“Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46)
Most of you are probably checking your calendars about now, and some of you are preparing to send me a kind e-mail, just to let me know that I’m about 6 months ahead of schedule. The celebration of Jesus’ death isn’t until next Spring! This is the wrong time of the year to be talking about Jesus’ last words on the cross!
Or is it? Is any time of the year a “wrong” time to be thinking and talking about Jesus’ sacrifice to humanity? I don’t think so. There are many practical, everyday lessons to be learned from the cross, far too many for us to comprehend in the few weeks around the Easter/Passover season; and our spiritual lives would benefit from contemplating them regularly. In fact, I would maintain that everyday is the right day to celebrate the cross! For in so doing, we are reminded on a daily basis of Jesus’ supreme gift!
Let’s take a moment to think about the phrase that was one of the last Jesus uttered before He died: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46). Imagine this. Jesus is hanging on the cross, just moments from death. He is at the height of His physical pain and suffering, and now, with death so immanent, He is also at the peak of His mental anguish. Talk about stress! Death is at the doorstep, and not just any death, but the most horrible death known to man; and besides this, the weight of all sins ever committed on earth, and ever to be committed, are hanging on His heart. As if this isn’t enough, Jesus can’t even feel the presence of His Father, for this void had previously caused Him to cry out, “My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?!” (Matt. 27:49?).
How would you and I stand up under this kind of stress? I venture to say that we have all crumbled under much less! Yet in Jesus’ final words on the cross lies the key to how we can be strong, no matter what we are being asked to face: “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!” Talk about casting your cares on God! This has got to be the ultimate in “burden casting”! In the midst of all that He was going through, including the feeling of utmost separation from His father, Jesus still has faith enough to “Cast” His “Burdens”!
What a potent example for each of us! The next time your worries and problems seem overwhelming, remember the cross and those final words of our Lord and Savior before His death, follow His example! “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit!”
Dear Lord, help us to remember, no matter how rough the waters of life may be, to “Cast all [our] anxiety on Him because He cares for [us]!” (1 Peter 5:7)
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org