If you happen to be an opera fan, you’re likely familiar with the name of the famed German composer, Richard Wagner, and his classic four-part opera series (or cycle) known as Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). The total work is quite long — it takes about 15 hours to play the entire opera — which is why it’s typically performed as a series over a period of four nights.

The final part of the series, titled Gotterdammerung (Twilight of the Gods), is the longest, lasting about five hours. In this finale, a character named Brunnhilde, who is usually portrayed as a heavyset soprano, performs a lengthy farewell aria that concludes the entire series. As a result, someone attending this opera for the first time, who might have mistakenly thought it was ending, would be told, “It’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

Over the years, this phrase has gained more widespread use and has become a way of saying that one should not assume the outcome of an event until it has fully concluded. It’s most often used in sporting events when it may appear that one of the teams has the victory in hand, but the other team still has a chance to win — someone rooting for the team that’s losing may want to point out that “it’s not over until the fat lady sings.”

In life, there are some things we can be involved in where it doesn’t really matter whether you completely finish it or not. For example, if you’re eating a big meal, you can certainly enjoy it whether or not you completely clean off your plate. However, there are also many things in life where the entire effort doesn’t count at all until the job is completely finished. For example:

• If you’re building a house, being almost done doesn’t count for anything if you don’t finish the job (similar to the example Jesus gave in Luke 14:28-30). The work isn’t finished until you have the Certificate of Occupancy in hand.
• If you’re looking for a new job, doing well on an interview doesn’t matter if you don’t get the job. The work isn’t finished until you have a job offer in hand.
• If you’re driving to an important appointment and your car breaks down on the way, it’s not much of a consolation to say you almost got there. The trip isn’t finished until you arrive at your destination.

Along the same lines as that last example, we’re each traveling on a path in life — the scriptures refer to it as the straight and narrow way. Our destination is the eternal kingdom of God. If for any reason, we don’t stay on the path and we don’t make it to our destination, it’s not any consolation at all to say we almost got there. It’s imperative that we endure to the end and finish the journey we have begun, keeping in mind that it’s not over until we take our last breath and can say:

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)

Jesus came to earth primarily to accomplish one thing — to be crucified to serve as a worthy sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. Yes, He did other things, too, but if He did all of those other things and somehow avoided being crucified, there would be no plan of salvation today. It would have been no consolation to just be able to say that Jesus was a good man who healed people and taught lots of good lessons. He had to complete the task of being crucified, or it was all for nothing.

Yes, there were many prophecies that foretold that Jesus would complete this work. But there were still obstacles placed in His way to try to tempt the human part of Him from seeing this through to completion:

• The devil tried to tempt Him at the beginning of His ministry.
• His own disciples tried to talk Him out of it, saying they would protect Him and not let anything happen to Him.
• Thoughts entered His head in the Garden of Gethsemane of the pain and torture that was coming, causing Him to ask the Father whether this cup could be removed from Him.
• Even hanging on the cross, He had people challenging Him to prove who He was by coming down from the cross, tempting Him to call for angels to come and rescue Him.

As long as Jesus is still breathing, there’s technically still the chance that the plan of salvation can be defeated. It’s not over until He takes his last breath. So:

“Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished…he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:28,30)

And, just like that — it’s finished! With the resurrection coming in the next three days, the plan of salvation is in place. The devil is defeated, and we have victory in Jesus. The fat lady may not be singing but the angels in heaven are.

Praise God that Jesus completed His work here on earth. Now, all we have to do is complete our work on earth, enduring to the end, so that we can reap the eternal reward that Jesus purchased for us with His sacrifice on the cross.