24/07/2020
Purpose And Fulfillment - Part 1
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. | John 19:30
According to the Mosaic laws, if a man has committed a crime punishable by death, and he is hanged on a tree (crucified), his body should not remain on the tree all night, and such should be buried the same day. This was the law on which the soldiers acted when they broke the legs of the other criminals who were crucified next to the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to hasten their death, however, on getting to the Lord Jesus, they saw that He had died already and to be very sure of this, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spare.
Stating the obvious, the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross faster than the time other people die when they are crucified. Someone would say “but the Lord Jesus was seriously flogged before He was crucified” - well, crucifixion had been in practice ages before Christ was born into the world, and usually, scourging precedes crucifixion. During scourging, the victim is stripped naked, tied to a post, and then flogged across the back, buttocks and legs by soldiers; the excessiveness of the whipping would weaken the victim, causing deep wounds, severe pain and bleeding.
At the mercy of the pain, the Lord Jesus would have lingered a bit longer on the cross, however, a deeper study of how He died reveals that it wasn’t the pain that killed Him, the Bible says “He gave up His spirit” and He did this right after uttering one of His last statements, “It is finished”. This then makes us wonder what the significance of the statement “It is finished” is.
Earlier, when the Lord Jesus Christ said one of His last public prayers as recorded in John 17, He said this in verse 4 “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” The Lord Jesus Christ during this prayer said that He had accomplished the work given to Him by the Father on earth, all that was left was for Him to be glorified and what led to His glorification was His death and resurrection.
When the Lord Jesus said “It is Finished”, He said so to imply that He had completed all of His earthly tasks without leaving anyone undone. He was able to give up His spirit because He had lived a fulfilled life - He had finished all His assignments - He had walked all His life on earth according to the purpose of His calling.
There is no greater height of fulfillment than for a person to leave this world having completed his God-given tasks without leaving anyone undone.
Reflection
⁃ The Lord Jesus Christ lived a life purpose and fulfillment, thereafter, He was able to say boldly that “The work is finished”.
⁃ Have you discovered your own purpose?
⁃ Have you started to walk in accordance with that purpose?
⁃ At the point of physical death, will you be able to say of a truth that “It is finished?”
Prayer Release
Dear Father, I thank you for your word which I have received; please help me to discover my purpose and also walk in accordance with it that I may live a fulfilled life.