Sermon preached on Luke 23:46 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Good Friday Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/18/2014 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
The gospels have a total of seven sayings of Jesus that are recorded of him on the cross. Seven things he said while he hung there. This is the last of the seven. Literally, his dying words. Already he would have declared, “It is finished.” Then he has these final words. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”
What then is the significance of his dying words? Several important things can be noted. First, these are words that show his communion with the Father has been restored. Jesus loved to refer to God as his Father. Jesus is the only-begotten son. God was his Father in a way particularly unique to him. Jesus is God the Son come in the flesh. But there is also God the Father, and Jesus alone has known this father in a way that no one else has. In the gospels, we can sense the intimacy and common will and fellowship between the Father and the Son. It’s amazing. Yet, on the cross, we saw that fellowship broken for a time. That was seen when Jesus on the cross cried out before this, saying, “My God, my god, why have you forsaken me?” Then, Jesus did not call out to God as his father. There he expressed the horror of being forsaken by his father. The Father and the Son had this most amazing eternal fellowship, and it was broken on the cross. Why? Because of our sin. Because on the cross Jesus bore the sins of the elect. Jesus had to experience hell on the cross; he had to experience the Father’s wrath poured out upon him. Then for the first time in eternity, Jesus was forsaken by the Father. For the sake of you and me; so we could be saved. And yet these dying words of Jesus shows us that indeed victory had been won. That Jesus’ did in fact complete the work given to him. That it was truly finished, and that fellowship between Jesus and the father was restored. That is why Jesus could cry out with his dying words, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” This forsaking of the Son by the Father was the first time it happened in eternity, but it would also be the only time it would happen in eternity. Fellowship had been restored. Forsaken never again. So that we could have fellowship with the Father. So, God could be our Father. So that we would never be forsaken by God. So we too could entrust our spirits to God.
A second point of significance of these words is that this shows Jesus living out righteousness to the end. Christians need Christ’s righteousness. They need his enduring, persevering, righteousness. That Christ’s righteousness would be ours. Well, Jesus lived in righteousness up until the end. This mean that Christ trusted God up until the end. Even amidst all the horrors of the cross. That trust was not lost. Christ did persevere until the end. The ordeal of the cross proved him and his righteousness. His dying words are proof of that. Even in death, he would trust God. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” That is righteousness.
A third significance of these dying words is that it shows the voluntary nature of Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus said in John’s gospel, that no one takes his life from him, but that he voluntarily lays it down, John 10:18. These dying words reminds us that in life he committed his body to man for them to torture and kill him. But in death he commits his soul to the Father. In doing so, we remember that Christ willingly went to the cross. That he willing died, for us. As Hebrews 12:2 says, Jesus did this for the joy set before him. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit,” tells us that this was voluntary sacrifice. To save his people from their sins. Because he loves us.
I’ll mention just one more significance of these dying words, though surely there are plenty more I could say. But I’ll spend a few minutes on this last one. The significance is that Jesus is quoting scripture. Yes, that’s right. When Jesus says, “Into Your hands I commit My spirit,” it’s a quote of Psalm 31:5. In other words, he used his dying words to quote Scripture, and in doing so, it’s so clear that even in his final breath he is choosing to teach us something!
What then does he teach us by quoting from Psalm 31? Well, interestingly, when you read over Psalm 31, you do not get the sense that it is describing a death experience. The psalm is more general than that. The psalm is about trusting God for salvation amidst enemies. When there are enemies and persecutors all around him, out to get him, the psalmist can take refuge in God. The psalmist can trust in God’s deliverance. If anything, you get the sense from the psalm that the psalmist is hoping to possibly escape death because he has entrusted his spirit to God. True, it doesn’t specifically state that. But the point of the psalm is basically the general notion that though there are enemies all around you, we should trust in God. Commit our lives, even our very souls, to God. Wait for him to save you. This is a common theme in the psalms.
This then is the psalm that Jesus quotes. And you can appreciate why Jesus would quote it. It’s a lesson that’s true in general. That we can commit our souls to God in life; even when enemies are out to get you. We can trust in God’s deliverance. But Jesus quotes it when he is dying. As his dying words. And he shows us the even greater significance of these words from Psalm 31. That even if we die physically at the hand of our enemies, this hope is not lost. Even if the enemies are able to physically be put to death, we should still commit and entrust our souls to the Lord. It’s not defeat when the enemies put our bodies to death. It’s like Jesus said in Matthew 10:28, that we don’t need to fear those who can only kill the body but cannot kill the soul. And so even in bodily death, the line from Psalm 31:5 is still true. In fact, it is all the more true then. Then such hope comes to its greatest climax. That in both life and death, these are words to live by, “Into Your hands I commit My spirit.” It was true of Jesus as he hung there on the cross — his enemies might have thought they won, but they hadn’t. Jesus’ spirit even then took refuge in God and he had the victory. And that was seen so clearly when on the third day Jesus rose from the dead by the power of God. Jesus’ entrusted that which was most precious to a man — his soul; he entrusted this to God his Father, and that trust did not disappoint.
So then, in Jesus’ dying words, he quotes this psalm, and in so doing, he teaches us a final lesson before he died. These words are then words for us! These are surely words for us, when we too die. Not the exact words as if it was some magic spell, but the idea, the concept, the substance. At our own deaths, this is what we are to cling to. This is what we are to put our hope in. This is our Christian hope. That however we die, whether it be at the hand of enemies, or from sickness, or from old age — when we breathe that final breath, a Christian is committing his soul to the Lord. That though we die, we live!
This is what we see the martyr Stephen doing in the book of Acts. In Acts 7:59, as persecutors stone him to death, he cries out in a similar way, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Jesus did. Stephen did it. This is our model. The Christian life in many ways is about preparing to die well. That when we die, we are committing our souls to God. It is very fitting, if we are able, to have these or similar words as our own dying words. And yet, not every Christian will the ability to utter these sorts of words as you die. There is likely a good chance you will die unexpectantly, without opportunity to say such final words. It might slip your mind even at the unexpected moment of your death. But whether you make this final prayer or not, this is your reality as a Christian. Because at the moment of your Christian conversion, this is what you are doing. When you first turn and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior, this is what you are doing. You are entrusting your Spirit to God. You are committing your soul to your heavenly father. You are saying that you trust him to save you, even in your physical death. And that is not a misplaced trust. It wasn’t for Jesus, and so you know it will not be for you. For you are in Christ, and he in you — if you have put your faith in him.
And so these are words to die by, even if you don’t actually utter them at your death. These words are the confession of your heart as a Christian. They reflect your relation with God at your death. And yet, as much as we have seen today that these are words to die by, I hope you also see that they are words to live by. Jesus quoted this psalm that really used these words primarily in that sense. It’s about the hope and trust in God amidst all the troubles and obstacles of life. And so here and now, throughout your Christian walk, these are words to live by. This is similar to what Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12. Paul says there, “For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” That’s us too. Throughout our lives, in whatever suffering or trial comes, we are living out this confession, “Into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Because like Paul, we are persuaded that he is able to keep what we have committed until that day. What day? That glorious day of resurrection, when our bodies will be raised anew and our souls rejoined with them. That day when we will come into our eternal reward in the full. When we will live forever with our God in the New Jerusalem come down out of heaven. Paul was persuaded by this. Stephen too. Jesus showed it to be true in that he rose on the third day. And that is what we put our hope in as well. Not just at the end of our life. But all throughout our Christian lives. This colors how we think about everything.
And yet, for us, the reason we can confidently entrust our souls to God, is because of what Jesus did on the cross on that first Good Friday. How else could we who have lived in wickedness commit our souls to the Lord and think they would be in a good place. The same psalm Jesus quoted, also says “Let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol,” Psalm 31:17. As much as the psalm is about the godly being safe to entrust their soul to God, it is equally about the how the wicked will ultimately be destroyed by God. Why should we think we can then safely entrust our soul to God?
Well, because of what Jesus did on the cross. If he had not paid for our sins on the cross, we could not entrust our souls to God. If we tried, we would be put simply handing ourselves over to our destroyer. It would be just like a heinous criminal turning himself over to the police for punishment. But that is not the case for us when we in Christ commit our spirits to God. We are indeed fully safe and secure. There is no safer place for them. We don’t have to fear judgment any longer. Because Christ suffered in our place. In our union with him, we were there with him on the cross. We died with him. And that means that in those dying words when he committed his soul to the Father, that he was committing our souls to the father as well. He died and committed his soul to the Father, for us, for our salvation. So in life and death, we need not fear. It’s like what Jesus said in John 10:27-29 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
And so whether we are breathing or not, if you have entrusted your soul to God in Christ, then you are eternally safe and secure. When man was first made, God breathed into him the breath of life. This Son of Man, Jesus, breathed out a final breath here in our passage, as he died on the cross. He breathed this last breath as part of his bearing our judgment from that God who gave us the breath in the first place. But Jesus received back that breath again in the resurrection! So that we who are in him will breath of that new life too! This then is the gospel call to you today. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust in him. Commit your body and soul to God today. You will not be disappointed, but will have the assurance that though you die, you will live. You will have the guarantee of the resurrection and a life with your Lord and all his people forever.
My friends, humans let each other down far too often. Even our most closest loved ones let us down from time to time. Even Jesus himself would not entrust himself to a man — John 2:24. Yet we do entrust ourselves to this one man. The Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit. This we can do, regardless of the circumstances of life. Think of what Romans 8:38-39 says to this. Paul says there, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Commit your soul to God. No matter the circumstances, we will have eternal communion with God. Even at Jesus’ dying breath, we saw his own communion with the Father. And that is why we are encouraged again today of this communion we have as well. Because Jesus in his dying words exclaimed, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Amen.
Copyright © 2014 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
