Third Sunday of Lent: It is Finished
Some of the last words of our Lord Jesus on that cross were: “It is finished.” But those particular words beg an answer to the question: “What was finished?” And it is to that question I want to focus our attention on this third Sunday of Lent.
But first we should review the backstory behind Jesus’ proclamation, “It ids finished.”
When our first parents disobeyed God and infected and transmitted their original sin to ALL of their future progeny – God was not caught off guard. (When I speak of God, I mean the Holy Trinity, one God, not three: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit).
In eternity past, and long before He created the heavens and the earth, even before He created the angels and one third of them, led by Lucifer, revolted against their Creator, God, in His omniscience, already knew about the sin that would occur in the Garden of Eden.
And when that sin occurred, God did not scratch His head and wring His hands, crying out, “NOW what do we do”?
No, of course not. God’s plan – to use human terminology – His plan had already been formulated. God the Son would become human and pay the death penalty all humanity deserves to pay for their sins. We see a glimpse of this plan in Revelation 13:8, “All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.” (NIV)
That ‘plan’ is probably the reason the 12-year-old Jesus said to His frantic parents, when they thought they’d lost their son, “How is it that you had to look for Me? Did you not see and know that it is necessary [as a duty] for Me to be in My Father’s house and [occupied] about My Father’s business? (Luke 2:49, Classic Amplified Version)
And no wonder Jesus later told His disciples: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.” (John 4:34, NASB)
And what was that work? Well, that is the theme of today’s message.
Today is the third Sunday of Lent, the season in the Church calendar during which those who participate in the season focus a bit more closely on the mercy of God to forgive our sins, mercy brought to us on Calvary’s cross and sealed to us by our trust – our faith – in the promise of God to do as He said He would do.
And EVERYTHING about the Holy Trinity’s plan was centered around Calvary’s cross and His Son, bleeding, suffering, and dying on it.
Jesus said only a few things while hanging there. He said He was thirsty. He prayed for those who nailed Him there. He asked John to take care of His mother. He told the thief he’d be with Him that day in Paradise. He asked the Father why He’d forsaken Him. He told the Father He committed Himself into His hands.
But we are focusing today on this text: “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:30)
“It is finished.” So, WHAT was finished?
The answer to that question would take us far deeper than we are able to go today. I mean, how can we adequately cover all that the eternal God incarnate finished for us when He died on that torturous cross? But here are a few things we can talk about – and that only briefly.
What was finished? Redemption. Remission. Justification. Adoption. Protection. And yet more, besides – which is why this message will be a two-parter. We will finish it next week.
First, Redemption. Now before I say what I am about to say about all that Jesus finished on that cross – I want to remind us all that He finished what He finished for INDIVIDUALS. This is important for us to get.
Yes, God so loved the WORLD, but you and I are part of that world God so loved. So, when we look at redemption and justification and remission and all the rest, I pray to the Holy Spirit right now – as I say this – that God will take this information and turn it into revelation for you.
That means FOR YOU – say your name out loud. It means for me – Richard Maffeo. It means for YOU – say your name again out loud. The finished work of Jesus the Christ was finished for you, the single individual known to God by your name, where you live, what are your hopes and disappointments and fears and challenges.
For you. And again, only the Holy Spirit can take this information I am about to share with you and make it revelation to your spirit, soul, and heart, and mind.
Jesus finished our Redemption. Throughout Scripture, ‘redemption’ refers to a purchase back of something that had been lost. It’s the payment of a ransom. Here are the words of Jesus in Matthew 20:28 “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
And of the plethora of other scripture texts that speak of our being purchased by God with the blood of Jesus, here is Paul in Ephesians 1:7 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:7).
Here now is Peter in 1 Peter 1:18-19, “[Y]ou were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”
The idea running through all the texts that speak of our redemption is that of FULL payment. God did not place our purchase on a ‘payment plan.” When Jesus finished the work of our redemption, He paid our ransom in full. In other words, in response to ‘the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 3:23). Jesus completely wiped out our debt of eternal death God.
Don’t ever forget that before Christ redeemed us, before He ransomed us, you and I were slaves of sin. We belonged to the father of sin – the devil. Oh, but Jesus came to finish the work of redemption and to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
Listen to Romans 6:17-18 “But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.”
No wonder those who belong to Jesus by faith in His atoning blood love to cry out: “Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it! Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed through His infinite mercy, His child and forever I am.
Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb; Redeemed, redeemed, His child and forever I am.”
If the Father redeemed you with the blood of Jesus, then – hear this too – then you belong to God.
I will say that again: If the Father redeemed you with the blood of Jesus, then YOU – say your name – then YOU BELONG to God. If you were with me when we studied through the Song of Solomon, you know that theologians and Church Fathers have for two millennia understood this Song as an allegory of Jesus and His Church. Here is what the Bride says of her beloved – and, just as important – what YOU and I can say of our Beloved: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. (Song of Songs 6:3); And in 2:4, “His banner over me is love.”
That’s not all. The BrideGroom says to His beloved, also in that second chapter: “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along. ‘For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone . . . Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come along!’” (SoS 2:10-13)
Oh! I so hope you can hear Jesus our Bridegroom calling you by your name and saying also to you, “Arise, my darling, and come along.” Come along where? To His Father’s kingdom to which He has redeemed you and ransomed you and called you and is RIGHT NOW preparing a place for you. I believe many of you know that promise in the 14th chapter of John’s gospel.
When Jesus said, “It is finished,” one of the things He completed was our redemption. But we need to move on for the sake of our time together today.
What else was ‘finished’? Redemption, and also Remission of sins. I have spoken of this multiple times in the past two weeks – ever since the Holy Spirit took the information of Scripture and turned it into revelation regarding the forgiveness of our sins as a result of our confession and repentance. So, I will not spend too much time with that subject now, but only to say this:
The Greek word for forgiveness, a-fay-CEASE, is most often best translated as the remission of sins. Remission is MORE than simple forgiveness of sins. When you and I forgive sins, they are not erased from our memory. That’s why you and I we can never really FORGET that offense. We simply choose to not bring it up again or to require the offender to somehow make it right.
However, REMISSION of sins – which only God can perform – remission means the sins are utterly, totally, and completely erased by Almighty God and treated as if they had never been committed. So, for example, Matthew tells us of the Last Supper: “And he took a cup, and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27-28, ASV)
In other words, the blood of Jesus, applied to our sins by faith in His promise – the blood of Jesus totally obliterates even the memory of our sins from God's mind.
Yes, of course, God is omniscient, so – the questioner askes – “How could an omniscient God obliterate something from His memory? Well, the same question can be asked, “How could Jesus walk on water?”
The answer is, God can do anything He chooses to do. Just as He can suspend the laws of nature at will, so, too can He choose to forever forget something we’ve confessed to Him, and never, ever bring it up again either in this life or the next.
After all, He. Is. God.
Now, I have asked some of you to do this before, and I will ask it again: Take a moment to think of the absolute worst sin you have ever committed. The very worst sin. And now, have you asked God to forgive that sin for the sake of Jesus’ sacrifice? If you did, then let me repeat myself because this is so important: God tells you through His unchangeable Word that He remitted that sin. In other words, from God's point of view, YOU NEVER COMMITTED THAT OFFENSE.
It doesn’t matter the depth and breadth and length and height of that sin – whatever it was. Once you confessed it to God and repentance took place, God counted that sin as if you never did it.
Oh! No wonder St. Paul wrote: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness [Greek: Remission] of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He LAVISHED on us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8a).
Which brings us to the next thing I want to talk about regarding what was finished when Jesus spoke those last words: Redemption, Remission of confessed sins – and also Justification.
The Greek word translated as justification and its cognates such as justified and justifier means that God pronounces a sinner to be righteous because – and ONLY because – of that sinner’s faith in the atonement Jesus provided him or her by His sacrificial death on that cross.
It is not that the sinner IS righteous. No, not at all. The sinner is STILL an unrighteous sinner worthy of eternal death. BUT, as St Paul tells us, “[God] made [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In other words, God imputes – God attributes, ascribes, reckons – God assigns the righteousness of Christ to the penitent sinner.
And again, in Romans: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . .[and] God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” (Romans 5:1, 8-9)
No wonder St Paul also wrote: “There is therefore now NO CONDEMNATION to
those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)
But a person might ask, ‘How can a holy God forgive and remit the sins of a guilty sinner?” Well, Scripture repeatedly answers that question. It is because Jesus became our substitutionary atonement on that cross. Here again is St Paul in his explanation to the Christians at Rome: “Everyone has sinned, everyone falls short of the beauty of God’s plan. Under this divine system a man who has faith is now freely acquitted in the eyes of God by his generous dealing in the redemptive act of Jesus Christ.”
“God has appointed [Jesus] as the means of propitiation [sacrificial atonement], a propitiation accomplished by the shedding of his blood, to be received and made effective in ourselves by faith. God has done this to demonstrate his righteousness both by the wiping out of the sins of the past (the time when he withheld his hand), and by showing in the present time that he is a just God and that he justifies every [one] who has faith in Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23-26, JB Phillips)
In other words, God does not ignore our sins or excuse our sins. Rather, Jesus took the full penalty of our sins on that cross when He died.
Today is the third Sunday of Lent. We are on our way to the blessed celebration of the resurrection of our Savior – a resurrection that proves to all with eyes to see and ears to hear and hearts to listen that when Jesus said God's plan of the ages was ‘finished’ – the Father Himself, through our faith in His Son, redeemed penitent sinners, remitted – obliterated – their sins, and pronounced them righteous in His eyes.
Next week we will look at a few other things God did for us as Jesus cried out, “It is finished’ – and took His last breath.
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