Finishing Well

Today is Good Friday. I have been thinking about how Jesus finished well. Good Friday would not be Good Friday if Jesus decided to slack off and not finish what he started. I believe this is a temptation many of us face. The temptation is simple. Not honoring the Lord at the end of something in the same way as the beginning.

I believe this is a temptation Jesus faced. After all, he was tempted in every way as we are, and was without sin. Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

I take “every way” as literally meaning “every way.” I believe that in the garden Jesus was being tempted to not finish well. Jesus prayed a prayer three times in a row while in the garden. What was the prayer?

Matthew 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

This prayer shows the humanity of Christ. Jesus lived a solid 33 years or so without sinning and doing everything within the will of the Father. That is incredible! But without the cross and the resurrection there would be no Good Friday, there would be no redemption, there would be no regeneration, there would be no sanctification, there would be no salvation, and there would be no hope. All of this is because Jesus finished well. He set out to accomplish a task to bring glory to God, and he finished it in the same way he started, by honoring God above all things. In fact, the last words of Christ before he died were,

John 19:30 “It is finished.”

Today I am thanking Jesus for finishing well, and I am praying that I will learn from his example and finish things in my life well.