Once upon a time I was in a Christian band.  We called ourselves tetelestai (te-tel-es-tai).  In one respect that was a fantastic name for our band.  This was the last word that Jesus uttered as He died on the cross. It means, “It is finished.” 

On the other hand, it was a lame name for a band.  Most people couldn’t pronounce it. 

There was a time when we had won a preliminary round in a Gospel music competition.   The finals were to take place at the end of the week. 

In the meantime, they announced the names of all the preliminary winners over an FM radio station each evening.  The announcer managed to mispronounce the name of our band in a different way, each night, for 7 consecutive nights. 

Maybe we should have gone with an easy name like The Preach Boys.    

But tetelestai is a precious word.  It is a Greek word, which is the language of the New Testament.  The phrase in the middle, “teles” means to be finished.  The prefix “te” tells us that it is in the perfect tense.  This means that something was done that has results that never end. 

And this was the very last word Jesus uttered before He died.  The Scripture says, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost” – John 19:30. (KJV)

His very last word.  Must be significant right?  Makes me wonder what was the “It” that was finished.

Maybe He was referring to His sojourn as God in the flesh.  But He didn’t say, “I am finished” but rather “It is finished.”

Maybe He had in mind the intense suffering He endured on the cross.  Certainly, He was glad to be finished with that.

Or maybe He was thinking of the saga of annoyance and disappointment in His handpicked disciples who seldom seemed to get it.

Tetelestai was a common word in the first century, and it was used often in the area of finance.

A pile of papyri documents dating back to Jesus’ day has been discovered.  These are receipts that were given to people after they had paid their taxes.  They have the single word, “tetelestai” largely written across each receipt – meaning that the tax debt had been paid in full. 

It was Jesus’ life purpose to hang on that cross.  He humbled Himself and took on human flesh, then endured 30 years of obscurity and then 3 painful years of notoriety.  At Gethsemane He braced Himself for the saga of suffering to come.  He allowed Himself to be hung on that cross because there was a debt that needed to be paid. 

The apostle Paul put it this way, “And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nevertheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross” – Colossians 2:13-14.  NET

Paul portrayed our sins as being written out on a certificate of debt.  Christ took that certificate and pronounced the word “tetelestai” over it.  That debt of sin, has by virtue of His death, been paid in full.

Warren Wiersbe tells the story of an eccentric man named Alexander Wooten who was approached by a flippant young man who asked, “What must I do to be saved?” 

Wooten replied, “It’s too late.”   The guy was alarmed, “What, do you mean?  Isn’t there anything I can do?”

Wooten replied, “It’s too late.  It’s already been done!”  Christ did what needed to be done.

Ours is but to receive with gratitude the gift He died to give.  Savor that blessing if you know Him.  Seek that blessing if you don’t.  Tetelestai! 

A PRAYER: What a wonderful word of forgiveness that you left to us. Thank You Lord.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you always

Scripture references are from the NETBible ® unless otherwise noted.