Today we conclude our series on the 7 last sayings of Christ. We have extinguished the flames, as is tradition, of six candles representing six of Jesus’ words, and just the last word we hear from Luke remains. Matthew and Mark show the anguish and suffering of the cross in Jesus’ cry from the 22nd Psalm of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” That is the only phrase that they have Jesus say from the cross, and represents the only saying found in more than one gospel. John has Jesus showing the ironic exultation of the cross and the completion of God’s plan for why Jesus was sent, the lamb who came to remove the sins of the world. It begins first with the creation of a new community in Jesus entrusting his mother and the beloved disciple to each other, and then uttering I am thirsty, reminding us to be careful of what we thirst, and then saying “it is finished,” as a celebration of the end of his journey on earth, but the beginning of a new chapter that also invites us to be involved. And then there is Luke. We began by looking at Jesus’ proclamation of forgiveness from the cross for those who were killing him, as well as saying to one of the other men being crucified that he would join Jesus in paradise. This call to forgiveness and compassion also matches Luke’s gospel and his conclusion with Jesus saying, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
We should notice here that, like Matthew and Mark, Jesus doesn’t say this phrase softly but instead utters it with a loud cry. But these are two different cries. In Matthew and Mark, after he cries out in despair, Jesus then lets out another loud cry and breathes his last. Now it might appear that Luke is giving actual words to what this cry is, and there are some arguments that are made for that fact. But, as I have said before, the better way to see this is to simply let each of the gospel writers tell their story and not try and mash them together, because it can’t be done. Just as another illustration, in Matthew and Mark, the curtain of the temple is torn in two, from top to bottom, after Jesus dies. In Luke, as we just heard, the curtain is torn in two before Jesus dies. let each gospel writer speak for themselves in what they want to emphasize, because Luke has a lot to say to us in the story he tells, especially in stories that are unique to his gospel.
In Luke we find the story of Jesus in the Temple when he is 12. Some of you may remember, Jesus and his parents and a large group have gone to Jerusalem for Passover, and when they leave, his parents think Jesus is with them, that he’s just off traveling with other people in the group, but when they discover he’s not actually with the group after a days travel they quickly head back to Jerusalem to find him. They search for him for three days, and then they find him in the Temple sitting with the teachers asking them questions, but also giving them answers that everyone is amazed by. When his parents question him about why they have left them full of anxiety in searching for him, Jesus says “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house?” Now just this story should set off some bells about what will happen of Jesus going to Jerusalem for the Passover, but the group he is with leaving without him, and then in three days finding him again. But, for our purposes today, two things need to stand out for us.
The first is that in stories of great men in the ancient world, there would be a miraculous birth story, which Luke certainly has, then there will be a story about them as a youth, often around the age of 12, before coming back to them as an adult. Additionally, when an incredibly important person died, it was often said that darkness came upon the land. So, for example, when Julius Caesar died, which was the ides of March, just this last week, Virgil said that there was darkness and people “feared an ever-lasting night.” We should hear the same thing when Luke mentions the darkness coming over the land, as do Mark and Matthew, but Luke mentions it twice to highlight its importance. But Jesus first words that we ever hear in Luke’s gospel are about Jesus referring to God as father, a term of intimacy and connection, and then his last words also refer to God as father in commending his spirit.
Now, this too is a quoting from the psalms, this one from the 31st Psalm, and while it is a cry for God’s assistance, it comes from a place of celebrating God’s faithfulness. Even though people are persecuting the psalmist, God is a rock and refuge and God hears the cries of those in need and brings deliverance. And so, the psalmist commends his soul, and I say his because it is said to be a psalm of David, to God because God is faithful and has redeemed him. This is a psalm of celebration of being delivered from enemies. But, in order to be able to receive that deliverance, we have to be willing to turn not only our concerns over to God, but to turn our whole lives over to God, and that’s where the hard work for us begins. Because we might say to God, your will be done, but what we really mean by that, or at least speaking only for myself, what I mean is, well if I can’t have things my way, then I guess I’m willing to try things your way. And then maybe only until a better option comes my way, because truly saying “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” says that it’s not about me, it’s not about my plans, it’s not about what I want, and it’s not about my outcomes, which means I have to be willing to let go of control, and we like to be in control. Or at least to know that things are under control, and perhaps we have some say. But you know what the first step to learning to let go is? It’s to recognize that even when we think we’re in control, it’s never complete, because there are always other things that impact us, whether natural, like controlling the weather, or others who have their own interests and own desire for control. So as soon as we understand that we are never fully in control, then we begin to move in the direction of saying that we commend our spirits to God, and Luke also has that as a continuation of his story.
Think back to Luke’s nativity story. God makes announcements to people about the coming of Christ, and, with one notable exception, everyone does what God tells them to do, or at least are open to it the announcement and trust God. The exception is Zechariah who doesn’t believe the angel Gabriel’s announcement that his wife will become pregnant and give birth to John the Baptist, and so he is made mute until John is born. And yet, he is also still called righteous. But the best example of this is Mary, who when she is told that she will become pregnant and give birth to Jesus, after asking some logistical questions, says “Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let is be with me according to your word.” We might here in that statement, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Mary demonstrates a total commitment to God, and trust in God, because what this statement means is not only are we going to be committed but that God is going to commit to us as well. We see that not only in the 31st Psalm, but throughout scripture. According to theologian Eduard Lohse, of the more than 200 references in scripture to the hands of God, in the vast majority of them, the reference is about God’s activity in human life that reveals God’s work in the creation. That is when we give our souls, or we give our lives to God, to God’s hands, it’s with the expectation that God will be present in our lives and that we will know God’s presence, and that others will come to see that in our lives, and we will live it out.
We see this directly in scripture because in the book of Acts, also written by the same author as Luke, in the stoning of Stephen, the first martyr of the church, he not only asks God not to hold these actions against them, giving forgiveness, but he also says “Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit,” and in his witness he brought people to Christ, just as in Jesus’ death he brings others into salvation, and not only offers the same to us, but calls to us to do the same. I don’t know why the 7 last phrases of Christ were put into the order they were, but for at least the last 500 years, this is the way we have been hearing them, and perhaps as we enter these last weeks of Lent it is appropriate to not only hear Jesus commend his spirit to God, but more importantly to hear that same call on our lives that we would do the same and call for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. As Jesus hung on the cross, he cried out in a loud voice: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” and having said this, he breathed his last. Amen.
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