Seven Last Words 2024

Text: the Seven Last Words of Our Lord from the Cross

As we consider the seven last words of our Lord from the cross, let’s not neglect to take in the whole picture.

It has been said that actions speak louder than words. This is most certainly true. At the same time, words are usually necessary because actions can be so easily misunderstood. That was certainly the case, that day, at the cross.

Those who claimed to be experts in theology showed a strange mixture of understanding and ignorance. “35 [T]he rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”” (Luke 23:35). They understood that Jesus claimed to be the Christ. But they did not understand what that meant, or else they would have challenged Jesus to remain on the cross. “If you are the Christ, then that means you must stay there on the cross; that you must suffer and die.” This is a strange mixture of understanding and ignorance of who Jesus was and what was happening to Him.

But the bottom line for us is: do you and I truly understand either Jesus’ words or His actions today?

That is no trivial matter. Jesus, Himself, addresses our lack of understanding: “Father, forgive them. They know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). You and I must plead guilty to that statement. You and I have lost the image of God— you no longer know God’s will as you should, let alone doing it. Your sinful nature “14 does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). “7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot” (Romans 8:7).

That lack of understanding constantly shows itself in your words and actions. Still, you struggle with the urge to insist that you know better than God does what is right for you. You rightly reject the foolishness of this world and their absurd ideas about what ‘love’ looks like, what it means. But this seems like another instance of that saying coming true: “The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of passionate intensity.” Is your love for God and for your neighbor anything more than half-hearted? Jesus’ warning to the church in Laodicea strike a little too close to home: “15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see” (Revelation 3:15–18).

So He did not rely upon your understanding to lead you back to Himself. Just a few days before Good Friday, Jesus looked ahead to the cross and proclaimed, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:31). Through the cross, God “9 bring[s] to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, 10 so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 3:9–10).

His plan has always been to redeem you— to purchase and win you, “not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that you may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the grave, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true” (Luther’s Small Catechism, Explanation to the 2nd Article of the Apostles’ Creed).

The sinful nature does not accept the things of God; it can not; it is not able to understand them (1 Corinthians 2:14), but you “4 were buried… with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). “10 [You] have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:10). “16 And [you] have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

If you look for true understanding in this whole episode, you’ll find it in the woman who came to Jesus— not long before the crucifixion— wetting His feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, and anointing Him for burial (Luke 7:37-38; John 12:3). That is true understanding.

If you look for true understanding, you’ll find it in the criminal on the cross next to Jesus, who looks at the bleeding and dying man next to Him and says, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Think about the understanding that man showed. He didn’t simply acknowledge Jesus’ innocence. This man goes much further: He recognizes Jesus as a King. Arguably, He recognizes Him as more than a King. Many kings have had their live ended at the hands of his enemies. And only a fool would ask a favor of one of them in their last moments. There would be no point. This criminal, though, asks Jesus to remember him when He enters His kingdom. For those other kings, their death meant that their kingdoms were taken from them. Here, he rightly understands that Jesus is about to enter His. That is the understanding that our Lord rewards with the assurance of paradise.

And that is the knowledge that today is all about. It’s easy to be preoccupied with the fine details of Jesus’ suffering— how, exactly, the crown of thorns hurt Him; what effect the scourge would have had on Him; the exact physical process of dying on a cross. The point, today, is not to impress you with the full depth of His suffering. That is not the knowledge that we want to impart. The point of today is the knowledge that all of it— the rope, the crown of thorns, the whip, the nails, the sign, the spear, the grave clothes— all of it was for you. He endured it all for you. So that He can say to you the same thing that He said to that woman: “Your sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:48). So that He can say to you the same thing He said to that criminal: “You will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). By His actions— by His suffering and death— your sins are paid for in full.

Understanding these words and actions means more than intellectual knowledge. It means understanding your identity, as well. “18 For the word of the cross is [foolishness…], but to [you] who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). It is the power that transforms who you are. Through the knowledge of His cross, you are forgiven, redeemed, holy; you are born again as a child of God; living a new, eternal life; being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ; no longer a slave to wrath, lust, pride, and greed, but defined, instead, “6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love” (2 Corinthians 6:6). This knowledge now shows itself in your words and actions, as well. Those are now the characteristics that mark your words and your actions.

So do not shy away from recalling each painful step of these words and actions. In the knowledge— the power— of the cross, “put off the old self with its practices and… put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:9-10).

“25 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Romans 16:25–27).