Famous Last Words
Imagine you are about to die...
You have the chance of saying a few last words
What would you say?
The things that people say when they are on the point of death often fascinate us. Some call out to God, or to their parents, or to loved ones. A British writer, Rob Parsons, wrote
No one ever said on his death bed "I wish I had spent more time at the office".
And yet many people, it seems, are concerned about their work and particularly whether they have finished it or not. Consider some of the following...
Alexander Graham Bell the inventor of the telephone who died in 1922 apparently said
"So little done, so much to do."
Joseph II. one of the Holy Roman Emperors, died in 1790 saying
"Let my epitaph be: Here lies Joseph, who was unsuccessful in all his undertakings".
While Tony Hancock, a famous and much admired British comedian, speaking to
himself in his last TV monologue in 1964 said
"What have you achieved? You lost your chance, my old son. You contributed absolutely nothing to this life. Nothing to leave behind me, nothing to pass on".
Despite his fame and popularity Tony Hancock died of an overdose in 1968 never quite able to believe that he was appreciated and highly regarded for his work.
Others have died in similar mood. "I die unprepared" (Cesare Borgia, 1507); "What a fool I have been" (Charles Churchill, 1764); "I have not finished my work" (James Eads, 1887).
What about Jesus?
Jesus was executed by crucifixion in the spring of about 33AD. He had been arrested the previous night, tried during the night, tried a second and third time before other authorities, assaulted and beaten about the head, whipped and finally nailed to a beam which was raised on a post or a tree.
What does a man so treated say in his final moments?
We have recorded for us the seven last things Jesus said.
As they crucified him he prayed for those who executed him. "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23 v 34)
As he hung on the cross he made a promise to one of the two others who were also put to death that day. "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23 v 43-46)
Although he was dying probably the most painful and humiliating form of death ever devised he still took notice of his mother standing there watching her son die. Until he started his work of preaching and healing he was the head of the family. Now he commits his mother into the care of John, his disciple and friend, "Dear woman, here is your son" and says to John "Here is your mother." (John 19 v 26-30)
The presence of Jesus mother at the cross is a problem for those who say that Jesus did not die on the cross but was substituted by someone else.
The lowest point in Jesus life was as he hung on the cross and - because he took all our sins on himself to pay for our guilt and set us free - God the Father, who is holy, actually turned away from him. Jesus cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27 v 46). The fact that God accepted the sacrifice that Jesus made is shown by the resurrection.
Just before he dies Jesus says "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit."
Then right at the end he says "I am thirsty." Jesus had had nothing to drink from the time of his last meal with his disciples the night before. Since then he had be tortured and abused and condemned to die. But Jesus had one last thing to say and he wanted it to be heard clearly. Heard by those who condemned him, heard by his disciples there, heard by those who had listened to him and seen his miracles, heard by you and me. What was this final thing he had to say?
In many of our english translations it is written as "It is finished."
But you would be wrong to interpret this as a cry of defeat. It is not 'I am finished' or even 'It is all over' but rather a cry of triumph, of success, of achievement.
It is like a footballer scoring the winning goal in a cup final match who shouts "GOAL !"
What had Jesus finished, accomplished, completed, achieved, done?
He had accomplished
- all that God planned for him to do.
- He has taken your sin, and mine,
- and has paid the price of our guilt,
- he has opened the way
- for you and me to come into the presence of a holy God
- with our sins forgiven
- and call him Father.
- He has made it possible for us to have a new relationship with God,
- He has made possible a new life for us here and now,
- His Life living in us!,
- and has opened heaven for us.
That is something to celebrate and thank God for.
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NIV (New International Version) Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. a member of the Hodder Headline Plc Group. All rights reserved. "NIV" is a registered trademark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790