'It is finished' was the beginning

April 21, 2003

May 18
___John 18-19

'It is finished' was the beginning
___By John Thielepape
___The climax of Jesus' final night with his apostles came in his journey with the remaining 11 across the Kidron Valley into the Garden of Gethsemane. The garden was located outside the eastern gate of Jerusalem, across a steep valley and partway up the Mount of Olives. The other Gospels record the agonizing moments as Jesus prayed for the cup of suffering to pass from him, but praying most of all the Father's will might be done. Knowing the Father's will included his suffering on the cross, Jesus went out to meet Judas, whom Jesus knew had betrayed him. Jesus never allowed Judas to set the agenda, not in the upper room and not in the garden. He knew the time had come, so he went out to meet the crowd Judas led to arrest him.
___As Jesus went through the trials before Jewish authorities, Peter suffered the guilt and embarrassment of denying he knew Jesus on three separate occasions--all after he had boldly claimed he would never do such a thing. One of the great examples of grace in Scripture can be found when comparing the defeated Peter on the night of Jesus' arrest with the Peter in Acts 4, who refuses to stop speaking about Christ. Peter's failures never placed him outside of Jesus' plan, and neither will ours. Like Peter, we can find forgiveness in Christ for the times when we fail him, and he will renew us for greater service for him.
___A reluctant judge
___Eventually the Jewish authorities turn Jesus over to Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Roman authorities permitted the Jewish leaders to govern themselves in religious and civil matters but reserved for themselves the right to sentence a prisoner to death. If the Jewish leaders desired to have Jesus executed, they would need Pilate's cooperation.
___Notice that while the religious leaders had no trouble creating false charges against Jesus, they refrained from entering Pilate's residence--doing so would make them ceremonially unclean for the Passover. Like many of their ancestors, these leaders failed to grasp the difference between outward purity and inward purity and failed to understand God's preference for a pure heart rather than ceremonial cleansing.
___We would do well to take note that all of our religious practices cannot cleanse us. Those practices are meaningless unless they are the products of hearts that have turned toward God.
___Technically, the Jewish leaders originally filed no formal charges against Jesus. When Pilate asked for the accusation, they simply replied sarcastically that they would not be wasting his time if Jesus had not committed some evil. Pilate had no love for the Jews and did not sense any need to take care of this matter since he presumed it involved a religious dispute. He did, however, have an interest in keeping the peace. Therefore, he chose to question Jesus under the pretense he had done something worthy of execution.
___Pilate was not a deeply spiritual man and could make no sense of Jesus' comments. Still, he could not find any guilt in Jesus, especially to make him worthy of the death penalty. Pilate concludes their conversation in chapter 18 by asking, "What is truth?" Of course, Pilate was looking at the Truth but seems not to have held any sincere interest in knowing the answer to his cynical question.
___Three times in chapters 18 and 19, Pilate states he can find no guilt in Jesus. He takes great pains to try to satisfy the Jewish leaders short of sending Jesus to his death.
___First, Pilate attempts to use a Passover custom designed to build goodwill with the Jewish population. Traditionally, the Romans would release a prisoner chosen by the Jews during the Passover season. Pilate hoped this practice would get him out of the situation, since the population would surely want to release Jesus rather than a proven criminal. The crowds, however, called for the release of Barabbas, leaving Pilate with the dilemma of Jesus still on his hands.
___Pilate next turned Jesus over to be beaten, hoping this would appease the lust of the crowd for punishment. Jesus was beaten unmercifully with a whip and then mocked as a king with a robe and a crown fashioned from the branches of a thorn bush. The soldiers gave him mock worship, but then demonstrated their contempt by slapping him, as they would have never done to one whom they considered a legitimate king.
___King of the Jews
______The issue of Jesus' kingship arises throughout chapters 18 and 19. Pilate pointedly asked Jesus if he believed himself to be the king of the Jews. Jesus responded with recognition of the cynical nature of Pilate's question. Did Pilate believe this himself, or was this the rumor he had heard from others?
___Pilate held no interest in playing word games. He hated the Jews and seems disinterested in doing the bidding of the religious leaders, but he wanted to know what Jesus must have done to raise their wrath. Jesus replied his kingdom was not of this world as evidenced by the fact that his supporters were not embroiled in conflict with the religious leaders over his arrest.
___Thereafter, Pilate refers to Jesus almost exclusively as the "King of the Jews," surely to throw a barb at the Jewish leaders more than anything else. The soldiers take their cue from the governor in their beating and mocking of Jesus, and then Pilate presents Jesus to the crowd as what he deems to be false royalty.
___Pilate appears to believe that by demonstrating Jesus as a defeated king he could end the entire matter. In his eyes, the beating showed that any claims Jesus might have made to royalty could not stand up to Roman power, and so the Jewish leaders should take no note of his claims either. Pilate did not possess the spiritual capacity to recognize the falsehood of his own claims to power and the ultimate power held by the one standing in front of him. Pilate even made the claim that he held the power of life and death over Jesus. He never understood that Jesus held the ultimate power over his eternal destiny.
___Finally, Pilate placed a sign over Jesus' head on the cross, identifying Jesus as "King of the Jews." Roman law dictated that the condemned person's crime be placed on a sign in order to serve as a warning to others. The Jewish leaders protested, wanting the sign to say Jesus had only claimed to be king. Pilate refused to be manipulated any further. So, Jesus was crucified under the charge of being a king.
___The ultimately irony, of course, is that the entire event only served to verify that God's kingdom had come to earth in the person of Christ and that the way into the kingdom would be opened for all humankind because he was hanging on the cross.
___The work is finished
___In verse 30, Jesus lets out the cry, "It is finished!" and then gives up his spirit. Jesus' life was not taken from him; he gave it up willingly. Having reached the climax of the mission of salvation given to him by the Father, he pronounced his work as completed. The word that Jesus uttered bears reference to a complete payment having been made to cancel a debt.
___What was finished? The promise given to Abraham by God generations ago was finished. The vision of Isaiah that a new day would dawn for God's people, and a Suffering Servant would take on their iniquity had been fulfilled. The moving drama lived out by Hosea of God's tender love and mercy had reached its completion. The sacrifices that had to be offered year after year were finished as Jesus went into the very presence of the Father to offer his own blood for the forgiveness of all sin. The role of the priests as mediators of God's covenant was finished as Jesus opened the way for each person to boldly approach the throne of grace and claim mercy through the work of Christ.
___In his commentary on Romans, Herschel Hobbs uses the analogy of a fire to describe God's constant, abiding wrath that burns against sin. Hobbs wonders where one would go to escape a raging fire? You go where the fire has already burned.
___In the same way, to escape God's wrath we must go where it has already burned, the cross. Hanging on the cross, Jesus endured the complete, abiding wrath of the Father that always burns against sin. To escape the consequences of sin, we must hide ourselves underneath the cross, experiencing the forgiveness of sin that comes from accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior.
___As one of my seminary professors used to say, "The cross is God's statement that sin matters." Indeed, the suffering of Christ speaks to the seriousness with which God views our sin. The cross also speaks of God's great love for us, that he would go to such a great extreme to plan our escape from the consequences of sin and toward the righteousness only he can give.
___How much better to obey willingly than by compulsion!

___Questions for discussion
___ Discuss the concept of Jesus as king. What does it mean for Jesus to be a king? In what ways can you identify him as a king in your life?
___ What impact has the finished work of Christ had in your life?
___ Many people believe multiple paths of forgiveness exist. What do you believe is unique about the death of Christ? How would you respond to someone who challenged the idea that his death is the only way to be made right with God?
___ Reflecting upon the ease with which religious leaders lied about Jesus; do you find it is easy for people to justify behavior they would otherwise condemn? In what ways are we tempted to bend morality to further our own agenda? Why do you think this happens?
___ How do you feel about Pilate's lack of moral courage? Can you identify recent instances when people have lacked the courage to stand up against injustice?

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