Messiah’s Last Words: Easter ReflectionsSample

A Long-Standing Debt

Written by Marvin Williams

John 19:30 says: When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

In 2014, Britain announced that it was working to pay back a 2.6-billion-pound debt dating back to the eighteenth century. After a financial crash in 1720, something called the South Sea Bubble, the government undertook a bailout that resulted in several million pounds of debt. Now, due to low interest rates, the current government was ready to pay back various debts accrued over the years that had been passed on to future generations.

When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” He was announcing that the longest-standing debt of humanity—sin—had been paid in full. This sixth of the seven words Jesus spoke from the cross was a single Greek word—tetelestai. The word was used to describe taxes or debts being paid in full, servants completing tasks, and more. And it speaks of Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, who, as He died, “knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture,” uttered this final word.

When Christ died on the cross, He fully met the righteous demands of the law, taking all the sins of the world upon Himself, according to 1 Peter 2:24. He not only covered sin but took “away the sin of the world,” as we read in John 1:29.

Because Jesus paid our debt, we can—by believing in His sacrificial death and resurrection—receive eternal life and enjoy life “to the full” today. The debt has been paid!

What does it mean for you to know your debt of sin is paid in full by Jesus? How will you thank Him today for His sacrificial death for you?

Let’s pray.

Dear Jesus, thank You for paying my debt completely.

Amen.