Final Words from the Cross: "It is Finished" and "Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit" Luke 23: 44-47

For the past five weeks we have been talking together about Jesus final words from the cross. We have discussed Jesus prayer not only for those gathered around the cross, but also for us that we would be forgiven. We have seen Jesus extend himself to those who are lost when he promised the thief next to him that he would be in paradise with him that very day. We heard Jesus give a new model for family as he said to not only his mother and John, but us as well, that this is your mother... This is your son. Jesus reminded us of his humanity when he cried that he thirst. And Jesus told us that he understands even our darkest moments when we feel abandoned when he cried out “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” This evening we will be hearing Jesus’ final two statements together, “It is finished” and “Into your hands I commit my Spirit.” 

The gospels of Mathew and Mark tell us that as Jesus breathed his last breath that he let out a loud cry, but we must look to the gospels of John and Luke to see what he possibly exclaimed: “It is finished”. Perhaps Jesus was expressing that his life was now over, that his time of suffering was complete. But Jesus’ statement can mean so much more as well. This could also be Jesus exclaiming that his purpose for being, his purpose for dying, was now complete. That what he had told his disciples would come to pass, had been completed. He had done what he had come to Jerusalem to do - to die. 

But what does Jesus’ death mean for us? Why did Jesus have to come to die? What does it mean when we proclaim to people that “Jesus died for you”. The band Third Day has written a love song to us from the perspective of Jesus that explains why Jesus died. “I’ve heard it said that a man would climb a mountain, just to be with the one he loves. How many times has he broken that promise, for it has never been done. I’ve never climbed the highest mountain, but I walked the hill to Calvary. Just to be with you, I will do anything. There’s no price I would not pay. Just to be with you, I will give everything. I would give my life away.” The love of Jesus is a perfect love, a love that we try so desperately to express to each others in glimpses here on Earth, but that Jesus freely offers to us eternally. 

When I was in school I always preferred English to Math and Science. My brothers are great at Math and Science and like how everything seems to add up. There is a balanced equation. But I loved the ability of words to communicate something deeply. To not have to same exactly what you mean. Words have a different science to them then math. While 1+1 has to equal two, and there is always a correct answer, words can be spoken in metaphors. Poetry. Friends, the story of the cross is more like poetry than math. There isn’t an exact science and we may never fully be able to understand it like an equation. There is still the mystery of grace and forgiveness that can be experienced at the foot of the cross, but perhaps not sisinctly explained. We may never understand the fullness of Christ’s love for us, because it is deeper than any love we have ever known. To give one’s life away so that we can be with Christ from eternity to eternity. It’s just too big for our minds to fathom. Yet, when we look at the cross we can see that love in action. The love that proclaimed, “It is finished” so we could now be reunited with God.

While we have to look to the Gospels of John and Luke to see what Jesus said as he breathed is last, Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us that something profound happened - the temple curtain was torn in two. For those of you who have seen The Passion of the Christ you know what this curtain looked like. It was the heaviest fabric that could be found and it hung from ceiling to floor to separate the rest of the temple from the Holies of Holies, the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. This special box held the Ten Commandments, the rod of Moses, and a jar of manna, all reminders of the Exodus story and God’s deliverance.

The high priest himself would only go behind the curtain once a year in order to atone for his sins and the sins of the people. It was believed that this was the throne of God. In order for the priest to enter into the Holy of Holies, the curtain had to be raised, just enough so he could walk under it, and then lowered again. 

One person, once a year, could go into this place designated for God. But with Jesus’ cry the curtain that was so heavy was torn in two. It was a symbol of what Jesus’ death truly accomplished, that people now could be in the presence of a Holy God as a new covenant between God and the people, marked by Christ’s blood, was sealed. We can now come directly before God ourselves, asking forgiveness for our sins, and have God’s grace bestowed upon us. 

After Jesus uttered “It is finished” and the curtain tore, Jesus had one more statement, as he prayed, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Jesus who just earlier that day had cried out of frustration and a sense of abandonment, now put his entire trust in God. This statement too came from a Psalm, Psalm 31, and some scholars believe that it is the prayer mothers would teach young children to pray before they go to bed at night. This would have been their version of “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.” And now Jesus offered this as his final prayer to his Father.

We’ve spent a good deal of time these last five weeks talking about what Jesus was modeling for us, teaching us, from the cross. Friends, when you walk through the darkest valleys as Jesus did on Calvary, do you have the same trust Jesus had as he prayed this final prayer? Do you trust God or do you try to plan and orchestrate to have things go the way you want? Do you try to dig yourself out of the depths or do you pray, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”? 

And when things are going well, is this the prayer that you pray each and every day? “Father into your hands I commit your spirit”. Another way of saying, God use me and Your will be done. I am a planner. Each day I have a to-do list. My calendar fills up seeming months in advance, and once something is on my calendar I hardly ever change it because I believe in honoring my commitments. I don’t know bout you, but the more I plan the more I forget this prayer of Christ that reminds us that God should be placed first in our lives. God should plan our days and be in control. 

Today, Good Friday, is the darkest day on the Christian calendar. It is the day we mediate on the suffering and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But when we look at these final words of Christ, the victorious “It is finished” followed by the tearing of the curtain signifying our new relationship with God, and the prayer of absolute trust, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit” we get an inkling that the story is not finished. That after the long day of waiting, something new is about to happen on Sunday. But even if we do not anticipate what is to come, and simply sit in the silence and ponder these words of Christ, there is still hope. There is still meaning and life found in them. Especially if we join Christ in praying them this day and see them as marks of Christ’s deep and abiding love for us. The love that gave up everything, just to be with us. Amen.