Seven or more "Last Words" of Jesus

Dr. Pablo Martínez at Evangelical Focus wrote this last year on the seven "words" (some are sentences) from the cross,

1. Words of forgiveness for his enemies

"Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

Jesus dies forgiving. The whole saving act of crucifixion was in fact a symbol of divine forgiveness. (John 3:14-15). But it was appropriate to make this forgiveness explicit with clear, resonant words and with the emotional strength and spiritual authority that he gives them.

When he cries out "Father, forgive them", Jesus articulates the very meaning of his having come into this world. Indeed, his very name "Jesus" means "he will save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). The request for forgiveness was not only for those who were directly responsible for the humiliation that he was being subjected to, but for every human being (as the beautiful poem which we find in Isaiah 53 makes clear).

On the cross, Jesus teaches us that forgiveness, as opposed to reconciliation, can be unilateral, and does not require the involvement of both parties. I can, and I must, forgive my offender even if they have not asked for my forgiveness. Stephen, under the rain of stones that was ending his life, was the first of Jesus' followers to follow his Lord and Master's example (Acts 7:60). We are also called to do likewise.

2. Words of salvation for the thief on the cross

"I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).

Jesus died in the company of two anonymous individuals. These two men had probably never before exchanged words with the Lord. The story is well known: on the threshold of death, one of them is overcome by the fear of God and says to Jesus: "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). Jesus' reply is as clear as it is immediate. Jesus gave this man what he was most in need of at that moment: hope, the hope that is born of salvation in Christ, and which would be for him a "great encouragement" (Hebrews 6:8) in the seemingly endless hours of torture that would follow.

Incidentally, the attitude of Jesus, so full of compassion, reminds us that it is possible to be saved in extremis, when the name of the Lord is invoked with all one's heart, from the depths of one's soul and with true humility, as was the case with the thief on the cross. 

3. Words of protection for his mother

"When Jesus saw his mother there ... he said to the disciple (John): Here is your mother. And from that time on, this disciple took her into his home 19:26-27).

It is significant that these final words that Jesus utters of concern and care for another human being should be addressed to his mother. It is the final summing up of a life that was spent entirely for other people and in serving them in whatever way possible. Jesus could not forget his mother at this time of lacerating pain for her; the heart of Mary was torn apart by the agony of her son, she was desolate in the face of such a tragic end to his life. What is more, Mary was almost certainly a widow by this stage, as a result of which she would have been destitute. But the Lord, the good Shepherd par excellence, did not neglect his duty to "honour his father and mother" (Matthew 19:19).

How divine, and at the same time, how human! This is spirituality expressed as profound concern for human matters. In this final act of love, Jesus reminds us that true spirituality always makes us more human, not less. The first evidence that we truly love God (this reminds us of what John himself said in his letters) is that we love the brother that he has placed next to us, and the pastor's work begins in his own home. It is for that reason that Jesus entrusts the care of his mother to his friend and beloved disciple, the sensitive and gentle John, the one who had "reclined next to Jesus" (John 13:23). John immediately fulfilled this request and "from that time on, this disciple took her into his home" (John 19:27).

4. His own needs, at the end. "Later... Jesus said..."

"I thirst" (John 19:28) 

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

How significant the expression that John adds to the account: "Later, knowing that all was now completed ...” (John 19:28). So far we have seen how, even in his final agony, Jesus gave himself and served, how he thought of others before himself, how he sought to meet the needs of his neighbour, whether spiritual (salvation and forgiveness) or human and material (the protection of his widowed mother). Only after all this was completed, that is to say after the full outpouring of his pastoral heart, did he give voice to his own needs:

6. - Physical: "I thirst".

- Emotional and spiritual: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". Jesus' loneliness and feeling of his Father having separated himself constitute his most intense suffering. There can be no hell worse than separation from God. Jesus knew that this moment would inevitably come (it had been prophesied in Psalm 22) because the Father can have nothing to do with the sin that his Son is bearing on his body in this act of vicarious sacrifice.

7. The greatest sermon that has ever been preached ends with an utterance which expresses serenity, confidence and hope:

"Father into your hands I commend my spirit" (Luke 23:46)

Every child of God can have this same confidence as they approach the moment of their death, the certainty that our spirit passes into the hands of their loving heavenly Father, who will receive us with joy in his glory. This is possible only because Jesus Christ concluded his sermon on the cross with the seventh and final utterance, the one which sealed the whole event: "It is finished" (John 19:30).

Those of us who love this beautiful Jesus Christ, the supreme model of a pastor's heart, join the heavenly choir of the redeemed to sing: "Hallelujah, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns" (Revelation 19:6). This is the true joy of Holy Week.

Dr. Pablo Martínez has been working as a psychiatrist since 1979. He also carries out an extensive ministry as a counselor and speaker in Spain and many other European countries.

Published in: Evangelical Focus - Mind and Heart - “The Seven Words” from the Cross, Jesus’ supreme sermon.

Of course Jesus came back from the dead, and he had a few more words to say, first to Mary outside of the tomb, and then to the apostles, to Thomas, and more.