The Lutheran Hour
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"It is Finished"
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Text: John 19:30
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PRAYER: O Lord we pray, in this Lenten season place into the hearts of all listening to this message, Your gift of repentance. Draw all people unto Yourself through the sin-cleansing power of Your Son, Jesus. And, O Lord where there is pain, remove it; where there is sickness, heal it; and where there is death, bring consolation. Heavenly Father, we pray with confidence for all these things with the words of Thy Son Jesus: “Thy Will Be Done!” Amen.
On Sept. 2, 1945, on the U.S. battleship Missouri, Japan officially surrendered. Douglas McArthur, then signing the peace treaty on behalf of the United States, announced World War II was then “officially” over. This did not come easy. After six years of horrible battles on seven continents, these painful, bloody, and death-filled military clashes were now finally finished.
Today is the fourth Sunday in Lent. This is also a solemn reminder of another bloody battle: the battle of Christ versus the devil on the crucifixion cross. This was a battle where Jesus finally triumphantly announced His victory over sin, death, and the devil by crying out from the crucifixion cross, “It is finished.” This crucifixion battle involved not only human forces of every continent but “world forces of darkness,” and “spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places,” as St. Paul speaks about it (Ephesians. 6:12).
You see, for many months Jesus willingly headed for Jerusalem and the battle. There He voluntarily offered up His life upon the bloody altar of the cross. He did this to pay for the sins of all mankind. At that moment St. Paul explains, “God was in Christ reconciling the whole world unto Himself.” It was also at this very moment, at the climax of that great battle, the prophecy spoken by the prophet Isaiah was fulfilled. God saw the horrible suffering of His Son Jesus. At this critical moment in history our heavenly Father was then satisfied. The price for all the sins and mistakes in your life were totally and completely paid for.
Now, the battles of World War II were terribly bloody. To be sure, WWII blood gained freedom for millions in this life. But the battle on the cross was different. You see, the battle on the cross between Jesus and the devil was indeed also bloody very bloody. But the power of the blood of the Christ is not only for this life. The blood of Jesus Christ, friends, has the power to cleanse you and me for now and also for eternity. “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son,” the Bible says, “cleanses you from all your sin.”
This sin-cleansing blood prepares you to stand before God, righteous and holy as if you have never made a single mistake in your entire life. God the Father, the Bible says, “made Jesus who knew no sin, to be sin for [you] so that [you] might become the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ.”
I realize the battles of World War II may not interest you that much, simply because you may feel they really don’t involve you. However, in this Lenten season I want you to understand clearly, no matter who you are, in Jesus’ battle when He cried out in victory from the bloody cross your Lord was making an announcement that involves your future.
This good news that God now wants you and all people to hear may not seem all that important, at least not at this moment. However, like many other people, God may suddenly send you a “wake-up” call.
For example, just last week I was having a noon meal with a young man 31 years old. He was telling my wife and myself how several years ago everything in his life seemed to be going just fine! But he began to feel more tired than usual. He felt dizzy when he stood up. He went to the doctor. After some tests the doctor announced to this young man he had lymphoma – a type of cancer. Suddenly, his life was changed. He underwent chemotherapy treatment. And after all the treatments the doctors had to inform Dan there were still cancer cells in his body that could “flare up” at any time.
Now, hear in his own words what it was like for Dan to get this news. Listen carefully to what his first thoughts were and how he now feels after all of this.
“When the doctor first told me I had bone cancer, I didn’t know how to react. At first, I guess, I didn’t really realize what this all meant. But then it began to sink in. I began to realize that I might not be around for very long. Every day became very precious to me.
“Even now after I have gone through all the treatment, I realize even more how precious every day is. But, even more important, I am constantly aware that even if the cancer cells overcome my body and even if I have to leave this life, because of what Jesus has done for me on the cross, I will then be immediately in His presence. This is the joy I have and more important, this experience has made my life much more meaningful.”
The voice of this young man is a true confession of someone who now lives every precious day realizing that he may not have many more years to be with his loved ones on earth.
Of course, you and I may be tempted to feel sorry for Dan; but I can tell you he does not want you to shed tears for him. The plea of this young man and the plea of your loving Lord is that you-yes, you-examine your own condition in light of what the Bible clearly teaches. The Apostle Paul writes that “just as through one man [Adam], sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so also death has spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12-15).
You see, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, they brought their own condemnation; the cancerous curse of sin. This spiritual cancer gets transmitted from generation to generation. As a result of this spiritual cancer, your days and my days are numbered. However, there are some who feel they are going to escape death and going to live forever and ever. In fact, in the obituary of Arthur Godfrey, the long time popular radio host, it was noted he kept saying regarding death, “I’m not going to do it; I’m just not going to do it!” He thought he was not going to die.
So, rather than following the philosophy of current entertainers, listen instead to the apt and accurate description of life given throughout the Bible.
In 1 Chronicles we read, “Our days are like a shadow.” This means life passes very quickly. Job said: “My days are swifter than a runner; they flee away.” The psalmist said: “Surely every man, at his best, is a mere breath.” Isaiah the prophet said: “Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me.” James said: “You are just a vapor.”
In this Lenten season we are reminded from both secular and sacred sources that life is brief, that we have no control of our coming in or our going out of this world. And, therefore, it becomes absolutely critical and indispensable for you to cling to Jesus’ victory words from the cross when He says: “It is finished.” Through His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated death and the devil. Your Savior is now saying to you lovingly, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live, even if he dies” (John 11:25).
How important Jesus’ victory words from the cross are for our entire population-for our very culture. For example, two years ago the Princeton Religion Research Center reported that “a majority of Americans (56% of our population), describe themselves as Christians.” Nevertheless, when they think about their death they worry “a great deal,” or they worry that they “will not be forgiven.” Half of all interviewed admitted they “worry” that when they die they will be cut off from God or the “higher power as they would speak of it.”
These statistics, these secular independent studies, make a compelling case especially in this Lenten season that Jesus’ victorious cry from the cross, “It is finished” is not a message hanging in thin air waiting to rescue the aging and the dying.
Jesus’ victory cry, “It is finished,” is also for the living, for children, for teenagers, and those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. You see, it was for you, friends, no matter how old you are that the battle on the cross was fought. It was for you this battle was won!
With the devil disrupting and destroying individuals and families at an unprecedented rate nowadays, the life-giving resurrection power of Jesus announced to the world when He cried from the cross, “It is finished.” This message is now needed more than ever for those caught in the devil’s snare.
In a study by the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, the project leaders announced that “fewer people who now marry are reporting happiness.. . .. As an institution,” the study said, “marriage is weakened.” So if you find yourself torn and stressed by marriage conflicts and problems, don’t see your marriage problems as merely a human matter. It is the devil. It’s the devil who desires to break up your marriage and family. There is no secular advice, no medicine, no therapy that can drive the devil away from your marriage relationship. Only He-only the Lord Jesus Christ who cried out from the cross “It is finished” -only He has that power you need in those difficult times.
As St. Paul writes in Ephesians, this resurrection power is available to you when God through His gift of faith connects you to Jesus. St. Paul writes about the “surpassing greatness” of Christ’s power toward [those] who believe. This, St. Paul explains, is in accordance with the working of the strength of God’s might which He brought about in Christ, when God raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19-20).
Now let me summarize with great joy why the victory cry of Christ from the cross is so important to your life. Remember several years ago when 13 high school students were shot and killed in Littleton, Colorado? Well, one of the students was Cassie Bernall. Shortly after she was martyred, her brother found her diary. In Cassie’s diary, written from memory, were almost the exact words I just read from the Bible. These are the words of the Apostle Paul, describing how within Christians there lives the power of Jesus’ victorious Easter resurrection.
This is what gave Cassie courage, even as a gun barrel of a killer was pointed at her face. These same words of Christ, “It is finished,” together with His resurrection from the dead can now also be your power to overcome any and all challenges you now face including death itself.
O Lord, Let this be so in the lives of all those who hear Your words of life today. In Jesus’ victory cry we pray. AMEN.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX for March 25, 2001
ANNOUNCER: In today’s message, Dr. Schulz, you spoke of the comfort Christians have as they recall Christ’s victory words from the cross, “It is finished.”
SCHULZ: Well, I think these three crucial words can never be repeated too often. Very much like the words on Easter morning, “He is risen.” They, too, are very precious. Now unfortunately, many people when they read these words, “It is finished,” don’t really know what they mean. I’ve often heard it interpreted that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” what He really meant is that His life was over and that He was finishing dying, so to speak.
ANNOUNCER: You’re saying that’s not the case?
SCHULZ: Absolutely not. Jesus did die. However, when He said, “It is finished,” He was speaking of having finished the task He set out to do when He came to this earth. That is what He was talking about.
ANNOUNCER: I understand there has been some controversy over exactly what Jesus thought His mission was, what He intended to do.
SCHULZ: Yes, there has been a lot of controversy regarding this over the years, but let me just say this: This controversy is unnecessary because Jesus Himself stated very clearly what He was about and what His mission was-the mission He intended to carry out when He came here. In the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 20, we read Jesus’ words when He says, “The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
ANNOUNCER: Well, that seems very clear. Jesus was going to lay His life down and shed His blood as the payment for sin.
SCHULZ: Absolutely correct. This is not one of those troubling passages. This section of the Bible is very clear.
ANNOUNCER: Are there others?
SCHULZ: Yes. For example, in the Gospel of John, chapter 10, we find a statement of Jesus again, probably even more clear, where He says, “For this reason the Father loves Me because I lay down My life that I may take it up again. No one,” Jesus stressed, “has taken [my life] away from Me. But, I lay it down on My own initiative. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again.”
ANNOUNCER: So why in spite of these clear statements do people still claim they’re not sure what Jesus intended to do?
SCHULZ: Well, honestly, I think it’s simply a matter of unbelief. Not long ago, I was reading a book by a European theologian. He was describing how some people, even those who have a theological education and a high theological degree sometimes refuse to believe something, even when its Biblical basis becomes very clear. So they just refuse to believe it.
ANNOUNCER: Well, perhaps some of our discussion today might be a bit hard to understand for the average person. How would you describe the importance of Jesus’ victory cry from the cross to the average person?
SCHULZ: Thanks, Mark, for mentioning this again. I tried to make this so clear in my message because it is so important. When Jesus cried out “It is finished,” He was announcing the victory over the power of sin, of death and the devil. Therefore, when we, as Christians, become united to Jesus Christ through God’s gift of faith and to His power of baptism, then we have the same power Jesus had. We can then also be assured that even though sin may tempt us, it need never control our lives. And, when our hour of death occurs, this death will not be forever. We will simply be going through a dark passage, if you want to call it this, to a very brilliant hereafter into the very presence of God.
ANNOUNCER: Dr. Schulz, what’s the bottom line?
SCHULZ: The bottom line then, especially during Lent, is whenever you hear the words of Jesus, “It is finished,” just rejoice in the fact that your fear of being overcome by sin or the fear of eternal death has no more power over you. In Christ you are made alive forever to live with God in His paradise, a paradise that will have no end.