“Then Jesus calling out with a loud voice said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ And having said this, He breathed His last.”
– Luke 23:46
Here we are on Good Friday of holy week, the day when we remember Jesus dying on the cross. Obviously, we remember the death of Jesus every day. The love of Jesus who laid down his life for us, for our sins. And on this Good Friday, there’s so much happened in history on this day. As we think about Jesus being arrested the night before and then He begins to be tried before Jewish authorities, preliminary hearing before Annas and a hearing before Caiaphas, and a trial before the Jewish ruling council.
On this Good Friday, Jesus, we praise you for the cross today.
Luke 23:46 Reminds Us to Thank Jesus
Then before the Roman authorities, a first hearing before Pilate than a hearing before Herod, then His last hearing before Pilate as Jesus is handed over to be crucified. From there, He is tortured, mocked, beaten, scourged, spit upon, and then crucified on a cross where we see seven different sayings from Jesus on the cross. And the last one is Luke 23:46 when Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
Think about Luke 23:46. Jesus’ last words, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” What do these words tell us about the last things on Jesus’ mind before He died? As I’ve walked through this passage before they tell us three main things. I’m just going to hit them real quick and lead us to pray according to them.
Luke 23:46 Reminds Us to Trust the Father
I think these words tell us at the very least that Jesus was resting in the Father’s love for Him. It’s interesting His first prayer on His last prayer on the cross began with Father. Amidst all the pain He was enduring, He knew the Father loved Him. And then He was trusting in the Father’s hands, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Not into the grave, not into the void, the dark unknown, but into the hands of my Father.
Think about Psalm 31:15. “My times are in your hands.” Isn’t it good to know that our lives are not in the hands of fate or fortune or chance or luck? That God the Father on high holds us in his hands. And so Jesus was resting in the Father’s love, trusting in the Father’s hands and ultimately looking to the Father’s home. Jesus knew that death was not the end of His story.
This Verse Leads Us to Praise Jesus for the Cross
So I just want to lead us to pray in the same way. On this Good Friday, Jesus, we praise you for the cross today. We praise you for your love for us, for your laying down your life for us on the cross. All glory be to your name, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. The savior who died as a substitute for me and for all who trust in you. And we praise you specifically for this prayer and we pray it together.
\We pray to you, O God, our Father, we rest in your love for us amidst any and everything going on in our lives today, 2000 years later, we praise you that you are our father, that you love us. Even amidst difficulties, even amidst challenges, even amidst questions we may have, we praise you that we can always rest in your love.
So we say yes today, we rest in your love for us. We trust in your hands. We’re so thankful that our times are in your hands. We’re so thankful that you are Lord of our lives. We trust you. You are good, you are wise. You work in ways we don’t see. You accomplish things that we could never fathom. And so we say we trust in you with all our heart today. And we look forward to your home.
This Verse Reminds Us We have Eternal Life in Jesus
We praise you that this world, that this world of sin and suffering and death and pandemic and hurt and pain and betrayal and all the things we see in your story, Lord Jesus in this last week, we praise you that this world is not ultimately our home that you go to prepare a place for us.
You say in John 14 that you have gone to prepare a place for us. Specifically, you have gone to the cross to prepare a place for us. You have died on the cross to make it possible for us to have eternal life, to be forgiven of our sin, filled with your spirit and guaranteed eternal life for all who trust in you. All glory be to your name. We praise you, Jesus, on this Good Friday. We sing your praises today. We will sing your praises every single day for all of eternity as we rest in your love, as we trust in your hands. And we look forward to the home you’ve prepared for us. All glory be to your name on this Good Friday in your name we pray Jesus, our savior and Lord. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
