When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, ”It is finished”; and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30 (Gospel of the Ninth Hour on Good Friday Morning)
In Genesis, we read that God created the world in “seven days.” We also know that God’s time doesn’t move according to our concept of time. So, the world wasn’t created in seven “literal” days, meaning seven 24-hour periods of time. Specific things were created on each “day” of Creation. At every step of the Creation, at the end of every “day,” God looked upon what He created, “and saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:4, 12, 18, 21, 25). On the “sixth” day, God created man in His image and likeness. After creating the human race, then, and only then, did God assess what He created and, “Behold, it was very good” (1:31). Mankind was the “crowning jewel” in the Creation because only the human being was created in the image and likeness of God.
In Genesis 2, we read that God ”planted a garden in Eden, in the east” (Gen. 2:8). In the Garden of Eden, mankind lived in a state of “paradise,” in perfect harmony with God, with one another and with the environment. In the midst of the garden were two trees, the “tree of life” and the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:9). God commanded mankind, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen. 2: 17). After Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said to them, “‘Behold, the man has become like One of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’-therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden … He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:22-24).
God gave Paradise to humankind, and humanity lost Paradise by partaking of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil,” which also cost us the “tree of life,” which is eternal life. However, in God’s abiding love for us, He wanted to give us a way back to Paradise, to again put the human being into a state of union with Him. The only way this would be possible would be for God to take on OUR human image and likeness and live like one of us, to show us the way back to Paradise. This is the reason why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to come to earth in the first place.
Remember how our demise came because of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil”? Well, our salvation also came through a tree. A tree was made into a cross, upon which was hung the Son of God, and for us, THAT tree is now the “tree of life,” because through the cross, we have a gateway back to the Garden of Eden. Because of the cross, we now have the opportunity to partake of the “tree of life” and live forever. In fact, there is no other way to attain Paradise than by partaking of the “tree of life,” the cross of our Lord.
The words of Christ, “It is finished,” are not a statement of defeat, but rather a statement of triumph. If Christ came to “re-create” the world, to again be in the image and likeness of God, the “re-creation” was now complete, it was finished. “It is finished” is the call to all people that the gateway to Eden is now open. We now all have access to the “tree of life.” I’m reminded of a hymn of the Nativity, which is also the first prayer offered by a priest when he prepares the Gifts for Holy Communion:
O Bethlehem, prepare, Eden is opened unto all. And be ready, Ephrata, for the Tree of life has in the grotto blossomed forth from the Virgin. Indeed, her womb is shown to be spiritually a Paradise, in which is found the God-planted Tree. And if we eat from it we shall live, and shall not die, as did Adam of old. Christ is born, so that He might raise up the formerly fallen image. (Trans. Fr. Seraphim Dedes)
Indeed, Eden is now open to all. If we eat of the “tree of life,” if we partake of Christ’s Divine Nature through Holy Communion and through our faith, and if we honor His Divine Nature through acts of service to one another, then we also will “live” and not die, as did Adam of old.
When Jesus ended His earthly life, He suffered an earthly death. There is one more very significant thing that He did as He expired on the cross. “He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit” (John 19:30). In most movie scenes where someone dies, they give up their spirit and then their head falls. Christ’s death was the opposite. Because His decision to die was voluntary, He chose to lay His life down for us, out of love for us. He remained Lord even in death-for no one can kill God. God chose to die for us.
The human race was condemned because of a tree. The Son of God, allowed Himself to be nailed to the Tree, in order to save us from our sins by opening a path back to Paradise. The “tree” in the Garden of Eden condemned us. The “Tree” of Christ’s cross on Golgotha saved us.
Today is hung upon the Cross, He Who suspended the Earth amid the waters. A crown of thorns crowns Him, Who is the King of Angels. He, Who wrapped the Heavens in clouds, is clothed with the purple of mockery. He, Who freed Adam in the Jordan, received buffetings. He was transfixed with nails, Who is the Bridegroom of the Church. He was pierced with a lance, Who is the Son of the Virgin. We worship Your Passion O Christ. Show us also, Your glorious Resurrection. (From the Fifteenth Antiphon of the Service of the 12 Gospels on Holy Thursday Evening, Trans. by Fr. George Papadeas)
May the Lord our God remember us in His Kingdom, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
~Father Stavros N. Akrotirianakis, THE ROAD BACK TO CHRIST: REFLECTIONS on LENT, HOLY WEEK and the RESURRECTION
