The Gospel Of John – Jesus’ Last Hour – Final Words from the Cross – the Simple Promise of Salvation (Part Seven)

We are now at Golgotha, the place of the skulls, the hill upon which Jesus was crucified.  Consistent with His ministry and instructions, Jesus’ final words were words revealing the word of redemption, and of comfort and instruction and faith.  Jesus final words have ranged from separation from His Father, to physical suffering, to the resolve of forgiveness of his enemies care for his family and disciples, and the redemption of one who believed on the cross next to him, and finally the dramatic and finished work of redemption, and return to heaven, in his final minutes of his life.

“Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.”
Reference: Luke 23:46

What it means: Jesus said these words with a strong voice as He willingly died on the cross. “He gave up His spirit to God the Father and in saying this He conferred upon every one of us the possibility of the gift of eternal life,”

Why it matters: It cannot be stressed enough—nobody killed Jesus. He died willingly, offering Himself up as our only rescue from eternal separation from God. Graham continued, “We were lost. Confused without purpose and meaning in life, no assurance of a future life, and Jesus from the cross reached out by death and rescued us and we say to Him today, Lord and Savior.

The nature of the relationship of God the Father and God the Son is both incredibly intimate and incomprehensible, both in the dialog in the garden of Gethsemane, and now the faith and commitment of Jesus to death on the cross and the trust and faith and return to heaven and to God the Father.  Really, all we can ultimately do is bend the knee and respond in faith and gratitude for the work of the cross on our behalf, after our belief in and receiving Jesus as our Savior.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.  John 3:16-21.