Sermon -- Good Friday Tenebrae: The Sixth Word (April 3, 2026)

Good Shepherd celebrated a Tenebrae service in which we heard the seven words from the cross, followed by a brief homily on each word.  

THE SIXTH WORD — John 19:30

     Everything Jesus ever did was done intentionally.  He was fully obedient to God’s commandments.  He recognized that the traditions of the Pharisees were customs.  Even if those traditions were helpful for exercising piety, they were not commandments.  It is like teaching our children to pray before meals.  There is nothing in God’s word that commands us to pray before meals.  It is still a worthy practice, so we teach it.  But we cannot say a family is sinning against God if they do not offer up a prayer before digging into their salads.

     Everything Jesus ever did was done intentionally.  He did not waste his words when he taught about the kingdom of God.  No miraculous healing was done by accident.  His mercy toward the tax collectors and prostitutes was not to be confused with leniency, and his scathing rebukes against the Pharisees did not arise from rivalry.  Everything Jesus did was intended to lead people to repent and to find their hope in him.  Some did; others did not.

     Everything Jesus ever did was done intentionally.  His trip to the cross was done according to his own timing, done to fulfill all the prophets, and done as his Father willed it.  So, when Jesus uttered the words, “It is finished,” he stated that every little and last thing was done to perfection.  Not a single jot or tittle of God’s Law was bypassed; rather, every jot and tittle was fulfilled. 

     What this means for you is that there are no extra chores or challenges you must complete to be assured of eternal life.  There are no unpaid debts.  Everything God has demanded, he has received from Jesus. 

     “It is finished!”  This word Jesus uttered just before he died.  It is the word we cling to when we face death.  Because of this word, we do not have to invent virtues that we do not have.  Nor do we have to convince God and ourselves that our sins are excusable.  Are we sinners?  Yes, and Jesus came to save sinners.  Are we perfect?  No, but Jesus applies his holiness to us.  Jesus has removed from us all that condemns, and Jesus gives us all that saves. 

     “It is finished!”  The perfect life has been lived.  The cursed death has been died.  The sins of the world have been paid for.  Everything Jesus ever did was done with willful intention, with careful attention, and complete perfection.