In the Gospel of John, Jesus' last words from the cross are: It is finished…

In her book Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard tells about a native Alaskan hunter who approaches a local missionary. "I want to ask you something," he said. "What's that?" replied the missionary. "If I didn't know about sin and God, would I go to hell?" "No," replied the missionary. "Not if you didn't know." The Alaskan responded, "Well then why on God's good green earth did you ever tell me!"

The truth is, long before the missionaries came to town and began talking about these concepts, these are realities people have always experienced. We've long known the great divides of the human heart that lead to separation, brokenness, heartache. And yet at the same time, we've also long experienced that there is far more to this world than what we can know and see and touch — that in spite of the darkness, there is light.

One of the most powerful things the cross does is show us this: in Jesus, God experiences the worst of what humans can do. He fully bears our sins in his body — the violence, the betrayal, the injustice. And he loves us anyway.

This is a love that knows fully what it is to suffer, to be broken and betrayed. It is a love that takes on our sins, and a love that provides the means for a way forward.

On the cross, Jesus said, It is finished…

No longer can we think of God as one who punishes, dominates, smites. That way of thinking is finished.

No longer do we need to hold on to old sins and guilt and shame. We've been set free to make amends and start anew. It is finished!

No longer do we need to consider ourselves not worthy enough, not good enough. It is finished.

No longer can we think we suffer alone. It is finished.

By the time Jesus dies on the cross, the heart of God has been fully revealed.

Prayer: Loving God, we thank you for forgiveness and grace. We remember that grace was not cheap, but costly. May that grace wash over us anew and empower us to respond with our very lives. In Christ's name. Amen.

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