Tetelestai 

Good Friday – 2026 

(St. John 18:1-19:42)

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

It was a good day when God created Adam. All of creation was good, but with Adam God declared it, “very good”. But then with Eve, Adam sinned. And what was once very good became very broken. The image of God in which Adam was created – no longer a perfect image, but marred by sin. The creation which God had placed under Adam’s care, no longer a paradise but a patch of thorns and a place of pain.

Since then, death has reigned. Pain in childbirth and pain in daily work, thorns and thistles are just the start of it. Each of you faces the same fate. Let today be a reminder. You will die.

Death is never pretty. It is, after all, the wages of sin. And sin is ugly. It's an ugly feeling to know your sin. Guilt. Shame. But worse is the punishment. The fear of punishment. And the ultimate punishment is death.  Make no mistake. Death sucks. But know this too: God didn’t create you to die.  There is nothing “natural” about death either. It is artificial. It is man made.

For Adam and Eve there was a seed of hope, and so also for us. The seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. The offspring of the woman would come and make it right. Where Adam went wrong, the Second Adam Jesus Christ, would come and step into your flesh and once and for all secure eternal redemption. Perfection would be restored. It would be very good – AGAIN!   And tonight it is.

So much could be said tonight about this holiest Friday, but we will focus on what John had to say about what Jesus had to say. Specifically the very last words of our Lord: “Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I Thirst’…
 
Jesus had said much already. Much had happened. Predictions came true, prophecies were fulfilled. The betrayer, the soldiers, the trials, the questioning, the desertion, the denial. The striking. The spitting. The crown of thorns, the rod, the flogging, the crowds calling for blood, the freeing of Barabbas, the sentence on Jesus, the washing of hands, the stripping of his clothes, carrying the cross, stumbling, finally the nails – hammered in, one by one, his hands, his feet. Then raised up to hang – to be seen by all, to be mocked by many – to suffer. To die.

“Father forgive them” he cried. “Woman, here is your son”. “Today, you will be with me in paradise”. “MY GOD WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

The sun grew dark. The earth shook. The temple curtain split. Tombs broke open. Dead people walked about and not with the aid of special effects and CGI like on an AMC Zombie apocalypse series.  Actual dead people.

Through it all, Jesus remained in control. He knew what had to happen, He knew what he needed to do. And now in order to fulfill the scripture, He spoke again, “I thirst”.

The Psalmist had written long ago, “They put gall in my food, and gave me vinegar for my thirst” and “my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.”

For his part, Jesus’ body had lost fluids. Blood, from the beatings and flogging, sweat from the stresses to his body beginning in Gethsemane, and continuing up the road to Calvary and even here hanging on the tree.

“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.”

This was actually the second drink offered to Jesus. The first was a wine drugged with something to deaden the pain. This he had refused. There is no hospice on the cross for the Son of God. He would endure the full measure of suffering for you.

The second drink, though, which He now accepts moments before His death, is described as a wine vinegar, sour wine. Two points are important to note. The drink was given on the "stalk of a hyssop plant". Remember that these events occurred at the Feast of the Passover. During this feast, hyssop was used to apply the blood of the Passover lamb to the wooden doorposts of the Jews.

And so here, now, the end of this hyssop stalk pointed to the blood of the Perfect Lamb which was applied to the wooden cross for the salvation of all mankind – that God would Passover the sin of the world.

In addition, the wine vinegar is a product of fermentation, which is made from grape juice and yeast. The word literally means "that which is soured" and is related to the Hebrew term for "that which is leavened.” Yeast or leaven, are Biblical symbols of sin. You see, when Jesus took this drink, (i.e. a drink which was "leavened") it was symbolic of His taking the sins of the world into His body.

But there is another reason he must drink now. He had something else to say, and just as a preacher might drink water during a transition or before making an important point. Jesus was now prepared to make a declaration. He wet his lips so as to be ready to speak, one last time:

And “When he had received the drink, Jesus said one last word from his wooden pulpit: Tetelestai (three words in English, but only one word in Greek) Tetelestai. ‘IT IS FINISHED’. With that, He bowed his head and gave up his spirit”

And so here we have Jesus’ exact last word. And of all the last words spoken by any dying person, this word must be pre-emminent. In fact, one could argue, that in the entire history of the created universe, these words hold the most weight, the most lasting significance – they could be the greatest words ever spoken. His dying words, which give us life. A declaration, not to anyone but to everyone – to all creation, to God the Father himself – that IT IS FINISHED!  

Tetelestai.  Again, one word. And make no mistake about it, this word was well known.  The word tetelestai was also written on business documents or receipts in New Testament times to indicate that a bill had been paid in full.  And it was!

Tetelestai. “Wages paid. My work here is done. My perfect life of obedience to the law – FINISHED. My suffering and death at the hands of wicked and cruel men – FINISHED. My bearing the sins of the entire world, and enduring the wrath and anger of God on behalf of all mankind – FINISHED. FINISHED. FINISHED.

Tetelestai. “Sin, you can’t have them, they are mine. Death, you are defeated. Hell, you hold no more fear. Satan, you serpent, now is the day of your undoing. You tempted me to go the path of glory, but my glory is in this cross! For here in my moment of my deepest suffering and pain, here in the shame of death, here at the last moment of the last hour with my last breath I declare – that YOU are finished. Tetelestai. The prophecy is fulfilled. My heel is bruised. Your head is crushed.”

When Jesus says, “It is finished” He sums up the entire significance of his work for us – from the wood of the cradle to the wooden pulpit of His cross – and He declares it complete. Tetelestai.

And then, Jesus died. But He didn’t “just die”. He didn’t finally lose, His life wasn’t stripped from him – no, He “gave up His spirit”. As He said, “No one takes my life from me but I give it up freely.” And so He committed His spirit into God’s hands. And He died. His declaration made, our debt paid. Tetelestai.

And all was quiet on the battlefield. They would take Him down. They would dress Him for burial. And they would place His body in the tomb. A tomb reserved for you, but a tomb that now can’t keep you either! Because it is finished. It is complete. Yes, darkness and silence would shroud Him there… weeping remains for a night, but the dawn will arrive. Dear loved ones, the Son will soon rise.

As for Satan? Well…   “One little word can fell Him.”  And what was that word:  Tetelestai.          

In the name of Jesus. Amen.