Good morning…
This Easter morn, we remember back to the final moments of Jesus hanging on the cross. A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit (John 19:29-30, ESV).
Why did Jesus say, “It is finished!” when God’s saving story was just beginning? Pondering this question, God offered me a creative response.
A few weeks back a friend from our old Monday study group sent me this photo of her dog’s batch of new puppies. “Birth is truly a miracle,” she texted. “In 63 days these precious pups went from fertilized cells to perfection. Penny’s birthing and cleaning and nursing skills were right on target. Nine adorable bundles of joy! God is so good!”
I absolutely love puppies, so I planned to meet them the day after their first vet visit. What a delightful hour we shared.
I was fascinated by the whole detailed story of the pregnancy, the excruciating process of giving birth, not once or twice, but nine exhausting times. When Penny was finally through with the whole ordeal, a dog whisperer might have translated her last yelp as, “It is finished.” Her body bearing the seeds of new life. Her pregnancy expanding with creatures formed by God. Her empty womb was fully finished, but God’s multiplication process had just begun.
What do puppies from an empty womb have to do with the empty tomb this Easter morning?
Jesus said, “It is finished.” Then he gave up his spirit. After his soul becomes a guilt-offering, he will gaze upon his many offspring and prolong his days. And through him, Yahweh’s deepest desires will be fully accomplished. After the great anguish of his soul, he will see light and be fully satisfied. By knowing him, the righteous one, my servant will make many to be righteous, because he, their sin-bearer, carried away their sins (Isaiah 53:10b-11, TPT).
Remember this Scripture verse highlighted in an earlier blog post from this week? “Christ’s sacrifice results in the birth of spiritual offspring,” says the footnote for verse ten. “He will see his spiritual offspring and enjoy living his life through them; thus, it could be said he prolonged his days. The life we live is no longer our own, and in a way, we prolong his days as we walk in close fellowship with Christ. A people in his image is the joy that was set before him.”
As Penny pushed through the excruciating last moment of pregnancy to empty her womb, the life of the risen Christ is released through the empty tomb, giving birth to spiritual offspring. You and I now prolong the days of Jesus Christ. Through him, the deepest desires of our Creator are fully accomplished. After the great anguish in the soul of Jesus, on Easter morning he sees the light of new life and is fully satisfied. By knowing Christ intimately, we are made right with our Heavenly Father because each of our separating sins have been carried away.
We are empowered to grow up as the spiritual offspring of Jesus, much like the life of Penny lives on through each of her nine precious pups. …the Spirit is infusing you with life now that you are right with God. If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you (Romans 8:10b-11, VOICE).
This Easter morning, enjoy living in the light of life, empowered by the God’s Spirit residing in you.
…Sue…
P.S. On this sunny Easter Sunday, if the Spirit moves you to worship with us at Northside Church, please bring your lawn chair and join us at 1:00 pm on our grassy hillside – masks are encouraged and no reservation is required.
