“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In clear-cut and dramatic language, the Bible tells us how everything began. “In the beginning, God created.”
What then of the end? God is still there! In the sixth word from the cross is our Savior, who was there in the beginning, through whom “everything came into being” (John 1:3). He now speaks of the end: “It is finished.”
By any conventional measure, Jesus speaks the truth. He is dying. Are all the hopes He stirred within His people dying with Him? Jesus started, announcing the coming of God’s kingdom—and now His kingdom gasps on the cross. Some kingdom, some king; for the jeering mob is laughing to the last. At least, His death looks that way!
Jesus spoke such beautiful poetry: “Blessed are the destitute in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will receive comfort. Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth!” (Matthew 5:3-5). What kingdom? What comfort? What inheritance? Face the truth: It IS finished; it IS over!
His violent end didn’t begin with the nails or the crown of thorns. The start of the ending wasn’t the bitter mockery, the unfair trials before biased judges, or the angry mob. We don’t even see a preview of God’s finished work in betrayal, denial, and abandonment—or even our Lord’s bitter, lonely prayers in Gethsemane’s garden.
The start of the ending doesn’t begin with the doubting, the refusal, or even others misunderstanding Jesus. We don’t even see the first inklings in the God who humbled Himself, who wrapped Himself in our frail flesh, as He lay shivering and helpless in an animal’s feeding box.
“It is finished” marks the end of an agony for God, going all the way back to the beginning: “Adam, where are you?” Adam cringed, “I heard Your sound in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid from You” (Genesis 3:10). We’ve been hiding from God since then, hiding in ignorance of the unknown: “I heard Your sound.”
We hide from personal weakness and irresponsibility: “I was afraid.” We slink behind a false façade: “I hid from You.” We put up a front of reasonable-sounding rationalizations: “I was naked.” We put others forward to take our blame: “The woman.” We’ll hide behind any flimsy excuse: “You gave [her] to be with me.”
Still we hide, laden with unavoidable guilt: “She gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). That was the beginning; a beginning repeated over and again in the life of every child of Adam. But here on the hill of death is the end: “It is finished!”
It is finished: Everything God planned from the outset, as He looked at everything He made, saying, “It is good.” As Adam and Eve hid in the bushes when death first stung our first parents, God did not stand still. Through the ages, He promised, prefigured, foreshadowed, and foretold. But now it’s over—what God thought of, dreamt, and planned, in the long centuries of Old-Testament history—is now over. At least, someone could presume that.
Appearances can deceive us. What God began for us, in the beginning, finds its fulfillment on the cross. Moses and the prophets, the call of Abraham and the Exodus, find their purpose on the cross. Jesus didn’t come to abolish the Law and Prophets, but to fulfill them. His entire life, from the womb to the grave, is one of fulfillment. Every word and work of His took place to fulfill the Scriptures.
Lambs, bulls, and goats with their necks bent in sacrifice. They were only a preview. Jesus came as THE ransom, redeeming us from our slavery to sin and death. He came as the substitute sacrifice, the Passover by whose blood came freedom. Only Christ is the sin offering, whose blood atones and whose death gives life. He came as King, Priest, and Victim, fulfilling every foreshadow of the Old Testament.
The Old-Covenant sacrifices could never satisfy as payment for the sin of the world. So, God the Son entered the world, God in human flesh, offering Himself to do the Father’s will, becoming the final and complete sacrifice for sin. “It is finished.”
The curtain separating the Holy of Holies from the rest of Temple then tore in two, from top to bottom. The Old Covenant and Temple had served their purposes. Jesus bridges the gap between the holy and unholy. He brings God and man together, restores and reunites us, once for all.
“It is finished” isn’t just Jesus dying. “Oh, the terrible ordeal is now ending! Now we can get on with something else!” No, Jesus consummates and fulfills, and does so with perfection—a life brought to completion. Nothing can now undo our Lord’s work. So, what have you to fear? The worst already happened—to Jesus, not you!
The result? Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice makes you holy! He forgives your sins! God now credits what Jesus did to you. Because of Jesus, you are righteous and perfect in God’s sight! His blood cleanses you from all sin—once for all! It IS finished! Now, you need not complete or contribute to your salvation. You need not earn God’s forgiveness or favor. For it is finished; Jesus did it all, for you!
Our Lord’s “It is finished” continues even into the New Covenant. For the completed Word of the Cross continues to do His work. With His simple Word of fulfillment from the cross, Jesus declares the perfection that perfects us.
So, look to Christ, not yourself. Yes, His work on the cross is over, but He isn’t yet finished with you, at least as you are in yourself. Look to Jesus, your perfection. He kept the Law for you, down to the last stroke of the pen. He kept the Law, down to the tiniest nuance of its commandments—in thought, word, and deed, even in intent.
Only Jesus loved God with His whole heart, soul, and strength, without flaw. In perfection, He loved His neighbor, including you! Our Lord did all that to give His perfection—as a gift. Jesus is your righteousness—and He delivers it to you in Word and Sacrament. He is your salvation from start to end.
That’s why there was a Jesus Christ—at least the Jesus, who became human. He first tasted human life as a baby boy in the lonely cold of Bethlehem’s night. While yet an infant, He fled the assassin’s blade. He subjected Himself to His parents, only for His countrymen to reject Him.
At His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended, anointing Him to bring good news to the poor. Jesus proclaimed freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. He announced the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn (Isaiah 61:1-2).
Jesus rode into Jerusalem amid waving palms and jubilant praises; but He rode there, going to His pre-appointed death. The One, begotten from the Father in eternity, born of the blessed virgin in time, told His disciples, “I have a baptism to undergo, and how it consumes me until it is finished!” (Luke 12:50). Now, now, “It is finished!”
Jesus completed what He came to do: His mission is a success! He does it all to the death, literally, leaving nothing undone for you to complete. He leaves no missing pieces for you to puzzle over. Nothing, do you need to add: “It is finished.” Jesus is the redemption, atoning for the world’s sins. He carried out His work of restoring and reuniting us with God, fulfilling the Law. “Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). It IS finished!
Do not dare add to our Lord’s Word of fulfillment—not through prayer, piety, or religious sentiment. These can add nothing to what He finished. We are ever prone to do that. Man-made religion builds itself on such sinking sand—the notion that God hasn’t done enough. We, then, must add to and finish what Jesus only started.
Sometimes, a hidden works-righteousness is even more insidious. God did His part—now you must do your part to seal the deal. Do this deed; pray this prayer. Christ alone isn’t enough; you need to do something more. Such are the harbingers of heresy and eternal ruin. What God in human flesh has finished, let no one heap upon it! We trust in, delight, and enjoy this gift, which is the Holy Spirit’s work within us.
Jesus did it all. His words, “It is finished,” mean just that. So, we need not hide from God any longer. Jesus was pierced for our rebellion. By His holy sacrifice, God gave to Him the punishment we deserve. By His holy sacrifice, He died the death we should die, taking it into Himself. By His holy sacrifice, He experienced the damnation we should feel. In Christ, we have a place in God’s family, once more.
Remember our Lord’s completed Word when you think you need to add to His work, when you doubt your salvation, or when sin assaults you. Remember His Word as you gaze into the mirror of God’s Law and see your sin in its blight and ugliness. Remember most of all when death comes your way and refuses to leave.
When fear, helplessness, or confusion come your way: “It is finished!” When life’s burdens weigh you down, and this fallen world crushes you: “It is finished!” Are you guilty, hiding, running away, dying? “It is finished!”
Our Lord gives us the right ending. He brings the entire plan of God to its proper conclusion. “In the beginning, God”; always the right place to begin, with God. What then of the end? We find the cross of Christ, the only ending that fits any beginning.
In Jesus, the beginning and the end come together, with everything along the way, from beginning to the end. “It IS finished!” Amen.
