Exploring My Strange Bible - Jesus' Final Words

Episode Date: March 5, 2018

You find these words only in the crucifixion account in the Gospel of John. And these words bring into culmination a whole theme throughout the entire story of John’s Gospel. This sermon was from some of my very early days as a pastor at Door of Hope Church. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Tim Mackey, Jr. utterly amazing and worth following with everything that you have. On this podcast, I'm putting together the last 10 years worth of lectures and sermons where I've been exploring the strange and wonderful story of the Bible and how it invites us into the mission of Jesus and the journey of faith. And I hope this can be helpful for you too. I also help start this thing called The Bible Project. We make animated videos and podcasts about all kinds of topics in Bible and theology. You can find those resources at thebibleproject.com. With all that said, let's dive into the episode for this week. All right, well, in this episode, we're going to just take one teaching, one episode to explore some of the most famous words of Jesus that he uttered while he was being crucified when he said

the words, it is finished. Find these words only in the crucifixion account found in the Gospel of John. And these words actually bring to culmination, they complete and finish a whole theme that's been developing throughout the entire story of John's gospel. So, it's really powerful. I learned so much in prepping and studying for this teaching. Also significant, there's no reason why you need to know this, but it's just interesting, at least for me personally. Teaching. This was the first teaching I gave at Door of Hope as a pastor there. I had just been invited to come on staff. I hadn't even moved back to Portland from Wisconsin, where I had moved from Portland earlier to go to graduate school. So I was still living in Wisconsin. I was visiting Portland, getting all kinds of moving details arranged. We found an apartment and all that kind of stuff. This was quite a number of years ago. Anyhow, for me, it's significant because now this passage that I,

when I was in town, I gave this teaching, this story, and these words of Jesus from John 20 now are in my mind forever associated with that season of huge transition for me and my family. They're great memories. I'm really grateful for it. So anyway, just that's in the background, at least for me, as I'm giving this teaching. And I think I talk about that some. And so there you go. Let's dive in and learn together. Grab your Bibles with me and turn to John chapter 19. Where's the center? Is this the center? Okay, the last service I guess I was off-center, but I am slightly off-center in general.

Chapter 19, you have to be off-center to think you want to get a PhD in Hebrew, but that's another matter altogether. Okay, chapter 19, verse 28. That's another matter altogether. Okay, chapter 19, verse 28. Later on, knowing that everything had now been finished and so that the scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. And again, you explored this last week, Josh,

about what's going on there and its significance for us. He said, I am thirsty. And so a jar of wine vinegar was there. And so they soaked a sponge in it and put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant. It's such a random detail, but tuck it away for later. They lifted it to Jesus' lips. When he received the drink,

Jesus said, it is finished. And with that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit, which is a Jewish way of saying he breathed his last. He died. Knowing that all things were finished, he said, it is finished. This is the word of the Lord. So this may or may not, I don't know, be a familiar word to you. I think in terms of Jesus's final words from the cross, this is one of the most familiar ones. It is finished. And I think it's one of those phrases or one of those stories in the Bible where you go, yeah, it's finished. He died. You know, it's over with. And we might pass on. And to do that would be to miss, to miss a gem that John has put right in front of us here. So the gospel of John works a lot like this,

especially in the final chapters, Jesus's passion and his crucifixion, his resurrection, passion and his crucifixion, his resurrection, the words, the language, the imagery at this final stories of the gospel are all summing up and hitting on motifs and language and things that you have already read in the book. And so when Jesus says it is finished, and when John tells us in verse 28, Jesus knew that everything had been finished, right? He repeats the word twice and he's trying to throw the ball into your court. He's winking at you saying, hint, hint, do you remember this? You've read this about three or four times already in the book about Jesus needing to finish a work. We just read right over it. But John, there's a story behind the story here that John has laid there for us to explore. And so I want to help us get a fresh angle

on what Jesus is getting at here and has profound implications for how we think about what it means to be a follower of Christ and to live in light of the finished work of the cross. So let me unpack this from a bit of an angle, try and tap into an experience maybe some of us have had before.

And I think it'll help us read the text with a fresh set of eyes. So, as some of you know, I grew up here in Portland, just a couple blocks away, so it's just poetry that I'm coming back here to Door of Hope. Some people think that would be suffocating, like go back to your hometown two blocks from where you grew up.

But I think living in southern Wisconsin is suffocating. So I don't know. For me, this is suffocating. So I don't know. For me, this is like the promised land. I don't know. So I'm really quite excited to move back. So we packed up and we moved away from Portland nine years ago so I could go to graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, big, huge state university, like 50,000 students.

And they have a department of Jewish studies, Hebrew Bible, Jewish studies. And I'm a Bible geek, so I went there. And about a number of years studies, Hebrew Bible Jewish studies, and I'm a Bible geek, so that I went there. And about, you know, a number of years in, we realized, oh, this is going to take a while, and we didn't quite know how long we were going to be there, so we thought, all right, let's buy a house. I think that might be a wise investment. We didn't have much, so we thought, let's buy a small, dumpy fixer-upper. That'd be a good idea. uh just totally turn the whole thing over and maybe by the time we move you know maybe you know that could have been in our favor or something like that

not so much but that's another story altogether let me show you a picture of the house because this has actually been a very meaningful uh part of my own life journey of being somebody who actually loves jesus in my day-to-day life when I'm fixing up my house, which was very difficult for me. But you'll see in a second here. So here's the house when we bought it here, 3726 Hillcrest. So yes, I did buy a pink house.

I don't know if the colors show it to you there, but it was a genuine pink house. It used to be salmon, but the sun turned it pink. And so it's like aluminum siding, and all the windows are like old single pane, you know, kind of like the house was built in the 40s and it was like kind of blobby or whatever, blurry when you look through the windows, you know what I mean? It's kind of older glass, really drafty. It's freezing cold there in the winter. So I took that picture in the winter. That's obvious, yeah. But so this is what Wisconsin is like about five months out of the year.

No green anywhere. No green. Just gone. Gone. You begin to forget that green ever existed. And by this, so, and there you go. So this was the house that we are, that we're saying goodbye to. And actually, a cool story connected with this.

So when we were here in January, end of January, and Josh and the elders, they offered for me to come on the staff team. We said yes. And so we got home and just next day calling up realtor and got to sell this house, this one right here. And so that was, we put the house up on the market on a Thursday. And Friday was the first Friday of February. It was all-night prayer. Does anybody remember all-night prayer from February? So I called Josh and was like, could you guys pray that our house sells? Because it's a dead market here. Did anyone pray for our house? I talked to one person so far today. Well, thank you. Thank you. Some of you are like, I don't know. I know somebody prayed a house would sell. So the house went on the market on Thursday afternoon. And 48 hours later, we had three offers on our house. And so the house sold two days later.

And so that's really great. So, you know, it's one of those things where like, I'm a pastor. I shouldn't be surprised that prayer actually works. You know what I mean? But I totally was. So there you go. I don't know if that's your journey too.

So the house sold very quickly. And so this Friday, we're going, flying back tomorrow to Wisconsin. This Friday, we're going to turn the keys over to David Verbin. Never met him. And then April 23rd, we're going to fly out here. And we landed a place this week, right here close in. And so we're just stoked. The Lord's just put it, put it all together. So this is the house that we're going to say goodbye to. That Friday, I'm going to hand the keys over. And you know, I'm kind of proud of it. It looks nice. But it masks the whole story. Like, it looks like the happy family or something like that. But what that doesn't tell you is the journey through blood, actual blood, and sweat, and tears, and the life,

energy, and the desire to live that this house robbed me of over the last three and a half years. So I'm not handy, but I thought, hey, you know, I'll totally take this on. Like, first project, yeah, let's refurbish all of the wood floors in the house. That should take just about three days or so.

I got a buddy who has this sander or whatever. And so 11 days later, and, you know, much more money than I anticipated. And so everything was like that, you guys. I just, it was unbelievable. It just came this money pit. And it was like every weekend, the last three and a half years, it was just robbed. Just like, you got to work on the house. Got to, because we're going to sell this thing. Got to get this thing turned over. Every, you know, and baseboard molding and cutting my fingers all the time. So anyway, I, I cannot tell you, I cannot tell you, after those 48 hours and we got an offer and we accepted it

and negotiated the terms, it was just like this sense of deep relief. I don't know, anybody tracking with me here? You know what I'm saying? Have you ever had an experience like this where you're just like, this thing's been hanging over my head for years. I would have dreams about what I had to do next in the house. And then it was the moment, the moment that offer came, sign the papers. This Friday, I'll hand over the keys. I mean, you guys know what I'm talking about, an experience like that before. So I don't know what form that would take for you. We have these experiences at times in life. If you're a student, it comes once exam week is over, right? If you are in debt or something and have a loan, it comes when you pay it off. And some of you are like, yeah, when that day comes, right? Or think about

different scenarios where I've had this experience before, where you've been in a relationship that you know is not, that's not your future. You know what I'm saying? You got to have that hard conversation. You're dreading it. You have the conversation. It's over. It's done. That sense of, oh, it's relief. Relief. Relief. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? If you can lock into that experience, it's done. It's done. You might think about it again, but that would be a waste of your mental energy because it's finished. You don't have to think about it anymore. If you can lock into an experience you've had like that, you will be able to read this text with a fresh set of eyes. Jesus is saying his work is finished. It's twice. Twice he says it here, yes? First it says,

John says that he knew that everything was finished, and then he says it here, yes? First it says, John says that he knew that everything was finished. And then he says it is finished. Now I'm a bit of a Bible geek and so on. And so, you know, I like Bible language and culture. And so you're going to learn a bit of that as long as I'm around. Is that okay with you? Good. Doesn't matter if it's okay or not. I ask you the question to empower you.

But the reality is I'm just going to do it anyway. So here's the word that John uses and Jesus uses. You'll see it up here. It's the Greek word over here on the left. The word is pronounced toleo. Toleo. Why don't you say it with me? Toleo.

Toleo. It's translated here just to finish, or some of your translations might have to accomplish. To accomplish. But in English, it may or may not. I suppose it may. We might just say, oh, it's finished. It's done. Something like that. But in language, Jesus is using the language of the biblical authors in Greek. It has a different nuance that our English word finish may or may not

have. It has to do with purpose. Purpose. We bought that dumpy little house for one purpose, not to have a good time, you know what I say? For the purpose of fixing it up. And when I hand over the keys, sign an offer, and so on, it's finished because the goal, the long-term goal, has come to its end, right? It's about completion of an intention. Jesus knows that everything that was supposed to happen, happened. Jesus knows that everything that was supposed to happen, happened. He says it's fit to load. It's finished.

It's done. Now, what is that, though? So what is it that Jesus knows and declares has come to its completion? What purpose has been fulfilled? And again, that's what John has laid here for us. You're actually just supposed to know. Well, of course, his life is going to be finished. Not for long course his life is going to be finished not for long but it is going to be finished so what else is being finished here and to do that we need to

do a little aerial tour of the theme of finish and work in the gospel of john you guys ready to follow a little trail of breadcrumbs with me yep again remember i'm just empowering you but come play the game with me come on come on so on. So yes, yes, we are. Turn to John chapter one with me. What does Jesus think that he's finishing? What intended purpose is he bringing to completion? John chapter one. After the introduction, we're introduced to this hairy man who is down by a river and he is proclaiming a fiery message towards the people of God. His name is John the Baptist. Verse 29 of chapter 1. The next day, John saw Jesus coming towards him and he said, look, it's the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Now, just put yourself in that story there.

You're there, you know, you've been hearing about this strange hairy man who eats honey and insects. You know what I mean? That's weird. And he has this fiery message down by the river. So lots of people are going down to see him. You happen to be down there one day. And you know, you see one of his relatives, because everybody's related to everybody back then. And you see this guy, oh, he's Jesus of Nazareth. He's related

cousin, something like that. And then John just blurts this out. Look, it's a lamb. It's a lamb of God. You know what I mean? Like, think how bizarre, what a bizarre experience that would be. Actually, it's a human, you know, it's a biped, it's two legs, you know. So it's not a lamb. It's not a lamb at all. And John's like, no, you're the one who doesn't get it, actually. So what this man is here to do so far exceeds anyone's expectations. He's here to deal with a problem that strikes at the heart of human existence, our experience of brokenness and sin, the inward selfishness of every human heart. There's just, it's writ large, this tragedy in our world and in our lives. He's here to deal with that. He's the Lamb of God. This is a Jewish image, right? They're all

Israelites, Jewish people. It's a Jewish image. He's striking a note here that all of his hearers would resonate with. It's the Passover story, right? Of the lamb that is slaughtered on the night that the Israelites were rescued out of Egypt. You guys remember the story? It's Passover. So a lamb is slaughtered and the blood of this lamb was supposed to be smeared on the doorframe around the house, whoever house. And what were they supposed to smear the blood on the doorframe with? Hyssop. A branch of hyssop, which is a common Middle Eastern tree. What was the kind of branch that was offered to Jesus as he bled on the cross? It was hyssop. Every word's intentional in the Gospel of John. hyssop. Every word's intentional in the gospel of John. And so the lamb is slain, and while justice is visited on Egypt's sin and injustice, those who are covered by the blood of the lamb are spared,

and they're rescued and redeemed. And so John takes that whole story, and he applies it to Jesus of Nazareth as he walks. He walks. Right from the first page, Jesus has a mission. as he walks. He walks. Right from the first page, Jesus has a mission. Somehow it will involve his death as a sacrifice so that others can be spared. Why don't you turn the page to it with me. Chapter four, following the breadcrumbs of Jesus' mission. Chapter four, Jesus is having, we're going to tune in to verse 31. Chapter four, Jesus, he's talking with a woman, which in his culture is first, no, no, talking to a woman, a man talking to a woman in a public place, not married to, not related to. Traditional patriarchal culture, you don't do that kind of thing. You're bringing yourself into disrepute. You could harm the reputation of the woman and so on. And not only

that, she's not even Jewish, right? She's a Samaritan, which is somewhat related. They were very much outcast and ostracized by the Jewish people. And Jesus has a whole conversation with this woman. It's a powerful story. He just, he knows her heart, just speaks right into her life, and she comes to believe in him as the Messiah. So right as she goes away, she's going away telling her friends that she's encountered the Messiah, Jesus. And verse 31, there's a classic scene. Verse 31, meanwhile, the disciples urged him and they're like, Rabbi, why don't you eat something? You know, you've been sitting around talking to people. Why don't you eat something? And Jesus said, he says to them, I have food to eat that you don't know anything about. Then his disciples said to each other,

did someone bring him some food? I'm sorry, did I miss something? So you're supposed to laugh, right? This is humor in the Bible. Yeah, you're supposed to laugh, right? So this is another theme in the Gospel of John. Jesus is impenetrable half the time, yeah? Has anybody ever had a difficult time understanding Jesus? Yeah, it's okay to say yes. You know? So, and so this is, it happens all the time. His disciples will come and say, Rabbi, you know, you should do this or that.

Why don't you do this or that? And then he'll respond in this weird, opaque statement. And you're like, what? You know, why don't you eat something? I have food that you know nothing about. You're like, what on earth? That's so weird. Some of you have friends like this, don't you?

You're just like, I have no idea what they're saying half the time. So there you go. So Jesus, I'm sorry, this is a bit of a tangent, but I just, it seems like this that make me, in the Bible, that make you realize, you know, we often think, oh, to be united with Jesus or to spend time with him or so on. And I think half the time we would just be going like, this guy is so weird. So I have food to eat that you don't know anything about. Did someone bring him food? And Jesus is like, yeah,

yeah. My food, my food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to what? What does he say? And to finish his work. What's the Greek word right there? Greek scholars. You know that now. he say? And to finish his work. What's the Greek word right there? Greek scholars. You know that now. My food, what makes me, what motivates and drives and energizes me is not bread or water. It's to walk in relationship, being led and following the will of the Father. I'm here to bring to culmination the work that he's given me to do. Don't you guys have a saying, it's still four months until the harvest. I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields.

They are ripe for the harvest. And he goes on to develop this harvest imagery here. Again, very Jewish image. It's drawn from the prophets, the Hebrew prophets, that at the end of the age, there would be a great harvest of God's people. Those who have soft hearts would be gathered, and repentant hearts who recognize God's redemption

and rescue for them, they'll come in this harvest, right? And so Jesus says this Samaritan woman, this outcast woman to you guys, has just been brought into the harvest. That's what I'm here to do. He says, open your eyes. There's lots more. We're in the Samaritan village. Lots more Samaritans around. This is part of the mission. Whatever Jesus is doing on the cross, he is dying in the place of others. He's the lamb of God, but he's also to leoing something else. He's finishing this work of gathering in or creating, creating a moment so that the harvest can be gathered. It's a part of, it's a part of what's being finished here. He's here to finish

this work. Turn the page with me. Chapter five. In chapter 5, Jesus heals. He heals a man who cannot walk. He's in Jerusalem. And it's the Sabbath. It's the day of rest. You're not supposed to work. That's the whole point. You don't work. It's a way of symbolically demonstrating that my worth as a human being and God's image is not, it's not, doesn't hang on my ability to produce, but to rest in the energy and grace God gives me. It's a Sabbath. And so a whole bunch of religious traditions in Jewish, Jewish culture had grown up around the Sabbath. Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath and it sparks controversy. Is he working on the Sabbath? And look at what Jesus says here.

This is classic, verse 16. So because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him and in his defense, Jesus said to them, you know, my father is always at his work to this very day and so I too am working. For this reason, they tried all the more to kill him. Not only because he was breaking the Sabbath, So here's a great way to take religious people off, essentially. This is one thing we're learning from this story, right?

So, is you claim that God is opposed to man-made religious traditions that have become more oppressive than they have liberative and healing and grace-filled? That's what Jesus is doing here. And who does he say is working on the Sabbath? He says, I'm working on the Sabbath. You're darn right I am. I just healed this guy. He's working on the Sabbath.

And who else does he say is working on the Sabbath? God. Yeah, that'll take religious people off. You know what I'm saying? Like, so God's opposed to the way you've set up the Sabbath at this point. God's here working in and through me. He makes himself equal with God. Look at verse 36. Here's the whopper here. Verse 36. He says, I have testimony weightier than that of John for the works that the Father has given me to what? To Taleo, to finish. These are the very works that I am doing. They testify that the Father has sent me. So despite the fact that Jesus is breaking social convention,

he's breaking their religious customs. He's finishing the work. This is part, and what has Jesus done in the context of the story? What's he done? He's healed a man, right? He's included a man who was crippled. He could not walk, which created him as, put him in a category,

social category of theirs as an outsider. He wouldn't be allowed in the temple precincts and so on. And so Jesus, yes, he's physically healing this man, but he's also restoring him, restoring him into the community of worship, restoring him into the community of his followers. It's healing, it's healing. This is a part of the work that Jesus comes to finish.

He says right here, I've come to do this, to bring healing and hope to those who have no hope and who are in need of healing. So Jesus comes as the lamb who will die so that others will be spared. Jesus comes to include those in the harvest who might not otherwise be included. He comes to bring healing and hope. This is all part of his work that needs to be finished. That's what he's here for. Last passage, go to chapter 17 with me. It's our last little stop in the trail of breadcrumbs.

This is Jesus' final hours with his closest followers. This is the last night, right? He just had the last meal with them. Chapter 18, he's going to be arrested and then up to the cross. In chapter 17, he utters this beautiful prayer on behalf of those who will follow him. Let's just read the first paragraph, chapter 17, verse 1. After Jesus said this, what he said beforehand, that's rather obvious, isn't it? He looked toward heaven and he prayed. He prayed, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you, for you granted him

authority over all people that he might give eternal life to those who you have given him. Now this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have brought glory on earth by what? By finishing the work. What's the Greek word? Finish? By bringing to full completion the work that you have given me to do. And so now, Father, Now there's about 20 awesome things going on in this paragraph. Let's just point out one, right? So he says, I'm reaching the moment, I'm now finishing this work, this mission that you've given me.

And all that comes before should be in our minds right here. And what does he say is the work that he's finishing here? He's giving eternal life to those who turn to him. And how does he define eternal life right here? Did you see it there? There's anything about clouds and harps here, right? Pearly gates or whatever. I don't know. What does he say is eternal life right here? It is to what? To know the one true God. So again, this is all tapping into imagery from the Hebrew prophets here. When the Messiah comes, he will bring a kingdom of justice. He will challenge those who are, challenge the wicked, challenge those who are broken, create an offer to repent, somehow absorb into himself the pain and the sin,

become the lamb who will die so that others can be spared. He'll include and offer the harvest to those who will enter God's kingdom with soft, repentant hearts. He will bring healing and hope, and he will grant eternal life, which is to experience the joining of heaven and earth. It's experiencing in advance what will happen when Jesus returns in the new creation.

It's to know and be known by the one true creator God. This is a mystery. It's at the heart of the Christian experience. It's not just to do religious duties. It's to be invited into a vital,

living, grounded relationship with the one who made me. To know the one true God and be known. To be fully known. How many of us, you don't have to raise your hands

to say this, but how many of you, I mean, come on, you wake up in the morning to be fully known every, every fully known by your creator through Christ we're invited

into that fully known, fully knowing relationship through Christ that's a part of the work that he came to accomplish. And so we turn the page to chapter 19 and Jesus, he's hanging. He's hanging on the cross and somehow he knows that in this moment his work is brought to completion. He's dying in the place of others so that they can be spared. And in so doing, he's removing this barrier of broken human beings to their creator God

so they can experience eternal life. They can be included in the harvest and find healing and hope. All of that should be ringing in our ears as we hear our savior proclaim, it is finished. It's finished. It's profound. It's very profound. It's done.

Whatever Jesus is accomplishing here doesn't need to be accomplished again. It's finished. It's finished. It's done. On Friday, I'll hand the keys of my house over to David Verbin. God bless you, David. All right, it's done. I don't have to think about it again. How many of us actually live, just really think about this, live every part of your life,

your relationship, how you approach work and vocation, relationship to your family, whatever, from a place of deep peace and rest because you know in your bones that the most important thing in your life is already done.

I mean, can you imagine living from that place of deep rest? In Hebrew, they call that shalom. Shalom, abundance, harmony, well-being. It's knowing it's finished. And so here's the irony, I think. When we read a passage like this,

we think, oh, it's finished, he's dead. Okay, all right. So there's more going on here. He's the Lamb of God. He's including me in the harvest. He brings healing and hope, eternal life. But I think this is the strange thing about hearing passages in the Bible over and over again

or when the gospel becomes familiar is you lose that vital edge that pierces your heart. And as I've been prayerfully pondering this and what does it mean for the work of the cross to be finished for us, I begin to, at least just personally, reflect on the fact that I, there's actually a number of ways that I live

as if the work of the cross is not finished. Even though Jesus says that it is, I actually live in ways that say and proclaim that it's not finished. And I think we all do this. and proclaim that it's not finished. And I think we all do this. We do it in a couple ways. Some of us, we live as if the cross was unnecessary. And that happens when we get to a place where we begin to become hardened or numb to the depth and the gravity of our own brokenness and sin. And we think, yeah, you know, of course I'm,

of course I'm not perfect. Nobody's perfect. I'm flawed and so on. But you know, that whole Jesus having to die thing, wow, that's so extreme, you know? So, and there's lots of people in our culture. They're perfectly happy believing that they can have a relationship with the divine

or with the spirit or with God, whatever that might refer to. And it has nothing to do with Jesus because whatever the divine energy with the spirit or with God, whatever that might refer to. And it has nothing to do with Jesus because whatever the divine energy is or so, we'll just overlook, you know, I'm flawed, whatever, we're all flawed and so on. But I'm on good terms with God. And you might think, that's not really me.

I don't think like that. But I would submit to you, you're fully heading in that direction. The moment that my heart no longer grieves about my own brokenness and sin when my heart becomes hard I don't know what it means to be sad I've become totally unselfaware

of my own sin and selfishness and the point of the finished work of the cross is that it was necessary this is what had to happen the cross is not like some accident at the end of Jesus finished work of the cross is that it was necessary. This is what had to happen. The cross is not like some accident at the end of Jesus' life. You know, too bad, you know.

Think how many more people he could have healed or something. No, no. What he's saying is all of the healings and teachings pointed to this moment. All of those healings and teachings find their meaning in the cross where Jesus dies in the place of a broken, compromised humanity.

And so we live often as if the cross were not necessary when we make light of our sin or we don't take it seriously. And so to some of us here, I don't know, you know, don't know your story, to some of us here, the finished work of the cross, it gets in your face. And it reminds you of our grave circumstances. It came to this. It came to the Son of God having to come among us and stare our collective evil and guilt and injustice and sin, stare it in the eye and let it do its worst to him,

take him to the grave. It's finished, Jesus says. And so to some of us, the finished work of the cross, it'll get in your face, remind you of the gravity of your circumstances. And not that we become like a community of just miserable people all the time who hate ourselves or something. No, that's precisely not the point. But it's that we are a community of the broken. We're a community of the broken. It starts there. And so for some of us,

responding to the finished work of cross as we take the bread and the cup and worship and pray at night, becoming with a renewed sense of humility, of repentance, of confession, needing to do business with God. Some of us need to do that tonight. It might be the most important part of our weekend

and your day is what happens in the next half hour or so. But the finished work of the cross doesn't only speak a word of challenge. Always, always the gospel as it gets in your face, it puts its arm around you at the same time. And it gives you a word of grace and a word

and a word of hope. And the irony is that many of us actually, we don't live as if the cross was unnecessary. I think this might be more of us. I don't know. We live, actually, we live as if it never happened. We live as if the work was not finished because many of us, we have this compulsive desire to keep trying to finish what Jesus was doing on the cross for us, you know? We try and finish it ourselves. And this happens in lots of different ways. It happens by continuing to carry just this burden of guilt and shame

for the ways that we've hurt other people, the ways that we've hurt ourselves, right? We just constantly, you know, of course, I deserve this. This is what I had coming. This is what I get, you know? We live under the shadow. You don't know what I've done, man. You know, and I'll tell you right now, you know, you think nobody knows what really goes on in my heart about other people. And you're right. I don't know what goes in your

heart. And maybe I wouldn't want to be your friend if I really did. But I'm telling you, you wouldn't want me to be your pastor if you knew what went on in my heart. You know what I'm saying? Like we're a community of the broken. This is the reality of where we're at as human beings. And I don't have pockets deep enough to pay off the debt that I have racked up. You know what I'm saying? With God.

And neither do you. And what Jesus is pronouncing here, the finished work of the cross, it's a word of hope and a word of grace to people who live under the cloud of their own guilt and their own shame. You cannot finish what Jesus finished for you. He did it for you.

That's the whole point, and so for some of us, the word of the cross, the finished work, it's putting its arm around you. It's reminding you. Because of the cross, the cross is God's statement

to a broken humanity that we are objects of his love and of his grace under the cross. Amen? It doesn't matter who you are. It doesn't matter what you think could never be forgiven. It's trusting that the work of the cross is finished.

You're an object of God's love. And some of us need to hear that word tonight. And so as you come to the bread and the cup, let the finished work of Christ speak that word of grace and hope to you. It doesn't matter. With the gospel, it's always a new day. That's why it's good news.

To work as if the cross never happened, it would be as ridiculous as me, like, trying to fly to Wisconsin this summer and knock on David Verbin's door, you know, and say, hey, David, I know, like, I gave you the keys, but you mind if I clean your floors for you? You know, I just kind of feel like I should. You know, he would be like, you're a weirdo. Like, what do you think you're doing? It's done. You gave me the keys. And so some of us need to have some sort of analogous experience tonight that I'm going to have on Friday when I sign the

paper and turn the keys. You need to come and just say, Jesus, you finished it for me. It's done. This isn't mine anymore. You dealt with it on the cross. So I don't know where you're at. Some of us need to be challenged and let the cross get in our face tonight. Some of us need a word of hope and grace and let the gospel and the cross

put its arm around us tonight. I don't know where you're at, but I trust that the Spirit will do and say what he needs to say to you. We have a time of worship and song and prayer, the bread and the cup. It stations that you can take your own initiative. If you need prayer, and some of us, I wager, need to do business with God. And we have our prayer teams in the prayer rooms here. We'd love to pray with you and for you. But this is your chance to let the finished work of the cross do what it needs to do in your heart.

You guys, thank you for listening to Exploring My Strange Bible. We will explore something new and awesome and different from the Bible in the next episode. And you'll find out what it is when we get there. So see you next time.