Dying Words of Eternal Life

(Message delivered by Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo at the True Life Church Good Friday Service, 8 pm, Apr 6, 07)
Text: John 6:66-71 cf Matt 27:35-50, Mark 15:24-37, Luke 23:33-46, John 19:18-30

 

 

The Lord Jesus Christ uttered His final words on the cross, and they were wonderful words of salvation. It is significant to note that on the cross Jesus opened His mouth to speak seven times. Seven is the number of God and the number of perfection. These Cross-words of Christ were the words of God, and perfect words of everlasting life. Let us look at them one by one:

1st Word: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Jesus was crucified at the third hour (ie 9 am). His very first words on the cross were words of love and not hatred. Jesus prayed the Father to forgive those who have put Him on the cross. For the Jews who shouted, “Crucify him, crucify him,” and the Romans who tortured Him, He offered this prayer, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). By so praying, Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 53:12, “he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Amazing love!

Did the Father answer His Son’s prayer? Yes, the Father granted the request of His beloved Son. The Father could have struck dead all those directly responsible for crucifying His Son, but He did not. He allowed them to live on. However, their children were not spared. God held them accountable when they said, “His blood be on us, and on our children.” God did not punish them until 40 years later. In AD 70, Jerusalem was reduced to rubble. The Jews were dispossessed of their land and scattered to all parts of the world. By the grace of God, the gospel of salvation was preached and offered freely to the Jews. Three thousand got saved at Pentecost (Acts 2:41). Five thousand more were converted a little later in Acts 4:4. In Acts 6:7 we are told, “And the word of God increased, and the number of disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.” Calvin rightly said, “There is no doubt that the prayer was heard by the heavenly Father, whence it resulted that  many of the people who had spilled His blood came afterwards to drink it.” Amazing grace!

Satan had tempted Jesus in the wilderness, “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down” (Matt 4:6). Now on the cross, Satan tempted Him again through the people, “Ah, thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.” If Jesus had come down from the cross, Satan would have won, and we would still be in our sins. Jesus endured the cross and the pain, and overcame all the temptations of the devil even at a time when He was physically most weak and vulnerable. Indeed, He “was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin” (Heb 4:15).

2ndWord: “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”

The Jewish cleric, and the soldiers, and the thieves beside Him, kept up with the jeering, “He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, the Christ, the chosen of God, let him now come down from the cross that we may see, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” They wanted a sign from Jesus. “Do something spectacular by coming down from the cross, and we will believe.” Jesus did not dignify them with an answer, nor humour them with a miracle. He had already said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt 12:39-40). Indeed in three days’ time, they shall see an earthshaking sign and miracle—the Resurrection!

By the grace of God, the Spirit worked in the heart of one of the criminals crucified beside Jesus. He had joined the others to revile Jesus, but was subsequently convicted of his sin and even scolded the other thief when he mocked at Jesus again. This repentant thief confessed his sin and guilt, and was convinced that Jesus was indeed who He was—the righteous Son of God. This criminal with a contrite heart begged Jesus for salvation: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” The word “remember” is a covenant word. God has promised eternal life to all who repent and believe on His Son. He remembers His children and forgets not His promises. Jesus spoke a 2nd time on the cross. He promised the repentant thief, “To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). What a promise! On that very day, he would be in heaven with Jesus. This tells us that it is never too late to believe in Jesus. If a person, in his dying breath, confesses Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, He shall be saved. This also teaches us that salvation is not by works at all, but purely by grace through faith. The thief had no good works to offer. He had done wicked things in his life. Nailed to the cross, he could do nothing to save himself. Even on the cross, he spoke evil against Jesus before realising his great error and sin. He indeed deserved to be crucified, and cast into hell for all his physical and spiritual crimes. But just a simple word of faith in Christ from a sincerely penitent heart can deliver a man from the depths of hellish pain and punishment to the heights of heavenly hope and happiness. As Paul says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Rom 10:9-11). The work of salvation is altogether Christ’s work, and not man’s (Eph 2:8-9).

3rdWord: “Woman,…behold thy son!… Behold thy mother!”

Mary, the mother of Jesus, was at the foot of the cross. In His 3rd statement from the cross, Jesus committed Mary to the care of John His beloved disciple: “he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother!” (John 19:26-27). By so doing, He kept the 5th commandment of filial piety, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee” (Exod 20:12); another instance of His active obedience.

From 12 noon to 3 pm, there was a supernatural darkness that covered the land. The noonday sun shone no light. Why did God send this darkness? Darkness is a symbol of judgement (see Isa 5:30, 60:2, Joel 2:30-31, Amos 5:18-20, Zeph 1:14-18, Acts 2:20, 2 Pet 2:17, Rev 6:12-17). Hendriksen commented, “The darkness meant judgment, the judgment of God upon our sins, his wrath as it were burning itself out in the very heart of Jesus, so that he, as our Substitute, suffered most intense agony, indescribable woe, terrible isolation or forsakenness. Hell came to Calvary that day, and the Saviour descended into it and bore its horrors in our stead.” At this time, Jesus—the sinless Lamb of God—was “made sin” for us (2 Cor 5:21), made “a curse” (Gal 3:13), laden with “the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6).

4thWord: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

At the ninth hour (ie, 3pm), Jesus spoke His 4th word, a most agonising cry, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” “My God,  my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34). These words are taken from Psalm 22:1. When Jesus said those words, it not only indicated the fulfilment of that Messianic psalm, but also displayed the intense torment of the soul that He went through. Calvin rightly observed, “Those who reckon that Christ took on the office of Mediator on condition of bearing our guilt in soul as in body will not wonder at the struggle He had with the pangs of death; as though under the wrath of God, He were cast into the labyrinth of evil.” Christ was left totally on His own to bear the weight of the sin of the whole world. His Father could not help Him. He had to do it all alone, by Himself. Ben Price’s hymn, “Alone,”  captures this thought well: “Alone upon the cross He hung that others He might save. Forsaken then by God and man, alone, His life He gave. Alone, alone, He bore it all alone. He gave Himself to save His own. He suffered, bled and died alone, alone.”

5thWord: “I thirst.”

Jesus’ 5th word from the cross was, “I thirst” (John 19:28). This fulfils Psalm 22:15, “My strength is dried up like a  potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.” His mouth and throat must have been so parched dry, that He could not speak properly, so that when He cried “Eli, Eli” (Hebrew for “Eloi, Eloi”), it  sounded like “Elias,” and the people thought He was calling for Elijah. A sponge drenched with vinegar was put to His mouth for Him to drink. This fulfils Psalm 69:21, “in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” By thirsting, Jesus proved His humanity—He was not only fully God, He was also fully man. He was our Representative, our Substitute to save us from our sins.

6thWord: “It is finished.”

After Jesus took the vinegar, He gave His 6th word, “It is finished” (John 19:30). What was finished? It was His  redemptive work on earth. In other words, “It is finished” means “Mission accomplished!” Jesus had successfully accomplished His mission to save us from our sins. Hendriksen rightly commented, “the entire work of redemption (both active and passive obedience, fulfilling the law and bearing its curse) had been brought to completion.”

7thWord: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

The 7th and final word of Jesus was, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Jesus breathed His last after He said those words. These very last words show the loving relationship that exists between God the Father and God the Son. The Son has accomplished to the jot and tittle what the Father had commissioned Him to do (John 17:4). The Son was indeed “faithful unto death” (Rev 2:10). When Jesus returned to heaven, His Father’s commendation must have  been, “Well done, my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (cf Matt 3:17, 17:5).

Conclusion

Jesus’ dying words of eternal life though uttered 2000 years ago are for you and for me today. Believe in the Holy Bible, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. If you will say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:68-69), you will live forever and never die.