17/04/2025
"Looking back on the seven last words of Jesus on the cross: a powerful journey of love, sacrifice, and redemption. May we hold their message in our hearts today and forevermore."
The Seven Last Sayings:
1. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. Luke 23:34
Forgiveness – Jesus forgives the Roman soldiers who crucified him and those involved in his death.
2. Today, you will be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43
Salvation – Jesus was crucified between two thieves, traditionally named as Dismas and Gestas, one supports Jesus’ innocence and asks him to remember him when he comes into his kingdom.
3. Behold your son: behold your mother. John 19: 26-27
Relationship – Jesus entrusts Mary, his mother, into the care of “the disciple whom he loved.”
4. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34; Psalm 22
Abandonment – As death approaches Jesus experiences utter dereliction from God and his closest disciples.
5. I thirst. John 19: 28 (cf. John 4: 4-26); Psalm 22:15; Psalm 69:21
Distress – Jesus is given a drink of sour wine symbolising the need for the Scriptures to be fulfilled. John sees Jesus, the anointed Messiah, as perfecting the example of the first anointed King, David, who was also persecuted by his enemies for his service to God.
6. It is finished. John 19:30
Triumph – Jesus’ earthly life is over, and his death opens even the darkest of places to the reconciling love of God.
7. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Luke 23: 46; Psalm 31:5
Reunion – Jesus begins to join his Father in heaven as he journeys from death to resurrection. In the midst of agony, degradation, and what must have seemed like failure, Jesus still trusts in God’s will.
