According to John, Jesus’ last words were, “It is finished.” Unlike what we hear in the other gospels, there is no sense of surrender or defeat being expressed here. Instead, what was finished in that final breath was the mission which had been entrusted to Jesus by his Father, a mission he carried out selflessly to the very end despite the high cost, death on the cross following a tortuous journey to the place of the skull.
Imagine Jesus and the archangel Gabriel having a conversation after his return to heaven. Even in heaven, Jesus bore the marks of his crucifixion. Gabriel exclaimed, “Lord, you must have suffered horribly! Do people know and appreciate how you love them and what you did for them?”
Jesus replied, “Not yet, Gabriel. Right now, only a few people in Palestine know.” Gabriel was perplexed. “Then, what have you done to let everyone know about your love?”
Jesus answered, “I have asked Peter, Andrew, James, John and a few more friends to tell others about me. Those who are told will tell others about me, and yet others still others until the last man and the last woman in the farthest corner of the earth will have heard the story of how I gave my life for them because I love them so much.”
Gabriel frowned and looked rather skeptical. “Yes, but what if Peter and the others grow weary? What if the people who come after them forget? Surely you have made other plans?” And Jesus replied, “Gabriel, I haven’t made any other plans. I’m counting on them.”
That he is also counting on us is a vivid way for us to grasp what John had in mind when he recorded these words as Jesus’ last.Think of Jesus now passing the baton on to his followers.Proclaiming the good news by word and example would now be the mission of his followers, sanctified in truth to keep his word and continue his work. He had finished his lap of the race.During his public ministry, Jesus did what he could to instill the message of the Good News of salvation in the minds and hearts of his followers. His crucifixion, one of many to have taken place in Jerusalem that year, was the finale. I suspect few who witnessed that one ever imagined the impact it would have on the rest of history.
Did you ever see the play, Jesus Christ Superstar? I was surprised to learn that the man who played the role of Jesus in the original production on Broadway, Jeff Fennholt, was not a Christian then. In fact at the time, he struggled with drug addiction and alcoholism. Imprisoned by his addictions, he was compelled to leave the cast two years later. Shortly after that, when he was having his home carpeted, the carpet layers, upon learning who he was, asked to pray over him. As they did, he experienced Christ in a way he could never have imagined. “I felt like an anvil was taken from my back. My mind became clear for the first time in years. I’ve never been the same since.”
When asked by a priest what he considered to be the most important words spoken by Jesus from the cross, he replied, “It is finished.” Jeff then explained, “Jesus could have said, ‘I’ve had it; I’m freaking out; I’m out of here; I’m not going to take this anymore.’ But instead he said, ‘It is finished.’ If he hadn’t said those words, all those other words from the cross would have been in vain. But he stayed there until he finished what he had to do.” When Jeff realized that Jesus had passed the baton on to him, this meant a new beginning for him.
The American short story writer, O. Henry, is well known for his Christmas story about the Magi, but he wrote another one that strikes me as being equally fitting for Good Friday, entitled, “The Last Leaf,” which took place in New York City during a very deadly winter. Two ladies, Johnsy and Sue, share an apartment. Johnsy is deathly ill with pneumonia. So ill, she has no appetite.Noticing an old vine from her bedroom window, Johnsy begins to count the leaves as they fall and tells her room mate that when the last leaf falls, she will die.
Sue mentions this to a neighbor, a failed artist who had hoped one day to create a masterpiece. All through the night, heavy, icy rain fell amid gusty winds. When the ladies awaken in the morning, Johnsy sees one leaf is still clinging to the vine. Jubilant over this, she asks Sue to get her a comb and prepare some broth.
As Johnsy slowly regains her health, she and Sue learn that during the night their neighbor had died from a bad case of pneumonia. While the ladies rejoice that Johnsy is recovering, the other tenants think it was odd for an old man to have gone out in the dead of a cold, icy and rainy night to paint an ivy leaf on the brick wall close to the vine across the way!
Weeks ago, the cardinals elected a new pope who has surprised us from the moment he was introduced. The latest was his choice to wash the feet of 12 inmates. He chose the name, Francis, for this renown saint serves as his mentor.
St. Francis told his followers to preach, and if necessary, use words. We make this day good by preaching the Good News with our lives, doing our part to transform creation and all humanity, all the while reflecting God’s love and mercy by what we do and say. At the heart of every sacrifice rests love, for there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends, which Jesus did for you and me. As we commemorate his passion and death, may we realize the debt we owe Jesus by extending our hands and hearts to help those who are in need of seeing “the last leaf.”