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Sermon 3/25/05 - Good Friday
It Is Finished - Seven Last Words - 6th Word – John 19:30
“It is finished.” These words from Jesus, the sixth saying from the cross, are so straight-forward, aren’t they? It is finished, it’s over. Jesus is about to take his last breath. Three years of ministry, three years of teaching about loving neighbors and enemies, three years of reaching out to those who never thought they had a second chance, three years coming crashing violently and abruptly to an end. “It is finished.” No doubt those in the crowd, his friends and enemies alike could have echoed Jesus’ sentiments: it is finished and over. For some, no doubt, Jesus’ death was welcome – what they had been working toward, hoping for, striving to achieve however they could. For some of the religious leaders, and for some everyday people who found Jesus threatening and his message troubling, the words “it is finished” were welcome words. For others, his followers, his death was a defeat, a moment to wonder if they could have done something differently to prevent this end from coming, wondering where they had gone wrong. For Peter, Jesus’ words meant an end to any chance of making up for his last minute denial of the one he had served with his whole life. For those who Jesus healed and changed and made whole, perhaps Jesus’ “it is finished” meant the end of their hope, their fear that their lives would just go back to normal. And for Jesus himself, there is a finish, an ending. He must have, even in the midst of his pain, been aware that he had made it to the end of this part of his journey, the end of his life on earth. “It is finished.” For better or for worse, his task is accomplished. Jesus will not be with these same people in the same way in the same place again. “It is finished.”
But we know there’s more to this story. It is finished, but it is just starting, isn’t it? I’ve always loved that the official word used for graduation ceremonies was “commencement.” Not ending, but beginning. Though graduates might be most excited to be finishing their time at an institution of learning, the real essential part of graduation is the moving on, the next step of the journey, the opportunities, the options, the life that exists after the diploma is received. Jesus says “it is finished,” and so it is – for now, in this way, this time. But something new is beginning, something just around the corner, something no one could yet see or believe or imagine or hope on this first Good Friday.
Our understanding of the gospel story is only as powerful as our ability and willingness to apply the words to our own lives. What does it mean – this finish that is a beginning? To me, it means that God is never finished with us. Whether we think we’ve hit rock bottom, and we can’t see how God can still love our sinful souls, or whether we think we’ve attained as much as we can, followed God as far as we can, and can’t imagine that God still has plans for us – no matter where we are on our journey, no matter what we’ve just finished – a beginning is on our horizon. My own mother is currently going back to college, and when she gets discouraged, and wonders that she is doing it for, I remind her of a classmate who graduated from seminary with me – at age 76. Finished, and beginning – the cycle of death, life, resurrection.
There is a hymn that comes to my mind, called Hymn of Promise. It reminds us of the promise that the finish of Good Friday is the beginning of everything else. It goes like this:
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
Today, it is finished. But today, it’s just beginning.
Amen.
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