The End Brings the Beginning

“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost.”  Luke 23:46

When Jesus spoke to His Father at the point of death, these were the last words that He spoke before His resurrection, and His statement was a fulfillment of Psalm 31:5, “Into Thine hand I commit My Spirit…”  He had received the vinegar and cried out that His mission of sacrifice for the sins of men and women was finished.  There was no more work for Him to do to bring the plan of salvation to all who would repent and believe in Him.  I think that He was saddened to leave His mother, siblings, disciples, and friends behind, but I also think that He was really looking forward to being reunited with His Father in heaven.  Of course, that was not going to be an immediate return to His Father because after His resurrection He would still have forty days (Acts 1:3) in which to instruct His disciples in how they were to carry on without His presence.  (There was a moment after His resurrection when Peter came to Jesus concerned about the work that his fellow disciple, John, would be doing, and Jesus basically told Peter to mind his own business, saying, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?  follow thou Me.”–John 21:21-22.  That is certainly good advice for us all.  We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and do what He says rather than sticking our nose into what others are doing!  There is plenty to keep us busy as well.)

The writer of this gospel, Luke, the physician, used the term “commend” translated from the Greek “paratihemi” which means to “commit the keeping of” or “to deposit as a trust”.  Jesus had trusted His Father to guide Him throughout His sojourn on earth all the way to the cross and back into the arms of His Father.  Jesus never waivered, never doubted, and never disobeyed His Father.  He completely and voluntarily submitted to death because it was the will of His Father.  There was a time, in the garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus prayed, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).  Jesus knew that if men and women were going to be able to be reconciled with their Creator God, then His mission to die for their sins would have to take place.  There was no other way.  As stated in yesterday’s blog, there are people today who say that there are many paths to God.  However, if there had been any other way for folks to be forgiven and brought into God’s family, would not God have spared His only Son?  The fact that Christ suffered, died, and was resurrected is proof that this is the only way whereby people can be saved and have eternal life in heaven with the Lord.  No turning over a new leaf, no thinking that one’s “good” deeds will outweigh one’s bad deeds, nor following any other man-made god, idol, or cult will make an individual acceptable unto the LORD God.  Matter of fact, to suggest that there is any other way than Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life to come to the Father (John 14:6) is an insult to Almighty God and a denial of Christ and His sacrificial death and resurrection.

Jesus now sits at the right hand of God awaiting the signal from His Father to return to earth to gather all those who have placed their faith in Him.  In the parable of the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13), Jesus is portrayed as the Bridegroom who was ready to take part in the wedding with His bride.  In this parable, there were ten virgins who were going out to meet the Bridegroom, but only five of them were prepared and were allowed into the marriage.  The church, everyone who has trusted in Christ for salvation, is the bride of Christ.  If I was an artist and could paint a picture, I would like to paint a scene in heaven with two thrones.  On one throne is a brilliant light that a mere human cannot look upon.  The other throne, on the right of the Father’s throne, Jesus is sitting on the edge of His seat.  I can picture Him with His nail scarred hands pushing down on the front edges of the arms of His throne as Someone who is about to rise from His seat.  His eyes are looking out over the earth with a longing to return once again.  There is a caption across the bottom of the picture that has Jesus asking His Father, “Father, can I go now and get My bride?”  His Father then replies, “Not yet, Son, but soon.”

Whether Jesus returns tomorrow or a thousand years from now, He will return, just as the two men in white apparel told Jesus’ disciples as they watched Him ascend back to heaven, “…this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11b).  As the old gospel song says, “What a day, glorious day, that will be.”

Tomorrow: “A Personal Witness of the Resurrected Christ”