It is finished
ll is complete. The pain is gone. The laboured breathing is at an end.
Stillness…
Death…
Hopes and dreams are shattered. Here is the Messiah, the Christ, the “King of the Jews”, hanging limp and broken on a cross. The crowd who cried for liberation must seek another saviour. The disciples who hoped for glory in the new Kingdom of God are disappointed. All is lost. It is finished.
But there is more here than disappointment and failure. Unbearable as it may be, the final cry of Jesus is also a shout of victory. The purposes of God are completed. The powers of sin and death are conquered because God in Christ has plumbed the ultimate depths of human experience. From this time on, no one can doubt the depth of God’s love, or believe that there is anywhere his presence can be left behind.
Whoever we are, wherever we may go, whatever we may face and whatever we may do - because of Good Friday we may put our faith in God and know that God will not disappoint us.
“It is finished” said Jesus. There is no more to do. The work is complete, the way in to God’s Kingdom stands open. There are no rituals, no tests, no auditions. You no longer have to prove yourself worthy, or come up to some unattainable standard. In this cry, Jesus says - Take your hesitant, faltering steps with me. I will hold you up when you stumble and lift you up when you fall. The work is done. Follow me.
It is finished.
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