“It is Finished”

Sermon John 19:29-30 April 14, 2017 Good Friday Ecumenical Worship ‘7 Last Words’ My ‘word’ “It is Finished”

Title: Gone Down to the Dead

When the vinegar had brought to the mouth of Jesus, He said. “It is finished”, and bowed his head and dismissed his spirit.

We are all here today kneeling at the foot of the cross, present with the dying Jesus, hearing his final words,

we sit stunned.

Jesus takes his last breath.

Could it really happen?

Did it really happen?

Was it a hoax, or a sick joke?

What was our Savior, our Messiah doing nailed to that tree?

This day… as a matter of fact, this week…these past Lenten weeks we are in real time with Jesus.

We move with him through the throngs of people, through streets of Nazareth and Galilee.

We stand in awe as he tells us things beyond our comprehension.

We run alongside him as he enters the city of Jerusalem.

We wave and shout along with the crowd.

We are amazed at Jesus. He knows about everything.

It all happens just as he said.

We found the room for our meal together just as Jesus said.

We ate with him alongside the disciples.

He washed our feet as he washed the disciples’ feet.

He broke bread for us as he broke bread for the twelve.

We slept with the disciples in the garden as Jesus prayed;

and…we ran away…just as they did when Jesus was arrested.

Today, we are sitting beside Mary, crying with her and all those who dared to be at the foot of the cross.

 

We are crying on this Good Friday,

on this day Jesus has died.  

If we are in real time…

We have lost our hope.

We have lost our cause.

We have lost our understanding.

Who was Jesus?

How is our Messiah going to save us now?

He is dying…he is dead!

But, wait!

Wait, just a moment.

Back up a minute…

What just happened?

Oh, yes…

 After Jesus had tasted the vinegar, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

The Greek for what Jesus says is Tetelestai. Which literal is “It has been finished-it has been accomplished, it has been completed.” It is not a defeatist statement! It is not a sad overture of the end of all things!

It is the words of a project manager saying the job is complete and now it’s time to get paid.

“Tout est accompli,” is how it’s written in the French Bible.

All is accomplished.

All is completed.

For people who are grammar gurus, this is valuable understanding of the context of the work of Jesus, the work of God.

The literal translation could be viewed as, it has been finished.

This then could be a progressive perfect present tense which describes an action that    began in the past,

                          continues in the present,

                                              and may continue into the future.

So, if I understand Jesus, as he formed these words on his lips, he is giving all of us seated at the foot of his cross, hope!

We have hope because this project that God the Father had for his Son has been completed. And now we can live into the future in the next phase of the kingdom project.

Jesus has gone down to the dead.

Flesh dies.

God knew that sending his Son into the world as God incarnate-Immanuel-God with us-meant taking on flesh.

And since Eden we have lived outside the gates of Paradise.

God knew Jesus would die, that he would have to die, because all flesh dies.

Our hope is knowing that God knows fully the extent to which flesh takes us-to the dead.

Our hope is knowing that God is intimately aware of our suffering.

In dying, God is making sure there is rising!

For if God goes down to the dead and rises to new life;

rest assured God has made the way for us who die

                                              to rise to new life!

Today, in this day of death, we know that resurrection is coming.

We know that the joy and celebration is moments away.

But, for today, we can rest in death.

We can find comfort in death.

We can be reassured in death.

Jesus went down to the dead.

When our flesh dies,

we go down to the dead.

We live in the promise that Jesus has already been there.

Jesus has paved that path,

done that project,

and all will be well.

We are safe in the arms of Jesus as he cries out, “it is finished” and sends his spirit out into the world.

We can say and sing, “It is Well with My Soul!”

Amen.