“A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:29-30
Michelangelo, who is considered one of the greatest artists of all time, would often begin a project, only to abandon it. Amazingly, when he died, he left more unfinished works than ones that were completed.
We all have some unfinished business in our life. Maybe it’s a place we never visited or a book we never finished. It seems to me that there must be only a handful of people who could come to the end of their life and say, “I have finished exactly what I set out to do.” In fact, I can only think of one who could say this, Jesus. I think He is the only One who could say with absolute truth, “I have accomplished everything I set out to do.” That is exactly what He said from the cross, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
In the New Testament Greek this phrase is just one word, “Tetelestai”. It comes from the verb “teleo”, which means, “to bring to an end”, “to complete”, “to accomplish”. It means a successful end to a certain course of action. It’s the kind of word you would use when you reached the peak of Mt. Everest, or when you made your final payment on your mortgage, which can also be a lot like climbing Mt. Everest. It simply means, “I have accomplished what I set out to do.”
Another interesting point about “tetlestai” is that it is in the perfect tense. This means that it speaks of an action which has been completed, with the results continuing into the present. It is different from the past tense, which simply looks back at an event and says, “this is what happened”. Instead, the perfect tense says, “this has happened and is still in effect today”. So, when Jesus said, “It is finished”, He was saying, “It is finished in the past, today, and will continue to remain finished in the future.” What Jesus was saying was that, the work of redemption was now complete. The price of sin, our sin has been paid in full for all time. This is what He accomplished.
Back in the 1st and 2nd centuries this verb, “tetelestai” was also used in referring to paying off a debt. Often “tetelestai” appeared on receipts. In this case “tetelestai” was translated as, “Paid in Full”.
The term, “paid in full”, means that once something has been paid for, you never have to pay for it again. Well, if this is true, wouldn’t you agree that it would be incredibly foolish to try to keep paying for something again and again and again when it is already paid for. Yet this is what so many people continue to do. They continue to carry their sin around with them, along with guilt, shame, doubt and fear and think they have to do something about it. No matter how many times they hear or read that Jesus has paid that debt for all time, they still feel that there is something more that they must do in order to make things right.
Look at your own life. Is there some sin(s) that you keep trying to pay for? Are you listening to a voice deep inside of you that says, “You have to make things right! You have to pay for what you have done! You must take responsibility for your sins!”
If you are listening to that voice, knock it off!!! There is another voice that you are ignoring, a voice of the One who loves you more than you can imagine, the voice of your God, your Shepherd, your Savior. What this voice is telling you is, “It doesn’t matter what your sin is! It doesn’t matter how many your sins are! It doesn’t matter how guilty you feel about those sins! It doesn’t matter how awful a person you think you are!” None of that matters because of one word, “Tetelestai”, “It is finished”. For all those sins that you cannot forgive yourself for”, “Tetelestai”, it is “Paid in Full for all time!”
Now, you can either accept this truth or reject it. However, if you accept it, then understand, this calls for you to live in this truth and in this hope that is yours in Christ Jesus. You are to live each day clinging to the truth that because of Jesus, it truly is finished, all of your sins are paid, for all time. Please, open your life to this truth and live in the peace, joy and hope that this truth brings.
Lord Jesus, You are the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. When we hear Your words, “It is finished,” help us to cling to this truth that the debt for our sins has been paid in full for all time. Give to us a trusting, thankful and joyful heart because of this Good News of salvation and life, that we would live each day as children of God and Your brothers and sisters. We pray in Your Holy Name Jesus. Amen.
Keith Enko