Friday, April 1, 2011
John 19:30 "It is finished."
A COMPLETE SALVATION
Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice, With exultation springing,
And, with united heart and voice And holy rapture singing,
Proclaim the wonders God hath done, How His right arm the vict'ry won;
Right dearly it hath cost Him.
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 387:1)
By departing with the word "It is finished," Christ indicates that all Scripture is fulfilled. He says in effect: World and devil have done as much to Me, as they were able to do, and I have suffered as much as was necessary for the salvation of men as was prophesied and proclaimed in Scripture through the prophets. Therefore everything is fulfilled and finished. We are to mark this well: Christ's suffering is the fulfilling of Scripture and the completing of the redemption of the human race. It is finished. God's Lamb is slaughtered and sacrificed for the world's sin. The true High Priest has completed His sacrifice. God's Son has given and sacrificed His body and life as a payment for sin. Sin is wiped out, God's wrath is appeased, death is overcome, the kingdom of heaven is won, and heaven is unlocked. Everything is fulfilled and finished, and no one need argue that something still remains to be fulfilled and perfected.
-- Martin Luther
