Full Sermon It Is Finished By Jesus For Us based on John 19:28-30

Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Good Friday? Tonight we remember Good Friday. When I was starting out as a pastor in Council Grove, Kansas, around 36 years ago, I would meet monthly with pastors from other Christian churches in town. One day a pastor of another Christian church asked me why we call the day of Jesus’ death on a cross, Good Friday. I told him that day was not a Good Friday for Jesus, since He suffered such pain and agony on that cross. That day was a Good Friday for us, because the suffering and death of Jesus gives us forgiveness from God for all our sins and wrongs.

II. Eighth grade confirmation and tetelestai. When I was in eighth grade junior confirmation class in Billings, Montana, at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, I remember taking notes in class one day and writing down a Greek word. Our pastor had us write down the Greek word, “tetelestai” that means in English, “It is finished.” I still have the Small Catechism of Martin Luther with notes that I wrote in that book. That Greek word has stayed with me for around 50 years now.

III. John 19:28-30 and tetelestai. That Greek word, “tetelestai,” is used twice in John 19:28–30: “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” The first time the word, “tetelestai,” is used in that passage is translated as: “was finished” with the surrounding words telling us, “Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth.” The second use of the Greek word, “tetelestai,” is translated as: “It is finished.” The second use of the word with the surrounding words telling us, “When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished,’ and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” In other words, with His dying breath Jesus knew that He had done everything necessary to save the sinners and wrongdoers of the world by His innocent suffering and death.

IV. God’s love and our love for others. At a cross outside of Jerusalem around 2000 years ago we get an idea of how great our God loves us. We can see love in our world from time to time. A mother’s love for an infant child can be intense. A marriage between a man and a woman lasting 50 or 60 years is love in action with all the ups and downs of life. Jesus said in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

V. Sacrifice? We live in a time when most people do not want to sacrifice to help others. Sacrifice is hard and takes a lot of effort. Sacrifice is painful. Most people would rather take the easy way out.

VI. Jesus’ pain. Jesus did not take the easy road. He was crowned with a crown of thorns. He was mocked and laughed at while He was on the cross dying. People by the cross told Him to come down from the cross to prove He was the Son of God. Jesus knew about sacrifice. He was willing to give Himself as the once-for-all perfect sacrifice for the sins and wrongs of the people of the world. He did all that for others. The pain and agony He suffered on that cross did not keep Him from reaching His goal.

VII. Our response to Jesus’ sacrifice. How will we think about the sacrifice of Jesus? Will we look for ways to improve in serving the Lord to serve others? Will we make God a promise that this time we will change for the better? God knows that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves, nothing we can even offer Him that comes close to the worth of Jesus’ holy, precious blood and innocent suffering and death.

VIII. That I may be His own. Martin Luther, the German reformer of the sixteenth century, pointed out why Jesus did all of this for us in the words of the Small Catechism. He wrote, “That I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” (Small Catechism, Creed, Second Article)

IX. Conclusion. Jesus breathed His last on the cross so that we could be redeemed. We are precious in His sight. We live under Him, for He is the One who has died for us. We can serve Him not because we have to do so, but because we are free from sin, death, and the devil. Tetelestai means: “It is finished.” This is the day when we especially remember that our Lord’s work to redeem us is finished. This is the day that we give thanks that He did the hard work needed to bring us salvation. For us, He gave His last breath so that we might live forever with Him in paradise. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.