“Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.”
If you have sat beside the death of any, you know that the last of the last words are always hauntingly important. They are the words that stick with us, that we hear played in our head over and over after they have passed. We recite them to others. We remember them often times more than anything else the dying person has said previously.
So, if you listen to only one last word of Jesus, hear this:
“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
When Jesus uttered this, what we hear is not a combative last wish, or an “I wish I’d done more of this” or “Why really do I have to die this way?” Or, “Why aren’t there more people here mourning my death?”
No. We hear: “I accept the fact that even though this all is so painful and uncertain I WILL leave this earth in acknowledgement of my Father.”
“Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.”
Even more so, what we hear in Christ is a TRUST in the Father to handle what he could not—the outcome.
In his last words, Jesus showed a trust beyond what his human body could feel. Jesus showed a trust beyond what his human mind could reason. Jesus showed a trust beyond the cursing and disbelief others might be whispering under their breath at that moment about him.
In Jesus' death, he let go of human life and what many would call his hour of defeat.
And how countercultural this is to our view of darkness. For most of us have met a dark day or month or year we didn’t like. We’ve felt the deep pains of betrayal and of separation from those we love the most. We’ve all felt like we can’t go on anymore.
But, Jesus taught us to trust on Good Friday.
Jesus taught us to trust that in days coming, hope will be restored.
Jesus taught us to trust that what we see in front of us is not all we get.
Jesus taught us to trust Him, even when death’s dark hour came; he was going to finish the work.
So, this Friday is not a day to fear evil. This Friday is not a day to avoid suffering-- for without death, new life can't come. This Friday is not a day to felt despair. For Jesus taught us on this Friday a whole other way to live.
We trust in resurrection to come and it's what makes Good Friday, O so good!
