It is really accomplished

436 it is really doneJesus made a telling statement about the Scriptures to a group of Jewish leaders who were persecuting Him: “The very Scriptures point to me” (John 5,39 New Geneva translation). Years later, this truth was confirmed by an angel of the Lord in a proclamation: "For the prophecy of the Spirit of God is the message of Jesus" (Revelation 1 Cor9,10 New Geneva translation).

Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders of Jesus' day ignored the truth of both scriptures and the identity of Jesus as the Son of God. Instead, the religious rituals of the temple in Jerusalem were at the center of their interest because they provided their own advantages. So they lost the God of Israel from their sight and could not see the fulfillment of prophecies in the person and in the service of Jesus, the promised Messiah.

The temple in Jerusalem was really magnificent. The Jewish historian and scholar Flavius ​​Josephus wrote: “The gleaming white marble facade is decorated with gold and of awe-inspiring beauty. They heard Jesus' prophecy that this glorious temple, the center of worship under the old covenant, would be utterly destroyed. A destruction that signaled God's plan of salvation for all humanity will be carried out in due time without this temple. What astonishment and what a shock it caused in people.

Jesus was obviously not particularly impressed with the temple in Jerusalem, and with good reason. He knew that God's glory cannot be surpassed by any man-made structure, however grand. Jesus told his disciples that the temple would be replaced. The temple no longer served the purpose for which it was built. Jesus explained, “Is it not written, 'My house shall be a house of prayer for all nations? But you have made it a den of thieves" (Mark 11,17 New Geneva translation).

Also read what the Gospel of Matthew says about this: “Jesus left the temple and was about to go away. Then his disciples came up to him and drew his attention to the splendor of the temple buildings. All of this impresses you, doesn't it? said Jesus. But I assure you: No stone will be left unturned here; everything will be destroyed” (Matthew 24,1-2, Luke 21,6 New Geneva translation).

There were two occasions when Jesus foretold the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. The first occurrence was his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, when people laid their clothes on the ground in front of him. It was a gesture of admiration for high-ranking figures.

Notice what Luke reports: “Now as Jesus drew near to the city and saw it lying before him, he wept for it and said, ‘If only you too had known today what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from you, you do not see it. A time is coming for you when your enemies will throw up a wall around you, besiege you, and harass you on all sides. They will destroy you and break down your children who dwell in you, and will not leave a stone unturned in the whole city, because you did not recognize the time when God met you” (Luke 19,41-44 New Geneva translation).

The second occurrence in which Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem occurred while Jesus was being led through the city to the place of his crucifixion. People crowded the streets, both his enemies and his devoted followers. Jesus prophesied what would happen to the city and the temple and what would happen to the people as a result of the destruction by the Romans.

Please read what Luke reports: “A large crowd followed Jesus, including many women who wailed and wept for him. But Jesus turned to them and said: Women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me! Weep for yourselves and for your children! For the time is coming when it will be said: happy are the women who are barren and have never given birth to a child! Then they will say to the mountains: Fall down on us! And to the hills, bury us” (Luke 2 Cor3,27-30 New Geneva translation).

We know from history that Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled some 40 years after his announcement. In AD 66 there was a revolt of the Jews against the Romans and in AD 70 the temple was torn down, most of Jerusalem was destroyed and the people suffered terribly. Everything happened just as Jesus said with great sadness about it.

When Jesus cried out on the cross, "It is finished," He was not only referring to the completion of His atoning work of redemption, but was also declaring that the Old Covenant (Israel's way of life and worship according to the law of Moses) fulfilled God's purpose for it had given, fulfilled. With Jesus' death, resurrection, ascension and the sending of the Holy Spirit, God in and through Christ and through the Holy Spirit has completed the work of reconciling all mankind to himself. Now what the prophet Jeremiah foretold is happening: “Behold, the time is coming, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not as was the covenant that I made with theirs fathers, when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, made a covenant which they did not keep, although I was their lord, says the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after this time, says the Lord: I will put my law in their hearts and write it on their minds, and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. And no one shall teach one another, nor one brother another, saying, "Know the Lord," but they shall all know me, both small and great, saith the Lord; for I will forgive them their iniquity and will never remember their sin" (Jeremiah 31,31-34).

With the words “It is finished” Jesus proclaimed the good news about the institution of the new covenant. The old is gone, the new has come. Sin was nailed to the cross and God's grace has come to us through Christ's redeeming act of atonement, allowing for the profound work of the Holy Spirit to renew our hearts and minds. This change allows us to participate in human nature renewed through Jesus Christ. What was promised and shown under the old covenant has been fulfilled through Christ in the new covenant.

As the Apostle Paul taught, Christ (the personified New Covenant) accomplished for us what the law of Moses (the Old Covenant) could not and should not accomplish. "What conclusion should we draw from this? Non-Jewish people have been declared righteous by God without any effort. They have received righteousness based on faith. Israel, on the other hand, in all its efforts to fulfill the law and thereby attain righteousness, has not achieved the goal that the law is about. Why not? Because the foundation upon which they built was not faith; they thought they could reach the goal through their own efforts. The obstacle they stumbled upon was "the stumbling block" (Romans 9,30-32 New Geneva translation).

The Pharisees of Jesus' time and the believers who came from Judaism were influenced by pride and sin through their legal attitude in the time of the Apostle Paul. They assumed that through their own religious endeavors they could attain what only God Himself by grace, in and through Jesus, can do for us. Their old covenant (work righteousness) approach was a corruption brought about by the power of sin. There was certainly no lack of grace and faith in the old covenant, but as God already knew, Israel would turn away from that grace.

That is why the New Covenant was planned in advance as the fulfillment of the Old Covenant. A fulfillment that was accomplished in the person of Jesus and through his ministry and through the Holy Spirit. He saved humanity from pride and the power of sin and created a new depth in relationships with all people around the world. A relationship that leads to eternal life in the presence of the Triune God.

To show the great significance of what took place on Calvary's cross, shortly after Jesus proclaimed, "It is finished," the city of Jerusalem was shaken by an earthquake. Human existence was fundamentally transformed, leading to the fulfillment of the prophecies regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and the establishment of the New Covenant:

  • The curtain in the temple that prevented access to the Holy of Holies was torn in two from top to bottom.
  • Graves opened. Many dead saints were raised.
  • Jesus was recognized by the audience as the Son of God.
  • The old covenant made way for the new covenant.

When Jesus cried out the words, "It is finished," He was declaring the end of God's presence in a man-made temple, in the "Holy of Holies." Paul wrote in his letters to the Corinthians that God now dwells in a nonphysical temple formed by the Holy Spirit:

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in your midst? Whoever destroys the temple of God destroys himself because he brings God's judgment upon himself. For the temple of God is holy, and that holy temple are you” (1 Cor. 3,16-17, 2. Corinthians 6,16 New Geneva translation).

The apostle Paul put it this way: “Come to him! It is that living stone which men have rejected, but which God himself has chosen and which in his eyes is priceless. Allow yourselves to be incorporated as living stones into the house that is being built by God and filled with His Spirit. Be established into a holy priesthood so that you may offer sacrifices to God that are of His Spirit—sacrifices that He delights in because they are based on the work of Jesus Christ. “You, however, are the chosen people of God; you are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to him alone, commissioned to proclaim his great deeds - the deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1. peter 2,4-5 and 9 New Geneva translation).

In addition, all of our time is set apart and made holy as we live under the New Covenant, which means that we participate in His ongoing ministry with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. Regardless of whether we work in our jobs in our jobs or are involved in our free time, we are citizens of heaven, the kingdom of God. We live the new life in Christ and will live either until our death or until the return of Jesus.

Dear ones, the old order no longer exists. In Christ we are a new creature, called by God and endowed with the Holy Spirit. With Jesus we are on the mission to live and pass on the good news. Let us do our part in the work of our father! By participating in the life of Jesus through the Holy Spirit we are one and connected with one another.

by Joseph Tkach


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