It is finished. In six hours mirroring the six days of creation in Genesis, Jesus accomplishes the work of new creation. It may not look that way to those gathered at Golgotha, or Skull Hill, as it was called, but that’s often the way it is with spiritual realities. The Seed needs only to be buried in the ground for the one whom scripture calls the firstfruits to spring forth with the life that death cannot hold.
Jesus laid his life down willingly. “No one takes it from me,” he told his disciples. And so, having accomplished the work the Father sent him to do, Jesus now cries out with a loud voice, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.” With these final words, Jesus dismisses his spirit. The Greek word Matthew uses describes a person in authority dismissing someone under that authority.
There is much to ponder in this seventh word of Christ, but what stands out is his absolute submission to and faith in the Father. These are the qualities that allow servants of God to live and die victoriously.
Six hours on a cross is enough to break anyone’s spirit. At the very least, the dehydration and effort required to breathe make speaking virtually impossible. Jesus not only speaks, he cries out in a loud voice.
Like their Lord, many Christian martyrs throughout history have demonstrated this same victorious quality when facing death. On the other hand, some of the most notable, powerful, arrogant, and self-serving historical persons have left this world for the next with a mere whimper, if that.
Perfect faith is what we hear in these final words of our King. Like the apostle Paul, we haven’t attained it. Nevertheless, we press on for the mark of the high calling of Christ in our lives. It is through our persistence and endurance that dying faith emerges. Dying faith is the key to picking up our crosses in a world hell-bent against the kingdom and ways of Jesus. And it is dying faith and only dying faith that leads to the limitless life that Jesus promises.
In Christ,
Dan