Good Friday – April 2, 2010
John 19:17 – 30
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
"They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment."
So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” from the cross, he was not announcing his death as much as he was making a statement about his life-purpose.
At other times in his ministry he claimed that his purpose was to complete the work God sent him to do. In John 4:34, for instance, when the disciples offered him food to eat, he said, “My food is to do the will of the One who sent me and to finish God’s work.”
The word “finish” suggests bringing something to completion. It means to come full circle or to make whole what to that point has been incomplete.
So on the cross, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” he referred to the purpose for which he had come, the purpose for which God had sent him. In other words, everything he was supposed to do, he did. All that he was to become, he became. He was the most fully human person ever to have lived. He became the blueprint for what it means to be a human being.
It occurred to me several years ago that my life had a purpose and a mission. I was created and given life in order to “complete” or “finish” something. I began to wonder about that life-purpose, the original intention God had in giving me life and sustaining my life. “Why am I here?” “What does it mean for me to finish my life-work as Jesus finished his?”
Months of extended reflection and introspection brought me to some conclusions about my own life. I came to understand the journey toward my own life-purpose, so that if I stayed on an intentional path, I could come to the end of my life, as Jesus did, and say, “It is finished. I’ve fulfilled the purpose for which I was created. I’ve become who I was supposed to become and done what I was supposed to do.”
I believe that is the most any of us can hope for: To live out the fullness of God’s original intention for us. At his death, Jesus testified that he had done so. At my death, I want to be able to say the same thing.
Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.
Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews."
Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."
When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.
"Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it."
This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said,
"They divided my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment."
So this is what the soldiers did.
Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty." A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” from the cross, he was not announcing his death as much as he was making a statement about his life-purpose.
At other times in his ministry he claimed that his purpose was to complete the work God sent him to do. In John 4:34, for instance, when the disciples offered him food to eat, he said, “My food is to do the will of the One who sent me and to finish God’s work.”
The word “finish” suggests bringing something to completion. It means to come full circle or to make whole what to that point has been incomplete.
So on the cross, when Jesus said, “It is finished,” he referred to the purpose for which he had come, the purpose for which God had sent him. In other words, everything he was supposed to do, he did. All that he was to become, he became. He was the most fully human person ever to have lived. He became the blueprint for what it means to be a human being.
It occurred to me several years ago that my life had a purpose and a mission. I was created and given life in order to “complete” or “finish” something. I began to wonder about that life-purpose, the original intention God had in giving me life and sustaining my life. “Why am I here?” “What does it mean for me to finish my life-work as Jesus finished his?”
Months of extended reflection and introspection brought me to some conclusions about my own life. I came to understand the journey toward my own life-purpose, so that if I stayed on an intentional path, I could come to the end of my life, as Jesus did, and say, “It is finished. I’ve fulfilled the purpose for which I was created. I’ve become who I was supposed to become and done what I was supposed to do.”
I believe that is the most any of us can hope for: To live out the fullness of God’s original intention for us. At his death, Jesus testified that he had done so. At my death, I want to be able to say the same thing.
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