Jesus Last Prayer Luke 23:46 Screen 1 Screen 2 September 4, 2016 Jesus has already made 6 statements from that cursed tree: 1. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. - 10 words - Luke 23:34 Screen 3 Screen 4 The Word of Forgiveness (of his enemies) (A PRAYER) 2. Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise. - 13 words - Screen 5 Luke 23:43 The Word of Salvation (to a thief) 3. Woman, behold your son.. John 19:26 Behold your mother. John 19:27 Screen 6-7 words - The Word of Affection (to his mother and 1 of his disciples) 4. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? - 9 words - Matthew 27:46 Screen 7 The Word of Anguish (A PRAYER) 5. I thirst. - 2 words - John 19:28 The Word of Suffering 6. It is finished. - 3 words - John 19:30 The Word of Victory 7. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. - 8 words Luke 23:46 Screen 8 Screen 9 Screen 10 The Word of Contentment (A PRAYER) 1
These words (Luke 23:46) set before us as the last act of the Savior before he dies. It was an act of contentment, of faith, of confidence, and of love (Pink, p. 127). The person to whom he commits his spirit was his own father. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanc\fy you completely, and may your 1 whole spirit and 2soul and 3body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Screen 11 teaches us that man is spirit, soul and body. There is a difference between the soul and spirit though this is difficult for me to understand. The spirit is the highest part of our being. It s that which dis\nguishes man from the beasts and that which links him to God. Zachariah 12:1 says The burden of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus Screen 12 declares the Lord, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him: Numbers 16:22 says And they fell on their faces and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congrega\on? Ecclesiastes 12:7 says and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit Screen 13 returns to God who gave it. No\ce that Jesus speaks these words, Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit, with a loud voice. He is completely STRONG un\l the very end! He spoke the 6 th saying tetelestai ( It is finished ) with a - STRONG- voice as well, but here, this is the very last words of our Savior while on the cross and they re loud! While on that cross, Jesus 2
700 s B.C. Luke 23:34 50 s - early 60 s A.D. Luke 26:43 spoke 7 \mes. Seven is the number of comple\on or perfec\on. Seven is also the number of rest in a finished work: God created the earth in 6 days and on the 7 th day, He rested (see Genesis 2). Just as the 6 th day brought the work of crea\on and reconstruc\on to a comple\on, so the 6 th uferance of the Savior was It is finished. And just as the 7 th day was the day of rest and sa\sfac\on, so the 7 th uferance of the Savior brings Him to the place of rest, the Father s hands (Ibid, p. 128). It s amazing that the closing cry of the Savior had been spoken by the Spirit of prophecy long before the incarna\on. For 1,000 years earlier, by the pen of David, the Holy Spirit prompted the great King to write and prophecy what his great, great 28 X forward (26 are named, 28 are men\oned in MaShew 1:17) would speak on that cross.! Psalm 31:1-5 1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! 2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! 3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name's sake you lead me and guide me; 4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. 5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. Each saying from the cross fulfilled a prophecy: 1. Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will divide him a por\on with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors. 2. MaShew 1:21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. Screen 14 Screen 15 Screen 16 Screen 17 3
62ish A.D. John 19:26-27 Matt. 26:46 John 19:28 John 19:30 Luke 23:46 All Psalms of David 1,000 B.C. 3. Luke 2:35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed. 4. Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? 5. Psalm 69:21 They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. 6. Psalm 22:31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. ( It is finished. ) 7. Psalm 31:5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 7 Hears Screen 18 Screen 19 1. Here we see the Savior back again in communion with the Father. Screen 20 (Prayer re- establishes commitment with the Father.) For a while that communion was broken - - 3 hours of darkness all of Jesus earthly life and heavenly life (before coming to earth) He had enjoyed unbroken communion with the Father. On the cross at the beginning, He was s\ll in communion with the Father His first uferance was Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. and now His last word is Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. But during those 3 hours (just before He dies), the dark hours, He had ufered those horrifying words that the redeemed of God will never speak and it be true My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? NOW, the awful cup of God s 4
wrath has been drained and NEVER again will there be any separa\on between God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. Father was a term that was open on Jesus lips. His very 1 st recorded words were Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father s house? (Luke 2:49) In what was probably His first formal discourse - the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus speaks of the Father 17 \mes (See MaShew 5-7). In His final discourse to the disciples the Pascal Discourse found in John 14-16, the word Father is used no less than 45 \mes. In John 17, Christ s high priestly prayer, he speaks of the Father 6 \mes more (Ibid, p. 131). PERSONAL APPLICATION: How blessed it is that His Father is our Father! You and I can call God, Father because of Jesus. In the O.T. go back and show me one prayer from Moses or Joshua, or Samuel, or Job or Daniel, or Solomon, or Isaiah, (any one of the prophets) where they call God Father in any private prayer that is recorded! They do not - - they could not UNTIL JESUS paved the way Hallelujah! John 17:23 says I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. Philippians 4:19 says And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 1 John 3:1a says See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. 5
2. Here we see a designed contrast. Screen 21 For more than 12 hours, Christ had been in the hands of men. MaShew 17:22-23 reads 22 As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, 23 and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day. And they were greatly distressed. MaShew 26:45 reads Then he came to the disciples and said to them, Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Luke 24:6-7 reads 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was s\ll in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Jesus could have simply walked away in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he knocked them to the ground with his voice (See John 18:6 When Jesus said to them, I am he, they drew back and fell to the ground). But He did not do so. His appointed \me had come. Voluntarily the Savior delivered Himself into the hands of sinners, and now voluntarily He delivered His spirit into the hands of the Father. What an excellent contrast (ibid, p. 132). 3. Here we see Christ s perfect yieldedness to God (the Father). Screen 22 6
Jesus truly lived by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. From the very first words recorded of our Savior to His last the #1 priority of Jesus life was to do the will of the Father. PERSONAL APPLICATION: In all things, Jesus leaves an example for us here. The Savior commifed His spirit into the Father s hands in death because it had been in the Father s hands all through His life! Is this true of you? Can you say as 2 Timothy 1:12 says which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard un\l that Day what has been entrusted to me. Have you fully yielded to God like Romans 12:1 says? I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do you comprehend that without him you can do nothing? John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. Have you learned Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Numbers 23:10 says Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, and let my end be like his! But to die the death of the righteous you must live the life of the righteous in absolute submission to and dependency upon God. 7
4. Here we see the absolute uniqueness of the Savior. Screen 23 The Lord Jesus died as no one ever did or ever will. His life was not taken from him; he laid it down himself. John 10:17-18 says 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. This last statement is the most convincing proof that Jesus willingly laid down His life. (If Jesus would NEVER have done this - - He never would have died. SINLESS FLESH NEVER DIES - THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH ). MaShew 27:50 reads And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Yielded literally means dismissed his spirit or sent away his spirit ( Strong s ). This expression is appropriate for the Royal Gospel (Mafhew focuses on the kingship of Jesus). ABSOLUTE UNIQUENESS Screen 24 Mark 15:37 reads And Jesus ufered a loud cry and breathed his last. and Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, Father, into your Screen 25 hands I commit my spirit! And having said this he breathed his last. 8
Both use the same expression He breathed out his spirit. In Mark, Jesus is the perfect servant - - in Luke, the perfect MAN. This expression shows his passive endurance of death. In John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. another word is used. Delivered up would be a more exact interpreta\on (Pink, p. 135). John s gospel presents Jesus as DIVINE, the one who has full power over even his spirit and delivers it up to the Father! With every human being, judgment comes aper death (see Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and aper that comes judgment, But with Jesus, judgment came first (judgment for our sins, not his sin) then death. Jesus died as an act of his own voli\on had he been a mere man, this would have been suicide but in him it was proof of his perfec\on and uniqueness. 5. Here we see the place of eternal security. Screen 26 On the cross Christ hung as the representa\ve of his people and therefore we view his last act as a representa\ve one. When he commended his spirit into the hands of the Father he also commended our spirits along with his, to the Father s keeping. Jesus never lived NOR died for himself but for believers, so what he did in this last act referred to them as much as to himself (Pink, p. 136). It s as if Christ is here gathering all the souls of believers here together and making a solemn tender of them with his own spirit to God (Pink). The Father s hand is the 9
place of eternal security. There in the Father s hand believers are kept safe forever. John 10:29 says My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 1 Peter 1:5 says who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salva\on ready to be revealed in the last \me. Every spirit who has truly been born again is eternally safe in the Father s hand. 6. Here we see the blessedness of communion with God. Screen 27 At the cross we see how communion with the Father is possible in/during the most horrible circumstances imaginable. The Savior was on the cross surrounded by people who uferly despised him, suffering intense agony and nevertheless, he was in fellowship/communion with the Father. You and I can enjoy fellowship/communion with God regardless of circumstances. hrough prayer- Communion with God is by faith, not be sight. No mafer your situa\on no mafer your hurt no mafer your disappointment God is there! Personally Especially in your moment of death! Then, why dread it fellow believers? If David could say in Psalm 23:4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Why should you and I fear what Jesus has overcome? 10
Death to the unbeliever is a king of terrors but to the Chris\an, it s the door that admits us into the very presence of God! Nothing but God can sa\sfy our spirits in this world and none but He can sa\sfy us as we leave this world. Hear me only believers need not fear death! Unbelievers it should terrify you to (think about a Christless eternity - - ) See Hebrews 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. 7. Here we see the heart s true haven. Screen 28 The Father s hands are where you (I am being presumptuous here) want to be! I love this NOW, then, Jesus bows his head and breathes his last! That bow was not an out- of- control dropping, but a deliberate puxng of his head in a posi\on of rest. The Lord had said in MaShew 8:20 & Luke 9:58 that Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. lay is the same verb as is translated bowed in John 19:30. Now, finally, aper 33 years of no where to rest his head (6 hours on that cruel tree..) his head finds rest on the cross! With his spirit commifed to the Father. - - HE S HOME! (with the Father in Heaven, once again). His spirit is with the Father! It is this truth that makes the next verses of Luke so profound: Read Luke 23:47 24:12 Screen 29 Screen 30 Screen 31 Screen 32 11