Luke 23:32-46 (Good Friday)

Can God be trusted?

250 years ago, a French philosopher, Voltaire,

wrote a novel exploring this very question.

The main character, a young man, Candide,

grew up in a castle living a sheltered life,

part of a noble family,

being taught by his mentor that everything is for the best

in this, the best of all possible worlds.

But one day he was thrown out of his castle,

captured by soldiers, coerced into military service,

taken away from the woman he loved.

Later on, he was shipwrecked, flogged, and nearly executed.

He witnessed wars, earthquakes, and fires

that killed thousands of people with no apparent rhyme or reason.

So gradually he abandoned the naive, trusting optimism

he had been taught as a child.

He concluded at the end,

let us cultivate our own garden.

In other words, there's no overarching meaning to life

or to human history.

All that we can do is try to make a decent life for ourselves,

maybe a few others around us,

and leave it at that.

Perhaps that's the conclusion you've come to as well.

Maybe God exists somewhere out there,

but if he does,

God doesn't seem to be much help.

So ultimately it's up to us

to make our own meaning,

to carve out a home for ourselves

in this cold, hard world.

Even for those of us who identify as Christians,

who believe in the God

who has revealed himself in the Bible,

do we not wrestle with this same question,

can God really be trusted?

Of course, in principle,

we would say yes.

But sometimes our patterns of life

betray the opposite inclination.

When we're constantly,

fretfully working

and can never stop and rest.

When we're intent on controlling

the outcomes of our life

and therefore controlling other people.

When we engage in addictive patterns

because deep down we believe

that God won't give me the comfort I need.

when we live in despair

or bitterness

or coldness

because forgiveness is just too hard.

When we give up praying

because praying feels useless and pointless.

Or when we bargain with God.

God, I will trust you if.

According to the Bible,

human beings have had trust issues with God

since the beginning of humanity.

Back in Genesis 3,

the tempter asked the man and woman,

did God really say?

Is God really good?

Does he really have your best interest at heart?

And ever since that time,

human beings have repeatedly taken matters

into our own hands.

But what we see tonight,

what we've heard in the readings tonight,

is that there was one human being

who trusted God

perfectly,

completely,

without wavering

in his life

and in his death.

Tonight I want to focus on Jesus' last words

in Luke 23, verse 46.

Luke 23:46

Father,

into your hands

I commit

my spirit.

Now if you read the four Gospels,

if you compare

the accounts of Jesus' crucifixion,

there are actually seven words

that Jesus speaks

while he's hanging on the cross.

The first three words

that Jesus speaks

demonstrate his love

and concern

for other people around him.

even in his hour

of great distress.

If you look up to verse 34,

Jesus prayed

for those who were crucifying him.

Father, forgive them

for they know not what they do.

In John 19,

Jesus provided

for his grieving mother.

Woman,

behold your son.

In verse 43,

Jesus pardoned

the criminal

who called out for mercy.

Truly,

I say to you,

today you will be with me

in paradise.

So the first three words

are focused on the other people

around Jesus

and Jesus showing his care

and concern for them

even while he's

hanging on a cross

about to die.

The next two words

that Jesus speaks

are words of anguish

and agony

as he bears the weight

of our sin

and guilt.

as he longs

for the comfort

of God's presence.

If you read in Matthew

and in Mark,

Jesus cries out,

my God,

my God,

why have you forsaken me?

And in the gospel of John,

Jesus cries out,

I thirst.

But the last words,

the last two words

that Jesus speaks

recorded in Luke

and in John

are confident declarations

of trust in God.

It is finished.

As it says in John,

and here as we're looking

at tonight,

Father,

into your hands

I commit

my spirit.

Tonight I want to focus

on two aspects

of this last verse

of Jesus' trust

in God.

Number one,

that Jesus trusted

God's authority,

specifically the authority

of God's word.

It's remarkable

that the last four words

Jesus speaks

from the cross

are all taken

from the Psalms.

My God,

my God,

why have you forsaken me?

The opening words

of Psalm 22.

A prayer

of a righteous sufferer.

It is finished.

The closing words

of Psalm 22.

A cry of victory

that his work

was complete.

I thirst.

Psalm 63,

Psalm 143,

the psalmist

is crying out to God

in the midst

of a literal

and spiritual desert.

And here,

Father,

into your hands

I commit my spirit.

Quoting from Psalm 31.

Jesus lived

and studied

and breathed

and preached

and prayed

the scriptures

he knew them

by heart.

He understood

his own identity

and calling

and destiny

in light of them.

The scriptures

were the story

and the song

and the framework

that shaped his life

more than anything else.

And the scriptures,

specifically the Psalms,

were what he

turned to

in his hour

of affliction.

Jesus trusted

and lived

by the authority

of God's word.

Psalm 31,

we read part of it

earlier this evening.

It's a prayer

of an afflicted person.

A prayer of someone

who's crying out to God

in the midst of distress.

Later on in that psalm,

it says,

I am in distress,

wasted from grief,

spent with sorrow.

Those who see me

in the street

flee from me.

They scheme together

against me

as they plot

to take my life.

But that psalm

is also a prayer

of trust.

Several times

in the psalm,

the author

reaffirms his trust

in God.

I trust in you,

O Lord.

I say,

you are my God.

My times are

in your hand.

Rescue me

from the hand

of my enemies

and my persecutors.

And Jesus embraced

the words of this psalm

as his very own.

Quoting in particular

from verse 5,

a simple

and poignant

expression of trust

into your hand.

I commit

my spirit.

For you

have redeemed me,

O Lord,

faithful God.

You see,

Jesus knew all along

that according

to the Scriptures,

he must suffer

and die

in order to fulfill

God's plan

and establish

God's kingdom

and rescue

God's people.

You see,

on his journey

to Jerusalem,

Jesus had told

the disciples,

he said,

see,

we are going up

to Jerusalem.

And everything

that is written

about the Son of Man

by the prophets,

that is,

in the Scriptures,

will be accomplished.

He will be delivered

over to the Gentiles,

mocked,

shamefully treated,

spit upon,

and after flogging him,

they will kill him.

You might ask,

how did he know this?

Simply from

the Scriptures.

Where was it written?

Well,

Jesus would have seen

this pattern

in the major

biblical narratives.

For example,

the life of Joseph.

Joseph was rejected

by his brothers.

He was sold

into slavery,

falsely accused

and imprisoned,

nearly forgotten

and left to die.

And only after all that

was he exalted

to the right hand

of Pharaoh

and saved Egypt

from famine

and provided

for his family.

His suffering

came before his glory.

or David

who was persecuted

by King Saul.

Spent years

alone in the wilderness,

abandoned,

mistreated,

betrayed,

and only after

his suffering

was he exalted

to royal glory

to establish

his kingdom.

Jesus would have seen

that pattern

in the stories,

in the Scriptures,

and he would have

known the prophecies.

the prophecy

of Isaiah

about a suffering servant

who would be beaten

and disgraced

and spit upon

and only later

vindicated

and raised to life

or the prophecy

of Zechariah

that one day

the people

will look upon

one whom

they have pierced

and they would mourn.

One whom

they had killed

and yet on that day

there would be

a fountain

opened

for cleansing

from sin.

Jesus knew

the Scriptures

and he knew

that according

to the Scriptures

he had come

to be that

suffering servant

and that promised

atoning sacrifice.

And so he

willingly submitted

to God's plan

as it was laid out

in the Scriptures

trusting that God

would not abandon him

to the grave.

You see,

Luke wants us

to know

Jesus' death

was not

simply a senseless tragedy.

Jesus was not

simply an unfortunate

victim of injustice.

Certainly he was

the recipient

of injustice.

But every step

along the way

Jesus was

willingly,

actively,

confidently

entrusting himself

to God the Father.

Jesus' suffering

was not an indication

of his weakness.

Rather,

the way

he both

resisted

and endured

suffering

displayed

his strength.

His last words,

Luke says,

he called out

in a loud voice.

That was very unusual

for a crucified man.

Normally,

a crucified person

would die

of suffocation

gradually.

But Jesus spoke

with intentionality

and confidence

and authority

even with his

dying breath

entrusting himself

to God,

to God's word

and to God's plan.

Jesus trusted

God's authority.

That's the first

thing we see.

But the second

thing we see

is that Jesus

trusted God's goodness.

Jesus added

one word

to the psalm

he quoted from.

David prayed,

into your hand

I commit my spirit.

Jesus prayed,

Father,

into your hand

I commit my spirit.

Jesus lived

and died

not only

with a trust

and willingness

to submit

to God's authority

but with a confidence

in God's

fatherly

goodness.

If you read

the gospel of Luke,

from beginning to end

Jesus' life

was oriented

toward

his heavenly

father.

Jesus' first

words

in the gospel

of Luke

at the age

of twelve

he says,

I must be

in my father's

house.

Did you not know

that I must be

in my father's

house?

As we see,

Jesus constantly

turned to his

father in prayer.

He would often

withdraw to

desolate places

and pray.

He continued

in prayer

to God

all night

before choosing

his twelve

disciples.

He took Peter

and John

and James

up to the

mountain

to pray.

He taught

his disciples

always to pray

and not lose

heart.

Prayer wasn't

just a routine

for Jesus,

it was his

source of energy

and joy

and wisdom

and intimacy

with the

father whom

he loved

and trusted.

And Jesus

trusted the

goodness

and sufficiency

of God

the father's

provision.

Jesus said,

if earthly

fathers know

how to give

good gifts

to their

children,

how much

more will

the heavenly

father give

good gifts

to those

who ask

him?

That's the

kind of

father in

heaven that

Jesus is

talking about.

A God

who is

generous

and good

to his

children.

Jesus said,

my father

has assigned

to me

a kingdom.

And then

he said

to his

disciples,

don't fear

little flock,

it is the

father's

good pleasure

to give

you this

kingdom.

All that

is mine

will now

become yours.

And so

Jesus died

the same

way he

had lived

entrusting

himself

into the

father's

faithful

hands.

Trusting

God's

goodness.

Can

God be

trusted?

Look at

Jesus.

This is

no philosophy

of optimism

reinforced

by a

sheltered

upbringing.

This is

no vague

platitude

about every

cloud having

a silver

lining.

This is

no far

away

higher

power

who is

irrelevant

and distant

from our

human

sufferings.

In

Jesus

Christ,

the God

of all

creation

has

come

near,

has

become

human.

has

suffered

death

in order

to

rescue

us

from

our

sin

and

one

day

to

renew

all

creation.

Even

if you

don't

understand

many

of his

ways,

can

you

not

trust

his

heart?

John

Stott

wrote,

I could

never

myself

trust

in

God

if it

were

not

for

the

cross.

I

have

entered

many

Buddhist

temples

and

stood

respectfully

before

the

statue

of

the

Buddha,

his

legs

crossed,

arms

folded,

eyes

closed,

a remote

look on

his face,

detached

from the

agonies

of the

world.

But each

time,

I have

turned

away.

And I

have

turned

instead to

that lonely,

twisted,

tortured

figure on

the cross,

nails

through

hands and

feet,

back

lacerated,

limbs

wrenched,

brow

bleeding,

mouth

dry and

intolerably

thirsty,

plunged in

God-forsaken

darkness.

He

laid

aside

his

immunity

to

pain.

He

entered

our

world

of

flesh

and

blood,

tears

and

death.

He

suffered

for

us.

He

gave

everything

for

those

who

deserved

nothing

from

him.

Hebrews

4,

it says,

we do

not have

a high

priest

who is

unable

to

sympathize

with our

weaknesses,

but one

who in

every

respect

has been

tempted

as we

are,

yet

without

sin.

Let

us then

with

confidence

draw

near to

the

throne

of

grace

that

we

may

receive

mercy

and

find

grace

to

help

us

in

our

time

of

need.

You see,

because of

Jesus,

because of

his

unwavering

trust

and

perfect

obedience

to God

the

Father,

we can

now

share

in

his

intimate

trusting

relationship

with the

Father,

knowing

that

his

Father

is now

ours.

Jesus

not only

called

God

Father,

he taught

his

disciples

to do

the

same.

Because

all that

is his

has now

become

ours.

And so

we can

rest

from

our

works,

which are

never

finished,

and

rejoice

in the

completion

of

his.

We can

give up

trying to

control

our life

and control

other

people

because we've

surrendered to

him and

he has us

in his

hands.

We can

find freedom

from

addictive

patterns

because we

have one

who will

never leave

us,

never forsake

us,

and who

promises

joy

that nothing

else in

this world

can provide.

We can

forbear

and forgive

because he

has forgiven

us so much.

With

Jesus,

we can

entrust

ourselves

into the

hands of

a faithful

God.

Father,

into your

hands,

I commit

my spirit.

Let us

pray.

I invite you

to pray

with me

in response

to three

words of

Scripture.

First,

for God

so loved

the world

that he

gave his

one and

only Son

so that

whoever

believes in

him

will not

perish

but have

eternal

life.

Lord Jesus,

as we

consider

your

sacrifice

on the

cross,

may we

trust in

you

and receive

life

now

and forever.

God

shows his

love for

us in

that while

we were

still

sinners,

Christ

died for

us.

Lord Jesus,

may we

rest in

the

completeness

of your

sacrifice

for us

and may

we see

in your

death

a forever

convincing

proof of

your love

for us.

Let us

then with

confidence

draw near

to the

throne of

grace

that we

may receive

mercy

and find

grace to

help us

in time

of need.

Lord,

we pray

that you

would grant

us the

endurance

that we

do not

have within

ourselves,

that even

in our

darkest hour

we may

not grow

weary

or lose

heart.

May we

know that

you have

gone before

us and

may we

look forward

to the joy

that you

have promised

to all

who love

you.

We pray

all these

things in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.