"I Commend My Spirit"

"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit"

Luke 23:46

From 9 AM to 12 PM Christ hang on the cross in the light. From 12 - 3 PM He hang in darkness. In the daylight, He prayed "Father, forgive them." In the darkness, He cried "MY God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" In the daylight, He suffered and was mocked, in the darkness He suffered alone. No one could see Him, and He felt the pain and agony of Hell, and the loneliness and emptiness of being separated from God. In the daylight, He was made an obstacle to be seen and mocked. In the darkness, He was made sin.

From the darkness, He asked to have His thirst quenched so that He could complete His work. When the daylight began to break through again and He could be seen a soldier offered Him vinegar to quench His thirst. With this He declared "It is finished" and Matthew, Mark, and John tell us He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. Luke, however, offers for us one final, but powerful prayer. Look with me now…

The word "commend" means " I present". He offered up Himself to the Father on behalf of all mankind.

Proposition: The death of Christ was not an act of murder or injustice, it was an act of the will of God.

TS: That God is responsible for the death of Christ is evidenced in the following ways:

Signs and Wonders

Lk. 23:45 “And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.”

Matt. 27:51-53 “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

There were 3 hours of darkness when God turned His back on His son

I want to say again this was not a solar eclipse, nor was it a localized event, this was world-wide darkness which is how God views sin

The 3 hours of darkness is when Jesus became our sin and corresponds to the 3 days of darkness in Egypt prior to the first Passover

The veil in the temple being rent from top to bottom

The veil in the Temple was 60 feet long and 30 feet across

The thickness of the veil was a palm breadth - from 5-6 inches thick

It was so designed so that it would be durable and almost impossible to tear

When it was torn, it was torn from the top to the bottom by the very hand of God doing away with the Old Covenant and making way for the New in Christ's blood

The earthquake and the opened tombs Matt. 27:52 “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,”

It's interesting to point out that when Christ died, the tombs opened, but contrary to popular preaching, none rose until after Christ did!

Christ's death was payment for all saints of all ages, and His resurrection was and is proof of His deity

Soldiers and Their Profession

Lk. 23:47 “Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man.”

That Jesus was indeed dead, is attested to the reaction of the soldiers

A soldier in the Roman army knew what death looked like

This Centurion had given the order to end the lives of the condemned by breaking their legs

Only when the soldier came to Jesus we're told, "he was dead already" so they didn't break His legs

Instead they thrust Him through with a spear, which produced blood and water - signs of a broken heart

That Jesus was indeed the Son of God is attested to their confession

It is believed by some that the Centurion mentioned in the gospels was present from Pilate's judgment all the way through the crucifixion

This man was acquainted with death and suffering and when He saw Christ die, he knew two things:

That He was truly dead

That His death was like none before and like none ever since

"Certainly, this was a righteous man” Matthew tells us He professed "Truly this was the Son of God"

The word profession has a double meaning here: First profession speaks of a job - in this case a soldier. Roman soldiers dealt in death, for this reason we know Jesus was dead. Second, profession is related to confession. When someone is saved they confess with their mouth their profession. Notice the soldier declared Jesus to be a righteous man, as well as the Son of God.

Signs and wonders, soldiers profession, lastly we see the final proof...

Sinners Under Conviction

Lk. 23:48

They had come to see a crucifixion,

they left having witnessed the death of the Son of God, at who's passing, even the earth convulsed

The Bible says they "smote their breasts" after witnessing this scene and those things which took place

This speaks of guilt

Sadly, it doesn't necessarily speak of repentance

A guilty conscience means someone regrets their actions, repentance means they change their mind about their actions

Repentance saves, guilt condemns

Conclusion: Here is a sad truth today, we are all guilty of the cross. It was not Jesus which deserved to die, but me. Not Him, but you. It was there, on the cross, that Jesus became your sin. The song writer put it this way:

His heart was broken, mine was mended He became sin, now I am clean The cross he carried bore my burden The nails that held him set me free Chorus: His life for mine, his life for mine How could it ever be? That he would die, God's son would die To save a wretch like me What love divine, he gave his life for mine

On the cross Jesus prayed "Father forgive them".

On the cross Jesus forgave the repentant thief.

On the cross, He placed the care of his mother into the hands of His most trusted disciple.

On the cross, He suffered in agony experiencing all the awfulness of sin and separation from God.

On the cross, He thirsted and was given vinegar to quench His thirst.

On the cross, He declared with a triumphal shout "It is finished" and,

On the cross, of His own will, He surrendered His spirit into His Father's hands, willingly giving up His life for you and for me.

No one has ever suffered the way that Jesus did, and no one ever will or ever could suffer in such a way.

He died for you, He paid your debt, all you must do is believe. Are you ready to believe today?