Father, "into Your hand I commit My spirit"

 

 Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.  Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.  And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hand I commit My spirit.'" Having said this, He breathed His last.  

 

So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"  And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done,  beat their breasts and returned.  But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things. 

 

Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.  He had not consented to their decision and deed.  He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.  That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.  And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  

 

- Luke 23:44–56

 

On Saturday, we read that there were also two others, criminals, who were led with Jesus to be put to death.  And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.  Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  And they divided His garments and cast lots.  And the people stood looking on.  But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, "He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God."  The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, "If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself."  And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, "If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us."   But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, "Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong."  Then he said to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom."  And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise."

 

  Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.  Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. The sixth hour is noon, and the ninth hour corresponds to approximately 3:00 in the afternoon.  We see that the very rhythm of creation is disturbed in this murder of its Creator.  Regarding the veil of the temple, my study Bible comments that the veil that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple was a symbol of the separation between God and human beings.  Christ's death, it says, opens the way into the presence of God for all people, giving people access to that which is most holy of all:  God Himself.  In many Orthodox churches, there is a curtain between the altar and the nave which is drawn open during liturgical services in order to emphasize that communion with God, which was at one time sealed off from humanity, is now available to all who approach in faith. 

 

 And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, 'into Your hand I commit My spirit.'"  Having said this, He breathed His last.  My study Bible comments that Jesus does not have His life taken from Him, but will voluntarily commit it to the Father.  His was the first human soul not to be taken to Hades.  Instead, Jesus gives His soul freely to the hands of God.  So, therefore, He frees all of humanity from the grip of death.  Jesus' death is a reconciliation of humankind to God, not through satisfaction of a need for blood-justice as some might teach, but by causing all aspects of our corrupt human nature to be transformed -- for whatever divinity touches is healed.  My study Bible says that Christ accepts human nature in order to sanctify human nature.  Christ accepts our weakness in order to make us strong; He takes on our sin in order to free us from sin; He suffers in order to transfigure suffering; and He enters death in order to destroy it (1 Corinthians 15:20-28).  Jesus is quoting from Psalm 31:5; He is likely praying as the entire psalm is the story of the Crucifixion.  

 

 So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, "Certainly this was a righteous Man!"  And the whole crowd who came together to that sight, seeing what had been done,  beat their breasts and returned.  But all His acquaintances, and the women who followed Him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.  My study Bible cites St. Cyril of Alexandria, who reflects on the conversion of the centurion as follows:  "Observe that no sooner had Christ endured the Passion on the Cross for our sakes than He began to win many unto knowledge of the truth."

 

 Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man.  He had not consented to their decision and deed.  He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before.  If the apostles had buried Christ, my study Bible states, doubters could claim His body was simply hidden away.  Joseph of Arimathea, being both a council member and also a good and just man refutes any possibility of deception by the apostles.  Moreover, the spiritual significance of this tomb where no one had ever lain before is that Christ died a death unlike any person had ever died.  That is, a death without corruption, a death which leads to victory over the grave itself.  

 

 That day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew near.  And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and they observed the tomb and how His body was laid.  Then they returned and prepared spices and fragrant oils.  And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  Christ's rest in the tomb, my study Bible notes, fulfills the image of His birth in a cave (Luke 2:7) and reveals the ultimate purpose of Christ's coming into the world.  The faith of the women, my study Bible adds, while stronger than that of the disciples who are now in hiding, was still imperfect in that they prepared for the corruption of Christ's body.  Moreover, as God rested from His work of creation on the original Sabbath (Genesis 2:1-3), so now Christ rests from the work of the new creation on the Sabbath.  So, therefore, Christ gives the Sabbath its ultimate meaning, and He fulfills the Law even in death.  At Matins of Holy Saturday, the Orthodox hymn declares, "This is the most blessed Sabbath on which Christ sleeps in order to rise on the third day."

 

 We should note something a little subtle about the passages in today's reading.  Even though the unthinkable has happened, even though the world and all aspects of creation seem out of whack, upside down, there is a particular rhythm or cycle to what is happening.  It is more or less "upside down" that there was darkness all over the earth from noon until 3:00 P.M.  We're even told that then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple -- established to protect the people from the powerful holiness of God -- was torn in two.  Perhaps these words describe an eclipse, but ancient people knew what eclipses were, and there is clear evidence that astronomical knowledge was developed enough to know their cause.  Nonetheless, these events tell us about the creation that responds to what has just happened, and perhaps even more importantly, what is taking place.  For the powers of heaven are shaken.  Christ the Lord has died His human death and will ascend now to assume all power in heaven and on earth.  In the psalms we read, "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.  Their sound has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world (Psalm 19:1-4).  When Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and His disciples shouted out in His Triumphal Entry, Jesus said to the offended religious leaders, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out" (Luke 19:40).   In the perspective of Scripture, all of creation forms a kind of icon of the Creator and the reality of the divine life, its purposes, its meanings.  Creation, in this sense, is alive with meanings and messages if we but could understand and hear.  So, as Jesus prophesied of the end times, there are signs in the sun on this occasion; moreover the very veil of the temple has been torn in two, symbolizing the opening of heaven to human beings through Christ's death on the Cross.  And then the rhythm of Creation is taking place.  Jesus dies on the day of Preparation, which we know as Good Friday.  And then the Sabbath comes, and He rests, even as His faithful followers, the women from Galilee, also oversee His resting place, the tomb, and then withdraw so they themselves abide by the Sabbath rule.  What we find, remarkably it seems, is the pattern and path of duty midst all of this upheaval.  Even the pattern of the Preparation and the Sabbath are asserted through the faith of Christ's followers.  Joseph of Arimathea, taking tremendous courage, goes to Pilate and asks for the body of Jesus.  Through his faith and generosity he wrapped Christ's body in linen, and donated an unused new tomb, hewn out of the rock, an expensive gift and honor indeed, unheard of for One who is crucified on a cross in the Roman system of punishments, and for One so ignominiously treated by His own nation and its religious leaders.  As my study Bible noted, Christ goes even as He was born as an infant, in a cave, and wrapped in swaddling.  And although the apostles are in hiding, the women observe the tomb, and prepare what is necessary for His burial:  the spices and fragrant oils.  Then as faithful duty in the rhythm of creation, and their humility before God, they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment.  These powerful events teach us so much about faith, humility, and duty in the face of the unthinkable and shocking in our lives.  We still have a duty, a job to do.  We still honor God, and do what we know according to the commandments we know.  For Christ teaches us what we are to be about, and how we serve Him under all circumstances.  Let us remember our road, our truth, our life.  Jesus says, as His last words, "Father, 'into Your hand I commit My spirit,'" quoting from Psalm 31.  Ultimately we follow His lead, and commit all things to God's hand, for that is where we belong, too, regardless of what happens in the world around us.