"It Is Finished"

John 19:30

Reflection on Good Friday, March 21, 2008
Ecumenical Service of the Seven Last Words from the Cross
Madrona Presbyterian Church

Dear friends, "It is finished," says Jesus from the cross. How different these words are from those wrenching words of lament and complaint, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It is finished. In these words Jesus truly "reigns" from the cross. He knows that he has accomplished what he came to do. It is finished. But what exactly is finished? We know that there are many things, which are far from finished. We live at a time and in a place where the "To Do" list just seems to get longer and longer: the poor get poorer, ugly racism still exists underneath a layer of cosmetically altered faces, random acts of violence are regular occurrences, assault weapons can be mail-ordered by anyone, one out of every 100 adults in this country are sitting in prisons, the war in Iraq, the fifth anniversary of which was "commemorated" on Wednesday, seems to evolve into a modern Hundred Years' War. And the list goes on and on. Indeed: it is far from finished. And yet, from his cross-throne the Son of God says: It is finished. That is our hope on this Friday we call good, sisters and brothers. Despite all appearances, despite the long list of things unfinished for us there is redemption from all suffering and death in this death on the cross. Jesus' death on the cross shows how God deals with violence: not by striking back, but by absorbing it and thus transforming it. Today there is nothing more for God to do, nothing more for Jesus to say. He absorbs the violence and brutality of the cross. The teacher becomes the teaching - a window into the very depths of God. It is finished. God in Jesus has finished what God can do. The ball is now in our court.

Amen.

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