It is finished! Paid in full!

Easter is a time when we traditionally reflect upon the death, resurrection, ascension into glory (and as Matthew rightly points out, the return!) of Christ.

Here is a meditation on Jesus' last word from the cross.

Most of what Jesus said from the cross, is recorded in Aramaic, the language of the Jews, and were quotes from the Old Testament. However when he cried his last utterance, the New Testament writers switch to the Greek.

The word he uttered was the single Greek word, "Tetelestai." This does indeed mean, as all our Bibles translate it: "It is finished". But there is another significance that is lost on modern readers.

Greek was the common language of the Roman empire, thanks to the rapid conquest and Hellenisation of the world under Alexander the Great. In particular Greek was used for legal transactions. The word "Tetelestai" had such a legal meaning that all the Jews would have been familiar with. Whenever they received a tax demand, they would have to take the money to the authorities, and upon completion of the transaction the word "TETELESTAI" would be written across the tax demand, nullifying the power of the document - it was finished, done, complete. A modern equivalent would be "PAID IN FULL".

When Jesus cried, "It is finished" he was not indicating that he had done all he was ever going to do, and was going into retirement, but that the debt of sin over sinful man had been paid once and for all. The price has been paid. The law of sin and death annulled. God has declared "TETELESTAI" over it - PAID IN FULL - It is finished, annulled, done away with - it has no power anymore!