingly been bowing down to the one who rules this world – Satan, and been following him and his ways.  Without God’s intervention, we belong to Satan.  And we need to be, “Redeemed”… a word that we hear often, but may not realize that it means, “buying back”.  It is about God buying us back after our allegiance was unwittingly given to Satan.   (MERCY WALKED IN)

I belong to a number of different groups of people; church, school, dancing, basketball and Street Chaplaincy… to name a few.  It doesn’t matter what group I go to, there are people who don’t get along.  That is natural, as we are all different, but these people sometimes try to control others to a point where the friction causes real pain and destruction.  This is sin. 

Adam and Eve sinned because they disobeyed God’s command not to eat of the fruit of a particular tree… that tree was the knowledge of good and evil.  They wanted to be like God and be able to judge what was good and what was evil for themselves.  Pretty much, this is the fruit of that same tree, which causes conflict today.  We disagree with each other about what is good and evil, but we all declare ourselves to be like God and have the authority, able to make the judgement.  

As life seems to be becoming more complex and stressful, many, many more people are declaring themselves the experts of their own destiny… but unfortunately others stand in their way, as that destiny interferes with their own.  We feel it is our right to be able to do all that we want, regardless of real or perceived barriers, and we fight for those rights… but they are often at odds with someone else’s rights.  More and more people are angry with each other and hurt by each other and disillusioned by this changing world where everyone’s world view is different.  People are actually more and more becoming confused to the point that they are becoming depressed.  What, after all, is the meaning and purpose of life?  And that dark chaos, which exists in the void of God’s Spirit, becomes glaringly obvious and prevalent.

We need help.  We need a saviour.   Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Being crucified, submitting to humanity for a crime that is ours, not His, was not an easy thing for Jesus to do.  Jesus is the Son of God… but God incarnate … taking on human flesh and limiting himself, so that he felt all the things we feel and can understand all that we experience… yet He is without sin.  None of us can be good enough to reach heaven… or be acceptable to God.   But Jesus is… and he redeemed us, paid the price of sin for us, by dying on the cross.   Jesus was baptised – emersed, into the sins of the world and, as the perfect human, he took the sin of the world to the cross.  

Unlike us who try to justify and blame, Jesus remained silent and accepted a life sentence that he didn’t deserve…. He was crucified for claiming to be the Son of God. – the truth.  We, by our actions and sin, show that we too claim to be God – This is what was the fruit of the tree in the garden of Eden.  The irony of it, is that Jesus rightly is God, but he took the punishment for us – for the humans, claiming god status, and for love of us, he accepted death on the cross.  This atonement for our sin was Jesus’ ultimate goal… not that he enjoyed it at all – but with one last effort he cried the victory cry, proclaiming to all the spiritual powers and principalities, “Tetelestai!  It is finished.”

Jesus achieved his life’s objective in taking upon himself the punishment that should have been ours.  We all have sinned and need to know that Jesus washes us clean by his sacrifice.  Tetelestai… It is finished !  However, the story isn’t finished.

The Greek tense for this word Tetelestai, is apparently in the perfect tense, which implies that when Jesus cried out "It is finished," he meant "It was finished in the past, it is still finished in the present, and it will remain finished in the future."  The Good News for us all is that this is accomplished once and for all.  The purpose, is so that there is now nothing standing between us and the love and acceptance of God…. And there is more to this story…

The story isn’t finished because we will celebrate the resurrection on Sunday, but also the story isn’t finished because the story needs to become a reality in our life.  A great preacher once said, “Jesus didn’t come to earth to atone for your sins”.  It sounded like the preacher was speaking a heresy and a complete contradiction to all I have just said, but wait for the rest of what they said;  Jesus came to bring us life.  For Jesus to bring us life, he needed to deal with the sins of the world. 

Scripture tells us that Jesus came so that all who believe in him might have life. Scripture also says that, those who received him, those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.  

Jesus came to bring us life.  However, to do this he needed to make atonement for our sin.  How do we respond to this?  John the Baptist called people to repentance.  To turn from their sin and to be baptised as a sign of their new way of life.  God has given everything to us and God the son has given his life.  Can we surrender our will and our lives back to God?  Can we use our free will to submit to the will of God, our king and saviour?  Can we admit that we don’t know what is truly Good and Evil, and be willing to trust in God’s better judgement, striving to trust him and his ways?  Can we give all that we are to God?

Today, take some time to reflect on the love that God has for you. So much love that, if you were the only person on this earth, Jesus would have gone to that cross just for you.  Imagine you have a stone in your hand.  It has a little weight to it.  Just like our sin, it can weigh us down.  The stone represents us, our sin, our burdens and our will.  It represents both the good and the bad, all that we are and all that we hope for.  

In a little while we will carry in a cross.  You will be invited to come to the cross for your own reflection… and at that time you will be invited to pray, to thank Jesus for his sacrifice and you can, if you like, take your stone, which represents all that you are, all that you have – those burdens, the failings and your hopes and dreams.   You are invited to lay it all at the cross – to give it all to Him, who gave all for you.