- Father, forgive them for they know not what they do
- Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise
- Woman, behold thy son
- My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?
- I thirst
- It is finished
- Into Thy hands, I commend my spirit
Saying number 1 is easy to place as the words were spoken by the Lord as the Roman soldiers were spreading out His hands and feet as they were about to nail Him to the cross. We know that the last four sayings all came after the darkness had past and one after another in fairly rapid succession before His death. What we cannot place for certain is the order of the second and third saying, but I am confident that they took place during the first three hours of His suffering.
What we are going to do, however, is to deal with them, not in the order as above, but simply to take them in the order in which we find them in our New Testament. In doing this, we shall see how each particular saying or sayings fits in with the general purpose of that writer as he sat down to write his account. The saying in Matthew is repeated in Mark whereas the three sayings in Luke are all unique to himself, and the same is also true of the three sayings in John.
1. My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me? Matthew 27:46
(These same words are also recorded by Mark in chapter 15:34)
This saying is unique in three different ways
- It is the only one of the seven sayings which is repeated
- It is the only saying involving an Old Testament quotation
- It is the only saying linked with His atoning sufferings
1.1. The only saying which is repeated
God only needs to say something once for us to take note of it, but when He says it twice, it is even more noteworthy. God is wanting us to pay attention to it.
Hence in John 17, the Lord in His prayer for us speaks, not once or twice, but no less than five times about unity. It was obviously a subject close to His heart and one in which we have often failed. Again, in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul speaks about the five ways in which God has revealed to us the great truth of the Mystery. It is something God expects us to take careful note of and act upon.
1.2. The quoting of the OT scripture
The Lord's words are a direct quotation from Psalm 22. In the Psalm, we learn the answer to the Lord's own question. But Thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. It is because of the holiness of God that He had to turn away His face from His own Son at Calvary. Something serious was happening on the cross that caused a holy God to turn away from a Son for whom He had an eternal love.
Hab 1:13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
But we are speaking here about the spotless Son of God. Even before He was born, the angel Gabriel said of Him, That holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of God. Thirty years later, the demons said to the Lord Jesus, What have we to do with Thee, Thou holy one of God? Here was the only man who could throw out a challenge Which of you convinceth Me of sin and receive no response. Even Judas said, I have betrayed the innocent blood, and Pilate said, I am innocent of the blood of this just person.
Because of this holiness, the Lord enjoyed perfect communion with God His Father. He could say, He that sent Me is with Me. The Father hath not left Me alone, for I do always the things that please Him.
So what happened at Calvary to change the way that God dealt with His beloved Son?
1.3. The atoning suffering of Christ
During the first three hours that the Lord was upon the Cross, He had to endure the physical pain of crucifixion. But that pain was the same as that felt by the two thieves who were crucified with Him. The Lord, however, had to endure far more from the lips of men. Priests, rulers, common people, even the thieves all cruelly mocked Him, This is why the Cross is so important in the life of the believer. While the death of Christ is what saves me, it is the cross of Christ that ought to separate me from the world which did this to my Lord. The mockings of men during those first three hours though had nothing to do with the atonement.
But this forsaken cry is a mystery. If there were no mention in Matthew and Mark of this saying of the Saviour, would we not be mystified as to the meaning of the Cross? If we only had the four gospels to go by, we might conclude that Calvary was a sad end to a life that brought much good and blessing to men. We would treat Him as nothing more than a martyr in the way that we treat Stephen in Acts 7.
But when we come to the epistles, we read of other things happening. Peter writes, He bore our sins in His own body on the cross. Paul writes, God made Him sin for us, He who knew no sin. Being the great Sin Bearer would therefore explain His forsaken cry at Calvary. Without the epistles, we could not understand it. Without the cry, we would have no reason to suspect that anything out of the ordinary was happening at Calvary. The epistles and the cry go hand in hand.
The cry of Matthew 27 and Mark 15 is therefore central to the gospel itself. We shall look later at the promise made to the dying thief but on what grounds could the Lord offer to a common criminal a place in Paradise? The answer is that God took all the sins committed by that thief and put them on the head of His own Son. To be a Saviour, the Lord had to not only bear our sins, but also bear the consequences of our sin. We shall consider these consequences for a moment.
1.3.1. Separation from God
In Genesis chapter 3, we read of the first consequence of sin. God drove out the man. Prior to the fall, we read of the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. When God made Adam, then Eve, He had two people in whom He could confide and share His thoughts and feelings. But sin broke that communion and fellowship. Sin put a distance between men and God which has never been recovered for the mass of humanity.
Isaiah also wrote to Israel, Your sins and your iniquities have separated between you and your God.
It is true even of the believer that sin can interrupt his fellowship with God and the Lord Jesus. In John 13, where we read of the Lord bending before His disciples to wash their feet, He says to a protesting Peter, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me. He did not say in Me, for then our salvation would be in doubt, but with Me. Ie sin breaks our communion with the Lord.
The Saviour on the cross passed through these three hours of separation from His God. He had never known even a moment of separation from His Father before, so what must it have been for Him to experience the separation due to our sins?
1.3.1.1. Death
The Bible teaches us that, The wages of sin is death. We also read elsewhere that, Death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Death will be the portion of all men, unless we are part of that generation of Christians who will be alive when the Lord comes for His saints. But how can we avoid paying the wages of sin if we go to heaven without dying? The answer is found in Paul's gospel. Christ died for our sins. He has paid the wages of sin for us by dying on the cross.
1.3.1.2. Hell
If we could not find a sin bearer for ourselves, then these sins of ours would take us into hell. In John chapter 8, the Lord tells us, If ye die in your sins, whither I go, ye cannot come. There is no heaven for those who die in their sins. But our great Sin Bearer has taken our sins upon Himself. This caused Him to go into hell. It is written of Him, Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell, neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. In Ephesians chapter 4, we also read of how He descended first into the lower parts of the earth.
1.3.1.3. Darkness
If we were to die in our sins, we would have to endure the blackness of darkness for ever. The Lord on the cross endured three hours of darkness. This is the One who is described as the Light of the world in John chapter 1. Also, I John 1 tells us about the Saviour, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
2. Father, forgive them. Luke 23:34
Luke does tell us about the three hours of darkness, but he says nothing about the orphan cry of the Saviour. Matthew in writing to the Jew would, as one might expect, make much of that. Instead, Luke records three cries which both underline the grace of God as shown by the Saviour and also show in His final cry to His Father that He was the dependent man upon earth.
The first of Luke's cries is in fact a prayer. Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. These Roman soldiers were perpetrating the greatest sin that men could ever do by crucifying the Son of God. But they did it in ignorance not so the rulers of the Jews who rejected their Messiah and their King.
But this prayer in Luke should in no way surprise us when one considers that it is Luke who records the last miracle done by the Lord Jesus. It takes place in Gethsemane when the Lord heals the ear of Malchus, one of the men who had come to take Him captive and lead Him off to His death. One also remembers that Luke is the great gospel of forgiveness. He says to the palsied man let down through the roof by his friends, Thy sins be forgiven thee. He also says of the woman of the city which was a sinner, Her sins which are many are forgiven her. Luke too is the gospel of the great evangelical parables the Samaritan of chapter 10, the great feast of chapter 14, and the three lost things of chapter 15.
We should not therefore be surprised to hear the Lord in Luke 23 praying for the forgiveness of the Roman soldiers.
3. Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise Luke 23:43
This incident with the dying thief is one which receives much attention from the preacher of the gospel for it proves without a doubt that salvation is not of works but by faith alone. But without that first saying that we have considered (My God, My God, why), this word to the thief would seem to be undeserved and unjust. Is that how easily sins are forgiven? Does God just wipe the slate clean and forget our sins? So how did the Lord Jesus promise heaven to a thief? The Saviour is the Great Sin Bearer who has taken upon Himself the sins of those for whom He died upon the cross. Thus God took the sins of the thief and laid them upon the head of His Son.
Does that mean that all will go to heaven then? It is only for those who believe. Going back to John 8, the Lord said, If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. And we have already seen the consequences of that no heaven. The thief took all the right steps towards salvation
- A fear of God
- A confession of his guilt
- An awareness of eternity
- An appreciation of the perfection of Christ
- An appeal for salvation
On the basis of this faith, he was promised a place in paradise
This is the first mention in the Bible of the word Paradise, especially describing heaven as Paradise. In II Corinthians chapter 12:4, Paul describes a man in Christ caught up into Paradise, caught up to the third heaven. Thus Paradise is the eternal uncreated dwelling place of God. But there has been a paradise before on earth. Rev 2:7 speaks of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Eden was a paradise, the garden of God according to Ezekiel chapter 28. That first paradise was lost because of one sin. Here is a thief who enters paradise despite a multitude of sins. Such is the grace of God as seen in this second cry in Luke.
4. Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit Luke 23:46
According to the gospel written by Luke, these are the last words of the Saviour on the cross. Luke is the gospel of the dependant man. In Luke we find the Lord praying on no less than eleven separate occasions. Luke tells us that He was praying at His baptism and also on the Holy Mount when other gospel writers omit this fact. But did the Lord need to pray? After all, was He not the One who made the worlds and indeed sustains the worlds according to Colossians chapter 1? Was He not the One who healed the sick, raised the dead, calmed the storm, and fed the multitude. Surely He would not need to pray if He could do all these things? But He finds the need to pray to God His Father.
Here in Luke 23, He commends His spirit into the hands of His Father. The forsaking by God is now past, the atoning work is done and now He and His Father are communicating again. But this prayer proves that He is no ordinary man. In Ecclesiastes chapter 8:8 we read that, no man hath power to retain his spirit. No man took His life from Him, He laid it down of Himself. He did not die in weakness as do ordinary men in the day of their death. No man has power to retain his spirit but the Lord dismissed His spirit at a moment of His own choosing.
While He was on the cross, He was taunted by men shouting at Him, If Thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross and we will believe you. They also cried, If Thou be the King of the Jews, come down. Do you not sometimes feel just a tinge of regret that the Lord could do nothing to rebuff His enemies. Of course, we know that He could not come down for He had a far greater work to accomplish. But in the very manner of His death, He did prove that He was a King and that He was the Son of God.
In Matthew 27, He cried with a loud voice and tremendous things happened.
The veil of the temple was rent
The rocks were rent
The earth did quake
The graves were opened
The bodies of the saints which slept arose
Matthew thus goes far beyond what is recorded by Mark and Luke, who simply record that the veil was rent. Why does Matthew go much further? Returning again to Eccles 8, this time to verse 4, we read, Where the word of a king is, there is power. He proved He was King by the effects of His cry.
And what about Mark? In chapter 15 we read about the centurion. And when the centurion which stood over against Him saw that He so cried out and gave up the ghost, he said, truly this was the Son of God. It was not the effects of His cry but the way He cried. It was not the cry of a dying man. It was a man shouting out with all His strength, who did so, and then gave up the ghost. Eccles 8:8 says again, No man hath power in the day of his death. This man was indeed the Son of God.
5. Woman, behold thy son John 19:26-27
The fifth cry and the first to be found in John's account is the cry of a Son towards His Mother. John is the gospel of the Son, and what is expected of a son is devotion towards his parents. Mary, it is assumed, was by now a widow for she is seen at times on her own or with her other sons and there is no mention of Joseph in person during the public life of the Lord. She had a large family four other sons and at least two daughters. She had seven children that we know of. So why then could the Lord Jesus not have commended her to a member of His immediate family? The answer is unbelief. John chapter 7 tells us, Neither did His brethren believe in Him. It is not till we come to I Cor 15 that we read that He appeared unto James. Hence in Acts chapter 1, we find Mary and His brethren along with His disciples gathered together at Jerusalem. It was an act of pure grace on the part of the Lord Jesus. But at Calvary, the Lord turns, not to His brethren, but to the disciple whom He loved, the beloved John. He says to Mary, Woman, behold thy son, and to John He says, Behold thy mother. And John took her to his own home from that hour.
Thus at Calvary, He proved the reality of the words of Paul in Phil 2, He thought not on His own things, but also on the things. Despite His own sufferings, He had time to take care of His mother. He could see being fulfilled before His eyes the words of Simeon to Mary 33 years earlier, Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also. Thus we see the devotion of a son towards His mother.
6. I thirst John 19:28
There were two occasions at Calvary when the Lord was offered vinegar. The first time, He was offered vinegar mingled with gall by the soldiers, but when He tasted it, He would not drink. It has been said that the addition of the gall would act as a pain killer, to dull the senses, and the Lord wanted all His faculties about Him as He was on the cross. Matthew, Mark, and John all mention the second offering of the vinegar, on its own this time. There is a slight difference though in John 19. It is the Lord Himself who requested the vinegar when He said, I thirst. What was it that prompted this request? Verse 28 tells us, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished saith, I thirst. The verb accomplished in verse 28 is TELEO, to end or to fulfil. It is not the usual word for fulfil which we find often when a particular verse was fulfilled in the life of the Lord Jesus. TELEO has a stronger sense of being completely fulfilled, of being brought to an end. Here in John 19, we are not speaking of just one verse but rather the complete word of God that had been written concerning Himself. Jesus knew that His work was fulfilled, and now, so that the scripture might also be fulfilled, He said, I thirst.
7. It is finished John 19:30
The word for finished is again based on the verb TELEO and means literally fulfilled. That was the last word of the Saviour on the cross according to John Fulfilled. The work and the word had been fulfilled. We saw how that the loud voice of Matthew proved He was a king, and His last cry in Mark and Luke proved He was the Son of God. This final cry in John 19 also proved His deity. The Lord here chooses the exact moment when He was going to die. When He had tasted the vinegar, He said, Fulfilled. This was not the death of a dying man, or of a man dying in weakness. Indeed, in many respects His death was premature. The victims of crucifixion usually hung on the cross for days rather than hours, until exhaustion eventually overcame them. Hence the Jews besought Pilate that their legs might be broken so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath day. Pilate gave them leave and as far as he knew the legs of all three victims were to be broken. But before the soldier can carry out his instruction, the Lord has already died. Pilate's next visitor therefore is Joseph of Arimathaea who comes to beg the body of Jesus. Pilate is incredulous even a victim with broken legs would have survived longer so he sends for the centurion to establish if He were already dead. Only after the visit of the centurion does Pilate agree. Hence our word in John 19, Fulfilled proves again the deity of our Lord Jesus.
John also tells us in this verse that, He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost. The word bowed suggests something of the dignity of the Lord in death. It is used in that well known verse, Foxes have holes, the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay down His head. The verb to lay down is the same as that used for bowed in John 19. We find the same verb used in Luke 24 when the two now at home in Emmaus say to the Lord Jesus, The day is far spent. Far spent, suggests the gradual sinking of the sun below the horizon as the day wore on. The head of the Lord Jesus did not suddenly fall forward in weakness. He reclined His head in the dignity that one has come to expect of the Son of God.
Finally, we read in John 19 that He gave up the ghost. To give up is PARADIDOM. It is the word used in the four gospels for the action of Judas in betraying the Lord Jesus. It's literal meaning is to deliver, or to give over. Thus the Jews delivered Him to Pilate, and Pilate delivered Him to be crucified. John, however, is here telling us that it was none of these men who brought about the moment of His death but that He Himself delivered up His spirit. He gave up His life: it was not taken from Him by others.
