The Word of Contentment

To open this morning, I was thinking about how the resurrection leads us to hope. One writer summarized it like this: “The hope of resurrection… revolves around the belief that Jesus's resurrection from the dead provides a foundation for the hope of eternal life and the eventual resurrection of all believers. It signifies victory over death and sin and offers assurance of a future filled with God's grace and presence.”

Today, as we’ve come together to think about all things Easter and Resurrection, we are wrapping up a seven-week series at Crestview. We’ve been considering all the things that Jesus said on the cross. You might remember some of these: 1) Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. 2) Today, you will be with Me in Paradise. 3) Woman, behold your son; Son, behold your mother. 4) My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? 5) I Thirst. 6) It is finished. Today, we conclude this series by eyeing two amazing truths: the cross and the resurrection. 

As we navigate Holy Week, the events of Palm Sunday, through Maundy Thursday, to Good Friday, to Easter Sunday, we see all kinds of truths and encouragements. Why did Jesus endure all of this? Maybe a statement of faith that’s been around for 1700 years sums it best, speaking of Jesus in this way: “For us and for our salvation He came down from heaven, was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” So, the end game of the cross and Jesus’s resurrection is our salvation. He endured all of this for us. He accomplished all of this for you and me.

Does this provoke any response in your life? How does the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Lord, affect you? We wrap up this short series on words Jesus spoke from the cross today, thinking about this word of contentment. There is something that Jesus was settled and secure in, even when He hung on the cross. One pastor suggested that what Jesus says in today’s passage will help us learn from Him how to die. A famous way of teaching truths to children is with questions and answers. And one question asks, “What is my only comfort in life and death?” The answer? “That I with body and soul, both in life and death, am not my own, but belong unto my faithful Savior Jesus Christ; who, with his precious blood, has fully satisfied for all my sins, and delivered me from all the power of the devil; and so preserves me that without the will of my heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; yea, that all things must be subservient to my salvation, and therefore, by his Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me sincerely willing and ready, henceforth, to live unto him.” A way we could simplify all that Jesus has done for us would be to say, “What makes the difference in how we live or die?” And the answer would be, “Being related to God Himself through what Jesus has done for me.” Today, that’s where we’re headed. Join me as we see Jesus’s final words reveal three insights into a relationship with God…

Read Luke 23:44-49 (This is God’s Word; thanks be to God)

Jesus’s final words reveal three insights into a relationship with God…

One insight from Jesus’s final words that helps us understand a relationship with God relates to the truth of I. Family. 

In Luke’s Gospel account, our passage picks up after Jesus assures one of the thieves that He will be with Him today in paradise. From Noon until 3 PM, darkness covered the land. Also, the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The language is pretty significant that something supernatural is happening. The sun’s light is failing. And, something is tearing the temple curtain. God is doing this. The tearing of the temple curtain is significant (more on that in a second). Just at this moment, Jesus speaks and begins by saying, “Father…” When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, they were to begin “Our Father who art in heaven.” When Jesus prayed in Luke 10, He thanked His Father, Lord of heaven and earth. In the Garden, He prayed, “Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me.” He began speaking on the cross, saying, “Father, forgive them,” and now dies by saying, “Father, into Your hands.” Jesus was in a relationship with His Father. 

So, the simple insight this word “Father” shows us is that a relationship with God comes through Jesus. To enter God’s family, Jesus is the way. In Jesus, we are able to secure an adoption into God’s family. And, yes, the inheritance is full of rich blessings that are found (more on that in a second, as well). In the passage we read a moment ago, we see the response of the Roman centurion in charge of Jesus’s execution. Seeing all that had happened, He praised God and said, “Surely, this man was innocent.” He’s able to connect something relational that is happening when it comes to Jesus dying. Jesus’s death ropes us into a new family. 

Secondly, another insight we get from Jesus’s words into a relationship with God is II. Trust.

You might read Jesus’s words, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” and not realize that Jesus is quoting Psalm 31:5. David (from David and Goliath fame) wrote this psalm and initially expressed lament over those trying to put him to death. There is a confidence that David had that somehow, someway, God would come through and deliver Him. So, when Jesus says, “Father, into your hands…” He is expressing confidence that His Father will come through for Him. 

This trust of Jesus is why the curtain tearing is such a big deal in Luke’s Gospel. When the curtain tears in two, something significant happens in the relationship between God and His people. This curtain spoke of separation from God’s presence. The High Priest could only enter beyond the curtain on the Day of Atonement. So, when Jesus dies, a new way to God is established. Hebrews 10 speaks of Jesus passing through the inner veil, which opens a new way to God for believers. This passage shows that trust is how we access what Jesus is doing. His relationship with God is built on trust. What would it look like for you to rest in the Father’s hands? The Biblical way we do that is through trust. We believe. We put our faith in something that is not ours. We turn from our way (a concept called repentance) to God’s way (faith). Today, is your relationship with God established on trust?

Third and finally, we get insight from Jesus’s words that a relationship with God is for III. Eternity.

When Jesus speaks, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” with a loud voice, He expresses a confident trust in His Father. Committing His spirit to this Father helps us connect to eternity. This connection to eternity is helping us understand the benefit that Jesus has accomplished for us. We’re not committing our spirit to God for a season and hoping that from the dead, something can turn out for the better for us. With trust, we’re committing our spirit to God the Father for eternity. And we have confidence that Jesus merits enough for us to get eternity with Him. Just like Jesus told that thief who had confidence in Him a few verses earlier: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise,” we can have confidence that heaven is where we’ll be with Him forever. 

In Jewish tradition, the evening burnt offering included this quote from Psalm 31:5. So, as the offering was made for the day’s sins, one would say, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” Connecting this to what Jesus is doing as the offering for sin, we see that in Him, our confident trust before the Father is that God will cleanse us eternally because of the sacrifice for sin made on our account. 

And, of course, Jesus offers this with the anticipation that He will rise. Jesus is not dying and confessing this out of fear, but with a confident hope. Consider how this has unfolded in the Gospel of Luke:

• 21 And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” (Luke 9:21-22)
• 31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day, he will rise.” 34 But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (Luke 18:31-34)
• But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

Jesus, then, is fully confident in saying, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” that His Father will keep Him for eternity. Jesus knew this even before He endured the cross.

In conclusion, today we’ve seen how Jesus’s final words reveal three insights into a relationship with God… I. Family II. Trust III. Eternity.

Today, we’ve dug into Jesus’s word of contentment on the cross, which led Him to confidently say, “Father, into your hand, I commit my spirit.” Today, I hope you can see that a relationship with God comes through Jesus. Believe in Him and experience the family you have in God for all of eternity. Will you trust in Him? And, for all of us, let’s worship Jesus as our King of kings and Lord of lords. He’s the One who accomplished this amazing salvation for us. Our lives as those who trust Him are a long letting go of what we want and a long embracing of who He is and what He’s done. So, let’s keep trusting Him, knowing Him, and making Him known so that we can be a people who glorify God and enjoy Him forever.