The 7 Last saying of Christ
“Father into Thy Hands I Commend My Spirit.”
by
District Elder M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Luke 23:44-47 -- "And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man."
Theme Verse: - Luke 23:46 Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. “This is Psalms 31:5 with one word added--Father. That verse was the prayer every Jewish mother taught her child to say as the last thing at night. Just as we were taught to say, ‘Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep. So the Jewish mother taught her child to say, before they went to sleep, “Into thy hands I commit my spirit.” However, when Jesus said it on the cross He not only made it exceptionally lovely, but showed something very significant when He added the word Father. He proclaimed relationship and He even showed us while on the cross how to die like a child falling asleep in His father’s arms.”
We have and are commemorating on tonight the last 7 sayings of Jesus Christ. It is said that the way one lives is the way one dies. There is a story about a man that was very successful in the deli business he had stores all over the country. On his death bed the top executives from his company all gathered around to hear the last words of this man because they knew that he would give them everlasting wisdom as he departed from this life. With his dying breath the man said “Slice the ham thin”. As he lived so he died. This being true we find Jesus dies as He lived in relationship and in with prayer with the Father.
His first saying was that of forgiveness. We see in the 1st saying Christ asking the Father to forgive the very people who at the time were mocking him and had beat and mistreated him all night long. They scourged him and beat him beyond recognition, yet His 1st saying on the cross if forgiveness. This is a forgiveness that wasn’t dependant upon the remorse of others but on the Agape love of God.
His second saying was that of salvation. Although He was soon to die He never stopped doing what He was sent to do. Jesus gave the gift of eternal life to a thief on the cross just in the last hours of his life he turned to Christ and asked remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. Jesus said, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” It shows that even unto death we must be faithful, it show us that no matter what you’ve done and no matter what hour if you turn to Christ with true repentance in your heart it’s never too late. Understand that I am not an advocate for death bed repentance because that’s to close, but as long as you have breath in you body you can repent.
His third saying was that of affection. We see Jesus in the pain and agony on the cross yet He takes time to entrust his mother to his beloved friend and disciple John.
His fourth saying was that of anguish. We hear the humanity of Him when He said I thirst. Although this thirst was to be quenched with the bitterness of vinegar it was sweet to our souls. I thirst was THE EXPRESSION OF THE DESIRE OF HIS HEART. He thirsted for water no doubt, but His soul was thirsty in a higher sense; indeed, he seems only to have spoken that so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled as to the offering Him vinegar. Understand that He was always in harmony with Himself, and His own body, He was always expressive of His soul’s cravings as well as of its own longings. "I thirst" meant that His heart was thirsting to save men. This thirst had been on him from the earliest of his earthly days. He thirsted to pluck us from between the jaws of hell, to pay our redemption price, and set us free from the eternal condemnation which hung over us.
His fifth saying was that of suffering. We hear the agony in the voice of Christ at the very moment that He took the sins of the world upon Himself and was separated from His Father. He said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He endured that separation from His Father so we wouldn’t have to.
His sixth saying was that of victory – We hear the victory cry when Christ said it is finished all that He had come to do was complete in Him. The road to salvation had been paved and reconciliation between God and man could take place because the there had been the shedding of His blood which without there is no remission of sin
Now we come to the seventh and final saying of Christ on this side of Gory. The number 7 means perfection in this 7th saying we see perfectly how we not only must live, but how we should die. There are 8 words in this 7th saying the number 8 means new beginnings, although it is the last saying of Christ on the cross it starts a brand new beginning. In this last saying we have TRUST, COMFORT, SECURITY.
First and foremost this is a saying of trust. Father into thy hands. The Father’s hands are trustworthy. Christ had no problem putting his spirit into his Father’s hands because He knew there were no better hands than His Father’s and He knew that He could totally trust His Father. Like I said it was just like a child falling asleep in his Father’s arms, total trust. I remember my father doing it with me and I did it with my boys when they were little. They would stand on the step or porch and jump into my arms, they trusted that I would catch them. I remember one time my son jumped before he told me. In mid-flight he called my name, as I turned I saw him in the air I stretched out to catch him and I fell, he landed on my back. I was hurt, but he laughed, he trusted me so much that he knew I wasn’t going to let him fall. We need to know that we can entrust our spirit, we can entrust every part of our lives into God’s hands because there is no one more trustworthy. When you truly entrust your spirit to God you will entrust all of you to Him. The Allstate commercials slogan is you’re in good hands – the good hands people”. But I’m here to tell you that their hands do not come anywhere near being as trustworthy as the hands of our Father. There are people who are afraid to put their spirit, afraid to put their life in the hands of God. Some are scared because their not sure what God might have them do or what He might have them give up. Others won’t put their hands in the life of God because their not ready to take their hands off the stirring wheel. They want to be in charge of the direction of their life. “For I know the thoughts I have for you, thoughts of good and not of evil to bring you to an expected end. Thoughts to prosper you and not to harm you. Thoughts to give you a hope and a future. That scripture isn’t just for Jeremiah it’s for each one of us. He has a plan for our lives that will benefit us. He has a plan that will bring hope to our lives. Yet some of us are so set in charting our own course that we refuse to put our lives in God’s hands and see what He has for us.
Isaiah 65:2 “All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations.” That happens today, God is holding out his hand saying put your life in my hands. You can trust me. But instead people continue to pursue their own desires and wants and imaginations.
Second is COMFORT = to soothe, console, or reassure; bring cheer to make physically comfortable. Jesus knew that in the hands of the Father that He would find rest. In the midst of all He was going through He found comfort in the hands of the Father, He found reassurance that everything was going to be alright. He was comforted in knowing that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed.
Third is SECURITY "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." It will be secure with thee, into thy hands. My, how wonderful it is to know about the strength of the hands of God, John 10:27, Jesus is speaking, "My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them to me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one." There is security in the hands of God.
Jesus, welcomed the security of those hands; Jesus welcomed the comfort found in those hands; Jesus found trust in the hands of the father, Jesus welcomed the ability of those hands to do what no other hands could do; and that was to deliver him out of the hands of man.
You see when Jesus was in the hands of man, for those last 18 hours of his life;
With their hands – they arrested illegally
With their hands—they stripped him naked.
With their hands—they whipped him, until flesh fell from His bones.
With their hands – they beat Him unmercifully all night long.
With their hands -- they plucked His beard out hair by hair.
With their hands—they slapped Him, until He was blue in the face.
With their hands—they punched Him, until He was unrecognizable.
With their hands—they jammed a crown of thorns down on his head.
With their hands – they placed a robe of mockery upon Him.
With their hands—they nailed Him to a cross.
Wicked hands did all they could to defeat Jesus, but now Jesus remembers whose hands He actually was in. He knows He is returning to the tender hands of His father. So He says the last thing before He falls asleep in the Father’s Arms – Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.
When you know that you that what know it is a wonderful thing.
I am reminded of a story I read once before, I don’t remember where I read it or who wrote it, but I remember the story very well it went like this. “Once upon a time, twin boys were conceived in the womb. The spark of life grew and each tiny brain began to take shape and form. With the development of their brain came feelings, and with feelings came perception--a perception of their surroundings, and the perception of each other, and their own lives. They discovered that life was good, and they laughed and rejoiced in their hearts.
One said to the other, ‘We are lucky to have been conceived and to have this wonderful world.’
The other said, ‘Yes, blessed be our mother who gave us life and each other.’
Each of the twins continued to grow and soon their arms and fingers, legs and toes began to take shape. They stretched their bodies and turned in their little world. They explored it and found the life cord which gave them life from their mother’s blood. They were grateful for this new discovery and sang, ‘How great is the love of our mother--that she shares all she has with us!’
Weeks passed into months and with the advent of each new month, they noticed a change in each other and themselves.
‘We are changing,’ one said. ‘What can it mean?’
The other said ‘It means,’ that we are drawing near to birth.’
An unsettling chill crept over them. They were afraid of birth, for they knew that it meant leaving their wonderful world behind.
One of the twins said, ‘If it were it up to me, I would live here forever.’
‘But we must be born, said the other. ‘It has happened to all the others.’ Indeed, there was evidence inside the womb that the mother had carried life before theirs. ‘And I believe that there is life after birth, don’t you?’
‘How can there be life after birth?’ cried the one. ‘Do we not shed our life cord and also the blood tissue when we are born? And have you ever talked to anyone that has been born? Has anyone ever re-entered the womb after birth to describe what birth is like? NO!’ As he spoke, he fell into despair, and in his despair he moaned, ‘If the purpose of conception and our growth inside the womb is to end in birth, then truly our life is senseless.’ He clutched his precious life cord to his chest and said, ‘And if this is so, and life is absurd, then there really can be no mother!’
‘But there is a mother,’ protested the other. ‘Who else gave us nourishment? Who else created this world for us?’
‘We get our nourishment from this cord--and our world has always been here! Said the one. ‘And if there is a mother--where is she? Have you ever seen her- No? We invented the mother when we were young because it satisfied a need in us. It made us feel secure and happy.’
Thus while the one raved and despaired, the other got himself together for the birth and placed his trust in the hands of his mother. Hours turned into days, and days into weeks. And soon it was time. They both knew their birth was at hand, not sure of what to expect they both feared what they did not know. As the one was first to be conceived, so he was the first to be born, the other following.
They cried as they were born into the light. They coughed out fluid and gasped the dry air. And when they were sure they had been born, they opened their eyes--seeing life after birth for the very first time. What they saw was the beautiful eyes of their mother, as they were cradled lovingly in her arms. They were home.” Annonimous
When this world is all you know it’s very easy to fear what happens at death. But there is no reason for us to fear. Like Jesus saying that Jewish children’s prayer. “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Christ, with a faith willingly closed his eyes and gave up his spirit knowing that a better life waited on the other side of glory.
That’s why the Bible says in Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God”.
If you want to experience joy unspeakable and full of glory then you need to say like Jesus said “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit”. However, someone might say, but I’m not ready to die just yet so how can I say that.
Well let’s look at it this way - bill collectors are ringing your phone and you are struggling trying to make it, you go to work everyday yet your finances just are not making ends meet then you need to say so father into thy hands I commend my finances.
The devil wants to destroy the children because he knows that they are the future of carrying the Word of God so he is trying to destroy them by having people going into school and shooting at random so Father into thy hands I commend my children.
Someone may be saying you don’t understand I am confused, discourage, emptied, lonely, mad at God, upset with the circumstances in my life, hurt and I have a void inside. I am totally ticked off and I don’t know if I’m going to loose my mind. You need to say Father into thy hands I commend my spirit, Father into thy hands I commend my mind, my struggles, my emptiness, I can’t do this by myself anymore, I am depending on you to see me through so Father into thy hands I commend it all. Father into thy hands I commend my job, my marriage, my health, my future. I know that you have something better for me because you said that you came that we might have life and have it more abundantly so into thy hands I commend all that I am, all that I hope to be.
Father into thy hands I commend it all.
When that day comes upon you and we come to the end of our journey, I pray that we entrust our spirit into the hands of God with a confidence knowing that when we awake on the other side of glory we will see the eyes of our Father welling up with love saying, “Welcome my child!”
I am reminded of a song that we use to sing by “Douglas Miller” it simply said
“WHEN I SEE JESUS AMEN”
I’ve learned how to live holy
I’ve learned how to live right
I’ve learned how to suffer, for if I suffer I’ll gain eternal, eternal life
But when I see Jesus Amen-- When I see Jesus Amen-- All of my troubles will be over, when I see Jesus Amen
When I see Jesus Amen, When I see the man who died for me, the one who set me free, Amen, all my troubles will all be over when I see Jesus Amen.
Are you in the Father’s hands?
Are you safe in his arms? Do you have the security in knowing, there are no better hands to be in? not mamma’s hands; not daddy’s hands; but god’s hands…nobody’s hands can carry you all the way…like god’s hands. Are you as the song says “I’m safe in his arms.”
Father into thy hands I commend my spirit.
District Elder M. .L. Maughmer, Jr.
Southern Ohio District
Assistant Pastor
Original Glorious Church
Boanerge Ministries,
