Luke 23:46 Into your hands I commit my spirit

I’ve had such a busy lead up to Easter and its actually been really lovely to spend some time pondering these final words of Jesus on the cross..his final words ever ,before he died and then was resurrected.

To be honest I’d never really thought to ponder them much…

Jesus’ last seven words are an exact match of some words that King David speaks in Psalm 31:5.

David was the King of Israel one thousand years before Jesus was born and he reigned for 40 years.

As we read Psalm 31, it’s clear that David speak these words during a time when he’s greatly struggling and full of fears.

He says in verse 9 : “Be merciful to me, Lord for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my soul and body with grief. My life is consumed with anguish and my years by groaning. My strength fails bc of my affliction and my bones grow weak.”

David talks about his enemies surrounding him and then he says,

“I have become like broken pottery”. It’s such a stark, sad image. Being like Broken pottery..feeling like broken pottery.

Jesus echoes Davids exact words and it seems to me that Jesus echoes so much of the anguish and distress that David’s psalm describes.

I cant even imagine the utter agony of dying on a wooden cross, being completelty naked and exposed and humiliated. And more than that, Jesus faced the supreme horror of taking on the sin and mess and brokenness of every single person who has ever lived. He was separated from God his Father for the first time in their shared eternal life together. The devastation must have been overwhelming for him.

And yet, in that deep, dark horror, Jesus calls out in a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”. This is a triumphant battle call in the midst of a grim battle field. It is the victory horn that blows when all around looks lost and hopeless. Jesus tenaciously holds onto his Father…trusting in their partnership at the very brink of its separation.

This determined trust, when all around seems lost, I find that deeply compelling.

Lately, I’ve found myself worrying more about my kids. Not about their school grades or whether they have enough friends…but I’ve felt unsettled and fearful about their future.

In the midst of ongoing world conflict, increasing, extreme weather events and rising living costs I wonder whether they will end up like characters in one of those end of the world disaster movies; homeless, left wandering and trying to survive in a hostile, broken world. It might sound dramatic, but that’s where my thoughts go sometimes.

I can see that I need to let these final words of Jesus speak into my fears and worries about the future.

Bc here we see Jesus, committing his future into the hands of his father.

He had every reason to turn away, to give up, to question whether this extreme suffering was really necessary….instead he called out loudly….I love that he called out loudly, perhaps even defiantly…..into your hands I commit my spirit.

I am praying this Easter, that our loving heavenly Father, will help us to tenatiously trust in him, like Jesus did.

I’m praying I wont turn away, and give up and get fearful…I’m praying I will keep remembering that Jesus has gone before me, into the deepest, darkest terrors and that bc of him, I don’t have to.

I’m praying that I can keep saying, with Jesus, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit. “I’m praying we can keep saying that and living that out, every day of our lives, until our final day.