Life + Faith

EVEN WHEN I CANNOT SEE

It is finished. According to John (19:30) these three powerful words were spoken by Jesus as final breath left his lungs, his body hanging battered and bruised upon the cross. His surrender and sacrifice to death, forever the greatest expression of love the world will ever know.

It’s easy for me to read the accounts of Jesus’s last days on earth through the lens of one who already knows the ending. The best ending. Jesus defeated death so that we may live. I rejoice and testify that, “He is risen indeed!”

This year, however, I also found myself paying close attention to the details and finding new revelation in the familiar, yet often overlooked penned words between the sorrow of the crucifixion and the joy of the resurrection.

It is finished.

Although these words are significant and weighty, it is not in their meaning that I find new revelation. For, Jesus is the fulfillment of every promise and prophesy; he is the “yes and amen.” Through his death and resurrection, Jesus completed the work he was sent to earth to complete.

What I find so profound, however, is the moment in which Jesus spoke these three words. He did not speak them at the final revelation of his resurrection; he spoke them just moments before his death.

And then the waiting began.

Faith was tested as the people had to struggle through the doubts and questions about whether or not Jesus was actually the Messiah, the Son of God. Did he actual say three days? Can he? Will he? Or, is this how it ends?

Perhaps I am more sensitive to this time of waiting than I have been in years past because I am [still] in a season of waiting myself. I can relate to the tension felt on Holy Saturday. The confusion and loneliness. The wondering. The wandering. The darkness and death.

Perhaps you, too, can relate to waiting, whether past or present. It’s a part of life, after all.

And perhaps this is a good reminder for us all: the proclamation was made before the final realization.

It is finished.

Waiting is somehow necessary and good. Notice how the women prepared Jesus’s body and remained prayerful outside his grave. In the midst of the sorrow and mourning they remained active and faithful, completing all their daily tasks. The remained steadfast and sure.

It is finished.

As I reflect and meditate upon these things I find myself asking:

Am I an example of one who is remaining active and faithful during the waiting? Am I allowing myself to show up, lean in and press on in the midst of uncertainty, doubt and struggle? Do I believe that Jesus is the ultimate finisher of everything past, present and future?

Can I truly rest in him, trusting that the praise of Sunday is coming for my own waiting?

Jesus finished it all. Every struggle. Every disease. Every trial we face. He is the grace extended, hope found, faithful One, perfect Love.

We never know how or when our seasons of waiting will end. Perhaps tomorrow will be the day of answers. But, one thing we can be absolutely certain about is that Jesus knows, and he is already there on the other side of the waiting.

The waiting offers lesson, allows growth and prepares us for the next seasons.

The waiting is where strength and courage are exercised. The waiting allows us to trust Jesus and boldly proclaim that it is finished before we find relief.

And as I continue waiting I pray that I will walk out my faith by staying present, making the necessary preparations and remaining expectant that even when I cannot see, he is making a way for me. Let this be my proclamation, my resolve.

The times of waiting are hard, but may we live in such a way that marks us as people who take Jesus at his word. No matter how dead and dark our current circumstances seem, I pray that we cling to hope and proclaim and exclaim, for ourselves and each other, that It is finished in Jesus name. Amen and amen.

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