"It is finished"

This article by Olivier Clément offers a brief exegetical study centered on the last words of Christ on the cross in the Gospel of John, particularly the cry "It is finished" (_tetelestai_) and "I thirst." The approach is both philological and theological: Clément analyzes the Greek verb _telein_ to show that the fulfillment it designates is not a closure but a sacrificial and sanctifying fullness. The main idea is that the cross constitutes simultaneously the most radical kenotic descent of the Word and its glorious exaltation, with death and resurrection forming in the fourth Gospel a single event. The theological contribution lies in the Orthodox articulation between Trinitarian kenosis, paschal victory, and the outpouring of the Spirit — symbolized by the blood and water flowing from the pierced side — as the foundation of the sacramental and eschatological life of the Church.