And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:46 NAS95)
Good Friday means the Lamb of God gave His life for us, for our benefit. The process leading to the crucifixion boggles the mind. Jesus experienced the worst: betrayal, arrest, false accusation, kangaroo court, judgment, beating and crucifixion. Darkness ruled, not literally, but apparently, since God accomplished His purposes. Jesus, however, endured more than any human should at the level of the emotional, physical and circumstantial. Severely twisted fallen order wrapped itself around the life of Jesus, suffocating Him to death.
Jesus, though, never lost confidence in God. He never lost His sense of purpose or mission, despite the horrendous insults, pain, exhaustion and betrayal experienced. Any man would wonder, “where is God?” “does He care?” or “does He even see or take note?” Jesus knew in the midst of traumatic pain, God, His Father, remained intimately present. So confident of His Father’s love, Jesus consciously entrusts His Spirit, His death, His life, to His Father. Pain and love abounded in those moments, and Jesus’ trust of His Father’s love never waned. “Into Your hands I commit My Spirit,” reflect Love had His life. His Father remained, above all circumstance, the bedrock trust in His life. It beckoned prayer from His lips while dying. Jesus saw beyond circumstance, the darkest moment of His life, into the eyes of His Father’s glaring love. Might I see as He sees and stare intently into the eyes of the Father’s love, for His life was given for me.
For Reflection:
“For You light my lamp; The LORD my God illumines my darkness.” (Psalms 18:28 NAS95)
- As you meditate on the crucifixion of Jesus, what feelings arise in your heart?
- What stories of God’s love meeting you in an experience of pain come to mind? How did that birth new life in your soul?
