“It is finished.” What is finished? That Jesus no longer had to endure any more of the brutal suffering that he had been subjected to since his arrest in the garden? With his dying breath, one could say so, but I suspect Jesus had something else on his mind as he breathed his last. The passage from Hebrews captures for me the sense of mission accomplished. “Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and when he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”
Being fully human, Jesus had the opportunity to say “No,” to what happened. After the Last Supper, he went out to the Kidron Valley to where there was a garden. What if he had chosen to stay in the Upper Room instead? Perhaps he would have avoided being arrested but he knew he had no choice but to follow his Father’s will. Without hesitation, he ventured forth, allowing others to arrest him. When Peter tried to intervene, Jesus stopped him. “Shall I not drink the cup that my Father has given me?”
Hours later, when being quizzed by Pontius Pilate, Jesus never flinched. Instead, he asserted, “My kingdom does not belong to this world…For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listen to my voice.”
Might he have been spared had he recanted the accusation of others that he claimed to be king of the Jews? Perhaps Pilate would have declared a mistrial and released him then and there. That is a moot question for Jesus never would have denied who he was. Insisting that he could find no guilt in Jesus, Pilate then presented him to the crowds. “Behold the man!” The crowds clamored, “Crucify him, crucify him!” And so Pilate did.
Being the teacher that he was, Jesus knew that providing an example was the ultimate lesson he could give his followers. His unwavering obedience for some of us may be a mystery. Given that we live in a society that promotes a “me-first” mindset, the value of obedience is hard for some of us to grasp. Too often, we disobey, opting to have things our way instead of suffering so that God’s way prevails. I say often, because even once is once too often. All it takes is one grave sin to deprive us of God’s gift of salvation.
A teacher can only teach so much. At some point the lesson is done and the students then make the choice to learn the lesson or not, So, we find Jesus on the cross, saying, “It is finished.” As though he is telling us, I am done. Now the rest is up to you.
What is the point of his unwavering obedience? When we obey the Father, we have much to gain, namely the gift of salvation. We save ourselves not only from the pains of hell, but also from the consequences of sin in this lifetime: the hurt, the injury, the mistrust that result from placing our needs first instead of following the example of the master teacher.
Are we striving to do all that the Father is asking of us? When we do, then sin and evil no longer control our lives. If we surrender to the Father’s will, as Jesus did, we shall find peace in this life and the life to come. That is the message of Good Friday.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German theologian, who was condemned to death by none other than Adolf Hitler a month before WWII ended, once said, “Only he who believes is obedient and only he who is obedient believes.” Obedience to God is possible when one has the gift of faith. Paradoxically, faith grows when we obey God. With his ultimate example of love on the cross, our savior breathed his last and expired. May his final act inspire us to take his lesson to heart.