May 2006 chaplain's corner
The Chaplain's Corner is a monthly message for chaplains.
Chaplain’s Corner – May 16, 2006
Rev. Rich Hines
Christ’s Final Four Statements From The Cross
This message is primarily for those who call on the name of Jesus Christ as
their own Lord and Savior from sin, and serve as a Chaplain in a jail, prison
or a follow-up ministry such as a rescue mission – in the United States.
All Scripture quotes are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV) of the
Bible, copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. When quoting a
text, any deviation from the NKJV text is placed within parenthesis signs ().
These usually occur as direct translations from the original languages,
or as notes from the original setting to help apply the text to today’s
culture. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS are sometimes used to emphasize a text, or to make
a comment about a biblical text.
Last month I began a two-part Chaplain’s Corner by looking at the seven last
statements of Jesus from the cross. In April, I gave a message on the first
three statements. This month note the final four statements from Jesus, uttered
at around 3 PM were:
“Eli, Eli Lama Sabachthani - My God, My God why have You forsaken me” Matt. 27:46, Mark 15:34.
“I thirst!” John 19:28.
“It is finished!” (Luke 23:46a) John 19:30 and
“Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit.” Luke
23:46b.
The first of these final four was “Eli, Eli Lama Sabachthani
- My God, My God why have You forsaken Me.”
A lot could be said about this. In fact, we should devote a whole message just
to this statement. But the main thing I want to bring out is that Jesus knew
who He was, and exactly what was happening. He was not out of control. He was
not complaining, and He was not in despair.
What He was doing was quoting a 1000 year old prophecy from Psalm 22:1. That
Psalm is all about death by crucifixion. Verse 16 of the Psalm says: "They
pierced My hands and My feet." Yet, this was
penned under the true inspiration of the Holy Spirit, some 300 years before
crucifixion first began to be practiced by the ancient Assyrians! That’s
amazing. But understandable when we consider the Holy Spirit is God, therefore
He’s eternal and omniscient.
Rightly, many solid theologians say it was at this point He was bearing all the
sin of all the world, for all time. The Father forsook
the Son to death in the sinner’s place. That’s what Jesus meant.
Some however go way too far and say, at this moment the Father left the Son
alone, and that there was a division between the First and the Second persons
of the Godhead. That could never be.
Consider Zechariah 12:10, which prophetically looks forward from 500 BC first
to the crucifixion of the Messiah and then to the eventual repentance of the
Jewish nation in coming to true saving faith in Him. It says:
"then they will look upon Me (in context YHWH,
the Father) WHOM THEY PIERCED. Yes, they will mourn for Him (note the pronoun
change) as one mourns for his only son,"
In this verse, ”Me” is a reference to the Father and
“Him” refers to Jesus the Son.
If for one split second the Father and Son weren’t fully united and one on the
cross, especially at the point of the death of Jesus, it would mean for that
split second He was not fully God. And if that were the case, we would have no
Savior!
But the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10 teaches us that AS THEY DROVE THE NAILS
THROUGH THE HUMAN FLESH OF JESUS, the Son – THEY ALSO WERE DRIVING THE NAILS
INTO THE FATHER. “Me whom they pierced,” in this verse, refers to God, the
Father! Compare this truth with another great verse, Acts 20:28, which says:
“… the
When did God have human blood to die a human death by shedding it, and thereby
purchase the redemption of the church? When Jesus died at
INMATES NEED TO UNDERSTAND AND BELIEVE JESUS WAS FULLY GOD WHEN HE DIED AND
THAT HIS HORRIBLE DEATH WAS PLANNED BY GOD THE FATHER, BEFOREHAND. It was no
accident that killed Jesus. He died on purpose – to offer and accomplish
salvation for sinners according to His eternal plan.
So WHY did Jesus say: “Why, have You forsaken Me?” He
said it to remind any who were and are students of
Scripture and specifically of Messianic prophesies, that all was going
according to God’s eternal plan. Remember, according to Revelation 13:8, in
God’s eternal present – He (Jesus) was the Lamb of God “slain FROM THE
FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”
The Father FORSOOK the Son to human death. The Holy Spirit inspired Greek word
in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 “forsaken” is the exact same verb, in both
texts. It means to leave behind to the enemy, to abandon someone in difficulty
- at some specific point in time. Theologically, we should ask, “What enemy did
the Father leave behind the Son to face alone at
The Father’s forsaking the Son to death on Skull Hill (Golgotha –
Inmates need to know and defend this truth, as they face the onslaught of
man-made religions in correctional facilities that deny the full Deity of
Jesus. The denial of Jesus’ being fully God is even more severe inside most
jails and prisons than outside in the general public (even with the Da Vinci Code movie, et al).
The FIFTH STATEMENT
“I thirst!” John 19:28
Again, Psalm 22 (which predicts death by crucifixion) is in view. Verse 15 of
that Psalm says, "My strength is DRIED UP like a potsherd and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust
of death." During crucifixion intense dehydration had to take place. But
John 19:28 tells us that Jesus said “I thirst!,” -
“(in order) that the Scripture might be fulfilled. In Psalm 69:21, it had been
written "for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."
The Roman soldiers at
So Jesus forced the fulfillment of this prophecy that they would give the
Messiah vinegar in His thirstiness. That’s amazing! It’s also wonderful,
because it proves Jesus, not the evil of sinful man, was fully in control of
what transpired at
He was SOVEREIGN even in His sacrifice! This truth should help inmates and
residents understand Jesus is Lord. He’s in charge, no matter what. They need
to believe in and submit to His Lordship now, before it’s forever too late,
after they die.
The SIXTH STATEMENT:
“It is finished!” (Luke 23:46a) John 19:30
It is important to know that these words were at the
time Jesus spoke them, normally used at the end of a battle that was won, hence
it was a common VICTORY CRY. We should ask, “What was finished, or COMPLETED?”
Most importantly, the redemption of God’s people, was
made complete.
To redeem means to deliver by the payment of a price. With His one death, the
price to fully save His people was forever PAID IN FULL! That fact, gives
believers (His people) great confidence and assurance.
This sixth statement from Jesus on the cross, “It is finished!,” needs to be
cross referenced to two passages in Hebrews, where the Holy Spirit through the
human writer is always stressing the SUPERIORITY OF JESUS CHRIST over
everything. In Hebrews, Jesus is a BETTER PRIEST, with a BETTER SACRIFICE, that
once and for all produced BETTER RESULTS.
Hebrews 7:25-27 (“Jesus” is the subject from verse 22)
25 … He is also ABLE TO SAVE TO THE UTTERMOST (lit. ‘to
the entire,’ or entirely, completely) those who come to God through Him, since
He always lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled,
separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;
27 who does not need daily, as those high priests ( the
Old Testament high priests who He’s better than), to offer up sacrifices for
His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He DID ONCE FOR ALL WHEN He
offered up Himself.
Hebrews 10:10-14 talking about God’s last will and testament – the new covenant
says:
10 By that will we have been sanctified (here the word refers to being saved)
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ ONCE FOR ALL.
11 And every priest STANDS ministering daily and offering REPEATEDLY the same
SACRIFICES, which can never take away sins.
12 But this Man, AFTER HE HAD OFFERED ONE SACRIFICE FOR SINS FOREVER, SAT DOWN
(because the work was forever finished!) at the right hand of God,
13 from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.
14 For BY ONE OFFERING HE HAS PERFECTED FOREVER those who are being sanctified
(the process that begins and continues from the point of salvation).
Christian Chaplains need to stress to all their hearers that the faith taught
in the Bible is different from all other faiths or religions. Man-made
religions are systems of HUMAN EFFORT and ACHEIVEMENT to get to God, or to have
inner-peace. Christianity as defined by the Bible, is
different. It’s the religion of DIVINE ACCOMPLISHMENT, not human achievement.
What man can never accomplish or do, God did once for all in Christ Jesus – and
it’s benefit is for all who will repent and receive it
BY FAITH ALONE.
The SEVENTH and FINAL STATEMENT:
“Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit.” Luke 23:46b
This statement proves two things about Jesus. First,
He had loving trust in the Father. Second, He had an assurance that the Father
loved Him. The two go together. If we know God truly loves us, we can trust
Him. But God always first commands us to believe Him. And when we do, we are
also assured of His love
This final statement also indicates the Son trusted
the Father to raise Him from the dead, so He could commit His human spirit to
die – even that would be in the Father’s hands.
A death row inmate - that has truly been born of God through faith in the Son
can say the same thing “Father, into Your hands, I
commit my spirit,” as they face their execution. All true believers in Christ
can and should completely trust their everlasting soul’s keeping to a
completely trustworthy God.
In closing, I want to draw your attention to the words of a new hymn "IN
CHRIST ALONE," written by Stuart Townend and
Keith Getty. These words capture the truths from Jesus’ statements on the
cross, and other New Testament truths, as they benefit the true believer.
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song.
This Cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my all in all,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless Babe.
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid,
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me.
For I am His and He is mine,
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the pow’r of Christ in me.
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand.
‘Til He returns or takes me home,
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
May these truths from Jesus’ lips at the cross again bless and benefit you
personally Chaplain. In turn, that blessing will then go out to all the inmates
and staff to whom you explain them. My closing charge is that you not wait
until next “Easter Season” to do so! Do it now!