Luke 23:44-46 New International Version
The Death of Jesus
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[a] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
As Jesus’ ministry progressed, one of the great concerns of the Jewish religious establishment was that He had, it appeared, claimed that He would destroy the temple and raise it again in three days (John 2:19).
Indeed, this was one of the main charges brought against Him (Mark 14:58).
When Jesus was on the cross, then, passersby’s mocked, spit and ridiculed Him, shouting, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself!” (Matthew 27:40).
But there He remained, hanging on the cross, in the darkness.
And then, in the midst of the darkness and the upheaval of the crucifixion, all of a sudden something completely mysterious and utterly unexpected happened: it was God Himself desecrated the temple, earthquake shaking its foundations.
“The curtain of the temple was torn in two,” Luke tells us.
This was the very curtain that hung in the temple to symbolically bar the way into God’s presence.
It was the great sign that imperfect people could not be in the same space as the holy God.
All through the Old Testament, anyone who had presumed to come into God’s presence without observing the ceremonial cleansing rituals and making the necessary sacrifices had died (for instance, Numbers 3:2-4).
But now, suddenly, as Jesus was on the very verge of death, this symbol of restrictive exclusivity was destroyed right down the middle.
By destroying it, God declared that the old priestly ritual for entrance into His presence had been abolished and the barrier of sin dividing humanity from their Maker had been obliterated.
There is no longer any need to keep our distance from God. Instead, “we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain” (Hebrews 10:19-20).
Our access to God isn’t restricted to a temple or a church or any other building, nor must it be through a merely human priest or a guru.
No, 2,000 years ago God broke into history of humanity to establish, directly, unhindered access to Himself through Jesus.
Now there is “one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
The temple curtain being torn in two was divine vandalism on our behalf!
You don’t have to be sidetracked by priests and rituals anymore.
They can be nothing but pointless. Instead, you can come to God, just as you are, confident of divine welcome and mercy and help, all because of Jesus.
A Confident Christ Dies
Luke 23:46-49 New International Version
46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[a] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
In his words from the cross, Jesus demonstrated that he knew how to live, because he knew how to die.
We hear it in the first word he uttered in this saying: “Father …” Then, in effect, the faithful Son confidently declared, “I’m coming home!”
In those days, the words Jesus used were often taught to children as a bedtime prayer: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (see Psalm 31:5).
They signify entrusting all of one’s being to God for safekeeping. (Psalm 23)
What a comfort it is to be able to entrust our whole lives and all our joys and concerns to God!
And Jesus said these words not secretly or silently but with a loud voice.
He was saying, in effect, “Father, I’m coming home. My mission is complete. I love you. I trust you. As always, I commit my spirit to you.”
Doing the same, we can live and die in the confidence of knowing we will go home to our Father when he calls. We can say confidently, in words adapted from an old confession, “My ‘only comfort in life and in death’ is that I belong … to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ’” (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A 1).
Jesus ended his time on earth with confidence in the Father.
Can you and I step up our faith, hope and love to do exactly that too?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
31 1-2 I run to you, God; I run for dear life.
Don’t let me down!
Take me seriously this time!
Get down on my level and listen,
and please—no procrastination!
Your granite cave a hiding place,
your high cliff nest a place of safety.
3-5 You’re my cave to hide in,
my cliff to climb.
Be my safe leader,
be my true mountain guide.
Free me from hidden traps;
I want to hide in you.
I’ve put my life in your hands.
You won’t drop me,
you’ll never let me down.
6-13 I hate all this silly religion,
but you, God, I trust.
I’m leaping and singing in the circle of your love;
you saw my pain,
you disarmed my tormentors,
You didn’t leave me in their clutches
but gave me room to breathe.
Be kind to me, God—
I’m in deep, deep trouble again.
I’ve cried my eyes out;
I feel hollow inside.
My life leaks away, groan by groan;
my years fade out in sighs.
My troubles have worn me out,
turned my bones to powder.
To my enemies I’m a monster;
I’m ridiculed by the neighbors.
My friends are horrified;
they cross the street to avoid me.
They want to blot me from memory,
forget me like a corpse in a grave,
discard me like a broken dish in the trash.
The street-talk gossip has me
“criminally insane”!
Behind locked doors they plot
how to ruin me for good.
14-18 Desperate, I throw myself on you:
you are my God!
Hour by hour I place my days in your hand,
safe from the hands out to get me.
Warm me, your servant, with a smile;
save me because you love me.
Don’t embarrass me by not showing up;
I’ve given you plenty of notice.
Embarrass the wicked, stand them up,
leave them stupidly shaking their heads
as they drift down to hell.
Gag those loudmouthed liars
who heckle me, your follower,
with jeers and catcalls.
19-22 What a stack of blessing you have piled up
for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
to escape an unkind world.
You hide them safely away
from the opposition.
As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces,
you silence the poisonous gossip.
Blessed God!
His love is the wonder of the world.
Trapped by a siege, I panicked.
“Out of sight, out of mind,” I said.
But you heard me say it,
you heard and listened.
23 Love God, all you saints;
God takes care of all who stay close to him,
But he pays back in full
those arrogant enough to go it alone.
24 Be brave. Be strong. Don’t give up.
Expect God to get here soon.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 