“I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). Jesus prayed those words before He went to the cross. God sent Jesus so we would not perish. Jesus said that He finished the work before the cross. The arrest, beating, and cross were not a work. The tomb, resurrection, and ascension were not work. Jesus lived His life without sin. Jesus had no work of salvation to do. Jesus lived a life that invited us into eternity with Him. “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

“‘A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.’ And He left them and departed” (Matthew 16:4). Fallen humankind asked for a sign. The sign of Jonah (the tomb) was the sign for a wicked generation. The sign was prophesied by the Passover and waving of the first fruit offering during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The sacrifice of the Lamb and presenting the offering of the First Fruit of humanity into the kingdom of God (Jesus risen on the morning of the day after the Sabbath). Signifying the returning to the promised kingdom of God (eternity) by the forgiven children of Adam and Eve.

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). Jesus spoke about the promised Holy Spirit; the pouring out of His Spirit on all flesh who dwells in those who believe. “’He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified” (John 7:38-39). The ascension was so the ministry could continue in us and through us by the Holy Spirit. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

If the ministry was not finished and Jesus’ work was already finished, what was finished on the cross? “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39). The cup that would not be passed was finished. On the night before His death, Jesus shared the cup that we pass when we take the bread and the wine at communion. The cup that was not passed was the arrest, beating, and cross of our Lord. The sign for the wicked generation was something God was willing to do. “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:18).

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word” (John 17:20). The arrest, beating, cross, tomb, resurrection, and ascension were acts of love for us. They are as much for us who believe today as they were for the follows of Jesus who walked the earth with Him. “I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me” (John 17:23). We today are included in that. Christ Jesus is in us and the Father is in Christ Jesus. Jesus finished His work and then went to the tomb and rose on the third day to be the sign for us to turn from our wickedness and adulterous ways to God in Christ.