“It is finished” (John 19:30)

When Jesus received the sour wine in answer to his cry, “I thirst”, the end of his earthly life had nearly come and the prolonged and bitter conflict against the forces of evil was all but over.  But the cry from the Cross, “It is finished”, which expressed that, was a cry not of relief but of triumph.

The word in the original Greek means, “It is accomplished, it is achieved”, and refers not so much to the close of his life as to the fulfilment of his life’s work.  He had come into this world to do his Father’s will and to destroy the power of Satan, and in that twofold task he had been wholly successful.  All that he had set out to do he had done.

As during the hidden years at Nazareth no sinful or unworthy thought or word or act had for one moment ever invaded his relationship with his Father, so throughout his ministry he had remained in unbroken communion with him.  In the wilderness the Tempter had endeavoured to bend his will by suggesting that he should use the methods of the world to win the world.  In Gethsemane and on the Cross Satan had used every conceivable means to break his will and force him to oppose his Father in obedience to whom he had accepted the cup of suffering.

But, in spite of all that the Devil or human beings could do, Our Lord proved himself their Master and as a result there was now in his own Person a power in the world that had proved itself stronger than the forces of evil.  And that power was available to all who turned to him for it.  For as he had overcome the Prince of Darkness, so could he deliver us also from his clutches.

So it was that Our Lord declared the successful fulfilment of his mission with the triumphant proclamation, “It is accomplished”.  He had achieved the victory over evil.  The war itself might continue for an indefinite period, but its decisive battle had been fought and won.

Every time we say the Lord’s Prayer, we ask for “deliverance from evil” – that is, we pray for the salvation of our souls.  How strange it is, therefore, that although God in the Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered as he did in order to make that salvation possible, yet so many find it objectionable when it is actually offered to them!  Indeed are there not times when we ourselves do not want it?

Of course, we all want to have final salvation, to be saved in the next life from the consequences of our sins in this; to enjoy the utter bliss of eternal life with the all-holy God – though there are many who would find that little to their liking.

But salvation is a greater thing than that.  “…you are to name him Jesus”, said the angel to St Joseph. “for he will save his people from their sins” (NRSV, Matthew 1:21).  Save us, that is, not merely from the consequence of our sins, from that woeful state of permanent separation from God which Holy Scripture calls eternal death; but save us also from committing sins now.  As so often with the things of God, the salvation which Christ has to offer is greater than we desire or deserve.  It is an offer to save us from the power of sin in the present.

But do we always want that?  Do we always want to be saved from pride and self-seeking, from lies and half-truths, from vile and shameful thoughts, from spiteful and malicious talk, from bearing grudges and taking offence, from a quarrelsome or unforgiving spirit?  Because that is the salvation which Christ offers us.

Salvation is a process which began when Christ died on the Cross; which continues as we are saved day by day from committing such sins; but which will not be complete until that day of final salvation hereafter when the soul has been purified of the effects of every sin that has ever defiled it.

These three stages are set out in the  Prayer of General Thanksgiving when we thank God above all for his inestimable love in the redemption of the world by Our Lord Jesus Christ; then for the means of grace now; and lastly for the hope of glory in the life to come.

What practical use, then, are we making of that power in which Christ conquered sin and which he gives us unstintingly in the Sacraments of the Church in order that we may do likewise?  That is a question for each to give his or her own answer as the truth stands.

Let us then, as we consider the cost to Our Blessed Lord of our salvation, give him our faithful promise that we will from now on, resolutely set out with the help he gives us, to become the sort of people he means us to be; so that one day as he surveys his work of salvation in us, he may be able to say, “It is finished”.