Luke 23:46 says, “And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last” (NKJV). To understand this verse, we need to quote a few other verses which explain what happened just prior to this.

In verse 44 we read, “Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.” Now let’s read Matthew 27:46, “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And finally, let’s read John 30:28-30, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, ‘I thirst!’….and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.”

These passages describe the last THREE HOURS on the cross. Why did darkness cover the earth and why did Jesus cry out in agony, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” It was OUR SINS that brought on this darkness and Jesus being forsaken of God! In Isaiah 53:6 we read, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD HAS LAID ON HIM THE INIQUITY OF US ALL.” The prophet Isaiah had written, hundreds of years before Jesus hung on the cross, that He would be OUR SINBEARER; that God would lay OUR SINS upon His beloved Son and Jesus would bear the judgment that our sins deserved (see 1 Peter 2:24; 3:18; and 1 Corinthians 5:21). God, who is Light, had to turn His back on His holy Son who had OUR SINS laid upon Him and nature itself bore witness to the fact that God was judging our sins in the Person of His Son. Every sinner who believes this truth is SAVED from the penalty of their sins and can take Isaiah 53:5 to heart as well: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” We know that in the “bearing of our sins” Jesus EXHAUSTED GOD’S JUDGMENT and thus He could cry out in victory, “It is finished.” Sin has a two-fold penalty (DEATH and JUDGMENT…Romans 6:23 and Hebrews 9:29). He had experienced God’s JUDGMENT but there was one more act He had to fulfill; He had to “DIE for our sins.” So, in obedience to His Father He said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” and then He voluntarily “laid down His life for us” (John 10:17-18 with Philippians 2:8). No man can “give up His spirit” yet Jesus had the power to dismiss His spirit which went to be with the Father in Paradise (heaven).

Does my reader believe what we have just read from God’s precious word? If you have truly seen yourself as a sinner in need of salvation, then you can take those passages to heart by believing that Christ did indeed suffer God’s JUDGMENT for your sins and then He DIED for your sins. I would encourage you to read Luke 23:39-43 to see that one of the criminals who died next to Christ turned to Him in faith in his last hour with these words, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” The Lord’s blessed response to him was, “Assuredly, I say to you, TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE.” That man died that day and his “spirit left his body and joined Christ in Paradise!” He did what every sinner needs to do to be saved and given the assurance of going to heaven; he “believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved” (see Acts 16:31 with Romans 10:9-10).  (DO)  (678.5)