‘It is finished’ (John 19:30)

How we understand this last word, then, seems to depend on how it was said. John’s passion narrative is at great pains to emphasise that Jesus was in control of the events that led to his death, that he was in control throughout his trial, torture and execution. In the Garden, ‘knowing everything that was to happen to Him’ (John 18: 4), Jesus steps forward to meet the cohort sent to arrest Him and takes the initiative. From this point onwards Jesus is humiliated, tortured and ultimately executed. Yet St. John is careful to emphasise that this suffering was chosen, not because suffering is good in itself, but out of obedience to the will of the Father. In other words, Jesus chose the cross with a goal in view, the cross was a means to an end.

It seems to me to be quite important that the cross came to an end, both in the sense that the suffering lasted for a finite time and in the sense that the cross had a point, it had a meaning. One of the great tragedies of our fallen world is that so much human suffering can seem pointless, meaningless, absurd. When we contemplate the cross, we see human nature tortured by its own sin, humanity nailed by sin to the tree. Yet we also hear the God who has taken on our human nature tell us from the cross: ‘it is finished’. These are not words of despair but hope. If we join our sufferings to the cross of Christ, if we die with him, then we shall also live with him. The cross is not the last word. Our true end, our true human destiny, is the vision of God in heaven.