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When God Seems Absent: A Silent Saturday Reflection

Published by V John on April 4, 2026

Today marks the final day of the Lenten journey — Holy Saturday, often called Silent Saturday — a day of rest and preparation for the Resurrection. And yet, for all its weight, nobody quite knows what to do with it.

Good Friday has its gravity—the cross, the darkness, the cry of dereliction. Easter has its trumpets. But the day in between just sits there, quiet and strange. The altars are bare. There is no Eucharist, no alleluias. In the old liturgical rhythm, not even a candle is lit. It is the one day of the Church year when the world is simply asked to wait—and waiting, as most of us know, is its own kind of suffering.

Jesus’ disciples certainly found it so. They scattered. They hid. Whatever they had hoped Jesus was, it seemed finished.

But the oldest Christian confession dares to say otherwise. The Apostles’ Creed, in its spare and careful language, declares that after His death, Christ “descended into hell.” Certain Christians anchor this in specific texts, such as, 1 Peter 3:18–20, Ephesians 4:8–9, Acts 2:27, and Matthew 12:40.

However, the original Latin word is inferos, meaning the realm of the dead. The Greek and Hebrew terms, Hades and Sheol, also mean the common realm where human souls go when they leave the body. Therefore, in the Creed, “hell” is not the place of final punishment, but the realm of the dead—the place every human goes. Christ went there because He went everywhere humans go. Jesus did not sidestep death or hover above it. He entered it—all the way in, just as He entered everything else about our condition.

What happened there is where different Christian traditions diverge—and they do so honestly. Eastern Orthodox have long treasured an icon of Christ standing on the splintered gates of Hades, reaching down to pull Adam and Eve out of the dark—a picture of Easter that begins before the stone ever rolls away. Medieval theologians spoke of the righteous dead, the patriarchs and prophets, finally receiving what they had only seen from a distance. Calvin argued the “descent” was not a journey at all but the depth of spiritual suffering Christ endured on the cross—the hell He absorbed so we would not have to bear it. Still other scholars read 1 Peter 3 as Christ declaring His victory to fallen spiritual powers — a proclamation not of mercy but of conquest.

The honest answer is that Scripture leaves this in partial shadow. And perhaps that is fitting. Holy Saturday is, by its nature, the day we cannot fully see into.

What we can say is this: the silence was not emptiness. Wherever Christ was on that Saturday, He was not a victim waiting to be rescued. He was moving through death with the same intention He brought to everything—purposeful, sovereign, undefeated even in the grave.

That matters for more than theology. Most of us know what it is to live in a Saturday season—after something has broken, before anything has been restored. The prayer that hasn’t been answered. The diagnosis that changed everything. The relationship that ended without resolution. The long, grinding wait when Friday’s wound is still fresh and Sunday feels like a rumor.

Holy/ Silent Saturday does not offer cheap comfort. It does not rush you toward the resurrection or tell you to cheer up. What it offers is something stranger—and more solid—than that: the assurance that Christ has already been into the darkest place you’re facing. He didn’t send a message from outside it. He went in. He holds, as He told John, the keys of death and Hades. He didn’t borrow them. He took them.

So, sit in the stillness today if you need to. Name the things that feel sealed and cold. And remember—the silence outside the tomb was not the silence of a story ending. It was the silence before a door flew open from the inside.
He is already there.
The stone will move.

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Paid in Full: What Jesus Finished on the Cross

Published by V John on April 3, 2026

On Good Friday, churches traditionally reflect on the seven “words” of Christ from the cross. While we cannot know exactly how many times Jesus spoke or the precise sequence of his final moments, the Gospel writers have preserved these seven declarations for us. In the churches I have served, it is customary to invite laypeople to speak on these words during the service. Every time I assign them, I face a familiar challenge: everyone has a favorite.

I suspect you do, too. Perhaps it is “Father, forgive them” or “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” But my favorite — the one that haunts and comforts me most — is the final declaration found only in John’s Gospel: “It is finished.”

“When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

In the original Greek, this phrase is “tetelestai.” The root word, teleo, means “to accomplish,” “finish,” “end,” or “to bring to its intended goal.” Thus, tetelestai carries the weight of “consummated,” “completed,” or “paid in full.” In the first century, this term was stamped on business receipts to indicate a debt had been settled completely.

To me, these three words are among the most profound Jesus ever spoke. No one has ever spoken words richer with spiritual and theological meaning. Their depth is staggering; no human mind can fully fathom the totality of what Jesus meant in that final breath. Yet this declaration stands as the culmination of all human effort to please God and the zenith of God’s work for our salvation.

In this single Greek word tetelestai, the scope of redemption expands infinitely. God’s purpose for the world is fully actualized. Every prophetic utterance of the holy men and women of old finds its “yes” in Christ. All of Jesus’ claims and “I am” statements are confirmed. The long-held aspirations of humanity through the ages are realized. Forgiveness of sins is no longer a hope but a completed reality. The healing of nations and individuals is secured — “by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The triumph over every enemy is achieved, with death itself as the final foe to be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26). And the final redemption of humanity is accomplished (John 3:16).

The list could go on, but the point remains: it is finished. The work is done. The debt is paid.

This is not just a historical event; it is a present reality. We are invited to stop striving and start resting in this accomplishment. Let us not only receive this truth personally but also share it with those who do not yet know the power of a finished work.

. . .

Reflection: Which of these truths do you need to cling to most today? How does the knowledge that the work of your salvation is finished change the way you approach your struggles?

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When the Answer to Your Prayer Is No: Finding God in Your Gethsemane

Published by V John on April 2, 2026

Cappella 22: Gesu’ Sveglia i Discepoli Dormienti‎, Sacro Monte di Varallo Sesia, Piedmont, Italy. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Varallo_Sesia,*Sacro_Monte*–*Chapel_22*-_Jesus_Awakens_the_Sleeping_Disciples_001.jpg

Our reading for Maundy Thursday is Mark 14:32–42. The warmth and memory of the Upper Room were behind Jesus now. The bread, the wine, the final words of love spoken over his closest friends — all of it faded as Jesus stepped into the cold darkness of the garden of Gethsemane. With the city asleep and the shadows deep, the Son of God faced the loneliest moment in human history.
He brought his three closest disciples — Peter, James, and John — and asked one thing of them: “Remain here, and keep awake” (Mark 14: 36). But they slept. In his hour of greatest need, the people he loved most could not stay awake. Jesus was left to wrestle alone.
And wrestle he did. The Gospel writers search for words to describe what happened next in Gethsemane, and even their most powerful language falls short in conveying what he went through. He was “distressed and agitated,” “grieved and agitated,” “greatly distressed and troubled,” “deeply distressed and horrified,” “sore amazed, and to be very heavy,” “deeply grieved,” “exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.”
This was not mild anxiety. This was a soul bearing the full weight of human sin, facing a cross no human heart was ever designed to carry.
And so he prayed — not with polished theological language, but with raw, desperate honesty: “Abba, Father, for you all things are possible; remove this cup from me” (Mark 14:36).
This is one of the most important prayers in all of Scripture, because Jesus shows us something we often forget: authentic prayer is not the absence of fear. It is the presence of honesty. He did not pretend or perform. He brought his deepest fears directly to the Father, and he asked — plainly, urgently — for another way.
The Father did not remove the cup. Yet he did not leave his Son alone either. An angel appeared to strengthen him. And here is the truth that changes everything: the Father’s “No” to escape was a “Yes” to endurance. God did not take away the suffering — he gave Jesus the strength to walk through it.
And then came the pivot point of all history: “yet not what I want but what you want.”
In His sufferings, Jesus did not bypass his humanity — he walked through it completely. He surrendered his will to the Father’s, trusting that the path of suffering was not the end of the story. This is why, three days later, the garden of agony became the garden of resurrection.
Perhaps you are in your own Gethsemane right now. A diagnosis. A broken relationship. A door that will not open no matter how hard you knock. You have prayed — sincerely, repeatedly — and the answer feels like silence, or worse, a quiet and resolute “No.”
Bring it to the Father anyway. Ask honestly. Ask urgently, as Jesus did. And if the cup does not pass, if healing does not happen, trust that the same God who strengthened his Son in the garden will strengthen you. Your pain is not a sign that God has abandoned you. It is the very place where he meets you.
And remember the sleeping disciples. When someone you love is in their Gethsemane, do not fall asleep on them. Stay present. Sit in the dark with them. Sometimes the most Christlike thing we can do is simply refuse to leave our friends.

What is the cup you are afraid to drink today? Can you bring it — honestly, without pretending — to the Father, and ask him not just to remove it, but to give you the strength to face it?

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The Temple Courtyard Was Full of Noise, But Empty of Prayer

Published by V John on April 1, 2026

Enrique Simonet, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simonet_-_expulsion_mercaderes.jpg

In Mark 11: 15-19 we read that as Jesus rode into Jerusalem for Passover; the city buzzed with anticipation. Families were scrubbing their homes, removing every crumb of yeast in honor of their liberation from Egypt. It was a season of intense spiritual preparation. Yet when Jesus entered the Temple — the one place where God’s presence was meant to dwell — he found something deeply troubling.

Instead of sanctity and sincere prayer, the air was thick with the bleating of lambs, the clinking of coins, and the smell of animals. The Court of the Gentiles — the only space in the entire Temple complex where non-Jews could come to seek God — had been transformed into a bustling marketplace. This was not merely a case of greed hiding behind religion. The deeper wound that troubled Jesus was exclusion.

By design, this outer court was meant to be a sanctuary for “foreigners coming from a distant land, so that all the peoples of the earth may know God’s name” (2 Chronicles 6:32–33). But the religious leaders had turned it into a religious flea market. The noise of commerce had drowned out the whispers of prayer, and the very people the prophets promised (Isaiah 56:7) God would gather had been excluded.

Jesus responded with righteous indignation. He drove out the animals with a whip, overturned the tables, and declared: “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers” (Mark 11:17). He was not angry at the need for sacrifice or currency exchange. He was furious that the system had become a barrier — that the religious elite had built a wall where a door should have been.

This story forces us to look honestly at our own temples — our sanctuaries, our denominations, our theologies, our churches, and our communities.

We don’t need to sell doves or lambs to block people from God today. We do it by making our spaces so program-heavy and internally focused that there is no room left for the seeker. We do it when our budgets, buildings, and business efficiency matter more than the mission of God. We do it whenever the outsider — the skeptic, the refugee, the broken, the one who doesn’t look or think like us, those who do not fit our mold — feels unwelcome or unheard.

In cleansing the temple, Jesus proclaimed that he came not just to fix a building, but to restore access to God. And ultimately, he pointed to himself as the true Temple. On the cross, the veil was torn and the barrier destroyed forever: “He is our peace; in his flesh he has broken down the dividing wall, the hostility between us” (Ephesians 2:14).

Today, Jesus invites us to let him search our beliefs, hearts and our churches — to clear out the noise of self-importance and make room again for the outsider.

Who is the “Gentile” or the “other” in your life right now—the person who feels on the outside looking in? How can you make space for them to pray, to be heard, and to belong?

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Rejected Every Day — He Kept Loving Anyway

Published by V John on March 31, 2026

Most of us picture Jesus’ suffering as concentrated into two defining moments — the forty days of temptation in the wilderness, and the final agonizing hours on the cross. But a closer reading of the Gospels reveals something more painful and more personal: rejection was not an exception in Jesus’ life. It was the atmosphere he breathed, from the very beginning to the very end.

It started at birth. Before he could walk or speak, he was already unwanted — a refugee infant carried by desperate parents into a foreign land, fleeing a king who wanted him dead. He grew up displaced, returning to Galilee as a stranger in his own homeland. And it never really got easier.

In Mark 10: 13-16, his own disciples — the men he had personally chosen and poured himself into — tried to turn children away from him. Not strangers. Not enemies. His closest friends from Galilee! Jesus was so troubled by this that the text says he was “indignant.” The very people entrusted with his message were the ones most likely to miss its point.

On the road to Jerusalem, an entire Samaritan village rejected him and didn’t want to have anything with Jesus. His disciples, James and John, were furious and asked Jesus to call down fire from heaven on the village. Jesus rebuked them. Not because he lacked the power, but because his mission was never destruction — it was always redemption.

And then there was Judas. A man who had sat at his table, heard his teaching, and witnessed his miracles — who sold him for the price of a common slave.

So how did Jesus survive it — not just the cross, but a lifetime of rejection?

His identity was not built on the approval of people. It was anchored in something no one could take from him — the voice of the Father, who had spoken over him at his baptism: “You are my beloved Son.” When the crowds called him a drunkard, a madman, demon-possessed, he did not crumble. He knew who he was because the Father had already said so.

And because his identity was secure, rejection could not control his behavior. He didn’t lash out at the disciples who kept getting it wrong. He didn’t curse the village that turned him away. He didn’t become bitter toward Judas. He absorbed the pain — and responded with love anyway.

This is where the story becomes personal.

Most of us handle rejection by building walls, going quiet, or nursing a wound until it hardens into bitterness. Jesus invites us into something harder and more beautiful: to love the people who have hurt us, not because they deserve it, but because we have been loved the same way.

He was rejected so that you could be accepted. He carried the world’s hostility so you would not have to carry it alone.

Who is the person in your life right now who has rejected you? Who is your Samaritan? Who is your Judas? What would it look like today — not someday, but today — to choose love instead of bitterness, trusting that your worth is secured not by their opinion, but by what God the Father thinks and says about you.

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Lenten Reflections 2021: “Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people”

Lenten Reflections 2021: “Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people”

Published by V John on February 24, 2021

By @johnvinod | February 24, 2021

We have been reflecting on the book of the prophet Joel for the past one week. Today, I want you to read the second chapter again and then focus on 2:18: “Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people” (NRSV/ESV). This is a turning point in this prophecy. From the chapter first through chapter two and verse 11, Joel detailed the terrifying locust plagues and the judgement of the Lord. We are to assume here that the prophet’s call to penitence in 2: 12-17 was obeyed and people indeed returned to the Lord. We are also to assume a time-lag between these verses and verse 18. Therefore, now the prophet moves from talking about judgement to the restoration of Israel with verse 18 clearly marking that transition.

Verse 18 presents to us how a compassionate God responds to people with salvation when they truly repent and return to Him. He is eager to act with zeal to restoring both “his land” and “his people”! However, some translations show this verse as a promise with the future tense— “Lord will be jealous” (e.g. NASB/KJV). I believe, the past tense “Then the Lord became/was jealous” is a better rendering because the prophet describes a favorable action of the Lord in Joel’s time as God’s response to people who sincerely engaged in the penitence enjoined in 2: 12-17. This also fits well in Joel’s purpose of showing the actual purpose of the plague—not to destroy but to restore God’s people.

However, in verse 18, what does Joel mean when he says that God became “jealous”?

This term has been used several times in the Bible as an expression of God’s envy, zeal, passion, or ardent concern for his covenant people.

“because the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14 NRSV).
I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. (Isaiah 42:8 NRSV).

It has both positive and negative connotations—God is excited and worked up to defend his people when they are reviled, and he gets agitated with great wrath when they indulge in idol worship forsaking his uniqueness. God will not share his glory with another person or thing. As their Creator and covenant God, He loves and cares for his people so much that he grows envious when they go after false gods or engage in rebellious behaviour. Jealousy of God represents that He is always faithful to his covenant and will be agitated to lash out if our actions tend to undermine the covenant and compromise with his uniqueness in entertaining anyone else other than Him.

In Joel 2: 18, God was not only jealous but also had pity or compassion on his people, which stems from his being passionately concerned.

In the New Covenant, the church is described as the bride of Christ, which aptly explains why God is envious/jealous when the church would show even a semblance of unfaithfulness to the Bridegroom.

I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Corinthians 11: 2 NRSV).

When we human bridegrooms are not ready to tolerate any unfaithfulness and will do anything to protect our brides and partners, how much more will God be passionate about keeping loyalty in our relationship with Him! Therefore, jealousy is an attribute of our God who has a passionate concern and deep love and compassion for us, His chosen people. The current pandemic has exposed areas in church where we have not been faithful to him. We have callously erected our own golden calves in the form of political ideologies/parties/politicians. We are guilty of engaging in cultish behaviour with regard to the Christian leaders/speakers/pastors. Often, our reasons for gathering are determined by the popularity of the celebrity pastor/speaker rather than the Word or worship! We do not come so that the eternal Word would minister to us rather to listen to modish “great” presenters who can entertain us with their skills, oratory, or a flowery style of public speaking. We are found guilty of placing personalities and heroes or defenders of our faith on a pedestal where only God belongs. This Lenten season, may we sincerely heed to Joel’s call to repentance. And if we did, our gracious God will be jealous for our land and pity us in order to restore and save us. Amen!

For a paperback, contact vinod@vinodjohn.com

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Lenten Reflections 2021: How to be the Church in a Covid World?

Published by V John on February 22, 2021

By Vinod John @johnvinod | February 22, 2021

Please begin today’s devotion by reading the book of Joel again. I am sure you must be asking why there was a plague of locusts and what purpose did it serve for the people of God in Joel’s time? These are relevant questions to contemplate because of our own situation today, particularly when the worship, liturgy, gatherings, and in-person fellowship of the believers is adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Most churches, pastors, and worshippers are struggling. Some are completely denying that we are in the midst of a deadly pandemic even though they cannot deny the apparent disruption of life, death, and devastation it has caused. Some Christians are furious over the restrictions, have grown weary, and some have become so skeptical of their governments, authorities, and even medical professionals/scientists that they are easily falling prey to believing and spreading harmful conspiracy theories.

In Joel’s theology, one of the primary causes of the locust plague was the corruption that has set in the Old Testament Church—their liturgy, worship, and the ministry of Yahweh God in the Temple. The nerve center of Judaism was the Temple and what happened in and around the Temple influenced the life of the Jewish people. Joel preached that it was both the immoral life of believers whom he calls “drunkards” (Joel 1:5) and the corrupt attitude of the priests that was responsible for the plague. The priests become cavalier in their approach to their ministry and the dereliction of their God appointed duties has led to the dilution of the sanctity of life and liturgy at the Temple. Moreover, the drunkenness of the people, participation of farmers in the fertility cults, idol worship, and the lack of purity in sacrifices had not only perverted the worship, but it also led to syncretism and undermining the uniqueness of Yahweh as their only covenant God. Joel says that to grab their attention, God let the plague get so severe that it disrupted the continuous sacrifices and offerings at the Temple to the extent that the very existence of the temple liturgy and priesthood was at stake.

Nevertheless, the message of Joel is not that the Temple worship must be completely abandoned because it was corrupted and threatened by the plague. On the contrary, Joel preached that it must be revamped and transformed by restoring “the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12: 14 ESV). And for Joel, this begins with the priests and worshippers alike repenting, becoming humble before the Lord, asking forgiveness from the Lord, forsaking their sinful ways, and renewing their covenant with their only God, Yahweh. For Joel, even though the prophets like himself have condemned the corporate worship and ungodly liturgy of the Temple, their purpose was to ultimately reform it rather than reject it entirely. How can we say this with confidence? Well, if you carefully read Joel, and some other prophets like Hosea and Amos, you would clearly note that their message is of hope rather than doom and destruction. They proclaimed the “Day of the Lord,” and the coming of the Holy Spirit on all flesh and thus God would return, restore, and abide with His people on his holy hill!

Today, the pandemic has afforded the church, the holy bride of Christ, its believers, and ministers alike to sit back, lighten up, and rethink what the church is! Instead of taking part in the protests against governments’ restrictions and policies to keep people healthy and prevent further spread of infections, let us go back to the drawing board. Instead of choosing to suffer from a persecution complex, let us apply this time to read and research:

How and where the early church gathered and worshipped the Lord Jesus Christ in the face of a hostile and brutal Roman Empire?

How large were their gatherings?

How many times and where did they come together?

How did they celebrate their liturgies?

Was there a building or a gathering place that was called and understood as the “church”?

How did they live their lives daily in the public square?

How did they do missions in the marketplace?

As we do this research, I believe the Holy Spirit will give us insights. These insights in turn must lead us all to repent and ask forgiveness for the institutional and religious paraphernalia we have built in and around the holy Bride of Christ, the church. I believe our God has not abandoned the church today as he will never abandon His Bride. He wants to purify His Bride for the cause of His kingdom in this world. Therefore, the answer to improper worship and wrong ecclesiology is not no gathering and no church, rather it is the right and biblical church that God wishes for us to become His community of transformation on this earth until His second coming. Therefore, let us revive, remodel, restore, and refresh ourselves to discover new and innovative ways of being the holy Bride of Christ. Maranatha!

For paperback, please contact vinod@vinodjohn.com

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Lenten Reflections 2021: Return to the Lord!

Published by V John on February 18, 2021

Rev. Dr. Vinod John @johnvinod | February 18, 2021

I would invite you today to read again the tiny book of Joel in one sitting as it has only three chapters. The message of the book of Joel is never passé. In fact, Joel’s message has relevance for the whole world today more than ever no matter where you live. It is expressly because Joel’s context and ours are quite similar today. In Joel’s time, Israel went through a devastating plague—an invasion of devouring locusts. They had eaten and destroyed everything in their way and turned the green pastures of Israel to desolate. The food supply was almost destroyed, and people were crying out for help.

 “The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
 How do the beasts groan!
 the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate” (Joel 1: 18 KJV).

Moreover, the liturgical worship of God in the Temple was also adversely affected to the extent that its daily offerings had almost diminished:

 “The grain offering and the drink offering are cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn, the ministers of the Lord” …
 “Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God!
Grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God” (Joel 1: 9; 13 NRSV)

We are in the second year of an unprecedented and deadly pandemic since 2020 and there seems to be no end in site, despite the new vaccines that might help prevent Covid-19 infections. The world economies are faltering and will remain unstable in the aftermath of this pandemic. Therefore, I think we need to heed prophet Joel’s timely call to repentance. While prophesying in the context of a dreadful plague of locusts that affected all aspects of their life, including the religious worship, Joel pleads with Israel to return to the Lord. He preaches a message of hope. He reveals the nature and intent of God, that is not to destroy the people of Israel but to save them. If they repented of their disobedience and returned from their evil ways to the living God, Joel promises that God would pity them and restore them. Joel also reveals that in a post repentance and restoration era, God would bring about a new reality, that is, the Spirit of God abiding with them (see, Joel 2: 28-29). We shall ponder on this aspect in the coming days along with Joel’s apocalyptic predictions.

However, today, let us shift our focus from the death, loss, and destruction brought about by the pandemic that we find ourselves in and instead let us focus upon the areas in our lives that need amending. What specific areas in our personal and church life do we need to do penitence? What are the specific areas in which we need to turn back from disobedience to obedience? May the Lord help us locate these areas and let us return to the Lord seeking His grace and forgiveness for our Creator God is merciful and will restore us.

In our churches, what we loved the most—our in-person corporate worship and fellowship—have been curtailed by this evil pandemic. However, let us use this time to reflect upon our church life and its sins, disobedience, and complicity. How has our church been doing in the midst of racism, sexism, bigotry, sectarianism, favoritism, ethnocentricity, preferentialism, xenophobia, discrimination, immorality, dogmatism, celebrity worship, false saviors, and several other areas that this Lent season may reveal to us? Perhaps, you do not see this visibly in your church, but has your church been apathetic to these issues and their presence in and around the church? If so, may we heed the call of Joel who called the Temple priests, too, to repentance:

"Put on sackcloth and lament, you priests; wail, you ministers of the altar.
Come, pass the night in sackcloth, you ministers of my God!" (Joel 1:13 NRSV).
“Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, …” (Joel 2: 17 KJV).

For a paperback, please contact vinod@vinodjohn.com

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Lenten Devotions 2015: What did Jesus finish on the cross?

Published by V John on April 3, 2015

Traditionally, on Good Friday, the church preaches on the seven “words” of Christ from the cross. There is no way to ascertain how many times Jesus spoke and what exactly he said; however, the gospel writers bring the seven words to us, although, in no particular order. In the churches I have served, it is customary to request a few lay people to speak on these seven words for the Good Friday service. Every time I have to do this, I face a considerable challenge assigning “the words” to different people because everyone has a favorite “word” from the cross that they would like to speak on. I am sure, you, too, have a favorite “word.” Well, my favorite word out of the seven words from the cross is: “It is finished!”

“When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19: 30)

This last word of Jesus Christ is found only in the gospel of John and in the original Greek the term used is “tetelestai.” The root term “teleo” means “to accomplish, finish, end, or pay”. So, “tetelestai” meant “consummation,” “completed,” or “paid in full.” This term was often used, in the New Testament period, on business documents or receipts when the payment was made in full and the deal was considered complete. For me, it is one of the most poignant and cryptic words that Jesus ever spoke. I don’t think anyone else ever spoke three words more pregnant with deeper spiritual and theological meaning and implication than “it is finished.” These three words are so deep that I could never actually fathom their full meaning because no one could ever enter Jesus’ mind to see what all he really meant by saying, “it is finished.” Nonetheless, this last word of Christ is the culmination of all efforts of mankind to find or please God as well as the zenith of God’s work for our salvation.

In this word of Christ the very intent, mind, and purposes of God for the world are actualized.

In this word of Christ all prophetic utterances of the holy men and women down through the centuries are actualized.

In this word of Christ all claims of Jesus Christ and his “I am” sayings in the gospel are actualized.

In this word of Christ all hopes and aspirations of mankind through the ages are actualized.

In this word of Christ the much longed for forgiveness of our sins is actualized.

In this word of Christ the healing of the nations is actualized.

In this word of Christ all promises of God made to humanity are actualized.

In this word of Christ your healing from all diseases (“with his strips we are healed – Isaiah 53: 5; I Peter 2: 24) is actualized.

In this word of Christ the final salvation and redemption of mankind is actualized (John 3: 16).

In this word of Christ the triumph of Jesus Christ over all his enemies is actualized…and the last enemy to be destroyed is death (I Corinthians 15: 26).

I am sure you could add a few more statements to the above list and I would encourage you to do so in the comments below. In the meantime, let us make use of these accomplishments of Christ personally in our life and also make every effort to share them with others who do not yet know about this word voiced by Christ on the cross more than 2000 years ago. Would you please do this? Amen!

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Lenten Devotions 2015: Revisiting the past, hoping for the future.

Published by V John on April 2, 2015

The Jewish religious authorities, Sadducees, and Pharisees of Jesus’ time often accused him of breaking away from the orthodox Jewish teachings and practices. He was hated for creating trouble or confusing people, because of his unorthodox approach to the Mosaic Law, to the extent that fearing the consequences of his actions, Jews had him crucified. Nevertheless, the night before his crucifixion, Jesus Christ celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem with his disciples in a very traditional manner. No, he did not even leave it for the last moment, but had it planned in advance with the help of his friends and disciples (Matthew 26: 17-19).

Jesus observed the Passover because he fully believed in the past and also in the hope it provided for the future. However, unlike many Jewish authorities, he refused to be stuck in the past and its traditions. Jesus knew that the Passover was significant not only for its historicity but also for what it promised for the future of the people of God. The Passover not only reminded people who they were and where they had come from but also filled them with the hope of a coming Messiah who would establish God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Therefore, in that “Upper Room” in Jerusalem, Jesus kept the Passover for remembering the slavery and the sufferings of the Israelites and the salvific story of the Exodus. Jesus remembered with his disciples the wanderings, failures, and the victories of his people in the past and the amazing story of holding onto the hope of their own home in the peaceful Promised Land. On the other hand, as was Jesus’ custom, he made a significant departure from the traditional Passover meal. Jesus took the ritual bread, dedicated it and declared it as his own body. Jesus also took the traditional cup of wine, which promised the return of the Prophet Elijah, and declared it as his own blood that signifies forgiveness and the ultimate promise of his own return along with the hope of His Kingdom.

“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the[d] covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom. When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26: 26-29 NRSV).

Notice that after the Passover meal, Jesus left the house with his disciples in a symbolic action as most Jews would leave Jerusalem where they had come to observe the Passover. Similarly, you and I, who are abundantly fed by the Lord’s life, must leave the place of our fellowships, our conveniences, our comforts, and go out to do what Jesus has taught us in his last Passover observance. Let us go out to love and serve our fellow believers even to the extent of kneeling before them and washing their dirty/smelly feet. Let us go out of our rituals and traditions that bind us and restrict us to the past; instead, let us look and work for the future, freedom, and hope that Christ brings by establishing His Kingdom. Amen.

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