Jesus 7 last sayings

Jesus Christ made seven final statements during his last hours on the cross. While hanging naked on the cross Jesus continued to minister hope and salvation to those in His presence. Despite having been stripped, flogged, mocked, spat upon, scourged and beaten to a pulp, Jesus continued to reach out, uttering what are commonly known as the seven last words (phrases) of Jesus before He gave up the ghost. (Isaiah 53:4-5; 1 Peter 2:24) The last words of a dying person are usually considered to be very important, and Jesus made His last seven statements on the cross (the number 7 is the number of perfection or completion) these last 7 words reveal much both about the person and character of Jesus and the meaning and purpose of His crucifixion, death and resurrection. These phrases also offer us a glimpse into the depth of his suffering to accomplish our redemption and they reveal His divinity as well as His humanity. In order to find all of the seven last statements of Jesus Christ, you need to read all four gospels since none of the evangelists records all 7 of His last sayings in their Gospel.

The seven last statements that Jesus Christ made on the cross were:

(1) “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). After they had stripped Him, whipped Him almost to death, crowned Him with Thorns, mocked Him and spat upon Him and humiliated Him and made Him carry His own cross, and when they had nailed Jesus to the Cross, and parted His raiment, that He spake the first "last words" Jesus' prayer in the midst of their laughter, mocking and crucifying Him is an expression of the limitless compassion of Jesus' divine grace. As we read the words, "Father, forgive them," may we understand that we too are forgiven through Jesus' agony on this cross. Jesus said that nobody took His life; He freely laid it down of His own accord. His life was not taken, it was given. Our sins are the only things we can really give to Jesus Christ! As John writes in his first letter, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness" (1 John 1:9). Because Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, we are cleansed from all wickedness, from every last sin. We are united with G-d the Father as his beloved children. We are free to approach His throne of grace with our needs and concerns. G-d "has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west" (Ps 103:13).That Jesus asks His father to forgive them - St. Augustine writes: 'Sanguinem Christi, quem saevientes fuderunt, credentes biberunt.' The question why Jesus Christ did not Himself forgive, but appealed for it to the Father, is best answered by the consideration, that it was really a "crimen laesae majestatis" against the Father, and that the vindication of the Son lay with G-d the Father. In Romans 8:34 we read: "Who is he that condementh? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is at the right hand of G-d. who also maketh intercession for us."

(2) “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise" (Luke 23:43). In this passage, Jesus is assuring one of the criminals on the cross that when he died, he would be with Jesus in heaven. This was granted because even though he had waited until the very hour of his death, the criminal had expressed his faith in Jesus, recognizing Him for who He was (Luke 23:42). And Jesus, embodying the mercy of G-d, says to us, "You will be with me in paradise." We are welcome there not because we have obeyed His Laws, or that we have believed the right denominational doctrines or theology, or because we are living rightly, but only because G-d is merciful and we have put our faith and trust in Jesus. This repentant criminal did nothing to earn his own salvation or forgiveness but he truly believed in the Him whom the Lord had sent. This drives religious people, especially self-righteous religious people "nuts" - they think that G-d owes them more because they have spent more time "laboring", worshipping, given more, sacrificed more, sinned less or whatever - than this repentant sinner - they truly think like the Pharisee that they deserve more. What about faith without works they cry out! In Matthew 20:1-16 we read: "For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. To them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’ "They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ "He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’ "When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’ "But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen." In John 6:29 we read: "Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of G-d, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." We only need to ask to receive - we do not receive/get what we deserve - we receive/get life more abundantly from Him!

(3) “Dear Woman, here is your son!” and “Here is your mother!” When Jesus saw His mother standing near the cross with the Apostle John, whom He loved, He committed His mother’s care into John’s hands. And from that hour John took her unto his own home (John 19:26-27). In this verse Jesus, ever the compassionate Son, is making sure His earthly mother is cared for after His death. Even as he was dying on the cross as the Savior of the world, Jesus was also a son, a role he didn't neglect in his last moments. As Jesus was dying, his mother was among the few who had remained with Him. Most of His friends and disciples had fled, with the exception of John who wrote the Fourth Gospel and refers to himself as "the disciple He loved." John called himself this because he knew that Jesus had forgiven him more than the others. Here Jesus was forging a relationship between this disciple and His mother, one in which the disciple would take care of Mary financially and in other ways. Jesus wanted to make sure she would be in good hands after His death. The presence of Mary at the cross adds both humanity and horror to this awful scene. We are reminded that Jesus was a very real human being, a man who had once been a little boy - who had once been a tiny baby carried in the womb of His mother. Even as He was dying on the cross as the Savior of the world, Jesus was also a son, a role He didn't neglect in His last moments. When we think of the crucifixion of Jesus from the perspective of His mother, our horror increases dramatically. The death of a child is one of the most painful of all parental experiences. To watch one's beloved child experience the extreme torture of scourging and crucifixion must have been unimaginably terrible. We're reminded of the prophecy of Simeon shortly after Jesus' birth, when he said to Mary: "And a sword will pierce your very soul" (Luke 2:35). This scene helps us visualize the crucifixion of a real man, true flesh and blood, a son of a mother, dying with unbearable pain and horror. But, why does Jesus address Mary as "Woman" here instead of Mom, Mother, or even Mary? Jesus is acknowledging Mary as the woman of Genesis 3:15, where G-d reveals His plan that the head of Satan and his seed shall be crushed by a woman and her seed. Eve's disobedience lost her the title of mother of all the living at the foot of a tree; Mary now through her obedience regains the title of the mother of all the living at the foot of another tree, the cross. Satan was crushed, not just through the woman's seed, but through this woman. Through a woman came sin, so also through a woman came salvation - Mary, the "woman" who will crush the head of Satan, the "woman" who is clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars in Revelation 12. These few words of Jesus clearly prove His undying love for His family and prove to us how concerned and loyal Jesus is to provide for those He loves - John 3:16!


(4) Matthew 27:46 tells us that about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice in Aramaic, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My G-d, my G-d, why have you forsaken me?” Here, Jesus was expressing His feelings of abandonment as G-d placed the sins of the world on Him – and because of that, G-d had to “turn away” from Jesus. As Jesus felt that enormous weight of humanity's many sins, He was experiencing a separation from G-d for the only time in all of eternity. As Jesus was dying on the cross, he echoed the beginning of Psalm 22, which reads: "My G-d, my G-d, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my G-d, but you do not answer. Every night you hear my voice, but I find no relief. What we do know is that Jesus entered into the Hell of separation from His Holy Father. His Father abandoned him because Jesus took upon himself the penalty for all of our sins. In that excruciating moment, He experienced something far more horrible than physical pain. The beloved Son of G-d knew what it was like to be totally separated and rejected by His own Father. As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "G-d made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of G-d" (NIV). Both of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark relate that it was in the ninth hour, after 3 hours of darkness (the darkest hours of Jesus became the brightest hours of mankind), that Jesus cried out this fourth statement. Just after He speaks, Mark relates with a horrible sense of finality, "And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed his last" (Mark 15:37). One is struck by the anguished tone of this expression compared to the first three words of Jesus. This cry is from the painful heart of the human Jesus who was now deserted by His Father and the Holy Spirit, not to mention his earthly companions the Apostles. As if to emphasize His loneliness, Mark even has his loved ones "looking from afar," not close to him as in the Gospel of John. Jesus is now separated from his Father. He is now completely alone, and he must face death by Himself. There can not be a more dreadful moment in the history of man as this moment. Jesus who came to save us is crucified, and He now experiences the horror of complete separation from His Father and now is alone enduring all this agony. Evil triumphs, as Jesus admits: "But this is your hour" (Luke 22:53). But it is only for a moment. The burden of all the sins of humanity for a moment overwhelm the humanity of our Jesus. It is in the total defeat of His humanity and His death that we are all redeemed. "For there is one G-d. There is also one mediator between G-d and the human race, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself as ransom for all" (l Timothy 2:5-6).

(5) “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). Jesus was here fulfilling the Messianic prophecy from Psalm 69:21: “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.” No doubt Jesus experienced extreme thirst while being crucified. He would have lost a substantial quantity of bodily fluids, both blood and sweat, through what he had endured even prior to His crucifixion. In response the soldiers gave Jesus "sour wine" in order to fulfill Scripture. In Psalm 69, we see this passage: " Their insults have broken my heart, and I am in despair. If only one person would show some pity; if only one would turn and comfort me. But instead, they give me poison for food; they offer me sour wine for my thirst. As he suffered, Jesus embodied the pain of the people of Israel, that which had been captured in the Psalms. Jesus was not only suffering for the sins of Israel, He was taking upon himself the sins of the entire world including mine! In John 4:14 Jesus said: "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Here Jesus is thirsty so that we will never be thirsty again! In the Jewish Passover Seder 5 cups of wine are used. Elijah's cup is the 5th cup of wine used at Seder. This cup is never drunk but rather is symbolic of the coming Messiah. The first four cups or wine symbolize redemption and the promises made to Moses in Exodus 6:2-8: the promise to rescue Israel from Egypt, delivery from slavery, to remain a free people and a reminder that they are G-d's chosen people. The fifth cup, Elijah's cup is symbolic of the hope the coming Messiah. It was probably the third cup, which declares "I will redeem you with a demonstration of my power", that Jesus used when he declared "This is my blood poured out for you." (1 Corinthians 11:25) It was probably the fourth cup "I will make you my people" of which Jesus declared '"This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20) But what about the last cup? After His last supper (the Pesach Seder) - Jesus said He would not taste the fruit of the vine again until His kingdom comes. Instead of drinking the last cup then, Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane. While He was there - Jesus prays three times for His father to take this last cup away from Him. Each time Jesus says not my will but thine be done. This last cup forever links the last supper (Passover Seder) and the crucifixion of Jesus, the true Lamb of G-d who takes away the sins of the world. In all four Gospels (Matthew 27:48, Mark 15:36, Luke 23:36, and John 19:30) we clearly see the sacrificed Lamb of G-d (Jesus) drinking vinegar or sour wine on the cross, from a sponge placed on a hyssop branch. The hyssop branch was symbolic of the sprinkling of the Passover lamb's blood using a hyssop branch - see Exodus 12:22. Jesus was truly the Passover Lamb; after He had finished drinking this last Messianic cup - Jesus then said, "It is finished." That is where I believe - the last cup comes in.

(6) “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Jesus’ last words meant that His suffering was over and the whole redemptive work His Father had given Him to do, which was to preach the Gospel, cast out demons, heal the sick, raise the dead, work miracles, and obtain eternal salvation for His people and the entire world, was completely done, accomplished, fulfilled. Our debt of sin was paid. When Jesus said "It is finished," surely he was expressing relief that his suffering was over. "It is finished" meant, in part, "This is finally done!" But the Greek verb "telelestai" translated as "It is finished" means far more than just this. Jesus had accomplished his entire prophetic mission. He had announced and inaugurated the kingdom of G-d. He had revealed the power, love and grace of G-d. And he had embodied that love and grace by dying to redeem the sins of the world, thus opening up the way for all to live forever under the reign of G-d. Because Jesus finished his work of our salvation, you and I don't need to add to it. In fact, we can't. He accomplished what we never could, taking all of our sins upon Himself and giving us His life in return. Jesus finished that for which He had been sent, and we are the beneficiaries of His extreme efforts. Because of what He finished, you and I are also "finished." We have hope for this life and for the next. We know that nothing can now separate us from G-d's love. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith! One day the work that G-d has begun in us will also be finished, by his grace. Until that day, we live in the confidence of Jesus' cry of victory: "It is finished!" Thank G-d that there is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!

(7) “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Jesus was nailed on the cross on the third hour (9 AM). On the sixth hour (noon) G-d made it dark and on the nineth hour (3 PM) Jesus gave up the ghost - He had endured 6 hours to save all men who were created on the sixth day. Now, Jesus willingly places His soul into the Father’s hands, indicating that as He dies – that G-d had accepted His blood sacrifice. Jesus had “offered up Himself unblemished to G-d” (Hebrews 9:14). Here Luke records that Jesus quotes from Psalm 31:"Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands." On an obvious level, Jesus was putting his post mortem future in the hands of his Heavenly Father. But when we look carefully at the Psalm Jesus quoted, we see Psalm 31 begins with a cry for divine help: O LORD, I have come to you for protection; don’t let me be disgraced. Save me, for you do what is right. But then it continues and asks for G-d's deliverance with a confession of G-d's strength and faithfulness: I entrust my spirit into your hand. Rescue me, LORD, for you are a faithful G-d. At the end, Psalm 31 offers praise of G-d's salvation: Praise the LORD, for He has shown me the wonders of His unfailing love. He kept me safe when my city was under attack. By quoting a portion of Psalm 31, therefore, Jesus not only entrusted his resurrection to his Father, but also trusted that He would be delivered not only from death and corruption but that He would be totally exonerated and able to live forever to intercede for us all! Thank G-d He Lives - because we live in Him!

Shalom dear one! Shalom! Shem Yeshua!