Completed and committed

The 7th and final words: "Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!'" And having said this, He breathed His last." (Lk23:46) Jesus was not killed; men did not take His life. He lay it down. As He hung on that cross, He breathed in and out; in and out; until, after all was fulfilled and His work of salvation and redemption was completed, He willed His breath to cease. Somehow I had never noticed before that He said these last words of committing Himself to His Father "with a loud voice." After the agonizing prayer in the garden, after the unimaginable stress of all night trials, after the brutal scourging, after the physical tortures and pain of the crucifixion and the far far more horrific and incomprehensible spiritual torture of bearing the sins of the world, after the emotional pain of betrayal and humiliation and abandonment, after all that, Jesus still was able to cry out "with a loud voice" that He was coming home to His Father, His work finished, man's redemption secured, heaven's glories ahead.

But how I love Oswald Sanders comment about Jesus' final words: "The habits of a lifetime are not easily shaken off. The Master was a Man of prayer and a Man of the Book. How natural that His last words should blend both characteristics, for this word is at once a prayer and a quotation from the Old Testament. He could not have been more appropriately occupied in the moment of death. He ended His ministry as He began it--with a quotation from Scripture on His lips.

O might we be so characterized as people of prayer and people of the Word! In the midst of pain or crisis or stress or strain, what overflows from our hearts? If we have immersed ourselves in His Word and daily practiced His presence in prayer, then that is what will flow from our surrendered hearts. As I have contemplated my Saviour hanging on the cross this Lent, I have been more convicted than ever of my sin and more grateful than ever of His salvation. He could have come off that cross at any moment. Those nails did not hold Him... but His love did. As C.K. Chesterton wrote: "The cross cannot be defeated... for it is Defeat." Death defeated. Sin defeated. Satan defeated. Man redeemed. Christ's work completed. And to the Father committed. Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord Jesus. To You be the glory!

Finished Forever!

The 6th word: "When Jesus received the vinegar, He said, 'IT IS FINISHED.'" (John 19:30) F.W. Krummacher writes that "At these words, you hear fetters burst and prison walls falling down, barriers as high as heaven are overthrown, and gates which had been closed for thousands of years again move on their hinges." Jesus' cry of final victory resounds through the ages--all has been done to secure our salvation, every last sin has been atoned for, and Jesus has completely and fully fulfilled His Father's will down to the very last jot and tittle. As MacLaren put it, Jesus took the full cup of suffering and "having drained the cup, He held it up inverted when He said 'It is finished!' and not a drop trickled down the edge. he drank it all that we might never need to drink it."

I cannot begin to imagine the joy, mingled with exhaustion and agony, that the Lord Jesus must have felt at that moment. I have to believe that He thought of you and me--it was finished and we would now be able to enjoy the wonders of heaven forever. Satan had done his worst but it was finished and death and satan's hosts were defeated. "The moment of Satan's triumph was the moment of his defeat. The Victim on the cross became the Victor through the cross." The betrayal, the pain, the sorrow, the humiliation, the abandonment--all were finished forever! The separation from His heavenly Father and the unimaginable weight of bearing the world's sin were finished forever!

It is finished--these glorious three words are expressed as a single Greek word, "tetelastai." Finished, perfect, paid in full and complete. The perfect sinless Son of God completes and finishes the work of redemption once and for all time, and in His cry of "It is finished" we can shout, "We are saved!"

I sing my Saviour's wondrous death

He conquered when He fell.

'Tis finished!' said His dying breath,

And shook the gates of hell. (Author Unknown)

I can never seem to finish anything. Everyday I am frustrated that I can never get even halfway down my to-do list. But how thankful I am that my Saviour finished every single bit of the Father's will. He could truly declare "It is finished" and it was and it is. I may never get all the clutter cleaned out of my house. I may never become a great cook or write a book or get organized or be the fun but wise mom I long to be. There is so much I long to be able to finish, and my inability drives me crazy! But praise the Lord--He finished it all and for all time! He will take all my inabilities and failures and incompletes and will one day say, "It is finished!" For in the words of Paul, "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it." I Thess.5:23-24 To Him be the glory forever and ever!

The Thirsty Creator

The fifth word: "After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scriptures), 'I thirst.'" Just contemplate this for a moment: the Creator of the vast oceans and the deepest bodies of water, the trickling creeks and the still ponds, was thirsty. The One who calmed the raging sea and caused replenishing rains to fall upon parched land, lacked the moisture to even wet His lips. He who freely offers Living Water to all who come to Him, was dying for lack of water. The Saviour who will quench forever the desperate thirst of His lost sheep, had a physical thirst which none would satisfy.

Oswald Sanders notes: "The precious word from the cross, 'My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?' was a cry of spiritual anguish; this word, the shortest, was the sob of physical agony. He who began His ministry with gnawing hunger is closing it with raging thirst. The climax of spiritual anguish synchronizes with the zenith of physical pain. Only one word of two syllables in the original yet into it is compressed the most intense agony of which the human body is capable.'"

We almost feel as if we must avert our eyes from such profound suffering... and such agony all on our behalf. O forgive us of our heedless sinning, our thoughtlessness, our self-centeredness that is preoccupied with our circumstances.

And help us to look to our Saviour on the cross who declared "I thirst" so we need never know eternal thirst. Help us to look to the cross as we cry out to the Lord Jesus "I fear." "I hurt." "I doubt." "I tire." "I forget." "I dislike." "I worry." "I lack."

For we know You died to take our fear. You endured pain and betrayal and thirst and You are right there with us as we must endure our own hard, hurtful places in our lives. You hung on that cross so that we can come to You with our exhaustion and our emptiness and our failures and our deficits of love and faith and energy. And we know You understand, You redeem, You renew, You resurrect. You thirsted that we might be eternally and joyfully filled and satisfied. O Lord, help us to come to You with our fears and hurts and doubts and lacks. And to be the glory forever.

God-forsaken

The fourth word: "Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, Sabachthani? That is, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Mt.27:46) Oswald Sanders records that Martin Luther "once set himself to a study of this profound saying of Jesus. For a long time he continued without food, in deepest meditation and in one position on his chair. When at length he rose from his thoughts, he was heard to exclaim with amazement, 'God forsaken of God! Who can understand that?'"

Indeed, we can never begin to comprehend this mystery, nor the infinite pain that it engendered in the heart of Jesus. He had never for one moment of time and eternity been separated in fellowship from His Father. No sin, no misunderstanding, no differing priorities, no busyness or distraction--absolutely nothing in all of eternity had ever separated the intimacy of the Son and the Father.

Until now. Until Jesus bore the unfathomable weight of the sin of all of humanity for all time, past, present, and future. Who could begin to imagine such a burden...and a burden on One who had never ever known sin in any way whatsoever? A perfect holy God can have no fellowship with sin, and thus, the Father must turn His face from the horrific sin born by Jesus' battered body on the cross. Such perfect holiness must turn away from sinfulness.

And knowing all this, knowing the unimaginable price He must pay, Jesus willingly drank the full cup of God's wrath toward sin in order to secure our salvation. Sanders put it this way: "He was being forsaken that we might be forgiven." He goes on to relate the following: "While the gospel story was being told to a South African tribe, the chief listened with intense interest. He called for a repetition of the story of the cross. While the speaker was again preaching the cross, the chief rushed forward crying, 'Hold on! Hold on! Take Jesus down from the cross--I belong on that cross.'"

Amen and amen. I deserved to be on that cross, forsaken by the God whom I have so often sinned against. And yet, as the old hymn declares, "Jesus, paid it all. All to Him I owe. Sin hath left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow." He was forsaken of God that I need never know what it is to be forsaken and alone and desperate. He drank the full cup of God's wrath that I might drink the living water of forgiveness and eternal life.

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! What words are these!

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! Grief's mysteries.

O Christ, forsaken in Thy time of need,

Thy deepest hour of agony we plead.

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! Deep-echoed woe.

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! O, who can know,

Or who the depth of anguish can divine,

That broken heart, that thrilling cry of Thine!

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! O bleeding Lamb,

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! Redeemed I am;

Thy wounded soul from light and joy shut in,

Is bearing there the bitter curse of sin.

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! My soul is free.

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani! Love's victory.

Forsaken Thou, that I might never cry

Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani.

Albert Midlane

Concern at the Cross

The third word: "When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then He said to the disciple, 'Behold, our mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home." John 19:26-27

As a mother, I simply cannot begin to imagine what sorrow and suffering Mary endured as she watched her precious Son die an agonizing death. How many times as a mama have I wished that I could take the illness or the discouragement or the rejection that was afflicting one of my children. How much more excruciating for Mary to see her sinless Son who had never disobeyed or fussed, never been unkind, never lost His temper, never displayed an "attitude" and who always loved and helped and encouraged. Yet she stood there, quietly, painfully, faithfully watching and waiting as her Son, the Son of God, the Messiah, the Creator died.

And in the midst of His own physical and spiritual agony, the Lord Jesus is concerned for His beloved mother. Selfless and loving to the very end. What a mother and what a Son.

Beside our Lord on Calvary

Behold His mother near;

Her love so true, so strong, so pure

Hath conquered all her fear.

She dares the fury of His foes.

Endures the scoffer's scorn.

That she might share the Saviour's woes

And comfort Him forlorn.

O come, behold ye mothers all

Of every race and state!

Behold in her the pattern true

For you to emulate.

And come ye sons, behold the Christ,

The noblest son of earth!

In death's dark hour He looks in love

On her who gave Him birth.

Come Holy Spirit, breathe on us,

His love to each impart;

Regenerate the soul, create

His image in our heart.

Lord Jesus, thank You for not only saving us but for showing us a pattern of how to love and care about others even in the midst of the most horrific of circumstances ever endured by man. Might we, even in our busyness and preoccupation, our struggles and weaknesses, look to You and learn to love and demonstrate compassion and concern for all the people You have placed in our lives. We may be going through great difficulties, but as a scottish preacher shared many many years ago: "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle." Some battles we can see, others may not be apparent but are perhaps even more challenging. Help us to get our focus off ourselves and what we are going through and what we are feeling and what we are lacking, and instead place our focus upon You and upon the people You've sent to us to love and encourage. Help us to daily, hourly to remember to gaze at the cross and be changed more and more into Your likeness. To You be the glory forever.

The Choice

Jesus' 2nd statement on the cross has always been one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Two wretched criminals hung beside Jesus on crosses which they deserved.. which I deserved. One continues to inexplicably taunt the One who shares his horrific punishment. But the other, O what hope has that other penitent thief give so many lost and sin sick souls. The other initially joined in the with the rabble in tormenting Jesus, but unlike his comrade, this thief begins to carefully observe this One called "The King of the Jews." And since our Faithful Lord never ever turns away a seeking heart, the 2nd thief somehow recognizes in the demeanor, the words, the very presence of Jesus, that this is the Son of God. I can only imagine what kind of depraved life he has led, perhaps a murdered, a thief, a scoffer, a hater. A life without any redeeming value perhaps, and yet here, at the last possible second, God chooses to answer his desperate, last second plea as he recognizes his own deplorable condition. He rebukes the other thief, saying "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." (Lk23:40-41) Then he turns to Jesus and asks "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." (Lk23:42) Can you imagine a more plaintive and tentative plea? He doesn't even dare ask for salvation but just perhaps to be remembered... perhaps some crumb from the banquet table of the Saviour. I'm sure he knew how utterly undeserving he was and how outrageous was his request. Dying a horrific, painful death on a cross, forsaken, guilty, helpless...could there be a more vivid portrait of hopelessness?

And then these incredible words from the lips of the Perfect Sinless One dying beside him on the cross: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise." (Lk23:43) From godforsaken to God-taken; from defeat to victory; from utter hopelessness to a living hope; from hell to heaven. Oswald Sanders writes: "The thief asked only a place in Christ's memory. He was granted a place in His kingdom." Reminds me of Eph.3:20--He is the One who does abundantly more than all we ask or imagine!

Surely there could be no clearer depiction of the choice facing every single human being on the planet--depend upon yourself and die in your sins or turn to the Saviour and accept His gift of salvation. The stark eternal choice confronts each of us--will we choose to look to the One on the center cross and live... or die? From William Olney:

They stood there grimly upon Calvary;

Each bore a victim suffering bodily.

But in the attitude of soul we see

A strange unlikeness in the suffering three.

Behold, upon the centre cross is He

Who, to atone for sin, hung on the Tree.

Of His own will He died for rebel's guilt,

Though by man's cruel hands His blood was spilt;

Pardon for all believers did Christ win,

Since upon Calvary He died for sin.

Now see upon the left a sufferer

Who even to the last did curse and swear.

Write underneath the picture of his cross,

He died in sin bringing eternal loss.

Now turn you to the sufferer on the right.

How different the picture, and how bright!

He owns his sin, laments his evil ways,

Then turns him to the centre cross and prays.

Christ pardons him. The thief now dead to sin.

Enters, with Him, the Golden Gates within.

Reader, he sure since Christ for sinners died,

Thou canst find pardon through the Crucified.

The first words

Today is April 3rd--I read recently that historians believe Christ was crucified on April 3rd. As I sit here on my comfortable deck, enjoying the warmth of the sun, the blue sky, the chorus of birds, I think of my Saviour. Bleeding, struggling to breathe, bruised and battered and betrayed on that other, O so terrible April 3rd, and all I can do is say "Thank You, thank You, thank You, Lord." The more we contemplate what Jesus did for us on calvary, the more overwhelmed and stunned and grateful we are. I know my sin, my hidden faults and selfish attitudes, my petty irritations, my pride and competitiveness and then I consider that sin, my sin, put Him on that cross. My gratitude seems so inadequate, but it, and my efforts to live everyday for Him and through Him and to His glory, are all I have. And somehow, I know that is enough...because of grace.

As I contemplate the cross today, I read in The Incomparable Christ about the 7 last words or statements Christ made upon the cross. How instructive, how reflective of His whole mission when He entered this planet, was the first statement He made as He was being nailed to the cross: "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do." Here are Oswald Sanders words:

"Jesus has been acquitted by the highest tribunal in the land; yet He is now being impaled on a cross, the most shameful punishment to which a criminal could be subjected. He has been seized by rude hands, stripped and laid on its rough beams. The Roman soldiers callously drive the spikes through His quivering flesh and raise aloft the instrument of torture. While they are still engaged in their grim task, the lips of the victim are seen to move. But that is by no means uncommon. David Smith tells us that 'it was usual for the victims of that dread doom, frenzied with pain, to shriek, entreat, spit at, and curse the spectators.'

But what is He saying! Is it some word of righteous indignation because He knew His own innocence? Is He hurling maledictions at His torturers? Is He pleading for mercy? No, non of these. He is praying.

For whom does He pray? For Himself? Again, no. We are privileged to listen in to those gracious words of intercession. Had Isaiah not prophesied that the coming Messiah would make 'intercession for the transgressors' (Is.53:12)? This is what He is doing as the pain-racked words come from His lips, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' (Lk 23:34).

The consistent habit of a lifetime persisted even in the hour of death. His first word was a word of prayer. His hands can no longer perform acts of love for friend or enemy. His feel can no more carry Him on errands of mercy. But one form of ministry, and the highest, is still open to Him. He can still pray."

Such is our Saviour and there is none other. He doesn't condemn those abusing and torturing Him. He doesn't pray for Himself. He doesn't pray for justice. He prays for forgiveness, for grace. He prayed not only for the Romans soldiers pounding in those nails and playing a game to blithely divide up His only possessions--a rough cloak. He prayed not only for the Jewish citizens screaming "crucify Him!" and mocking Him and taunting Him to come down off the cross. He prayed not only for the repentant thief dying beside Him. He prayed for you. He prayed for me. He prayed for our children and grandchildren.

He choose the highest form of ministry in praying when healing and holding and blessing with His hands and feet were no longer available to Him. And yet in those bleeding hands and feet, we are blessed beyond all measure for they represent the ultimate price He paid for each of us. Thank You Lord for those first, those glorious words of prayer for our forgiveness. All we can do is accept them and thank you with our lives. To You be the glory.