TETELESTAI

SEVEN STATEMENTS FROM THE CROSS

IT IS FINISHED, JOHN 19: 30

TETELESTAI (teh-TELL-ess-tie)

I'm certain I don't have to tell you that the language we speak today in good ole Chilton County was not the language spoken by Jesus nor was it the language in which John wrote his gospel. 

Although there were many languages and dialects spoken in that time, there were three predominant languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.  The people of the region in which Jesus lived spoke Aramaic.  It resembled the Arabic language more than it did Hebrew. 

When we studied last weeks lesson on the words from the cross "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me" we saw that the soldiers and locals standing around the cross did not understand them.  They thought Jesus was calling for Elijah.  The reason for that is that Jesus was speaking in Aramaic and that was not a language the people of the Jerusalem area and especially the Roman soldiers understood.   

Aramaic and Arabic are not a beautiful sounding language like I consider the French or the British accent languages to be.  They are a harsh and guttural language.  When spoken correctly this language sounds like the speaker is clearing their throat. 

Although Jesus spoke in Aramaic He most assuredly read, understood and spoke Hebrew the language in which the Old Testament was written.  We see Him taking the scroll in the temple and reading from the Old Testament.  He most likely also spoke and understood a little Greek as well.  Even the uneducated in other countries speak one or two languages.  Only in the U.S. do we consider ourselves privileged enough to only  speak one language.

When John wrote his gospel he wrote to the non-Hebrew, Greek speaking people so his gospel was written in Greek. So the word or phrase in our study tonight is actually an English translation of a Greek translation of an Aramaic word. 

Once again we see that this phrase or quote is only included in John’s gospel.   

·         Matthew related it like this:  (Matthew 27:50):  "Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit"

·         Mark described it this way:(Mark 15:37):        "And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed His last"

·         And Luke's version was like this: Luke 23:46:        "Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last."

This is the last statement from the cross that we will study next week.

As we have already discussed, this does not mean that one writer was right and one wrong.  It simply means that this particular aspect of the crucifixion was interrupted differently by four different men, writing in four different times to four different types of people from four different perspectives.

It takes a complete phrase in our language to translate this one word in Greek.  The phrase we are studying tonight is "It is finished".  In Greek the word is Tetelestai. 

Often in the English language one word may have many meanings.  Some say that for this reason English is one of the hardest languages to learn and understand for people who are non-English speaking people. 

Can you think of an English word that has several meanings?

Consider the word “light”.  Look at all the things we can refer to with this word.   Light can mean:

·         The dispelling of darkness or the absence of darkness (God has shown His light into the world)

·         A lamp, or other illumination device (Turn on the light)

·         A means of starting a fire, especially with a cigarette, (hey, buddy can you give me a light)

·         Something that is not heavy (oh, it’s not heavy it’s very light)

I’m sure there are other meanings and other words but you see what I’m getting at.

Now let's look at some of the ways this word  “tetelestai” was used.  

1. The word is used by an artist.  It is the word that a painter or a sculptor would use when he had completed his masterpiece and presented it for approval.  He starts out with a blank canvas and spends hours creating the exact image that he sees in his mind.  When he has completed the painting or work of art he says “tetelestai” meaning "This is my submission,  I can add nothing to it.  It is complete.  It is the best that I can do”.   

2.  It is also a word used by builders.  When a builder is handed the plans for a house or building and he gathers his building materials and follows the plans and does the work,  then when he completes the job, he  is ready to “hand over the keys”  if you will and says “Tetelestai”  or I have followed these plans to their  completion. 

3. It was used in accounting or bookkeeping.  In those days, like today, if you purchased a piece of land or an ox or calf and you used your “credit” for the purchase it might take you a long time to pay off that debt.  But when the debt was paid, the creditor would take his pen and write “tetelestai” across the document.  This was your written receipt.  In this case“Tetelestai” would mean that your debt had been “paid in full”. 

4.  And finally the word was used in a legal sense by jailers and judges. When a man was sentenced to serve time for a crime which he had committed, he was placed in the cell or dungeon to serve out that time.  He spent his days and nights in that cold, dark, hard place until his debt to society had been paid.  Then when his allotted time was complete and he had served all the time necessary for him to be released, the jailer would open the cell door and hang a sign over the cell that said, “tetelestai”; meaning this man has paid his debt for his wrong. 

Pastor Gary read a story once about an art teacher who gave an assignment to his students. Their assignment was to paint a portrait of the king.  Each student was given the easel, paints, brushes and all the things necessary to paint the kings likeness.  They each begin the tedious job of combining colors and producing the brush strokes necessary for their representation of the king. 

When every student was finished the art teacher walked through the studio looking at their work.  Many of these students had never seen the king.  They had only seen paintings by others of him.  Many had only seen him from a distance; they had never been up close to him.  So although each painting was similar, there were a lot of differences in them as well.

After completing his rounds and taking his time to view the work of his students the teacher walked to the front of the room and addressed the class. “Students, you have not done a very good job.  The person you have just painted is the king of your country.  He is the most important man in this land.  He is the man responsible for your well being and for keeping you and your families safe.  He is someone you should know and love.  I know the king and he is my friend.  We grew up together and I love him.  If you had loved him more you would have painted him better”  

Of course that statement applies to the way we serve God and the way we portray Him to the world.  Sometimes the God that others see in our lives is not painted in a very clear light.  If our lives are a portrait of Jesus I’m sure the world sees a very blurry picture.  The colors run and the lines are not clear.

But when Jesus painted our salvation that day on Calvary He did a masterful job.  Oh, the instruments that He used might have been crude, and the studio in which He painted might have been primitive but the planning and care and love that He put into the portrait has never been matched. 

                 

Using His own blood as the paint, Jesus spoke from Golgotha “Tetelestai”, “I have completed the painting. There is nothing that can be added. It is the best that I can do.

*******

In the seventh chapter of Matthew Jesus told the story of two men who were builders.  You can always tell a good builder by the way he starts out building his house.  Since I’ve been trying to build my barn I’ve talked to several men who claim to be builders.  Some will look at what I’m doing and sort of laugh politely.  “You are not going to do it like that are you”? They will say. 

Those who know what they are doing will explain to you the importance of using a good fastening system, strong construction materials and a firm foundation.  Those who are “jack-legs” like me will try to go about the building process by using short-cuts. 

Jesus said that one man built his house upon the sand and the rains descended and the floods came and beat upon his house and it fell like one of Keva’s cakes. 

But the other man took pains and built his house upon a rock and because of the firm foundation; his house was able to withstand the storms. 

What a construction process that took place that day just north of Jerusalem!  Jesus took some rough timbers and three nails and on that rocky ground built a salvation that will stand the test of eternity. 

He took His Father’s plans and laid them out on the table and followed them to the “T”.  Do you remember that statement that He made concerning the prophesies?  He said that they had all been completed.    He completed the building that day in just six hours but it was a strong, secure, stable building and when He was finished with it He called out, “tetelestai”, “I’ve followed the plans.  The (building) work is complete”.

*****

Can you remember the first car you ever bought?  I can. It was a 1946 Plymouth, 4 door sedan.  It was built like an army tank and actually it was almost the same green color as an army tank.   It had a flat head 6 cylinder engine and a back seat big enough so that you could have planted an acre of corn there.  I looked at the document that I was signing when I bought that old car and I thought, “There is no way I can ever pay this much money back”.  I was sixteen years old and of course only working after school and on the weekends.  The cost of the car?  $100.00, ten dollars down and ten dollars a week.  It seemed like forever.  I owed so much and I owed it for such a long time, how could I ever really pay what I owed?  Ever felt that way?

But oh, when that final week came! It was Friday afternoon and I got my pay check.  I cashed it and about 3 o’clock I walked into that office and laid down the last $10.00 that was owed on the car. The man behind the desk took out the document on which my payment records were kept and wrote across the front, “Paid in full”.  That old Plymouth was mine.  What a great feeling.  I had the receipt.  It belonged to me.  I kept that old receipt for a very long time. 

Your sin debt and my sin debt was massive.  I owed so much and I owed it for such a long time.  I could not have made the payments.   I remember the words, “The wages of sin is death”.  But about 3 o’clock one Friday afternoon in a place I’ve never seen, in a country I’ve never been to, a man I didn’t know at the time, loved me enough to walk into God’s office and with the cash in hand He laid the price of my sins on the desk and the Father took a big ole pen full of love and mercy and wrote “Paid in full” across the front.  And if that don’t fill your bucket you better check it for leaks. 

*****

I’ve encourage you many times over the years to “remember” where you came from.  I’ve shared with you the importance of “going back” in your mind to the place where you were when you were not a Christian.  Oh, I know it is not a pleasant place.  It is a dungeon.  It is a dark, cold, hard, lonely, place. It is a place not fit for man.  It is a place intended to cause you grief.

But go back there from time to time so that you can remember. Remember how bad it was.  Remember how lost you were.  Remember how hopeless you felt.

Then in your minds eye, picture that day when a meek, kind, loving 33 year old Middle Eastern man suffered the torments of the cross from you and with His last drop of blood wrote above your cell door, “tetelestai”.  The sin debt was paid, the jail door swung open.  You could go free.

But in closing tonight let me tell you something that will completely nullify that selfless, merciful, act preformed by Jesus that day.  You can look at what He has done for you, you can see the word written above your cell door, you can hear the gospel of grace that is preached to you and taught to you over and over again…and you can sit there in your cell and never, ever go free, because the choice is yours.

You can sit in your cell and eat bread and water for the rest of your life or you can choose to sit at the marriage supper of the Lamb.  You can fill your soul with spiritual “manna” and never hunger or thirst again or you can nibble at the crumbs that fall from the table.  But the choice is yours. 

You can sit there in the darkness, covered by your selfishness and desires and habits and long for the sun and the Son and never step out into the light and accept the pardon that has been offered, when the entire time, hanging there over your cell door is the pardon.  Tetelestai.

 On an old wooden sign, hanging on three nails, written in the blood of the Son of God is a word that tells you and the world that sin no longer has dominion over you.  It’s a simple word spoken so many years ago, but a word filled with so much meaning that you and I will never understand it south of heaven.

People are not able to hold you in that cell.  Satan himself is not strong enough to keep you locked in there.  You hold the key to your own cell and you are there because you choose to be there.  Jesus painted the picture, built the house, paid the debt and wrote it over your cell door and because He loved you so much, He pulled Himself up against the pain of the nails and drew what would be one of the last breaths He would ever take before dyeing for us and with all the strength He could muster, He yelled out from the cross, TETELESTAI!   IT IS FINISHED!