Way Truth Life Apologetics

(original post 10 Apr 2020)

This is a holy season for Christians and Jews around the world. Jews are celebrating Passover, one of the holiest feasts in their culture and worldview, tracing its roots back to when God delivered them as a nation from slavery in Egypt in 1400s B.C. For Christians, the Passover in approximately 33 A.D. was impacted by a fake arrest, fake trial, and brutal execution of THE most pivotal Man in all of history.

I posted earlier today about a powerful Greek word found in John 19:30. This same word was preached on during a virtual revival my church has had going on this week. I don’t believe in coincidences; this repeated focus on 1 Greek word has had my thoughts churning all evening and led me to spend some time to share some thoughts. When we read John 19:30, what jumps out to most of us are three words (usually in red letters) recording Jesus’ last statement on the cross, “It is finished!” These three words are translated from a single Greek word, Τετέλεσται—tetelestai.

There is a lot of power in that one word! In making the declaration as He hung on the cross, Jesus decreed that the mission God the Father sent Him here to do was complete! He, Jesus, had accomplished the work He came here to do.

One thought which occurred to me this evening surrounds this idea of “work being finished.” It’s not our work; we can’t do anything to redeem ourselves to God. We can’t do anything to save ourselves. If any of us could, then Jesus’ sacrifice is in vain. He came here to offer redemption and salvation for ALL people, in all times! We do nothing to add to this. We either accept His gift OR reject it.

As I pondered this, I came to this conclusion: where Jesus’ work finished (on the cross) is where our work begins. As I stated above, we don’t work for our salvation. We do work, however, out of our salvation. James writes, “¹⁷ Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. ¹⁸ Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. ¹⁹ Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. ²⁰ But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? ^[1]” James is writing to Christians and is declaring that works is evidence of one’s salvation; our faith is a working faith.

Jesus finished the work of saving us on the cross. When we accept His gift of forgiveness and salvation, we now work in service to our King. Ergo, where Jesus’ work finished, our work begins. When we become born-again Christians, the rest of our lives, our thoughts, our speech, our actions, etc. we will make an account for—what we did & how we spent our time serving, glorifying, and proclaiming Jesus to others.

See, Jesus accomplished something on the cross which no other person could. The Bible declares that we are all dead in sin, unrighteous, and separated from God through sin and rebellion. The only way this could be remedied was for God, Himself, in the person of Jesus, to come to earth, live a perfect life, and become the prophesied embodiment of the Passover lamb which Jews still celebrate today. Where they focus on the tradition and history surrounding the Passover, they miss the elements which Jesus fulfilled once-for-all.

But Christianity is not a get-out-of-hell-free ticket. There is a surrender of oneself to the authority of the King of kings! Before Jesus ascended to heaven after His resurrection, He told His followers to get to work (Matt 28:19-20). His mission to share God in a fallen world has become our mission! Jesus did all the heavy lifting! We are called to carry His message of spiritual life to people who are spiritually dead. That is the meaning behind Easter and its fulfillment of the Gospel story!

Last thought: Jesus was able to declare “Tetelestai” because His work was finished. We cannot make that declaration in this life because as long as we are here, there is still work to do. Our declaration of “tetelestai” will come when we stand before Jesus in heaven and hear His welcome, “well done, thou good and faithful servant!” Let’s get to work!

~In Christ!

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^[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Jas 2:17–20). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.