In the entire history of Planet Earth – in the entire history of the universe, in fact – it had never happened. Never. It had never happened, not even once. And it will never happen again.
What happened? God died.Yes, you read that correctly. You might want to read it again.
God died. Yes, God died. Not just some guy, but God Himself – for Jesus was, and is, God.
Maybe it should not surprise us, but this God the Son – this divine Logos (“the Word”) – spoke the Word until His final breath. The very last sentence of His life was a quote of Psalm 31:5. You squeeze Jesus, and He oozes Bible. You pierce Jesus, and He pours out Bible. You put Jesus in some remote desert, and He speaks Bible. You starve Jesus nearly to death, and He lives by the Bible. You send that roaring lion Satan to attack Jesus – and to tempt Jesus in every conceivable and inconceivable way – and He quotes the Bible. You nail Jesus to a cross. You torture Jesus. You unleash hell on Jesus. He prays the Bible!
I know that we generally focus on the last words of Jesus during Holy Week, but have you ever thought about the first words of the life of Christ as recorded in Holy Scripture? They were spoken to His mother and Joseph (Luke 2:49): “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” And the Bible specifically records that Mary and Joseph did not understand what their son meant.
Do we know what He meant? I believe that – as a 12-year-old – Jesus was saying in effect: “The Father has given me a job to do, and I can’t go home until the job is done.” With His last few breaths, Christ said something like this (Luke 23:46): “Father, I’m coming home now because I’ve done the job You gave Me to do.” Christ put Himself into His Father’s hands because that’s the only place He ever wanted to be. Christ did not commit His spirit into the hands of Pilate or Caiaphas or the Roman soldiers. Neither did Jesus commit His spirit to Peter, James, John, or any of the other disciples. Our Lord was to be in good hands, so He committed His spirit into the hands of the Father.
Charles Spurgeon preached it like this: “Now He is committing His spirit, as a sacred trust, into the Father’s hands that He may depart to be with the Father, to abide in His house, and go no more out forever. Christ’s life is all of a piece, just as the Alpha and the Omega are letters of the same alphabet. You do not find Him one thing at the first, another thing afterwards, and a third thing still later – He is ‘Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever.’”
All because of the cross and resurrection, and their stubborn belief in both, the earliest followers of Jesus were put to incomprehensible tests. By way of example, Stephen – who we remember as the first Christian martyr – died with Scripture on his lips. Stephen was preaching in that most feared name of Jesus, and people told him he better stop or they’d kill him! But Stephen wouldn’t stop because he couldn’t stop. So Stephen just stood there and preached the Bible … never mind the consequences.
How shall you and I fare on the day of our testing? Probably the best way to gauge that is by considering how you and I live now. If we have any hope to be found faithful until the last day, it will be because we have fallen in love with the grace of Jesus …
A grace that went all the way!
A grace that could not be quenched by sin!
A grace that would nourish hope even in the darkest hour!
And the reason we know the truth about grace is because it’s been revealed to us in the Bible. Every page whispers His name, a Truth that would love until the moment of His death … so God died. Yes, God died. There’s lots of evidence that He really died (more on that Sunday), but you and I still must believe it by faith.
I can’t ask the question any better than Charles Wesley. It haunts me, yet it thrills me …
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain –
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, should die for me?
When the time comes for me to speak my final words, I hope they’re not my words.
Pastor Charles
Charles, your blogs are so inspirational and full of truth and
sincere guidance.
Thank you for sharing with us and helping me to understand scripture sometimes a bit better. I have read through the entire Bible multiple times. Have hand written 19 books of the Bible word for word. Had to stop. To continue I needed hand surgery. I just am not up to anything else right now and it would have to be in Louisville. God Bless You!