SEVEN LAST WORDS OF JESUS (LUKE 23:34)
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“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43) “Dear woman, here is your son. Here is your mother.” (John 19:26–27) My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mark 15:34) “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28) “It is finished.” (John 19:30) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
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Exoneration Entrance Extension Enquiry Exhaustion Exclamation End
Do you want to leave a “legend,” or do you want to leave a legacy in life? What’s the difference? Here are some quotes:
“Legacy is what you leave or pass down to those who follow you.”
“Your legacy is what you leave and how you will be remembered.”
“Your real legacy is what you give the world as opposed to what you leave the world.”
“Your legacy is what you do everyday. “ (Maya Angelou)
“Legacy is what you will be remembered by.”
“An inheritance is what you leave with people. A legacy is what you leave in them.” (Craig D. Lounsbrough)
“A legacy is what you leave in someone.” (Mark Batterson)
Simply put, a legend is about the person; a legacy is for others.
There is no selfishness, strife or self-interest in Jesus even to His death. The seven last words of Jesus on the cross are powerful, passionate and pastoral themes and meditations meant for believers and readers not just for Easter but every day.
What legacy did Jesus leave in us? What do the words of Jesus on the cross mean to you? How does His attitude in life and death impact us? Why are these sayings more than mere expressions, but meaningful examples in living?
1. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
A girl was asked what forgiveness is. She gave the following beautiful answer: “It is the odor the flowers give off when they are trampled upon.”
The first saying of Jesus on the cross reveals how he treated those who mistreated Him. To a world that injured and insulted Him, He offered forgiveness. It was meant for offenders, officials and onlookers, the sinners, soldiers and spectators, the vocal, the vile and the violent who crucified and condemned him to the cross. “Forgive” (v 34) is in the almighty and authoritative imperative mood, with no room for doubt, debate or delay – the only imperative in the seven sayings. The same word is translated as leave (Matt 4:11), send away (Matt 13:36), forsake (Matt 19:27), omit (Matt 23:23), yield up (Matt 27:50) and lay aside (Mark 7:8). Desmond Tutu said, Forgiveness is abandoning the right to revenge.” Forgiveness is an attitude, an act and an aptitude. In forgiveness we, first of all, appeal to the Father’s attribute and not answer with our ability.
Forgiveness comes from a valid and virtuous and not a vague and vacant reason. The reason given is because the offenders do not know they are doing. Properly, the verb “know” is in the perfect tense, which means not knowing from time past to the present. The first word from Jesus’ lips and mouth was His Father and the offenders, and not Himself.
2. “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
The word “paradise” means a park, forest or orchard. When the Old Testament was translated to Greek for the Septuagint, the phrase “God planted a garden eastward in Eden” (Gen 2:8) is translated as “God planted a paradise…”
Paradise is a place of perfect, permanent and pleasant rest. Like the old garden of Eden, the environment is scenic, serene and sweet, with no fear or foul, death or disease, grieving or groaning. In paradise man’s sins are not remembered or revisited. In the midst of paradise is the tree of life,
The paradise the thief refers to is the kingdom of God in the previous verse. The phrase “the kingdom of God” occurs the most in Luke - 32 times in Luke, 15 times in Mark, five in Matthew and twice in John. That much we know about the kingdom of God. It is meant for the believing, the blessed and the beloved. Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3) Further, the poor and those who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God are blessed (Luke 6:20, 14:15). The King will say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt 25:34). Those unworthy beloved include those who are last (Luke 13:30), least (Luke 7:28), the poor (Luke 6:20), little children (Luke 18:16), publicans and the harlots (Matt 21:31).
3. “Dear woman, here is your son. Here is your mother.” (John 19:26–27)
Jesus and his mother had a fascinating but fulfilling parent-child relationship. Since Jesus was born, the name of “Mary” was always intertwined with that of his son: Mary his mother (Matt 2:11), the son of Mary (Mark 6:3), Mary his mother (Luke 2:34) and Mary the mother of Jesus (Acts 1:14). Her “motherhood” in Jesus’ active ministry, besides the standard “the mother of Jesus” (John 2:1, 3), was 18 times described as “his mother” (Matt 1:18, 2:11, 13, 14, 20, 21, 12:46, 13:55, Mark 3:31, Luke 2:33, 34, 48, 51, 8:19, John 2:5, 19:25, 26, 26), thrice as “thy mother” (Matt 12:47, Mark 3:32, Luke 8:20) and only once, the last time, as “thy mother” (John 19:27).
Jesus always interacted with his mother on any encounter with an initial and introductory question: “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?” (Luke 2:49), “Woman, what have I to do with thee?” (John 2:4) and “Who is my mother?” (Matt 12:48, Mark 3:33) Isn’t that exasperating and embarrassing to any parent? Yet in his death Jesus committed his beloved disciple John to comfort and care for his mother. From that hour that disciple took her into his home (John 19:27). The original text is without the noun “home” because it is not limited to the physical, but the emotional, relational and interpersonal.
4. “Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani? – which means ‘My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34)
Mark’s account stated that Jesus was crucified at 9 a.m. or the third hour (Mark 15:25). At the sixth hour darkness was over the whole land until the ninth hour (Mark 15:33). It was six hours later or the ninth hour (Mark 15:34) when Jesus uttered his fourth saying: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus was on the cross for six long hours, battered, brutalized and bleeding.
Twice on the cross he cried out with a loud voice (vv 34, 37). Along with Matthew’s version (Matt 27:46), this is the only account of the verb “leave” in the gospels, generally to mean “leave.” It is never a disappointed disillusioned or disgusted cry because it is an affectionate and assured call to “my Father, my Father,” twice to emphasize the closeness, confidence and companionship.
What did the Father forsake then? He left His Son to suffer and struggle humanly, humbly and helplessly by himself, without the Father’s assistance, accommodation and appearance. Even then, the pain, punishment and powerlessness were too heavy and hideous to bear. The context of Psalms 22, the source of the saying, is more revealing:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. (Ps 22:1-2)
The abandonment must be actual, acute and attested. No one but Jesus himself must bear the burdens, the brokenness, the blasphemy, the belittling and the blows of men for a stark, steep and searing change.
5. “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
After Jesus had taken care of his mother did he mention his own physical and bodily needs. The verb “thirst” is present tense. His somatic needs were continuous, consuming and chronic. His body was cramping, his breath was choking and his back was collapsing. Jesus would next say, “It is finished.” It was the ninth hour (Mark 15:34), more than six hours after he was crucified at the third hour (Mark 15:25) - six hours of dripping blood, diminishing consciousness and draining life. Medically, it is called hypovolemia, a decrease in blood volume or, more specifically, a decrease in volume of blood plasma (not dehydration, which is a loss of body fluid). The patient may feel dizzy, faint, nauseated, or very thirsty. (Wikipedia) Water makes up 90% of blood.
A person asked a magazine, “What is the hottest time of day? 3 p.m. or noon?”
Answer: The hottest time of the day is around 3 p.m. Heat continues building up after noon, when the sun is highest in the sky, as long as more heat is arriving at the earth than leaving. By 3 p.m. or so, the sun is low enough in the sky for outgoing heat to be greater than incoming.
www.almanac.com › Advice › Question of the Day
The sun is at its highest point in the sky at noon local time (1pm with Daylight Saving Time). At that point, the sun’s rays will cause sunburn in the shortest amount of time. But although the sun’s radiation is at its strongest then, that doesn’t mean that the temperature peaks at mid-day. The temperature will actually peak between 3 pm and 4:30 pm each afternoon.
https://nbc5weather.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/what-is-the-hottest-time-of-the-day/
The main sources of water losses from the body are urine and sweat, but water is also lost through stools and insensibly through skin and breathing.
www.h4hinitiative.com/h4h-academy/hydration-lab/water-and.../body-water-balance
Jesus was thirsty at the hottest time of the day! His thirst was not just from the harm of bleeding, but also from the heat of the sun and from the hours on the cross. Experts are uncertain if there was a foot-rest for Jesus’ feet. The outcome of his suspension, struggle and suffering on the cross of is overexertion, over-exhaustion and overextension or overcompensation of the body from the overused muscles, obvious fatigue and ongoing cramps.
6. “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
Finished can be translated as ended (Matt 7:28), gone over (Matt 10:23), performed (Luke 2:39), accomplished (Luke 12:50), fulfilled (Acts 13:29), pay (Rom 13:6) and expired (Rev 20:7). It is in the perfect passive tense. The perfect tense expresses perfective action. James Brooks says, “Perfective action involves a present state which has resulted from a past action. The present state is a continuing state; the past action is a completed action.” God’s perfect plan and purpose activated in ages past to redeem and restore fallen man through the Son of man (Luke 18:31) is now ended, executed and established. It has been acted on, in the passive tense - achieved, accomplished and actualized. The initiative is God’s. There is nothing more to pay. It is consummated. There is nothing left undone, no stones unturned, not a moment too soon
It means God’s righteousness is practiced, the ransom is paid and man’s redemption is perfected. Finished means finality, fulfilled and forever. Jesus was the lamb without sin (2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15), without blemish or spot (1 Pet. 1:19). He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth (Isa 53:9). Now we are no more servants, but sons (Gal 4:7), no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God (Eph 2:19).
Bill Hybels said, “I like to think of the difference between Christianity and religion as the difference between do vs. done. Religion is about following lists of do’s and don’t’s. Religion is about what we can do for God to be good enough to get into heaven. Christianity is about what God has been done for us. God did for us what we could have never done for ourselves.” (adapted)
7. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
This last saying is found only in Luke’s account. Jesus ended his seven sayings on the cross the same way he started, by addressing his “Father.” There was never any doubt, division or difficulty in their relationship. The Father was pleased. The Son felt the pain and man obtained the profit. There was the surest and sweetest comfort, confidence and communion between Father and the Son. Their plans and purposes were inseparable, identical and intentional, never independent, intervening or insubordinate.
Commit (paratithemi) is translated as put forth (Matt 13:24), set before (Mark 6:41) and commend (Luke 23:46). Literally it means to place alongside, with the preposition “para” (parallel); by implication, to deposit (as a trust or for protection). It is to have the utmost confidence, assurance and peace in the Lord. Jesus did not sigh in resignation, search for answers or stare in disbelief. He submitted and surrendered to the Father in His struggle, suffering and sacrifice. The deliverance He brought overcame the distress. His love superseded His loss and His triumph overcame His troubles.
Conclusion: The last words of the departed are very precious, poignant and personal. We derive strength, courage and purpose from it when we are weak, lost or fearful. His death does not mean His absence. Now He is seated at the right hand of God reigning in glory, exalted in power, praying for us. Do you exemplify and exude His grace, goodness and gentleness in your life? Have you forgotten His greatness and glory? Do you have burdens, troubles and worries you think nobody can understand or bear? Come to the Lord and commit your cares to the One who has endured the cross and entered into glory. You will find calm, comfort and courage in Him.
