The Seventh Word
“Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” Luke 23:46.
“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed; and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” Luke 23:44-46.
Notice the description of Jesus’ death. Consider for a moment the torture he had endured: whipping, beating, nails being driven through his hands and feet; hanging from the cross and struggling to breath; the unimaginable pain; the shock to his body. Despite all this, he didn’t go out with a whimper. His body didn’t give out on him. He declared when he would die. He cried out with a strong loud voice that it was time for him to go home. And it was then, and only then, that he accepted death.
Jesus was obedient unto death, a death which he willingly accepted. He was not a martyr. His death was the very reason he came. Throughout his life he walked in the shadow of the cross. Now he emerged from that shadow and his spirit returned from whence it had come.
God loves us with a love so infinite it cannot be measured or even described. The closest we can come is to recall what He did for us. And what he did was to suffer and die for us so that we might have eternal life. Again, I ask you: “What could He have done for us that He has not done?” When we knowingly ignore the cross we ignore the crucial element of why Jesus walked the earth and we make God a liar and a useless dilettante. God does not pursue actions which are meaningless. Jesus, the seed of Mary, crushed the head of the serpent. The veil in the Temple was rent top to bottom and the Old Covenant terminated. God’s love was made available to all who desired it.
Finally, remember that our job is to emulate Jesus the best we can. As we approach death we should try and remember what Jesus said as he died. With the grace of God maybe we can face the eternal with the same equanimity and pray, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
“Oh Jesus! True and fruitful vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which thou didst so generously shed, pressed down and running over as the grape crushed in the wine press.
“From thy side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in thy body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the very top of the cross, thy delicate flesh was destroyed, the very substance of thy body withered, and the marrow of thy bones dried up.
“Through this bitter passion and through the outpouring of thy precious blood, I beg of thee, oh sweet Jesus, to pierce my heart, so that my tears of penitence and love may be my bread night and day. May I be converted entirely to thee, may my heart be thy perpetual resting place, may my conversation be pleasing to thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit heaven and there, with thy saints, praise thee forever. Amen.”
Some websites and references
Last modified August 6, 2019