Born to Die
Well, it finally hit us. I thought we could avoid it, but we got clobbered by the flu this week. Becca was the first one to fall. A couple days later Beth was wiped out, followed quickly by Lydia and Emily. I prayed that I would be spared [fold hands]. I succumbed on Wednesday and needed a lot of TLC (you know how men are when they’re sick). The only one left unscathed was our two-year-old Megan.
While I was far from death’s door, there were times I felt like I was dying (you know how men are when they’re sick). Thankfully the virus lasted only about a day, but it was a long 24 hours! I don’t know about you but I become very philosophical when I’m sick. I think about life and death, about issues that really matter.
While I was moping around the house (you know how men are when they’re sick), I heard a news story that the oldest living person died this week at the age of 115 I wonder if she had the same bug that I had? She had just made the Guinness Book of World Records before her untimely demise. According to her family, this woman’s life philosophy was, “Live and let live.” Whatever that means. Her great granddaughter, when commenting on how long she lived, simply said, “It was just her time.” That got me thinking about life itself. It doesn’t really matter how long we live if we don’t know why we’re living. And, it doesn’t matter how many records we break if we’re not sure where we’re going when we die.
As we finish our series this morning called, “The Seven Shouts From the Savior,” we’ve learned that Jesus did not die by accident but by appointment. He certainly didn’t set any longevity records when He died at the age of 33, but his death wasn’t a mistake either. It was His mission. In fact, we could say that His life philosophy was, “Live to die so that others can live.” He came to earth as a human so that He could become the final sacrifice. He was born to die.
We’ve learned that during the first three hours on the cross, Jesus suffered under the hands of men; during the final 180 minutes He suffered under the hands of God. Let’s review the 7 cross cries:
1. “Father, forgive them.” (Luke 23:34)
2. “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
3. “Dear woman, here is your son.” (John 19:26)
4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
5. “I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
6. “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
7. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
4 Supernatural Signs
Let’s set the context for this seventh shout by reading Luke 23:44-45: “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”
These verses remind us that this was no ordinary death. Time was invaded by eternity as heaven touched the earth. When we include what Matthew 27:51-53 reports, we see that there were four supernatural signs surrounding the death of the Savior: “The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”
1. The sun stopped shining. We’ve already addressed this event when we focused on the fourth cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Suffice it to say that the sun in the sky was snuffed out for three hours while the Son of God became our sin bearer. This first sign tells us that payment has been made.
2. The curtain of the temple was torn in two. We developed the significance of this sign in detail a year ago. If you’d like to learn more about it, I encourage you to check out another sermon called, “The Case for Christ: His Death.”
This curtain was designed to prevent access to God. Because it was torn in two, the veil of secrecy has been lifted and God’s glory is now manifested to everyone who puts faith in Jesus. The barrier has been broken and the doctrine of divine distance has been replaced by the ordinance of open access! In addition, the old order has ended. The curtain was not just opened, but ripped in two, indicating its total destruction. The Temple and the sacrificial system are no longer needed. This second sign tells us that the final sacrifice has been accepted.
3. The earth shook and the rocks split. The hardest and firmest part of the world was shaken when Christ gave up His spirit. This earthquake would have reminded the Jewish people of what happened when God gave the Law to Moses at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:17-18: “Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently.” The quake at Calvary signified that the demands of the law were now fulfilled.
The rocks splitting open before the presence of the Lord hearkens back to Nahum 1:5-6: “The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. Who can withstand his indignation? Who can endure his fierce anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; the rocks are shattered before him.” God’s wrath was poured out on His Son and the entirety of creation was rocked.
The ruptured rocks also tie into the words of Jesus that were uttered on Palm Sunday, which we celebrate today. When the Pharisees became irritated at the spontaneous expressions of joy that erupted when Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, they asked Him to rebuke His disciples. Jesus turned to them in Luke 19:40 and replied, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” When Jesus took His last breath, the rocks were so filled with praise that they exploded with exhilaration.
4. The tombs broke open. Commentators have various views about this mysterious event but at the very minimum it signifies that death has been defeated. Matthew Henry writes, “Jesus Christ, by dying, conquered, disarmed, and disabled, death. These saints that arose, were the present trophies of the victory of Christ’s cross over the powers of death, which he thus made a show of openly.” Because Jesus has the power over death we have the guarantee that we will live again. It’s as if the tombs could not hold their occupants in light of what was happening on the cross. The curse of death from Genesis 3 is reversed by the death and resurrection of Christ. This is but the precursor to what will take place for all believers when we are raised to new life.
Life Lessons
Now let’s look at Luke 23:46: “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ When he had said this, he breathed his last.” I see three life lessons from this verse.
1. Jesus was faithful to the finish. After enduring the physical trauma, the emotional ridicule, and the spiritual isolation of becoming the sin sacrifice, Jesus was able to cry out with a strong voice. We get the word “megaphone” from the Greek phrase that is used here. Jesus wanted to make sure that his final words were amplified and broadcast widely so that everyone could hear them and so He shouted out loudly. This same word is used in Revelation 5:12 to refer to the worship volume of the thousands upon thousands of angels who are worshipping around the throne of the Lamb: “In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’”
2. Jesus loved and lived Scripture. This closing cry is a quotation from Psalm 31:5: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” He literally died with the Bible in His mouth. As we’ve seen during this series, Jesus fulfilled Scripture throughout his life and is now doing so in His death. He loved Scripture, He lived Scripture, and in His dying breath, He made sure His mind and mouth were filled with the Word of God. Shouldn’t we do the same?
The phrase that Jesus uttered was a common bedtime prayer taught to every Jewish child. It would be similar to one of our childhood prayers, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” Every night a child went to bed in Israel, they would kneel and say, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Jesus not only dies with Scripture in his mouth but with a child’s prayer on His lips.
Parents, don’t ever underestimate the power of God’s Word in the lives of your children. Read to them. Play Christian music in their bedrooms as they go to sleep at night. It still amazes me how much a two-year-old can learn! On a regular basis, Megan comes home from her Sunday School class singing Bible songs and even quoting Scripture! In fact, one day when I was correcting her for something, she looked up at me and said, “Daddy, be kind to everyone!” I applaud those of you who are impacting the children of this church!
This passage from Psalm 31:5 was often recited at the period of the evening offering. Here’s the picture. As the priests were preparing to sacrifice the Passover lambs at around 3:00 p.m., people were speaking this section of Scripture. Jesus, the Lamb of God, who had taken our sins with Him to the Cross and was one breath away from making the final payment, shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
3. Jesus surrendered Himself to the safety of the Father. Jesus voluntarily gives Himself to the Father. Every word of this verse is important.
a. Father. While Jesus quotes Psalm 31:5, I want you to notice that He adds something to this Psalm. Do you see what it is? He uses the term of endearment and relationship, “Father.” This shows the bond of love that He has with the One who sent Him. Jesus begins his cries from the cross with a prayer to his Father as He pleads with Him to forgive the sins of those who have crucified Him. His final cry is likewise directed to the Father.
Jesus also omits something from this Psalm. Look at the clause that immediately follows in the second half of verse 5: “Redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth.” Jesus does not pray this part because as the Son He has no need of redemption from the Father. His relationship with the Father has existed from all eternity. Now that His work on earth is finishing, He can’t wait to return home.
Jesus loved to use the word, “Father.” His first recorded sentence is found in Luke 2:49:
“Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” In his first formal teaching time on the Sermon on the Mount, He speaks of His Father seventeen times. In his final discourse found in John 14-16, Jesus lovingly uses the word “Father” forty-five times!
b. Into your hands. Just as the sixth day of creation was followed by a day of rest, so too the Savior’s sixth utterance, “It is finished” is followed by shout seven as He puts Himself in a place of rest in the Father’s hands.
Many people have appreciated the piece of art known as “The Praying Hands.” [Show]
While there is some discrepancy as to the background of this painting, the different versions tell a similar story of love and sacrifice. In the late 15th Century, two young art students, Albrecht Durer and Franz Knigstein (some accounts of this story suggest that it was Albrecht’s brother, not his friend), worked in the mines to earn money for their schooling. Because the work was long and hard it left them little time to study art.
They eventually agreed that one of them should continue to study while the other one would work full-time in order to pay the school bill. The idea was that after the one would finish his studies, then he would work go to work so his buddy could complete his classes. Durer won the coin toss and went on to become a famous artist. Unfortunately, because Franz had worked so long and hard, his fingers became twisted and stiff and could no longer even hold a paintbrush.
One day Durer walked in on Franz as he was praying and saw his friend’s cracked and calloused hands. Durer was deeply moved by the devotion and self-sacrifice that he saw. Those hands became the inspiration for his famous painting that was originally just called, “Hands.”
Hands serve as a representative of our whole being. What we are and do is reflected in our hands. We use them to embrace or attack, to caress or choke, to hug or hurt.
If we were able to commission Albrecht Durer to paint a series of “hand” portraits depicting the life of Christ, we would see something like this…
The last days and hours are filled with references to hands. Matthew 17:22: “When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men.’”
In one scene we would see the hand of Jesus holding up the cup at the last supper. In the same painting we would notice Judas reclining at the table, with his sweaty hand wrapped around some silver shekels. Luke 22:20-21 paints it this way: “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.’”
The next picture would be a montage of soldiers’ hands as they tear the clothes from the back of Jesus. Other hands are raised to bring a whip that slices into His tender flesh. More hands slap his face. Another pair of rough hands slams the crown of thorns onto his head. And thick hands grasp a hammer to drive the spikes through His wrists and feet.
In the next portrait a pair of hands are furiously scrubbing themselves as Pilate tries to wash His hands of guilt for condemning Jesus to death. Matthew 27:24: “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’”
The artist would then interject a painting focused on the hands of Jesus with this verse calligraphied on the bottom from John 3:35: “The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.” One scene would show Jesus’ hands at work touching the eyes of the blind, using His hands to raise a little girl to life, caressing the sores of a leper, and embracing little children. These same hands also hold a whip to drive the selfish moneychangers from the temple.
Another scene would stand in contrast as it shows the hands of Jesus impaled on a rough cross. As we come to the final cry we see that His dying hands are praying hands as He entrusts Himself into the holy hands of his father.
c. I commit. The word, “commit” means to place something with someone for protection. It was used when someone made a deposit of valuables into a safe place. In Acts 14:23, after Paul and Barnabas appointed elders in each church, they “committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.” At the end of his life, the Apostle Paul used this word when he said in 2 Timothy 1:12: “…I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.”
When He commits Himself to the Father, Jesus is ministering at His own committal service. He is entrusting Himself into the Father’s hands, never again to be at the mercy of the hands of wicked men. He is fully yielding Himself, knowing that He is safe in the hands of God. The victorious Son commits His all to the Father. This is an act of the will and is done voluntarily.
d. My spirit. Now that His physical life is over, Jesus is committing His spirit to the Father for safekeeping. This is a good reminder for us that our bodies were never designed to last forever. We’re all wearing out and running down. When our time here on earth is over, our bodies go into the grave, but our spirit will live forever. Jesus teaches us that death is the door by which we are admitted into the presence of the King.
There’s a tribe in Africa that practices a really cool custom. When a believer dies, they don’t say, “He departed.” Instead, they say, “He arrived.” D.L. Moody once said, “Some day you will read the papers that D.L. Moody is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it! At that moment I shall be more alive than I am now…that which is born of the flesh may die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.”
Concluding Questions
The last part of verse 46 is a fitting conclusion: “When He had said this, He breathed his last.” Some day you will breathe your last if the flu doesn’t get you, something else will. You may live to 115, or you may not. But you will take your last breath here on earth. One day it will be your time. Someone has said that we come into the world saying hello, but almost immediately we start saying good-bye. Do you know where you’ll go when it’s your time to arrive?
If you want to live…and die like Jesus did, then the first step is to answer these questions.
Are you going to be faithful to the finish? Are you starting to slack off spiritually? Don’t let things slip. Be faithful. Most of us will die like we live. If you want to die well, then you must live well now.
Do you love and live Scripture? Are you ingesting the Word of God on a regular basis so that it’s on your lips and lived out in your life? If not, read it. Study it. Learn it. Apply it.
Have you surrendered to the safety of the Father? Have you ever committed yourself to God? Some of you may need to surrender yourself to Him again because you’ve taken back the reigns in your life.
This world is definitely not a safe place, nor can we ever feel truly at home here. We have been made for another place because Heaven is our true home. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God “has set eternity in the hearts of men.” God made us to know Him and we won’t truly be happy until we are in a Father relationship with Him.
There are really only two options and two destinations. We can entrust our spirit into the Father’s hands for safekeeping now or we will go into the hands of God for judgment later. The same hands that provide hope and comfort for believers also deliver terror and punishment for those who refuse to receive the sacrifice of His Son. Hebrews 10:31 gives a strong warning: “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
It’s your choice. You can put yourself into God’s hands now, or you will fall into them later.
