Thursday, March 13, 2008
John 19:30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
FINISHED -- WITH EVERLASTING EFFECTS
Some things in my life get done but never really finished. I clean my room. I take out the garbage. I change the oil. I get these things done from time to time, but I never really get FINISHED with these things.
Other tasks are different. They actually get finished once and for all. For example, the digging of the Panama Canal. When it got done, it was FINISHED. And not only was it done for good, it's completion brought lasting effects. The boat ride from New York to San Francisco got 8,000 miles shorter (and a lot safer) all because this task was finished.
The Greek "perfect" tense was designed to express this idea. In the Greek language, action words are placed in the "perfect" tense in order to express "completed action with ongoing results." We might express this idea with the following symbol:
|------->
Jesus spoke, "It is finished," in the perfect tense. He wasn't just saying, "I'm about to die." He wasn't just saying, "My suffering is at its end." By using this special tense Jesus was expressing that something had just been finished, and that something had lasting effects.
The something Jesus had just finished was the work of experiencing God's wrath for our sins. The ongoing results are forgiveness, peace, and eternal life for all who trust in Jesus. Because all mankind's sins were placed on Jesus, all God's wrath fell on Him. Only after the full cup of God's fiery anger was poured out on Jesus did He say, "It is finished."
When sinners hear the story of Jesus, we are offered a gift from His own hand. And when He gives us the gift of forgiveness He says, "It doesn't need batteries. No assembly is required. It is finished."
