GOOD FRIDAY.

Jesus spoke 7 words from the cross. These seven words are taken from different gospels, but assembled into what was probably in their chronological order:

1."Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)

2."This day you will be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23:43)

3."Woman, behold your son." (John 19:26-27)

4."My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mk 15:34; Mt 27:46)

5."I thirst." (John 19:28)

6."It is finished." (John 19:30)

7."Into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46)

Today we focus on the 6^th verse of Jesus: It is finished. Note that Jesus didn’t say I am finished, rather It is finished or TETELESTAI in Gk. Of all the seven famous sayings of Christ on the cross, none is more remarkable than TETELESTAI.” In Latin tetelestai is rendered with two words “Consummatum est” (It is consummated!)

Every word indeed that proceeded from our Saviour’s lips deserves the most attentive consideration: but TETELESTAI eclipses all.

It has been said that Christ’s RESURRECTION is the Father’s “AMEN” to His Son's declaration “IT IS FINISHED.” Looking at the Cross we see the work of redemption completed. Looking at the open tomb we see Jesus’ finished work fully accepted by the Father. The payment required for sin is death (Gn 2:17; Rom 5:12;Ro 6:23) and when Christ said TETELESTAI, He was saying that the sin debt was “PAID IN FULL!"

In ancient times when a promissory note was paid, the one holding the note wrote “TETELESTAI” across it. A deed to property was not in effect until it was dated and signed, and when this was accomplished, the clerk wrote “TETELESTAI” across the deed. When someone had a debt and it was paid off, the creditor would write "TETELESTAI" on the certificate of debt signifying that it was "PAID IN FULL".

 When Jesus uttered those words, He was declaring that the debt owed by mankind to His Father was wiped away completely and forever.

Just prior to His arrest by the Romans, Jesus prayed His last public prayer, asking the Father to glorify Him, just as Jesus had glorified the Father on earth, having “finished the work you have given me to do” (Jh 17:4). The work Jesus was sent to do was to “seek and save that which is lost” (Lk 19:10), to provide atonement for the sins of all who would ever believe in Him (Rom 3:23-25), and to reconcile sinful men to a holy God. “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Cor 5:18-19). None other but God in the flesh could accomplish such a task.

Also completed was the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecies, symbols, and foreshadowings of the coming Messiah. From Genesis to Malachi, there are over 300 specific prophecies detailing the coming of the Anointed One, all fulfilled by Jesus. From the “seed” who would crush the serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15), to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, to the prediction of the “messenger” of the Lord (John the Baptist) who would “prepare the way” for the Messiah, all prophecies of Jesus’ life, ministry, and death were fulfilled and finished at the cross.

This saying is found only in John’s gospel and he presents Jesus as the Passover lamp that was slain for taking away the sins of Israel.  John recalls the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb in Exodus 12 in this passage. The soldiers offered wine on a sprig of hyssop to the Lord. Hyssop is a small plant that was used to sprinkle the blood of the Passover Lamb on the doorposts of the Hebrews (Ex 12:22). John's Gospel related that it was the Day of Preparation, the day before the actual Sabbath Passover, that Jesus was sentenced to death (19:14) and sacrificed on the Cross (19:31). John continues in 19:33-34: "But when they came to Jesus and saw he was already dead, they did not break his legs," recalling the instruction in Exodus 12:46 (do not break any of its bones) concerning the Passover Lamb. He died at the ninth hour (three o'clock in the afternoon), about the same time as the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the Temple.

The phrase "It is finished" carries a sense of accomplishment. In John, there is no trial before the Sanhedrin, but rather Jesus is introduced at the Roman trial as "Behold your King!" (John 19:14). Jesus is not stumbling or falling as in the Synoptic Gospels, but the way of the Cross is presented with majesty and dignity, for "Jesus went out bearing his own Cross" (John 19:17).
Jesus remained in control to the end, and it is He who handed over his Spirit.

Jesus mentions living water in John 4:10 and during the Feast of Tabernacles refers to living water as the Holy Spirit in 7:37-39.  "But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water." The piercing of his side fulfills the prophecy in Zechariah 12:10: "They will look on me whom they have pierced." The piercing of Jesus' side prefigures the Sacraments of Eucharist (blood) and Baptism (water), as well as the beginning of the Church.

What was finished was our salvation, plain and simple. What was finished was the devil, and his power to accuse us before God in Heaven. What was finished was the power of sin to control and rule our lives. Sin was finished. Satan was finished. Death was finished. Today let’s reflect on what Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross and his words TETELESTAI.