Famous Last Words

When you think of “famous last words,” what are some statements that come to mind? Some may be historical and others humorous. For Jesus, “It is Finished” anchored history with hope and rescue.

At noon on the day Jesus was crucified, something strange happened. The sky went dark. Mark tells us that from the sixth hour until the ninth hour, darkness covered the land. In the middle of the day, when the sun should have been shining brightest, the world was plunged into darkness. Creation itself seemed to respond to what was happening on the cross.

Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

To the people standing nearby, it sounded like the end. The disciples had scattered. The religious leaders thought they had won. The crowd mocked. And now Jesus Himself cried out in agony. It looked like hope was gone.

But what many did not realize was that Jesus was quoting Psalm 22. That psalm begins with suffering, but it ends in victory. It describes a righteous sufferer surrounded by enemies, mocked by crowds, and pierced in his hands and feet. Yet the psalm ultimately points to a day when “all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord.”

Even in the darkest moment of the cross, Jesus was fulfilling God’s plan of redemption.

The people nearby misunderstood what was happening. Some thought Jesus was calling for Elijah to rescue Him. In other words, they were already looking for someone else to save the situation. They had given up on Jesus.

But the cross was not a failure. It was the mission. Jesus was bearing the weight of our sin. As 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, God made Him “to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Then something incredible happened. At the moment of Jesus’ death, the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom. The barrier separating sinful humanity from the presence of God was removed.

Because of the cross, we now have access to the Father. And in a moment of stunning clarity, a Roman centurion watching the scene declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

What looked like defeat was actually the greatest victory in history.

When everything seemed hopeless, Jesus was accomplishing the rescue mission that would bring salvation to the world.

The cross reminds us that God is still at work even in life’s darkest moments. What may look like the end of hope may actually be the beginning of redemption.

And because of Jesus, hope is never truly lost.