The View from the West Mesa

Seven Last Words “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” Finally, it really is over. After about three years of “setting His face toward Jerusalem,” of cycles of enthusiasm and abandonment, of insult, isolation, and abuse, and after hanging on this cross for six hours, it is mercifully time to let go. Jesus has lived the will of God His entire life and in fact this is what has brought Him to this point. He’s going to die today because of His absolute commitment to the leading of God. It isn’t just that He follows the will of God, but because He is God, His death in a few moments comes from His love for people; His love for you. This is the end of the road on which He set out on from the beginning. Having missed the family caravan back home, He brushed aside His parents’ remonstrances by reminding them that He had to be about His Father’s business. His practice of confounding and frustrating the Jewish religious leaders will last the rest of His life. It has on this day re...

Seven Last Words “It is finished.” We have come to the end—well right up to it anyway. After crying out that He thirsts, Jesus is given some sour wine and John says that he died. But John does not record our last two Words, one of which is this declaration.  What does Jesus mean by it is finished? Specifically, what is the “it?” Certainly it includes His life—His time on earth has come to an end. After thirty some odd years, with the most recent 18 or so hours of insult, abuse, desecration, and dehydration, His body is ready to die.  But we remember that this death is not just that of an itinerant rabbi who came afoul of the law. No, this is Messiah—one appointed as God’s messenger and representative—God Himself in this case. This then is the end to the planned-before-time-mission. Everything in His life; in fact everything in the history of the cosmos has been leading to this moment. He has been faithful even unto death. That death is now here to mark the comple...

Seven Last Words “I thirst.” The end is coming quickly now. His body has been beaten, desecrated, and now is quickly becoming dehydrated. His tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth they are so dry. If there was anything to swallow, it would be almost impossible to do so. Jesus’ humanity is coming to the end of life, a life that seemingly has been pulled from it; beaten from it. These words have meant many things to many people through history. Surely, Jesus suffers from physical thirst. How could he not? And so these words are our second verbal indicator of his human suffering and approaching death.  It is a bit ironic that he who suggested that the Spirit would be a living fountain of water in him who believed would now feel bereft of water. Ironic perhaps, but a clear indicator of what Jesus has given up so that we might live. Jesus has been on a mission directed by God. He probably also thirsts—longs for the completion of this mission. Following on the heels of his...

Seven Last Words “My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?” Jesus is coming to the end of His task. He has been on this cross for almost six hours. He has experienced repeated insult, injury, frustration, and even abandonment by both His disciples and the leaders of the People of God. From a human perspective, He has come almost to the end of His rope. Almost, but not quite. The end will come quickly now. Many smart people have pondered the meaning of these words, and have come to the conclusion that we simply don’t know their  full meaning. The conundrum arises from a central tenet of Christian theology—that God is One, and He cannot be split into parts. Given this understanding, it is simply impossible for God to have forsaken God; for there to have been a rift in the Trinity. And so He hasn't.  This utterance isn’t from Jesus’ divinity, but from His humanity. He is tired, and He has been doing what He came to do—all the suffering, all the not-answering-...

Seven Last Words “Woman, behold thy son.” Jesus spent his last evening washing feet, giving last-minute encouragement to his disciples, praying in the garden while the disciples slept, and then betrayed and standing a religious trial. At dawn, He had been taken to Pilate and experienced the leaders of His people yelling, “We have no God but Caesar!” After enduring an exchange of question and answer, He was finally turned over for crucifixion in return for a notorious insurrectionist. Beaten and insulted by the Roman soldiers, He now finds Himself hanging on a cross, being jeered yet again by those who should know better. Before He dies, there is one last detail He needs to handle. He has to make arrangements for mom. Jesus is her oldest son, and some believe her only son. In the culture of the day,   she will not have anyone to care for her when He’s dead. It is his responsibility to make sure she is   entrusted to someone. Looking down from the cross, he sees...

Seven Last Words “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” Jesus is crucified between criminals. These folks are called thieves in Scripture, but the word used, lestes, might more accurately be translated as “robber.” A robber  doesn't  just take things surreptitiously like a thief might. A robber confronts his victims and may well use violence or even murder to take what they want. These two  weren't  second story men or petty thieves being crucified for taking someone’s VCR. These guys were violent men who may have been part of Barabbas’ group of insurrectionists. I review all that to shed some light on who these guys were. They would have fit in the list of people Paul has told us would “never enter the Kingdom of God.”  These were men who had committed considerable crimes. Unfortunately, they had been caught by on e of the most brutal regimes the world has known. Not only was life worth very little, but it could be taken seemingly at a whim b...

Seven Last Words “Forgive them because they do not know what they are doing.” Forgiveness, what is it? All relationships involve the need for acceptance of another, acceptance of hurt, and acceptance of reconciliation. All healthy relationships require that I let you into my life as an imperfect person, willing to experience your failings even toward me. We often see parents urge their children to say “I’m sorry” for relatively minor infractions, with the expectation that the person they have affronted would say something like, “It’s OK, I forgive you.” This is a great practice because it teaches kids that other people, their stuff, and their feelings are important and aren’t to be taken for granted. If all works well, the kids also get to see humility and forgiveness modeled for them. Forgiveness though brings with it the idea of releasing a debt; of letting go of hurt; of blame. It includes a realization that we are all fallen creatures and perhaps even accepting that...