Meaning

Tetelestai. It's what Jesus said before he died. It means "It is finished." The word "tetelestai" was also used to mean "Paid in full." So, when Jesus died, he was literally saying, "Paid in full." What was in paid in full? I think it's rather obvious.

Over the years, I've kinda grown in my understanding of Christianity, which I think is a good thing. I always knew that Jesus came to die for our sins, but over the years, I've really just started to understand how incredible that was. It's why my favorite song is "How he Loves".

It's just..so deep. When Jesus came down to save us from our sins, he did it at the cost of everything...Because of Jesus, we now are no longer bound by sin. We were dead in our sin, but he came to pay the price for it, hence, Tetelestai.

I always knew Jesus had to die on the cross, but it wasn't until recently I understood how horrible his death was...I've heard people say that his death was so brutal, that the passion of the Christ wasn't a graphic enough movie. Even then, when Jesus was anxious in the garden praying for another way, I'm not so sure the physical part of his death was what he was most anxious about. I think it might have been morose the mental part. By becoming the ultimate sacrifice, he was having all of the sins of humanity placed on him, and having his father turn his back on him. The only time Jesus didn't refer to God as his father was when he was on the cross saying, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"

I really don't think I can adequately explain how much I've come to understand it, nor can I say that I fully understand it. All it can really boil down to is myself thinking, "How could he love us so much to suffer through all that?" It's so very hard to explain....it's just...The depth of what he did, and everything that was meant by it, it's rather mind boggling and completely awe inspiring. I sat down to write this post in hopes of somehow explaining it more, but I realize now I can't do that. I really can''t. All I can really say is how He loves us...how he loves us.

On the topic of understanding Christianity more, I've found that so much more of the bible makes sense when read in context, and taking historical and original translation into account. We don't put meaning into the bible, we try to find what the authors meant, and find the meaning from that. There's a word for that, but I can't recall it right now.

Anyways, I'm not sure what this post is attempting to detail, other than I just got back from a pretty awesome youth retreat, where I learned about Abraham, and Faith.

I've been busy lately, but everything's been pretty good.

Jdg