The Last Seven Words of Jesus
First Saying: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Prayer was been a part of Jesus’ life. There was an ebb and flow in Jesus’ life where he would go into the world and then retreat for time with God. Most of his prayers were for others, the disciples, the religious leaders of his day and for you and me. His last prayer before the cross was in the Garden of Gethsemane. In it he prayed for guidance, for strength and for the will to follow God’s intent for him to die on the cross for the sins of the world. After having been falsely accused, tried and convicted of blasphemy then having the very same crowd who sang his praises just days before as he entered the city of Jerusalem and then whipped, beaten, mocked, spit upon and then nailed to the cross by the soldiers, one could well imagine anger raging in his heart at those who would hurt Him and in doing so ultimately rebel against God.
But the other message of Jesus teaching and ministry was forgiveness. He teaches forgiveness in the Lord’s prayer: "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us" (Matthew 6:12). When asked by Peter, how many times should we forgive someone, Jesus answers 70 x7. (Matthew 18:21-22). At the Last Supper, Jesus explains his crucifixion to his Apostles when he tells them to drink of the cup: "Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:27-28). He forgives the paralytic at Capernaum (Mark 2:5), and the adulteress caught in the act and about to be stoned (John 8:1-11). And so at the height of his suffering, Jesus draws upon his Divine Love and asks for his enemies to be forgiven. He prays forgiveness for the Sadducees who falsely accused him, for the soldiers who crucify him as a common criminal, for the crowds who turned on him, for Judas who betrayed him and for the disciples who denied and deserted him. And he asks for our forgiveness: for the times when we have professed one thing on Sunday and done another on Monday, when we have chosen our will over God’s, when we have denied Jesus with our words, our actions or attitudes: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
Second Saying: "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
The second word again is about forgiveness, this time directed to a sinner, a common criminal. It is not just the religious leaders or the soldiers that mock Jesus, but even the criminal on the left of Jesus being crucified with him. The criminal on the right speaks up for Jesus, explaining the two criminals are receiving their just due, and then pointing to Jesus, says, "this man has done nothing wrong." Then, turning to Jesus, he asks, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom" Jesus said to this thief, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." What we see is three very different men: a man who is dying in his sin, a man who is dying delivered from his sin and a man who is dying for sin. The truth is Jesus is the one who bore the most sin that day on the cross because he had the sins of the world on his shoulders. What this encounters teaches us that that salvation comes through faith alone. By speaking for Jesus, this criminal makes a profession of faith because he knows Jesus is not only innocent but sinless and thus the Savior of the world. The second we learn from this encounter is that it is never too late to be saved. The criminals who were crucified were the worst of the worst: murderers, insurrectionists, child molesters and rapists. Yet because of his profession of faith, he is told that neither he, nor you or me, nor anyone is outside of God’s grace.
A story is told of a thief who robbed John Wesley. While the thief walked away, Wesley shouted, "If you should someday come to your senses and know what you have done is wrong, turn to God for forgiveness through Jesus Christ." All it takes is a profession of faith. "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Third Saying: “Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ’Here is your mother.’
Now the cross was not on a hill far away but would have been by the side of the busiest road headed into the city of Jerusalem. The cross was not way up high but rather was closer to 7-8 feet tall. So passersby would have been very close to the crucifixion as they headed to and from the city. And now Mary, Jesus’ mother stands no more than 10 feet from Jesus. As such, Jesus is able to look into the eyes of his mother. Imagine how she must have felt. She is standing in the midst of grief. Like any mother, she must have had great dreams for her child, let alone the Savior of the world. Now she sees him dying the most excruciating and humiliating death. The disappointment, the embarrassment, the sense of helplessness. With her eyes filled with tears reflecting all of these emotions, Jesus looks into them and says, “Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ’Here is your mother.’
This saying doesn’t fit with the previous two Jesus has utter which focused on forging people of their sins. Now he turns his attention to his family As the firstborn son, it was Jesus responsibility to care for his mother. Now dying on the cross, he reaches beyond his pain and suffering to make sure his mother is to be cared for after he is gone. Jesus is not only reaching out to care for those who love him but he is making a profound statement of the importance of family and the responsibilities we have in them. The fifth Commandment says, “Honor your father and mother.” 1 Timothy 5:3 says, “Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.” This is a time honored tradition in the Jewish faith to care for widows and orphans. Jesus now seeing the grief and pain in his mother’s eyes reaches out to provide for her when she is a widow and without any children, thus reminding us what he said that he came to fulfill the law not abolish, even when he was dying on the cross. It is an act of following the law, an act of love, an act of caring for a loved one and an act of provision, “"Dear woman, here is your son," 27and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” John 19:26-27
Fourth Saying: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
The first three sayings of Jesus occur while it is still light. This saying and all that follow occur in the darkness. Both Matthew and Mark record that it was in the ninth hour, after three hours of darkness that Jesus cries out. Jesus must have also contended with the growing feeling of being more and more alone on this journey. Judas had already betrayed him. The other 11 had done so as well. The dark hours of the night filled with an almost deadening silence must have only contributed to the pain of that loneliness. The crowd had turned on him. Now he hangs on the cross dying while having people mock and criticize him, everything from where he now finds himself, what he taught and who he was. The further along the journey to the cross and death, the more Jesus must have felt alone. But all of that paled in comparison to the overhelming feelings of separation from God. And so he cries out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
How can that be from the one who continually and regularly turned to God in prayer, who just hours before had the most intimate and passionate connection with God in the Garden of Gethsemane that man had ever known? Here he finds himself, the pure Holiness of God, coming into contact with for the first time in his eternity of a life and actually becoming sin . That brought more anguish to His soul than we can imagine.
Prior to this, Jesus had seen and felt the effect of sin in other people’s lives as their words and actions pulled them away from God. The feelings of disappointment, pain and broken love as they choose another, rather than the One who created them. But now Jeuss finds himself submerged in sin, drinking it, breathing it, tasting it, smelling it and experiencing it and its effects on his relationship with the Father, with whom he has always been one. For the first time he experiences the anguish of separation from God, now separated physically, emotionally and spiritually from the Father as He took on the sins of the world. In such a condition, he would experience the excruciating agony on the cross, and the very things he had prayed for in the Garden, the love and the reassuring presence of God as he endured these things is now taken from him by taking on the sins of the world. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Fifth Saying: “I thirst.”
Too often when we think of Jesus, we think of him only in divine terms, for though he was in human form, he was fully divine. The fifth word of Jesus is His only human expression of His physical suffering. Jesus is now in shock. The wounds inflicted upon him in the scourging as his flesh was ripped from his back resulting in dramatic blood loss, the crowning with thorns, and the nailing upon the cross are now taking their toll, especially after losing so much fluid on the three-hour walk through the city of Jerusalem to Golgotha on the Way of the Cross. Some scholars believe dehydration was the cause of death of someone crucified. Those who claim to know, say that death from thirst is a horribly painful and slow way to go. The body dries up, deprived of its most essential ingredient. Functions begin to fail. Organs shut down. We can do without lots of thing, but remove water and we cannot exist.And so Jesus’ words may very well have been a sign he was close to death. Still others believe that Jesus still was fulfilling some of the more than 300 prophecies his life, ministry and now death lived out. John 19:28 records, "Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ’I thirst.’" .
Sixth Saying: "It is finished."
John 19:30 continues, "When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. The Greek word Jesus uses here is tetelestai. It was used by various people in everyday life in those days. A servant would use it when reporting to his or her master, “I have completed the work assigned to me” (see John 17:4). When a priest examined an animal sacrifice and found it faultless, this word was used.” The word means, “It is finished, it stands finished, and it always will be finished!” These words specify not the end of Jesus’ life, but the completion of His task. The purpose of His hour has been completed. Max Lucado writes, “The history-long plan of redeeming man was finished. The message of God to man was finished. The works done by Jesus as a man on earth were finished. The task of selecting and training ambassadors was finished. The job was finished. The song had been sung. The blood had been poured. The sacrifice had been made. The sting of death had been removed. It was over.” And now the punishment which was demanded for our sin and rebellion against God has been evoked and the debt has been paid in full. Warren Wiersbe says, “Perhaps the most meaningful meaning of tetelestai was that used by the merchants: “The debt is paid in full!” When He gave Himself on the cross, Jesus fully met the righteous demands of a holy law; He paid our debt in full. Yes, “it is finished” means…. The Servant had finished His work, The Perfect Sacrifice had been offered, Sins debt had been paid in full, The Picture had been completed. Jesus had finished what he came here on earth to do- Stan had been defeated, he carried the sins of the world and paid the price and as a result, we had been reconciled to God. It is finished – Tetelestai! It was in that moment the price had been paid and I truly believe that at this point fellowship with His Father had been restored. And in that fellowship we see Christ utter his last words.
Seventh Saying: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”
The hours of darkness finally passed and the storm of sorrow had spent its force. And in that Ninth Hour of Darkness Jesus was conscious of the returning assurance of the love and favor of God as He knew that His work was finished. Luke 23:46 records, "Jesus called out with a loud voice, ’Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last." With this last breath, Jesus was committed to remaining in submission to the Father. It is a reflection of his total trust in the father. Jack Hayford writes, “On the lips of Jesus, ‘Into Your hands I commit My spirit’ is no more an act of wearied resignation than ‘It is finished!’ was a cry of defeat. Both are assertions, statements of definitive action. The sixth word was one of triumph, the seventh one of trust” (p. 70). “From the human perspective His words indicate a colossal act of trust in the Father. He was surrendering His control of life into the Father’s hands . . .” (p. 71). Jesus basically said, “I’m ready to release My hold on life, and I’m unafraid to do so because I am placing everything about Myself into Your hands” (p. 72). It was the ultimate act of submission. His cry was not for the hands of men. Prior to this moment, His life was in the hands of men. Not because they took it but because He gave it. Voluntarily He delivered Himself into the hands of sinners, and now, voluntarily He delivers His spirit into the hands of the Father. Now he fully and completely places himself and his life into the hands of God
His first word, forgiveness –
His second word, salvation –
His third word, affection –
His fourth word, anguish –
His fifth word, suffering
His sixth word, victory
And now the seventh and final word, complete and utter submission and contentment into the hands of God.
For your sake and for mine.
