Theme of the Week: Seven Sayings from the Cross
Saying 7: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. Luke 23:46
Scripture Reading: John 10:17-18
All this week, we’ve been digging into Jesus’ last words and what we can learn from them.
In total, Jesus hung on the cross for six hours. In that excruciating time, He made seven statements, each one a clue to His purpose on Earth.
His last words before His death were this: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Finally, Jesus clues us in to this mystery; while he submitted to becoming fully human and even suffer torture and death, it was always by choice.
Many scholars agree Jesus’ spirit would not leave His body in death without His permission.
His final statement on the cross reveals He truly lay down His life on His own terms. As He says in John 10:17-18, “I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.”
Another clue is John 8:59, “At that point, the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him. But Jesus was hidden from them and walked past them and left the Temple.”
Depending on your translation of this verse, it seems like Jesus gave the angry mob the slip, making a quick getaway by ducking behind a pillar. Or, as some scholars suggest, Jesus had supernatural help in this instance and quite simply turned invisible and walked out.
Wow!
When his companions try to defend Jesus and prevent Him from being arrested, He informs them, “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and He will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?”
Do you ever feel like you are life’s chew toy, tossed by the wind and waves?
Stop. Take a breath. And remember – Jesus won. He’s in control, and He cares about you. He proved it many times over in His earthly life, and again on the cross.
Motivated by love, He took on a mission to save the lost, embracing the pain and struggle of living a human life, even feeling the disconnection from God that sinful humans have created. All of it, culminating in this finale on the cross, submitting to death in a final, triumphant, sudden turn from failure to victory.
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