“Father, Father, why have you
forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)
“Please forgive them. They don’t
know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
“I tell you the truth; today, you
will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
“Dear woman, here is your son. Here
is your mother.” (John 19:28)
“I am thirsty.” (John 19:28)
“Father, into
your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)“It is finished.” (John 19:30)
According to Scripture, these are the last recorded words of
Christ before His death. As I read through each of them, it seems to me that
Christ was working through the stages of grief, but even in His final moments,
He was showing us how to deal with the tragedies and hardships of this life.
As He cries, “Why have you forsaken me?” we see brokenness,
heartache, loneliness, and depression. He had lived blamelessly on this earth,
and yet, there was the shock of being abandoned.
I think it’s safe to
say that we have all been there – at the bottom of the barrel, crying out to God, feeling abandoned and/or generally ripped off. Although most of us would be ashamed to admit
it, we angrily shake our fists at God: I
have tried to do my best for you. Why
are you punishing me? Where are you? Why are you allowing this to happen to me?
The truth is that God owes us nothing and gave us everything
– including Himself. Even so, to hear
Christ utter these words is assuring. He
knows the exactly what it feels like
to be human and in the depths of despair.
Rather than wallow in His own misery, Christ shows us the
importance of turning away from the inward focus on self to the outward
concerns of others.
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This
is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is
like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All
the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”(Matthew 26:36-40)
Even
while facing physical death, Christ seized the teachable moments concerning love,
empathy, and compassion.
“Please forgive them. They don’t
know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) Even while being tortured, humiliated,
and mocked, Christ didn’t whine; He interceded on their behalf and asked God to
forgive His persecutors - us.
Then, when one of the robbers
recognized his degradation and repented, Christ didn’t hesitate to address the
convict’s need. He said, “I tell you the truth; today, you will be with me in
Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)
Likewise, although his suffering
was great, Jesus considered His earthly mother and brother: “Dear woman, here
is your son. Here is your mother.” (John 19:28) As a mom, the worst possible
earthly experience that I hope to never endure is burying a child. As bad as that is, I can’t
imagine having to stand there and watch my child die a slow, painful, and
humiliating death as well. Here, Jesus seems to put himself into His mother’s shoes as
He gently reminds His mom and brother that they need to comfort and support
each other.
“I am thirsty.” (John 19:28) This
seems like an odd thing for Christ to say in His final moments. It’s not so odd that He might, indeed, have
physical thirst; however, in considering all that He is enduring, it seems low
on the totem pole of immediate concerns. On a practical level (and as I was reminded at church last night), Christ uttered
these words because it fulfilled Scripture. For generations to come, there
would be no doubt as to who Christ really is and what He did.
In addition, recognition of need
precedes change. We have to recognize
that we are, indeed, thirsty in order to seek and find living water. If we continue down the path of thinking that
we don’t need God and can take care of business on our own,
thank-you-very-much, we will continue to walk in circles and/or into one dead
end after another.
“Father, into your hands I commit
my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) In His final moments, Christ submitted Himself to the
Father, knowing full well that the present circumstances were a necessary and
miserable stepping stone to vast, eternal joy. Relief could only be found by
allowing God’s good and perfect plan to run its course.
Likewise, for us, acceptance of
our need and submission to the Father is where true joy, purpose, and
fulfillment can only be found. Rarely does any human discover this truth in any
other way other than the hard way. For
most of us, we find the word, “submission,” to be distasteful as it makes us
sound weak and powerless. Going our own
way may bring us temporary happiness, but true joy is only found in the “sweet
spot” of God’s Will for our lives. If
Jesus Christ placed His very life in God’s hands – trusting and knowing that His Father had it all under
control – we have absolutely no excuses.
“It is finished.”
(John 19:30)
Yes, the good news is that it is finished. With those words, Christ assured that the
prophecies were complete. Most
importantly, the reign of fear and impending death is done. It’s “GAME OVER,” Satan. You lose.
God has the victory – now and always.
Christ did what Satan never could or would; He sacrificed Himself. . .
He sacrificed Himself for us. . . He sacrificed Himself to pay for the sins of
the entire world so that we WILL be with Him for all of eternity. It is finished. Go home, Satan.
It may be Friday, but Sunday IS
coming – both literally and figuratively.
This world is such a terrible mess – confusion, darkness, conflict – but
God IS coming to reclaim what is His.
Sunday IS coming. God has promised it.
Jesus believed God and sacrificed His life for us. Therefore, I trust in God’s perfect plan, I
believe He conquered death and “pwned” Satan for eternity, and I am eagerly
looking forward to His return.
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