It is finished

As part of our Good Friday meditation on Jesus’ 7 words on the Cross, let’s meditate on the sixth word.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus said, “Tetelastai,” meaning, “It is finished” At that moment, He gave up His Spirit, and He died. John 19:30

“It is finished” is a translation of the Greek word tetelestai, the perfect indicative passive tense of the word “telos”, which means to end; to bring to completion; to bring to a conclusion; to complete; to accomplish; to fulfill; or to finish. One scholar notes that anything that has reached “telos” has arrived at completion, maturity, or perfection.

Before we look at what was finished and what’s not, its important to take a closer look at the magnitude of the sacrifice to understand the excruciating pain Jesus experienced on the cross.

What’s finished?

1. He finished fulfilling His father’s will – In those days, when a servant was sent on a mission and then later returned to his master, he would say, “Tetelestai,” meaning,“I have done exactly what you requested” or “The mission is now accomplished.”

From the beginning, God tried various things to punish us for sin. Adam/Eve were chased out of Eden, the entire world destroyed by the flood during Noah’s time, Israelites suffered in the wilderness, attacked by neighboring kingdoms, destroyed by fire (Sodom/Gomorrah), exiled to Babylon etc but nothing worked and the old covenant was a failure. So, Father God sacrificed His only begotten Son and that mission was accomplished. It was a cry of victory after knowing that the scripture was fulfilled.

His disciples didn’t really understand what Jesus meant when He said “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11) and realized it only after His crucifixion.

2. Atonement was finished – The word tetelestai was the equivalent of the Hebrew word spoken by the high priest on the day of Atonement. Every year, he entered the Holy of Holies, presented a sacrificial lamb without spot or blemish and he poured the blood of that sacrificial spotless lamb on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. The moment that blood touched the mercy seat, atonement was made for the people’s sins for one year and the high priest would have to follow the same ritual every year for temporary atonement or forgiveness of sin.

But when Jesus hung on the Cross, He was both the Passover Lamb and High Priest. In that holy moment as our Great High Priest, Jesus offered His own blood for the permanent removal of sin.

Thus, when Jesus said, “It is finished!” He was declaring the end of sacrifice because the ultimate Sacrifice had finally been made! Atonement was completed, perfected, and fully accomplished. It was done once and for all – finished forever!

3. He finished paying off our debt – In the Roman Empire, commerce thrived and the word tetelestai was used in the business world to signify the full payment of a debt. When a purchase was made, the word Tetelestai was written across the top of the receipt to show that the transaction had been completed and that the price for the item had been paid. When a debt was fully paid off, the parchment on which the debt was recorded was stamped with Tetelestai, which meant the debt had been paid in full. This means that once a person calls Jesus the Lord of His life and personally accepts His sacrifice, no debt of sin exists for that person any longer. The debt is wiped out because Jesus paid the price for sin that no sinner could ever pay.

When Jesus uttered those words, “It is finished!” it was His declaration that the debt was fully satisfied, fulfilled and complete.

4. He finished the old Covenant – In classical Greek times, the word tetelestai depicted a turning point when one period ended and another new period began. When Jesus exclaimed, “It is finished!”, it was indeed a turning point in the entire history of mankind (Our calendar is separated as BC and AD – Anno Domini in Latin means “In the year of the Lord”), for at that moment the Old Testament came to an end – finished and closed-and the New Testament began. The Cross was “the Great Divide” in human history which was symbolically represented by the torn veil in the alter. When Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” He was shouting that the Old Covenant had ended and the New Covenant had begun!

What’s not finished?

Jesus has finished His part but our part is not finished

• What if the government announces that your entire debt including your credit cards, mortgage, car loans etc would be forgiven but you fail to apply for that benefit?
  • Salvation is the greatest ever free gift that’s available to mankind for forgiveness of our debts. If we don’t make use of it, we don’t get another chance as we’re living in the grace period.
  • Jesus said “I’m the way and no one can go to the Father but thru me” (John 14:6). Being a good person doesn’t guarantee our entry to heaven. Attending church or participating in church activities doesn’t entitle us a ticket to heaven. We need to be cleansed by His blood to enter heaven.
• All our grief, sorrows, pain, humiliation, diseases were carried on the cross but its upto us to make use of it. If we don’t make use of it, its like a sick person having the required medication at home but not taking it.
• Holiness – pursuing holiness is a process that’s not finished until we present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1).
• He sacrificed His life for us. What can we do for Him? That’s unfinished.