22nd April 2022

The Myers-Briggs personality test was once all the rage. Everyone was either an INFP, an ENTP or one of fourteen other types. A similar test purported to reveal how each member of a team would function. Its ‘types’ included Resource Investigator and (there were nine altogether) Completer Finisher. Maybe, some said, the ‘types’ could be identified in Jesus’ team of disciples…

It was all a bit gimmicky for me, but in any case I am no Completer Finisher. You should see what’s left in my study! But honestly I don’t think any human being ever feels that they have said all that should have been said, or done all that ought to have been done. I retire from Tyndale with a sense of unfinished business…

Neither do many of us go through life being entirely sure of what lies ahead. Even the most ‘driven’ people have to accept that they haven’t achieved all of their goals – Vladimir Putin… Boris Johnson… “What are your plans for retirement?” several folk have asked. My honest answer is “we’ll see what happens”.

There again. The gospel stories don’t give us a complete record of the whole of Jesus’ life, but they do give a picture, so we can say that in a short life he did say all that ought to have been said and did do all that ought to have been done. John records Jesus on the Cross saying words that are exactly in line with his understanding of the Jesus who came from the Father, did the Father’s will (for the good of us all) and returned to Him once again. ”It is finished…”

Michael Docker