There were seven things Jesus said as he hung on the cross. They offer us deep insight into His great heart. One is recorded in Matthew's gospel, three in Luke's, and three in John's. Here they are under seven headings that describe what occurred when He said them:
Forgiveness Full and Free
The first of Jesus' last words is about forgiveness full and free.
But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. (Luk 23:34).
All we need to do is read Psalm 31 to see what the righteous human normally wants for their enemies. The psalmist said, “…Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol. Let the lying lips be mute, which speak arrogantly against the righteous with pride and contempt. (Psa 31:17-18). Any one of us would be inclined to wish these things upon the wicked who would persecute us unjustly. Yet Jesus had such a big heart of love and mercy that he resisted that temptation to curse them back. Instead He prayed for them that they might be forgiven.
Assurance of Salvation
The second of Jesus' last words is about receiving from Him an assurance of salvation.
And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (Luk 23:43).
Here was an admitted thief, who had broken God’s commandment not to steal. Yet Jesus assured him of his salvation. We can observe this man’s repentance and faith in Christ very plainly. It’s clear that he had remorse for his own sin, he openly acknowledged it, and accepted the punishment being meted out to him as fair. He said in his penitence, "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." (Luk 23:41)
Notice how he also declared Jesus innocent as well when he said, “this man has done nothing wrong.” And he confessed Jesus' Lordship when he asked Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" (Luk 23:42). It’s clear this man considered Jesus Lord and King. He actually believed that the sign over Jesus head on the cross was true, which said, “King of the Jews.” And for his repentance and faith in Christ, Jesus granted him salvation. His sins were immediately washed away and he received the promise that he would be with Jesus that same day in Paradise!
This is the power of God for salvation. Jesus saves the vilest sinner instantly and perfectly. And without any further opportunity to express his faith with ceremonies or good deeds, he went on to be with Jesus in Paradise that same day when he died. This shows us that when we repent and believe in Jesus, we can be assured of our eternal destiny.
Caring for His Mother
The third of Jesus' last words is about Him caring for His mother.
When Jesus then 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, your mother!" From that hour the disciple took her into his own household. (Joh 19:26-27).
It’s normal for people to think of themselves first when they are suffering. It’s normal for sinful humans to forget about what others might be going through when we are in dire straits ourselves. But Jesus did not do this. As He hung there in pain, bearing the weight of our sin, He thought of Mary’s needs. Her heart was being pierced by what she saw that day. She was old and had become a widow. As the oldest son, it was Jesus responsibility to take care of his mother. We know He had brothers, and we know they eventually came to put their faith in Jesus, but the Scriptures tell us here that Jesus entrusted his closest disciple, John, with the responsibility to care for Mary as his own mother from that point on.
This is such a great example for us to follow. When we are suffering, do we think only of ourselves, or do we look out for the needs of others who are also suffering? We should especially look out for widows and most especially our own parents.
God Forsaken by God
The fourth of Jesus' last words is about Him being forsaken by God His Father.
About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Mat 27:46).
In his humanness, Jesus cried out asking God why He had forsaken Him. This was the moment that God was forsaken by God. Consider it.
If Jesus was praying silently in His Spirit through Psalm 31 as he hung on the cross, as I believe He may have been, then we can gain insight into Jesus words here to the Father about being forsaken. The psalmist wrote: “As for me, I said in my alarm, ‘I am cut off from before Your eyes’; Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications When I cried to You.” (Psa 31:22) While Jesus said this to the Father in His alarm, the Father had not forsaken Him and heard the voice of Jesus' supplications when He cried to Him.
We know the very nature of God is faithfulness to never leave nor abandon us. The psalmist said: “For my father and my mother have forsaken me, But the LORD will take me up.” (Psa 27:10) He says, “For the LORD will not abandon His people, Nor will He forsake His inheritance.” (Psa 94:14).
From these Scriptures, we can assume the Father did not leave or forsake Jesus, although for Jesus it probably felt like he had in fact been forsaken when he hung on the cross. Although he had never sinned, he bore the full weight of all our sin upon him on the cross. He surely must have felt completely forsaken and alone, which is a most terrible feeling.
We can learn from this ourselves. At some point, we all wonder if the Lord is still with us. When we have sinned, we sometimes feel this way, as though God has deserted us. But we can always remember that nothing can separate us from His love (Rom 8:35-38) and he will be with us always, even to the end of the age (Mt 28:20), just as He promised.
He Thirsted
The fifth of Jesus' last words is about Him being thirsty.
After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, *said, "I am thirsty." (Joh 19:28)
Note that it was only after Jesus knew all things had been accomplished that He talked about his own physical suffering. Prior to that point, although He was certainly in a tremendous amount of pain, He never said, "My back hurts," or made any other such complaint.
He was most likely very thirsty for quite some time, since he had probably not drank anything since the Passover Supper the previous night. He had lost copious amounts of bodily fluid through his beatings, his long journey up Golgotha hill, and His crucifixion. Blood, sweat, and tears had poured from his body. Now He finally spoke up about it at the very end.
Again, it’s natural for us to talk about our own needs when we are suffering. This is normal. We desire to receive help from others to meet these needs, so we tell people about them. But Jesus put the need to fulfill Scripture and the Father’s will above his own basic human need for a drink of water. That’s love. That’s obedience. That’s commitment. What an example for us when the Lord shows us what we are to do for Him. His will and purpose comes before even our own basic needs, and sometimes fulfilling those needs must be delayed until we have accomplished the mission He has given us to carry out.
A Finished Work
The sixth of Jesus' last words is about Him finally completing all that the Father sent Him to do, fulfilling all that was written in Scripture about His death.
Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. (Joh 19:30)
Here we learn that Jesus left absolutely nothing unfinished. Every last thing the Father commanded Him to do was completed. There were no loose ends left undone when He died.
We learn from Hebrews that Jesus, “having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God.” (Heb 10:12)
No further sacrifice needs to be offered for sins. The work of Calvary is a finished work. For those who repent and believe in Jesus, there is no further sacrifice necessary for their sins than the one Jesus paid on the cross.
And we know we’ve been perfected by it, too. “For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” (Heb 10:14)
By one perfect offering, Jesus has perfected us for all time.
For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. (Heb 7:26-27)
The sacrifice of Jesus was made only once and it was made for all. This gives us great faith when we come to Him that we can put our trust in his finished work at Calvary. There’s no need to continue offering up more sacrifices and no need to fear that we will some day need to pay further for our sins after we die. It is finished.
He Gave His Life
The seventh of Jesus' last words is about Him offering His life up to God on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins, proving that no one took His life, but that He gave it.
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luk 23:46).
If Jesus had truly held onto the belief that the Father forsook him, why would He have finally prayed this way to the Father? He had no new evidence that the Father was still with Him! Yet in spite of that, His very last act of obedience on the cross was when He committed His Spirit to the Father. That’s the kind of faith that pleases God (for more on the faith of Christ, please see Faith in Action).
When we go through trials of many kinds, we are tempted to give up praying. But Jesus did not give up in the very darkest moment of all. He knew He could entrust Himself to His Father’s heart in the very face of death itself. Right to the very end, He was clinging to God with a right heart.
We also learn from these very last words of Jesus that no one took Jesus life from Him, as I said. The devil certainly did not take it. He laid it down of His own accord, as He told His disciples in advance that He would do:
"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (Joh 10:17-18)
Jesus freely went to the cross, and in the end He gave up His own Spirit to the Father.
Putting it All Together
We learn from these seven last words of Jesus the following truths:
1. Jesus’ forgiveness is full and free. Just as he forgave His enemies when they persecuted Him, he forgives us of all our sin. And we should forgive others no matter what they’ve done.
2. Jesus wants us to have an assurance of our eternal destiny. When we repent and put our trust in Him to save us, we have an assurance that we will go straight to heaven when we die.
3. Jesus fulfilled His responsibility to take care of his mother. We should especially look out for widows and most especially our own parents.
4. Jesus will never leave nor forsake those who trust in Him, even when we feel abandoned by God.
5. Jesus thirsted. He was tempted and tried in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. Only after Jesus knew all things had been accomplished did He talk about his own physical suffering. His will and purpose comes before even our own basic needs, and sometimes fulfilling those needs must be delayed until we have accomplished the mission He has given us to carry out.
6. Jesus gave His life. He was not a victim. His very last act of obedience on the cross was when He committed His Spirit to the Father. That’s the kind of faith that pleases God. When we go through trials of many kinds, we are tempted to give up praying. But Jesus did not give up in the very darkest moment of all. He knew He could entrust Himself to His Father’s heart in the very face of death itself. Right to the very end, He was clinging to God with an obedient heart.
7. Jesus’ work on Calvary is a finished work. No further sacrifice needs to be offered for sins. For those who repent and believe in Jesus, there is no further sacrifice necessary for their sins than the one Jesus paid on the cross. By one perfect offering, Jesus has perfected us for all time.
Attribution notice: Most Scriptures quotations taken from the NASB, copyright The Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Graphic image may be subject to copyright, used per the Fair Use Act for commentary and educational purposes only.
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Faith in Action, Is Jesus God?, Three Stages of Christ's Earthly Mission, Coronation of Christ as King, Supremacy of Christ, The Sinlessness of Christ, The Son of Man. You may also access the Main Directory for this blog, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what G-d's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of G-d, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
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