Today is Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus. One of the last things Jesus said on the cross before he died was, "It is finished." Was this a sort of Captain Obvious statement of the... well, obvious fact that his time had run out? Or a dramatic way of saying goodbye? Or an anguished admission of failure? Or was it much, much more? This phrase is a translation of a single Greek word, "Tetelestai." Papyri from that era have been discovered that show this word was commonly written at the bottom of sales receipts, tax bills or deeds, stating the debt had been paid in full.
Jesus wasn't referring to his imminent death, nor lamenting the failure of his mission. This was a declaration that he had successfully completed his mission; that the penalty for the sins of humanity had been paid in full.
Hundreds of years before Jesus'death, the prophet Isaiah had written: "5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6, NIV).
Jesus died to pay the penalty for everything you and I have done, said, thought or failed to do that doesn't measure up to God's perfect standard. St. Paul wrote: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21). It is finished. Paid in full.
