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Category: Seven Sayings

Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit

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On April 2, 2010

In Christian, Seven Sayings

The seventh saying of Jesus as He hung on the Cross, living up to His Name, which was to save His people from their sins was a word of total submission and finality. His saying was ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’. The scripture records “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” (Luke 23:46).

This is the LAST ACT of the Jesus before he died. In an attempt to understand the depth of this saying, let us break this into three parts

  1. FATHER
  2. INTO THY HANDS
  3. I COMMEND MY SPIRIT

FATHER

The address of God as Father by Jesus is first a Testament of his SON-SHIP and secondly a Testament of his SEPARATION from God.
By addressing God as his Father, Jesus was establishing the fact that even though he was born of Mary and Joseph, He was the Son of God. The Magi did not ask “where is He who is born of Mary and Joseph, the carpenter?” Instead they asked of Herod, “where is HE who is born the King of the Jews?” Remember, in the 3rd saying on the cross, Jesus calls his earthly mother Woman reminding Mary of her PURPOSE. Epitaphs on tombstone often reflect the sonship of the deceased. The TITULUS (superscription) above the bruised and pierced of Jesus read not that he was Jesus, the carpenter’s son, the son of Mary but instead read IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORVM (Latin) which when translated is Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews (English). God Himself  proclaimed that Jesus was his beloved son, in whom God was well pleased both at Jesus’ baptism (Matthew 3:17) as well as in Jesus’ transfiguration (Mark 9:7) . Jesus is indeed the Son of God.

Note how Jesus addressed God as Father in the first saying (Father, forgive them for they know not what they do) and now in the seventh saying, he addresses God again as Father, but in the fourth saying, He addresses God as My God (Eloi). Prophet Isaiah says that  our iniquities separate us from God (Isaiah 59:2) and when Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree/Cross (1 Peter 2:24), a Holy God had to hide his face from the sinless one who was made sin (Isaiah 59:2). Jesus was therefore separated from God his Father on account of our sins. But when his sacrifice was accepted by God as the perfect and final offering (Hebrews 10:1-18) for all, He could say, “It is finished” and his relationship with God the Father was restored, whereby, Jesus did not have to address God as My God (Eloi) but as Father. Jesus calling God as ABBA (Father) is indicative of the restoration of the communion they had, a testament of the separation from God as Jesus bore the sins of the world.

INTO THY HANDS

The phrase, ‘into thy hands’ is a Testament of SECURITY.

Submission into the hands is God is the basis of our assurance in the hope of a future with God. It is testament of extreme Security. In John 10:27-30, Jesus’ saying establishes the fact that those who are in His hands or in the hands of God, His Father, are secure. No one can pluck his sheep out of his hand or out of his Father’s hand. (John 10:27-30). Voluntarily Jesus was submitting Himself into the hands of God.   Act 2:23 records wicked hands crucified and slew Jesus. Jesus’ crucifixion was not orchestrated by man, but was done as per the will of God.  God put himself into the hands of men so that men could be put into the hands of God starting with the God-man Jesus, who before he gave up his ghost, did the same, and put himself into the hands of God, His Father.

I COMMEND MY SPIRIT

The phrase I commend my spirit is a Testament of STEWARDSHIP and a Testament of a SAVIOR.
This saying of Jesus on the cross is a model of faithfulness under extreme duress, a kind of faithfulness we would want to have when things go wrong for us, especially when death seems imminent. The Spirit of God descended from the heavens and alighted upon Jesus (Matthew 3:16) and it stayed with Him as we see that the Spirit of God is what leads Jesus into the wilderness (Matthew 4:1).  The Holy Spirit of God that was came upon Christ is willingly submitted back to God the Father, so that the Holy Spirit can be given unto all those who believe in Jesus and in God the Father who sent Him (Acts 1:8) . In good stewardship, Jesus  faithfully returned to God what was His in the first place. It is important for us to answer whether, we are filled with the Holy Spirit of God and secondly have we commended our Spirit to God as Jesus did?
By saying, I commend my spirit, Jesus was conducting his own funeral. During a regular funeral, at the time of what is called commendation, the officiant stands near the body of the deceased and commends the person, who has died to God by saying somthing like “Receive him/her into thy arms of mercy”. By commending His Spirit voluntarily, Jesus was saying, I lay down my life for you. As the Savior of the world, he LAID DOWN his life on his own; it was not taken from him. (John 10:17).

For man, it is death first, then judgment (Hebrews 9:27); but for Jesus, it was judgment first, then death. People killed Jesus, but not his Spirit and the power of God resurrected His body that was killed and his Spirit lives on in each of us who have accepted Him and believed in his Name, confessing our sinfulness.

Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit is a testament of Son-Ship, Separation, Security, Stewardship and a Savior.

It is finished

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On April 1, 2010

In Christian, Seven Sayings

The sixth saying of Jesus as He hung on the Cross, living up to His Name, which was to save His people from their sins was a word of accomplishment and completion. His saying was ‘It is finished’. The scripture records “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19:30).

What was it that Jesus said is finished? Did He say this anytime else? Once earlier, Jesus identifies that it was He who was the finisher. In John 5:17, Jesus answered those who sought to slay him saying “My Father has been working hitherto, and I work” and in John 5:36 he expresses that His witness is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father had given him to finish is the very works he did which was to bear witness of Himself and that the Father sent Him. Soon after, in John 17:4 he tells God the Father “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

What was the work that Jesus finished? Rather than speculating, we need to look at the scripture for the answer. Jesus answered those who sought him and asked as to what the works of God was, that the work of God is that we believe on Him (Jesus) whom God had sent (John 6:28-29). Jesus’ work was to give life (eternal life) to those who had been overcome by death (all of us) which resulted from sin finishing its course (James 1:15). Knowing God and believing in Jesus whom God had sent is the definition of eternal life (John 17:3). Jesus was named ‘Jesus’ because He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). When Jesus started his work on earth, his name was affirmed by John the Baptist, that Jesus is the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and since without the shedding of blood, there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22), when Jesus’ blood was shed on the Cross of Calvary, his purpose was accomplished and the work He came to finish was finished. Jesus in his death finished the work of living up to his name and there is no other name given under heaven or earth, whereby we can be saved (Acts 4:12).

So why does this matter? Genesis 2:2 records that God finished the work of creation after which He rested. But man sinned against God and death entered into the world through the sin of one man (Romans 5:12). God could not rest any longer, until His redemptive work was finished by the act of His Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, so that all who believe in Him will also be able to rest (Hebrews 4:3), have eternal life. On the Cross, Jesus said it is finished. The act of God reconciling man to himself was finished. However, he entrusted to those who believe in Him, a ministry of reconciliation and apostleship so that no one may perish (2 Peter 3:9) without knowing the completed work of Christ Jesus. So our work is still not done. Paul writes, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). Can this be said of us as well? We need to keep the faith until the very end and He who endures till the end, not waxing our Love for God and man, and wanning sin and self,  the same shall be saved (Matthew 24:12-13). In Revelation we read “And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” (Revelation 11:7) but at the great battle of God Almighty in the place called Armageddon, we hear from the throne of heaven, the same words “It is done (or finished)” (Revelation 16:17).

In Genesis, the work of God is finished (Genesis 2:2);
In the Cross, the work of God is finished (John 19:30);
In Revelation, the work of God is finished (Revelation 16:17).

From Genesis to Revelation, it is finished and we need to finish our testimony as well and that testimony is “It is finished”.

I thirst

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On March 31, 2010

In Christian, Seven Sayings

The fifth saying of Jesus as He hung on the Cross, living up to His Name, which was to save His people from their sins was a request in which Jesus expressed a need. His saying was ‘I thirst’ (John 19:28). Though cursorily it may seem like an expression of his physical condition, is there more to this than what is evident.

One of the dictionary definitions of the word, ‘thirst’ is an ardent desire, craving or longing. Interestingly, one can go without food for days, but not without water. Thirst is a physical condition that can bring the strongest of the strong to their knees, some even to the point of death. Samson the strong after killing a thousand warriors in battle cried to the Lord when he felt thirsty, questioning, now shall I die of thirst? (Judges 15:18-20). The grumbling Israelite pilgrims questioned Moses, if he had led them out of Egypt to kill them and their children and cattle with thirst (Exodus 17:3). When no water in the desert of Beersheba was found, Hagar, unable to bear the possibility of her son, Ishmael dying of thirst, goes a bow shot length away until God miraculous opens her eyes and she sees a well (Genesis 21:14-16). So thirst can make the strong weak, and the living dead.

And here we hear Jesus saying that He thirsted. Why did Jesus say that he thirsted?

The logical human explanation was that He experienced a human physical condition and that is certainly plausible. Jesus hungered (Matthew 4:2), slept (Mark 4:38), grew (Luke 2:42), groaned (John 11:33), wept (John 11:35) and so in his Humanity also thirsted (John 19:28). Now if this was merely a personal physical need to be satisfied, isn’t it interesting that Jesus only asks for being quenched after he accomplished all the things He knew He had to fulfill (John 19:28). Jesus’ personal needs came only after doing what God wanted Him to do. He satisfied God before He prayed to be satisfied himself. We must have the same attitude as well.

But the scripture gives us evidence that there is more. Jesus said, ‘I thirst’ so that the scripture may be fulfilled (John 19:28). Jesus came to fulfill the scripture and fulfilled it (Psalm 69:21). Jesus, who knew no sin was made sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) and the imputation of our sins on Him made him experience a separation from God the Holy Father as expressed by the prophet Isaiah who said “… your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2) . So Jesus’ relationship with God the Father had been broken because of our sins. This is further substantiated by the fact that Jesus addressed God, in His previous saying as My God, my God (Eloi, Eloi) and not as Father (which is how He addressed God in the first saying from the Cross). Jesus very well could have thirsted for the oneness He had with God the Father (John 10:30). Another explanation as to why Jesus thirsted is that he experienced the thirst of hell. Acts 2:27 and 31 are very explicit that God would not let soul of his Holy  One (Jesus) in hell.  In Matthew 12:40, we hear Jesus saying that “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly: so shall the Son of man (Jesus) be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. ” Revelation refers to hell as the bottomless pit or abyss (Revelation 9:1-2). Ephesians 4:9 tells us that Jesus ascended into heavens, but that he also first descended into the lower parts (heart) of the earth.

So Jesus descended down to hell on our account, but what is the state of affairs in hell? An overbearing need to be quenched. We see this in the parable that Jesus told about Lazarus and the rich man. The rich man died and was buried and in hell he was tormented by thirst. (Luke 16:19-31). So it is not implausible that when Jesus’ soul descended to hell, he thirsted as well.

But in hell, the thirst that is to be quenched is not physical as the rich man describes but more in the spiritual realms. Jesus spiritually thirsted that his desire to bring many sons unto glory be quenched (Hebrews 2:10); that all are saved and none perish (2 Peter 3:9); that God’s eternal wrath would now be quenched as he accomplishes his task of saving all men and women in totality and that all will drink of Him (Jesus) and receive from Him living water (the Holy Spirit – John 7:38-39) so that they will no longer be thirsty.

Finally, when the curtain falls, we can find ourselves in only one of two states – eternally thirsty or eternally quenched and this depends on whether we agree to drink of (believe) Him, Jesus Christ, who with a craving, a longing and an ardent desire said, ‘I thirst’ [for you].

Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

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On March 30, 2010

In Christian, Seven Sayings

The fourth saying of Jesus as He hung on the Cross, living up to His Name, which was to save His people from their sins was a question directed not to any man, but to God. It is the only question in the seven sayings of Christ from the Cross and it was Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being translated, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Mark 15:33-34; Matthew 27:46)

Even in dying, Jesus did not forget the scripture and was quoting from Psalm 22:1. But it is important to recognize that the answer is not specified explicitly. I wonder why?  We can only seek the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to try and understand the extent of meaning and implication of this saying.

Notice how in this saying, Jesus did not address God the Father as Father as he did in the first and last saying, but as God. What could be the reason for this? One explanation is that the father and son relationship, Jesus had with God the Father, had been broken when the sinless became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), because God the Father is Holy and can have nothing to do with sin. What communion can light have with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14). Another explanation that is scriptural as well is that Jesus in His obedience to God made himself of no reputation, for He considered it robbery to be made equal with God (even though He was), humbling Himself as a servant (not Son) and addressed God the Father as My God. (Philippians 2). Jesus, the first born of all creation, experiences what it means to be an orphan as His Father was God.

Lama Sabachthani when translated means ‘Why hast thou forsaken me?’ Without the answer given to us explicitly in the scripture, we can pray for wisdom and search the scripture to understand this question and apply what we learn to be faithful servants of God as Jesus was. Besides the word, ‘forsaken’, the other words that can be used to acceptably signify the meaning of the word ‘sabachthani’ are ‘abandon’ or ‘deserted’.

Human acts such as the loss of a parent, betrayal by a friend or loved one  or a divorce from a spouse causes the sense of being deserted, abandoned,  or forsaken. God had to divorce his Only begotten Son so as to save the wedding of the people of God, the church with the Lamb (Revelation 19). God hates divorce is what the scripture says, and that means, God’s love for us was so great, that He willingly forsook (deserted) his Son, Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. Enough Said. Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us (1 John 3:1).

The closest answer of this question, I can find is from Galatians 3:13-14. God had to forsake God because God could not forsake man. Nicole Nordeman’s beautiful song ‘Why’ attempts to answer this question Jesus had for God which was ‘Why did you forsake me?’ and states that God’s answer to Jesus was ‘you and I’ are the ‘Why’. God had to stay true to the covenant he had made with a friend of his, a man by the name Abraham. Because Abraham had obeyed God, God has made a covenant to bless Abraham and his seed/children (Genesis 22:16-18).

God made God to become sin, because he wanted to make us righteous
God make God a curse, because of his word/covenant to bless us
God forsook God because he could not forsake us, He could not deny himself and what he had covenanted (2 Timothy 2:13)

Mark 15:34 (KJV)
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Galatians 3:13 -14 (KJV)
 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Woman, Behold thy son! … Behold thy mother!

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On March 29, 2010

In Christian, Seven Sayings

The third saying of Jesus as He hung on the Cross, living up to His Name, which was to save His people from their sins was to his mother and his disciple who stood by her. To the mother, he said “WOMAN, behold thy son!” and to the disciple, He said “Behold thy mother!” (John 19:26-27).

Seeing his mother and the other women, his near and dear ones at the foot of the cross PIQUES Jesus to state a PROFOUND FACT and exposit a PROVISION of MAGNITUDE proportions and say the THIRD saying on the cross. Woman, Behold thy son! Behold thy mother!

As we analyze this saying, let us break the saying into two main subheadings

  1. WOMAN (vs 26)
  2. BEHOLD THY SON! BEHOLD THY MOTHER! (vs 27)

WOMAN

Ever wonder why Jesus addressed Mary his mother as Woman and not Mother?

He called her woman to remind Mary of her PURPOSE that she was a VESSEL, God’s handmaid in humble obedience (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:26-38) and that which was prophesied by SIMEON’s was now being FULFILLED (Luke 2:34-35). He was DISASSOCIATING every human tie to establish heavenly ASSOCIATIONS.

He called her woman to let all know that he was SON OF GOD. Epitaphs on tombstone reflect the sonship of the deceased. The TITULUS (Inscription) above his bruised and pierced with thorns head did not read that he was Jesus, the carpenter’s son, the son of Mary but instead read INRI – IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORVM (Latin) which meant Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews (English).

He called her woman because His TIME HAD COME. The two familiar references in the Bible in which Jesus addresses his mother Mary and in both cases, he calls her “Woman” is 1st at the wedding at Cana. There he calls her woman, and tells her that his hour is not yet come (John 2:4). Now the 2nd time: On the Cross, he calls her woman because His Time had Come. He was going in for the final round. SIN WAS BATTLING with the captain of salvation, whispering hellish threats in His ears, only to hear Him say “It is Finished”. But before he could say that “It is Finished”, He had some earthly obligations to complete one of which was the provisional arrangements for his family, his mother.

And that’s when he begins by saying, Woman …and completes it saying  Behold thy son! (and to the disciple, he said) Behold thy mother!

BEHOLD THY SON! BEHOLD THY MOTHER!

Why did Jesus say “Behold thy son! Behold thy mother!”?

He was fulfilling the fifth commandment – Honor thy Father and thy Mother (Exodus 20). He was making provisions for his mother. He who does not provide for his relatives, especially his family, is worse than an infidel and has denied the faith. (1 Timothy 5:8).

Jesus was also reestablishing a profound fact – the importance of the family, which is the first institution on earth, the basic unit of society. The first time, God says it is not good was when he saw man without a helper and made him a family, by creating a woman (help mate) out of man. The family in Heaven is God, the Father, Jesus, the Son and His Holy Spirit, the Helper.

Salvation is plural, not singular. It includes the family. Rahab and her family were saved. Zacchaeus was told that Salvation had come to his house. When the disciples were questioned, What must I do to be saved? Though the question was singular, the answer came in plural as the disciples replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved and your household”

Even with no psychological anesthesia to dilute the awful crushing reality of impending death, even in this crisis, Jesus’ focus was unwavered. He saw his mother, he saw his disciple is what the Bible says. The operative word is ‘SAW’. Jesus’ eyes saw his mother and his beloved disciple and as they focus on him, he makes them focus on each other. They looked up at him and he made them look at each other.

John 19:26-27 (KJV)
26 When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!
27 Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.

Verily, I Say Unto Thee, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise

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On March 26, 2010

In Christian, Personal God, Seven Sayings

Even cursorily evaluating this statement the second saying of Christ Jesus as He hung on the Cross, living up to His Name, which was to save His people from their sins, we see PROFOUND TRUTHS hidden in it. Delving deeper accentuates these subheadings so much further that it is simply baffling to the human mind, the depth of meaning that each word (carefully chosen) in this SECOND SAYING of Christ Jesus – Verily, I say unto thee, thou shalt be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). Deeper analysis uncovers the hidden treasures in this expression of Christ Jesus.

VERILY (the SAYING was a PROMISE)

We see the usage of the word ‘Verily’, to mean PROMISORILY, MOST ASSUREDLY, TRULY and in simple terms to mean that IT CANT BE OTHERWISE! The term ‘Verily’ is used ONLY in the second saying on the cross, but it mentioned many times in the Gospels to express ABSOLUTE TRUTHS. Matthew records it 24 Times, Mark 12 Times, Luke 6 Times and John 24 Times.  By using the term ‘Verily’, Jesus was CLARIFYING ALL DOUBTS and questions in the mind of the criminal as well as all those who heard him, that what he had once said before was INDEED true and that is JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE and no Man cometh unto the Father but by him. There is NO OTHER WAY or MEANS to SALVATION and this was a PROMISE – Verily / Truly / It cant be Otherwise

I SAY UNTO YOU (the ADDRESS was PERSONAL)
Replace the word ‘YOU’ with your Name and you will still hear Jesus unto you the same He said to the penitent malefactor on the Cross. Jesus is a Personal God and He is interested in your personal life and mine and He is making this a personal statement to and for you.          

TODAY (the element of TIME was the PRESENT)

Jesus said ‘Today’ meaning that the DAY of SALVATION for the criminal was not any other time, but THE PRESENT. You don’t have to WAIT for another time to be believe in the Name of Jesus and be saved. I plead,  DON’T PROCRASTINATE or TARRY. The Scripture records that Now (the PRESENT) is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2). Now is the appointed time for us, the creation to meet the Creator God, Jesus as a Savior.

SHALT THOU BE WITH ME (Man’s PRESENCE with GOD)
“Shalt thou be with me”, indicates the PRESENCE of God WITH Man. It is the PRESENCE, NOT PROXIMITY. God is NOT Only NEAR you in your situations of life, God is WITH you in your situation. In the fiery trials that the three Hebrew boys, Hanniah, Mishael and Azariah faced, Jesus Christ, the Son of God was in the fire with them as expressed by a pagan king.  God became Immanuel, meaning God is present with us, in the person of Jesus, so that Man could be  present with God and Jesus affirms this.

IN PARADISE (the DESTINATION is PARADISE)
Ever wonder why Jesus did not use the word ‘Heaven’ but instead said paradise. The history of the word paradise is an extreme example of amelioration, the process by which a word comes to refer to something better than what it used to refer to. The old Iranian language Avestan had a noun pairidaēza-, meaning “a wall enclosing a garden or orchard,” which is composed of pairi-, “around,” and daēza- “wall.” The adverb and preposition pairi is related to the equivalent Greek form peri, as in perimeter. Daēza- comes from the Indo-European root *dheigh-, “to mold, form, shape.” This Greek word paradeisos was used in the Septuagint translation of Genesis to refer to the Garden of Eden, whence Old English eventually borrowed it around 1200.

Honestly, I don’t know if Paradise is a geographical location synonymous with ‘Heaven’ when God’s throne is, or if it is metaphorical as in the saying that God lives in the praises of men and /or if it is physical with a longitudinal and/or latitudinal construct. I dont know. But what surfaces is that if the root of the word paradise was pairidaēza meaning “a wall enclosing a garden” it reminds me of the garden of Eden where man communed with God was shut from man by a wall of a flaming sword and angel so that man could not access the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Man could not have access to the garden where God came down in the cool of the evening to be with his creation. Now with the final and finishing act of God’s redemptive work, demonstrated by Jesus being crucified in the stead of man, we see that the perimeter wall that precluded man from reaching God (and access to THE TREE OF LIFE i.e., Jesus) in the garden is now removed and the garden (paradise) is accessible to man as expressed by Jesus when he said, Verily, I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in Paradise. The garden that was shut is now open. Furthermore, irrespective of where paradise is physically, I believe that when Jesus is WITH me and you, anyplace is Paradise.

VERILY – indicates that this saying was a PROMISE
I SAY UNTO YOU – indicates that the address was PERSONAL
TODAY – indicates that the element of time was the PRESENT
SHALT THOU BE WITH ME – indicates Man’s PRESENCE with GOD
IN PARADISE – indicates the destination is PARADISE

Father forgive them for they know not what they do

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On March 25, 2010

In Christian, Seven Sayings

The first saying of Jesus as He hung on the Cross, living up to His Name, which was to save His people from their sins was “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO” (Luke 23:34). These are wonderful, wonderful words of Love.

Let’s break this saying down into its individual components as we try to understand the depth of what Jesus meant.

FATHER
The address was a direct and personal address to God as His Father. This was establishing the fact that He was the Son of God in whom God was well pleased. Jesus said He and the Father are one, in other words. If the Father was God, so was He. This is GOD asking GOD to forgive.

FORGIVE THEM
Whom was Jesus asking to forgive?

  • The men and women who shouted “Crucify Him”.
  • The religious leaders and their followers.
  • The indifferent Pilate, the inebriated Herod
  • In essence, transcending all barriers of time, all sinners, including You and Me

FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO
I wish that Jesus had spelled out what the people did not know, for which they had to be forgiven.

WHAT was it that the people DID NOT KNOW?
The people did not know 

  1. THE WILL OF GOD
    In the Garden of Gethsemane we see Jesus, in agony praying and submitting to the will of God as he prayed “Not my Will, but thy (God’s) Will be done”. What was this will of God? Isaiah 53:10 states “Yet, It was the Lord’s will to crush Him (Jesus) and cause Him (Jesus) to suffer”. It was the Lord’s will that Jesus had to suffer and die and bring salvation to all. Luke 23:24, records that PILATE handed over Jesus to the People’s Will, but the people and Pilate were mere ACTORS in the grand design of God’s Will. There were merely doing without knowing what God wanted them to be doing.
  2. THE TRUTH (VERITAS) about the CROSS
    that it was indeed a fight of the ages, a battle that began in Genesis in the garden and now was being finished (Tetelastai) on the Cross, and its outcome.

    In John 8:32 we read “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free”
    WHAT WAS THIS TRUTH?
    To know THE Truth, we need to go back to the very beginning; to Genesis. To the time of  
    ADAM and EVE     in the garden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God (The fall of Man), God prophesied against Satan who had caused Adam and Eve to disobey Him.
    The prophesy was “I will put enmity between the seed of the woman (Jesus) and the serpent (Satan), you shall strike His heel and He will crush it’s head.”
    So, Satan knew that his doom was foretold and he could do nothing but wait.
    CAIN is BORN.
    Satan acts, thinking he is the one who has come to deliver (the seed of the woman). Satan gets Cain to kill Abel.
    God tells Cain “Sin is crouching at your door, you must master it” (Genesis 4:7)
    Adam and Eve proliferate, the earth gets filled. Satan entices people to sin until the time of
    NOAH’s FLOOD    . God in his wrath almost destroys ALL of mankind by a flood.
    From Noah and his Son’s and their wives, the world is repopulated. Satan goes back into slumber until one day when
    MOSES IS BORN.     Could this be the seed of the woman, the deliverer?  Satan entices Pharoah and in the birth of Moses, “BABY BOYS are KILLED”.
    Though Moses is miraculously saved, He could not be the one, since he himself sinned. Satan must be now at a little ease. Then came the
    TIME OF THE KINGS.     Satan continues to live in the LUXURY of DECEIT for a while until one
    BETHLEHEM     NIGHT when  he is AWAKENED from his sleep, as he hears
    FOOTSTEPS of the wise men (MAGI)     in Herod’s court. He hurries to Herod’s palace and find’s the magi asking, “Where is he who is born the king of the Jews?”
    Satan hears the heavenly angelic choir sing and the shepherds talk about this baby boy called Jesus as the one who has come to Save and deliver God’s people.
    Knowing that the deliverer was born, he gets back to his ways of trying to kill the seed of the woman; and pulls out from his bag of evil tricks, the same plan as in the time of Moses (the mistaken deliverer) which he puts into action. There is another Slaughter of the INNOCENTS;
    ANOTHER BLOODSHED OF BABIES.     But by divine intervention, Joseph and Mary escape with Jesus to Nazareth and hence the fulfillment of the prophecy, “He shall be called a Nazarene” (Matthew 2:23)
    30 years pass by and we see Jesus walking along the banks of a river and his harbinger John the Baptist, proclaiming
    BEHOLD THE AGNUS DEI    , the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world and at the
    BAPTISM OF JESUS,     Satan hears along with everyone else, the very voice of God, saying
    “BEHOLD”, THIS IS MY SON, WITH WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.”
    Immediately after that proclamation, Satan knew who his target was and so goes to tempt Jesus when Jesus is physically weak (yet spiritually fortified) after 40 DAYS AND 40 NIGHTS of fasting.
    Jesus engages in the the fight of the ages as he fences with Satan using the Word of God to defend himself and deal offensive blows. In all of this Jesus did not sin nor knew no sin, and He could not be touched. This only vexed Satan even more and so he devises an evil plan and entices the religious leaders, poisoning their hearts.“The religious leaders plotted to kill Jesus” (John 11:45-53)
    Fearing this was insufficient, he wants to make sure that his plan to kill the seed of the woman wont fail again. So he poison’s a friend and disciple of Jesus, Judas Iscariot who betrays Jesus. After the
    BETRAYAL OF A FRIEND    , Jesus is handed over to be crucified. THE FIGHT IS ON FULL SWING . JESUS IS CRUCIFIED and Satan thinks – “hah, now it is finished. I have won”.

    What Satan failed to have realized is that in all his calculations, he had not considered a critical fact into his equation. He was suddenly GUILTY OF MURDER.
    God had said. “The soul that sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18) and that “ the wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23)
    But Jesus had never sinned.  Satan had no right whatsoever to kill Jesus.

    THIS TICKED GOD BEYOND BELIEF and his emotions and actions is recorded in Habakkuk 3: 11-14
    Vs. 11: Sun and the Moon stood still in the heavens, At the glint of your flying arrows, At the lightning of your flashing spear. When Jesus died, darkness came over the land.
    Vs 12: In wrath, You strode the earth, And in your anger, you threshed the nations.
    Vs. 13: You went out to deliver your people (Jesus’ birth) To save your anointed One (Jesus on the Cross) You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness (Satan crushed) You stripped him from head to toe.
    Vs. 14: With his own weapon, you pierced his head. The cross, looks like an inverted sword, wielded into a head (skull). Interesting, isn’t it that the hill on which Jesus was crucified was shaped as a head, a skull and hence called Golgotha.
    From verse 13 of this scripture, we see that God was INFURIATED, STRIDING THE EARTH in his WRATH and ANGER and as in the time of Noah, He could have destroyed it all, if Jesus had not stepped in and INTERCEDED, saying “Father, Forgive them for they know not what they do.”

    This is the truth that Satan does not want you to know, that at the end of the faded storm, as the mist cleared, there was one hero, one champion, one victor standing , and that was the Lord Jesus Christ.

NOW YOU KNOW THE TRUTH – There is no excuse “Captivity has been set, Salvation bought for you and me. Cause Satan is defeated and Jesus is the Champion” and this TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU AND ME FREE.

“FATHER, FORGIVE US FOR WE DID NOT KNOW”, but now we do.

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