Whose cross to bear?

The Seven Last Words of Jesus

Copyright 2003-2004 by William Meisheid

First - Luke 23:34 "Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

If there was any doubt about the sincerity of Jesus' messianic mission, any concern about his full embracing of his death as the true sacrificial lamb, this should lay it aside. He begins his participation in the sacrificial drama with a redemptive request. Earlier Jesus had told his disciples, "I lay down my life…No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord." He was not the prisoner of plotting and circumstance. When Peter attempts to intercede at his arrest Jesus cuts his effort short saying, "Put away your sword! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" No, he chose to be here. He chose the cross.

Sometimes when we hear this first utterance of Jesus we look at those who maneuvered the circumstances to accomplish this horrible event and wonder, “How could they have possibly done such a thing. How could they be so blind?” Yet aren't we also among those who caused this to happen? Isn't it also our sin that binds those nails deeply into the rough wood? Are we not all as guilty as they? Weren't our voices also part of the crowd yelling, "Crucify him", as we symbolically participated in the Palm Sunday liturgy?

Like them, our solace is found in these words of mercy. We too are included in the company of ignorance and granted his forgiveness.

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Second - Luke 23:43 "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Jesus continues his sacrificial participation by giving those present a foretaste of what is possible for us all. He signifies the whole reality of what was happening on the cross by redeeming the life of one sinner, by snatching the first soul from the maw of hell. Out of the crucible of his impending death, he prophecies a single redemption, setting the stage for all redemptions to come.

The teachers of the law had called him a blasphemer for telling the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Now, while in the midst of crucifixion for this and other supposed blasphemies, he again offers not only forgiveness, but also hope; the hope of resurrection to one who moments before had no hope.

I can almost feel the gnashing teeth of any Sadducees who might be close enough to hear his words. They steadfastly refused to believe in anything after death. To them, Sheol was the end and by crucifying this troublemaker they believed they were getting rid of him forever.

In sharp contrast to that hopeless view of death are these expectant words of Jesus. They give hope not only to the thief hanging next to him, but to us also, to all of mankind. As we each follow their footsteps into the jaws of our own impending death, we too hold onto the hope of our resurrection, the hope of our being with Jesus in paradise.

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."

Third - John 19:26-27"…he said to his mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son,' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.'"

The author of Hebrews will later write, "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers." In this intimate exchange with his mother Mary and his disciple John, Jesus takes the bold step of bringing us all of us into the Holy Family of God, making all of redeemed mankind his brother.

Earlier Jesus had told his disciples, "The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." What greater freedom is there than to become part of the family of God.

As he lovingly counseled his disciples last night, he said to them, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last."

Do you not see that we are brothers and friends, members of a sacred company, our adoption assured by the words of him who has the power to adopt us all.

"…he said to his mother, 'Dear woman, here is your son,' and to the disciple, 'Here is your mother.'"

Fourth - Mark 15:34 "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

We can all feel the absolute agony of that cry. It strikes a cord deep within our own souls, within our sense of utter aloneness. The author of Hebrews will later observe, "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity." Yes, even the Son of God experienced the fundamental pain of the human race, that of being separated from the ground of our being, of being separated from God. He who had known no sin, would, by accepting the will of his Father, "become sin on our behalf." And, in becoming sin, in that moment, would have the Father would turn away from him.

Jesus, the Son of God, made our sense of loneliness and alienation his own. For one moment in all the time of eternity, from everlasting to everlasting, the unbroken connection within the trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is mysteriously broken, and the pain of sin and separation enters the heart of God and the pain of His creation is shared within the Trinity.

For God so loved the world that gave His only begotten son and in doing so accepted forever the consequences of that choice and made it His own.

Thank you, God.

"Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Fifth - John 19:28 "I thirst."

Was this mere physical thirst, the natural, though gut-wrenching result of crucifixion, caused by the fluid loss from the scourging, and then the continuous bleeding from nails pulling on his tortured flesh? Or was this something deeper, a stark spiritual thirst, expressing the desire of the sacrificial Lamb of God to consume the sin of the entire world?

The previous evening, in the Garden of Gethsemane, He had prayed that this cup might be taken away from him. Instead, he submitted to the Father's will and agreed to drink from this cup, a cup containing the sin of all mankind. When Peter attempted to defend him in the garden Jesus asked him, "Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?"

We thirst for many things: significance, success, relevance, and many other attempts to fill the ache deep within our souls. James and John wanted to sit at Jesus' left and right hand in the kingdom. But while we thirst for significance, Jesus thirsted for the cup of sacrifice and the consumption of all sin, transforming it into all forgiveness.

Would that our thirst for significance would also be transformed into a thirst for righteousness, that our dry cracked lives would be replaced by streams of living water, washing us in holiness and cleansing us into a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but instead holy and blameless before the Lord our God.

Are you thirsty for God?

"I am thirsty."

Sixth - John 19:30 "It is finished."

We have come to the moment, the central moment, the nexus point of all creation. His agonizing work is completed, mankind's vile sin has been consumed, the debt paid, and now the hidden mystery at the center of creation is revealed. "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world", as John will later write, has accomplished his appointed work. He had tried to tell them, but they did not comprehend. He had said, "unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit…for this purpose I came to this hour." That hour is near its end and the purpose is reaching its fulfillment.

The Son of God is now ready to fall and bring the long suffering to fruition, to bear the fruit of redemption. The power of sin is broken, the sting of death no longer breeds its fear, for the balm of Gilead has been spread upon the pain of mankind, and healing is available to all who seek it.

We seek that balm knowing that whatever Jesus starts, he finishes, and we are confident of this, that he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion. One day, the Son of God will also say to us, "It is finished."

Seventh - Luke 23:46 "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."

The son, abandoned to sin, now turns in faith to his Father in the sure hope of resurrection, taking the first steps on the path that all of us who follow him will tread upon.

Earlier, Jesus had told his disciples "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." With his impending death only moments away, Jesus becomes the first man, the first born among many brothers, to walk the path of redemption, showing the way for all of us to follow. Redemption is now, by faith, in the hands of God the Father.

There is no better place for it to be. Looking forward to this beginning moment of salvation Jesus had said, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand."

With Jesus' hand wrapped tightly around us and his fingerprints on our soul, we finally arrive, with him, at the end of our journey.

Father, into your hands we commend our spirits.

----------

thank You for the cross Lord Jesus. Truly, we were/are undeserving.

But Your love transcends everything..

signing off,