“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.” (Matthew 27:50 (ESV)
“And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.” (Mark 15:37 (ESV)
“Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46 (ESV)
In our study of the Gospel of Matthew’s record of the Passion Week of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is necessary, and insightful, to examine all four Gospel accounts. This discipline provides us understanding of all the events and encounters which took place during those hours.
Luke alone recorded the last words the Lord Jesus spoke while on the cross. It is a statement of conclusion and consolation. The Lord’s work on the cross is complete. He has borne the wrath of God towards sinners as a Lamb (John 1:29) and a good Shepherd (John 10:14-18). He became the sinners’ vicarious substitute (2 Cor. 5:21).
“Father.” Jesus’ voice is loud, large and great. He once again refers to God as His Father (πατήρ; pater). Invoked is the idea of one who is beloved and loving. There is an eternal intimacy evident in this one word; between the first and second persons of the Godhead.
“Into your hands.” The phrase (εἰς σύ χείρ; eis sy cheir) refers to being held in the power and possession of God the Father. The agony of forsakenness and wrath gives way to intimate fellowship and comfort.
“I commit my spirit.” To commit (παρατίθημι; paratithemi) means to set before and to place before God. What Jesus placed before God the Father was His spirit or soul. Physical death was imminent. For Jesus’ soul to be absent from His body at death was to come into the presence of God the Father Almighty.
“This quotes Ps. 31:5, and the manner of his death accords with John 10:18. Normally victims of crucifixion died much slower deaths. He, being in control, simply yielded up his soul (John 10:18; 19:30), committing it to God. Thus he “offered himself without blemish to God” (Heb. 9:14),” explains Dr. John MacArthur.
Following His statement, Jesus breathed His last. In other words, He physically died. He died at a particular point in time and space. His death, as His birth and life, was a historical event. It truly happened.
“The final word, by means of which the Savior, making use of the phraseology of Ps. 31:5, entrusts his soul to the care of his Father is beautiful because of: (a) what it retains of Ps. 31:5; (b) what it adds; and (c) what it omits,” explain Dr. William Hendriksen.
“It retains “I commend my spirit.” This is significant, for it indicates that the Savior died the only kind of death that was able to satisfy the justice of God and to save man. It had to be a voluntary sacrifice. The very fact that Jesus uttered this word with a loud voice also shows that he willingly, voluntarily laid down his life (John 10:11, 15).”
“It adds the significant word Father, not found in the psalm. The importance of this word at this point has already been indicated.”
“It omits the clause that immediately follows in the psalm, namely, “Thou hast redeemed me.” In the case of Christ, the Sinless One, no such redemption was necessary nor even possible.”
“’And when he had said this, he breathed his last,’ show the “calm restfulness” (Geldenhuys) in the mind and heart of Jesus at the moment when his soul parted from this earth. Having fully accomplished the work the Father gave him to do (John 17:4), he enjoyed to the full “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding” (Phil. 4:7),” concludes Dr. Hendriksen.
Soli deo Gloria!
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