In these past several lessons, we have come together to the foot of Jesus' cross to "Behold the Lamb" that takes away our sin, where we have leaned in and listened to the final words of our Beloved. Our hearts have been both cut by the sufferings of Jesus for our sins (Acts 2:37) and healed by the wounds of Jesus (1 Peter 2:24), which bring us peace (Isaiah 53:5). We have been encouraged and taught by Jesus' prayer for forgiveness and built up in our faith by His words of life, hope, love, and care. We found acceptance and thirst-quenching satisfaction through His words of suffering, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" and "I thirst." And now, we hear the long-awaited words from our Lord, not whispered or mumbled in defeat, but shouted out in triumph:
“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:30
Usually, at the end of life, a person's voice gets softer and quieter, but despite all that He had suffered for hours on the cross, the gospel of Mark records that Jesus uttered a loud cry (Mark 15:37) before He died! Most likely this is when Jesus yelled out the word, "Tetelestai!" meaning "It is finished!" as a cry of victory, a declaration of success and completion.
As we contemplate this final word of triumph from Jesus, to truly benefit from it we must understand what it is that Jesus finished; and, as we do, we will "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." The truth about Jesus' finished work will strengthen our hearts and stabilize our lives (2 Peter 3:17-18).
Facing his own death, the prophet John the Baptist discovered the strengthening power of Christ’s work. We read in Luke 7:20-22, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.”
John the Baptist needed reassurance, and Jesus compassionately sent the ultimate word of encouragement - the fulfillment of the Scriptures about the Messiah.
Friend, Jesus has fulfilled all the Scriptures. It is finished! To name only a few, Jesus was born of a virgin, the seed of Abraham, of the lineage of David, born in Bethlehem in Judea. In life, He opened the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, made the lame walk, and the mute speak. He was despised and rejected by man and "hated without a cause." At the time of His death, Jesus was betrayed and deserted by all, falsely accused and wrongly condemned just as the Scriptures said He would be. He was mocked, and lots cast for His last piece of clothing. He was wounded, pierced, beaten and scourged according to the Scriptures. And finally, He suffered and died at the hands of evil men. All these Scriptures, and many more, were fulfilled by Jesus Christ when He died on the cross. Not one prophecy missed. It is finished!
Question 1. How is your faith affected as you consider all the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled through His life and death on the cross?
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Miles writes, "I Love the fact that Jesus fulfilled prophecies from hundreds of years before He became the Son of Man. But also the fact in my life that as you read the Bible you can feel it is a living word and active in causing change and growth."
The first prophecy of Christ is found in Genesis when God speaks to the serpent who deceived Eve:
"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."