SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS

FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO

When they crucified Jesus He said, “Father forgive them they know not what they do.”  Who was the “they” He was referring to? Paul tells us Christ died for our sins. Jesus was thinking of me at that moment. My sins are what nailed Him to the cross. His prayer was answered when I obeyed the terms of pardon.

TODAY SHALT THOU BE WITH ME IN PARADISE

“Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise,” was spoken to a man who had been on death row. This statement indicates that even the worst of sinners can be a companion of the Lord Jesus in heaven.

BEHOLD THY MOTHER BEHOLD THY SON

“Behold thy mother behold thy son,” was spoken during the greatest agony ever suffered. He was thinking of the welfare of others at that time.

MY GOD! MY GOD! WHY EAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?

“My God! My God! why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Jesus was our scapegoat for all of our sins and at that moment even the Father forsook Him. Sin always separates. It separated Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Sin will separate the unredeemed on the Day of Judgment. When Jesus says, “Depart from Me ye cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.” Many will realize part of the suffering of hell is separation from God unto eternal association with the Devil and with all the demons and the worst of damned humanity.

I THIRST

“I Thirst,” are the words that put emphasis on the humanity of Jesus. He was thirsty. As far as we can tell the last drink that moistened His lips was the fruit of the vine when He instituted the Lord’s Supper the night before. His thirst was not only the natural thirst of humanity, but also an indication of the eternal thirst of the damned. The rich man, in one of the incidents Jesus told, suffered from thirst. To have such intense thirst for all of eternity and no one to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue is one of the tortures of the lost.

IT IS FINISHED

“It is finished.” This is the moment that the Lord Jesus had waited for from the moment of Genesis 3:15. “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel”. At last it was done. The Son of the woman had smashed the head of the serpent. Paul told the Roman Church of Christ, “The Lord will bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” As members of the Body of Christ we can put our foot on the Devil’s neck too.

INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT

“Into Thy hands I commend My Spirit.” Jesus commended His Spirit into the hands of the Father. That is an interesting statement in view of the tenth chapter of Hebrews. There is the statement about those that have trodden under foot the Son of God and counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing and have done despite to the spirit of grace. For we know Him that said, “Vengeance belongeth unto Me, I will ye recompense saith the Lord.” And again the Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. When we leave this world all will fall into the hands of God.

Think of these statements of Jesus as He died on the cross; as you eat of bread and drink of the fruit of the vine that so fitly represents His blood that was shed for our salvation.