I commit my spirit

For more than twelve hours Christ had been in the hands of sinners just as he had predicted would happen, as early as Matthew chapter 17:

... while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day."  (Matthew 17:22,23)

Then, as the actual time drew near, while in the Garden of Gethsemane,

[Jesus] came to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners."  (Matthew 26:45)

Then, in retrospect, the angels at the empty tomb announced to the women who had come there with their spices:

"He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." (Luke 24:6,7)

But, now, at the end of the three hours of darkness, Christ spoke his final word from the cross:

... crying out with a loud voice, [He] said, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." Having said this, He breathed His last.  (Luke 23:46)

He had surrendered himself bodily into the hands of sinners at the time of his arrest in the garden, but now, at the end of his cross ordeal, he committed his spirit into his Father's hands.

Luke, with his focus on Christ the man, records, simply, that he breathed his last. That could be thought of as quite passive. But, Matthew, who presents Christ as King, writes that the Lord literally 'sent forth' or 'dismissed' his spirit, a deliberate action consistent with the authority of a king.

It's important for us to notice that, for, earlier in his ministry, the Lord Jesus had said:

"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (John 10:17,18)

Christ's death was absolutely unique. His life was not taken from him. He laid down his life on his own initiative, as an act of his own volition, albeit in obedience to the command he had received from his Father. It's this truth that lies behind the committal of his spirit to his Father. 

We notice that it's another psalm which this final saying fulfils. It's already clear that the Lord has been meditating on Psalm 22 and Psalm 69 especially, but now it's the turn of Psalm 31:

In You, O LORD, I have taken refuge;

Let me never be ashamed;

In Your righteousness deliver me.

Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;

Be to me a rock of strength,

A stronghold to save me.

For You are my rock and my fortress;

For Your name's sake You will lead me and guide me.

You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,

For You are my strength.

Into Your hand I commit my spirit.

(Psalm 31:1-5)

This is very precious. For three hours the communion of the Son with the Father had been broken; during those awful three hours he had been forsaken on account of the fact that he was bearing sin for others. But now that storm is over. The bitter cup of suffering has been drained by him. The darkness recedes again. And now the Saviour is once more in communion with his Father - a communion never more to be broken. The first cry from the cross had been, "Father, forgive ..."; the last of the seven sayings is, "Father, ... I commit my spirit." Communion restored. 

Seven times in relation to the great storm of the cross, the voice of the Lord was heard, reminding us of the seven mentions of 'the voice of the Lord' in Psalm 29. You may remember how we suggested that the marvellous word picture of the development of a great storm there is punctuated seven times by 'the voice of the Lord'.

The voice of the LORD is upon the waters;

The God of glory thunders,

The LORD is over many waters.

The voice of the LORD is powerful,

The voice of the LORD is majestic.

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;

Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,

And Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire.

The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;

The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve

And strips the forests bare;

And in His temple everything says, "Glory!"

(Psalm 29:3-9)

In this booklet, we've considered each of the seven sayings of our Saviour, spoken from the cross with its associated terrible storm. We have emphasized the power and the majesty of his voice amid that entire storm.

Let's conclude our study, then, by referring back to a day in the life of the Lord Jesus when he and his disciples experienced a natural storm on the Sea of Galilee:

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."

Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"  (Matthew 4:35-41)

Another of the Gospel records has the disciples saying: "What kind of man is this?" And well they might. And the best answer to that question was given by the centurion at the foot of Christ's cross. The Lord's stormy trial of suffering was over, seven times his majestic voice had sounded, concluding powerfully with:

... a loud cry, and [then he] breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" (Matthew 15:37-39)

As we've heard the Lord's voice resound powerfully, majestically, those seven times from the storm of the cross as we've worked our way through this study, I pray that's also been the response of your heart: "Truly this man is the Son of God!" - my magnificent Saviour.