Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ ” Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly, this was a righteous Man!” Luke 23: 44-47, NKJV.
Merciful God, we are grateful to You, that when we commit our lives into Your keeping, we can rest in the peaceful assurance, that, “the best is yet to come.” Please convince us of that, as we engage in the study of Your Word today. In the name of Jesus we humbly pray. Amen.
We have come to the “Seventh,” and last, “Word,” of Jesus, as He hung dying, on Calvary’s Cross, according to sacred writ. As soon as He finished the work that the Father had given Him to do, Jesus committed His spirit, into the Father’s keeping, and, breathed His last. In spite of the pain that racked His body, He had managed to maintain His focus, to the end, and finish in triumph, the work that the Father had sent Him to do. He forgave His murderers. He let a repentant sinner through the gates of mercy, at “the eleventh hour.” He made sure that His mother was duly, and adequately, taken care of. His humanity became undeniably evident, as He expressed a physical need with which every son and daughter of Adam can identify: “I am thirsty.” He uttered a very deep emotional concern of the human race, when, in almost unbearable pain, His cry broke through earth’s boundaries, and reached the Throne of Grace, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” In spite of this, He clung to the Father’s love; and by faith, came to the end of the race of life; and in victory, was able to proclaim: “It is finished!” Then, and only then, did He lay down His life.
Our Scripture for today informs us, that there was darkness over the earth, for the last three hours of Jesus’ life. In the book, The Desire of Ages, page 665, we read the following: “With amazement angels witnessed the Savior’s despairing agony. The hosts of heaven veiled their faces from the fearful sight. Inanimate nature expressed sympathy with its insulted and dying Author. The sun refused to look upon the awful scene. Its full bright rays were illuminating the earth at midday, when suddenly it seemed to be blotted out. Complete darkness, like a funeral pall, enveloped the cross. “There was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.” There was no eclipse or other natural cause for this darkness, which was as deep as midnight without moon or stars. It was a miraculous testimony given by God that the faith of other generations might be confirmed . . . In the thick darkness, God veiled the last human agony of His Son. All who had seen Christ in His suffering had been convicted of His divinity. That face, once beheld by humanity, was never forgotten.”
It was in that hour, that our salvation, yours and mine, was secured. The Creator had given His life for the creature. Instead of exacting a sacrifice, God, had become the Sacrifice. The plan of salvation, that had been prepared from before the foundation of the world, and had been put in motion, “when the time had fully come” (Galatians 4: 4, NIV), was now completed. Humanity had been forever, rescued from “the wages of sin” (Romans 6: 23); because it had been “paid in full,” by Him who conquered death on our behalf. When Christ committed His spirit into the Father’s hands, on that Friday afternoon, that was the guarantee that He would “take it up again,” early Sunday morning, “the first day of the week.” To every son and daughter of Adam, who, following in the footsteps of the Savior, commit their souls to the Father’s keeping, has been given the guarantee, that, “because I (Christ) live, you will live also” (John 14: 19).
Why not make your commitment today, and receive everlasting life! Have a very blessed, and, happy, Easter!