Deeper Reflection
JESUS’ LAST WORDS ON THE CROSS (AS RECORDED IN the four Gospels) carry profound theological insights regarding the salvation of sinners. First, the Forgiveness from God. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk 23:34). Forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel message. Forgiveness from God, offered to all humankind. Forgiveness – needed because we all are lost like sheep and know not what we do. Forgiveness – made possible only through the cross of Christ.Second, the Finished Work of Christ. “It is finished” (Jn 19:30). Jesus’ work on earth is completed at the cross, His mission fully accomplished. There is nothing more that needs to or can be added to it. Nothing the Church does or neglects can ever enrich or impoverish the finished work of Christ. “It is finished” is as much an accomplished historical reality as well as an everlasting spiritual truth. Jesus died for sins and God’s wrath is therefore turned away from everyone who trusts in Jesus for salvation.Third, the One Forsaken for Sinners. “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46; Mk 15:34). These most anguishing words echo the Psalmist’s cries of complete abandonment and rejection.²⁴ About 2,000 years before Christ, on Mount Moriah, God provided Abraham with a ram as a sacrifice in place of his son Isaac.²⁵ On the same mountain, Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God, was totally rejected and slayed on behalf of sinners, so that people can be forgiven their sins and find acceptance before the Holy God. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.²⁶

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²⁴ Psalm 22:1. ²⁵ Genesis 22:8, 13-14. ²⁶ Hebrews 9:22b.