Do Jesus' Last Words Refute Catholicism?

[Music]

hey everyone welcome to the Council of

trend podcast I'm your host Kelly

dancers apologist and speaker Trent horn

and today we're going to talk about a

Biblical urban legend related to the

last words that Jesus said on the cross

before he died which I think is

appropriate for us to discuss because

Good Friday will be here before we know

it so I think it's helpful to engage

some of the arguments related to this

particular passage from scripture but

before we do that if you could help me

out by liking this video and subscribing

I would greatly appreciate it so all

right let's take a look at the passage

in question John 19 30 records the last

words Jesus Christ spoke on the cross at

least according to the Gospel of John as

it is finished which in Greek is one

word to tell us die now some Protestant

apologists say that Jesus's declaration

should be translated it is paid in full

according to them by saying it is

finished Jesus is saying that nothing

else must be paid or done because of sin

the Protestant apologist Ron Rhodes

writes the following in his book

reasoning from the scriptures with

Catholics he says it is highly

significant that the phrase it is

finished can also be translated Paid in

Full the work of redemption was

completed at the cross nothing further

needed to be done he had paid in full

the price of our Redemption apologists

like Rhodes claim that this means there

is nothing a person must do after making

an Act of Faith in Jesus in order to be

saved since quote nothing further needs

to be done to pay for our sins moreover

no believer undergoes purification after

death through Purgatory because there's

no payment we must make in regards to

our sins and this would include any kind

of temporal punishments related to sin

day hunt says in this context related to

Purgatory quote there is nothing left

for Sinners to pay in order to receive

the pardon offered by God's grace the

debt has been paid in full it is

finished Christ cried in triumphed just

before he died upon the cross to suggest

otherwise is the most serious heresy so

how should Catholics understand what

Jesus said in John 19 30. does it mean

that all we must do in order to be saved

is just believe in Christ and there is

nothing else we must do because Christ

essentially said that our sins were paid

in full when he said it is finished

well Catholics agree with Protestants

that human beings can never remit the

Eternal punishment of sin we can't save

ourselves the catechism says with regard

to God there is no strict right to any

Merit on the part of man between God and

us there is an immeasurable inequality

for we have received everything from him

our creator paragraph 2007 in paragraph

2010 goes on to say since the initiative

belongs to God in the order of Grace no

one can Merit the initial Grace of

forgiveness and justification at the

beginning of conversion so there is

nothing we can do to satisfy God's

justice for the offense caused by our

sins only Jesus Christ who is fully God

and fully man can satisfy God's justice

and remit the Eternal punishment of sin

in fact Jesus didn't just pay for our

sins or the sins of people who believe

even him Christ paid for the sins of

those who don't believe in him and even

of the sins of people who will never

believe in Jesus Christ that's why you

can tell any person you meet that Christ

died for you first John 2 2 says of

Christ he is the expiation for our sins

and not for hours only but also for the

sins of the whole world

the fact that Christ's death paid for or

atoned for our sins does not mean

everything is finished regarding our

Salvation in fact our Lord himself did

things for our Salvation even after the

crucifixion since the Bible says that

Christ's Resurrection justifies us

Romans 4 24-25 speaks of Jesus our lord

who was put to death for our trespasses

and raised for our justification

Saint Paul says if Christ has not been

raised your faith is futile and you are

still in your sins this shows that our

justification even the act of remitting

our sins was not finished when Jesus

said it is finished on the cross we were

Justified at the resurrection

we also have to do something in order to

be saved because if Christ paid for all

of Humanity's sins then the difference

between those who are saved and those

who are damned can only be found in

something the believer chooses to do

that's why some Calvinists say that

Christ only died for the elect so they

speak of a limited or a particular

atonement not a universal one if you

summarize it in a bumper sticker it

might say Calvinism Jesus might have

died for you

but if you believe that Christ atoned

for every human being's sins then there

must be something a Believer does to

have that applied to their souls such as

by being baptized and remaining in

communion with Christ until death John's

gospel records these truths when Jesus

says in John 3 5 unless one is born of

water and the spirit he cannot enter the

kingdom of God and again in John 15 6

when Jesus says if a man does not abide

in me he is cast forth as a branch and

Withers and the branches are gathered

thrown into the fire and burned Christ

sacrificed atones for all sins but the

Bible says that this sacrifice can have

no effect if we reject God through

Disobedience that's the point of the

parable of the unforgiving servant in

Matthew 18. so in that story Jesus told

a king graciously forgave a servant's

debt which would mean the king would

have to incur the himself he would pay

the debt in full instead even but even

though the king essentially declared it

is paid in full by forgiving the debt

the unforgiving servant threatened to

jail another servant who failed to repay

him a much smaller debt so in response

the king revoked his payment and had the

unforgiving servant imprisoned until he

paid his debt which was so large that

biblical Scholars say he could have

never actually repaid it the lesson is

clear God has atoned or paid for all of

our sins but if we refuse to cooperate

with God's grace then the debt can be

reinstated that's why Hebrews 10 26-27

says if we sin deliberately after

receiving the knowledge of the truth

there no longer remains a sacrifice for

sins but a fearful Prospect of judgment

speaking of Hebrews by the way the

author of Hebrews reminds his listeners

that quote all discipline seems painful

rather than Pleasant later it yields the

peaceful fruit of righteousness to those

who have been trained by it Hebrews 12

11. painful discipline is another word

for punishment and so the author of

Hebrews makes it clear that beloved

children of God can be disciplined and

when God disciplines us this yields the

fruit of righteousness but since

children of God do not receive the

Eternal punishment related to sin as

discipline this discipline can only

refer to the temporal punishment of sin

rooted in the disordered attraction we

have to sin because of how venial sin

damages our relationship with God even

if it doesn't destroy it

so we've seen that we can agree with our

Protestant friends that Christ fully

paid for all of our sins indeed Christ

paid for everyone's sins on the cross

but this doesn't mean there is nothing

more we must do to cooperate with God's

gift to Salvation it also doesn't mean

that we don't pay a temporal penalty for

our sins through God's discipline of us

just because Christ paid for the Eternal

consequences of our sins

all right so what did Jesus mean when he

said it is finished on the cross first

he did not literally mean it is paid in

full that can be a truth we glean from

the passage but Rhodes is wrong when he

says we can translate to telistai as

simply paid in full that's not what the

word means it's a form of the Greek word

taleo which just means to end or finish

or complete the idea that it means paid

in full is something of an urban legend

in biblical exegesis it came from

Scholars who noted that receipts from

around the time in the New Testament had

the Greek word tetel stamped on them

meaning it's paid but taytel is an

abbreviation and there are five

different Greek words that begin with

these letters to telesti is one of them

but another is tetelo natai which is a

different word than tetelestai to tell

High literally means tax or paid as

taxes and it can be found on dozens of

receipts where it refers to a tax that

has been paid not a debt that's fully

paid the word tetelestai on the other

hand is used in ancient Greek sources to

talk about finishing art or sculptures

or pieces of cloth not the paying of

debts in the New Testament the root word

taleo is only used for payments in

Matthew 17 24 and Romans 13 6 where it

doesn't talk about paid in full it just

talks about paying taxes according to

one academic article on the subject the

expression to tell is followed by an

abbreviated form of Dia pules through

the gate suggesting that these are

receipts or records of toll payments so

if Jesus did not mean paid in full then

what did he mean when he said it is

finished it could mean Christ's passion

had now come to an end his ordeal on the

cross was now finished or as many

scholars note that Old Testament

prophecies about the Messiah were now

fulfilled or finished through Christ's

sacrificial death look at the preceding

verses which describe what happened

after Jesus entrusted his mother to the

Apostle John after this Jesus knowing

that all was now finished to telesti

said to fulfill teleafe to fulfill the

scripture I thirst a bowl full of

vinegar stood there so they put a sponge

full of the vinegar on hyssop and held

it to his mouth when Jesus had received

the vinegar he said it is finished and

he bowed his head and gave up his Spirit

John 19 28 is the only other place where

tetelestai is used in scripture and when

it's combined with the related word

telefe we see the context is related to

finishing complete eating or fulfilling

the Messianic prophecies of the Old

Testament especially those related to

the death of the Messiah Jesus could

also have been referring to the

finishing of the Last Supper the

Catholic Theologian Scott Hahn has

proposed this hypothesis in his book the

Lamb's supper and in more detail in his

2018 book the fourth cup Han notes that

Jesus conspicuously did not drink from

the fourth cup of the Passover meal

instead Jesus refused to drink wine

until he came into his kingdom and then

before dying Jesus drank sour wine on

the cross Han says it was the Passover

that was now finished more precisely it

was Jesus's transformation of the

Passover sacrifice of the old Covenant

into the Eucharistic sacrifice of the

New Covenant and so now that the

Passover was completed Jesus the

Passover Lamb that had been sacrificed

would now be received by his followers

or eaten just like the old Passover Lamb

was through the Eucharist

this last word of Christ could include

all of these meanings and even others

that have not been explored however we

do know that Jesus did not mean that our

sins had been paid in a way that removes

any obligation on our part to cooperate

with God's grace in order to remain in

communion with Christ John 3 36 puts it

well he who believes in the son has

eternal life but he who does not obey

the son shall not see life but the wrath

of God rests upon him well thank you

guys so much for watching this video I

hope this is helpful to show that when

Catholics and Protestants engage

scripture

in many cases there is significant

overlap and agreement that we have on

what the scripture means and so it's

important to emphasize that

but also to point out when there are

aspects of scripture where the

interpretation goes far beyond what the

original text says in a way that

contradicts what the Catholic Church

teaches so thank you guys so much and I

hope you have a very blessed day and a

blessed Lent

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