GOOD FRIDAY: CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S PASSION
Is 52: 13 — 53: 12; Ps 31: 2, 6, 12-13, 15-17, 25;
Heb 4: 14-16; 5: 7-9; Jn 18: 1 — 19: 42
TETELESTAI: IT IS FINISHED
Today the church celebrates the Lord’s Passion, known as Good Friday. On this day, we are reminded of the Supreme Sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our Salvation. To redeem humanity he chose to become Man, suffered and died; thereby setting humanity free from the bondage of sin and death by shedding his blood. With his action, he redeemed humanity and triumphed over sin and death.
As Jesus approached death, Mt 27:34 tells us, “They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall. John 19:30 tells us that “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the spirit.” “It is finished” is a translation of the Greek word tetelestai 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. There were many nuances to this word, but four of them have great significance in this defining moment of Christ’s sacrifice. Here are four specific applications of the last words of Jesus on the cross.
- This was Jesus’ exclamation that He had finished the work the Father had sent Him to do. The work having been fully completed, Jesus bowed His head and died. One writer has noted that when a servant was sent on a mission and then later returned to his master, he would say, “Telelestai,” meaning, “I have done exactly what you requested” or “The mission is now accomplished.” At that moment when Jesus cried out, he was exclaiming to the entire universe that He had faithfully fulfilled the Father’s will and that the mission was now accomplished.
- The word tetelestai was the equivalent of the Hebrew word spoken by the high priest when he presented a sacrificial lamb without spot or blemish. Annually, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, where 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 more year. But when Jesus hung on the Cross, He was both Lamb and High Priest. In that holy moment as High Priest, Jesus offered His own blood for the permanent removal of sin. Jesus entered into the Holy Place and offered His own blood – a sacrifice so complete that God never again required the blood of lambs for forgiveness.
- In a secular sense, the word tetelestai was used in the business world to signify the full payment of a debt. When a debt had been 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. His blood utterly and completely cleansed us forever.
- 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, for at that moment the Old Testament came to an end – finished and closed – and the New Testament began. Never forget that because Jesus was willing to offer His own blood for the full payment of our sinful debt, we are forgiven and utterly debt-free.
Jesus endured excruciating painful torture, humiliation, and shame on Calvary’s Cross. Death by crucifixion was considered so scandalous that it forever marked how the one who died in that manner was remembered. Meditate on the kind of death Jesus died to purchase your freedom from the power of sin. If sin requires that kind of penalty, why would you allow it to linger in any area of your life? As the ground was splattered with Jesus’ sinless, holy blood, the entire universe witnessed His faithful fulfillment of the Father’s will. Jesus won the greatest victory in the history of the human race.
Response: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!
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