7. The Word Of Contentment
"And when Jesus had cried with a loud
voice, he said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit: and having said
thus, he gave up his spirit"
Luke 23:46
"AND WHEN JESUS HAD cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit, and having said thus, he gave up the spirit" (Luke 23:46). These words set before us the last act of the Saviour ere he expired. It was an act of contentment, of faith, of confidence and of love. The person to whom he committed the precious treasure of his spirit was his own Father. Father is an encouraging and assuring title: well may a son commit any concern, however dear, into the hands of a father, especially such a Son into the hands of such a Father. That which was committed into the hands of the Father was his "spirit" which was on the point of being separated from the body.
Scripture reveals man as a tripartite being: "spirit and soul and body" (1 Thess. 5:23). There is a difference between the soul and the spirit, though it is not easy to predicate wherein they are dissimilar. The spirit appears to be the highest pan of our complex being. It is that which particularly distinguishes man from the beasts, and that which links him to God. The spirit is that which God formeth within us (Zech. 12:1); therefore is he called "The God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num. 16:22). At death the spirit returns to God who gave it (Eccl. 12:7).
The act by which the Saviour placed his spirit into the hands of the Father was an act of faith - "I commend". It was a blessed act designed as a precedent for all his people. The last point observable is the manner in which Christ performed this act: he uttered those words "with a loud voice". He spoke that all might hear, and that his enemies who judged him destitute and forsaken of God might know it was not so any longer; but instead, that he was dear to his Father still, and could put his spirit confidently into his hands.
"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." This was the last utterance of the Saviour ere he expired. While he hung upon the cross, seven times his lips moved in speech. Seven is the number of completeness or perfection. At Calvary then, as everywhere, the perfections of the Blessed One were displayed. Seven is also the number of rest in a finished work: in six days God made heaven and earth and in the seventh he rested, contemplating with satisfaction that which he had pronounced "very good". So here with Christ: a work had been given him to do, and that work was now done. Just as the sixth day brought the work of creation and reconstruction to a completion, so the sixth utterance of the Saviour was "It is finished." And just as the seventh day was the day of rest and satisfaction, so the seventh utterance of the Saviour brings him to the place of rest - the Father’s hands.
Seven times the dying Saviour spoke. Three of his utterances concerned men: to one he gave the promise that he should be with him that day in Paradise; to another he confided his mother; to the mass of spectators he made mention of his thirst. Three of his utterances were addressed to God: to the Father he prayed for his murderers; to God he uttered his mournful plaint; and now into the hands of the Father he commends his spirit. In the hearing of God and men, angels and devil, he had cried in triumph, "It is finished".
"Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." It is noteworthy that this closing cry of the Saviour had been uttered by the spirit of prophecy long centuries before the Incarnation. In the thirty-first psalm we hear David’s Son and Lord saying, anticipatively:
In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength. Into thy hand I commend my spirit thou hast redeemed me, O Low God of truth" (vv. 1-5)!
In connection with each one of our Saviour’s cross-utterances a prophecy was fulfilled. Firstly, he cried, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do", and this fulfilled Isaiah 53:12 - "made intercession for the transgressors". Secondly, he promised the thief, "Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise", and this was a fulfillment of the prophecy of the angel to Joseph - "thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). Thirdly, to his mother he said, "Woman, behold thy Son", and this fulfilled the prophecy of Simeon - "A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also" (Luke 2:35). Fourthly, he had asked, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" and these were the identical words of Psalm 22:1. Fifthly, he exclaimed, "I thirst", and this was in fulfillment of Psalm 69:21 - "In my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink". Sixthly, he shouted in triumph "It is finished", and these are almost the very words with which that wonderful twenty-second psalm concludes - "He hath done", or, as Hebrew might well be rendered, "He bath, finished", the context showing what he had done, namely, the work of atonement. Finally, he prayed, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit", and, as we have shown beforehand, he was but quoting as it had been written of him beforehand in Psalm 31. O the wonders of the cross! We shall never reach the end of them.
http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Seven_Sayings/sayings_07.htm
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