1. Introduction
a. This morning we finish our series The Gospel in the Seven Sayings of the Cross by focusing on Christ’s seventh and final statement made from the cross.
2. A place of rest, peace, and comfort.
a. Read Luke 23:46—Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last.
b. This saying and the previous one, “It is finished,” were uttered in rapid succession.
c. The proclamation of victory is followed by a statement that contains an assurance of rest, peace, and comfort.
d. It was a demonstration of what physical death would not be for all believers.
(1) It was not a leap in the dark.
(2) It was not a plunge into an unknown void.
(3) It was, however, a going home.
e. The sting of death had been removed forever.
f. Without saying any additional words, He also gave an awesome promise—a promise of rest, peace, and comfort.
g. Illustration: A little girl came home from a neighbor's house where her little friend had died. "Why did you go?" questioned her father. "To comfort her mother," said the child. "What could you do to comfort her?" "I climbed into her lap and cried with her." (www.sermoncentral.com, contributed by Bruce Howell)
h. Christ could cry with us because He had suffered as we had and would. Christ could offer comfort because He had experienced all that we would experience.
i. It is because of this last statement from the cross that we, as believers, can, along with the Apostle Paul, say with certainty “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
3. What Kind of Spirit Was Jesus Delivering to the Father?
a. It was not His eternal spirit because His eternal spirit was always with the Father.
(1) Read John 1:18—No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
(a) Jesus always occupies a place of special nearness to His Father, God.
(b) Even when He was here on earth, Jesus was still in the bosom of the Father. He was one with God and equal with God.
(c) He fully revealed to men what God is like. When men saw Jesus, they saw God. When Jesus spoke, they heard God speak.
(d) They felt God's love and tenderness. God's thoughts and attitudes toward mankind have been fully declared by Christ.
(2) Read John 3:13—No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
(a) Jesus was the only person qualified to speak about heavenly things, since He was the only One who had been in heaven.
(b) He wasn’t just a human teacher sent from God, but He taught with authority because he had lived with God the Father from all eternity, and came down into the world.
(c) When He said that no one has ascended to heaven, He was not implying that Old Testament saints such as Enoch and Elijah had not gone to heaven, but rather that they had been taken up, whereas He ascended to heaven by His own power.
(d) A different way of explaining it would be that no human being had access to the presence of God continually in the way which He had. He could ascend to God's dwelling place in a unique way, because He had descended out of heaven to earth.
(e) Even as He stood on earth speaking with Nicodemus He said that He was in heaven. How could this be?
(f) This was just a statement of fact that, as God, He was in all places at one and the same time, what we refer to as omnipresent.
b. Jesus’ eternal spirit, by virtue of His eternity and infinity, could never be limited, but could take form in the person of the incarnate Christ so that it could be said that in Him dwelt the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
(1) Read Colossians 2:9—For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily…
(2) In this passage Paul gives one of the most inspiring and unmistakable verses in the Bible on the deity of Jesus.
(3) There is an intended accumulation of evidence attesting to the fact that Christ is God.
(4) First, there is His deity: “For in Him ... deity dwells bodily.”
(5) Secondly, there is what some have called the amplitude of deity: “For in him the whole FULLNESS of deity dwells bodily…”
(6) Finally, there is what has been called the absolute completeness of deity: “For in him the WHOLE fullness of deity dwells bodily…”
(7) This evidence is an effective answer to the various forms of modern-day Gnosticism that deny Jesus’ deity—Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unity, Theosophy, etc.).
c. So, the question still remains, “What kind of spirit, or more specifically, what spirit was Jesus delivering to the Father?”
(1) God is spirit in form, so Jesus’ deity was spirit in form too. Is this the spirit He was committing?
(2) No. We have already established that this spirit is co-existent with God and continually in His presence.
(3) Even though our Bibles use the words soul and spirit interchangeably, there is a very distinct difference that we cannot ignore. These passages in God's Word make a very clear distinction between the soul and the spirit:
(a) Read Hebrews 4:12—For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
(b) Read 1 Thessalonians 5:23—Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(c) William MacDonald, theologian and author of the Believers’ Bible Commentary, dissects this verse this way.
i. From this verse and others, it is clear that we are tripartite beings.
ii. Our spirit enables us to have communion with God.
iii. Our soul is comprised our emotions, desires, affections, and tendencies.
iv. Our body is the house in which our person dwells.
(4) Since Jesus received human flesh, He also received human spirit for His human personality to be complete.
(5) It was that spirit that Jesus was delivering to the Father, thus ending His humanity and His status as the unique God-Man.
(6) The great theologian Matthew Henry said, “When Christ died He left a will in which He gave His soul to His Father, His body to Joseph of Arimathea, His clothes to the soldiers, and His mother to John. But to His disciples, who had left all to follow Him, He left not silver or gold, but something far better—His PEACE”
4. What Happens at Death?
a. Looking at that distinction between soul and spirit and the fact that Jesus was committing his human spirit into God’s hands brings up another interesting question. What happens at death?
b. The spirit is separated from the body.
(1) Read Luke 8:51–55—And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except Peter and John and James, and the father and mother of the child. And all were weeping and mourning for her, but he said, "Do not weep, for she is not dead but sleeping." And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But taking her by the hand he called, saying, "Child, arise." And her spirit returned, and she got up at once…
(2) Read 2 Corinthians 5:6–9—So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
c. The enemies of Jesus could kill Him, but they could not interrupt His communication with the Father.
(1) Jesus was at all times aware of the open line between Himself and the Father.
(2) Speaking to God was not an illusion of the Father’s existence, but a reality.
d. The story of the rich man and Lazarus shows us just how eagerly God waits to receive those whom He loves.
(1) Of Lazarus, who probably was a leper, it is said, “…and was carried [here tenderness is implied in the Greek word] by the angels to Abraham’s side” (Luke 16:22).
(2) Lazarus was a suffering man. Jesus was also a suffering man. In both cases, God had His hands open to receive His loved ones unto Himself.
5. A mansion all my own.
a. Here is where the promise of peace, comfort, and rest comes into play.
b. Jesus didn’t say this from the cross, but He DID say it during the course of His ministry.
c. Read John 14:1–3—"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
(1) Jesus’ thought in this passage seems to be: “I am going away, and you won’t be able to see Me. But don’t be troubled; you believe in God even though you don’t see Him. Now believe in me in the same way.” This is another important claim to His equality with God.
(2) The Father's house refers to heaven, where there are many dwelling places. There is room there for all the redeemed. If that were not the case, Jesus would have told them. He would not have them build on false hopes.
(3) “…if I go and prepare a place for you” may have two meanings.
(a) Jesus went to Calvary to prepare a place for us. It is through His atoning death that believers are assured a place there.
(b) But He also went back to heaven to prepare a place. We don’t know very much about this place, but we know that provision is being made for every child of God—“a prepared place for a prepared people!”
6. Closing and Invitation
a. What a powerful statement, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"
b. The power is that even while Jesus was committing His spirit, He was empowering us to do the same. By accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, we too, when the time comes, can say, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”
c. What comfort and peace there is in knowing that ultimately there is eternal rest at the end of this journey we call life.
d. The March 14, 2012, edition of Our Daily Bread, shared an interesting analogy of the passage John 14:1–3.
Life is a risky enterprise. Sometimes we fly high, enjoying great success. But then suddenly we fall into deep disappointments and the haunting reality of failure, leaving our hearts wondering if there is anything worth looking forward to.
At a funeral recently, the pastor told the story about a trapeze artist. The performer admitted that although he is seen as the star of the show, the real star is the catcher—the teammate who hangs from another trapeze bar to grab him and guarantee a safe landing. The key, he explained, is trust. With outstretched arms, the flyer must trust that the catcher is ready and able to grab him. Dying is like trusting in God as the catcher. After we have flown through life, we can look forward to God reaching out to catch His followers and to pull us safely to Himself forever. I like that thought.
This reminds me of Jesus’ comforting words to His disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled … I go to prepare a place for you. And … I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).
Life is indeed a risky business, but be encouraged! If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, the Catcher is waiting at the end to take you safely home.
e. Are you encouraged? If God were to call you home at this very moment, could you, with confidence, say, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit?”
f. If you can’t, you can change that right now. Will you do that? Will you respond to His call?
