Good Friday

April 3, 2026

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:28-30

If you’ve ever made that last car payment or mortgage payment, you’ve likely received a notice that what you owe has been paid in full. You no longer have to make payments. There is no longer any outstanding balance or debt. The car or house is yours. 

What does this have to do with Good Friday? More than you might think. As Jesus hangs on the cross, struggling to breathe his final breaths, He whispers, “It is finished.” The Greek word He uses, which we transliterate as tetelestai, means something like completed, finished, or paid in full. In Jesus’s day, it was a word businesspeople used to indicate that something owed had been fully paid.

At least three times in John’s Gospel account, Jesus tell us He has come to finish the work the Father sent Him to complete, and, here at the cross, He does. Through His finished work, the debt for humanity’s sin has been paid in full. The work of reconciling humanity to God, which brings salvation to us, is complete. The perfect, once and for all sacrifice has been made. It is finished.

On this Good Friday, as we contemplate the death of Jesus, we are reminded of the terrible price paid for our sins. We are forced to reckon with our own complicity in the horrific death of Jesus. Though we’d rather not, we must pause to consider Jesus dying on the cross and then being placed in the tomb. Two thousand years ago, it was a violent, horrifying, painful, and deeply confusing time. Despite Jesus telling them this had to happen, the disciples were distraught—and understandably so. 

On this side of the cross, though, we know this: “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly…God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We know that death does not get the final word. We know that the power of sin was broken on the cross.

And here’s what else we know: It is finished, but Jesus is just getting started.

Here on Good Friday, as we consider what it is that Jesus has done for us, for all of humanity, and for all of creation, perhaps we should ask: If Jesus would die for us, how will we live for Him?

Grace and peace,
Brandon