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

Just this year I learned, for the first time, that after the Passover lamb was sacrificed in the temple, the High Priest would say these exact words. Jesus was indeed “the Lamb slain from the creation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8) The degree to which every detail of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection was explicitly prophesied is astounding, the more you look into it. In today’s reading we have the matter of Jesus’ clothing, as well as the sour wine that was given to Him. We really can’t wrap our minds around the reality that for God, absolutely everything is present, because He is outside of time. We are in the flow of time, so everything has a past, present, and future, but God is aware of all of it, all at once. We couldn’t handle that! That’s why God is never shocked when we mess up, since nothing ever surprises Him. There are various things about this that we can’t express logically in words. Revelation speaks of sequence and time, so I don’t know how we are going to experience things in heaven, but I have the feeling that for us, it won’t be so different, but it won’t be identical, I don’t think. Even Einstein spoke of “time dilation” and such. The point for us now is that God knows us, He loves us anyway, and He has prepared salvation for us through His Son. Our task in this life is to believe that and respond to it in gratitude and obedience, doing His will for His glory.

I’ve always been something of the weird kid who thinks about stuff like this, so I’m very familiar with the concept. However God reminds me of it from time to time, like now, so that I won’t be anxious about what is for me still the future. For Him, it’s already done! However, I am still very much in the flow of time, and I need to seek His schedule and follow it. Physicists are agreed that time is a function of matter, and since I have a spirit and worship God who is Spirit, I shouldn’t let time matter so much! (Sorry about that!) I am to focus on faithfulness, as a good steward, (1 Corinthians 4:2) so that my Lord will be pleased with me, since I am created by, and exist for, Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your incredible faithfulness toward me. I was thinking just this morning about Your provision for all our needs. Your grace is indeed amazing! May I respond each day, each moment, as You desire, so that all of Your plans for me may be fulfilled on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!