“It is Finished” - Seven Last Words
When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’
Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1), and here, in the beginning, we discover God’s presence and Sabbath rest bound up together. God’s creation is a tabernacle wherein he dwells, giving rest to his creatures by being present with them. After the fall, this connection is re-emphasized again and again throughout the scriptures. In Exodus, after instructing Moses to build the tabernacle (a microcosm of creation), God makes a promise: My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest (Ex. 33:14). This promise is echoed by generation after generation of prophets, and it is where John begins his gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God . . . And the Word became flesh and ‘tabernacled’ among us (Jn. 1:1, 1:14).
John’s gospel presents Jesus as the true tabernacle and the fulfillment of its feasts. And just as, at the completion of the tabernacle, Yahweh’s glory descended from the mountain to take His place between the cherubim in the Holy of Holies, so at the completion of John’s gospel Jesus, whipped and beaten, ascends to his place between two criminals. In his crucifixion Jesus is enthroned as the God who dwells among us, inviting all of creation into the most holy place and bringing the sabbath rest that was promised long ago to the patriarchs and prophets.
According to John, Jesus’ final utterance from the cross was a single word: tetélestai, ‘it has been completed’. For some, who saw Jesus as just one among multiple criminals being executed for their crimes, this word signals resignation at the end of a pitiful life. But for those with ears to hear, it finds its echo in Genesis—and on the seventh day God finished his work—and Revelation—in the days of the trumpet call . . . the mystery of God would be fulfilled (etelésthe), just as he announced to his servants the prophets (Rev. 10:7). This is not the achievement of a task, or a moment in Jesus’ life—it is the completion of the cosmos, the fulfillment not only of the law and the prophets, but of the work of creation, and the very mystery of God. Bound up in that pronoun (‘it’) are all things, seen and unseen, along with the hopes of countless generations and the promises of the Creator.
English translations typically render what follows as ‘and he bowed his head and gave up his Spirit’. However, in the Greek, pneuma, is preceded not by the word ‘his’, but by the definite article. As many commentators have noted, this suggests that Christ bowed his head and handed over the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to those standing at the foot of the cross—his mother and the beloved disciple—thus connecting passion to Pentecost.
This it is finished is at once the most joyous and difficult element of the Christian faith. It is finished already, but its consummation is not yet here. How do we proclaim that it is finished as we watch a pandemic sweep the globe? Like ancient Israel on the eve of exile, we feel keenly that the promised rest has not fully come. And while it truly was finished in that moment, the story does not end there. What we discover, after three days in the tomb, is a promise fulfilled, and an invitation that is wholly new. Without a tabernacle or feasts, without sacrifices or laws—even without church buildings or the Eucharist in this difficult time—Christ hands over the Spirit to us, saying: My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682) - The Crucifixion
This was originally written for a series of services during holy week on Jesus’ seven last words from the cross at St Bene’t’s Church, Cambridge.
www.stbenetschurch.org