Into Thy Hands
Luke 23:46
By Harold Dinsmore, M.Div.
© 2008 Harold Dinsmore

Today I want us to finish our series of the seven last sayings of Christ with “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”  Luke 23:46.  So far we have studied

1)     Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34,

2)     Verily I say unto thee, today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43,

3)     Woman, behold thy son! Behold thy mother! John 19:25-27,

4)     My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27:46,

5)     I thirst. John 19:28,

6)     It is finished. John 19:30,

7)     Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Luke 23:46.

Not only does this tell us how Jesus died but it also tells us how he lived.  It was Charles Lamb who wrote of a friend, “who parted this life on Wednesday evening; dying as he lived, without much trouble.”  What Lamb said of his friend is true of mankind in general.  As a rule men dies as they live.  There is nothing in the mere act of passing that makes a bad man good or a good man bad.  Generally we die as we live.  So it was with Jesus.

This seventh saying sort of sums up the life of Jesus.  As his robe was woven of one piece of cloth, so also his life was of one piece.  We see Jesus doing in the final moments of his life that which he had been doing for years.