According to the gospel accounts, Jesus hung on the cross from noon until about three … and for those who loved him, and followed him, and believed in him, it must have seemed like the longest three hours of their lives. After all, it’s never easy to watch someone suffer—especially someone who had meant the world to you. Frankly, they may have been somewhat relieved that his death didn’t drag on, late into the evening.

Of course, for the chief priests and scribes, who had argued with Jesus, and monitored his every move, and ultimately decided that they had heard and seen enough—they might actually have preferred that his death last a little longer. Not necessarily because they enjoyed watching him suffer, but because they were trying to send a message to any would-be messiahs, who might be waiting in the wings, that you had better watch your step or this could be you. From their perspective, the longer this crucifixion took, the louder the message.

And then you had the Roman soldiers, for whom this was pretty much just another day on the job. More than likely, it didn’t matter to them, one way or the other. They were still going to have to put in their eight hours, even if Jesus died in three—so what’s the difference?

Three hours is all it took … too quickly for some … too painfully for others … and just another Friday afternoon for most. However, in the span of those three hours, Jesus spoke on seven different occasions—that is, if you take all of the gospels together. Both Matthew and Mark record him speaking once, Luke remembers him speaking three more times, and John adds three more to that.

They are commonly referred to as “The Seven Last Words.” But given the fact that crucifixion is actually death by suffocation, what we need to understand is that every time Jesus hoisted himself up to say something, it was not only excruciatingly painful, it was energy depleting. In effect, he was shortening his life by speaking. So, you have to believe that he said what he said for a reason, because every single word came at a very steep cost.

Toward the end, when Jesus was practically on his last breath, he said something that no one has ever really figured out. “It is finished,” he said, in a hushed whisper. Maybe he meant his work, or his ministry, or his time here on earth. You can almost take your pick, because all of those were now finished, to some extent or another. But whatever the “it” refers to, what Jesus was getting at is that there was nothing more that he could do … and more importantly, nothing more that we needed to do.

We didn’t have to worry anymore about earning God’s approval … or paying off the mountain of debt that we had accumulated … or finding a scapegoat and driving it into the wilderness … or going to the Temple for the umpteenth time to sacrifice the blood of yet another unblemished lamb. All of that was now over. It had already been accomplished for us—or better yet, Jesus accomplished it instead of us.

The truth of the matter is that we were incapable of getting it done, no matter how long, or hard, or faithfully we worked at it. The only way that we would be able to enter into a new covenant with God is if the old covenant were either fulfilled or finished … and on the cross, Jesus did both!