"It is finished."...but not for you.
06/06/22 Gospel Reflections
There is a challenge with interpreting Sacred Scripture. Naturally, when writing a reflection for readers one wants to make the text relevant for people living today, but one must also stay true to the context of the human author of Sacred Scripture. In the passage for today’s Gospel, readers find themselves at the foot of the cross. It is the passage in John’s Gospel where the Lord honors the beloved disciple by giving a familial bond with His mother—and all disciples. Of course, we also get in this passage St. Mother Teresa’s motto “I thirst.” Both passages I could write in more detail, but I wanted to highlight Jesus’ words from the cross just before His death:
“When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.”[1]
It is natural for Bible readers to ask, “What is finished?” The mission of Jesus Christ sent by the Father as the Incarnate Lord is finished by His death on the cross to free humanity from the bonds of sin. The Greek for. “finished” conveys something deeper here because its the stem for “telos,” or end. Francis Martin and William M. Wright IV explain, “By laying down his life, Jesus loves his disciples to the “end” (telos) (13:1), thus accomplishing the Father’s work of salvation. In this way, Jesus reveals the utmost depths of God’s love for the world.”[2]
So, is that it? Is there nothing left to be done?
The Gospels and the New Testament are diverse texts, The human authors differ in their authorial audiences and the occasions on which they write these Sacred texts. The most central focus of all texts of the New Testament is the public proclamation of the death, resurrection, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. But this is not the end times, the path is opened by Jesus’ mission, but the eschatological event of salvation is when the hearers of the Gospel must either assent in faith or reject it—salvation or damnation.
The opening line of Pope St. John Paul II encyclical on mission reads, “The mission of Christ the Redeemer, which is entrusted to the Church, is still very far from completion.”[3]
We, who are baptized, have been given a mission. And while we are here on our earthly pilgrimage to the Kingdom of Heaven this mission is far from finished. There are many in the world who have not truly heard the Gospel. Pope St. John Paul II reminds us, “The fact that the followers of other religions can receive God’s grace and be saved by Christ apart from the ordinary means which he has established does not thereby cancel the call to faith and baptism which God wills for all people.[4]
The Lord has given you a great treasure, ask him in prayer to give you the grace to share this treasure that has been entrusted to you. And consider the consequence of burying such a treasure. Again, Pope St. Paul II reminds us, “They should be ever mindful that “they owe their distinguished status not to their own merits but to Christ’s special grace; and if they fail to respond to this grace in thought, word and deed, not only will they not be saved, they will be judged more severely.”[5]
[1] New American Bible, Revised Edition. (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Jn 19:30.
[2] Francis Martin and William M. Wright IV, The Gospel of John, ed. Peter S. Williamson and Mary Healy, Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015), 323.
[3] John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990).
[4] John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990).
[5] John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990).