JRM Sison Chapter - Teachings - The 7 Last Words of Jesus

     People die. That is a fact that nobody can escape. You know this, I know it, too. It is a matter of acceptance. The only question that leaves us; what legacy will you leave when you die? Will people praise you or curse you? Will they remember you or forget you easily?

     Jesus never thought about this. When he was in agony, what He was thinking was you and me going to eternal damnation. He left a legacy without pursuing it, yet His Name is praised forever.

     In His dying moment, He uttered words of forgiveness, hope, comfort and love. Unlike other men who curse their persecutors, Jesus was like a lamb, obedient until the end.

     Basically, you will know a man’s attitude and character with his dying words. Here, we are going to cite the seven last words of our Lord.

                                                                                 Father, forgive them.

     When Jesus said this, He have three things in mind the Father, His persecutors and us.

     Note that Jesus never blamed anybody for His suffering. Nor did He utter words of vengeance but words of mercy. Jesus still continued to be the perfect example of how a Christian must live; living a life of forgiveness.

     Yet, Jesus had addressed to the Father. Shouldn’t it be enough just to say, “I forgive you”? Jesus had not only forgiven them but also prayed for them. As Christians, it is our job and responsibility to forgive and to pray for our transgressors, oppressors and enemy.

     The first of the last words of our Lord, the words of forgiveness and prayer.

                                                                                    With Me in Paradise

     Imagine yourself being humiliated in front of many people; you credibility is down, your hopes are down; your moral down. Then somebody remembered who you were and asked you a favor in the midst of your humiliation. What will you do? You might probably ignore him and continue living the humiliated life; or you might curse him because he’s added insult to injury; or you might imitate what Christ did.

     Jesus was literally hanging on a tree, hanged in between two criminals. He made no crime yet He was punished severely more than the two thieves. He was scourged, beaten, crowed with thorns. Imagine the pain he has gone through and He was placed between two thieves.

     He was physically and psychologically abused. Then one of the thieves (Hestas) insulted Him by saying “save Yourself and us if You are the Son of God”. Yet the other (Dimas) defended Him and asked Jesus a favor, “Remember me when thou go to thy kingdom”. These words were the only soothing words He had heard since He was crucified. These words came not from His mother, not from His disciple, not from the people He healed, not from the people who witnessed all the miracles He had done but from a thief, a sinner, a man that barely knows Him yet this man believed on Him and asked Jesus this favor.

     Jesus replied with these words, “Today, you are with Me in paradise”.

     Brethren, do you doubt where you will go after you die? Let us, like this thief, this sinner, ask Jesus a favor, “Remember me Jesus”.

     The second of the last word of Christ are words of hope.

                                                                      Behold Thy Son, Behold thy Mother

     In the mount, there were people near the cross of Jesus; four Roman soldiers, four women and one disciple. In that situation we see three kinds of responsibility: duty, love and apprenticeship.

     The four Roman soldier were unbelievers, they approached the cross of Jesus because it was their job. Like so many Christians that are in the service of God; they do it out of their job description; they stood near the cross because it is their duty.

     One of the four women was Mary, the mother of Jesus. These four women stood near the cross oblivious of the threat of being arrested by the Jews for being involved. They stood near the cross out of love. They were either friends or relatives of Jesus who knew their responsibility as friends and family.

     The only disciple who was near the cross; John the beloved; who risked everything like the 4 women of being arrested just to see his Master, Teacher an Best Friend. He knew his responsibility and the relationship he had with Jesus.

     Jesus knew their hearts, how they could handle the responsibility. That is why Jesus third of the last words were “Behold Thy Mother, thy Son”. It was a word of responsibility. He was talking to John and His mother, Mary. Knowing that he would leave His mother, He gave the responsibility to John to care of her. Before He go, He made sure everything was in order.

     The third of the 7 last words of Jesus were words of responsibility

                                                            My God, My God why Thou hast forsaken Me…

     When He was hanging in the tree, He said, “Eli, Eli lama sabachtani”…which means “Father, Father why hast Thou forsaken Me”…

     For the first three words of the statement of Jesus are understandable because He is the son of God, He is the Christ. This one is rather different. It is as if that He has lost all hope; it is as if that darkness has consumed HIM; it is as if that He became a man rather than GOD. What does this mean? It means that Jesus felt that the Father has turned His back upon Him. He being the Son, felt the Father, His Father literally turned His back upon Him. What could possibly be the reason why the Father turned His back upon Him?

     Jesus knew what will happen. Jesus knew from the very beginning that these things will happen. But why, why did He say such words in front of so many people? It is because that Jesus is trying to tell the people, trying to tell each one of us that the Father turned His back upon Him even though He was His Son. So these words are words of warning… that we as Christians try to avoid, try to avoid living a sinful life. But live a holy life, free from sin and if we sin, God is giving us a chance to redeem ourselves; to confess our sins unto HIM and as we confess our sins, He is righteous and just to forgive us.

     The fourth of the seven last words of Jesus Christ are words of warning.

                                                                                    I THIRST

     Nearing His death, Jesus said these words, “I thirst”. It has a spiritual and physical aspect. Physical, in His painful experience, He thirsts. If a man is sick he doesn’t want any food to eat but water to drink. Jesus in the state of pain wanted something to drink to ease the pain that He was experiencing. Physically, Jesus was thirsty but there is another side of it…the spiritual side. There were only nine people around HIM; the four Roman soldiers who were out there for their duty, the four women who were near the cross because out of their friendship and filial ties and one disciple. Jesus can remember the days when people were praising Him because of the miracles He has done. When He had fed 5000 men excluding women and children; when He came to Jerusalem and they praised Him, nearly made Him a king. He remembered those days and in His dying moment there were only nine people.

     Spiritually, Jesus is telling us “I thirst, I thirst”. Remember the time when Jesus, was in the well when a Samaritan woman was going to get water from the well and He said, “I thirst”. Jesus was also speaking about two kinds of thirst; spiritual and physical. Jesus was telling the Samaritan woman that He wants to give her the Living Water that whosoever drinks from it will never thirst again. This is the same thing, same words that Jesus wants to give us, “I thirst”. Jesus was trying to tell us “I am going to give you Living Water that whosoever drinketh from this water will never thirst”. Those were the words of God. Those were the words of Jesus. Words of supplication. That whosoever cometh to Him, He said in John 15:7 “If ye abide in Me and My Words abide in you; ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you”.

                                                                             IT IS FINISHED

     This is a very, very important statement of Christ that all of us must learn to accept and to acknowledge that what He did at the cross of Calvary was done because He wants to save us. He carried the sins of the world. He taketh away the sins of the world and when He said that IT IS FINISHED, it is a finished contract, it is done. Jesus put a period on that sentence not a comma, not a question mark but a period meaning it is done. We don’t have to repeat the things what Jesus did in the cross of Calvary. You see many people imitating the things that Jesus did at the cross of Calvary but they were trying to imitate only those that they can imitate. They did not imitate the scourging, the beating, the slapping, the psychological humiliation, the physical abuse and spiritual one. “It is finished”; these were the words of Jesus telling us that He has done it already. “It is finished” these are the words that Jesus is telling us that He has already taken the sins of the world. “It is finished.” He has accomplished what John 3:16 have said “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever that believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

     When He said everlasting life, it means that our sins are forgiven without going to the temple and sacrificing bulls, lambs, doves according to what our sin is; the graver the sin, the greater the sacrifice. The Lord has put an end to it.

     “It is finished”, these are the words of finality coming from our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                                  FATHER, INTO THINE HAND I COMMEND MY SPIRIT

     In the first of the seven last words, He addressed it to the Father and the last He also addressed it to the Father. And when He did it, He did it out of love, out of respect, out of obedience. It’s like a soldier reporting to the general. And if something happens the soldier reports to the general. It is just like a son that if anything happens to him, if he has closer ties with his father, he will go to his dad and tell him what happened. It is the same case with Jesus. He has a very, very close relationship with God that every time something happens to Him, His prayer starts with the Father, and His prayer ends with the Father. Everything begins with the Father, everything ends with the Father. He is the Alpha and Omega; the First and the Last; the Beginning and the End.

     When Jesus cites these words “I commend My Spirit”, He’s surrendering His Spirit back unto the Lord. He’s telling Him, “I’m coming home, I’m coming home.”

     Brethren, the Lord is telling us right now with these words, these words of comfort, that whatever happens to us, whatever happens, if we will live a holy life, live as true Christians, the way our Lord wants us to live, we’ll meet Him there; we’ll meet Him there.

     “Father, I commend My Spirit” are words of comfort and encouragement for us to know and to believe that even the Son commends His Spirit, we also must commend our spirit because we are living a godly life, a holy life with Jesus as the center of our lives. Let us all pray to the Lord, “Father, I commend my spirit”.