When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30

Of the four gospel writers only John records these words. This last intimate communication which John overhears is the final prayer from Jesus to His Father. From the first cry of Jesus in Bethlehem’s manger to His final pain filled words on the cross Jesus had been on a mission. His mission was to seek and save what had been lost (You and Me). Now the healing, the praying, the fasting, the temptations, the teachings, the conflicts and the miracles of Jesus’ earthly ministry are finished. Every disciple who Jesus had called had been commissioned, every earthly relationship fulfilled, every suffering endured and He is ready to return to the place which He left at the right hand of God.

And it is most amazing to me that at that last moment, and with those final words, “It is finished,” that our own new life begins. Jesus has finished his race. Jesus has run carrying the torch of the light of heaven. As Jesus breathed out his last He passed to John, to His mother Mary and even to all of us who hear His words today that same torch to us to begin to run our own race. Some of us will run for miles and some only one short lap. Each of us has a different race marked out for us in this new year ahead, but we must start at the cross where Jesus finished His course and where we begin ours!