First & Last

First Words

We are going to rewind here for a few minutes and look at the very first words recorded when Christ began His ministry.

Christ went to John to be baptized and then went out to the wilderness and was tempted by Satan.

After all of that Jesus is ready to begin His ministry years. The very first recorded words we have of Jesus once He begins His ministry according to Matthew are this...

Matthew 4:17 NIV

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

According to Matthew these are the 1st Words Jesus speaks to begin His public ministry.

Jesus was around 30 when He began His ministry. ()

“From that time on”

Again He is beginning His public ministry. Everything to this point was preparation.

Whatever you are going through right now, be patient. GOD USES EVERYTHING TO PREPARE YOU FOR SOMETHING.

“Jesus began to preach,”

The Greek word used here for preach is more than just “preaching.”

It was an official proclamation as if an official announcement from a king. Hmmm?

“repent”

Do you believe God’s Word is for us today? Then why do we not repent?

Repent is to turn away from completely and go the other way. Yet so often we say and may even believe that we repent but keep going in the same direction. Repent!

If Christ’s first official public proclamation is to “repent” do you think we should listen?

“for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Jesus was yelling out that “I am the kingdom of heaven. You want to get to heaven, you must come through me and to do that you must repent.”

John 19:30 NIV

30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

John records Jesus’ final statement as “It is finished.”

What was finished? Our redemption was finished. Our debt was paid in full.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 19:30

The sixth word or saying that Jesus spoke from the cross was the single Greek word tetelestai which means It is finished. Papyri receipts for taxes have been recovered with the word tetelestai written across them, meaning “paid in full.” This word on Jesus’ lips was significant. When He said, “It is finished” (not “I am finished”), He meant His redemptive work was completed. He had been made sin for people (2 Cor. 5:21) and had suffered the penalty of God’s justice which sin deserved. Even in the moment of His death, Jesus remained the One who gave up His life (cf. John 10:11, 14, 17–18). He bowed His head (giving His seventh saying, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” [Luke 23:46]) and then dismissed His spirit. This differs from the normal process in death by crucifixion in which the life-spirit would ebb away and then the head would slump forward.

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 27: John All Things are Accomplished

Jesus’ last word, “It is finished!” is a cry of victory, not of defeat. He is really in charge! He willingly accepts death because it is the completion of God’s plan. The work of the Incarnate Word has been accomplished. This is the moment of His glory, not His enemies’. The verbs are active, “bowing His head, He gave up His spirit”

The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 27: John All Things are Accomplished

Jesus’ last word, “It is finished!” is a cry of victory, not of defeat. He is really in charge! He willingly accepts death because it is the completion of God’s plan. The work of the Incarnate Word has been accomplished. This is the moment of His glory, not His enemies’. The verbs are active, “bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (v. 30). Did Jesus give His spirit to those at the foot of the Cross who now symbolize the new people of God?

It is completed. Christ had done and finished what He came to earth to do.