The Seventh Word From The Cross: The Disciples and The Donkey

📷

The Seventh Word from the Cross:

The Disciples and The Donkey

Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 23:46, Matthew 27:50-61, 28:1-8, Luke 23:46,

John 10:9-11, 17-18, Psalm 31:5, Psalm 31:15-16

Big Idea: Whose hands are you in?

Matthew records the scene where the two disciples and the donkey are involved because Jesus told them to go retrieve it and bring it to Him. These guys likely had no clue what this simple task was about to fulfill in the grand scheme of the story God had been writing. However, they trusted that Jesus knew what He was talking about and ended up following through with what Jesus asked them to do. The scene unfolds in Matthew 21:1-11.

“Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying,

“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” And the crowds said, “This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” Matthew 21:1-11

The two disciples and the donkey they brought to Jesus played a part in a grand parade into Jerusalem on what has become known as Palm Sunday. They had no idea at that moment that their trust and follow through when Jesus said, “Go…” in verse 2, would lead to such events both in Jerusalem on this day and outside the walls of the city a week from then. Their simple act of trusting Jesus by following through led to significant moments that still are remembered today. For over two thousand years followers of Jesus have remembered the significance of Palm Sunday as the time when the donkey felt the weight of carrying Jesus into Jerusalem to initiate the Passion week. This beginning celebration would end with horror at the end of the week with the ultimate act of trust. Jesus would put His life into His Father’s hands as He carried the weight of the world with the cross that was on His back. The last words of Christ from the cross articulated the moment of magnificent efficacy. They are recorded in Luke 23:46.

“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

When Jesus said those last words and then breathed His final breath, it was as if a fuse got lit on a stick of dynamite that was about to blow the kingdom of darkness to smithereens. When Jesus did what He did and said what He said on the cross, He then trusted all of what He had come from Heaven to earth to live and die for into the hands of His Heavenly Father. Jesus trusting His life and death into the hands of His Father would make a way for you, me and the whole world to be in great hands all throughout the rest of eternity if we choose to trust in the same way.

Jesus Trusts the Father

The gospel of Matthew gives some more specific details about what was put in motion when Jesus did and said those final things on the cross. The final act of trust that Jesus made on the cross was not an ending as much as it was a beginning. Look how Matthew describes what started after Jesus’ time, and life on the cross concluded in Matthew 27:50 and following.

“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!”

There were also many women there, looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to him, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing as white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” Matthew 27:50-61, 28:1-8

That is a lot of stuff that happened all because Jesus trusted and put His life in the hands of His Heavenly Father.

It all has to do with whose hands you are putting your life into with full trust.

Jesus as an example of trusting our Heavenly father

It all has to do with whose hands you are putting your life into with full trust.

And when Jesus was completing His part of the rescue mission of saving the world from sin, death, Satan, and hell, it was time to trust His Father with the rest. After Jesus did all He could do by coming from heaven to earth, being born of a virgin thirty three years earlier, living a completely sinless life although He was tempted in every way just like we are and yet never compromised, never cheated on his taxes, never slipped a peek at an inappropriate site online, never fudged on the truth, or had one too many and got a DWI in college or lied to His parents or did anything that would have disqualified Him from being the perfect, sinless sacrifice that would be worthy of making a complete and paid in full payment for all of our mess ups, hang-ups and sinful choices…He then put full trust of what He did into the hands of His Heavenly Father.

After Jesus went all the way to the cross and hung there for six hours starting at 9 am and wrapping up about 3 pm, He trusted His Heavenly Father. After fulfilling every one of the several hundred references and prophecies about the Messiah that had been recorded in the Old Testament and written over a thousand year period, Jesus then completed His life by fully trusting it to His Father’s hands. He transferred all trust with the last words from the cross:

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” Luke 23:46

In that moment Jesus puts the proverbial ball in His Father’s hands.

Why?

Because He had full confidence that His Father would make the shot that not only would win eternity for everyone who puts the ball in His hands once and for all but also that His Father would be the one who would not let Him decay in a tomb. His Father’s hands would be the hands that could raise Him back to life after being dead for three days.

Jesus would never have gone to the cross if He did not have full trust concerning the sure-handedness of His Father.

How you Trust the Father

It all has to do with whose hands you are putting your life into with full trust.

And Jesus had full confidence and trust that when He would breathe His last breath on the cross that His Father would not drop the ball. Jesus fully trusted that when He would be laid in a tomb and left there in the cold, damp, darkness where no light would be seen after the stone was rolled over the mouth of the tomb to seal Him inside that God the Father had a play drawn up that would hit nothing but net and would win the victory. Jesus trusted that His Father would once and for all defeat sin, death, Satan and hell from that point throughout eternity for all who would walk into the forgiveness and start a relationship with God through Jesus.

Jesus had full trust in His Father’s hands. That’s why Luke records these words:

“Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice…” Luke 23:46

It wasn’t some wimpy, uncertain, “I hope this is the right choice” kind of voice. It was loud. He was clear. There was no guesswork as to what Jesus was doing. He was doing just what He said He would do when it came to His life as He said the words recorded in John 10.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep…For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” John 10:9-11, 17-18

Jesus was saying, “I am the only way to heaven. The only way to eternity with God the Father is through Me. All roads don’t lead to heaven. I am the doorway into eternal life with God the Father. On top of that, My Father in Heaven loves Me because I lay my life down. Nobody takes My life from Me. No Roman soldiers, no religious mobs, nobody takes my life from Me. I lay it down willingly into the hands of My Father in whom I fully trust.”

Your Hands as Fulfillment of Scripture

On the cross Jesus puts humanity’s salvation rescue mission from sin, death, Satan, and hell into motion when He says:

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” Luke 23:46

Jesus was quoting a prayer with those last words on the cross that Jews said at the end of their day. It was the part of a bedtime prayer that became a famous and regularly used prayer that originated from a Psalm that David wrote when he was on the run from King Saul.

Psalm 31:5 says,

“Into your hand, I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.” Psalm 31:5

It goes on to say in verse 15,

“My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors! Make your face shine on your servant; save me in your steadfast love!” Psalm 31:15-16

“Into your hands, I commit my spirit.”

Those were the words that Jews began to incorporate into their evening prayers on a daily basis. They were the words that were not used to start the day, but rather to end the day. First century Jews had this thing about making sure they were in good hands when they were in an unconscious state during their times of sleep. They wanted to make sure that the last things they said to God had them in right standing and in good hands throughout the night until their alarm clock went off and the new start to a new day began.

Thus, they would end their day by praying their evening prayers that included: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” In a sense, the prayer first century Jews would pray, and the prayer Jesus was praying on the cross before His final breath, are like the prayer that many people learned as kids.

“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake. I pray the Lord my soul to take.”

Or… “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

Jesus was putting the ball in His Father’s hands. He was pushing all His chips into the middle of the table based on the kind of hand His Father had and was going to play that would raise Him back from the dead three days later.

Jesus laid down His life into His Father’s Hands. It all has to do with whose hands you are putting your life into with full trust.

The Gospel

Whose hands are you putting your life into with full trust today?

Jesus laid down His life and put it right in the middle of His Father’s hands. And His Father brought Him back to life on the third day that first Easter Sunday morning.

Today, if you are a follower of Jesus and you have put your life into His hands with full trust, He wants you to advance the story. The ball is in your hands to do something with it. Go and tell somebody this week.

If you have not put your life into the hands of your Heavenly Father yet, the question for you remains: “Whose hands are you putting your life into with full trust today?”

You can have a billion-dollar life insurance policy to ensure your family is taken care of, but that does not cover eternity. Would you make the decision to put your life into the hands of Jesus with full trust today? His hands are strong hands. His hands can hold through anything you ever will face. His hands are the hands you want holding you up and whose hands you want to be holding at the end of your life when you breathe your last breath one day.

Today, if you have never put your life into God’s hands, would you pray the prayer Jesus prayed to His Heavenly Father when He trusted and prayed those last words from the cross?

“Father, into your hands I commit My spirit!”