Good Friday Perspective: Last Words

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Last Words

Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."  Having said this, he breathed his last.

Luke 23:46 (NRSV)

And it feels, and it feels like
Heaven's so far away

From "Gone Away" by The Offspring

What are the last words Jesus speaks before He dies on the Cross?

The answer to this question depends on which Gospel you happen to be reading.

According to the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, Jesus says, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"¹  I think that Jesus speaks these words of dereliction, which are beginning of the twenty-second Psalm,² in order to express what He feels on the Cross.  Though the Son of God has not truly been forsaken by the Father, the Son feels like the Father has forsaken Him.

The other two Gospels tell a different story.  According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."³  Again, Jesus is quoting a line from a Psalm, specifically the thirty-first,⁴ which is part of a Jewish bedtime prayer.⁵  Jesus' last words according to Luke's Gospel tell us that the Son, despite His horrific circumstances, is still confident that He and the Father are one and confident that He can entrust His life to the Father.

The fourth Gospel is always the most mysterious.  According to the Gospel of John, before Jesus breathes His last breath, He simply says, "It is finished."⁶  Some people connect these words to the Hebrew sacrificial system, but I prefer to allow them to remain mysterious.

So which of these words were actually the last words Jesus said before He died on the Cross?

I cannot answer this question, but I think that all of these words are words we need to hear.

Jesus' last words in Matthew and Mark's Gospels remind us that, when our circumstances are so bad that we wonder if God might have actually abandoned us, the Son of God understands how we feel.  Jesus' last words in Luke's Gospel remind us that, even in our most godforsaken circumstances, we can be confident that God is with us, and they invite us to entrust ourselves to God.  Jesus' last words in John's Gospel remind us that whatever needed to be accomplished for our redemption was accomplished on the Cross, even though we likely don't understand how it was accomplished.

On this day we call Good Friday, we remember what Christ endured for the sake of all humanity.  Whatever you facing at the moment, may you remember that you are not alone; may you remember that God loves you; and may you remember that the crosses we bear in this life, whatever form they take, are not the end of the story.

Notes:

1. Mark 15:34 (NRSV); Matthew 27:46 (NRSV)
2. Psalm 22:1a
3. Luke 23:46 (NRSV)
4. Psalm 31:5a
5. Wikipedia: "Psalm 31"
6. John 19:30 (NRSV)

The photograph of the crosses was taken by Lubos Houska and has been been released into the public domain.  The photographer is in no way affiliated with this blog.