Into Your Hands I commit my Spirit
Notes
Transcript
Big Idea: Surrendering to God allows us to experience His peace and strength, especially during the trials of life, reflecting Jesus' perfect example on the cross.
We’ve been following Jesus as he has hung from the cross, and we have looked at some of the statements he made as he hung there. Its helpful to remember the scene, Jesus has been beaten within inches of his life we are told, and he is hanging between two thieves. As he has hung there people have hurled insults at him, they have mocked him, If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross and He saved others, let him save himself.
Father Forgive Them…As they hurled insults, we looked at Jesus saying Father Forgive them, for they know not what they do. We spent some time talking about how amazing it was that in his greatest time of need, in the middle of his anguish he called upon the father to forgive these people who were inflicting this pain upon Him. We talked about how this act showed us not only do we need forgiveness for our sins, but we need to offer forgiveness to other people; our forgiveness for others is a choice we make. While the things people have done to us are real and hurt, our forgiveness from the Father hinges upon how we forgive those who have wronged us. So, knowing what Jesus has to offer us is greater than anything this world has to offer us, we must be willing to forgive those people who hurt us.
Today you will be with me in Paradise…The second week we dove into forgiveness a little bit more as we saw Jesus looking at thief on his right and say, Today you will be with me in Paradise. In this moment with the thief Jesus showed us it isn’t good people who go to Heaven, it is forgiven people who do. We rated our goodness on scale of 1-100 and noted it doesn’t matter what number we had given ourselves, the only thing that matters is what we have done with Jesus, have we accepted the gift he has to offer and allowed his forgiveness to wash us clean.
My God, My God…Next we took a dive into what I said was some of the most misused scripture when it comes to this time of year, when Jesus cries into the Heavens, My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me? And realized this was Jesus quoting scripture to allow the people around the cross to know Jesus was about to win the battle. The mocking words of the people around the cross didn’t matter as they waited for Jesus to come down and setup this earthly Kingdom, Jesus was telling them the battle was being won right where he was and he wanted them to know what was playing out.
I am thirsty…Then we looked as Jesus said, I am Thirsty, and saw John tell us this was a fulfillment of scripture in Psalm 22. Not only that, when Jesus said I am, he was using the divine name, referring to himself as God. In those moments as he declared his thirst to fulfil scripture Jesus was pointing to our need for Him. Our thirst, hunger, sickness, pain, and so much more came from the moment Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and were separated from God, and those things are supposed to point us back to our need for him. Where in the Garden God was there to provide all those needs for his people; they didn’t have to look anywhere else to have all of those things fulfilled, God was the provider they needed. Much in the same Jesus provides all we really need and we need to return to Him as a supplier.
It is finished…Last week, we looked as Jesus cried out, It is finished, signifying the end of all the connections with Psalm 22 and showing the completeness of the work the Father had sent him to do. In all the moments he had the opportunity to call upon angels to pull him from the cross and save Him in the moment, what this cry showed us is he didn’t stop half way - he finished the job. It is easy to start something, we can all start 4 or 5 things at once, as someone with ADHD ask me how I know, the hard thing is finishing it. Jesus, didn’t half do anything and we are still here because we still have work to do - to proclaim the Gospel to anyone who will listen, because there is nothing we have to offer anyone better than the Good news of Jesus.
And now in the midst of this darkness that had come over the land, after all of these statements we see Jesus’ final words.
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.
First, we see Jesus crying out with a loud voice, and if you know anything about crucifixion you would know how hard this is, after hours of hanging your lungs would be compressed making it hard to get a deep breath, making speaking at this volume even harder. In fact, crucifixions were know to take days for a person to die, and when they wanted to speed up the process they would break the legs of the person being crucified, this disabled them from being able to stretch their bodies upright and allow their lungs to get a full breath. So essentially they would suffocate as they hung there on the cross. Really, this is the cause of death of many on the cross, they got too tired to stretch themselves out and would eventually suffocate, the breaking of the legs just got the job done faster.
Next we see Jesus saying into YOUR hands I commit my spirit.
And there is so much goodness in this talking about how putting his spirit in the hands of the father. Jesus is in the middle of one of the most difficult and painful situations and to those standing around him it looks as if he is in the hands of his punishers. They have him right where they want him, he is hanging on a cross, he is caught, there is nothing he can do; they think their victory is won. But in the middle of all of that, Jesus says I give my spirit to you.
And this is a direct quote from Psalm 31, and Psalm 31 is a psalm where we find David in the middle of struggles in life, dealing with lots of things coming against him and holding him down. However, let us look at where he starts
1 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me!
3 For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
David starts the Psalm Speaking of the greatness of God and all the things he has done, he tells God he will put his entire life into his hands and give it all to him, because he has redeemed him, He is faithful. This verse reminds me of the Elevation song Do It Again, where they say you haven’t failed me yet. And I know some people who hate this line in the song, because they think its against God because God cant fail us, but I love it, because in the middle of it all they are saying, look I can trust you, because you have never failed me. And this is similar to what we see David saying, you’ve redeemed me, you’ve been faithful so I put my trust in you.
Look at what happens next Psalm 31:7-8
7 I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul,
8 and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.
And there are some of you you have some serious stuff in your life you are dealing with, you have some sickness you can’t seem to kick, you have some kids that you want to know the Lord, you have some relationships you need to have restored. You have prayed and It just feels like nothing is happening and we can take the same hope we see here in David’s words; You know my afflictions, you know the distress of my soul… and you have not delivered me into the hand of my enemy.
How many of you actually believe that this morning? And I don’t mean just up here, in your head, but believe it with all of your heart. Its easy to say you believe it, but are you living like you believe it? And listen I know how hard it is, I’ve had a week and a half that have really tested me. Have really tested everything and even in the middle of some really tough emotional moments I have had to know God has me, because there are so many things I know without him and Jennifer I would never have the strength to do. So are you living like you know he has heard you?
When you think about that sickness, do you know he hears you and is holding you? Listen, that doesn’t mean he is giving you the answer you want, but do you know that you know that he is with you?
When you think about your wayward kids do you know he hears your prayers? Even when it seems they are getting further away from the Lord, do you know he is hearing you, are you living like he is hearing you?
When you think about those relationships you need restored, are you trusting him and living like he will be with you through it? Like you know he will be with you, but are you taking steps toward restoration like he is right there with you?
I wonder how many of us have that same desire, have the same capacity in the middle of our toughest days to hand all we have over to Him. And remember that is the place David started. He didn’t just get himself there eventually, he started his heart there are the beginning of the Psalm, and for some of us we need to get to a place where we can do that as well. We need to start our day, our journey to work, our whatever with prayer, praising him for what he has given us and praying he keeps us through it. And when we start our day there and the bad news comes, or the hardships, or just the tough situations it is easier to prepare our hearts.
Back to todays scripture.
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.
The last thing we see in this scripture is he breathed his last. Jesus life wasn’t taken from Him. He gave it up, he chose the ending.
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Jesus gave it up. And we know this goes along with what we read earlier in John John 10:17-18
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
18 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.”
Jesus gave everything to make us right with God once again. And he was in control the entire time.
And I love this scripture in Matthew as he gives us a little bit more information about what was going on here.
50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
To understand it all starts with the Garden….
Adam and Eve Walked with God
Sinned
Cherubim were guarding the entrance
Biblical Scholars believe the garden was covered in the flood
900 years later God gave Moses instructions on tabernacle
Veil separated the Holy Place from Holy of Holies where God resides.
The Curtain was to be embroidered with cherubim to show they were still protecting the place to God
Centuries later, when Solomon built the temple, and then the temple reconstructed by Herod during Jesus’ day, this veil was described by Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, as woven with strands of blue and purple and scarlet and patterned into the fabric hundreds and hundreds of cherubim.
Josephus said it was 3 inches thick 30 foot tall
One man entered. Tied a rope… he was scared
And in this moment it was ripped in half… some say you could have heard it all the way into the courtyard it would have been so loud.
And God was signifying something New. With Jesus we have new access to the Father… we don’t have access to him just through the temple but he is living with us
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus,
20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
We can get to the Father through Jesus…and friends that is what we celebrate this morning… the curtain has ripped and Jesus gives us access…
