Finishing: Confession #80

“It is finished.”

The words spoken by Jesus declaring the end of the torture and suffering endured on the day of the crucifixion are not discussed and celebrated enough. These three words say so much about humanity, salvation, and life.

1. Completion. The work is done. Over. Finished. There is no need to try to add to it. All of us do, though. We try to add good works, church attendance, theology, and even our beliefs to what Jesus did as if his work was not finished. We need to rest in this work being done. This means stopping all of our efforts to prove or to earn or to do. And just rest.

2. Sufficiency. Often when we are trying to decide whether or not an effort is adequate we might describe it as being “good enough for a government job.” The phrase implies it is could be better, but for now it is enough. Not so with Jesus death. He did not say, “I hope this is good enough.” In this case it is sufficient to please his father making him our father too.

3. Power. It is hard for me to understand how what happened that Friday about 2000 years ago was enough to cover all of my sins, but it was. It had to be. Also beng fully God, Jesus knew how great the payment had to be for the sins of the world and he declared the transaction to be finished.

4. Freedom. When you finish paying for your mortgage the bank hands over any rights they had to your house. Any claim they might have made on it is now gone. It is yours because the debt has been paid in full. When Jesus declared the payment for our sin to be done, he was declaring our freedom from that debt. We no longer have to be controlled by guilt and lust and shame and hate. We have been set free.

4. Response. When I read and contemplate these words, they demand a response. I can almost here Jesus speak to me saying, “And now its your turn.” As previously dicussed not my turn to try to do the part of the work that I am unable to do, but instead to tell the whole world about his great work which is finished.

My turn to speak.

To tell.

To live differently.

To act. To clothe. To offer water.

To forgive.

To love.