THE WORD OF PROCLAMATION (Seventh Word from the Cross)
#109 THE WORD OF PROCLAMATION (Seventh Word from the Cross)
Scripture Luke 23:44-46 NIV Orig. Date 4/22/1962 (4/1980)
Rewr. Dates 4/13/1987
Passage: 44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[a] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Purpose: To conclude the seven-part series of Words from the Cross, here signifying Jesus’ willing commitment unto death.
Keywords: Christ the Redeemer Will of God Redemption Commitment Crucifixion
Timeline/Series: Words from the Cross
Introduction
We have come to Luke for the final chapter in these Words from the Cross. It is he also who records two phenomena that accompany the death of Jesus. These two marvels of divine condescension.
The first was from the natural world. Note Luke 23:44 “And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.” Nature was in full accord with the events of Calvary. Authorities on solar activity tell us that an eclipse of the sun may last as much as 7 minutes/40 seconds. If this was an eclipse at all, it lasted for three hours. Nature adds its own mute testimony of the blackness of the present stage of man’s evolution to greatness. In man’s pursuit of excellence, the best of men has come to a wooden cross to die the shameful death of a criminal.
“He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5:21
Then, in v45, as if in sequence, Luke tells of the second phenomenon: this time from the spiritual world. The Jewish temple was on temple mount, no more than a few hundred yards from Golgotha. The priests were performing their sacramental duties, oblivious to Calvary: not caring that Mary’s son was dying. Suddenly, there came the sound of fabric being torn. They looked up to see the veil, separating the sacramental area from the Holy of Holies, being torn as if by some unseen hand. This alone, the “rending” of a huge curtain, 30x60 feet in size, perhaps 4 inches thick, would have precipitated unmeasured fear. But more than that, they suddenly found themselves looking straight upon the sacred enclosure of the Holy-of-Holies. The veil, you remember, was under the severest of scrutinies, and was to be lifted on only one day of the year, that being the day of atonement. With the death of Christ, that which has before separated man from free access to God’s grace is forever removed. Two things more compel our attention.
I. Jesus Unhesitatingly Commits Himself into the Loving Providence of God’s Care. “Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”
There was total confidence in His mission. It would mean to suffer pain. To die. Potentially to be separated from the Father. It meant believing in the Father’s will in the whole, and in all its parts.
There is reason to believe only that Jesus is in total control. Some of you will remember Grady Lee (Ruston, FBC) some years ago. He once shared an illustration from a black preacher friend. The death angel had robed himself in his blackest garment, had mounted his blackest steed, and was on his way to Golgotha. Thundering hooves were plummeting toward three men affixed to crosses. One looked toward Jesus, “Lord, remember me!” Jesus interrupted the angel with his death saber drawn, “Hold on death. I’m still in charge here.”
Remember that this final phrase form the cross is a quotation from scripture. Initially, it was a word from the Psalmist. It became, long before Jesus’ day, the first prayer, taught by every Jewish mother to her child against the threatening darkness of night.
“Into thy hands I commend my spirit.”
“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.”
When one is looking death in the face, there is no hope that does not find succor in God.
A learned man had a terminal illness. His days became few. His former colleagues came from time to time and brought new insight, or some new philosophy. They gave little comfort. A Christian friend came and took him for a drive in the country. The dying man told his friend about the conversations with others, and that this did not any longer satisfy his interests, or his present need. He then quoted I Timothy 1:15, “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief.” He added, “There is nothing else of any use to me now.”
Jesus altered the quotation only slightly. He adds the single word, “Father.” “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” A prayer the psalmist could not pray. God’s grace distant, and detached. Could not personalize so intimate a relationship, like [an] orphan’s concept of father.
Jesus also omits an irrelevant word. “For thou hast redeemed me.” These present are deeply moved. Jesus’ death has done what His life could not. So noble a spirit as He has died to call others to God. John 12:31 “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up, . . . will draw all men unto me.”
II. Thus Is the Spirit of Jesus Commended into the Hands of the Father. First, He prioritizes the human spirit. Even on the cross is fleshly concern. Third word assigns John care of Mary. Fifth word (thirst) expresses pain. Here at the last, He acknowledges the worth of the soul. “The worth of a soul, and the change that is wrought by the touch of the Master’s hand.” [Myra Brooks Welch, 1921]
Consider carefully this Easter day this spirit here commended to the Father’s keeping. It is the spirit of truth. John 6:53f teaches they would eat his flesh, drink his blood. Repulsive to Jew. V61 “Doth this offend you?” V63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.” It is this spirit of Jesus that draws us to the Father.
Romans 8:9 “. . .now if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of His.” V11 “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ . . . shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
It is this Spirit of Jesus that confirms our oneness with the Father. Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.”
The Spirit of Jesus is the true spirit of liberty. II Corinthians 3:17 “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
The Spirit of Jesus is the seal of our adoption by the Father as His children. Galatian 4:4f “God sent forth His son, made of woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons . . . And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts.”
And, finally, it is the spirit of Jesus giving permanence to our faith. Ephesians 3:16 “That he would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.”
Conclusion
The fight of faith is still a living, viable reality. It must be pursued unconditionally. But the spirit of Jesus is the spirit of victory.
In East Germany is a place called Wartburg. It is the place where Martin Luther lived during his years of strongest struggle. It is where he poured out his soul in obedience to God. The house where he lived is treated as a shrine by the city fathers. It is also, to all who believe in freedom of conscience. Keepers of the shrine will show visitors a black stain on the old wall in Luther’s study. It marks an occasion when, it is said, that the reformer threw his ink bottle at the devil. The confrontations with temptation, even sin, will come, but for the believer, the spirit of Jesus is our means of deliverance.