SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS

Our salvation is through the cross. Let’s read and listen to the seven last words of Jesus on the cross:

1. The PARDONING word: Luke 23:32-38
   
   Jesus was forced to carry His cross up to a place called Calvary. There, they crucified Him along with two thieves. Hear the pardoning words of Jesus, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” The cross is about how God forgives us.
   
2. The PROMISING word: Luke 23:39-43
   
   One thief requested, “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus then gave the beautiful promise, “I say unto you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” That’s the greatest promise that any person can ever receive. Jesus always keeps His promises!
   
3. The PARENTAL word: John 19:25-27
   
   When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple John standing at the foot of the cross, He said, “Woman, this is your son.” He then said to the disciple John, “This is your mother.” In His dying moments, He wanted to care for His mother. The disciple John took her into his own home.
   
4. The PERPLEXING word: Matthew 27:45-46
   
   During the six-hour darkness that covered all the land, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, saying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” There, Jesus momentarily experienced loneliness, but deep in His mind, He knew that He was doing His Father’s will.
   
5. The PLEADING word: John 19-28-29
   
   Jesus said, “I thirst.” He wanted something to drink. The Romans filled a sponge with vinegar and put it on a stick and placed it up to His mouth. The very moment when He was pleading for water, the soldiers gave Him vinegar. Still, Jesus loved them and forgave them.
   
6. The PRIESTLY word: John 17:1-8; 19:30
   
   Jesus had now completed His priestly task of offering His blood for the salvation of this world so that God might be glorified. He says, “It is finished.” He didn’t say “I am finished.” Jesus’s work on earth was finished, but He wasn’t finished. You will see that on Easter morning.
   
7. The PARTING word: Matthew 23:44-46
   
   There was darkness over the earth. The veil of the temple was split. Jesus cried out, “Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” Jesus knew where He had come from, where He was, and where He was going. He invites us to go with Him. 

Derric Johnson reminds us that it took the manger to bring God to us, but it took the cross to bring us to God! The cross is the only way from “here” to “there.”