Luke 23:46. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
These are literally the last words of Jesus before taking his final breath on the cross. They are a quote from the Old Testament, Psalm 31. Here is the first eight verses of that psalm. Can you hear the words of Jesus in this passage?
Psalm 31:1-8. 1In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me! 2Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me! 3For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me; 4you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge. 5Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. 6I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. 7I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, 8and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.
The words of Jesus are in verse 5. But Jesus stopped short of quoting the whole verse didn’t he? Jesus didn’t say “you have redeemed me.” Why not? Because Jesus wasn’t redeemed on that Good Friday. He wasn’t rescued. He wasn’t saved.
And that is why on the cross Jesus displayed the greatest faith ever. Jesus committed his spirit to God, even when he knew that he would not be saved from the cross. Jesus trusted God with his spirit no matter what happened. That’s faith.
His spirit? What is our spirit? Every person has a spirit including Jesus. Including you. Your spirit is the inside part of you that makes you alive. God gives everyone their spirit and it is God that takes it away when we die. That’s what death is – separating the body from the spirit. Jesus’ dead body will go into the tomb, but his spirit will go to be with God!
And when you trust in Jesus, your spirit will go to be with God too. No matter what happens to you, you can commit your spirit to God just like Jesus did. That’s faith! Even when it feels like God has forsaken us (he hasn’t), we can still trust that God will always hold on to our spirit.
Three days later, Jesus’ spirit was returned to his body and Jesus came back to life. That’s the resurrection. Christ arose from the grave and will live forever with God because God took care of Jesus spirit. And God will take care of your spirit too so that one day you can be raised to life and live forever with God too, just like Jesus.
To live with Jesus and to have faith in him is to commit your spirit to the hands of God just like Jesus did. Because of Jesus we know what the psalmist knew three thousand years ago – we are redeemed, rescued, delivered, because of God’s steadfast love for us.
You: Do you know for sure that your spirit will go to be with God? How can you know for sure?
You with Jesus: Jesus was received by the Father so that we can be too. We don’t have to fear anything that might happen to us, even dying. What are you afraid of? How can knowing that God is holding onto your life help you to face this fear?
Prayer: Father, I commit my spirit to you. Hold on to me forever. Amen.
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