Ruminations of a Preacher

Life experiences and recent memories in the Christian faith, and my family.

Saturday, April 07, 2007

It is FINISHED!

John 19:30 Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

τετελεσται "It is finished" has several meanings in New Testament Greek.
The dificulty of the Gospel of John is not to discover which meaning John intended for us to find, but to find ALL the meaning John intended.

τετελεσται The most infrequent meaning was "Paid in Full." When a loan or a debt was paid off, τετελεσται was written across the face of the loan document, the debt was "paid in full." The debtor was free of debt; the debtor was free! A debtor no more!!

τετελεσται was the command of the victorious general. The victorious army was home, the victory parade was over, the troops were assembled for the final formation. The last command from the general to dismiss and discharge the troops from service was τετελεσται.

Jesus had just said (John 19:28) "I thirst," and was given the sour wine to drink, in order to fulfill the last of the prophecies about His crucifixion. Fullfilling (τετελεσται) the prophecies, everything was complete, everything that needed to be done was accomplished, "It is finished," τετελεσται.

Saying that, Jesus dismissed (remember the general?) His spirit.

Romans 6:10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

Hebrews 7:27 who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:10 By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;

Jude 1:3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

The faith, once delivered.
Christ died, once for all.
Once for all time, never to be repeated.
Once for all people, without exception.
"It is FINISHED."
τετελεσται

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