There are several words in New Testament Greek that it would benefit every believer to know and understand. One, of course, is the Greek word for selfless love: agape. Among the Greek words for love, this is a uniquely Christian concept, as we find it in John 3:16, that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son.” Another is logos, meaning “word,” as it is used in John’s prologue in chapter 1 to describe Jesus as “the word made flesh.” Yet another that is very often used as a root for English words is kardia, as in cardiac surgery with a cardiologist. One of the most valuable for our spiritual benefit is the word tetelestai, which Jesus spoke from the cross when He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
It is a hugely significant word in what the Bible teaches about our salvation. It was a word that was used in the first century as part of a business statement or receipt. It would be written on the final document from a work project when it was done. It meant the bill that indicated what was due for that project had been “paid in full.” And so in our salvation, what Jesus said from the cross was that final payment had been made to purchase us. In a January 17, 2022 article from Christianity.com, Dr. Ray Pritchard summarized it this way.
“It is finished” is the English translation of the Greek word Tetelestai, which was the last thing Jesus said before dying on the cross. Tetelestai comes from the verb teleo, which means “to bring to an end, to complete, to accomplish.” It’s a crucial word because it signifies the successful end to a particular course of action. It’s the word you would use when you climb to the peak of Mt. Everest; it’s the word you would use when you turn in the final copy of your dissertation; it’s the word you would use when you make the final payment on your new car; it’s the word you use when you cross the finish line of your first 10K run. The word means more than just “I survived.” It means “I did exactly what I set out to do.”
But there’s more here than the verb itself. Tetelestai is in the perfect tense in Greek. That’s significant because the perfect tense speaks of an action which has been completed in the past with results continuing into the present. It’s different from the past tense which looks back to an event and says, “This happened.” The perfect tense adds the idea that “This happened and it is still in effect today.”
When Jesus cried out “It is finished,” He meant “It was finished in the past, it is still finished in the present, and it will remain finished in the future.”
That English phrase (or word) is repeated twelve times in Jonathan Evans’ wonderful hymn, “Hark! The Voice of Love and Mercy.” What was finished? It was not a cry of weakness, as Jesus breathed His last, as if to say, “I’m done, I’m finished, I’m exhausted, I can’t last any longer.” No, the Bible says that at the end Jesus cried out with a loud voice. When He said, “It is finished,” it was not a whimper of defeat. Instead, it was a shout of victory! The work of atonement had been successfully completed. Our redemption had been secured. The terrible cup of the Father’s wrath that we deserved had been drunk to the bottom by our substitute. Propitiation had been made, justice had been satisfied, and as the church sings in another hymn, “Jesus paid it all!”
The author of the hymn text, “Hark! The Voice of Love and Mercy,” was Jonathan Evans (1748-1809). Born at Coventry, Warwickshire, England, he was the son of working man, and as a young man was employed by a ribbon manufacturer. Evans was a contemporary of John Newton, the author of “Amazing Grace” and other gospel preachers at the time of that evangelical revival that has come to be known as “The Great Awakening.” About 1778, he joined the Congregationalist Church at Coventry. Prior to that, he had never made a profession of faith and had been living a worldly life. Under the ministry of Pastor G. Burder, the Lord radically transformed his life. In 1776 he became deeply convicted of his sin and put his trust in Christ as his savior. People noticed that he became a completely different person, and an active and tireless Christian worker.
Even though he had been a businessman all his life, within a few years he began to manifest a giftedness at preaching the Word of God and was soon preaching nearby at Foleshill. He not only preached, but was also active in gathering neglected children in the community to teach them the Bible. In 1784 he fitted out a houseboat in a canal as a place of ministry. He also ministered to the physically and mentally impaired as he was considered a “doctor” as well as a preacher. This grew into a chapel in 1797 as he continued as pastor there until his sudden death on August 31, 1809. He had written about that day in these words.
We soon shall reach the blissful shore, and view His glorious face;
His name forever to adore, and hail Him “Prince of Peace.”
The music we use is one of the many Welsh tunes that are found in our hymnals. They typically have the sound and feel of “strong music,” that one would expect coming from a region of the British Isles characterized by a strong people with strong pride and a strong work ethic. Wales is the southeastern portion of Great Britain, but a region with its own language and identity. Much of it is hilly with sheep and coal mining as foundational to the economy. Many have compared it to t6he mountains of West Virginia, with numbers of people living their entire lives in the hilly “hollow” of their birth, never travelling far beyond their immediate horizon. The Great Awakening of the mid-18th century made a powerful impact here, with strong preaching from men like William Williams (1717-1791) and Howell Harris (1714-1773) that produced many converts and left in its wake the strongly reformed denomination of Welsh Calvinistic Methodists.
People of Wales have a strong cultural connection to music and especially to corporate singing. And that’s not only true of Sunday worship. Massed choirs with hundreds of singers will gather for musical programs during the week, and it is common to this day for spectators coming to sporting events to begin with the Welsh favorite, Yma o Hyd (“We’re Still Here”), almost as an act of patriotism. The Welsh language looks very strange to non-Welsh, since words have so many consonants and so few vowels. Though most folks will struggle to know how to pronounce the tune names, we find these in all hymnals today. Here are a few examples: Hyfrydol, Cwm Rhondda, Rhosymedre, Llanfair, Ar Hyd y Nos, Ton-y-Botel, and Aberystwyth. Once you’ve seen the English lyrics, you’ll realize immediately, “Oh, I know that!”
The music we use for “Hark! The Voice of Love and Mercy” is the Welsh tune BRYN CALFARIA, written by William Owen (1813-1893), who was born in Bangor. His father worked in a Bethesda quarry, and William began working there when he was just ten years old. He learned music in classes held by a hymn writer, William Roberts, which led to his writing his first hymn tune when he was eighteen. In 1852, with the help of some friends at Bethesda, he published a music collection that sold 3,000 copies, and in another edition in 1886, 4,000 copies were sold. He composed several pieces for the temperance movement, some of which were sung in the Eryi temperance festivals held at Caernavron castle. It was the 1852 hymn tune BRYN CALFARIA which made him famous. It was reputedly written by Owen on a piece of slate on the way to work at the Dorothea quarry in Gwynned, North Wales. He married the daughter of the house called Prysgol and went there to live. He also became precenter (song-leader) at Caethro C. M. chapel. He died July 20, 1893, and was buried in the Caethro chapel burial ground. We do not have a picture of him, but here is a photograph of the monument at his burial site. The BRYN CALFARIA tune is also used today for “Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Wretched” and “Blessed Lord, in Thee Is Refuge.”
While there is not a refrain, there is the repeated phrase in the first three stanzas, “It is finished.” In the fourth stanza, it changes to the threefold “Alleluia” with which saints and angels respond. The hymn is not a prayer or expression of praise directed to God. The first three stanzas are didactic in nature, addressed to one another to teach us these wonderful truths. This changes in the final stanza, which is addressed to the seraphs in glory.
Stanza 1 starts out with the power and strength of the truth, suggesting that Jesus’ words from the cross were so mighty that His voice shook the earth, breaking the rocks and veiling the sky, initially in darkness, as He exhaled His final breath. The Gospels tell us that the rocks did actually break in the earthquake as Jesus died. And in a hint of the brightness to come, a first fruit of the resurrection occurred as some of the dead were raised, and were seen in the streets of Jerusalem!
Hark! the voice of love and mercy sounds aloud from Calvary;
see, it rends the rocks asunder, shakes the earth, and veils the sky:
“It is finished! It is finished! It is finished!”
Hear the dying Savior cry; hear the dying Savior cry.
Stanza 2 continues by describing how Jesus’ words affect us. How “precious” that He did indeed finish the work of paying for our sin. “Heavenly blessings, without measure” truly flow to us. These are too marvelous for us to fully comprehend this side of glory. And what a special phrase Evans has given us, that our dying words repeat what He said. At the end of our life, our confidence is found in the certainty that Jesus has told us “It is finished.”
“It is finished!” O what pleasure do these precious words afford;
heav’nly blessings, without measure, flow to us from Christ the Lord:
“It is finished! It is finished! It is finished!”
Saints the dying words record; saints the dying words record.
Stanza 3 brings the word “finished” to the forefront. It takes us back to the Old Testament to recognize how Jesus’ work is promised through “types and shadows.” In Luke 24:47 Jesus told the Emmaus disciples that everything in the Old Testament pointed to Him. Typology is that challenging dimension of biblical interpretation that identifies the way people and events in the Old Testament were “shadow” pictures of what would happen in a far greater way with Jesus. That’s especially true of the animal sacrifices that pointed ahead to the perfect finished work of the Lamb of God, offered “once for all” (Hebrews 9:26). Having finished payment for our sin, for the Christian today “death and hell no more shall awe.”
Finished all the types and shadows of the ceremonial law;
finished all that God had promised; death and hell no more shall awe:
“It is finished! It is finished! It is finished!”
Saints, from hence your comfort draw; saints, from hence your comfort draw.
Stanza 4 concludes the theme by calling to the seraphs, and also to “all in earth, and all in heaven” to tune their harps and join their voices “to sing the glorious theme.” We can only imagine that sight and sound now, but one day will be there to join our voices in that eternal Alleluia, singing “Glory to the bleeding Lamb” who has finished the work.
Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs, join to sing the glorious theme;
all in earth, and all in heaven, join to praise Emmanuel’s name:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glory to the bleeding Lamb! Glory to the bleeding Lamb!
Here is the music, though to a different text.