Read: Luke 23: 44-46
“It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.”
Rome liked to make examples of its criminals, so they crucified them in public. Crucifixion was designed to be a devastating death down to the last detail. It was long, painful, and excruciating every step of the way. It was a symphony of suffering. Every decision was intentionally laid out to create the longest and most lingering torture possible. Some criminals would spend days dying on a hill overlooking the city. This location was called Golgotha, which means Hill of the Skull. They publicly punished people on purpose. When the public witnessed dying men atop Golgotha, they received a clear message: don’t mess with the Romans. They wanted to do the same with Jesus. They wanted to show their power paralleled with His weakness. They had no idea what they set into motion, though.
Just before Jesus breathed His last breath, He let out one last phrase. With a loud voice, He shouted, “Father into Your hands, I commit my spirit.” In synch with this saying, the earth began shaking, the sky went pitch black, the temple shook, and Jesus died before everyone’s eyes. This simple phrase reveals to us the supernatural truth about death.
Death is just a doorway.
Jesus knew that He would be rejoined with His Father once His heart stopped beating. As He left this life, He trusted His eternal destiny into God’s arms. The same is true for you. Because of Jesus, death is just a doorway. You leave behind a life full of problems, pain, bad weather, confusion, suffering, and mosquitos to be united with God in an afterlife full of joy, glory, and rejoicing. I am struck with the peace of this phrase. It’s just “God, I am ready to be held in your arms.” Through the power of Jesus, our last breath on earth leads to our first shout of praise in Heaven. We can experience peace in all distress— even in death.