THE SEVENTH “WORDS FROM THE CROSS”

After Jesus shouted, “Tetelestai!”  He cried the seventh and final words of His passion.

“Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.”  (Luke 23:46)

These final words of triumph were a direct quote from Psalm 31:5.  “…into Your hands I commit My spirit”.  This was the most common prayer that every Jewish boy and girl was taught from their infancy.  It was the prayer to at the end of the day before going to sleep and was much like the one many parents teach their children to pray today.

“Now I lay me down to sleep.  I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

Jesus, however, made one crucial addition to the prayer.  He prefaced it with the word, “Father”.  His final prayer was very personal.  His first words had been very personal, “Father, forgive them…” and now His last were a prayer of committal, “Father, into Your hands…”  As Bible expositor, William Barclay, wrote: “Even on a cross, Jesus died like a child falling asleep in his father’s arms.” (The Gospel of Luke, page 302)

After this last and final cry from the cross, John recorded that Jesus “…bowed His head and gave up His spirit”.  (John 19:30)  Luke recorded, “when He had said this, He breathed His last”.  (Luke 23:46)  Both Matthew and Mark said, “He gave up His spirit”.  None of the Gospel writers said that “Jesus died.”  While it is true that He died physically, that is not how the four Gospels recorded it.  To have stated it that way would have suggested that it was the crucifixion that killed Jesus.  But that was not the case.  The cross didn’t take Jesus’ life – He gave up His life on the cross.

Once again, when we put all of these accounts together, we can see that Jesus was fully in charge of the moment of His physical death.  He had clearly told His disciples this well in advance of His crucifixion.

“I am the good shepherd…I lay down My life for the Sheep…The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life – only to take it up again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”  (John 10:14-18)

It is crucial to state again that the cross did not take Christ’s life from Him.  He gave up His life by an act of His own will – an authority He had been given by God.  Once man, demons and sin had done their worst to Him on the cross…once the work of redemption was completed for time and eternity…once the Father’s justice was fully satisfied – then and only then did Jesus “give up His spirit” to His heavenly Father by an act of His will. 

As was mentioned earlier in this Lenten series, to speed the process of dying along, the Roman executioners would often break the criminals’ legs so they would not linger between life and death.  While the soldiers did that to the two thieves (John 19:31), it was not necessary to do it to Jesus. He was already dead.  Because Jesus knew that the debt had been paid, He “bowed His head” and gave up His spirit.  This was another fulfillment of prophecy, “He protects all of His bones, not one of them will be broken.”  (Psalm 34:20)

Just as Jesus’ birth was in the perfect “…fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4), so His death was “…just at the right time” in every way.  (Romans 5:6)  No one took His life from Him.  It was Jesus who gave up His own life at the exact time when everything He had come to do was Tetelestai.

At the precise moment that Jesus “bowed His head and gave up His spirit”, something unbelievable took place in the Temple.  What had been perfectly planned and orchestrated in eternity past now took place in the Holy of Holies.  Dramatically symbolizing that the work of salvation was complete, the Temple veil was torn in two.  All three synoptic Gospels give the same account, “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”  (Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45)

Apparently the cause of this “rending of the temple veil” was a great earthquake that shook the city of Jerusalem and surrounding area.  For we read that, “The earth shook and the rocks split.” (Matthew 27:51)  The writer of Hebrews clearly related this dramatic event in the Holy of Holies to the death of Christ.  He did so to remind us that Christ alone is the basis of our confidence and assurance before God.

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith…” (Hebrews 10:19-22)

As you will recall from the Old Testament, only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, once a year, on the Day of Atonement, to make a sacrifice for the people.  (Leviticus 16:1-34)  But because Jesus was the perfect sacrifice on the cross, He opened a “new and living way for us through the curtain, that is, His body”.  The veil was rent in two “…from top to bottom” to show that this was the work of God – not man.  This was God’s perfect work of salvation from start to finish.  It was 100% the work of grace.

Another dramatic event took place as a result of the earthquake.

“The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” (Matthew 27:53)

This is another nugget of Biblical revelation that we do not fully understand.  But it would appear that these physical resurrections were a manifestation of the “first fruits” (I Corinthians 15:23) of the full “resurrection harvest” that is to come, when every believer will be raised with a new resurrection body, like that of the Lord Jesus.  (I Corinthians 15:49)

These cataclysmic events certainly got the attention of the crucifixion party – especially the Roman guards.  Even though they had no doubt carried out many executions in their lives, this one was unique.  They had never seen such physical manifestations nor witnessed such love and compassion from the one they were crucifying.  Again, the synoptic writers call our attention to the testimony of the Roman soldier who had been in charge of Jesus’ crucifixion.

“The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.’”  (Luke 23:47)

“And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard His cry and saw how He died, he said, ‘Surely this man was the Son of God.’” (Mark 15:39)

“When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, ‘Surely He was the Son of God!’”  (Matthew 27:54)

After Jesus’ death, those who hated Him left the crucifixion scene – no doubt with a sick satisfaction that they had “won the day.”  But on the edges of the crowd were those who stayed on a while longer, in grief and in lingering love, contemplating what had taken place.

“When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away.  But all those who knew Him, including the women who had followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching these things.” (Luke 23:48-49)

As you have “watched these things” afresh, as you have heard these seven last words from the cross, know in your heart that God was thinking about you “before time began”.  Be assured that if you personally know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then God made provision for your salvation in His perfect Lamb who was “…slain from the creation of the world”.  (Revelation 13:8)  That’s right.  His love for you began long before your love for Him.  That’s why Paul reminded his readers that “This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” (II Timothy 1:9)

If you have never accepted Christ or fully surrendered your life to Him, I pray that this very day will be that “day of salvation” for you!  Why wait?  You are missing out on an unbeatable life because of His unconditional love and unconditional forgiveness that are a result of His unmerited favor!