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Genesis 3:14-15 So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
John 19:29-30 29 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. 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
It Is Finished
What must have it have been like to stand at the foot of the cross that fateful day? The sight of Jesus must have been agonizing for those that followed him and loved him. There was the sign above his head, King of the Jews, that mocked him. You could hear the religious leaders of the people mocking him. The soldiers were standing guard, and cast lots for some of Jesus’ clothing. What must it have been like?
There was that strange darkness that settled on the earth from noon until 3 in the afternoon. There was the sight of Jesus’ mother, crying.
Jesus had been up all night the night before. He hadn’t had any food for awhile. He was dehydrated. He had lost a lot of blood from the abuse that he had taken. He couldn’t breathe very well as he hung on the cross – ultimately, that was how people died when they were crucified – they suffocated to death. He was physically exhausted.
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We are at the crucifixion, Jesus has just said, “I am thirsty”. He is given a drink of cheap watered-down wine. After getting a small sip of the wine Jesus said, “It is finished”. This is the last thing Jesus says in John’s gospel. Matthew and Mark tell us he cried out in a loud voice but they don’t record what he said. Luke has one final word from the cross and we will discuss it next week.
Jesus cries out, “It is finished”. This morning, we’re going to ponder what that phrase means, why that little sentence is so important for us as Christians. “It is finished” our words that every Christian can hang onto, and receive a great deal of comfort and hope and strength from. Let’s think about what those words mean. Exactly what is finished?
To answer this we turn back to the first book of the Bible, where everything began, Genesis. You may have wondered why our first scripture reading was from Genesis. After all we are at the crucifixion, what does Genesis have to do with that? The answer is everything.
In Genesis, God created Adam and Eve in His image. He created a garden for them to live in. And every evening God came down from Heaven to walk in the garden with them in the cool of the evening. Isn’t that a wonderful image? Walking with God, I imagine God showed them parts of His creation. Look Adam, this is a butterfly, look at the colors in the wings. Look Eve, this animal is a rabbit. Look at how it wriggles it’s nose. There was a wonderful sense of peace and contentment in the Garden. God and humans were together, there was no separation. It was a wonderful world.
But then came the worst day in history. The serpent, who is Satan tempted both Adam and Eve. And they both gave into the temptation. They listened to the serpent instead of trusting God. The closeness between God and humanity was shattered by that first sin.
If you think about it, what was so terrible about eating the fruit? After all, many children have taken an apple from a neighbor’s tree. That’s not so bad. The sin wasn’t really in eating the fruit; the sin wasn’t even in disobeying God. No, the sin was in not trusting God, in not believing that God knew and wanted what was best for them. The serpent said, “Did God really say…” He gives false reasons as to why God told them not to eat the fruit. He lies. Satan puts doubt into the minds of Adam and Eve about the goodness of God. He is twisting things so Adam and Eve stop trusting God and instead believe the serpent, Satan.
Do you know what Jesus called Satan? He called him the Father of Lies. This is what Satan does. He did it in the Garden and to this day He tempts us with his lies.
Paul later wrote about Adam sayin: “By that one man sin entered into the world.” The sinfulness of man became a barrier between God and His creation. How could that barrier, that enormous gulf be bridged? God gave the Ten Commandments, all the laws to Moses. The people didn’t obey them. God sent prophets, the people didn’t listen. Finally, God sent His own Son, His only Son, the Messiah, the Chosen One.
In the Bible – all way from Genesis thru whole Old Testament prophets – there are over 300 prophecies about the Messiah. These prophecies declared several things. The Messiah was coming. What He was to do when He got here. How He was to die. And that he was to be sent to bridge the gulf between God and humanity.
Some of the prophecies are obvious, others are subtle. For example, one of the more subtle prophecies was pointed out to me just this week:
In our first reading God said to the serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Consider this: John 19:17 says, “Carrying his own cross, Jesus went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). . Golgotha is so named because the mountain outcrop is shaped like a skull even to having what looks like eyes and a mouth. If you go to Israel today you can still see it.
Now consider the 15th verse from our reading from Genesis where God is speaking to the serpent, “15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
What does that tell us was going to happen to Satan? His head will be crushed. Interesting isn’t it that the place where Jesus died, where Satan’s head was crushed, was called the “place of the skull.”
With this background we can again ask, what was finished?
Before we answer what was finished let’s first consider why Jesus took on flesh and became one of us. What was the reason? What was his mission?
In Matthew 1:21, the angel told Joseph concerning Mary, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus was born to die. The accomplishment of his death was the purpose of his life. Jesus had one overall mission in his life; to save humanity from their sin. It was something we had no ability to accomplish by ourselves.
Jesus’ death on the cross bridged the divide between God and humanity. It gave us back the opportunity for closeness with God that sin had robbed from Adam and Eve.
It was that closeness that God had always desired. And that He willing to sacrifice everything for… because He loved us
In John 17 we hear one line of the prayer Jesus prayed during the Last Supper. He prayed, “4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.”
Sinners are made right with God only by the finished work of Christ at the cross. Jesus saves completely, exclusively, and eternally.
Since the moment of the Fall in the Garden sin entered the world and we became separated from God. Jesus’ mission on earth was to restore the relationship between God and humanity. When Jesus said, “it is finished” it was his mission that was finished. Jesus’ mission on earth was to save us from our sin, restore us to God and grant us eternal life. Jesus completed his mission when he died on the cross.
Hebrews 10 tells us that – because Jesus had offered up His perfect sacrifice for us – we now have a confidence to enter into God’s presence, into the Holy of holies. AND we can now draw near to God with full assurance.
Whose work is completed? It is the work of Jesus and of his Father. In John 4 Jesus says, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Now, at the cross, that work has been completed.
Also finished was Satan’s fate! It was through Jesus’ death that “as Hebrews 2:14 puts it, “He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Hebrews 2:14).
After the sermon we are going to sing, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” which was written by Martin Luther. As you may know it is based on Psalm 46. Does that seem like a strange choice during the season of Lent? When we sing pay to the words, pay attention to the story within the hymn. It tells us that God is our fortress and then tells of the battle between Jesus and Satan.
I’m only going to point out here the parts that are applicable to our sermon today. In the first verse, “For still our ancient foe, doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate.” This is speaking about Satan, he is our foe and he seeks to harm us. Second verse: “and he must will the battle”, Jesus must defeat Satan. The third verse talks again about Satan and says, “one little word shall fell him.” This one line in the hymn has always bothered me. What was that word? If the one word can fell Satan I think we should know it.
Luther never said. Scholars have attempted to figure out what that word is. I read several opinions this week and the one I think is best is LIAR. As Jesus said Satan is a liar, he is the father of lies. When we realize that all the things we are tempted with come from Satan we can call him, LIAR. The very last stanza says, “God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever. God is truth and his kingdom will last forever.
Jesus endured the cross so we could be forgiven our sin, so we could be made right with God and so that we could recognize the lies of Satan. At the cross Jesus defeated Satan, the victory is won, we are reconciled with God and with open eyes we can see what Adam and Eve did not. We can recognize Satan for the liar he is. And we can know that Jesus has fulfilled his mission here on earth, we can trust in Jesus, our Savior and God, our Father.
Let us pray. Lord Jesus you declared, “It is finished.” Your work is complete. God’s glory shines through Jesus here, now, in full strength; shining brightly even into the darkest places of our world today.