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Father, Forgive Them
CHRIST’S SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS
Translated by
Mary & Amani Bassilli www.copticriches.com
Copyright © Amani Bassilli, 2020 All rights reserved.
Cover Design Nermine Yaboub [email protected]
Front cover image by Ann Chapin Used with permission Inside images by Gustave Dore Copied from Wikimedia Commons
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
CONTENTS
Page
Introduction 4
The First Word 9
“Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they do”
The Second Word 19
“Today you will be with Me in Paradise”
The Third Word 31
“Woman, behold your son!... Behold your mother!”
The Fourth Word 37
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
The Fifth Word 45
“I thirst!”
The Sixth Word 49
“It is finished!”
The Seventh Word 53
“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit”
Introduction
The seven words pronounced by our Lord Jesus Christ, glory be to Him, in His agony from the cross, are full of life…
Barely did He speak during His trial, His tortures, and His humiliation; He was mostly silent. He forsook His right and His glory, for love “does not seek its own” (1Cor.13:5). But from the cross, He spoke when He deemed it necessary for Him to speak. He spoke for our sakes, for our benefit and for our salvation. Every word He uttered had its purpose, its meaning and its effect. We shall contemplate each one turn, but we mention first a few general remarks about these words:
Christ’s words from the cross had the element of giving. How strange it was that He, whilst on the cross- in that state of apparent weakness and defeat- was giving; He gave…
+ forgiveness to His crucifiers
+ entry into Paradise to the Penitent Thief
+ a spiritual son and Providential care to His mother + the blessing of the Virgin Saint Mary to Saint John the
Apostle
+the fulfilment of the Divine Justice to the Father + Atonement and Redemption to humanity + us reassurance of the fulfilment of Salvation
He gave to all whilst He was not given anything by anyone. He gave to humanity all these things whilst humanity gave Him but bitterness and vinegar.
The first and last of the Lord’s seven words were addressed to the Father, as well as the fourth. In His words to the Father,
we notice Him using both the term ‘Father’ and the term ‘God’. The term ‘Father’ responded to those who said to Him, “If You are the Son of God come down from the cross”, proving that indeed He was the Son of God. He did not come down from the cross but lifted the cross to the heights of heaven.
By the term ‘Father’, Christ gave proof of His Divinity and by the term ‘My God’, He gave proof of His humanity, and by both terms He declared that He is God Incarnate, God who was manifest in the flesh (1Tim.3:6). By the term ‘Father’, He grieved the Arian heresy which denied His Divinity in the fourth century, and by the term ‘My God’, He distressed the Eutychian heresy which denied His Humanity in the fifth century. With the first word, He spoke as Son of God, and with the second, He spoke as Son of Man, as a representative of all mankind.
Christ our Lord spoke from the cross not only with the Father, but also with men- with the saints represented in the Virgin Saint Mary and John the Apostle, and with the repentant evil-doers represented in the Penitent Thief.
His words were words of blessing and of grace. It was a time of salvation, worthy of blessings. That was why He spoke of forgiveness, of salvation and of Paradise, of gifts and of grace. From the cross He did not curse anyone, nor did He punish anyone, in spite of all that had befallen Him, for He had not come to destroy the world, but to save it.
In Christ our Lord’s words from the cross, we notice a particular order, revealing His wisdom, for He spoke of others first, and then of Himself- and Himself for the sake of others. He started by asking forgiveness for men, because on the cross the efficacy of His blood had begun. Having opened the doors to forgiveness, then came the second word, relating to the
opening of Paradise, for since His blood was now being shed as the price for the forgiveness of sins, Paradise could be opened.
We notice too that Christ the Lord mentioned His enemies first and then His beloved ones. His words concerned first His crucifiers, then the thief, and then the Virgin Saint Mary and Saint John the Beloved.
In speaking with God the Father, He addressed Him first as ‘Father’ then as ‘God’; first with respect to Him being the Beloved Son who is in the bosom of the Father from eternity (John 1:18), and then as the Son of Man, born in the fullness of time.
The first three words were associated with the forgiveness of sins and with Providential care, and the last four words were declarations associated with the act of Redemption and its fulfilment.
The phrase, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me” meant that the Father had left Him to pay the price of Redemption, and also expressed His psychological suffering in bearing the Divine wrath on the sins of mankind. The phrase “I
thirst!” declared His physical sufferings for the sake of
humanity. The meaning of both these phrases was that He was paying the price. The phrase “It is finished!” held reassurance to humanity that the price of sin had been paid. “Into Your hands I
commit My spirit” meant that through death, which is the wages
of sin, Salvation has been fulfilled. These last four phrases therefore centred on reassuring humanity of its redemption.
In the final two words, we note shouts of joy and triumph. In the same way that the Lord declared that through His passion Redemption had been fulfilled, He also declared His joy at its fulfilment, for the phrase “It is finished!” implies that
everything pertaining to Redemption had been accomplished. The Lord rejoiced at the completion of His work and did not yield to any hindrances. We say the same about the phrase “into
Your hands I commit My spirit”. With these two phrases He
declared Satan’s defeat. The battle was finished, and through death, the Lord had been able to destroy the dominion of Death, and shouted the shout of joy and victory.
All these give us an idea that Christ on the cross was working for our sakes, not only the work of Redemption, but as He always does, doing good things: teaching and pronouncing important declarations pertaining to Redemption. In His first word, He gave us a practical teaching on endurance, forgiveness and love of enemies, and in His last phrase “into
Your hands I commit My spirit”, He presented us with a teaching
on the immortality of the spirit, and the return of the righteous spirits– after death – to God. In His third word, He taught us about true care, and the faithful and practical observance of the fifth commandment, by honouring His own mother.
How numerous are the teachings and the contemplations we find in these seven words, whose number symbolises perfection!
The First Word
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do”
(Lk.23:34)
Christ the Lord, our compassionate God, in the depth of His sufferings on the cross, was preoccupied with others and not Himself. He did not mention His sufferings or His exhaustion or His wounds. He did not give much attention to the pains inflicted by the scourging of His back or by the nails hammered into His hands and feet, or by the pricks of the thorns on His forehead and His head, or by His extreme fatigued and bruised body. But all these He left aside and was predominantly preoccupied by His love for humanity. That which He first thought of was to save those who hated Him and crucified Him, and thus was His first word from the cross: “Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they do” (Lk.23:24).
The Lord’s first concern was for His enemies- before His friends and before Himself. Hence, first He forgave His crucifiers, and then the thief who had at the beginning reviled him, believing later. And then He showed His concern for His mother, and after all these, He spoke of Himself.
“Father, forgive them” was spoken in His extreme agony,
indeed, in the depth of the sufferings inflicted on Him by those for whose forgiveness He prayed! His love for them far exceeded their enmity, their indescribable enmity, towards Him. Nevertheless, He not only sought their forgiveness, but moreover gave them an excuse for their behaviour. Those crucifiers did not even dare to think of giving themselves an excuse, who cried out boldly and madly, saying, “His Blood be
crucified by them was able to find an excuse for them, and said,
“for they do not know what they do”.
How wondrous is the Lord in His love! He did not pour curses upon them, nor ask for revenge nor even keep silent and take a negative stance from them. But rather His love towards them was positive, for so He prayed for their forgiveness, offering an excuse for them, defending them in the presence of the heavenly Father, declaring that their sin was due only to ignorance.
We describe what they did as horrible sins: sins of jealousy, of envy, of hatred, of intrigue, of calumny and slander from the chief priest, sins of rashness and ungratefulness from the faithless people, sins of cruelty, mockery, reviling, aggression and humiliation from the soldiers and servants of the priests, and sins of cowardice and indifference from Pilate. Over and above all these, it was a sin of murder and torture, and of lies and fabrication in the trial. As for the compassionate and tender-hearted Crucified, His only reference was that it was but a sin of ignorance, “for they do not know what they do”. How amazing is Your kind heart, O beloved Crucified! This unfathomable kindness is beyond our comprehension.
In forgiving His crucifiers, Christ the Lord presented to us a practical example in living His own commandments. He had previously said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do
good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you”. Behold, He Himself observes that which He had
previously enjoined men to observe. The Lord does not give a commandment to others without observing it Himself. He kept this commandment of loving the enemy and actually carried it out wondrously and idealistically, forgiving His crucifiers and persecutors and those who ill-treated Him.
And you, blessed brother, what is your stance from this verse: “Father, forgive them”? May you, when you hear this phrase on Good Friday, and when you remember it at any time, say sincerely, ‘And I too, Lord, will do as You did. All those who hate me, anger me, trouble me and persecute me, who oppress me and spitefully use me, forgive them, Lord, for they do not know what they do’. In this way, my brother, you will share with Christ His work and His love.
What benefit is yours if Christ forgave His enemies and you do not forgive yours? What benefit is yours if Christ loved His enemies but you do not love nor forgive yours? What benefit is that to you? Then you would not be sharing with Christ in His work and you would not be walking in His attributes.
Know then, that Christ forgave us so that we can forgive others and enjoy the blessings of the forgiveness conferred upon us and the forgiveness proceeding from us. Whenever we remember people’s offences towards us, let us also say from the depths of our hearts, “Forgive them, for they do not know what they
do”.
Although when we say these words our situation differs from Christ our Lord’s. When He said, “ ‘Father, forgive them’, for I have paid the price of their sin. Therefore, they are not in debt. I have fulfilled the Divine Justice and paid all their debts, so forgive them. Behold, I die in their place... behold, I die in place of those who crucified Me and in place of those who love Me. When I say, ‘Forgive them’, I mean not only these, but all those who will take shelter in My Blood, all those who repentant, from Adam to the end of ages. Forgive them, because for this reason I came” (Jn.12:27).
One of those who did “not know what they do” was the great saint Bishop Linganus, the soldier who pierced the Lord with a spear. This saint, for whom the Church celebrates two days in his memory 23 Abib and 12 Hatour, pierced Christ the Lord with a spear and did not know what he was doing. The Lord not only forgave him but also led him to Himself, so he believed and preached Christianity in Cappadocia, receiving the crown of martyrdom at the hands of Tiberius Caesar. The Lord revealed his honour after his death through miracles.
There was another saint who was brutal and savage in attacking, torturing and killing Christians, and who did not know what he was doing. If we say that the person who persecuted Christians the most was Emperor Diocletian, then this man was his right hand in the acts of torture. A dreadful tyrant, there was none in the whole empire fiercer than he. Other rulers would send him the Christians who tired them, so that he could deal with them with his new severer methods of ruthless torture. This man was Saint Eranus, the ruler of Ansena who shed the blood, or rather brutally killed, tens of thousands of Christians, and he did not know what he was doing. He continued in that state of ignorance until Christ drew him to Himself, and he believed and was martyred on the name of Christ on 8 Baramhat by Emperor Diocletian. His name is written in the Synaxarium and his feast celebrated with the other great saints.
Paul of Tarsus was also one of those who did not know what he was doing, attacking churches, dragging men and women and committing them to prison (Acts 8:3). He shared in
persecuting Saint Stephen the archdeacon and first martyr (Acts 7:58). He was dreadful, and yet he did not know what he was doing and remained so till the Lord of Glory appeared to him on his way to Damascus, finding him a chosen vessel and drew him to Himself. He believed and was baptised, and his name became Paul the Apostle, who preached the name of Christ and laboured more than the rest of the apostles and suffered persecutions and troubles more than them all. He received the crown of martyrdom at the hands of Emperor Nero, and became one of the pillars of Christianity and one of its high luminary lampstands. He himself said, “…but I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly” (1Tim.1:13).
What would have been the end of our Saint Paul had it not been for the phrase of our compassionate Christ, “Father, forgive
them, for they do not know what they do”?
“Father, forgive them”, for I do not seek revenge from anyone.
I do not want to deal with them with the same measure. For some of those who crucified Me, I will go to prepare a place for them. And if I go and prepare a place for them, I will come and receive them to Myself, that where I am, there they may be also (Jn.14:3).
Christ the Lord’s phrase, “Father, forgive them”, however, does not mean that His forgiveness was absolute without exception to all His crucifiers, for it is not possible for His crucifiers and non-crucifiers to enjoy His forgiveness unless they conform to two fundamental and essential conditions, namely faith and repentance, together with the other commandments necessary for salvation. For without these conditions, no one can receive salvation or forgiveness.
“Father, forgive them,” is for those who believe and repent,
and do acts worthy of repentance. The Holy Bible says, “For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. He
loved the whole world and sacrificed His Son for the whole world. But did the whole world enjoy salvation? No, for the salvation of Christ is obtained only by “whoever believes in Him”. That is why the remainder of the verse says, “…that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn.3:16).
This is the condition of faith. As for the condition of repentance, the Holy Bible says, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish” (Lk.13:3).
Christ the Lord effected salvation for the whole world, yet only repentant believers who walk in His way and enjoy the work of the Holy Spirit in His Sacraments are those who can enjoy salvation. Those penitent believers ‘forgive them’, but the rest who remain defiant, Christ the Lord says to them: “Where I
go you can not come” (Jn.7:34) and also, “…you will seek Me, and will die in your sin… if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins”. Three times in chapter 8 of Saint John’s Gospel the
Lord said to them, “…if you do not believe that I am He, you will
die in your sin” (Jn.8:21,24)
Nonetheless, to those who have a glimmer of hope, even if they sin, even if they persecuted Him, He would still repeat in the Father’s hearing that beautiful phrase, “Father, forgive them,
for they do not know what they do”.
Among those who rejected Christ our Lord and refused Him entry into their country were the Samaritans, and His disciples John and James asked Him eagerly to command fire to come down from heaven and consume those who refused to receive Him. But He answered His disciples, saying, “You do not
come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Lk.9:52-56). This is
what He said to His disciples, but to the Father, He undoubtedly said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what
they do”. Hence He forbore with them until they would know
Him, love Him and believe in Him (Jn.4:42).
The phrase, “Father, forgive them” carries the deepest love and utmost forgiveness. You may be able to forgive someone if they cause you trouble. But if they fabricate charges against you and you are unjustly condemned, if they stir up people and rulers against you, ridicule and scourge you, hang you on a cross, hammer nails into your hands and feet, and after all this, as you hang on the cross in the depth of your agony, you are able to forgive them, pray for them and defend them, then this requires an exceedingly extraordinary love beyond ability.
Many believed in Christianity because of this one sentence. “
‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do’, because for
this I came into the world. This is what comforts and brings joy to My heart amidst all the travail of crucifixion, amidst the pain of mockery and the suffering of abandonment. They are conquered by their sins, conquered by Satan’s work in them, conquered too by their weak will and ignorance. I do not mention what they are doing to Me because “love does not seek
its own” (1Cor.13), but I mention in Your presence their need for
forgiveness. ‘Forgive them’, because by so doing You gladden Me, and I would have completed My mission and accomplished My purpose”.
Why indeed was Christ incarnate? Was it not for the Father to forgive these people? Why did He take the form of a Servant and came in the likeness of man (Phil.2:7)? Was it not for death? Was it not for the wages of sin? “Here I am, paying the debt they owe You. Therefore release them from the sentence of
death. You are now taking all Your due in full and soon I will say to You, ‘It is finished!’, therefore, ‘Forgive them’ “.
With this phrase, Christ the Lord declared His victory over Satan. All Satan’s strivings were to alienate people from God, to distance them from forgiveness, to entangle before them the way to salvation. Nonetheless, here the way of Salvation has been opened, and the Lord who was wounded for our iniquities was able to sprinkle His Blood on the tabernacle and sanctify it. His love overcame people’s hatred and His humility overcame Satan’s pride.
They said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, come down from
the cross”, but He declared that He is the Son of God by saying,
‘Father’, yet being the Son of God, He would remain on the cross that He might forgive them their sins. And if He descended from the cross He would not have been able to say ‘Forgive
them’. Now the Sacrifice of Love was able to effect His act of
forgiveness.
The phrase, “Father, forgive them”, is the phrase which those who died in hope since the beginning of creation longed to hear. If this was how the Lord loved His crucifiers and opponents and forgave them, how much more would He be to His beloved and to those who seek Him? How deeper will His forgiveness be? How much greater would His reward be? It is a phrase that stunned all the soldiers standing by the cross as well as the Penitent Thief to whom the Lord addressed His second sentence, “today you will be with Me in Paradise”.
The Second Word
“Assuredly, I say to you, today, you will be with Me in Paradise”
(Luke 23:43)
The first person addressed by the Lord from the cross was this thief. This thief had not started life as a righteous man, but sin had followed him even to the cross, and from the cross he reviled the Lord together with the other thief (Matt.27:43). Then he changed suddenly and faith entered his heart, transforming him from a man who reviled to one who defended, from a mocker to a man of prayer and faith. How did he reach that faith and how did he attain to that change? How did he believe in the Lord when He was in His sufferings and not in His glory, when men were despising Him and not searching for Him, seeking His blessing and healing?
Perhaps the Lord’s forgiveness to His crucifiers had a deep impact on this hardhearted thief and the Lord conquered his hardheartedness? Perhaps it was the face of the Lord; His countenance, His looks, His loving tenderness, and His deep voice that had an effect on him? Or perhaps the Lord looked at him, and his heart softened? We do not know. Perhaps this thief had an inner inclination to repentance? Or perhaps his was a good soil that had not found anyone to cultivate it, cleanse it from its thorns and sow good seeds so that it could bring forth good plants?
This thief was able to reach Christ with those of the eleventh hour or the twelfth hour. He said a prayer and it was answered as speedily as could be. Many had lengthy prayers, full of pleadings and supplications, sweat and tears, but this thief, by one short sentence– focused and profound– was able to receive
everything, and this prayer of his became the source of meditation for many, recited by the whole Church, which she learned from this wonderful thief.
This thief was the only one whom Christ responded to quickly. Many could not get even a one word answer from the Lord. Can you picture that Christ the Lord did not answer many persons throughout His trial, tortures and crucifixion, for
“He opened not His mouth, He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and a sheep before its shearer” (Is.53:7)? He did not answer Caiaphas
the chief priest, not until he adjured Him by the living God (Matt.26:63,64). He did not answer Pilate the governor, such that he marvelled at His silence (Matt.28:14). Many verbally despised Him, but He did not answer them back, or revile them; He did not reply. They defied Him, saying, “If You are the Son of
God, come down from the cross” (Matt.27:40). He answered not a
word. The other thief who was crucified beside Him reviled Him and defied Him saying, “If You are the Christ, save Yourself
and us” (Lk.23:39), and He answered him not.
As for this Penitent thief, no sooner had he said, “Lord,
remember me when You come into Your kingdom”, than he heard
the speedy reply, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with
Me in Paradise” (Lk.23:42,43).
How amazing is this fellowship of the Lord with this thief! He was a colleague of the cross, and a good one! The Lord wanted to keep this fellowship, not only during the crucifixion, but He wanted to extend it to Paradise also! He could have promised Him, saying, “…today, you will be in Paradise”, but He said, “with Me”- that is, that this thief would be in His company, that where Christ is, there he would be too.
How blessed is this thief! The Lord did not disdain him, He did not shrink from him. But on the contrary, he found in him a heart full of virtues, such that He had a dialogue with him from the cross. It pleased the Lord to gladden the heart of this thief with a promise reassuring him of his destiny before he would meet death.
“ ‘…you will be with Me in Paradise,’ because your heart walked with Me on earth, because you gave Me your heart whilst you were on the cross and you handed Me your destiny. Because you suffered with Me, therefore you will also be glorified with Me. You were crucified with Me and suffered with Me, therefore you will also rise with Me”.
How wonderful is this meeting at the crucifixion! Many have met with the Lord in churches and places of worship, others in their shut closets in prayer, but for the place of meeting to be at the crucifixion is wondrous indeed! Did this thief ever think that should he repent and meet the Lord, he would meet Him in such a place? Indeed, the “kingdom of God
does not come with observation” (Lk.17:20). We have no way of
knowing when Grace will work in a person and how. The wind, as the Lord said, “blows where it wishes” (Jn.3:8).
This thief had lived all his life in sin, and sin clung to him even to the cross when he reviled the Lord together with his comrade. Does this mean that Grace hid its presence from him? Or that the Lord forget him to the end? No. The mercies of God were waiting for the right time to work in him. Then the time of his visitation came, and he received Salvation when he was handbreadths away from death.
We do not know who the chosen ones are. Who would have thought that this thief would be one of them! Who would have
thought that in one hour this thief would receive what others received after tens of years of diligent strivings? We judge according to appearances, despise some and pity others, whilst they may be far better than us. Nevertheless, we say that in truth this thief entered Paradise worthily and competently. He was amazing and extremely amazing in all that he did. He confessed Christ as Lord, saying, “Remember me, O Lord”, he confessed Him as King, saying, “when You come into Your
kingdom”, and he confessed Him as Saviour able to bring him
into Paradise.
From the cross, this thief confessed his own sins and that he was deserving of death, and rebuked the other thief, saying,
“Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong” (Lk.23:40,41).
Thus He confessed Christ’s righteousness and sinlessness and therefore that He was not crucified for a sin of His, but for the sin of others.
Indeed, it is amazing that the only one, amidst those thousands, who defended Christ the Lord was the Penitent Thief! Not one of the twelve disciples stood up for Him. Not one of the seventy Apostles defended Him, and not one of those who had received healing or release from evil spirits defended Him. He trod the winepress Alone. The only one who defended Him, not accepting that any insult be directed at Him, was the Penitent Thief. Who of the Apostles and all the believers would have thought that the only one who would defend Christ would be the thief? Rightly did the Lord say, “Take heed that you do not
despise one of these little ones” (Mt.18:10).
Therefore, my brother, do not think that you are something, or that you are better than such persons. Do not think within
yourself that you are as one of the Apostles or the chosen ones or the closest to the Lord, because all they kept silent; not one of them defended Him. The one who defended Him was the thief; something unexpected and unheard of.
What is beautiful about this thief besides his defence of Christ, is that he was preoccupied with his eternal life. He cared to prepare himself for his eternal destiny. He was not concerned for his physical afflictions but for his destiny after death.
For this reason, this thief cried out pleading for mercy and forgiveness, saying, “ ‘Remember me, O Lord’…. Remember me in Your mercies and not in my sins, or as David the Prophet said,
‘Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercies and Your loving kindness, for they have been from old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgression’ (Ps.24:6,7). ‘Remember me’ and do not count
me among those to whom You will say, ‘I do not know you’. “Remember this comradeship. They are immortal hours in my life in which I have spent crucified beside you. They are the happiest hours in my life, enjoying the fellowship of Your sufferings and boasting that ‘I have been crucified with Christ’ (Gal.2:20). Therefore, for the sake of this comradeship, remember me. My crucifixion beside You is for You shameful, but for me, an everlasting honour. These happy hours beside You are sufficient for me, but I want to consider them as a mere pledge. The phrase ‘Remember me’ which I say to You entails a prior relationship; it means that I am known to You, that my name is written in Your Book of Life, that I am engraved on the palm of Your hand.
“ ‘You have been numbered with the transgressors’ (Is.53:12) and
crucified with evil-doers. If this is for You considered shameful, but for me, it is a grace and a blessing. How sweet it is to be
beside You! It has made me forget all my sufferings; I do not feel their sting, but I feel Your spirit permeating my whole being, cleansing and purifying me, transforming me into a different person. You, Lord, are like the sun’s rays which when nearing a defiled body cleanse it without being affected. Your fellowship is precious to me. Would that I had known You before! Therefore, ‘Remember me’ ”.
Would that each one of us cry out with the thief and say, “‘Remember me, O Lord!’ Remember that You have a child in a faraway town, a lost servant, outside the sheepfold. Remember me in my weakness, in my humiliation and in my exile. Remember me in my fall that You may raise me up and restore my soul. Remember me because I am one of those who have no one to remember them. I have no one to put me into the pool that I may be healed (Jn.5:7)”.
The incident of the Penitent Thief gives us an idea that the hour of death differs from one person to another. We should not assume that everyone repents and asks for forgiveness at their final hour, for the other thief was in the same situation, in his final hours, yet as the Bible says, he was blaspheming Christ, neither fearing God nor concerned for his eternal destiny. His whole concern was to be rid of the cross (Lk.23:39) that he might return to the pleasures of this world. Thus he deserved the rebuke of his companion. At his hour of death, instead of repenting for his sins, he was committing new ones with his hardheartedness. This thief was close to Christ- physically beside Him- but his heart was so distant from Him, even at the hour of death! The hour of death could not bring to his mind repentance nor prompt him to preparedness.
Christ’s forgiveness of His crucifiers had no effect on him, neither did the promise to enter Paradise received by his
companion instil any zeal in him. He did not believe when he saw heaven and earth shaking, the rocks splitting and darkness prevailing. He was not dwelling on his eternal life even at death’s hour. He still loved the world and desired to return to it. He wanted neither Christ nor fellowship with Him, but He wanted to make use of Him, to use Him as a means of coming down from the cross.
This is a hard lesson for whoever postpones repentance, thinking that he will repent in the last days of his life, the day or hour of which he knows not! Many are like this thief on the left at the time of their death, blaspheming, grumbling, lusting for the things in the present world. He who is enslaved to a habit finds difficulty abandoning it when postponing it, even if his hands and feet are hammered with nails, and death is two minutes away. If man does not co-operate with the work of Grace in his heart at the time of death, it is possible to sin even at that hour too.
Many, at their time of death weep, not for their sins, but because death will deprive them of the pleasures of life. They weep because death will separate them from their beloved ones and from their lusts; the world is still sweet in their eyes even at the hour of death. Do not think that death surely brings dread to man. No, this is not true for every one. The thief on the right benefitted from the hour of death whereas the thief on the left did not. Whilst the thief on the left was blaspheming and reviling, his companion was praying and supplicating, saying,
“Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom”.
The Lord did not forsake this Penitent Thief and did not make him suffer long, but his prayer was answered faster than he expected. The thief did not lose hope in God’s mercies and the Lord too strengthened his hope, confirming it by saying,
“‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise’. Now You are with Me and after a little while you will be with Me. How vast the difference between the two situations! As you have been with Me in sufferings you will also be with Me in Paradise. Now you are suffering but there you shall be comforted”.
By saying the words “in Paradise”, our Lord was gently and calmly correcting an error made by the thief. The thief had said,
“Remember me, O Lord, when You come into Your kingdom”. It was
good that he believed that Christ had a spiritual kingdom in heaven and that His kingdom was not of this world. However, the kingdom of heaven can only be entered after the glorious General Resurrection. Immediately after death, spirits go to the waiting place, and the waiting place for the spirits of the righteous is Paradise. Hence the Lord did not say to the thief, “today you will be with Me in My kingdom”, but “…today, you
will be with Me in Paradise”. Thus the Lord, even on the cross,
was continuing His work as the Good Teacher in His same gentle manner, explaining to the erring person his fault without telling him that he had made a mistake.
“You will be with Me in Paradise as a pledge, and you will come with Me on the clouds of heaven at My Second Coming, and you will stand on My right hand side on the Day of Judgement, in the same way that you are now crucified on the cross at My right hand- a symbol of righteousness- and be with Me in eternity without end, for ‘lo, I am with you always and until
the end of all ages’ ”.
Perhaps this promise let the thief anticipate death joyfully, to be with Christ, being a far better place. And here we say, “O
Death, where is your sting?” (1Cor.15:55). Death is fearful for
receive the promises and see the crowns, reassured of their destiny after death, those in whose ears echo Christ’s words,
“today, you will be with Me in Paradise”.
By saying, “…today, you will be with Me in Paradise”, the Lord not only announced to the thief the forgiveness of his sins, but also the opening of the door of Paradise for the first time since Adam’s Fall. The thief was the first to whom this truth was declared about this Paradise which had been shut since that time, into which no one had been allowed entry due to sin. And this phrase said by the Lord to the thief we repeat whenever someone departs from our world. In requiems, the funeral prayers, we pray, “Open for her, O Lord, the door of Paradise, as You opened it to that thief”.
The forgiveness which the thief received was a Divine act and the opening of the Paradise was also a Divine act. They are two acts effected by our Lord when He was on the cross, proving His Divinity. He did not pray for the thief that he might be forgiven and enter Paradise, but He said to him with authority, “…today, you will be with Me in Paradise”, as though by so doing He had begun His work as the Righteous Judge whose right it is to pass sentence on man’s destiny. Thus He judged that the thief should enter Paradise that same day. Who of men has such authority? This authority is Divine and cannot be exercised by man. The same is said of the opening of Paradise. No one had been able to do so before, neither patriarch nor prophet. Who was able to open the shut Paradise? Or who was able to enter it? All awaited the Saviour to come and open it for them. Besides being a Divine act, it was also a declaration that this Blood shed for us sufficed to open for us the door of Paradise. Indeed it is He to whom authority belongs, who opens and no one shuts, who shuts and no one opens (Rev.3:7); He who has the keys of Hades and of Death. Or rather, He has the
keys of Heaven and Earth and by His own authority conferred it upon His disciples, His stewards on earth. It was He who opened to the five wise virgins, and He to whom the foolish virgins supplicated, saying, “Lord, Lord, open to us”. But He did not open His Paradise except to those who opened to Him their hearts, such as the Penitent Thief who was worthy to hear from Him, “today you will be with Me in Paradise”.
The phrase: “today you will be with Me” is proof that there is no Purgatory as some think, for the thief entered Paradise on the day of his death. It also negates the opinion of some that the spirit of the departed remains in its dwelling place on earth for three days until the church prays on the third day for it to depart. Did the spirit of the Penitent Thief remain until the third day or did it enter Paradise the same day?
Today you will be ‘with Me’. Being with the Lord is a beautiful enjoyment. Being with the Lord, the most beautiful Person, is the most beautiful thing in Paradise, or it is Paradise itself or it is the true Bliss. This is what the Lord Himself said and promised, “I will come and receive you to Myself; that where I
am, there you may be also” (Jn.14:3). How beautiful is this
promise! It is our hope which we seek and to which we look forward.
The whole spiritual life is a fellowship with God. With this promise the Lord gladdened the thief’s heart. The sufferings of the crucifixion did not hinder Him from speaking with this man to reassure him and give him happiness. The Lord forgot His severe pain, forgot the crown of thorns, the nails and the pain of His wounds and the exhaustion of His body, and occupied His time listening attentively to that thief and speaking with him, reassuring him. Indeed, love does not seek its own (1Cor.13:5), but others’ well-being (1Cor.10:24).
Many times when we are approached by someone at times when we are fatigue or preoccupied, we are annoyed and discomforted and say, ‘I have no time for you now, come back later, wait for a while’. But Christ the Lord, even on the cross, did not say such phrases. In spite of His pains, He gave due attention to the thief, and answered his request to gladden his heart. He showed us that even on the cross, we can still serve others.
The Lord’s concern for the thief reveals to us the importance of the service on the personal level besides the service at the communal level. Besides the great work of Redemption offered to the whole world, to whoever believes in Him, and besides forgiving His crucifiers, the Lord Christ also had work on the individual level with the thief, because an individual is not lost– from Christ– amidst the group; he is important and valuable.
Such was Christ the Lord during all His preaching on earth; working at both levels together- the level of the communal work and the level of individual work. The communal work was His work in the midst of the many crowds, amidst the multitudes surrounding Him in His Sermon on the Mount, with the five thousands whom He fed with five loaves of bread and two fishes. The individual work was His work with the twelve or with the three Peter, John and James, or with Nicodemus, or in the house of Mary and Martha, or with the Samaritan Woman at the well.
God is not oblivious of the individual amidst the crowd. One person is not lost in the group; the single sheep is not lost in the care for the remaining ninety-nine. The thief on the right hand is not lost amidst caring for the Salvation of the whole world.
The Third Word
“Behold your son!... Behold your mother!” (Jn.19.26,27)
Caring for others was that which first occupied the Lord on the cross. In the same way that He cared for His crucifiers and said, “Father, forgive them”, and that He cared for the Penitent Thief and promised him, saying, “Assuredly I say to you, today
you will be with Me in Paradise”, did He also care for His mother,
commending her to the care of His beloved disciple John.
The Lord commended His mother who used to carry Him upon her chest, to His beloved disciple who used to lean upon His chest. His mother who stood by His cross, He commended her to the only disciple who followed Him even to the cross. His mother who carried within her womb the burning fire of His Divinity, He commended to the disciple who was later to write a gospel proving His Divinity.
He said to her, “Behold your son!”, “And from that hour that
disciple took her to his own house” (Jn.19:27). Thus the Lord gave
us an example of how we ought to care for our biological relatives and mothers in particular. He cared for her who had carried Him for nine months, for His mother who had previously cared for Him and to whom He had been obedient (Lk.2:51).
It is normal that the person who is in pain is the centre of others’ concern, but in His sufferings, Christ was the One who was concerned for others. How much more will He now, when He is in His rest, be concerned with us? His first concern was directed to forgiveness of sins, and then His focus was social care, and His first priority
was His mother. Some interpreted Christ the Lord’s stress upon the spiritual relationship, as annulling family care, when He said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers….whoever does
the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother”
(Mt.12:40-50). From the cross, Christ the Lord clarified this misconception.
Consecrating oneself to the service of the Lord and preoccupation with the concerns of the large family, the collective church, does not mean neglecting one’s relatives, especially those of one’s household (1Tim.5:8). And it does not exempt a person from honouring his parents or from caring for his own mother.
It was as though there were a predestiny between Christ the Lord and His mother the Virgin Saint Mary. Her pure face was the first face He saw when He came to the world in flesh, and hers was the last face He saw before commending His spirit into the hands of the Father. Hers was the heart of the loving mother seeking after the Son wherever He is and remaining beside Him in His sufferings in love, communing with Him, saying, “The world rejoices as it receives Salvation, but my heart burns at beholding Your crucifixion which You are enduring for the sake of all, O my Son and my God.” And His was the heart of the Son who cares for His mother whilst He is in the depth of His sufferings.
Thus Christ the Lord deemed it necessary to care for His mother and say to her a word of comfort at the moment in which when there was a sword piercing her soul (Lk.2:35). He found it befitting of Him as a Son to comfort His own mother in her grief. He comforted her by three things: by talking to her, by caring for her in managing her life, and by giving her a spiritual son to be a companion for her in her loneliness.
The Lord’s speech from the cross to His mother differed from that to the thief. It was the thief who initiated the conversation and the Lord answered him. But with the Virgin Saint Mary, it was the Lord who began speaking to her. Being His mother, He did not have to wait until she would talk to Him and then reply, He did not have to wait until she complain to Him and then He considers her complaint. The Virgin was accustomed to keeping silent, even by the cross. There was no mention that she was screaming or lamenting, but she was calm and composed in her sufferings, and kept silent. The Lord heard and understood her silence, and knew her feelings and her heart, so He spoke to her without her asking. And she obeyed His word and went with the Beloved disciple to his house.
The Virgin Saint Mary was a blessing to John and a blessing to his household. The Lord gave her to him as a reward for his love. The disciple took her as a precious diamond, far precious than the whole world, and she remained in his house, a valuable endowment until her repose. It was said that John the Apostle did not leave Jerusalem till after the repose of the Virgin Saint Mary. If John’s love reached to the point of following Christ even to the cross and he remained standing by Him, he was worthy of receiving a reward both here and in eternity. Here, he gained the blessing of the Virgin Saint Mary who dwelt with him in his house. All who follow Christ indeed receive from the abundance of His blessings and bounties.
Saint Mary the Virgin took Saint John as her son. The Lord gave her the disciple who had the most affection, love and sincerity. Of all the apostles, it was John the Beloved who spoke the most about love. He was the one who said that God is love (1Jn.4:16). He is the disciple who used to lean in the bosom of
Christ who loved him. He was the best person who could offer to the Virgin an image of her Son.
It was apparent that Christ on the cross owned nothing, not even His clothes which they took and shared among themselves, but He owned John who had given his heart to Christ. And Christ took this heart and gave it to His mother.
Who was it who was caring for the other, the Virgin Saint Mary or Saint John? The Virgin Saint Mary was in Saint John’s house, not to receive provision, but to fill it with grace and blessing and also to further its knowledge of Christ, with a knowledge deeper than all others.
The entrusting of the Virgin Saint Mary to Saint John is indicative of the fact that Saint Mary had no other children, for if she had, they would have had the priority of looking after her and of receiving her blessing above any stranger. The Virgin was alone at that time; she had no children, and Saint Joseph the Carpenter had died a long time previously. Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ entrusted her to His disciple.
The phrase, “Behold your son”, gives us an idea of spiritual sonship and explains to us the honourable place the Virgin Saint Mary had with the Apostles themselves.
The Fourth Word
“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mt.27:46)
This phrase does not mean that Christ’s Divinity parted His humanity, nor that the Father parted the Son. It does not mean separation, but it means that the Father abandoned the Son to suffering. The Lord Christ’s Divinity never parted His humanity for a single moment nor for a twinkling of an eye. This is our belief and this is our prayer in the Holy Liturgy. If Christ’s Divinity had parted Him, the Atonement would not be considered a limitless Atonement effecting a limitless redemption, sufficing the forgiveness of all the sins of all humans in all generations. So there was no separation of His Divinity from His humanity. Regarding Christ’s relation with the Father, the Father did not leave Him because He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (Jn.14:11).
What then is the meaning of the phrase, “why have You
forsaken Me”? It does not mean parting, but it means, “You have
left Me to suffering, You have left Me to bear the Divine wrath on sin”. This is concerning the soul. As for concerning the body, You have abandoned Me to feel the pain. It would have been possible, through the Divine power, not to feel the pain. If that had happened the act of crucifixion would have been fictitious, and the sufferings would not actually have taken place. Accordingly, the price of sin would not have been paid nor would the Redemption have been fulfilled. However, the Father left the Son to suffer and the Son accepted this abandonment and suffered due to it. For this He came, for His love for mankind, to fulfill the Divine Justice. The Father left the Son to suffer and sacrifice and pay the wages of sin without separation from Him. It was not a Hypostatic abandonment but an
abandonment of dispensation. He abandoned Him in love, for
“It pleased the Lord to bruise Him” (Is.53:10).
A clarifying example: Suppose a child who is to undergo a surgical procedure such as cleansing an abscess, is accompanied by his father. The father holds the child’s hand, and the surgeon begins the procedure. The child screams for help, saying to his father, “Why have you forsaken me?” And the father in fact, had not left him, but was holding his hand. However, he left him to go through the pain and left him in love; this is a type of leaving without parting. This example is just to try to explain, bearing in mind the difference.
The phrase, “You forsaken Me”, means that the pains of the crucifixion were real and the pain of the Divine wrath was excruciating. In this abandonment concentrated all the suffering of the Cross and all the pains of Redemption. Here Christ stood as a Burnt Offering and as a Sin Offering consumed by the Divine fire until the Sacrifice turned to ashes and the Divine Judgement completely fulfilled.
Many commentators see in the Lord’s word, “My God, My
God, why have You forsake Me?”, that He was reminding the Jews
of Psalm 22 which begins with this verse. They were “…
mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God”
(Mt.22:39), for these Scriptures are “they which testify of Me” (Jn.5:39). So Christ the Lord referred them to this psalm in particular. They did not refer to the psalms by their current numbers, but by their beginning, as monks do nowadays.
What are the verses that refer to Christ in this psalm? + “They pierced My hands and My feet; I can count all My bones.
They look and stare at Me. They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots” (v.17,18).
Clearly, the hands and feet of David the Prophet who said this Psalm, were not pierced, neither did anyone divide his garments or cast lots for his clothing. But this psalm was pronounced prophetically, inspired about Christ. It was as though Christ from the cross was telling them, “Go and read the psalm, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ and see what has been written of Me. You will see too that it was written of Me, ‘A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All
those who see Me ridicule Me; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!’ (v.6-8).
This Psalm is a clear image of Christ’s sufferings on the cross. The Lord directed them to it and opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures (Lk.24:45). The complete text of the Psalm was about to be accomplished, and that is why shortly afterwards, He said, “It is
finished!” Yet why did He not say, “It is finished!” immediately
after saying, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” It was because there was another verse that was yet to be fulfilled, namely, “M y s t r e n g t h i s d r i e d u p l i k e a p o t s h e r d ,
and My tongue clings to My jaws” (v.15). This also will be
accomplished shortly when He will say, “I thirst!” Therefore it was after that that He said, “It is finished!”
Why did Christ say, “My God, My God”? He said it representing humanity; He said it because He had “made
Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Phil.2:7,8). He speaks now as Son of Man. He took the
nature of man and stood in his place, standing as representative of man and in his stead before God, as a Son of mankind. On Him were placed all the sins of mankind and He was now paying the debts of them all.
Here we behold humanity speaking upon His lips, for the sins of all mankind were laid upon Him. Sin is separation from God and the cause of His wrath, therefore all humanity cried out through His lips, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken
Me?”
Christ the Lord had represented humanity in many, if not in all, matters. He represented us in fasting. Adam and Eve were unable to fast from the forbidden fruit; they plucked and ate of it. The Lord Christ began His mission by fasting, abstaining from even permitted food. He was not in need of fasting, yet it was for us that He fasted for forty days and forty nights, as we sing in the Church hymns.
The Lord Christ represented us in obedience to the Law, for,
“The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one” (Ps.14:2,3). He came to represent
humanity in obedience to God, in carrying out the Law in order to “fulfill all righteousness” (Mt.3:15), as mentioned at the hour of His baptism. Thus He represented humanity by living a pure life acceptable before God the Father.
He also represented us in death and in suffering, and in paying the wages of sin. He “who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2Cor.5:21), endured every curse of the Law and the wrath of
God on sinners with all its entailing bitterness, and representing humanity, said, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
This was He who had helped all, who had abandoned no one. Now, all had abandoned Him, even the Father. And thus He paid the price of sin, enduring the wrath and emerging triumphant after passing through the winepress of pain all Alone, psychologically and physically.
In all these, He was presenting us a lesson that we might be on our guard: if sin results in this abandonment and in all this pain, let us then “walk circumspectly” (Eph.5:15). May we fear, lest abandoning the Lord, He abandons us. The Son Himself was abandoned and the pain of abandonment was excruciating. In all this, we offer thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ and praise Him for all this love and all this Self-expending.
The phrase “why have You forsaken Me?” comforts us deeply whenever we fall into difficulty. If God the Father “did not spare
His own Son” (Rom.8:32) but delivered Him up to all this pain
and agony, why do we complain over the suffering which God the Father permits? If it pleased the Father to bruise His Only Beloved Son and had put Him to grief, His Son of whom He had said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt.3:17)? We do not face any of Christ’s sufferings, despite our deserving every suffering, so why then do we grumble from our troubles? The Son drank the cup given Him by the Father, saying to Him, “Your will be done” (Mt.26:42), obeying to the point of death, the death of the cross, in all submission.
The phrase “why have You forsaken Me?” is not a type of objection or complaint as we have said, but a recording of His sufferings, a confirmation of its truthfulness and a declaration that the work of redemption was almost accomplished.
The Fifth Word
“I thirst!” (Jn.19:28)
My brother, due to my sin and yours, the mouth of the Lord dried up, His tongue clung to His jaws and His strength dried up like a potsherd (Ps.22:15). His flesh was dehydrated for many reasons, in part from the severe perspiration visible as drops of Blood as He was struggling for us in the Garden of Gethsemene, and in part due to the sweat that poured from Him as He carried the cross. This was due to the long duration in which He was exposed to the scorching midday sun, and in particular from the exhaustion and fatigue inflicted on Him by the excessive trials and strikes. Added to these were the profuse bleeding due to the brutal scourging, the crown of thorns and the nails. From all these did our Lord’s mouth dry up. From enduring so much that He had no strength remaining, He therefore said, “I thirst!”
Thus He declared that the fire had begun to consume the Burnt Offering or that the Divine Justice was being fulfilled, and that the Divinity had not intervened to alleviate the pain from His humanity. It was an intense and full pain, from which the Father smelt a pleasing aroma, and which the Son expressed, saying, “I thirst!”
L e t Eutyches be ashamed who belittled the truth of the Lord’s humanity because if His humanity were not complete, He would not have said, “I thirst!” It is astonishing that the Fountain who gives living water to all who thirst could feel thirst! It was He who had said to the Samaritan woman, “But
the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (Jn.4:14).
What did the Lord mean by, “I thirst!”? There is no doubt that He was thirsty physically, and spiritually, He was thirsty also for that Salvation which He was now effecting for the whole world. He was thirsty for the phrase, “It is finished!” which He would shortly pronounce.
As in His words to the Samaritan woman, “Give Me a drink”, He had not meant material water, as He was thirsting for her salvation and for the salvation of all Samaritans, likewise, He did not say, “I thirst!” in order to receive water from people, because they offered Him vinegar (Mat.27:44,48). He knew they would do so by His Divinity, for He is the One in whose presence everything is uncovered in the present and future, and also from the prophecy which says, “And for my thirst they gave
me vinegar to drink” (Ps.69:21).
He did not say, “I thirst!” to ask them for water, for God does not ask for help from mankind. He had determined to drink the whole cup of sufferings to its residue. That was why He refused to drink when they offered Him vinegar mixed with gall to alleviate the pain (Mt.27:34). The Lord wanted to fulfil all the prophecies concerning Him and declare that the price had been paid, so that mankind could rest assured. Sinful humanity, however, mocked Him as He was paying the price of Salvation, offering Him vinegar in His thirst to add pain to His pain.
Do you think we do the same? When the Lord asks us to quench His thirst by our salvation and drink of the fruit of His vine, whose sap runs in our veins, do we offer Him vinegar through our evil deeds, indifference, recklessness and frivolity?
My brother, lower down the reed which you raise to the mouth of Christ the Lord and take away the sponge that is filled with vinegar from His lips, and repent for having hurt the
feelings of He who loves you, by working deeds worthy of repentance. If you hear the Lord say, “I thirst!”, tell Him, “It is I, Lord, who has caused this dryness to Your mouth by my sins. Would that I quench Your thirst with my tears. Would that You strike with Your rod this heart of stone and cause water to pour from it to quench Your thirst”.
The Sixth Word
“It is finished!” (Jn.19:30)
Christ our God, the righteous and the All-Perfect, the Holy One and the Only sinless, who lived on earth a perfect life through which He was able to please God the Father, He who was also perfect in His preaching and in His ministry, He was able to complete the mission which the Father had given Him to do, crying out the first triumphant cry, “I have finished the work
which You have given Me to do” (Jn.17:4).
He had been able to fulfil all righteousness. He fulfilled the righteousness of the Law, crying out before them all, saying,
“Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (Jn.8:46). He had also fulfilled
all the prophecies concerning Himself and the great work of Salvation in a few, approximately three, years and a few months. He was able to do works which no one had done before, and able to preach the kingdom of heaven and say to the Father, “I have glorified You on the earth… I have manifested Your
name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world… I have given to them the words which You have given Me… Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost… And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it” (Jn.17).
Thus Christ the Lord had fulfilled the prophecies, and fulfilled obedience and all righteousness. He had fulfilled His preaching, and perfected love, “having loved His own who were in
the world, He loved them to the end” (Jn.13:1). He was then lifted
up to the Cross to fulfil the Self-sacrificial work, fulfilling the Redemption, the Atonement and the Salvation, and fulfilling the Reconciliation by which He reconciled heaven with earth.
On this Altar, God laid upon Him the iniquities of us all. God laid upon Him all the sins of all the people in all generations, from Adam to the end of ages, with all their ugliness, defilement, unfaithfulness, weakness, adulteries, abominations, lies, thefts, murders, envy, pride… until the Son cried out, saying, “It is finished!” And we lay our hands on This Sacred Sacrifice and confess every day new sins, add them to His pain that He may wipe them out by His sacred Blood.
Just as the sins which were laid upon His shoulders were full measure, the shame inflicted on Him was also full measure, thus He said, “I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My
cheeks to those who plucked out the beard, and I did not hide My face from the shame and spitting” (Is.50:6). He was exposed to strikes,
insults, scourges, reviles and all kinds of contempt and mockery, words of blasphemy and taunting. They slapped Him, saying, “Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?” (Mt.26:68). They put on Him a scarlet robe and a crown of thorns and crucified Him between two thieves to fulfil in Him the Scripture, “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal.3:13; Deut.21:23). Thus He became a curse for us. Also on the cross they inflicted Him with insults and reviling so much that He beheld all that shame and said, “It is finished!”
In the same way that His shame was full measure, so was His suffering in the flesh and the wrath that befell Him. He paid the price in full and offered Himself a Ransom. And the fire continued to consume the Burnt Offering till it turned to ashes (Lev.6:10). When the Lord saw that He had completed the work of Atonement and Redemption, and that He had fulfilled the Divine Justice, He cried out triumphantly, “It is finished!”
He accomplished the work of Salvation for all. The Redemption was fulfilled and the Seed of the woman had been
able to bruise the Serpent’s head. God was able, after having reigned from the cross, to destroy Satan’s kingdom. Now the Atonement was complete and sufficient for all. Now the curtain of the temple was torn in two and the way to the Holy of Holies was opened. The Reconciliation was completed and hope fulfilled for the reposed saints. The only remaining thing was that the Lord should rise as a Mighty One, gird His sword upon His thigh, draw it and prosperously reign (Psalm 45:3). That was why the Lord cried out in a loud voice, rejoicing saying, “It
is finished!”
The phrase “It is finished!” is a phrase of shout for joy and victory. The Lord who strove and reigned shouted pronouncing it. He was able to purchase us at a price and establish His spiritual kingdom, and destroy Satan’s kingdom who previously claimed to be the ruler of this world (Jn.14:30).
Can you, my brother, prosper as the Lord did? Can you ascend to the cross and bruise the head of the Serpent? Can you look at the work commended to you by God and say, “It is
finished!”? Would that you set before your eyes this beautiful
motto, “The work you have given me to do, I have finished”. Place always before your eyes the image of the Lord who finished His work.
The Seventh Word
“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Lk.23:46)
The Lord has finished His work on the Cross, and has finished His work before the cross which had been given to Him to do. There now remained another work to do after commending His spirit on the cross. It remained that He lead captivity captive and give gifts to men (Eph.4:8). It remained that He descend to Hades and preach those who had reposed in hope, and transfer those reposed saints from Hades to Paradise, opening the gates of Paradise that had been shut since the First Sin.
Therefore, having fulfilled the Redemption there was no need to wait. He had to leave this flesh to complete the work of Salvation related to the reposed too. Let Him then commit His spirit into the hands of the Father to be able to do the works predestined to be completed after death. Thus He cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ ’Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit’; into Your hands, Yours and Yours alone, for ‘the ruler of this
world is coming, and he has nothing in Me’ (John 14:30), and ‘I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father’ (John 16:28)”.
How many a time did the ruler of this world very much desire to gain This spirit, to capture it as he had done with all the other spirits who were in prison, but he could not overcome This spirit in particular, which the Father would receive into His hands. This spirit of Mine, no one takes from Me. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (Jn.10:17,18).
