#26 - Is It Finished?
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(English Standard Version)
Mt 27- Jesus Delivered to Pilate - Judas Hangs Himself - Jesus before Pilate - Crowd Chooses Barabbas - Pilate delivers Jesus to be Crucified - Jesus is Mocked - Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus is Buried - Guard at the Tomb
Mk 15- Jesus delivered to Pilate - Pilate delivers Jesus to be Crucified - Jesus is Mocked - the Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus is buried
Lk 23- Jesus before Pilate - Jesus before Herod - Pilate delivers Jesus to be Crucified - Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus is Buried
Jn 19- Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified - Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus’ Side is Pierced - Jesus is Buried
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
As I read these last few chapters of the Gospels, I read them in the context of all the chapters that preceded, in fact in the context of all the Old Testament that preceded. When Jesus, on the cross, said: “It Is Finished,” He was referring to neither His suffering nor the story of the Gospels for both the resurrection and the Great Commission have yet to happen. Interestingly, the workbook does not address what Jesus meant when He said: “It Is Finished.”
The workbook suggests that the main lesson of these final moments was Jesus “teaching us by showing us.” It is true that Jesus taught us that love is willing to suffer, mocking God’s truth should not weaken our faith, and we should forgive our enemies. Each of these things are true and valuable lessons, but they are not the primary point of these passages.
Why was Jesus crucified? What did it accomplish? What was “finished?” Jesus was not abused and crucified just so that He could demonstrate God’s love for us, ignore mocking, and show us how to forgive others who abuse us. As Jesus died it was not primarily His suffering that was finished.
From the beginning chapters of the Bible it is clear that death is the consequence, the penalty, of our sin. While there are many things we experience because of our sin, the absolutely most significant is that we are deserving of the justice and punishment of God. Over and over throughout the Old Testament people killed animals as symbolic sacrifices for their sin. They instinctively knew that the death of sheep and bulls was not really a sufficient offering for their offense to a Holy God. In many times and places God promised that He would send a Messiah (a Lamb) to take away the sin of the world.
As the decades and centuries passed, the expectations of a Messiah rose and fell, as did the motivations and reasons for their sacrifices. In times of trouble the Jews longed for a leader, like King David, to come and rescue them; in the guilt and pride of their daily lives they often actually, but blindly, believed that their ceremonial sacrifices would put them in God’s favor. But, they always came back to sacrifice again for the new guilt they hoped would be taken away. Week after week, month after month, year after year, they offered blood sacrifices seeking God’s forgiveness. Yet, the debt remained.
And now, “in the fullness of time,” came Jesus, the son of a virgin, the offspring of Eve, the heir to the throne of David, the only person ever without sin, the only One Who talked and acted with the authority and character of God, Who said He came not for the righteous but for sinners, Who healed and raised with a word, Who forgave sin, Who repeatedly announced His coming death, Who presented Himself as a sheep ready to be sacrificed, Who in the middle of the Crucifixion refused to ask for help from either man or God, Who looked upon His killers and asked for their forgiveness, all the while willingly taking upon Himself the sin of every man woman and child who ever lived, He bore the tearing penalty of separation from God, and knowing that His mission, His ministry, His Passion was to “give His Life a Ransom for many, Jesus uttered His last words: “it is finished.” The price was paid, the Wrath of God was satisfied, The Perfect Sacrifice was made, The Condemnation of all who believe was lifted. The “Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” was sacrificed, and now ready to rise and reign as King over the Kingdom of God.
Lessons on about love being willing to suffer, to endure mocking, and to forgive our enemies have been given by many people down through history. But only ONE did those things while bearing all our sin, paying all our debt to The GOD we offend over and over all our lives. Jesus Christ did those things on one day in Jerusalem at the focal point of earthly human history. “IT was finished,” “It WAS finished,” It was FINISHED,” “IT IS FINISHED.”
And we know it is finished because Jesus proved it three days later as He rose from the dead, giving His LIFE to all who accept what He finished on their behalf.
It could be reasonably said that no one that day really understood what was happening. Some were broken hearted and confused, some were disappointed to the point of desertion, others cared only about the spectacle and mocked Jesus and His followers as fools to believe such nonsense. But Jesus understood every detail and remained faithful in the face of all doubts desertion and ridicule. He even forgave them all for whatever their level of unbelief or cruelty. He heard and understood even the slightest form of faith in Who He was and what He was doing and promised a man hanging next to Him that even that day they would be together in Paradise, which the Apostle Paul would later describe as the third Heaven, and John describe as the place where the Tree of Life grew.
A Roman soldier who watched it all recognized that something beyond extraordinary was happening and thinking of all he had seen and heard said “surely this was the Son of God.” This was not a recognition of Jesus’ genealogy, but a declaration that Jesus was someone beyond a mere human being, someone like the miraculous Messiah promised by the Old Testament Prophets; Someone Who could perhaps indeed fulfill the role of The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.
As confusing as these events were, they were necessary, each and every one. Perhaps the most confusing of all were Jesus words: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” If Jesus was Who He claimed to be, if Jesus was truly sinless and innocent, why would He be forsaken by the God He served so faithfully? Don’t we assume that God only forsakes those who willingly, callously, intentionally forsake Him? Don’t we believe that a true Father God would never forsake the children He loves? Why then did Jesus cry out feeling rejected and deserted by The God with Whom He claimed to be One?
Could it be that the story of the Bible is really true? Could it be that the wages of sin really is death? Could it be that God really does hate sin to the extent that it prompts an awful wrath toward sin? Could God be perfect and not hate and fight sin? Could it be that paying for our own sin would require even more than an eternal separation from God? Could it be that God Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ became a human being, lived a perfect life and gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sin, the Just for the unjust? Could it be that Jesus gave Himself to die on the cross, not to teach us how to live, but to in fact give us His LIFE? Jesus finished my salvation, it is now mine to live out now and forever serving and enjoying Him.
(English Standard Version)
Mt 27- Jesus Delivered to Pilate - Judas Hangs Himself - Jesus before Pilate - Crowd Chooses Barabbas - Pilate delivers Jesus to be Crucified - Jesus is Mocked - Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus is Buried - Guard at the Tomb
Mk 15- Jesus delivered to Pilate - Pilate delivers Jesus to be Crucified - Jesus is Mocked - the Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus is buried
Lk 23- Jesus before Pilate - Jesus before Herod - Pilate delivers Jesus to be Crucified - Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus is Buried
Jn 19- Jesus Delivered to Be Crucified - Crucifixion - Death of Jesus - Jesus’ Side is Pierced - Jesus is Buried
COMMENTS and QUESTIONS
by J Neil Evans:
As I read these last few chapters of the Gospels, I read them in the context of all the chapters that preceded, in fact in the context of all the Old Testament that preceded. When Jesus, on the cross, said: “It Is Finished,” He was referring to neither His suffering nor the story of the Gospels for both the resurrection and the Great Commission have yet to happen. Interestingly, the workbook does not address what Jesus meant when He said: “It Is Finished.”
The workbook suggests that the main lesson of these final moments was Jesus “teaching us by showing us.” It is true that Jesus taught us that love is willing to suffer, mocking God’s truth should not weaken our faith, and we should forgive our enemies. Each of these things are true and valuable lessons, but they are not the primary point of these passages.
Why was Jesus crucified? What did it accomplish? What was “finished?” Jesus was not abused and crucified just so that He could demonstrate God’s love for us, ignore mocking, and show us how to forgive others who abuse us. As Jesus died it was not primarily His suffering that was finished.
From the beginning chapters of the Bible it is clear that death is the consequence, the penalty, of our sin. While there are many things we experience because of our sin, the absolutely most significant is that we are deserving of the justice and punishment of God. Over and over throughout the Old Testament people killed animals as symbolic sacrifices for their sin. They instinctively knew that the death of sheep and bulls was not really a sufficient offering for their offense to a Holy God. In many times and places God promised that He would send a Messiah (a Lamb) to take away the sin of the world.
As the decades and centuries passed, the expectations of a Messiah rose and fell, as did the motivations and reasons for their sacrifices. In times of trouble the Jews longed for a leader, like King David, to come and rescue them; in the guilt and pride of their daily lives they often actually, but blindly, believed that their ceremonial sacrifices would put them in God’s favor. But, they always came back to sacrifice again for the new guilt they hoped would be taken away. Week after week, month after month, year after year, they offered blood sacrifices seeking God’s forgiveness. Yet, the debt remained.
And now, “in the fullness of time,” came Jesus, the son of a virgin, the offspring of Eve, the heir to the throne of David, the only person ever without sin, the only One Who talked and acted with the authority and character of God, Who said He came not for the righteous but for sinners, Who healed and raised with a word, Who forgave sin, Who repeatedly announced His coming death, Who presented Himself as a sheep ready to be sacrificed, Who in the middle of the Crucifixion refused to ask for help from either man or God, Who looked upon His killers and asked for their forgiveness, all the while willingly taking upon Himself the sin of every man woman and child who ever lived, He bore the tearing penalty of separation from God, and knowing that His mission, His ministry, His Passion was to “give His Life a Ransom for many, Jesus uttered His last words: “it is finished.” The price was paid, the Wrath of God was satisfied, The Perfect Sacrifice was made, The Condemnation of all who believe was lifted. The “Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world” was sacrificed, and now ready to rise and reign as King over the Kingdom of God.
Lessons on about love being willing to suffer, to endure mocking, and to forgive our enemies have been given by many people down through history. But only ONE did those things while bearing all our sin, paying all our debt to The GOD we offend over and over all our lives. Jesus Christ did those things on one day in Jerusalem at the focal point of earthly human history. “IT was finished,” “It WAS finished,” It was FINISHED,” “IT IS FINISHED.”
And we know it is finished because Jesus proved it three days later as He rose from the dead, giving His LIFE to all who accept what He finished on their behalf.
It could be reasonably said that no one that day really understood what was happening. Some were broken hearted and confused, some were disappointed to the point of desertion, others cared only about the spectacle and mocked Jesus and His followers as fools to believe such nonsense. But Jesus understood every detail and remained faithful in the face of all doubts desertion and ridicule. He even forgave them all for whatever their level of unbelief or cruelty. He heard and understood even the slightest form of faith in Who He was and what He was doing and promised a man hanging next to Him that even that day they would be together in Paradise, which the Apostle Paul would later describe as the third Heaven, and John describe as the place where the Tree of Life grew.
A Roman soldier who watched it all recognized that something beyond extraordinary was happening and thinking of all he had seen and heard said “surely this was the Son of God.” This was not a recognition of Jesus’ genealogy, but a declaration that Jesus was someone beyond a mere human being, someone like the miraculous Messiah promised by the Old Testament Prophets; Someone Who could perhaps indeed fulfill the role of The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.
As confusing as these events were, they were necessary, each and every one. Perhaps the most confusing of all were Jesus words: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” If Jesus was Who He claimed to be, if Jesus was truly sinless and innocent, why would He be forsaken by the God He served so faithfully? Don’t we assume that God only forsakes those who willingly, callously, intentionally forsake Him? Don’t we believe that a true Father God would never forsake the children He loves? Why then did Jesus cry out feeling rejected and deserted by The God with Whom He claimed to be One?
Could it be that the story of the Bible is really true? Could it be that the wages of sin really is death? Could it be that God really does hate sin to the extent that it prompts an awful wrath toward sin? Could God be perfect and not hate and fight sin? Could it be that paying for our own sin would require even more than an eternal separation from God? Could it be that God Himself in the Person of Jesus Christ became a human being, lived a perfect life and gave Himself as the sacrifice for our sin, the Just for the unjust? Could it be that Jesus gave Himself to die on the cross, not to teach us how to live, but to in fact give us His LIFE? Jesus finished my salvation, it is now mine to live out now and forever serving and enjoying Him.
Check out these LINKS:
Watch Bible Project video about Matthew
Watch Bible Project video about Mark
Watch Bible Project video about Luke
Watch Bible Project video about John
Read "Bible Words to Ponder" related to this week study
Read "The Gospel"