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Sermon Date:	March 21, 2008 (Redeemer, Sanford)
Sermon Text:	Luke 23:44-49
Church Calendar:	Good Friday
Delivered By:	Rev. Brian Roberts

"Father, into Your Hands…"

The end has come. Jesus, Who had such humble beginnings in a stable in Bethlehem, has met a humiliating end on a cross outside Jerusalem.

A week that began with palms waving has reached its conclusion atop Mount Calvary. On one day, within a matter of hours, it was all over. It is finished.

But these words from the cross are blessed words! Good Words. Through this Lenten season we have been hearing about the Seven Words, or statements, that Jesus made from the Cross.

The theme for the Lenten season has been the Seven Wonders of the Word. Seven times Jesus spoke before He died. But nothing was more powerful than these Words: “It is finished.” Yes, they are good Words. In fact, it is why this sad day is called GOOD Friday. When Jesus uttered these words from the cross, the power of sin and the devil were defeated once and for all.

The sins of Adam and Eve, and every human creature have been dealt with, punished, and now, forgiven. The Promise of God to Adam and Eve, at the fall into sin, is complete. Remember from our Thy Kingdom Come story in Genesis?

Although Satan has struck the heel of the long-promised Messiah, Jesus has crushed Satan’s head with these words: “It is finished!” Satan’s hold on sinful humanity is finished. Nothing separates us from God’s love anymore. We belong to God again. We are His children. He is our Heavenly Father.

But it has come at a terrible cost – the death of the Son of God. Christ’s death was of such a magnitude that the hand of God shook the earth in Divine judgment.

The Gospel writer, Matthew, records that the separation of Jesus’ Spirit and Body – the most awful event in the history of history – was accompanied by the heaving and breaking of the land. The earth quakes at the death of Jesus. But not only that, the hand of God strikes the skies with darkness. The centurion, standing at the cross, seeing all of this, realized that he had executed not just an ordinary man. “Surely this was a righteous man,” he said.

At the hand of God the Father, Christ, the only-begotten Son, has been forsaken and punished until all was finished – until all salvation had been accomplished.

And now, with all sins punished, with God’s wrath exhausted, with humanity’s salvation complete, God’s hands are once again tender hands. And this brings us to the last Words of Jesus before He died.

Jesus yields Himself into those hands of God which, moments before had inflicted hell upon Him, with the words, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.”

Jesus dies because we can’t stop sinning. Jesus dies because we can’t be perfect no matter how hard we try. We are steeped in sin. It is our nature. Despite our best intentions, we do those things we shouldn’t, and fail to live the way we should. And so, Jesus dies on the cross.

But dear Christian friends, on this Good Friday, hear the Good News! Jesus dies on the cross in order to save us from our sin and imperfection.

Through the grace and power of Christ’s sacrifice, the hands of God reach out to you now – not to punish you, but to hold you, and strengthen you, and care for you.

Through faith WE commit ourselves, continually, into God’s hands now. We commit our whole lives into the mighty, gracious, merciful hands of God. And as Jesus declares in John 10:29, “No one is able to snatch you out of My Father’s hand.” And so, each day we live in and with the promise that God will never leave us nor forsake us.

With full assurance, we are able to pray each day and every night the equivalent of Jesus’ declaration, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.”

Why do we spend our time here tonight, pondering the sad scenes of Christ’s suffering, and His terrible death? Why can’t we focus on the forgiveness without all the blood? Why can’t we play up the resurrection and play down the crucifixion?

Why? It’s because you will never see the depth and immensity and know the full comfort of God’s love without seeing the cross.

Faith requires that you know how deadly and serious your sins are. How else can you know how much Christ has done for you? Faith requires that you understand the depth of the price paid, and the height of the love which brought Jesus to the cross.

When you understand the danger and the threat that our sins cause us, then you can understand the surpassing love of Jesus Who pays the price of salvation for us.

You might recall these words of verse 3, in the Good Friday hymn “Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted.” They remind why the cross is always the center of our Christian faith.

Ye who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed,
See Who bears the awful load;
‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.

So tonight, we see again the terrible suffering and death of Jesus. But by doing so, we see even more, the exceeding love of God.

And we celebrate that love of God tonight, because Jesus Christ, our Savior, was willing to endure the depths of hell, so that we may enjoy the heights of heaven with Him forever.

Amen.

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