Friends: When Jesus says, “It is finished,” what does that have to do with the book of Exodus? Funny how the Bible all ties together. 

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Spirituality Column #1028

July 28, 2026

Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

Incomplete Passover

By Bob Walters

“I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.” – Exodus 6:7

There is a thing – not sure if it is best to label it a heresy, a questionable doctrine, or merely a “controversial Christian theological belief” – called “supersessionism” that means the New Testament of the Bible replaces or supersedes the Old Testament.

Also known as “replacement theology,” it is the notion that with the completeness of Jesus Christ and the divine salvation described in the New Testament there is no need for the Old Testament’s stories of God, Israel, Creation, the Commandments … all of it. They become superfluous because Christ is sufficient. Who needs Moses?

As Christians we can all agree, I think, that Christ is sufficient, e.g., 1 Corinthians 12:9 where Jesus tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The grace and power of Christ is infinite; there’s nothing quite like it, for humans, in the Old Testament.  But I will rail loudly against the negation of the Old Testament. It is the foundation for why we are here (God’s glory), what our purpose is (participating in that glory), and where our destiny lies (eternal relationship with God).

The Old Testament is a divine story with no ending and no solution.  It stops at Malachi, and through its many prophesies says something further is going to happen. In its 39 books (for my Catholic friends, 46 books with the Apocrypha, but that’s another issue), the OT describes who God is, who we are, what Creation’s problems are, and never exactly nails down an ultimate point.  It is more than “Israel will be God’s people.

Jesus Christ shows up in humanity, as human, and restores people – all people – to the promise of eternal relationship with God. But Jesus doesn’t just “show up.” A careful reading shows that Jesus has been “with us” all the time.  He is the Creative Word of God: “In the Beginning was the word … and the word was God.” (John 1:1).

I was taught to be very careful in assessing the “human” presence of a pre-incarnate Christ.  Father, Son, and Spirit are eternal – no beginning, no end – but one wonders exactly with whom Jacob was wrestling (Genesis 32:22). What was the deal with the burning bush? Various prophets physically encountering God – these are called theophanies – bring good questions that do not prove or disprove one’s faith, only one’s curiosity.  I’m like that.  My relationship with Jesus has jumped from the pages of the Bible into my heart, so I know it’s OK to question and investigate all that scripture offers.

That said, one can find Jesus on every page of the Bible if one knows what one is looking for.  And this past week I ran across a correlation I had never previously seen.

It was in a Traci Coston post July 19 (full post here and below). Jesus interrupted his final Passover meal – the Last Supper – that began in the upper room (John 13-14) but wasn’t completed until the Cross (John 19), when Jesus said, “It is finished.”

Costin notes, “The Passover meal traditionally includes four cups of wine, each connected to God’s promises in the Book of Exodus 6:67. The four cups represent 1. Sanctification – “I will bring you out,” 2. Deliverance – “I will rescue you,” 3. Redemption – “I will redeem you,” and 4. – Praise / Completion – “I will take you as my people.”

At the last supper in Luke 22, Jesus drinks the first three but not the fourth. That is reserved for the Cross when Jesus exhales saying, “It is finished.” What is “finished?”

Passover is finished; it is completed: the ultimate Passover sacrifice where God takes not only the Jews as His own but restores His relationship with all mankind. Faith in Christ is our acceptance of that offer, and our faith in Christ completes our salvation.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes: All scripture is useful (2 Timothy 2:16-17).

Traci CostonStrange Detail - Link

There's a strange detail in the Last Supper that most people never notice. Jesus stopped the Passover meal partway through.

And He didn't finish it until the cross.

The Passover meal traditionally includes four cups of wine, each connected to God's promises to Israel in the Book of Exodus 6:6-7. The cups represent:

1. Sanctification - "I will bring you out."

2. Deliverance — "I will rescue you."

3. Redemption - "I will redeem you."

4. Praise / Completion - "I will take you as My people."

Now watch what Jesus does. During the meal He lifts a cup and says: "This cup is the new covenant in My blood." (Luke 22:20)

Luke specifically says this happened after supper, which corresponds to the third cup - the Cup of Redemption. Jesus was declaring He is the redemption.

But then something strange happens. Jesus says:

"I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” (Luke 22:20)

He stops before the fourth cup. The Passover meal is left unfinished. Later, while hanging on the cross, Jesus is given sour wine.

Then He declares: "It is finished." (John 19:30)

The Passover Lamb had been sacrificed.

Redemption was complete. Jesus giving His life on the cross was the fulfillment of Passover itself.