Christ’s Last Words from the Cross
The seven last words of Jesus, spoken from the cross, are among the most profound and powerful expressions of love, forgiveness, and human suffering in all of Scripture. Each phrase, recorded across the four Gospels, offers a window into the heart of Christ as He endured the agony of crucifixion. These final words are not only a testament to His divinity and humanity, but they also invite us to reflect deeply on the meaning of His sacrifice and the hope it brings to the world.
Was Jesus praying for the two criminals at his side? Was Jesus praying for the Roman soldiers who blindly followed orders to put him to death? Could he be praying for his disciples who betrayed and denied him? Maybe Jesus was praying for the people who shouted, “Crucify Him” and sent him to the cross. Or, could it be that as he hung on the cross Jesus closed his eyes, looked into the future, and prayed for you and me? That we would be forgiven when we sin. I don’t know for sure who Jesus was praying for that day, but I believe his prayer from the cross was powerful enough to cover it all. Father, forgive us when we don’t know what we’re doing… and when we do.
The convicted thief hanging on the cross beside Jesus pleaded, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” proclaiming his belief that Jesus really was the Son of God. Jesus assures the man he will join him in paradise. Even from the cross, Christ was ministering grace and giving the lost a home. Jesus’ words remind us no matter how many times we have sinned or how long it has been since we have prayed, God is always looking to forgive us. The promise of God’s kingdom is such incredible news in the face of death.
Atop the hill at Golgotha, Mary and the beloved disciple are deeply grieved to see Jesus suffering, but they’re committed to being with him to the end. It’s as though Jesus says, “Mom, when I’m gone, my friend John will feel lost. I need you to love him and look after him as though he was your own son. And John, my mom’s heart is breaking. When I’m gone, I need you to love and care for her as though she were your own mother.” In other words, “You’re going to need each other when I’m gone. You’re family now… not by your blood but by mine.”
Here Jesus echoes the words of the psalmist in Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?” The Psalmist laments that he cries out to God but never hears an answer. Jesus lamented the suffering he went through on the cross, and we lament things in our own lives like loss and death, pain and heartbreak. These words of derelection (abandonment) reveal Christ’s humanity as do his words in the garden before he’s arrested: “Father, if it’s your will let this cup pass from me.”
In this moment on the cross, Jesus, who offers us the promise of living waters through the Holy Spirit, is dry. Parched. Empty. Importantly, these two words – “I thirst” – show us Jesus’ humanity lest we water down his sacrifice by thinking his divinity spared him the pain. Further, his thirst was surely also a spiritual thirst or yearning. He died thirsting for justice and compassion, for all of creation to be reconciled to one another and to God… and all these years later those of us who love Jesus are still trying to quench that thirst of his.
“I did what I set out to do.” This is what Jesus means when from the cross he says, “It is finished.” It’s not about defeat; he doesn’t say “I’M finished,” implying he died exhausted having lost to someone more powerful. Instead, it’s a declaration of accomplishment. With his dying breath, Jesus cries out, “IT is finished.” The work is done. Christ came to see God’s plan of redemption through to the very end. To make a way where there was no way. From birth to life to death, Jesus saw it all the way through.
With these words, Jesus at once echoes the words of the psalmist David in Psalm 31, reveals his unwavering trust in God, and throws himself into the arms of God, laying down his earthly life. In these final words of Jesus, he shows us how to surrender to God in our most desperate moments, leaning not on our own abilities or wills but on God’s promise to restore our souls even when we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. So, as Jesus commends his Spirit to God, we commend ours to Christ who shows us the way to Life.