Lk. 23.46 From the Cross: Father, Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit
1. I know it may seem a little strange to still be considering the cross on Easter Sunday. I mean, after all, today is the day we are to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, not His death. But I think if we listen closely to what Jesus says today, it will help us, not only today, but every day. We need to consider this last statement of Christ. But let’s hear it first. [Play CD]
2. The last thing Jesus says, as He hangs on the cross for you and me is, "Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit." But let’s consider what Christ is really doing and saying here. From the very beginning, Christ had an understanding that His call was to do the will of the Father. When He was twelve and His parents found Him at the temple, teaching with the elders, He said to them, "Did you not know that I had to be about my Father’s business?" Over and over again, as He was teaching His disciples as well as the crowds, He would affirm that He was not teaching His thoughts, but that everything He said came from the Father. As He began the process of moving towards the cross, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane and He said, "Please allow this cup to pass from me. Yet, not my will but your will be done." And even as He hung on the cross, His utmost concern was to fulfill the will of the Father. His utmost concern was obedience to the will of the Father, even over His own comfort and His own safety.
3. This statement, once again, affirms that Christ was not simply trying to do the things He wanted, but it was instead an indication of His willingness to submit Himself to the will of the Father. "Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit." Some might suggest that this is Christ affirming that He has done all He can do. And while there are certain aspects of this that make sense, it seems that Christ is saying something more than this. It is that Christ is making one final submission of Himself to the Father.
4. In submitting Himself to the Father, He is surrendering His eternal destiny on His ability to have accomplished the will of the Father. Christ is willing to place His Spirit in the hands of a righteous judge knowing that He has done all that He can do. He is ready to face the Father. "Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit." I wonder this morning, how many of us would be willing to do that? To submit ourselves to God and say, "Go ahead and judge me. Do with me whatever you want to do." You see, that’s what Christ was ready to do.
5. In the Old Testament story of Job, he has had everything taken away from him. His possessions are stolen, his family killed, his home destroyed, even his health is awful with boils from his head to his toes. His friends show up and they tell him that He must have done something wrong and that now he faces the wrath of God. But Job denies any wrong doing, and begins to request a hearing before God. He begins to suggest that God owes him some answers for the wrong that has happened to him. That God needs to give Job an apology and that Job is going directly to God so that God can do that. And Job expresses this desire and in Job 13.15 he says, "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;". What Job is saying is that when I present my case before God, I will very likely die because I know that I am not worthy to stand in His presence.
6. In Isaiah 6, Isaiah stands in the presence of God. He says that in the year that King Uzziah died, he saw the Lord high and lifted up. And His response to seeing the Lord was to humble himself and to say, "Woe is me. For I am a man of unclean lips." And Moses, when He was tending the flocks of his father-in-law, came upon the bush that was on fire but was not consumed. And out of curiosity, he said, "I will go and see this bush which is burned but is not consumed." And when he got closer, he heard the Lord speak out of the bush and say, "Moses, take off your sandals for the place you are standing is holy ground." Moses was not allowed to look on God’s face or on His back, but rather on His glory, which would passed after God. And then, Moses, after meeting with the Lord and receiving the 10 commandments came down from the mountain and was so radically changed that the people, out of fear, requested he wear something over his face. And a quick reading throughout the scriptures tells us that every time an angel appears to speak on God’s behalf, the first words are, "Do not be afraid."
7. So the clear message we get from Scripture is that we can’t humanly stand before God. We won’t be able to make demands to Him and tell Him that He first must explain the awful suffering the world goes through or why there is hunger or anything else. We won’t be able to challenge Him. What the scripture tells us is that when we stand before God, we will tremble with fear. But if Christ goes before us, for those who have put their trust in Him, we will be able to hear the Father say, "welcome home, children." For those who have put their confidence in Christ, they can have the assurance that this world is not all that there is. But that there is a world to come that is so much better than the world we experience now, and faith in Christ allows us to have the assurance of eternity in that world. But it also helps us to know that we have hope in this world right now. We are reminded that as we put our faith in Christ, He helps us live day by day. That doesn’t mean we don’t have problems or difficulties. It doesn’t mean that we don’t go through times where we feel inadequate or unloved. But it means we have someone who will go with us, who loves us more than our own family. One who accepts us in a way we have never been accepted before. And then we can say, with confidence, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." Not on my own but because of what Christ did for me.
8. This morning, we have a redeemer, Jesus God’s own Son. Not only did He die for us, but He rose again. And by defeating death, He promises us that we can have eternal life, all we have to do is put our faith in Jesus Christ. Maybe today, you aren’t really thinking about death or what happens after it. Consider today that neither were three police officers who showed up recently at a domestic dispute. Simply doing their jobs and in a moment of time, they died. Did any of them expect to die? Probably not. Did they know it was a possibility? Sure they did, but not today, not to them. And many, many others have thought the same way, not me, not today. I’m too young to die. I’m too healthy to die. I’m too safe to die. I’m too whatever to die. And yet, they died. That’s why I want to encourage you today. If you have any doubts as to where you stand in relation to God today, don’t wait. Don’t believe the lie that you have lots of time. Make the decision today. Ask Christ to enter your hearts today. Only then can you look forward to the rest of your life on earth and eternity with God.
