Seven. Jesus uttered seven final phrases from the cross. Anyone’s dying last words are important, but Jesus’ are of eternal significance. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” John 1:14. This Word, the Son of God, Jesus, hanging on the cross for the sin of mankind, took time to agonizingly breath and speak life giving words for us. Listen carefully.
Luke 23:34 gives us His first phrase from the cross. “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus turned first to His Father in His final hours of suffering. He looked to heaven, to His Abba and the prayed the words for forgiveness for His tortures and ultimately for you and for me.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray he said in Matthew 6:9-16,
“This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
Here on the cross, Jesus prays parts of this familiar prayer, “Father forgive them.” Christ demonstrates from His torture device this prayer, this love, this forgiveness.
The second statement from the cross is, “I assure you, today, you will be with me in paradise” Luke 23:43. I have been listening to a podcast called Gold from Golgotha, by Levi Lusko, where he covered these seven phrases from the cross. He described this promise of paradise from the greek word Παραδείσῳ– an ancient persian word meaning “enclosure, garden, park”. The thief suffering a just death for his crimes, his agonizing pain similar to Jesus’, turns toward Christ and believes, calling Him Lord, and asking Him to remember him when Jesus enters His Kingdom. Bloody, a struggle to breath, and excruciating pain and humiliation is the reality for both Christ and the criminal – but Jesus promises a very different reality: paradise; a peaceful garden, a park or enclosure”. What a strikingly contrast to the nails and cross beam that temporarily holds them. “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED” Romans 10:13. This promise is the thief, as well as us today. Call out to Jesus!
Jesus’ mother, the one highly favored, is at the foot of this barbaric executioner’s device. Her once chubby baby, whose feet she had kissed and washed, are now mutilated and twisted, driven by a spike into a piece of wood. The hands that once held hers, and caressed her face, are stretched out, as if to embrace the world, yet pinned, willingly to the cross beam, held here by love, for all to see. Jesus looks at His Momma and uses one of His final phrases to love, honor and care for her. John 19:26 tells us, “Dear Woman, here is your son.” Jesus placed His dear mother into the care and responsibility of John the apostle whom He loved. What an incredible final word for His mom, love displayed tangibly for the woman chosen to bear Him and bear this deep grief.
Jesus’ fourth statement is again a cry to the Father. Jesus hung from the sixth to the ninth hour, silent and suffering, and darkness fell upon the earth. It says in Matthew 27:46”…Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,
“Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani?” My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
No human on earth, but Jesus, has experienced being separated from God. God is omnipresent, even for those who refuse to believe He exists. Hebrews 13:5 promises, “He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.“ Yet here we find God the Son cry out to God the Father in an experience of forsakenness. Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have on who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet without sin.” Jesus, sinless, the sacrifice for our sinfulness, endured something so we will not have to, to be “let alone” by God the Father. Jesus’ death and resurrection gives us the opportunity to accept Christ’s sacrifice so we, like the thief, can be with Christ in paradise, always in the presence of God the Father.
I do not understand how God can abandon God for the salvation for the world, I cannot grasp that, yet it is the truth. “God made Himself to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21.
The only phrase from the cross that Jesus speaks of His physical need is “I am thirsty” John 19:28. Most likely, Jesus has had little to nothing to drink since the last supper with His disciples. He has undergone so much physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually on our behalf, that to see this very human need spoken from the cross brings His suffering profoundly close to home. I have not experienced dying thirst, yet I have been greatly dehydrated, and a fire hydrant seems to not be fast enough to quench that thirst. Imagine being lost at sea, surrounded by undrinkable water, thirsty and dying. The world is on that life raft, surrounded by all the things that it will try to quench this thirst, a thirst that Jesus told the woman at the well He had the water of life that would leave her thirsty no more. What the world seeks, Jesus came to provide living water. G.K. Chesterton states, “Everyman who knocks on a door of a brothel is looking for God.” Man will search, but we find that while God the Son walked this earth, thirsty men missed Him because what they were looking for did not look like Jesus. Be sure you turn your eyes to the One who thirsted on the cross, and suffered and died so you can in Him be satisfied for eternity. He drank from the cup of God’s wrath, so we do not have to and instead we can have living water from Him.
τετέλεσται (tetelestai)- “It is finished!” John 19:30 is the sixth statement. The root word “teleo” means, “I end, I finish, I fulfill, accomplish, I pay.” and Jesus’ use of it here is in the perfect tense, meaning the action has been completed and continues to be in a state of completion. It is also in the indicative mood meaning it is an actual occurrence and that Jesus performed the action. In the english translation we miss the impact of this word tetelestai. Jesus stating that He has fulfilled, accomplished, paid, finished and ended what He came to earth to do and that His action will continue to be true forever. One word, one death, one resurrection, one God, one salvation – Jesus did it all and we can add nothing to the ledger where paid in full is declared. This is victory cry! Praise Jesus, the broken suffering servant, who conquered death, sin and the grave at this place of the Skull. τετέλεσται!!!
The final phrase, yelled in a loud voice, again was the cry of the Son to the Father. Jesus said, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.” Luke 23:46, “Having said this, He breathed His last.” If Jesus, can give up His life and take it back up again, how much more can He do for us as the Victorious King? No one took Jesus’ life, He chose when to commit His spirit into the hands of the Father. Our lives when given to Jesus, are at perfect rest, peace and guaranteed safety when we breathe our last. Because He died and rose from death, we have the assurance that we will be safely brought to paradise. Again, there is an overwhelming shout of praise in this knowledge, that Jesus gave His life and that in this giving, we can accept the brutal sacrifice on our behalf. God died for me!
His final words were directed at His Father. Every word matters, as none of us know when we will breathe our last. Oh to be able to say that the last words on our lips was a prayer to God.
We know that the story continues in triumph, that the beautiful, scandalous death of Christ continues in exaltation on Easter morning. He is Alive! He borrowed a tomb because He was going to return it after use. He is not here, He is risen as He said He would! Quickly now, go tell your friends that Jesus Christ is no longer dead!
The greatest story ever told cannot be improved upon except in that you can become a follower of Christ and help spread this magnificent new.
Happy Resurrection Day! It is Good News Indeed!