Jump Start # 84

John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

  This verse records the final words of Jesus before He died. Jesus made seven statements while on the cross. Many of those were about others. But here, dying, our Jesus makes this last proclamation, “It is finished.” Was this directed to the world? Or, to the people staring at Him? Or, possibly to His Father? Or, to all of these? It is finished.

  Jesus came for a specific purpose. He was on a divine mission. Satan tried to short cut that mission. Others tried to side track Him. Jesus stayed the course. He finished what He set to do. It was all done. It was completed. He didn’t need another day. There wasn’t more to be done but He simply ran out of time, no, “it is finished.”

  You’ll note, Jesus didn’t say, “I’m finished,” but instead, “It is finished.” The “it” is the work He was sent to do. He was to fulfill prophecy. It is finished. He was to prove that He was the Son of God. It is finished. He was to be the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. It is finished. He was to defeat Satan. It is finished. He was to be tempted as we are so He could sympathize with us. It is finished. He was to establish His kingdom. It is finished. He was to sit on the throne of David. It is finished. Jesus did it. Perfection. He completed exactly what He wanted to do. We can’t say that. We often don’t get everything done in one day that we want. There are always more things to do. Not Jesus. He finished.

  Looking at the life of Jesus, we see someone who is not layered with multiple responsibilities, complexities and things to do. We have to run the kids to soccer practice, take care of the yard, call our parents, pay bills, go to work. These things keep us busy. They make us tired. Jesus wasn’t concerned about retirement. He didn’t have a house to maintain. I don’t think He had a dog that had to be taken to the vet. As we look at the life of Jesus we often hang our heads with guilt. He could go and pray all night. Our hearts tell us that we ought to do that, but our heads reminds us that we have to get up in the morning and take the kids to school. Our hearts feel guilty about not studying God’s word more than just on a superficial level but our heads tell us we have projects due at work and if they don’t get done we could lose our jobs. I must admit that I like my layers but sometimes all these layers seem to get in the way of being the spiritual person I ought to be. There is a simplicity about the life of Jesus that is very appealing. He had one mission and He finished it. Could it be that I too only have one mission but these layers keep me from seeing that?

  Paul said, “one thing I do” (Phil 3:13). Jesus told Martha that only “one thing is necessary” and Mary has chosen the good part which will not be taken away (Lk 10:42). Could it be that all our layers of our life blind us to the most important thing in our life and that is living for God? Can we say at the end of our journey, “It is finished?”

  Thank you, Lord, for staying with it and finishing. Thank you, Lord, for not giving up when the way became difficult. Thank you, Lord, for not being so busy that you failed to see what it was that you were supposed to finish. Lord, help me to finish what is most important.

Roger