Into Your Hands

"And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, 'Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.' Having said this, He breathed His last."

-- Luke 23:46 (NASB)

Upon the cross on this holiest of Fridays, our Savior Jesus cried out His seventh and final word: "Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit." Most people think that "It is finished." was His final word, but in actuality it was His sixth. But with this final word, He gives up His Spirit to the Father. It is a phrase that sounds similar to what we say in Martin Luther's Morning and Evening Prayers: "Lord, into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things." With these words, we entrust our body and soul and all things to the Lord. We put them under His protection. But with Jesus' words, He gives up His Spirit. He knew it was finished and He chose to die... for us. And having said this, He hung His sacred head and breathed His final breath. The Passion narrative, while full of sorrow, simultaneously brings me great joy. It is because of what He did for me that I will one day inherit life eternal. And the best part about that is, I will be with the One who made life eternal possible, and gave it freely to me.

-- Jonathan