It Is Finished!

This morning I was reading from Matthew's Gospel and came across an interesting statement of Jesus that made me stop and consider His words.  I should say that from my perspective, all of Jesus' words are interesting and worthy of consideration and deep thought, but sometimes certain phrases really catch my attention, almost like the Holy Spirit is applying a spiritual highlighter to a particular verse or set of verses.  That is the case this morning for the following verses - Matthew 5:17-18 NIV:

[17] “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. [18] For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

What really grabbed me this morning was the phrase "until everything is accomplished."  As soon as I read that line, I was reminded of Jesus last words before dying on the cross as recorded in John 19:30 NIV: "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit."  The similarity of the statements really intrigued me, so I decided to do some digging into the original Greek, and see if these mean essentially the same thing.

The Greek word used by Matthew is Ginomai.  This is an interesting word to translate accomplished, for the definition is as follows:

1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being
2) to become, i.e. to come to pass, happen
    a) of events
3) to arise, appear in history, come upon the stage
    a) of men appearing in public
4) to be made, finished
    a) of miracles, to be performed, wrought
5) to become, be made

Looking at the definition above, one thing is clear, the word "accomplished" is not in the list.  When applied to the Law, this would cause one to believe that the Law was created for a specific purpose, and that purpose was something that could be completed, that could become real, that was a part of history.

Jesus made some other interesting statements about the Law and Prophets as we see in the following verses - Luke 16:16 NIV: “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it."

- and -

Luke 24:44 NIV: "He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

When I look at these two statements, I see a few things.  First, the Law and the Prophets served their purpose for a time, but that time ended with John.  Secondly, the Law and the Prophets pointed at Jesus.  So, in a way, Jesus' life was a fulfillment of the Law and Prophets.  Paul writes about the Law and Prophets in his letter to the Romans 3:21-22 NIV: " But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe...."  He understood that the Law and Prophets bore witness to the coming reality of a new righteousness through Jesus.  In effect the Law and the Prophets gave us the definition of righteousness, set the requirements of righteousness and then judged all of us guilty.  That is what the Law and Prophets existed to do, but that time of our dependence on them was was passing away.  The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote the following - Hebrews 10:1a NIV  "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming---not the realities themselves".

In summary of the first statement made by Jesus, the Law and the Prophets had a specific purpose that they were created to accomplish, and that purpose would have an end, a complete date.  The Law and the Prophets pointed towards Christ, and when He showed up on earth and began His ministry He began a new era, for they were pointing towards Him and were a shadow of what He revealed, and they had completed their purpose when He was revealed.

Back to the statement Jesus made on the cross in John 19:30, He said "it is finished".  The Greek word recorded by John is different than the word used in Matthew's verses.  Here the Greek word is Teleo.  The definition of this word fits perfectly with the understanding we developed above. Its definition is as follows:

1)  to bring to a close, to finish, to end
    a) passed, finished
2) to perform, execute, complete, fulfil, (so that the thing done corresponds to what has been said, the order, command etc.)
   a) with special reference to the subject matter, to carry out the contents of a command
   b) with reference also to the form, to do just as commanded, and generally involving the notion of time, to perform the last act which completes a process, to accomplish, fulfill
3) to pay
    a) of tribute

I believe that when Jesus uttered those words, He was bringing to an end, or completing what the Law and the Prophets where created to accomplish.  He was fulfilling the requirements, and the final step was to be resurrected.  Thus, if we take a look back at the the statement He made in Matthew's Gospel, everything was accomplished!  This is why Jesus spoke of establishing a new covenant (Luke 22:20NIV), for the old covenant of the Law and Prophets was completed.  So wrote the author of the Letter to the Hebrews 8:13 NIV: "By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear."

This is really good news for all of us!  We are no longer under the requirements of the Law and the Prophets, but under a new covenant, established by Christ Jesus Himself.  His new covenant provides His righteousness to all who believe in Him, or as Paul calls it "righteousness by faith" (Rom 1:17).

Amen Lord!  Thank You for making a way, for completing that which was required, for providing me Your righteousness!