The Seven Sayings of Christ from the Corss.mp3

something that we were singing really was a blessing to me. It really has nothing to do with what we're studying here this morning with Christ on the Cross and Easter the goodness of Jesus. There are a few of us in this room that have lived past the age of 50 or so and you really have to live life for a while with the Lord and be able to look back on a Christian walk in life. One of the things that has been going on in my home with me and my wife is we reflect a lot about how God has been so good to us these past few years.

We're creeping up on 30 years of marriage and I could sit here and go through our home life, marriage, ministry, serving in churches and just talk about the goodness of Jesus specifically at different points in our life and I'm just gripped the older I get of how good God has been to me and I try not to say it past tense. He has been good to me past tense. He is good to me now and I have no doubt he'll be good to me tomorrow. So some of you are younger and when you get older and you can say you've walked with the Lord for quite a few years you'll say I know what Pastor Chris is talking about now the goodness of Jesus. He's been so good to us.

Look if you've not come to faith in Christ come to faith in Christ enjoy that goodness not for goodness sake not for just your sake but for his sake for his sake come to Jesus it's so worth it so worth it. Thank you Keith for all of that worship all of that worship always blesses me. Well normally I would ask you to turn to a particular place in your Bible but I'm not going to do that this morning I think you know by now we're going to be in various places in the Gospels so I would encourage you to write those down and go study those verses on your own.

Many of you know those seven sayings from the cross and you can go study them on your own and I have been doing that this week it's been a blessing for me it's been a great reminder for me and that led me to where we are this morning. But this morning we will be looking at the seven sayings of Jesus from the cross as seen in the Gospels and really the title of the message is easy the seven sayings of our Savior on the cross the seven sayings of our Savior on the cross. But a question why on Easter do we look at these seven sayings?

Well first and foremost these seven sayings come together to show us the character of Christ and if we see the character of Christ we see the character of God. AW Pink says the seven sayings of Christ from the cross are a seven-fold revelation of the character of Christ. I like that. We have before us a seven-fold revelation of the character of Christ. Another way to say it is this each of these seven sayings reveal something reveal something about the character of God and a question is it not a good thing to look into the character of God at a time like this Easter? It is.

And second right there with the first these sayings come together to reveal the saving work of Christ which is why he came to earth in the first place. In 1st Timothy 1.15 Paul said Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the foremost. The Chris translation of that goes like this Christ came into the world to save sinners and Paul said I'm just the worst of them all and that is what Easter is all about.

Yes Easter is about the empty tomb but Easter is all about the Son of God coming into the world to save lost sinners and the empty tomb is proof that Christ Jesus was who he said he was and he came to do what he said he came to do. The empty tomb is proof that Jesus is indeed alive. So this is good. It is good to look into these seven sayings of Jesus from the cross at Easter. So let's get started. From the cross first Jesus offered a prayer of forgiveness. From the cross first Jesus offered a prayer of forgiveness. We see this in Luke 23 34.

Jesus said father forgive them for they know not what they do and they cast lots to divide his garments. Now if we look at the timeline of the crucifixion we see that Jesus had just been crucified at the place that was called the skull and there was one criminal on his left and one criminal on his right and this is the first statement from the cross and this is all about a prayer of forgiveness and notice what this prayer is all about. There's quite a lot here. First of all this was a prayer to his father. Notice the text could read my father meaning that Jesus wasn't just making his plea to God but to his father.

God was his father and he was his only son and this word father speaks of their relationship. His father had always been with him as his beloved father and he was doing his father's will and work as the father's beloved or much-loved son. So Jesus was making his plea not just to God but to his father. Second this is a prayer of forgiveness that's obvious and this was a fulfillment of prophecy. Old Testament prophecy Isaiah 53 12 it was prophesied that he would make intercession for those who were guilty of putting him the death on the cross. But a question was the plea for forgiveness for the Jews or for the Romans? Well I would say both.

I think both. The Romans did not know what they were doing. They were simply executing a Jewish troublemaker and pacifying the Jewish religious leaders. Of course Pilate did say that he saw no reason to condemn Jesus but he did so again to pacify the Jews. But the Jews certainly knew what they were doing. They knew he was innocent but they chose to condemn an innocent man on no evidence of guilt. The Jews also knew the Old Testament Scripture which told of the coming Messiah and they knew of the evidence that pointed to the fact that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. But notice what was going on.

Both the Romans and the Jews were guilty of putting Jesus to death wrongly but Jesus prayed that the Father would forgive them. Jesus prayed that the Father to the Father that he would put away or do away with their guilt and their sin and committing these sins against him. So Jesus made a plea to his father asking that his father would take away the guilt of those who were crucifying him. And then third this is a prayer in light of their ignorance. Now take note of an odd thing here. It really almost comes across as a contradiction. Jesus was asking his father to forgive them which certainly implies guilt. Think about it.

He wouldn't ask for his father to forgive them if they were guiltless. Well what does Jesus mean when he says that they do not know what they were doing? He was saying that the things they were doing were done in ignorance but their ignorance did not excuse their sin and wrong. They were ignorant of the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God. They were ignorant of the Old Testament prophecies about him. They were ignorant of the crimes they were committing against him by putting him to death. But this ignorance did not excuse their evil and their great sin. All their actions were in sin.

It is just that they were ignorant of the true reality, the ultimate reality of who Jesus was. And notice Jesus was using this ignorance as the reason why they should be forgiven and pardon for their sin here. So this plea was for their forgiveness even in light of their ignorance but yet their guilt. And fourth, this is a prayer in light of their guilt. I've already touched on this because the ignorance and the guilt are connected. Even though they were ignorant and even though Jesus was making a great plea for their forgiveness they were guilty. They were truly crucifying the Lord of glory. They were truly crucifying God in the flesh.

Later Peter declared that the Jews were guilty of killing Jesus, saying they were guilty of killing the author of life, Acts 3.15. So they certainly were guilty. So from the cross Jesus offered a prayer. This is the first statement on the cross. He prayed to his father asking that he would forgive those who were crucifying him and in great compassion he used their ignorance as a reason why they should be forgiven even while they were guilty. So this first saying from the cross Jesus offered a prayer for forgiveness for the guilty. And I'm so thankful that there is forgiveness for the guilty.

I am so thankful there is forgiveness for the guilty. Although we were not there crucifying Christ it is our sin that put Christ on the cross therefore we are guilty but yet there is forgiveness for the guilty. The second saying from the cross Jesus offered a promise of salvation. The second saying Jesus offered a promise of salvation. Luke 23 42 to 43 Jesus said or he said Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom. Of course this is one of the criminals. Verse 43 and he that's Jesus said to him the criminal truly I say to you today you will be with me in paradise. Now notice Jesus had been crucified with a criminal on either side.

One of the criminals was insulting and abusing Jesus but not the other. The other criminal rebuked the first criminal and then said do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation and we indeed just leave. In other words we are guilty for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds but this man has done nothing wrong and he said that Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom. And in response Jesus offered a promise of salvation to this humble yet guilty criminal and I want us to see what was happening here in this promise. First this was a promise of truthfulness.

You could say the truthfulness of this promise was emphasized and we see this in this word truly. Now the King James uses the word verily. This word truly or verily that was placed at the beginning of this statement emphasizes the truthfulness of the statement. The word truly spoke of trust, trustworthiness and truthfulness.

At times Jesus would even say truly truly because he wanted to emphasize the truthfulness of what he was about to say and in fact what Jesus was saying and using this word this language is this and this is my language what I'm about to tell you is true it is really true what I'm about to tell you is trustworthy and truthful. So Jesus was emphasizing the truthfulness and the trustworthiness of what he was about to say in this promise. Second this was a promise to a criminal. Luke 23 41 says this criminal confessed his guilt we read that earlier. He said that he was getting his reward or punishment for his deeds.

He admitted guilt and not only did he admit to being a criminal he was convicted and punished as a criminal. All the people all the authorities saw him as guilty he was guilty as a criminal deserving death. So this man was a criminal and Jesus made a promise to a criminal. And then third this was a promise of salvation. This word paradise here can seem strange to us but what Jesus was communicating was not. This word paradise speaks of a garden of great happiness and pleasure. This term garden of Eden from Genesis 2 can mean garden of pleasure. Some ancient translations of Genesis 2 8 call the garden of Eden an Eden of paradise.

But notice what Jesus was saying in this word. He was promising this criminal that he would be with him in that place of happiness and pleasure after death. And note this Jesus did not say where this place was but that he would be with him and a place of happiness. Of course we know that he was speaking of heaven. But how do we know this? Jesus said that he would be with him. He would be with him and as a saved or redeemed person to be with Jesus is to be in paradise. To be with Jesus is to be happy. To be with Jesus is to be in heaven which is where he is now. So Jesus promises criminal salvation.

Fourth this was a promise of salvation today. On that day that nameless faceless criminal would die and Jesus promised him that he would be with him in paradise that day. So Jesus promises criminal that his ultimate salvation would take place that day. And notice this promise corrects two lies that have plagued so many. First this obliterates the Roman Catholic teaching of purgatory. Jesus was not speaking of some kind of a holding place for the soul. He said today today you will be with me in paradise or heaven with me. And second this obliterates any kind of a work salvation.

Other than professing Christ verbally this converted criminal did no works. He was not baptized. He did not give any monies to the church. He did not even associate with believers. He did not even go make restitution for his criminal deeds. And the way in which he was saved highlights what Paul says in Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. It is by grace that any person is saved apart from any religious works. So from the cross we can see that Jesus offered a promise not to a religious man, not to a righteous man, not even to a respectable man, but to a convicted criminal hanging on the cross. So the second saying was not a prayer but a promise.

He offered a promise of salvation to a criminal. And just like this first saying this relates to us as well similarly. Not only are we guilty but we are criminals before God because we have broken God's holy law. And this same promise is extended to us. Salvation is promised to us today. If we are lost in our sin we can repent and believe the gospel and be saved today, be saved today. It is a promise that's been given. The third saying from the cross, Jesus offered a promise to a mother. This one may surprise you but Jesus offered a promise to his mother. John 19 25 to 26.

But standing by the cross of Jesus where his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved, that's John, standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman behold your son." Then he said to the disciple, this is the disciple John, "Behold your mother." And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. Now Jesus had been crucified and he was still hanging on the cross.

And John says that Pilate had a large inscription put on the cross that read, "Jesus the Nazarene, the king of the Jews." Also the soldiers had already gambled far and divided up his clothing and gathered there at the cross were a group of his followers. There were three or four women in the disciple John. Mary the mother of Jesus is obvious she was there. Mary Magdalene were familiar with her. She was there with the disciple named John. Although there was another that was not named and Jesus interacted with two people on the cross. There's several things I want us to see here. First we see Mary the mother of Jesus. That's obvious.

Of course we all know who Mary is. She is and was a prominent figure in the gospel story. She is well known to all of us so there's no mistaking in who this was. And basically she was there for three reasons. First she was there out of her love for Jesus, her son. Second she was there out of her love and her commitment to her Messiah and Lord. She was a true follower of Jesus. And then third she was there as a fulfillment of prophecy. Luke 2.35, Simeon prophesied that she would endure great agony and sorrow from the cross. Simeon also prophesied that she would witness the cross and all that her son would endure on the cross.

So here we have Mary, a loving mother and a true follower of Jesus and she fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies concerning her actions. And then second we see John the beloved or John the disciple that was loved. Now if we pay attention we see that John is not named. Actually John does not name himself all throughout his gospel but he refers to himself as the disciple that Jesus loved. Well a question here and a good one for us to ask what is going on in this phrase here in verse 26. Really there are two things. First of all John was being humble. John never named himself in his gospel. I mentioned that.

But then second John was referencing a unique relationship that he enjoyed with Jesus. John was closer to Jesus than the rest of the disciples. Of all of the disciples Jesus was closer to Peter, James, and John but Jesus had a closer relationship to John than any of the others. So we see John the beloved disciple here meaning that Jesus had this unique relationship with John. Third we see the promise made by Jesus. Now what Jesus said here can seem unusual maybe even disrespectful but he addressed his mother as woman not his mother but what was going on here in the way he addressed his mother.

And also Jesus directs Mary's attention to another saying behold your son. Basically Jesus was providing for his mother. It seems that her husband Joseph was dead and that she was a widow with no support. She would have been poor and destitute because of that fact and Jesus being the oldest son would have been responsible to care for his mother even in death and with Jesus dying she would have had no one to support her. She would have been helpless in every way. So as Jesus was suffering and dying on the cross he was gripped with compassion for his mother and he sought to care for her. And then forth we see the challenge given to John.

Just like Jesus addressed his mother in this seeming unusual way, Jesus addressed John in this seeming unusual way. But it is obvious to see what's happening here. Jesus was telling John to look to Mary as his mother and in light of what Jesus told his mother it is fairly easy to see what Jesus was telling John. Jesus was giving John the great responsibility to care for and to provide for Mary as if she was his own mother. Again this seems to tell us that Mary did not have a husband to care for her and to provide for her. So Jesus issued a call for John to take on the responsibility to care for Mary as his own.

So we see that Jesus offered a promise to Mary, his earthly mother. As he was dying he promised to provide for her one for one to care for her like a son. As he was dying he issued a challenge to the disciple that he loved. Basically as Jesus was dying on the cross for the sins of the world he still promised to care for his mother. So the third saying on the cross Jesus offered a promise of provision for his mother. Now there's a lesson here not that we're John or Mary. Our Lord can provide for us in life.

When we come to saving faith in Christ he can provide for us and he will provide for us all of the needs of our lives and as a matter of fact sometimes he will even give us some of our wants. The fourth saying from the cross Jesus offered a prayer from his anguish. The fourth saying Jesus offered a prayer from his anguish. Matthew 27 45 to 46. Now in the sixth hour there was darkness over all of the land until the ninth hour and about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice saying and this is in Aramaic, "ilah, ilah, lemme sabachanani," and I probably said that wrong.

That is, "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Now up to this point all the suffering and shame that Jesus endured at the hands of sinful men were minor when it's compared to what we have before him now. It was about the sixth hour or noon and from noon to about 3 p.m. there was darkness over all of the land and then at 3 p.m. Jesus cried out in a loud voice what can seem strange not just the language. I'm not referring to the language here but it can seem odd or strange that God the Son cried out that God the Father had forsaken him. Now I want us to look into what was happening what is happening here in two ways.

First we do see physical darkness verse 45 tells us there was a physical darkness all over the land on the ninth hour or 3 p.m. and we need to see that this was a real physical darkness. Look what was actually happening here. This darkness cannot be explained by something normal like an eclipse. I think we know what an eclipse is. An eclipse happens from time to time although an eclipse is strange and really otherworldly. An eclipse is a normal natural thing and it can easily be explained and understood but that's not what is happening here.

This physical darkness could not have been an eclipse because the Passover was celebrated at the time of the full moon and when the full moon was the opposite of the Sun. Well if that is the case what was happening? This darkness can only be explained as an intentional work of God. This darkness that enveloped the land happened because the hand of God. God imposed in his great power over nature to bring about this darkness over the land for his purposes. It is interesting to note that even secular sources from that day say this actually happened.

A well-known Roman astronomer of that day spoke about a great darkness that covered the Sun and turned the day and the night at this very time. He described the darkness as being so dark that the nighttime stars appeared as they do at night. Now what's the point? This great physical darkness came about at the time of the cross and pointed to the great spiritual darkness that was about to come on Jesus on the cross. So we see a physical darkness but why do we need to see this physical darkness? This is important.

Jewish rabbis, Jewish teachers, Jewish understanding taught that the darkening of the Sun represented a judgment of God on the world and that's exactly what we have here. So we must see that a judgment was about to come which this physical darkness pointed to. And second we do see a spiritual darkness. Now when we look at what was happening here we must keep in mind that Jesus was forsaken by God. There were several things that did happen in this being forsaken by God. Jesus did not cease to be God here and at the same time he did not cease to be man or human here. Jesus possessed the divine nature and the human nature as one person.

Jesus was fully God and fully man. Theologians call this the hypostatic union and during these events on the cross Jesus did not at any time cease to be God or cease to be man. Also he was not somehow separated from the love of God. He was not outside of the love of the favor of God at any time although God, although how God related to Jesus right here did change. And Jesus did not lose his personal joy, comfort, and satisfaction in his own soul or being. But we must see and understand what was happening here.

At this time Jesus was forsaken in that he was without the gracious presence of God and was at that time filled with the very divine wrath of God. When Jesus was forsaken by God, God's gracious presence was taken from him and he was filled with the righteous wrath of God and he bore the sins in the iniquities of sinful men. So as to make full satisfaction for the sin in the iniquities of men, God's righteous wrath had to be poured out on Jesus while he was on the cross bearing the sin in the iniquities of men and men. The Bible commentator William McDonald summarizes what was happening here a little better than me.

He says it like this, "Because God is holy he cannot overlook sin. On the contrary he must punish it. The Lord Jesus had no sin of his own but he took the guilt of our sins upon himself. When God as judge looked down and saw our sins upon the sinless substitute, he thus God withdrew from the Son of his love." And look, God did all of this out of his love for the Son as his sinless substitute. So from the cross we see that Jesus offered a prayer of great anguish to his father as a great physical darkness enveloped the land and a great spiritual darkness enveloped Jesus. His father withdrew his gracious presence while he was on the cross.

He poured out his righteous wrath upon Jesus. Jesus literally in every way experienced what McDonald calls this three hours of compressed hell. So the fourth saying, the prayer on the cross and a great prayer, a prayer of anguish. And listen folks, if we die in our sins we will experience an eternity of uncompressed hell in punishment for our sins. But if we come to saving faith in Christ our sins were put on Christ on this day and he experienced them. Which will it be? Which will it be? Let me restate that.

If we die without Christ we will experience an eternity for forever of uncompressed hell as we experience the righteous wrath of God for our sin and our sinfulness or as the Redeem, that's Christ, he experiences our hell for us. And we see this in this great cry and prayer of anguish. Fifth, the fifth saying from the cross, Jesus offered a plea from his suffering. Jesus offered a plea from from his suffering. John 19 27 to 28.

Then he said to the disciple, "Behold your mother and from that hour the disciple John took her Mary as his own." After this Jesus knowing that all was now finished said to fulfill the scripture, "I thirst." Now here at the end of verse 28 we find Jesus at the end of this three hours of darkness. We have seen that it was during this darkness that Jesus the Son was forsaken by God the Father. Of course this happened as he was suffering our eternal damnation in three hours of compressed hell and it was at the end of this three hours of compressed hell that Jesus cried out in his suffering.

And in the short short statement there are several things I want us to see. First this was a plea from real physical suffering. Jesus' death was a natural death. He had a physical body that was destroyed. His actual, he actually spilled his life's blood and according to Acts 20 verse 28 Jesus spilled his own life's blood so as to purchase the church of God. But as he died Jesus suffered a real physical suffering. Scholars tell us that one of the most awful things about a crucifixion was the thirst that the one on the cross suffered.

Because of the terrible nature of their wounds and the trauma inflicted upon the body the one being crucified was overcome with a horrible unquenchable thirst. There are even firsthand historical accounts from those who witnessed crucifixion and they attest to this horrible thirst which those who were crucified had to endure and do it to the end. So this statement I thirst tells us that Jesus suffered a real physical thirst. Second this was a plea to prolong his suffering. This may surprise him. Now of course we have seen that Jesus cried out in thirst because physically he was thirsty.

He wanted relief from his thirst but the Roman soldiers did not give him a drink to help him. The purpose in giving Jesus this sour wine was to prolong his life. When men cried out in thirst from crucifixion the soldiers would give them a drink because that would prolong life and prolong their suffering. So the action of the Roman soldiers was not to help but to hurt. And listen scholars and historians tell us that everything everything the Romans did in crucifixion was to intensify and prolong the pain and suffering in the one being crucified. But notice one fact that we must see.

The sour wine was not the same thing that Jesus refused earlier in Matthew 27 34. What Jesus was offered before was a wine that contained gall and that was intended to help deaden the pain. Jesus refused that wine because he wanted to take the cup of God of God's wrath against sin without numbing its pain. So in many ways this was a plea to prolong suffering. Third this was a plea to fulfill Scripture. Your English Standard Version the King James note that this was a fulfillment to fill this was a fulfillment of the Scriptures.

Specifically this was a fulfillment of Psalm 69 verse 21 where David wrote they gave me poison for food and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. So Jesus cried out I thirst and he was fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies. So from the cross we see that Jesus cried out I thirst and in that plea and the reactions of the soldiers so much was happening. This was a cry from a real physical pain and a fulfillment of what God said would happen. So the fifth plea from the cross was a cry of suffering.

And look believer look brother and sister all this suffering was for us all this suffering was for us so that we would not have to suffer in eternity. The sixth saying from the cross Jesus offered a proclamation of victory. This is my favorite. Jesus offered a proclamation of victory. When Jesus had received the sour wine he said it is finished and he bowed his head and he gave up his spirit. Now we've already seen what was happening here from John's account. Jesus was on the cross with this large inscription above his head that read Jesus the Nazarene the King of the Jews.

Of course the Jewish religious leaders complained to Pilate about the inscription. They wanted that inscription to say that Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews. And at the time of this proclamation the soldiers had already gambled for his clothing and a group of followers were there. Jesus' mother was there, his mother and sister Mary the wife of Clopas, Mary Magdalene was there, John was there. Jesus had already made provision for his mother through John. He had just cried out for relief from his terrible thirst and right after he received the sour wine and now he's making this definitive statement it is finished.

And there is a key word we need to see here this word it. It. But what was finished? In the original language this phrase is actually one word but it means actually what our English translation say it is finished. But what was finished? In this statement Jesus was saying that all the things which the law of God demanded had to be done those things were finished. He was saying that all the things which were prophesied concerning the promised Messiah had been brought to pass those things were finished. Even the types and the shadows which alluded to the promised Messiah had come to be in Jesus those things were finished.

All the things which God the Father expected the promised Messiah to say and to do and accomplish those things have been fulfilled perfectly in Jesus those things were finished. But more specifically all things pertaining to the redemption of men and mankind had been completed so the work was finished and nothing was left undone or left to do. AW Pink says and I'm quoting the costly ransom was given the great conflict had been endured sins wages have been paid divine justice have been satisfied. Barring some things from Pink I would say the costly ransom was given and it was finished.

Sins wages have been paid it was finished divine justice had been satisfied it was finished and we need to see all that Jesus was speaking of here every Old Testament prophecy and prediction concerning the promised Messiah had been fulfilled in Jesus. Satan was defeated meaning he was made powerless more specifically the righteous requirements of God's righteous law were satisfied in Christ's life and death God's righteous wrath against sin have been appeased fully and totally unsatisfied in Christ's life and death man sin had been properly atone for in Christ Jesus death on the cross Christ completed the work of redemption in every way meaning that nothing needed to be done to secure man's salvation this work was completed perfectly in every way to provide a perfect salvation which was all a work of God's good and perfect grace simply it was finished it is finished God's redemptive work for his people had been made through his son and note this it was not a desperate cry from a dying man these were not the last words from a languishing man in his suffering no these were words of victory Jesus words were declarative he declared loudly for the whole world and all eternity to hear that he had provided salvation for men and men Jesus is still making that declaration today Jesus words were definitive he provided a definitive victory over sin in the grave and hell men and mankind no longer have to be slaves to sin death in the grave Jesus has provided a definitive victory over all of those things but also Jesus words were and are damning for all those who heard those words and refused to believe those were damning words those who heard these words were damned because they rejected the Messiah who declared them and they were damned for rejecting what Jesus said but praise God Jesus words were delivering all those who heard these words and believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah they were delivered from sin death in the grave they were truly delivered so in these words or one word in the original Jesus declared victory he was declaring a definitive victory a decisive victory he won the victory for man's redemption he accomplished the work of redemption and he paid the price of redemption it was finished it is finished so the sixth saying Jesus gave a proclamation that is echoed down through the halls of all of eternity and still does a proclamation of victory and notice on this wonderful Easter morning the term it is finished is either damning for you or delivering for you either you were delivered or damned and every time you hear that term it is finished it is finished it is either adding to your damnation or as blessing you more and more because you've been delivered are you the delivered or are you living in your damnation the seventh saying from the cross Jesus offered a prayer of consummation Jesus offered a prayer of consummation 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 now in John's gospel John says that Jesus bowed his head and gave up the spirit and make sure you understand something here even in bowing his head in death Jesus did not bow his head and defeat but as a victor demonstrated victory demonstrating victory over death hell on the grave but just before Jesus bowed his head in death Luke tells us what he said which is this seventh this last statement from the cross and in this statement we see several things that we need to understand if we're going to get the significance of what happened here from a practical standpoint Jesus death was very very unusual victims of crucifixion usually did not die quickly like Jesus history tells us that most who were crucified took days to die and one of the things that was done to speed up their death was to break their legs when someone was on the cross they would literally push up with their feet in their legs so as to breathe but when their legs were broken they could not push up to breathe so it sped up their death when their legs were broken the one on the cross would literally smother to death because they just could not breathe well this did not happen to Jesus he died very quickly if we look at John's account in chapter 19 starting in verse 31 we see that upon the request of the Jews Pilate sent soldiers to break Jesus legs so as to speed up his death but when they came to break Jesus legs they saw that he was dead already simply he died unusually fast well how why did Jesus die so fast and what does this even matter John 10 17 to 18 tells us that three different times Jesus said he would lay down his life lay down his life of course he was speaking of the event that we see here in Luke 23 46 in John 10 Jesus said no man takes his life but that he lays down his life Jesus said that he willingly voluntarily lay down his life and he said that he had the power to do so he said that he laid down his life of his own initiative of his own accord and get this this power this authority this initiative this speaks of his power as deity he was God and he Jesus had the power the authority to do these things and this power this authority this divine initiative was an absolute supreme and total power to voluntarily lay down his wife no being had or has this absolute supreme and total power but God so Jesus said that he had the power as God to lay down his life voluntarily now I want to go back to this last statement in Luke 23 46 we see at this time Jesus voluntarily died he had in his power and authority as God he made the decision to die no man took his life on that day that he was crucified he laid it down and as he died he said father into your hands I commit my spirit and in this language we see several things which speak of the consummation the completion of these events here Jesus addressed God as father and this is different than the last time he prayed to his father when he prayed before he cried out my God my God why have you forsaken me and that was because it was then when God's gracious presence was taken from him and God's righteous wrath was poured out upon him God had truly forsaken him and Jesus felt that relationship broken but now we see that relationship was restored because of his perfect sacrifice on the cross God accepted Jesus and his death on the cross their relationship was restored and Jesus again called God father but also we see that Jesus committed his spirit into his father's hands Jesus actually quotes Psalm 31 5 saying into your hand I commit my spirit and we need to see what was actually taking place he was committing himself back to God he was offering himself back to God having been perfectly obedient in life and death and because he had been obedient in life and death he was able to return to the father where he had been before before the incarnation the work of redemption was truly finished and he could go back to his father so in this prayer we see that perfect fellowship was restored and because Jesus perfect obedience and perfect sacrifice on the cross he was acceptable to God he was able to return back to his father so the seven and the last saying on the cross Jesus offered a prayer of consummation or completion church salvation is complete it's done there's nothing that needs to be done is there before us all there are two kinds of people those who sit at his table and those who do not if you are not at his table in saving grace salvation has been complete it is done there is nothing left to do the only thing left to do is for you to humbly repent and come to Christ for salvation it is done it is finished for those of us who are delivered when we hear that kind of language we just rejoice and praise our Lord now as I begin to close I want us to see four quick realities about the crucifixion and this will really wrap things up these will be very short first the cross and the death of Christ was predetermined the cross was always the plan of God before time in human history remember now God is eternal he created time in human history but he is not bound to it although he works within it he is outside of time in human history he is eternal everything and every detail was predetermined by God Jesus was the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundation of the world another way of saying it is like this the crucifixion of Jesus was no plan B God never decided it was always in his heart second Christ died a natural death Jesus death was a real and physical death in every way Jesus purchased the Church of God with his very own blood by spilling his life's blood Christ was found in human form and became obedient to death even death on a cross so Jesus death was a natural physical death in every way third Christ Jesus died an unnatural death Jesus death was an abnormal death and there has never been another like it nor will there ever be the wages of sin is death but Jesus had no sin so he was the righteous one who died for the unrighteous simply death had no claim upon him making his death an unnatural death fourth the death of Christ was supernatural in all things and in every way both in life and death Christ was supernatural he was conceived of the Holy Spirit born of a virgin he was tempted as we are yet without sin no man took his life Jesus willingly purposefully laid down his own life and he had the authority to take it up again so in every way the death of Jesus was a supernatural death now look at why understanding even these four realities about the death of Christ is important this shows us how unique how miraculous and supernatural the death of Jesus truly was and to quote the Apostle Paul again 1st Timothy 1 15 Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm the foremost let's alter that this Easter by saying it like this Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners like you and me we are the worst I'm the worst praise God for a Savior like we have let's pray then we'll have a closing song on this glorious Easter day