The gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion record seven things that he said whilst hanging on the cross. The seventh is found in Luke 23:46 where we read that Jesus said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’
These then were the last words that Jesus spoke before ‘he breathed his last’ – words that demonstrate his continued faith in the one that, only a little earlier, he had questioned as to why he had forsaken him. But it’s significant, I think, that, whereas when he asked that previous question, he’d addressed it to ‘God,’ now he reverts to referring to the one he commits his spirit to as his ‘Father.’ Perhaps this suggests that, with the work of atonement complete, his abandonment by God was now over, and Jesus could now once again enjoy union with the first person of the Godhead in the way that he had done previously, ever since before the creation of the world.
Also of interest is how Jesus uttered these words because, we are told, he cried out in a loud voice when he said them – which, when you think about it, is somewhat surprising given how he had, by then, been hanging on a cross for six long hours. But whilst it shocks us, it points us perhaps to something else that it is vitally important that we realise about Jesus’ death – specifically, that he was in complete control of it.
Why do I say that? Well firstly because, as is plain from the countless Old Testament prophecies that predicted it so accurately, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was nothing other than what God had always planned to take place. Furthermore, whilst it might have seemed to those who were conducting Jesus’ execution, that it was they who were running the show, even the seemingly inconsequential things that they freely chose to do were, at the same time, all preordained by the sovereign creator of the universe.
Nor were those who wanted Jesus to be killed in control of the day that he actually died. Of significance is the fact that Jesus’ crucifixion coincided with the Feast of Passover, the Jewish festival that recalled their deliverance from Egypt some 1500 years previously. Back then, the Israelites had sacrificed lambs whose blood, when daubed on the doors of their homes, ensured that God’s judgment would ‘pass over’ them and so ensure that their households would be spared the consequence of God’s anger, that their families would not suffer the death of the first born son. But this historic event was always meant to point forward to the greater sacrifice that took place on the first Good Friday, the day when the blood of the Lamb of God would be shed, when God’s only Son would die so as to secure the forgiveness of those who availed themselves of the salvation it secured.
No wonder then that God scheduled it to occur at the time of Passover and that, despite that being the one time those plotting Jesus’ death didn’t want him to die, [Mark 14:2] it nonetheless happened just when it did.
And lastly, we need to recognise that though Jesus was killed, he didn’t have his life taken from him – rather he gave it up of his own accord [John 10:18]. Matthew tells us that, rather than having it snatched form him, Jesus ‘yielded up his spirit’ [Matthew 27:50] – which tallies perfectly with Jesus’s own words when he described himself as the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep [John 10:11].
Jesus then was in complete control as he hung on the cross that day. He could have saved himself, just as those who mocked him suggested he should – but instead he chose, at just the right time to die for the ungodly [Romans 5:6] – a perfect demonstration of God’s love for his people.
So then, as Jesus died, he purposely bowed his head as he gave up his spirit [John 19:30]. And as we commit ourselves into our Heavely Father’s care, we should bow our heads too – in worship of the one who, whilst we were still sinners, died for us [Romans 5.8].
Related blogs:
To read ‘Some Words for Holy Week: 6 – ‘It Is Finished’, click here
To read ‘Some Words for Holy Week: 5 – ‘I Thirst’, click here.
To read ‘Some Words for Holy Week: 4 – ‘My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?’, click here.
To read ‘Some Words for Holy Week: 3 – ‘Mother, behold your son! Behold your Mother!’, click here
To read ‘Some Words for Holy Week: 2 – ‘Tomorrow, you will be with me in paradise’, click here
To read ‘Some Words for Holy Week: 1 – ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do’, click here.
To read ‘Why do bad things happen to good people? Sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Good Friday’, click here
To read ‘What becomes of the broken hearted – sorrowful yet always rejoicing on Palm Sunday’, click here
Some musings 