The Seven Last Words of Jesus on the Cross
Bruised and bleeding, the Savior’s final
hours were spent crucified on a cross. Although racked with excruciating pain, he
made seven significant statements as the last words of his mortal ministry. As we look more closely at these final statements, Christ shows us how he is a
healing, human, and divine Savior to each of us. Though in desperate need of comfort himself,
Jesus Christ’s first three statements show his compassion and desire to heal others. The first statement was spoken as the soldiers
crucified him. The Savior said, “Father, forgive them;
for they know not what they do.” Amazingly, the Savior generously pleaded for mercy for those who were in the very act of crucifying him. He is showing by example what he taught during
the Sermon on the Mount that we should love our enemies and “pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Christ is teaching us how we should be willing
to extend forgiveness and mercy, even when it is not merited, asked for, or acknowledged. The Savior’s second statement also displays
tender compassion for others even while he himself suffers. As Christ hung between two thieves,
one of them taunted him by saying, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.” But the other man rebuked him, by saying that
they both were getting what they deserved.
At this point, this penitent thief then pleads with the Savior, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” These words, spoken by a convicted criminal, are the final recorded words addressed to the Savior before his death. His plea captures a special intimacy as he is the only person recorded in the
Gospels as asking Christ to remember him. Others might easily see this thief as worthless
or beyond redemption. Yet, in his response to the man hanging beside him, Jesus shows us what he truly thinks of the human race.
The Savior makes the second statement by saying, “Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.” Can you imagine the reunion when Jesus and
this man see each other after they have died? Christ would personally minister to him and
teach him that very day. According to Luke, Jesus began his public
ministry at a synagogue in Nazareth stating that he would “proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;” How appropriate that he ends
his mortal ministry by proclaiming freedom to one who is physically bound on a cross
and spiritually bound by sin.
Like this thief who hung beside Christ, we too can be freed from our own bondage and sins
because of a healing and merciful Savior. When Jesus saw his mother Mary and the disciple
whom Christ loved watching him as he suffered on the cross, he said the third statement. First to Mary, “Woman, behold thy son!” Then, directing his words to the beloved disciple
(often assumed to be John), “Behold thy mother!” Even in his greatest agony, the Savior focuses
on the needs of his mother.
He is showing by example how to obey the commandment
he gave to “Honour thy father and thy mother.” In John, the first miracle Christ performed was at the request of his mother by turning water into wine. Here, again, Christ lovingly attends to her
needs even in his moment of greatest need. He inspires us to look outward, even when
we are suffering. The Savior demonstrated his healing power
by forgiving the soldiers, comforting the thief and honoring his mother. Just as Jesus met them where they were,
he will also meet us where we are— even those who make serious mistakes. No one is beyond the reach of the Savior’s
healing love. In the next two statements we are reminded
that though his Father was our Immortal God, Jesus was born of a mortal woman.
In agony on the cross, he shows us his humanity
through his suffering. As Christ experiences the effects of shock
due to the loss of blood, with parched and shriveled lips,
he cries out his fourth statement, “I thirst!” During his ministry, Christ said to the Samaritan
woman at the well, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life.” What a powerful testament that he truly bears
all of our pains as our Savior. Christ thirsted so that we can drink the cool,
refreshing, water that he himself so desperately needed. As the Living Water, he strengthens us in
our own challenges. As the time of his death approached,
Jesus “cried with a loud voice, … ” “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” making his fifth statement. In his moment of greatest distress, Christ is left to bear the full brunt of the sins of the world
without the accompanying help of his Father. During his ministry, he told those who loved him, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” Even in his final painful hours, he has sought to forgive, comfort, and honor those around him.
And now he is the one in need of comfort, for even his Father has left him to suffer these pains alone. In this statement, we more fully see a human
Savior who is suffering. In our pain, we can connect with Christ, for
he knows how to heal our pain perfectly. As the end of the Savior’s life nears, we become acquainted with his divinity in his final two statements. Despite intense suffering, as the Son of God, he retains power over all things and completes his atoning sacrifice. In great agony, Christ makes his sixth statement,
“It is finished.” Earlier in his ministry, Jesus taught that his purpose was to "obey the will of the one who sent me
and to finish the work he gave me to do.” In spite of earth and hell combining against
him, thirsty, forsaken, and in agonizing pain, Christ has indeed completed the work his Father
had sent him to accomplish.
We can be confident that even when our lives spin out of control, Christ is completely in control. He is always at the helm. Finally, moments before Jesus ended
his mortal ministry on earth, he cried, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Perhaps the keyword in this seventh and final statement is I— indicating the Savior’s personal agency—
he willingly gave up his life. Note also the Savior intimately addresses God as “Father.” In the Gospel of Luke, Christ’s first recorded
words at a young age of just twelve years are when he asks Mary and Joseph “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” —and now Mary’s witness provides the heart-wrenching answer. He had finished the work his Father sent him to do. Christ gave himself completely to God.
Do we do the same? Are we willing to allow our will to be completely
swallowed up in the will of the Father? Reflecting on these seven statements Jesus said from the cross, we see Christ as a healing Savior who extends
mercy and comfort even in his own agony. We see Christ as a human Savior who can relate
to our anguish and our suffering.
He is a divine Savior, able to help us in
every circumstance because he is all-powerful. In these seven simple yet poignant statements
made in Christ’s final moments when he suffered the most, we see that Jesus Christ is the
Messiah who has come to save us all..
