Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. Luke 23:46 NIV
Some observations about the passage:
• Jesus consciously entrusted His Spirit unto God the Father.
• He knew exactly what He was doing.
• As such, He could have remained alive on the cross if He chose to.
• He was conscious and aware of what was happening.
• He willingly chose to die on the cross.
• In fact, during His arrest, Jesus stopped His disciples from using violence to stop what was about to happen.
• ⁵³Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? ⁵⁴But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” Matthew 26:53-54 NIV
What was going on between His death and His resurrection?
1. Jesus retained the power He has.
Jesus's power and divinity were not affected by His death. He has the power to lay down His own life. He has the power to take it up again.
¹⁷The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” John 10:17-18 NIV
The death of Jesus did not mean He ceased to exist. It was part of His plan. Through this, He proved what He once claimed.
²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 NIV
2. Jesus restored the way things were.
⁴⁴It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, ⁴⁵for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Luke 23:44-45 NIV
The Israelites used to go through a high priest for the forgiveness of sins. He enters to the Most Holy Place to offer sin offering. The Holy Place and the Most Holy Place are divided by a veil. This veil was torn through Jesus Christ from top to bottom. This means we may now go directly to God the Father for repentance. We do not need a high priest to represent us before God anymore. Praise be to Him who reconciled us to God the Father.
We can pray directly to God the Father, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ restored our line of communication through His life.
3. Jesus revived the life they had.
Jesus Christ revived the lives of the holy people.
⁵¹At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵²and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. Matthew 27:51-52 NIV
Eternal life is now possible because Jesus defeated death. This is the same reason why we do not fear death. The Apostle Paul once said,
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 NIV
Even between His death and resurrection, Jesus chose to complete His mission.
Conclusion:
Jesus knows who to trust. He knew that the only safe place for His Spirit is in the Hands of God the Father while He completes His mission.
Amid His suffering as He hang on the cross, Jesus never thought of ever stopping. He chose to go through the most horrible way to die for our sake.
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