Some thoughts about Jesus’ seven words from the cross

  As Easter approaches I thought it would be interesting to conduct a brief study of Jesus’ seven words from the cross. This term itself is a bit of a misnomer because we are really talking about His seven statements from the cross not just seven words. I also find it interesting that “words” is pluralized because Jesus was (is) God’s Word in the singular form. This was part of God’s Word, but that is just a side note I find interesting. 

  What strikes me most about these words from the cross is how Jesus was still thinking about others while He was suffering–with “I thirst” being the only exception. But this shows us Jesus was fully human and was suffering as a human would, and He did it willingly! “No man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself.” John 10:18.

  The first words from Jesus on the cross are recorded in Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

  To me this is a remarkable statement in light of the situation! Jesus has just been beaten, tortured, and mocked in an illegal trial and then nailed to the cross. This was the beginning of the end or, as I like to call it, the end of the beginning, and the first thing he does is ask the Father to forgive the men who were doing this to Him. If Jesus can ask for forgiveness for His murderers it shows us that we can ask God for forgiveness no matter what we have done–and Paul is a great example of this. (Of course these men could not be forgiven unless they repented and asked for forgiveness themselves, that is the difference.) We have no knowledge of repentance from any of these individuals except possibly the Centurion who said “truly this was the Son of God.” (Matthew 27:54)

  But this is a reminder of Matthew 6:15 and Mark 11:26 where we are taught to forgive others for their sins or God will not forgive us of our sins. Jesus lived these words until the end and He set the example for all of us to follow.

  The second words from the cross also come from Luke, this time from 23:43: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

  Again a remarkable example of repentance and forgiveness while Jesus was at his weakest. Jesus was again being  mocked, this time by a thief crucified at his side. While he was being mocked by one thief the other came to His defense and asked to be remembered in His kingdom. This request was accepted by Jesus and this is another reminder of Matthew 6:15 and Mark 11:26.

  This differs from the first words from the cross in that the thief asked Jesus for forgiveness, whereas Jesus was asking for forgiveness for others in the first words. This thief was forgiven because he repented and asked to be remembered in Heaven.

  The third words from the cross: “Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother” come to us in John 19:26-27.

  Here Jesus is concerned with the well-being of his earthly family, putting them above Himself. For all that Jesus was going through His mother Mary must have been equally tortured on another, emotional, or earthly, level. She was watching her son being brutally murdered and while she understood Jesus was sent through her by God it is not unlikely she did not understand why He had to suffer through this torture and be crucified.

  I am reminded of Luke 2:49 when Jesus said to His earthly parents, “didn’t you know I would be in my Father’s house?” This shows us that even with the vision from God Mary still did not fully understand at this point what it meant. Even the apostles did not understand what they were witnessing because Jesus told them three times he would be killed and resurrected on the third and they still did not get it. “Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered.” (Zechariah 13:7)

  In ancient times widows were often neglected and with Jesus leaving her He made sure she would be taken care of for the rest of her life after her sacrifice. 

  With Jesus’ fourth and fifth words from the cross He for the first time thinks about Himself. His fourth words “my God, my God why have you forsaken me” come to us from Matthew 27:45–46 and they could make one think Jesus was questioning God. If this were true it could make one believe Jesus was not divine. For those reasons I think these words are the most interesting of the seven to debate. It is easy for a non-believer to question the divinity of Jesus based on these words because if Jesus was questioning God He could not be God.

  I think at this point it would be interesting to remember Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. At this point his arrest was immanent, he knew it was coming, and he knew he was going to be tortured and then executed by the most painful of executions known to man at the time and he prayed to the Father to take this cup from Him.

  Jesus, as human, did not want to suffer this pain but He ended the prayer in the garden, according to Luke 22:42, with “my Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” Jesus accepted the will of the Father and took on the pain of real death. When Jesus was at the height of his suffering on the cross his fourth words were a fulfillment of scripture (Psalm 22) because he WAS the scripture–the Word of God,  He was not questioning God, he was proving (fulfilling) God’s Word.

  This brings me back to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry on earth when He read the scroll from Isaiah in Luke 4:18-19 and then said in Luke 4:21 “this day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” Think of the audacity it would take for a man who was not divine to say those words at that place and time! Jesus began his earthly ministry by quoting scripture and as His earthly ministry was coming to an end He did the same.

 His fifth words were “I thirst” according to John 19:28. I find this to be poignant point because, much like the fourth words, this shows us Jesus was truly suffering. That seems self evident on the surface but I think people may sometimes gloss over this point. I think that sometimes people think Jesus was not truly suffering because he was God but it must be remembered that Jesus was fully human and he was not immune to the pain–He was not simply “going through the motions.” Jesus “suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, and was buried.” I think this is a point we must all remember. Jesus’ pain was real.

  “O death where is thy sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55) At this point on the cross Jesus was feeling the sting of death.

  Then comes his sixth words as recorded in John 19:30 and they are simply “it is finished.” Jesus’ suffering as a human was finished and he would soon be glorified but God’s plan is not finished. In fact in the larger picture it was just beginning with the New Covenant.

  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” These are the seventh, and last, words spoken by Jesus on the cross. All I can add to this is that we all must turn ourselves over to God, and if because of this “the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.” (John 15:18)

  For all that Jesus taught us when He lived He may have taught us just as much, if not more, on how to live when he was dying.