Words from the Cross – 6

“It is finished” (John 19:30).

The cross was wrapped in darkness and, we read “then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two“(Luke 23:45) For three hours Jesus went through terrible agony feeling the punishment for all the sins He had taken upon Himself, as He was paying the debt of all the Simons since the creation of the world until the end of it, of all the Marias, of all the Zaccheus, of all the adulteresses, of all the Nicodemus, of all the Jacobs, of all the Pauls, of all the Peters, feeling the bitterness of sin and drinking up to the last ~op its awful consequences. He was there agonizing for all the liars of this world, for all the harlots, for all the criminals, for all the adulterers, fornicators, traitors, who had humbled themselves before the Father as His great love had been revealed to them on the sacrifice on the cross. Then, they had left their crooked ways and had entered the narrow path of sanctification, the path that leads to heaven.

In spite of the agony of His soul He was pleased, because His could see beyond time and space, He could see us, you and me, next to Him, completely restored to His image, sharing eternity with Him, the Father, the Holy Spirit and the angels.

At that moment, all the redeemed ones were in His mind, from Adam to the last person who would accept His grace until the end of the world. He knew the end from the beginning, and rejoiced in the result of His sacrifice, in the rich harvest. He did not think of Himself, He did not concentrate on His wounds, on the sharp pain in His joints, on the cramps in His muscles. Neither did He think of the sweat that covered His body, but He rejoiced in advance on the fruit He would harvest from the seed He had watered with His own blood, so, when He had counted the last soul, He said: “It is finished.”

There He was, taking the condemnation of all those who would accept Him as a Mediator. At that moment “the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. “ The veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the temple, where only the high priest could enter once a year, on the day of atonement to carry the blood of the sacrifice directly before the ark, was tom. Now there was no more any need of an earthly mediator. The high priest would stop bringing the blood of animals as a symbol of the sacrifice that was then being performed; now Jesus Himself, the Lamb of God, would enter the Most Holy Place to present His own blood. “But Christ came as High priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place, once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9: 11,123) That is why we are called to approach “boldly the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4: 16)

May the Lord help us to understand that when these words will be again pronounced in the heavenly temple, the time of grace will have come to an end, and there will be no more time to repent. May He help us appreciate the great privilege He offers us of obtaining salvation and may He lead us to deep repentance.
Amen.