Let us turn to God's Word in
the New Testament in the Gospel according to Saint Luke chapter
23. And I want to direct your attention
to the words that we find here at verse 46. In Luke 23, 46, And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit
and having said thus he gave up the ghost." Here we have the last saying
that the Lord Jesus uttered from the cross at Calvary. Luke also gives us in this chapter
the first of the sayings. There were seven sayings of the
Lord Jesus from the cross And previously here we have the first
of those sayings, the 33, when they would come to the place
which is called Calvary. There they crucified Him and
the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do. The first of the seven
sayings. But we come to consider the last
of those sayings as the Lord Jesus in the end offers His soul
as a sacrifice for sins and commends His soul into the hands of His
Father. He said, Father, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. In all of these things, of course,
we see that that is the fulfillment of what was written in the scriptures. If we go back to chapter 18,
and there, reading at verse 31 following then it says He took
unto Him the twelve and said unto them behold we go up to
Jerusalem and all things that are delivered rather all things
that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall
be accomplished for He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles
and shall be mocked and spitefully entreated and spitted on, and
they shall scourge him and put him to death, and the third day
he shall rise again. And they understood none of these
things. And the saying was hid from them,
neither knew they the things which were spoken." But he is
speaking clearly of all those things that were written in the
Old Testament written by the prophets concerning the Son of
Man. In everything in Christ's life
then we have the fulfillment of the words of God and the Lord
himself knows this. And even on the cross he makes
reference to those things that are written. In John's account
of the crucifixion, John 19.28 We're told Jesus, knowing all
things that were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
said, I thirst. All things accomplished but the
scripture must be fulfilled. And so he utters those words,
I thirst. And then again, when we think
of the writings of the Apostle Paul. Remember that 15th chapter
in 1st Corinthians? That great chapter on the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus. But what do we read at the beginning
there in verse 3? Christ, it says, died for our
sins according to the Scriptures. He was dead and buried and rose
again the third day according to the Scriptures. All these
things then are in accordance with the Scriptures. And the
words that we come to this evening also are the fulfillment of what
was written in the Old Testament. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirits. Think of the Psalm that we read,
that 31st Psalm. Is it not a Psalm that is clearly
Messianic? It's the psalm of David. But
David is speaking of his greatest son. David is speaking as it
were in the place of his greatest son. There at verse 5, into thy
hands I commit my spirit, he says. All it's those very words. The psalm that we read then speaks
to us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. But here we have the
fulfilment. because in the fullness of the
time God was pleased to send forth His Son made of a woman,
made under the law to redeem them that were under the law. This is that great work of redemption.
The Lord Jesus paying the price, the ransom price, paying that
great debt that sinners owed to the holy, righteous and just
law of God. Well, let us come to consider
the words of our text. Luke 23 and verse 46. When Jesus had cried with a loud
voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit,
and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. First of all, I
want to observe with you how that there is a contrast here.
Previous to this, the Lord Jesus Christ had very much been in
the hands of men. He was in the hands of men. Had
He not Himself spoken of that sad solemn fact that He must
be delivered into the hands of the Gentiles, into the hands
of sinners. Back in Matthew's account, Matthew's Gospel chapter
16, After Peter has made his confession
at Caesarea Philippi, acknowledging the person of Jesus of Nazareth,
that this is the Christ, the Son of God, from that time forth
began Jesus to show unto his disciples that he must go unto
Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests
and scribes and be killed. and be raised again the third
day. Oh, He must suffer. He must suffer at the hands of
wicked men who will reject Him and crucify Him. In the next
chapter, Matthew 17, 22 we read, While they abode in Galilee,
Jesus said unto them, The Son of Man shall be betrayed into
the hands of men, and they shall kill Him. and the third day he
shall be raised again. And we are told concerning the
disciples, how they were exceeding sorry. Or the Lord oft times
speaks to them, you see, of all that is going to befall him,
how the Scriptures are going to be fulfilled in him, Here
in chapter 9 of Luke and verse 44 He says, let these sayings
sink down into your ears for the Son of Man shall be delivered
into the hands of many. He wants them to understand this
that He is going to be given over to wicked men who will crucify
Him. And after His resurrection from
the dead do we not see how the angels angels refer to that fact
here in Luke's account in Luke chapter 24 and verse 6 he is not here this
is a resurrection morning as he speaks to the women or the
angels speak to the women they say he's not here but he's risen
remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee saying
the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful man
and be crucified and the third day rise again or the Lord Jesus
Christ was delivered but we're not to imagine that God has no
hand in this. All of these events, of course,
are ultimately under the sovereign hand of God. Just as with Job. The devil cannot touch Job at
all until he obtains leave from God. And so too these men. Oh yes, the Lord is in their
hands, but God is sovereign. And now Peter brings that out
in his sermon on the day of Pentecost, him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you see. It's what God has
determined. It's what God has ordained. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken. And with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. Lord, they are guilty,
they are culpable. And yet God is suffering. And
we see how the Lord Jesus there in the Garden of Gethsemane is betrayed to sinners. How there
we see the traitor Judas Iscariot coming with officers from the from the Pharisees
coming to arrest him in Matthew 26 we read of his sufferings how
he comes to his disciples and saith unto them behold the
hour is at hand the son of man is betrayed into the hands of
sinners And while he yet spake, Lo Judas, one of the twelve came,
and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from
the chief priests and elders of the people. And how the betrayer
had given this sign to them, Whomsoever I shall kiss, the
same is he, hold him fast. And he comes and he hails Christ
as master and kisses him. Here is the Lord, you see, betrayed,
delivered over into the hands of wicked men. And yet we know
that in all of this, He is making a voluntary sacrifice.
They could have no power over Him, except He was willing to
go with them and we see that so clearly when we when we turn
to John's account how we need to do this as we read through
these Gospels to compare scripture with scripture to read these
accounts together as it were that we might understand all
that was transpiring there in John 18 we see remarkable things
really that Christ as they come to arrest him declares himself
to be the great I am Again we have the reference to Judas receiving
this band of men and officers from the Pharisees and the chief
priests comes and the Lord says to them, Whom seek you? and they
answer Jesus of Nazareth and he says unto them I am heard. We have referred to these verses
many times previously and now the pronoun that he is here in
italics look at verse 5 Jesus of Nazareth is the one they are
seeking after and he says unto them I am and Judas also which betrayed
him stood with them as soon then as he had said unto them I am
They went backwards and fell to the ground. Then I see them
again, who seek you? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
Jesus answered, I have told you that I am. If therefore you seek
me, let these go their way. It is a voluntary sacrifice that the
Lord will make, though He is committed into the hands of wicked
men. He is that one who is sovereign in all of these things. They
cannot touch Him. They cannot raise one finger
against Him. The sacrifice that Christ makes,
and here we come to the end of that sacrifice in the words of
our text. Father into thy hands, He says,
I commend my spirit, having said thus, He gave up the ghost. But
He willingly sacrifices Himself Remember the language of John
10, therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my
life that I might receive it again. No man taketh it from
me. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again,
he says. This commandment have I received
of my father. But Christ very much in the hands
of men. as this awful scene is unfolding. He is led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers, he's done. We're told, so he
openeth not his mouth. He doesn't seek to defend himself.
In the midst of all that mockery of a trial before Pontius Pilate,
O how the Lord goes so willingly to the cross, to be mocked of
men, scourged by men, ridiculed, crucified and slain. But here is the contrast. Here
is the contrast. Now we see Him commending His
Spirit into the hands of His Father. Father, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit and what does God do? God raises him again
from the dead. God raises him again from the
dead. He is declared to be the Son
of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the
resurrection from the dead. A great passage in Philippians
chapter 2 that tremendous passage that speaks to us of
the doctrine of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He thinks it not robbery to be
equal with God, it says, but makes himself of no reputation.
Takes upon him the form of a servant, he's made in the likeness of
man. And found in fashion as a man, he humbles himself and
becomes obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
But what then? Wherefore, it says, wherefore God also has
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every
tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Oh the Father exalts him in the
resurrection in the ascension We referred just now to the words
of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, how he was delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, and wicked
men took him and they crucified him. But what does he go on to
say? Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise
of the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and
hear. when Christ here comes in at
the end or to the end of his sufferings he has been in the
hands of wicked men but now here is the contrast as he commends
his spirit into the hands of God. But let us examine a little more
closely what is entailed in the committal that the Lord is making. Father, he says, into thy hands
I commend my spirit and having said thus he gave up the ghosts. What do we see here? We see something
of the reality of the human nature of the Lord Jesus. He is body and He is soul. He has poured out His soul unto
death. That's what we see here. It's
the fulfillment of the words that we find in Isaiah 53 12. The Lord Jesus is a real man.
There are those even amongst strict Baptists who would deny
the reality of the human soul of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it is a most grievous error. It is a great heresy. It's a
denial of the reality of the human nature. When God made man,
he created his body out of the dust of the earth but he breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living
soul. He is body and soul and the Lord Jesus in the incarnation
is a real man. If he's not a real man, how can
he be representative of men? He can only represent those in
whose image and likeness he is made. Oh, here we see then that glorious
truth of the human nature. A man there
is. A real man. that one of whom
we just sang and what does it say? it says he gave up the ghost
into thy hands I commend my spirit having said thus he gave up literally
the word that's used here means he breathed out he breathed out
the ghost the ghost now remember how how God made man. We've already referred to it.
He formed his body out of the dust of the earth and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life. And he becomes a living
soul. And the Lord Jesus is breathing
out the breath of life. Breathing out his soul. It was
a real soul that the Lord had. And here he is making the great
sacrifice. It's interesting that when we look at the other accounts,
it's not the same word that's used. For example, in Matthew
27.50 it says, He yielded up the ghosts. And it's a different word altogether.
It's a stronger verb than what we have in Luke's account. It
means to send forth, to let go. to dismiss. It indicates something
more of the authority of the Lord Jesus, you see. He has power,
he has authority to lay down his life, it says in John 10.
He has that same authority to take that life again. And then in John, John 19 13, The guy in the translation is
he he gave up the ghosts. But it's not the same Greek word
as we find here in our text this evening. It's the strongest of
all the verbs that are used. It literally means to give and
to hand over. To deliver up. It's associated with his his
faithfulness to the Father accomplishing all the work that the Father
has given him to do that's what he's about here it's his covenant
obedience remember how he says my meat is to do the will of
him that sent me and to finish his work how he is obedient and
he's obedient unto death even the death of the cross This is the Lord Jesus, you see.
The Father loves Him because He lays down His life. This is
the commandment that He has received of the Father. And He is obedient
to all that holy will of the Father and so He hands over,
He delivers up his spirit, his soul, the ghost as we have it
in these accounts and delivers it all into the hands of his
Heavenly Father. Look at the text, when Jesus
had cried with a loud voice those words are not really referring
to what follows Not referring to what he says in prayer to
his father when he addresses him and says into thy hands I
commend my spirit. The reference here is to what
has been said previously. Now what was said previously?
Well we see it in John's account. He said it is finished and he
bowed his head and gave up the ghost. when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice there in uttering those remarkable words it is
finished it was with a loud voice or it indicates to us so clearly
as authoritative in the outworking of that covenant of grace how the Lord Jesus you see as
a work and He will do all that work, He will accomplish all
that the Father has committed into His hands. What does He say in the Great
High Priestly Prayer in John 17? I have glorified Thee on
the earth, He says to the Father. I have finished the work that
Thou gavest Me to do. And so it is with a loud voice,
a voice of triumph, that he utters that remarkable cry, the last,
the penultimate word that he utters from the cross, the last
but one word, it is finished. All he comes to finish the transgression,
to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal the prophecy, to anoint the most holy. The
language that we have back in Daniel 9, 24. It's all there
in the Old Testament in prophecy, it's all fulfilled, it's all
accomplished in the New Testament in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
wonder, the wonder of the Book of God. and the detail that we
see as Christ executes his work. But what more do we see with
regards to this great concluding word of the Savior upon the cross? Do we not see here something
of his union, his communion, his fellowship with the Father? How does he address God's Father,
he says, for which the Eternal Sonship. He is the Son of the
Father in truth and in love, as John says there in his second
epistle. He is the Word made flesh. And
how John speaks of him there in the opening chapter of his
Gospel. Now the world was made flesh
and dwelt amongst us, He says, and we beheld His glory. What
was His glory? The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. Full of grace and truth. There
is His glory. He is the Eternal Son of the
Eternal Father. He is not a son by adoption.
He is not a son by office. He's the only begotten. And so
when He speaks to His disciples after His resurrection, when
He speaks to Mary, what does He say? I ascend unto my Father
and your Father, and to my God and your God. So His relationship
with the Father is unique, different to every other relationship.
Believers are the sons of God, but believers are God's sons
by adoption. but He is the Eternal Son. He
says again in that great 8th chapter of Proverbs, I was set
up from everlasting, from the beginning wherever the earth
was when there were no depths I was brought forth when there
were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were
settled, before the hills was I brought forth. He is eternally
brought forth and here we see him, you see, even as he comes
to die all the reality of that union and that communion we see
it also even in that awful cry of dereliction when he feels so forsaken as
he makes his solemn offering for sin Our God cannot behold
iniquity, God cannot look upon sin. You know the language there
in the 22nd Psalm, he says, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? But even in making that awful
cry, he acknowledges God. It's a language of appropriation,
he's my God. is my God, I ascend unto my Father
and your Father, I ascend unto my God and your God." There is so much you see in the
language that the Lord speaks as He makes this great sacrifice.
It's the last of the seven sayings as I said. And how does He address God? He said Father And it is interesting
to observe that with that first word, the first of the seven
sayings, he also addresses God as his Father. Verse 34, Then
said Jesus, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. all the Lord you see and all
those awful sufferings and yet in the midst of all the agonies
not only physical agonies, agonies in his body but all that is transpiring
in the very depths of his soul he is able to call upon his God
how Such is the scene that even the very elements bear their
witness. We're told of that darkness. From the 6th hour there was darkness
over all the Earth until the 9th hour. What is the 6th hour? It's high
noon. That's how they would measure the day. From 6am they would
count the hours to 12. 12 noon, the sun at its zenith,
and then that terrible darkness that covers the earth until the
ninth hour, three o'clock in the afternoon and then, and then
he cries that awful cry, my gods, my gods, why hast thou forsaken
me? and in the midst of all that
is about him he still enjoys in that real union and communion
with God. Oh how the Lord Jesus is able
to minister then to those who are brought to feel something
of the darkness of their sins. Those who feel themselves to
be enveloped not only in the darkness but the deadness of
their sins. Even there you see as he suffers.
We see him as that one who is able to sympathize with his people. Or we know how he is touched
with the feeling of all their infirmities. He was tempted in
all points like as they are, yet without sin. And he's able therefore to succor
all those that would come unto God by Him. Oh, He is without
sin, but here we see Him made that great sin offering as He
pours out His soul and makes that one sacrifice for sins forever. Oh, we see, as I said, such a
striking contrast. He was in the hands of men all
in the purpose of God he must suffer at the hands of men he
comes to save men he suffers at the hands of men and that
first utterance that he makes father forgive them he says they
know not what they do and then that remarkable contrast as he
commends his spirit into the hands of his father and the father
will vindicate him the father will receive him and raise him
again from the dead and then we see him enjoying
that real communion with God that true fellowship with God when Jesus had cried with a loud
voice he says father into thy hands I commend my spirit and
having said thus he gave up the ghost. Now as we come to conclude
this evening I want to mention three great truths that stand
before us from what we have in this particular text. First of
all we see the immortality of the soul. The immortality of
the soul. the preacher tells us what happens
at death then shall the dust return to the earth as it was
but the spirit to God will guide it it is truly absent from the body
and present with the Lord for believers those who die as true believers in the
Lord Jesus Christ, they go to be with Him. There
is no such thing as soul sleep. It is the body that is laid in
the tomb. It's the body that sees corruption. But those who are in heaven are
spoken of in Hebrews 12 as the spirits of just men. made perfect. The spirits or the souls of just
men perfected there in heaven. Amongst the sayings of the Lord
Jesus upon the cross we have those words that He utters to
that penitential thief. Remember how that man says to
Christ, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And
what does the Lord say to that man today? Thou shalt be with
me in paradise. Oh, as soon as that penitential
thief, that wicked man who had led a life of sin and degradation,
as soon as he expires, His soul was with Christ, absent
from the body, present with the Lord, the immortality of the
soul. But then also not only the immortality of the soul do
we see, we see here surely the great value of the soul. How the Lord Jesus Christ is
so careful to commend it, to commit his spirit into the hands
of God it was the Lord who himself declared what is a man profited
if he should go in the whole world or lose his own soul or
what should a man give in exchange for his soul so few give any
thought to their never dying souls and the great value of
the soul of man and that that came into man at creation when
God breathe the breath of life into his nostrils and it's there
of course in the soul that the image of God is seated it's not
in man's physical appearance God is a spirit says the Lord
Jesus God is without a body God is a spirit through worshipers
worship the Father in spirit and in truth, yes we see the
Lord Jesus Christ He is the image of the invisible God. He comes
as a man, a real man. He possesses a real body, but
when we think in terms of God, the doctrine of the Godhead,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God is a spirit. And it is there,
you see, in man's soul, in man's spirit, that we are to discern
the image of God. Oh what is the Lord doing here?
He is teaching us a great lesson, the value of our souls. Now the
Lord values his own human soul as he commends it into the hands
of his heavenly Father. The immortality of the soul.
The value of the soul. And then thirdly we see the rest
that the soul enjoys not soul sleep not soul sleep there is a rest that remaineth
to the people of God what is that rest? Augustine said thou
hast made us for thyself and our souls are restless till they
find their rest in thee what can satisfy man's soul nothing
but God because it is there in man's soul that the image of
God is seated and man is made to know God and man is made to
enjoy God or how are we friends to find
that blessed rest for our souls in the midst of all the trials
and troubles and all the judgments that come in this wicked world,
how are we to find rest? Listen to the language of Peter
there in his first epistle on the end of chapter 4. He says
the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God
and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them
that obey not the gospel? And if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Now, as
we've said previously, on previous occasions, he's not saying that
there's any possibility that the righteous might not be saved.
When he speaks of them scarcely being saved, he is mindful, you
see, of what he has spoken of previously, that judgment that
begins at the house of God. Or has he not at the very beginning
of his epistle spoken of all that trial of faith. Being much more precious than
the gold that perisheth though it be tried with fire might be
found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ. There is a trial. Always for a season it needs
be. You are in heaviness, he says,
through manifold temptations. If the righteous scarcely be
saved Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore, he says, he's drawing
to a conclusion, he's making a deduction. Wherefore, therefore,
let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the
keeping of their souls to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful
Creator. Or we are to commend our souls
into the hands of our God in well-doing. And what is that
well-doing? It's the life of faith. It's that delighting in all the
promises of God, resting in the promises of God. But not being
partial in God's words, embracing also those gospel precepts. It's living the life of the Christian.
That is the way in which we find true rest and satisfaction for
our souls. All the soul, the immortality
of it, the value of it, the only place where that soul can find
real rest, it's in the one of whom we read here in our text
tonight, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. We have to learn of him. When Jesus had cried with a loud
voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. Now when the centurion saw what
was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly, this was a righteous
man. Oh, that we might learn then.
of this righteous man. The Lord bless His word to us.
Amen.