Fellow-Redeemed,
A few weeks ago in the sermon on St. John’s latter to the church at Smyrna, we looked at Jesus’ title the alpha and omega. We recognize them as the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet as A and Z are in ours. In Revelation chapters 1 and 22, the Savior applies this name to himself. “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” This name of wondrous love befits our Savior.
Consider how we use those two letters in our language. When a store or web site advertises, “We have everything from A to Z,” we know what it means. It is claiming, “We have it all. If we don’t have it, you don’t need it. One stop shopping. We are all-sufficient.” This claim may or may not be true.
When Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” it is true. He has it all. He is all sufficient. Jesus has all we need for salvation. Jesus has all we need for heaven. Alpha and Omega, two letters that form a name of wondrous love.
Scarcely had the sponge soaked with sour wine moistened Jesus’ parched lips when we hear him speak. “It is finished.” Although only one word of four syllables in Greek, these are words of great significance to the world. We are not exaggerating when we call them the most important words in history. “It is finished,” Jesus said, not with the whisper of the dying that you have to bend low to hear. The gospel writers tell us Jesus cried out with a loud voice so that all might hear his last words, the last word about all we need for our salvation.
What was finished? Was Jesus referring to his pain? Was death now bringing him sweet relief from this inhumane torture? Was it his life to which he was referring? To find the answer, we need to listen carefully as our Savior speaks from the darkness on Calvary. We need to look closely at his face, bloody and bruised, yet bright and at peace.
Jesus’ words are not the words of a man surrendering to death. They are the words of a soldier who has conquered in the fight. They are the words of the Redeemer who has accomplished his mission. They are the words of the Alpha and the Omega whose work is all sufficient for our salvation.
Jesus was telling all who would listen, “My work of salvation is done. I have opened wide the gates of heaven for all people. I have kept all of the law perfectly for every person. I have paid for all sins. Not one sin is left, large or small. I have suffered the agonies of hell. I have endured the full punishment and anger of my Father over sin. I have shed my precious blood to redeem all sinners. From his cross, the Savior would turn his gaze from the first sinner to the last and see no one whose guilt he had not covered.
The ancient Greeks wrote that one word of four syllables on tax bills to show that they were paid in full. On Calvary, Jesus wrote “Paid in Full” with the crimson ink of his blood. He is the beginning and the end, the first and the last, and everything in between. Jesus has all we need for our salvation. “It is finished” is the last word on our salvation in the sense that nothing else can be said, or needs to be said. There is nothing else we can do, or we need to do. Jesus truly is the Alpha and the Omega.
One day a man came to the pastor and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” The pastor answered, “It’s too late.” The man became more alarmed and asked again, “No, what must I do to be saved?” Again the pastor answered, “It’s too late,” and then added, “It’s already been done.”
Thank God we know our salvation is all done. Thank God we know that whether we call Jesus Alpha and Omega or A and Z, he is the only Savior we ever need for our salvation.
After Jesus victoriously shouted, “It is finished,” he “bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” How different Jesus’ dying is from ours. We die because we have to. We cannot prolong life for even one second. Jesus died not because he had to but when he wanted to. He once said, “I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again” (Jn 10:17,18). Now he has proved it. With his work of salvation finished, Jesus was ready to return to the heaven from which he had come. Jesus died because he wanted to. St. Luke relates the words with which the all-sufficient Savior entrusted his soul into the hands of his Father. He records the Savior’s confident prayer: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Lk 23:46).
We too must die. Death is the last enemy we must face in the fight of faith. What is it that makes death so terrible? The uncertainty, the pain, the natural urge to shrink back from the unpleasant indignities all are factors. Death with dignity is an oxymoron. What makes death even more dreadful for many, although not for all, is the fear that a person’s soul must stand before the judgment seat of a holy and righteous God.
For us who stand at the foot of our Savior’s cross this Good Friday, death has lost its sting. Jesus has done all we need for heaven. He has destroyed the last enemy. Though death still growls, it is a toothless lion that cannot bite us any longer. Jesus has fully paid sin’s wage.
This Good Friday our Savior shows us how to die. We commend our souls into the warm hands of eternal love. Now we can fall asleep in Jesus’ wounds. Now we can say with the confidence of Christ, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” The Father will open heaven’s door. When it opens, we will be home with Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who is all we need for eternal life.
As surely as Easter followed that first Good Friday, so another glorious Easter will dawn to bring our sleeping bodies joyful resurrection and endless glory.
We may have our doubts about the store or site that advertises it has all we need from A to Z. Sometimes that claim may turn out not true. When Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End,” we take him at his word and never are fooled. Jesus Christ truly is all we need for salvation and all we need for heaven. May the Lord in his mercy keep this Good Friday confidence in our hearts. Amen. <SDG>