Day 39: It is finished
Jesus stumbles again, his knees buckling under him, as they reach Golgotha, the designated spot for his crucifixion. His face is almost unrecognizable from the beatings and the blood that streams down from the crown of thorns they laughingly pressed on his head. The tunic he wears is stuck to his back which has been cut to ribbons by whips. The two centurions assigned to get him there, one on each side, lift him back up, supporting him under his arms as they survey the activity. Yes, everything looks in order. Today, they will crucify three men. The holes are ready to receive the upright beams. The other two criminals, who were strong enough to carry their own cross beams are already there, and the other centurions on crucifixion detail are getting them in place. Simon of Cyrene, conscripted from the crowd that lined the streets to Golgotha, arrives just behind Jesus and drops the crossbeam where the centurion motions, close to the second upright, and steps back.
While the crossbeam gets in place, another centurion approaches Jesus with the prescribed cup of wine mixed with copious amounts of bitter, narcotic gall. Most prisoners drink it down to deaden the pain and speed up their death, but Jesus shakes his head. Through cracked and swollen lips, Jesus tries to convey something about his Father, but it is hard to tell exactly what he’s saying. Impatiently, the centurion shrugs and says, “Have it your way,” and walks away. “It’s going to be a long day,” he shouts to the others.
Presently, Jesus is stripped down, positioned on the cross with nails driven into his hands and feet to keep him there. Three centurions lift the cross and drop it into the prepared hole. Now, they wait. The hours drag on as the day gets hotter. Jesus manages a few words to express love and forgiveness to those around him. He groans in agony and deep distress at being abandoned by his Father, and the skies go dark as creation moans in empathy. After almost six hours, he says, barely audibly, “I’m thirsty.” The centurion lifts a sponge soaked in wine vinegar to his lips. Moments later, Jesus rallies the small bit of energy he still has and cries out in a loud voice,
“It is finished.”
His body slumps forward, and the earth shakes violently in response.
The centurion, eyes wide with fear and recognition, drops to the ground and proclaims, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Vineyard Metaphor
One of the saddest sights in wine country is seeing a vineyard that has been ripped out. It catches your breath to see gnarled old vines that have produced fruit for many years lying haphazardly on their sides, roots exposed to the air.
Taking out a vineyard happens in the winter season when there are no leaves on the vine. The vines are left where they fall to dry out a bit. Later they are gathered into a large pile in the middle of the field to wait until they are dry enough to burn. The field will lie fallow for a season or two before the winegrower plants new vines.
Reflection and Meditation
While a metaphor of the shocking sight of a torn-up vineyard hardly approximates the horrible death Jesus suffered on the cross, it does give us a small insight into the Grand Story.
Think of it. Jesus refused the wine mixed with gall which would have made his death easier. Instead, as the Son of God who lived a perfect life on earth, he carried in his soul every sorrow, every pain, every injustice, every evil possible in the world while his life drained out of him on the cross. What suffering he endured, beyond even the human suffering of death on a cross.
Like the field of vines torn out, the old way of relating to God, including the system of animal sacrifices to atone for sin, is abolished with Jesus’ sacrificial death. Jesus is the perfect Lamb of God whose blood takes away the sin of the world, for good. The land will lie fallow for a bit, like Jesus in the grave. Soon, a new vineyard will be planted in the empty field, and like the new vineyard, a new relationship with God is possible with Jesus’ resurrection.
Jesus’ death and resurrection make it possible for anyone who believes in him to have an intimate, loving relationship with God… to enter IN to the everlasting communion of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This was God’s plan from the beginning.
Take a moment and ponder the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made. Imagine being in the crowd. In your imagination, are you close to the cross or perhaps a little farther away? Can you feel the heat of the noonday sun? Smell the sweat and blood? Does fear prickle your spine when the skies grow dark?
If you can, fix your eyes on his bloody and bruised body. His eyes, mostly swollen shut, search the crowd, and find your face. His mouth forms a tiny smile.
Feel the love he has for you. He has done everything to win your heart. How will you respond?
Rest in the deep love of Jesus.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”