Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46)
We have come to the final word Jesus spoke from the cross, the last thing he said before he died. If you do an internet search for famous last words, you’ll be able to read the last words of many, many people. Many of them are words of wit, probably preserved to illustrate the spirit of the speaker, indomitable even in the face of death. I suspect they’re intended, if only subconsciously, to comfort us with the idea that death isn’t particularly intimidating, that death merely serves as a setup for a punchline.
The reality, of course, is that even if a person’s last words use death as the setup for a punch line, it’s the last punchline ever spoken. Death delivers a knockout punch that silences everything.
One might think, then, that Jesus’ last word, because he always spoke the truth, would be a word of defeat, a word of despair. Instead, he says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Those are not words of despair or defeat. They are not words of death. They are confident words of victory. They are confident words of life. Just as Jesus had assured the thief on the cross that he would be in paradise immediately after he died, Jesus also expected the same. He knew his body would be placed into a grave, but he knew his soul would soar immediately into the loving embrace of his Father. He knew that soon his soul would reunite with his body—a perfect, glorified body.
Once again Jesus addresses God as his Father. He knew that he had fully done everything God had asked of him. He knew he stood blameless before God. He knew he could address him as Father. Therefore he could, and he did, peacefully and confidently entrust his soul to God.
At our last hour, we may speak with the same confidence we do when we pray Luther’s Evening Prayer, which echoes Jesus’ confident words: “Into your hands I commit my body and soul and all things.” Even in death we may be confident, for we know what Jesus has promised. We need not fear having our souls sentenced to everlasting suffering by an angry judge. Rather, at our last hour, we look forward to having our loving Father take our souls to heaven, because we too will stand blameless before God. We will stand before God with sins paid for—sins removed. It is finished. Amen.