It is Finished

These were the last words of Jesus as he died. In John’s Gospel there is only one word, tetelestai – finished, accomplished, goal achieved. What will be my final word? Yours? Before answering we should note three things in the testimony of the beloved disciple (John 21:28-30). 1) Jesus’ final word fulfilled Scripture. 2) His hour had now come. 3) They were not his final words. A full understanding requires reading and re-reading John’s Gospel.

Scripture Fulfilled. “Jesus knowing that all was now finished, said ‘I thirst’” to fulfill Scripture. Not a passing, incidental remark, it was the hallmark of Jesus’ life and ministry to fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures. In my reading of John, I noted 14 times when a specific OT text is said to have been fulfilled beginning in John 2:17. Also, I counted 6 or 7 allusions to an OT passage. Jesus lived and worked to fulfill God’s saving plan.

My Hour Has Now Come. Beginning with words to his mother, “my hour has not yet come” (2:4), Jesus refers to his coming “hour” 5 times climaxing in 12:23, 27-28, a preview of his death when he would be lifted-up from the earth, bear much fruit, and glorify God. Jesus says “the hour is coming” when wonderful things would happen because of his hour. Fully aware that his hour has now come, Jesus speaks a wonderful word to his mother, entrusting her to the care of the beloved disciple.

Not His Final Words. Raised up from death Jesus speaks words of peace, sending on mission, receiving Holy Spirit, blessing of doubters, restoring Peter to ministry with the three-fold question, “Do you love me?” and the charge, “feed my sheep.” He concludes with a repeated “follow me” in dying as I died, words not just to Peter but to all his disciples (John 12:26). Commenting on one who set the pattern of dying one brother wrote, “But the resurrection of Christ points us to a vital fact about God and it is that fact that serves as the basis of … hope. Out of death, God brings new life; out of an ending, God brings new beginnings; out of destruction, God brings new creation!”

—Tom Yoakum