THE SIXTH WORD FROM THE CROSS

                                   The sixth word of Jesus from the Cross, "It is finished" {John 19: 30} is a word of victory, declaring the successful completion of His worldly mission. It is a cry of joy and a farewell to the world. He accepted death not as a 'fate' but as a 'deed' by obediently surrendering to the will of His Father. It marked the end of His mission as man. God displayed His infinite love to man by the acts of creation, revelation and redemption. Through this word, Jesus states that His life as man was completed by faithfully fulfilling what His Heavenly Father had willed and had entrusted to Him. All the prophecies have been fulfilled in Him.

                                   In His infinite mercy, God willed to restore man to his original glory. Our 'Fall' resulted when the disobedient Adam and the proud Eve disobeyed God at the tree of Eden. Jesus, the obedient new Adam, accompanied by the humble Virgin Mary, the second Eve, completed the redemption of man at the tree of the Cross. The Cross is the sacrament of salvation, a symbol of success in the Sacred Sacrifice by the Son of God for the redemption of man.

                                   A similar statement of completion appears at the beginning and at the end of the Holy Bible. In the Book of Genesis, God completes and finishes the act of creation {Genesis 2:1, 2}. In the last chapter of Revelation, the creation of the 'New Heaven and the New Earth' after the end of the world is proclaimed by the words, "It is done!" {Revelation, 21: 6}. In His sixth word from the Cross, Jesus declares the completion of Redemption of man. It is time for the work of sanctification by the Holy Spirit.

Jesus finished His redemptive mission. But we are to follow Him, carrying our own crosses of sacrifice and penance. Unless there is a Good Friday in our lives, there will never be an Easter Sunday. Christ gets crucified again and again when we commit sins by our sinful thoughts, words, actions and omissions.

                                   St. Peter reveals, "For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors. It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold; it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw"
{1 Peter 1: 18, 19}.

By: N.G.Philip, Bethel, Nalamchira, Thiruvananthapuram-695015, Kerala, India &
Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India.

This is Message No. 55 in this site. Please click ‘Older Posts’ at the bottom of this page to read previous posts and click 'Newer Posts' at the bottom of this page to read newer posts in this site.