It is Finished.

Then He asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:15

…He said, “It is finished!” Then He bowed His head and released His spirit. John 19:30

This time of year often gives rise to believers and unbelievers alike contemplating who Jesus is.

Jesus claims to be the Son of God, the Messiah, Lord and Savior, the Almighty. Jesus doesn’t leave this open for debate… either we believe Him, or we don’t. There’s no grey area. There’s no taking parts of Jesus and coming up with our own version of the truth. There’s no accepting Jesus as Savior because we need His help, but then leaving the Lord part out. There’s no room to say, “Jesus probably existed and was a good guy who taught good things, but I’m not so sure about the being God part.”

Jesus calls everyone into account by asking us, “Who do you say I am?”

So, what’s your answer? Because everything hinges on it…

C.S. Lewis put it like this in his book Mere Christianity, it’s what we now know as the Jesus Trilemma. It’s kind of a dilemma with three options, so it’s a trilemma. Lewis says that because of the claims Jesus makes, we are forced to decide between three things. Either Jesus was a liar, a lunatic, or He is in fact who He claims to be.

Now, here’s what Jesus has done for you…

He saw your flaws and pains and confusion, and so He put on flesh and blood and came down here to go through it with you. In doing this, He gave up His divine privilege so that you can relate to Him and know that He gets it. He lived the perfect life so that you don’t have to. He was tempted on a scale that we know nothing about, and He never gave in. He never sinned. He never fell short of the glorious standard. Thus, maintaining His status as the spotless Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice.

And then, He who knew no sin, became sin. Not just taking your sins away, but becoming them. He became your sins so that He Himself could once and for all time eliminate the penalty for them. Because He decided to do this for you, He had to be treated as sin should be treated. He suffered public humiliation, torture beyond measure (do some research on Roman flogging), and death on a Roman cross. All the while, He was looking at you and thinking, “Yep, this is so very worth it.”

He died. He was buried. On the third day He got up and told death, which is the ultimate price (wage) for your sin and shortcomings, to take a hike. He walked out of the grave and into eternity, where He invites you to join Him from now until forever. He gives you the gift of new life. You don’t have to do anything to earn it. You don’t have to do anything to attain it or make it yours. When Jesus said it’s finished, He meant it.

That’s the Gospel. The Good News. The Greatest News Conceivable. It’s why Jesus plus nothing is the answer to everything. It’s why Jesus, with compassion and understanding, asks you, “Who do you say I am?”