Mission Accomplished – Good Friday – Sermon 3 April, 2015

“Mission Accomplished”

John 19: 16 – 42

“It is finished” the mission has been accomplished. Jesus had completed the task he had come to do. It was the end.

When we compare the four gospels we find a most illuminating thing. In Mathew, Mark and Luke we do not find the expression “It is finished”. But they tell us that Jesus died with a great shout upon His lips. John does not mention a great cry, but does say that Jesus’ last words were “It is finished”. The great shout and the words “It is finished” are one and the same thing. These three words are one word in Greek – tetelestai – a shout of triumph. He did not say these words in a weary defeat, but rather He said it as a shout of joy because of His victory over death. He was broken on the cross, but He was victorious.

After saying these words Jesus leaned back His head and gave up His Spirit. He finished the work He came to do. He went to the end of the road and completed the job He was commissioned to do.

His death also was the end for so many including His disciples. When He was captured, charged and sentenced to be crucified it seemed that everything was finished. Surprisingly for His eleven disciples it was also the end. As we heard today in the script read, for Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, known as “the secret disciples” the feeling was the same. Jesus was dead. His work was finished and after doing all the preparation for His burial and putting His breathless body in the tomb, it was the conclusion or the end of His life drama.

When Jesus died and it was almost sunset, hence there was much to be done; His body had to be wrapped in linen clothes and sweet spices were to be put between the folds of linen. All these things were prepared before putting His body to the rest and having the stone rolled against the entrance of the tomb.

But we should see here the amazing contrast between the public disciples of our Lord and his secret disciples. At this time one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, Judas, was exposed as a betrayer. All along he was pretending to be a follower of Jesus, but stealing money from the treasury and really being no disciple at all.

When the secret disciples were lovingly preparing Jesus’ body for burial, Peter was weeping in shame for denying the Lord. The members of the Sanhedrin remembered what Jesus had said about rising again, that He would rise again in three days and appealed for the guard at the tomb (Mathew 27: 62). This motivated them to make their own visit to Pilate to request the tomb be sealed. Joseph and Nicodemus took the risk of bumping into the Jews and the other members of the Sanhedrin whom they feared.

There is no record of the public disciples taking any encouragement from what Jesus had told them and they had all suddenly become the secret disciples. But the secret disciple Joseph went publicly and boldly to approach Pilate and his fellow secret disciple Nicodemus also acted courageously. Those who were afraid when Jesus was alive declared for Him in such a way that everyone could see. They cast their fears aside after the cross and Jesus was surely glad for them, because the power of the Cross had begun to operate and many were being drawn to Him.

The cross was the turning point of all history when our Lord laid down his life only to be raised on the third day according to the scriptures. As Jesus had accomplished His mission, those were the heroes that day.

And so today we find ourselves at the foot of the Cross.

John has told us throughout His Gospel that when Jesus completed His task and then was “lifted up,” God’s glory shined through Him in full strength. And to confirm this, Jesus gave one last cry and said: “It is completed.”

He has finished the work that the Father has given Him to do.

He has loved ‘to the very end’ His own who were in the world.

He has accomplished the full and final task.

The price for human sin and rebellion has been paid.

The first Adam has been redeemed by the death of the Second Adam.

It is finished.

Jesus’ work is now complete.

And it is upon this complete and finished work that we humans from that day to this can build our lives.

It was the world at its worst; it was heaven at its best.

It is finished.

Love’s work is done.

The New Creation has begun.

Krikor Youmshajekian