Sermon Tone Analysis

Happy Father’s Day!

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Good morning and Happy Father’s Day to all of you Grandpa’s, Dad’s, and future Dad’s out there.

As a guy, it doesn’t really matter if you are a tender hearted person or the toughest guy on the block, there is nothing that can ground you in reality quicker than the realization that you are a father and that you have a responsibility for the well being and raising of your a child.

Today we are continuing the series, Famous Last Words, where we take a look at some of Jesus’ last words as He was dying on the cross.

Just as a quick reminder, we kicked off the series with Jesus’ plea to the Father for the people who were brutally beating and killing Him, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

Last week we focused on the very heartbreaking question Jesus asked God when He said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” I am very excited about Jesus’ words that we will look at today.

Really, this is my favorite of the series.

In fact, with this being Father’s Day, I believe with all my heart that God has a special message for all of us men, if we will open up and listen to what He is speaking to us.

I believe God wants to speak something special to each one of us, but as I was preparing I really felt like this would be a subject where God could really do some amazing, life changing work if men and fathers everywhere would listen to their heavenly Father as He transforms their every day lives with this simple thought.

“Oh my goodness, he’s really building this up!

What on earth did Jesus say?” Today we are looking at what I believe to be Jesus’ MOST famous words on the cross, “It is finished.”

Three little words that are absolutely packed with meaning and significance.

If you have your bible and want to follow along, let’s read from this moment in chapter 19 of the book of John.

Starting in verse 28...

Let’s pause there for a second.

There is a small detail here that we should notice to really open this passage up.

Jesus knew that what He had come to do was now finished.

Think about that mission.

Think about all that He had done; teaching, preaching, miracles, healing, sinless and perfect, fulfilling prophecy, beaten, tortured and sacrificed.

Especially when we think about all that He had endured in the last moments of His life.

He was brutally beaten to the point of not being recognizable as a person.

His body must have been racked with pain from all of the wounds.

If you’ve ever stepped on a nail before you know that it is no fun.

To me, it is a lot like nails on a chalk board.

It hurts, but the thought of it hurts more so I tend to be a little bit of a baby.

After you step on a nail it hurts to walk on your foot for a while.

Even so, when it happens you pull it out immediately and limp or walk on your heel for a while.

Jesus didn’t get to do that.

They put massive nails in His hands and feet and left them there as His body weight hung from them.

The emotional pain of feeling alone and abandoned.

Not just physically, but forsaken by the Heavenly Father, like we talked about last week.

All of this is happening and going through Jesus’ mind and He knows that He has done what He was sent here to do.

He endured it all without saying a word or having a selfish thought.

But now that it’s almost over He pauses as He realizes that He has a severe case of… Cotton mouth?

“I could really use a drink.”

Maybe He did, but I wanted to point out the irony of the situation so we could think about what may have been going through His mind.

The verse continues, “to fulfill Scripture He said, “I am thirsty.”

In other words, what was probably going through Jesus’ mind was all of the prophecy made in the OT.

He probably knew that Psalm 69:21 was not yet finished.

It was prophesied that they would give Him vinegar for His drink.

Jesus was finishing EVERYTHING He was sent here to do.

If Jesus was a gamer, He would have been one of those guys who finished every single possible mission in the game.

Those people are called completionist’s.

Jesus said, “I am thirsty”…

What did Jesus say?

Somebody help me out… “It is finished.”

It feels good to say it, I know you want to so let me hear it.

Jesus said… “It is finished.”

I know some of you may be like me and you are thinking, “I’m not supposed to talk during church, YOU are! Don’t make me say stuff.”

But this one really does feel good to say.

You’ve been working long days at work so the house has just piled up all week with laundry, dishes and dog hair.

Then you get some free time so you clean it all up and step back with a huge exhale of relief and say, “It is finished!”

Doesn’t that just make you happy.

Major project at work.

Super stressful.

It draws out for days, weeks, or months.

Then you finally get to turn in the final report, load up the last of your equipment, sweep up the last of your trash, and then you look on with a smile and say, “It is finally finished!”

To me there isn’t many experiences in life that are better than finishing all of the missions.

Paying that last medical bill.

Fixing that leak.

Finishing that project at home.

At work all of our tickets and record keeping is digital now so we don’t need the paper tickets any more.

Chris always teases me because my favorite thing to do when we finish a job is to get in the truck and wad up the ticket and throw it over my shoulder into the back seat.

“It is FINISHED!”

It feels great!

Except I think it feels even better to shorten it so I actually say, “BOOM!”

The English translation of what Jesus said is three words, “It is finished,” but Jesus actually said one word.

To me that makes it feel more like victory!

One word.

That’s why I go with “Boom”.

Jesus said (te-tel-les’-ty)...

tetelestai: to end, complete, execute, discharge (a debt).

It can be translated in several ways.

It can be translated “to end”, “complete”, “execute” or “discharge a debt”.

Jesus proclaimed victory over His mission when He declared to God, “It is finished!”

In Jesus’ time, this word was often used in one of three different ways.

A servant would return to his or her master and say “tetelestai” to say, “I have finished the project that you sent me to do.”

A merchant would stamp a piece of paper saying that a debt had been paid in full.

“Tetelestai, it’s complete.

You owe nothing more.”

Someone would bring a sacrificial animal to a priest, who would inspect the animal to verify that it was a worthy sacrifice.

If it didn’t have a spot or blemish, the priest would say, “Tetelestai.

This animal is perfect; worthy to be sacrificed.”

Jesus is on the cross and says, “Tetelestai” declaring that it is finished.

What was finished?

As the servant, Jesus was telling His master that He had finished all that the Father had sent Him to do.

Like the merchant, Jesus was stating that the debt had been paid in full.

Nothing was left.

All of your sins have been paid for in full by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

As the priest, Jesus had made the perfect sacrifice.

Nothing more needs to be added.

There was no spot or blemish.

Now when you place your faith in the perfect work of Jesus Christ, it has been finished.

Tetelestai.

44 Prophesies Jesus Fulfilled

You can dig around in your bible and find hundreds of prophesies that Jesus fulfilled.

People conservatively estimate there to be over 300 prophecies that He fulfilled.

Some say well over 400.

I believe that if you take in to account all of the stories that aren’t direct prophecies, that number isn’t even close to the ways that Scripture prepares the world for Jesus.