April 13, 2025
The Final Proclamation
Luke 23:46
I want to start this morning's sermon by asking you a question. It's a question asked in the Book of Genesis when Abraham tried to intercede on behalf of the wicked city of Sodom and Gomorrah. It’s recorded in Genesis 18:25 when Abraham asked the Lord, “Will not the Judge of the earth do right?” It’s a very simple question on the surface, but as we contemplate our answer, we will see it is a very profound one. As we try to personally answer this question, we will find ourselves struggling to do so honestly. However, before we dive into this and start thinking about how each of us will answer, I want us to put this question on the back burner of our minds and turn in our Bibles to Luke 23:24. This is where we will find the Final Proclamation of Jesus on the cross as we wrap up our sermon series entitled “The Final Proclamations”. It’s here in the last part of Luke 23 that we see the scene at the cross has approached its finale. Jesus’ ministry is now over. Everything He had set out to accomplish had been done just as He told us when He proclaimed “It is finished!”. But seemingly in His very next breath, Jesus cried out for one last time.
Luke 23:46
“Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”
It was with these words that the King of Glory died. The one whose birth was foretold for centuries, the one whose birth the angels proclaimed, the one whom the wise men from the east came and worshiped as the King of the Jews, the one who healed the blind with just a touch, and the one who made the lame walk again. He was the one whom the demons feared, He was the one who brought the dead back to life, and He was the one who had control over nature as He was able to calm storms and walk on seas. He was the one who proclaimed, I AM the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life and the true vine. But now, the King of Kings hung lifeless on a criminal's cross. I don’t want you to get upset at this development because remember Resurrection Sunday is coming! This week though, I want to look at this final proclamation from Jesus before His death. I want us to see 3 things — First, I want us to see the heart of Jesus, second, I want us to see His example that we all must follow, and third, I want us to revisit the question that we started this sermon with.
The Heart of Jesus
A person's last words have often been said to contain many truths. It has been said that these words can summarize the life of the dying. It can show their true beliefs, and it can proclaim the legacy that they are leaving. We see this truth played out in the lives of many Christians down through the years. Martin Luther's last words were said to be "God is the Lord by whom we escape death". D.L. Moody said, "I see earth receding; heaven is opening. God is calling me". John Wesley said, "The best of all is, God is with us". Charles Wesley: "I shall be satisfied satisfied satisfied when I awake in Thy likeness!". One of my favorites is that of the Baptist Missionary Adoniram Judson, who ministered to the people in Burma in the early 1800’s. He was quoted as saying "I go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school. I feel so strong in Christ". It was in their last words that their life, priorities, and legacy were summarized so well. This truth about the last words can be said of Jesus too, because it is in these last words that we see these things concerning Jesus.
It all starts with the very first words mentioned in this verse. They show us that Jesus still possessed the miraculous supernatural power and authority that He constantly displayed throughout His ministry. The fact that these words were said loudly was a miraculous event in and of itself, and I don’t use the word “miraculous” lightly. Men who suffered like Jesus did, did not cry out with a loud and triumphant shout in the moments before their death. Crucifixion victims usually slowly faded into death over hours or even days as they found themselves struggling to breathe near the end, as they usually succumbed to asphyxiation. However, this was not what Jesus was experiencing. He was not defeated in the moment, but He was triumphant in His death. That’s what He was declaring with these miraculously loud and authoritative shouts. These words were delivered with the same power and force that He proclaimed every truth about the Kingdom of God that He shared throughout His entire ministry. Jesus was not merely a good teacher or even just a good man. Jesus was showing once again that He was God in the flesh who had come with a purpose and was always in total control, even as He laid down His own life.
Now I say “laid down His own life” because this is an important aspect that we come to understand about Jesus in this verse. Jesus was not being killed, even though He was dying, He was in total control of the situation as always. John 10:18 records Jesus telling His followers this, “No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and the authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” The language in the Gospel accounts, especially Matthew and John’s, make it abundantly clear that this is what happened. His amazing and authoritative power was on display in the fact that Jesus laid down His own life, in His timing, and under His control as He had finished carrying out the Father's plan. He had trusted the Father completely and it was evident in this dying declaration. This trust in the Father was seen throughout Jesus’ Earthly ministry. In Luke 2 we see this trust expressed by Jesus at the age of 12 after He was accidentally left behind in Jerusalem for 3 days. When His family came back and found Him teaching in the Temple, Jesus told them that He was there because He had to be about His Father’s business. Even at an early age, Jesus followed His Father’s plan flawlessly. He spoke about His work and His relationship with the Father in John 5:17-20 when He said “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” For this reason, they tried all the more to kill him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He even called God his own Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these so that you will be amazed.” Jesus trusted the Father in all of His life and He trusted Him even in His death. We saw this starting in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prayed “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” This trust was shown in His last cry from the cross as He said, “Father into your hands I commit My spirit”. This word commit, being synonymous with trust, is where we see Jesus expressing His perfect trust in the Father, even as His spirit leaves His body.
Jesus had everything that most people cherish and try to hold onto in life. He had power, it might be a little different than the power most people crave, but as we have seen there is no doubt that Jesus had power. He had the adoration and praise of many people as well. Throughout His ministry, crowds followed Him everywhere He went and hung on His every word. We see this happening just a few days before His death. On Palm Sunday Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time crowds of people followed Jesus waving palm branches and shouting Hosanna! Jesus even had all the wealth that He wanted, Psalms 24:1 tells us the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. Jesus was God, not a god, but the only God. We see this throughout Scripture and that’s the reason the religious leaders wanted to kill Him. Jesus had everything that motivated man, but in His dying breath, what did He hold onto? It wasn’t the power that proved His authority, it wasn’t the praise that had been given by men or it wasn’t the possessions that were rightfully His as God. It’s in this moment that we see the heart of Jesus as He held onto the most important thing and that was His relationship with the Father. It was all He needed and with this declaration, we see the example that we need to follow.
An example to follow
The words of Jesus on the cross were not just a declarative statement, they were an instructive statement as well for those who would follow Jesus. This statement wasn’t just an instruction to trust God with your soul, because that is what we do when we experience salvation, we put our trust in Jesus and His grace saves us. This statement was instructive to follow and trust God with our whole lives just like Jesus did, no matter the cost and no matter where it would take you. Jesus told His disciples exactly what it would take to follow Him in Matthew 16:24-26 when He said “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” A life devoted to God seems impossible. We can see those who took Jesus’ command to trust God with everything to heart and through the power of the Holy Spirit were able to do just that even if it meant to follow Jesus to their deaths. The first to do so was a follower named Stephen. In Acts 6 & 7 we see His story played out. Stephen proclaimed the Gospel and stirred up the religious leaders just like Jesus did. He was even proclaiming it when the religious leaders had enough and drug him out and stoned him. It was at that moment that Stephen even repeated the sentiment of Jesus as He declared “Lord Jesus receive my spirit”. This attitude is seen not just in the Bible, but throughout history as well, in the lives of missionaries and martyrs as they followed Jesus wherever He led even if it led them to death. They trusted God just like Jesus trusted the Father. This lifestyle is not just for the heroes of our faith, this is for every one of the faith. That leads us back to the beginning and a question we must answer.
A question we must answer
“Will not the Judge of the earth do right?” This is the question we must answer for ourselves. I know that for most of us, our first response will be to answer with a “Yes!”. Yes is the correct answer. It's the answer that Abraham knew even before He even asked the question. But to truly answer this question, it can’t just be with our lips, it must be with our lives. Therefore do our lives show that we believe the Judge of all the earth will do right in our lives? That means that we trust Him with all of our lives just like Jesus, even to the very end. Most of the time we can not live this because there are things that we would rather hold onto and not trust the Judge of all the earth with. They might be our hurts. They might be our pain. They might be our doubts, and maybe they are our fears. There are many things we don't trust in God's hands. While we would never say it with our mouths, many times our lives say that we don't trust God with these things. We think that God will fumble them if we trust Him with these things. It’s not just us that don’t trust God to do right, remember the disciples did the same thing. They said they could follow Jesus and experience the suffering that was coming, but when it came to living out this their lives did not agree with their lips. I think it boils down to the fact that we are scared to trust God. Sure, we trust Him with our souls and our eternal salvation. However, when it comes to those other things, we tend to think that we can handle our lives better than God despite all the evidence to the contrary — we don’t trust God with everything. So will not the perfect and righteous Judge do right? He will and when you come through it all, it will be more wonderful than you could ever imagine when you were in the midst of your struggles. The fear we experience when it comes to trusting God with everything in our lives is not from God, it's from Satan. He does not want you to experience the life that Jesus promised for all those who take up their cross and follow Him. He does not want you to experience an abundant life.
As I was preparing the sermon this week, there was a statement that I came across that sums up the sermon perfectly. “Until God is enough, nothing else will be.” What are you seeking in your life to be your “enough”? Are you seeking money? Jesus had it all but still clung to the Father. Do you seek validation and appreciation over anything else? Jesus had that all, but still clung only to the Father. Are you seeking power? Jesus had it but still clung to the Father. Are you ready to live like Jesus? trust God to do right in all the parts of your life, and be set free from a burden you have been holding on to? Are you ready to surrender all to Him? No matter where He calls you, no matter where He leads, are you ready to take up your cross and follow Him? What is holding you back? It all boils down to one word — trust. Do you trust God with everything? Let me tell you, you are always safe in the Father's hands.
