vg songs

To find all of the seven last words of Jesus Christ, one must read all the gospels since none of the evangelists records all 7 last words. The sayings would have been originally uttered by Jesus in the Aramaic language, but only one of the last seven words of Jesus is preserved for us in the original Aramaic, namely “Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani” or “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me,” which is actually a direct quote of the opening verse of Psalm 22.

The rest of the seven last words of Jesus are found in the gospels after having been translated into Greek by the four Evangelists.

THE FIRST WORD

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. “Gospel of Luke 23:34Jesus is looking down from the cross just after he was crucified between two criminals. Throughout His trial Jesus did not complain. He sees the soldiers who have mocked him, scourged him and tortured him, and who have just nailed him to the cross.

The first words were words of intercession. But, they were spoken for the betrayer and the denier and for the soldiers who had taken Him in the garden as well as for those who had borne false witness against Him.

They were spoken for the High Priest and the crowd that called for His crucifixion. Included were Pontius Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod, and finally those who crucified Him and mocked Him at the cross. He probably remembers those who have sentenced him -,

Even as He prayed He witnessed to His relationship to God. He called Him, “Father.”  He did not say to the people at the cross, “I forgive you” and thus showed that He had not come into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

Right up to his final hours on earth, Jesus preaches forgiveness. He teaches forgiveness in the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us” (Matthew 6:12).

When asked by Peter, how many times should we forgive someone, Jesus answers seventy times seven (Matthew 18:21-22). At the Last Supper, Jesus explains his crucifixion to his Apostles when he tells them to drink of the cup: “Drink of it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).

He forgives the paralytic at Capernaum (Mark 2:5), and the adulteress caught in the act and about to be stoned (John 8:1-11). And even following his Resurrection, his first act is to commission his disciples to forgive: “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:22-23).

In response let us recognize that those words were spoken for us and for all people. When the crowd cried “crucify Him” Jesus” response was “Forgive them, Father.” In the face of the world’s blasphemy, Jesus says, “Forgive them.”

When our conscience cries out against us because we have transgressed, Jesus” words still echo across the centuries, “Father forgive them.” The message of the Gospel is that where there is forgiveness of sins there is also life and salvation.

THE SECOND WORD

“Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”Gospel of Luke 23:43

“And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left” (Luke 23:33). Around the cross were representatives of all kinds of people. Thee were the proud, the self-righteous, the scoffers and mockers. There were people sympathetic to Jesus. They were all there by choice.

And then there were some who were not there by choice. They were two others suffering the same punishment as Jesus, though for different reason. They were malefactors who were not there by choice, but whose life choices put them in this circumstance. The one criminal mocked Jesus from the cross.

He died with cursing on his lips. What a horrible way to die! But there was the other who was won by the power of the cross. He had heard the first word of Jesus in which Jesus implored the Father to forgive his crucifiers. “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom” (Luke 23: 42).

We often speak cynically about condemned criminals who repent on death row. No doubt there are some who do confess the Lord without meaning it when they are confronted with death, in other words they do it for effect. But we should be careful about such judgment.

The criminal who was facing death hanging alongside Jesus spoke from the heart. He confessed his sin and unworthiness. Luther* said, “In the Garden He (Jesus) was comforted by an angel, on the cross by a murderer hanging beside Him. How strange that God should let His Son be comforted by a murderer.” There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repents

Now it is not just the religious leaders or the soldiers that mock Jesus, but even one of the criminals, a downward progression of mockery. But the criminal on the right speaks up for Jesus, explaining the two criminals are receiving their just due, whereas “this man has done nothing wrong.

” Then, turning to Jesus, he asks, “Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). What wonderful faith this repentant sinner has in Jesus – far more than the doubting Thomas, one of his own Apostles. Ignoring his own suffering, Jesus mercifully responds with His second word.

The second word again is about forgiveness, this time directed to a sinner. Just as the first word, this Biblical expression is found only in the Gospel of Luke. Jesus shows his Divinity by opening heaven for a repentant sinner – such generosity to a man that only asked to be remembered!

THE THIRD WORD

“Jesus said to his mother: “Woman, this is your son.” Then he said to the disciple: “This is your mother. “Gospel of John 19:26-27

Jesus and Mary are together again, at the beginning of his ministry in Cana and now at the end of his public ministry at the foot of the Cross. What sorrow must fill her heart, to see her Son mocked, tortured, and crucified!.

Once again, a sword pierces Mary’s soul: we are reminded of the prediction of Simeon at the Temple (Luke 2:35) . There are four at the foot of the cross, Mary his Mother, John, the disciple whom he loved, Mary of Cleopas, his mother’s sister, and Mary Magdalene.

He addresses his third word to Mary and John, the only eye-witness of the Gospel writers.  Neither she nor we have ever been called upon to exercise sacrificial love to the extent Jesus did.

Yet in the midst of His suffering there is exhibited what the Scriptures record, “Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end” (John 13:1). In His last hours, He did not forget His mother but provided a protector for her.

The Saviour provided her with another “son.” He unto his mother, “Woman, behold thy son!” Jesus called her “woman” and not “mother” because He would have her think of Him in relation to her atonement by Him rather than in a narrower familial relationship.

Mary could lean on John as a son. But the concern was to be mutual. John too, as the disciple “whom Jesus loved” was also in need of support.  “Then He to the disciple (John), Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.”

The name “Mary” means, “bitter.”  Here at the cross she tasted the bitterness of the helplessness of a mother who could neither take the place of Her Son nor alleviate His suffering. Here He also helps us to appreciate that He helps and strengthens, and encourages us through one another.

We do not live on an island. At the cross we learn to appreciate the mutual love and care that exists within a fellowship, as well as the responsibility that members of the body of Christ are to have for one another.

If in His deepest suffering He loved His own so much that He would provide for their mutual welfare, how also ought we to care for and love one another, and thus reflect Jesus’ love whereby He has loved us all!

THE FOURTH WORD

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34

This was the only expression of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. Both Gospels related that it was in the ninth hour, after 3 hours of darkness that Jesus cried out this fourth word. The ninth hour was three o’clock in Judea. After the fourth Word, Mark related with a horrible sense of finality, “And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last” (Mark 15:37).

The reality of the Father’s love in promising a Savior is overwhelming to the penitent who knows what was lost by the sin of Adam and Eve, and who recognizes the on-going nature of sin in one’s own life.

The manner of His conception of the Holy Ghost and birth of the Virgin Mary is no less overwhelming because it is so contrary to nature. But we believe the miracle, and gladly so for it declares to us that Jesus is without sin. That He should bear the sins of the world and suffer for all people is beyond reason.

But one of the most overwhelming events, and some of the most incomprehensible words recorded in the Scriptures are these spoken by Jesus from the cross in mid-afternoon. It was at three o’clock in the afternoon, the very hour when the lambs for the evening sacrifice were slain that Jesus said, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

One is struck by the anguished tone of this expression in contrast to the first three words of Jesus. This cry is from the painful heart of the human Jesus who must feel deserted by His Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention his earthly companions the Apostles.

As if to emphasize his loneliness, Mark even has his loved ones “looking from afar,” not close to him as in the Gospel of John. Jesus feels separated from his Father. He is now all alone, and he must face death by himself.

But is not this exactly what happens to all of us when we die? We too are all alone at the time of death! Jesus completely lives the human experience as we do, and by doing so, frees us from the clutches of sin.

His fourth Word is the opening line of Psalm 22, and thus his cry from the Cross recalls the cry of Israel, and of all innocent persons who suffer. Psalm 22 of David makes a striking prophecy of the crucifixion of the Messiah at a time when crucifixion was not known to exist: “They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones” (22:16-17).

The Psalm continues: “They divide my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots” (22:18).

Thanks be to God the Father, and to His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, and to the Spirit for giving us the faith to believe what is beyond comprehension My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”(Matthew 27:46)?

THE FIFTH WORD

“I thirst.”

Gospel of John 19:28

“I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God. And hide not thy face from thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily” (Psalm 69:3,17). “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God” (Ps 42:2)? “I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death” (Ps 22:14-15). If we want to know the enormity of our sin, we need only to sit at the foot of the cross, and recognize that the words above from the Psalms are a reflection of what our Savior suffered.

When originally offered the drink of myrrh and gall that would have alleviated His suffering and hastened His death, Jesus refused to receive it. He must be in full control of His senses to drink the cup of suffering to its fullest, for only by doing so could He satisfy the demands of the Law which pronounced death upon the sinner.

To have done less would have left fallen man still under condemnation of eternal death with all its indescribable horror and suffering. But when He had endured it all, and had fully paid the price, the Son of God desired to see His Father. He was ready to die. It was His time, the time selected by Him. Unto the end Jesus remained in control of all things in order that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.

“They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink” (Psalm 69:21).Now He said, “I THIRST.”  The thirst that He felt was not uncommon for someone in His circumstance. A parched throat oft times accompanies death. But His thirst was more than a dry throat. He thirsts for those for whom He died to come to Him and drink of the refreshing water of salvation. By prophecy Isaiah 53 says,“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied” After the toil of His soul, the Saviour finds satisfaction in every soul that has been redeemed, and that has by faith grasped salvation in Him.

Each time that we hear this word, “I thirst” we should appreciate what it is that He suffered, and at the same time daily bring Him satisfaction through our word and action, as well as our living faith and hope. In that manner we declare that Jesus did not thirst in vain. May we satisfy the thirst of the Saviour by saying with David, “I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsts after thee, as a thirsty land” (Ps 143:6).

THE SIXTH WORD FROM THE CROSS

“It is finished” (John 19:30).

“It is finished.”  With reference to our text, the Greek Lexicon offers for the particular verb form of the word “finished” the following interpretation: “Everything has been accomplished which by the appointment of the Father as revealed in the Scriptures I must do and bear” (Thayer).

Everything foretold about, and necessary for our salvation is complete! With reference to the attainment of the promised eternal salvation, no works, no penance, no blood, no money “nothing!- is necessary unless one does not believe what “finished” means.

As comforting as it is to believe that Jesus has paid the full price for our salvation when He died upon the cross, so sad is it when people remain comfortless and burdened because they believe that they have to complete what Jesus already called complete.

The Gospel of John gradually reveals the Holy Spirit. Jesus mentions living water in John 4:10-11 when he meets the Samaritan woman at the well, and during the Feast of Tabernacles refers to living water as the Holy Spirit in 7:37-39. At the Last Supper, Christ announces he would ask the Father to send “another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth” (14:16-17). The word Advocate is also translated as Comforter, Helper, Paraclete, or Counsellor.

“But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (14:26). The symbolism of water for the Holy Spirit becomes more evident in John 19:34: “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.” The piercing of his side fulfils the prophecy in Zechariah 12:10:

“They will look on me whom they have pierced.” The piercing of Jesus’ side prefigures the Sacraments of Eucharist (blood) and Baptism (water), as well as the beginning of the Church

Our Saviour Jesus Christ said to His disciples, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished” (Luke 18:31).

“It is finished” tells us that Jesus is true to His Word. We, the redeemed who believe the Word of Christ, and trust in His once-for- all completed atonement are numbered among those to whom Psalm 22 makes reference.  “A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to he Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this” (Psalm 22:30-31).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works…” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Thank God!

THE SEVENTH WORD

Jesus cried out in a loud voice,

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

Gospel of Luke 23:46

The seventh word of Jesus is from the Gospel of Luke, and is directed to the Father in heaven, just before He dies. Jesus recalls Psalm 31:5 – “Into thy hands I commend my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” Luke repeatedly pleads Jesus’ innocence: with Pilate (Luke 23:4, 14-15, 22), through Dismas (by legend), the criminal (Luke 23:41), and immediately after His death with the centurion” “Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent” (Luke 23:47).

As children of God we may be confident that measured in terms of our relationship to God, ours will be a peaceful death. Our Saviour has reconciled us to God. As we are reconciled to God through the death of Jesus, we have nothing to fear from God.

No matter how violent our death may be, no matter how fierce the struggle may be between life and death, our heart can be at peace. Our Lord Jesus promised us “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Further He said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father,

which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29). With these promises in heart the Apostle Paul said, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day” (2 Tim 1:12).

Amidst all the noise and raucousness of our ungodly age, the believer in Jesus can join with the martyr, Stephen (Acts 7) who said, “Lord Jesus receive my spirit,” and John Huss who before He was burned at the stake, said, “But I commit my soul into Thy hands; Thou hast redeemed me, Lord Jesus, God of Truth”, and finally Martin Luther who lying on his death bed said “I pass away; I yield up my spirit.

Father into Thy hands I commend my spirit, Thou hast redeemed me, Lord, Thou faithful God.”  Such a confession we may confidently make because our Lord Jesus having fulfilled all for our salvation commended Himself, and with Himself all His members to the hands of the Father in Heaven for which reason we may say,

John’s Gospel related that it was the Day of Preparation, the day before the actual Passover (Pesach in Hebrew, Pascha in Greek and Latin), that Jesus was sentenced to death (19:14) and sacrificed on the Cross (19:31).

He died at the ninth hour (three o’clock in the afternoon), about the same time as the Passover lambs were slaughtered in the Temple. Christ became the Paschal or Passover Lamb, as noted by St. Paul: “For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed” (I Corinthians 5:7). The innocent Lamb was slain for our sins, so that we might be forgiven.

Jesus fulfilled His mission: “They are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:24-25). The relationship of Jesus to the Father is revealed in the Gospel of John, for He remarked,

“The Father and I are one” (10:30), and again, at the Last Supper: “Do you not believe I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who dwells in me is doing his works” (14:10). And He can return: “I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father” (16:28). Jesus practiced what He preached: “Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).

AN EIGHTH WORD

“He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” (Matthew 28:6)

We have considered the seven words of Jesus from the cross. From them we have drawn comfort, encouragement and strength as we pilgrim through the wasteland of this morally barren and spiritually destitute earth.

But all would be for naught, and we of all people would be the most deceived were it not for an eighth word, spoken in this case by the heavenly messenger, “He is not here: for He is risen, as He said.” The Apostle Paul in the grand resurrection chapter in his first epistle to the Corinthians (Chapter 15) wrote,

“And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.” Many witnesses and events substantiate the message of the angel to the women after the fact. It happened,

“as He said.” These three words are significant. Christ fulfilled the Scriptures. Christ took up His life again (John 10:18). The temple that men sought to destroy was raised up again after three days just as Jesus said it would be (John 2:19).

It is the faithfulness of God that sustains the Christian through this life. Every promise of God is “yea and amen.” Therefore before the fact Job said, “For I know that my redeemer lives, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold” (Job 19:25-27).

As the eyes grow dim and the shadows lengthen there echoes through the corridor of the heart, “Because I live, you shall live also” (John 14:19). The one is true – “He is risen” – therefore the other is also true – “You shall live also!” “As He said!” Amen.