The Seventh and Final Word of the Cross
"Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit".
Once again Jesus is quoting the Tehellim, the Psalms, as a faithful Jew. This is Psalm 31:5 which reads,
"Into your hand I commit my spirit; for you have redeemed me O Lord, faithful God". (RSV translation).
I am not sure how this text is used in Judaism, but in the liturgy of the hours, the ancient daily prayer of the Church, this prayer comes often in the night office, obviously the last prayer of the day. Sleeping is a time when we relinquish conscious control of life to God, it is therefore an appropriate point to recite the text. Here Jesus is, of course, dying. He has declared his work on earth to be finished and leaving his entrance into death and the world to come to God. He has lived well, and in ancient Christian terminology is dying a "holy death". He is dying as he lived, with life in the hands of God, the Father.
Jesus said that he was "the Way, the Truth, and the Life". In him we have a relationship to the triune God. He is our way to God. In him with find the truth by which we live our lives. In him we find life in this world and the world to come. In fact, we live the whole context of our lives as Christians dependent on God. The Lord's prayer reminds us of our dependency on "our Father who art in heaven...". Jesus taught us to live lives of faith and trust in the Creator. As we grow in grace, we learn more and more to commit our spirits daily to God. We learn more and more that the One who has given us life and all good, has given us salvation. We learn more and more what a gift of grace each day of our lives is. We commit our spirits each day to God, and when we come to our hour of death we can may that ultimate commitment of all that we are, and have been to God. We do this in assurance of forgiveness when we have failed, comfort in our spiritual legacy to family friends and church and God, and expectation of the hope of eternal life.
Because of Jesus we can be awake to the truth that we are in God's loving hands each day of our lives, and will be for eternity. This is all because of his love for us, given and demonstrated on the cross for our salvation. Let us live our lives committed to his care and love.
In The Assurance of God's Presence And Love,
Jim
"Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit".
Once again Jesus is quoting the Tehellim, the Psalms, as a faithful Jew. This is Psalm 31:5 which reads,
"Into your hand I commit my spirit; for you have redeemed me O Lord, faithful God". (RSV translation).
I am not sure how this text is used in Judaism, but in the liturgy of the hours, the ancient daily prayer of the Church, this prayer comes often in the night office, obviously the last prayer of the day. Sleeping is a time when we relinquish conscious control of life to God, it is therefore an appropriate point to recite the text. Here Jesus is, of course, dying. He has declared his work on earth to be finished and leaving his entrance into death and the world to come to God. He has lived well, and in ancient Christian terminology is dying a "holy death". He is dying as he lived, with life in the hands of God, the Father.
Jesus said that he was "the Way, the Truth, and the Life". In him we have a relationship to the triune God. He is our way to God. In him with find the truth by which we live our lives. In him we find life in this world and the world to come. In fact, we live the whole context of our lives as Christians dependent on God. The Lord's prayer reminds us of our dependency on "our Father who art in heaven...". Jesus taught us to live lives of faith and trust in the Creator. As we grow in grace, we learn more and more to commit our spirits daily to God. We learn more and more that the One who has given us life and all good, has given us salvation. We learn more and more what a gift of grace each day of our lives is. We commit our spirits each day to God, and when we come to our hour of death we can may that ultimate commitment of all that we are, and have been to God. We do this in assurance of forgiveness when we have failed, comfort in our spiritual legacy to family friends and church and God, and expectation of the hope of eternal life.
Because of Jesus we can be awake to the truth that we are in God's loving hands each day of our lives, and will be for eternity. This is all because of his love for us, given and demonstrated on the cross for our salvation. Let us live our lives committed to his care and love.
In The Assurance of God's Presence And Love,
Jim
posted by Theoblogger at
10:15 AM
