Volume 2 Issue 2 April 1996
by Jeff S. Smith
There are seven statements that Jesus made while on the cross. The first three statements were spoken in the light, from 9 o’clock until noon. The last four were spoken during the three hours of mysterious darkness, from noon until 3 o’clock. We cannot know their exact chronology, but the following order is generally accepted. These statements reveal something about Christ and the life that he lived.
“Father, Forgive Them For They Know Not What They Do” (Luke 23:33-34)
The beginning of Christ’s final words before his death expresses the attitude of his life, a hope that all men can be saved, even forgiven for what they were just then doing to him. Our Lord taught that we should forgive those who sin against us and pray for our enemies rather than cursing them or plotting revenge (Matt 5:43-48). Jesus was not like some who demonstrate the hypocritical lifestyle epitomized as “Do as I say, not as I do.” His life and his words were consistent, even when faced with a shameful death (Gal. 3:13).
We would do well to note that this prayer was not immediately answered. Those who seek forgiveness must first repent and submit to God’s will. About seven weeks later, on the day of Pentecost, many of these same people who had been involved in the crucifixion of Jesus were forgiven when they repented and were baptized for the remission of sins because Peter convicted them of their sin and inspired guilt in their soft hearts (Acts 2:22-41).
Our main consideration here is that Christ was merciful and forgiving. Sometimes we feel
indignant when people do us wrong. In human affairs both parties usually contribute to the problem but Jesus was totally innocent; Calvary was the greatest travesty of justice ever perpetrated. Yet, look at his gracious attitude. We should learn forgiveness from his example and overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:17-21).
Today You Will Be With Me In Paradise (Luke 23:39-43)
Here Jesus speaks a word of comfort to the penitent thief similarly suffering on the cross beside him. Paradise is an old Persian term for a park, a garden, or a place of beauty and just here it is the Hadean realm known as “Abraham’s bosom” in Luke 16:19-25 (cf. Acts 2:25-28). Here the departed souls of redeemed people who have died await the last resurrection to life and judgment (I Thess. 4:13-18). The other side of the great gulf fixed is where the unrighteous await their eternal fate in torment.
The thief on the cross lived and died under the Old Testament dispensation; the law of Moses was in force until Christ died on the cross (Eph. 2:14-15 and Col. 2:13-14) and so Jesus could forgive this man in this way. Perhaps he had been baptized by John; perhaps not. It does not matter.
Now we live under Christ’s law which demands obedience to the faith and the gospel by belief, confession, repentance, baptism and endurance (Gal. 3:27, Heb. 3:14). There is no excuse here for someone to refer to this incident as an excuse to reject baptism for it is a judgment rendered under a law that is now defunct. Between this event and the day of Pentecost, Jesus said that “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mark 16:16). That is the law under which Peter preached and you live. Have faith and obey the gospel and your place in Paradise, Abraham’s bosom, will be secure also (Rom. 10:16).
“Woman, Behold Your Son...Behold Your Mother!” (John 19:25-27)
Among the women that stood near the cross was Mary, the mother of Jesus. Imagine the
heartache she must have felt as she watched her son die. Perhaps she recalled the words Simeon had uttered years earlier when she and Joseph had taken the baby Jesus to the temple as this sword now pierced her own soul (Luke 2:34-35). Any mother who loses a child is filled with grief; Mary was no different.
Expressing concern for his mother until the very end, Jesus gave her into the care of the “beloved disciple.” Here we see the tender affection between a mother and her son. What parting words from the God who uttered the command to “honor your father and mother that it may be well with with you and you may live long on the earth” (Deut. 5:16).
As young people get older, they sometimes become ashamed of their parents. They don’t want to be seen with them in public because it is “uncool.” That is one of the saddest times of a parent’s life, to feel as though his child no longer needs him, that the joy of watching his childhood is over. I suppose it is an unfortunate rite of passage but you don’t have to make it so hard on your parents. Let them know that, although you are growing up, one thing will never change: you will always love them, respect them and be there for them.
“My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46)
There was a period of darkness from noon to three p.m., but this was no ordinary eclipse of the sun; the darkness lasted twelve times longer than any ordinary eclipse. Without a doubt, a miracle occurred which symbolized the tragedy associated with Jesus’s death. The atmosphere surely reflected mankind’s darkest hour. Innocent men had been killed before and would suffer again, but they were only innocent of the crime of which they stood accused. They had done some other evil thing at some time. This prisoner was guiltless of every possible accusation; he was perfect. And he was dying for it.
We almost eavesdrop on Jesus as he speaks a word of the loneliness which he had agonized over while in the garden of Gethsemane. The full meaning of this cry cannot be fathomed but it resulted, not so much from his physical suffering, but from the fact that for a time Jesus was made sin for us (II Cor. 5:21).
He paid the penalty for our sins and experienced the pain and anguish of death which he did not deserve (I Peter 3:18). Our Lord quoted David from Psalm 22, who discovered at the end of that poem that he was not forsaken by God after all: “For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; Nor has he hidden his face from him; But when he cried to him, he heard.”
“I Thirst” (John 19:28)
Jesus speaks a word of need for he was both man and God, sharing fully in the attributes of both. Here we see his human side (John 1:14 and Phil. 2:6-7); the physical need of the sufferer asserted itself and the vinegar (sour wine) helped revive Jesus’s strength somewhat. It should never be doubted that Jesus truly suffered physically upon that tree. The pain of a crucifixion is not in the nails driven through the joints, but is in the extreme difficulty posed to respiration due to the hanging of the body. Most who were crucified died from heart failure or asphyxiation. Jesus was no different than the thieves on the right and left in this respect. He suffered!
But in all that anguish, He thought of you and His Father and He endured it all to save you and serve Him (John 15:13). When the devil is aiming fiery darts in your direction and you feel like letting down your guard just once to see what it is like, think about Jesus on the cross. For you. A single sin is the first step toward what could become total apostasy, described by the Hebrew writer as crucifying Christ again and putting him to an open shame (Heb. 6:6). Wasn’t one execution enough?
“It Is Finished” (John 19:30)
This is the voice of victory! The emphasis here is not on the fact that his sufferings were ended, but that his mission was completed (John 17:4-5). In his death, Christ paid the purchase price for the church (Acts 20:28), abolished the Mosaic Law (Eph. 2:14-15), and sealed the new covenant (Heb. 9:13-17). He had made possible man’s redemption.
It is his death that he commanded us to memorialize with a feast in our assemblies on the first day of every week. It is baffling to listen to people defending annual observances of the Lord’s Supper on the basis that doing so more regularly would cheapen the memorial and cause it to be routine. Jesus died on a cross to redeem your soul from slavery to the devil and an eternity in hell fire. Which part of that is cheap to you? It was not cheap to God who sacrificed his only son! What would it take to convince you to sacrifice your only child? Would his or her life come cheap?
The Lord demands and deserves that we mark his death as he commanded and that we do it each first day of the week (Acts 20:7, I Cor. 11:23-34). But forget the sectarian practice and focus on yours. How many brethren willfully miss these assemblies and go weeks without memorializing Christ’s body and blood? Is such a practice any better?
“Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit” (Luke 23:46)
This was a prayer of resignation, for Jesus had been obedient to the very end (Heb. 5:8) and he voluntarily gave his life for mankind. Now he put himself in God’s hands. He delivered over his spirit to God. These words have become a source of encouragement to men everywhere.
Untold thousands have repeated them on their own deathbeds. Stephen was able to commit his spirit to the glorified Christ in Acts 7:59. We need the same assurance we hear in Paul: “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day” (II Tim. 1:12). “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved his appearing” (II Tim. 4:7-8).
