FAMOUS LAST WORDS
FAMOUS LAST WORDS – The last words of any dying person are always worth our full attention. Is not the question when a loved one passes, “Did they have any LAST WORDS?” And so we desire to hear the LAST WORDS which are indeed the greatest words from the greatest Man the world has ever known! Let us linger over the FAMOUS LAST WORDS of our Savior, Redeemer and Friend, His last words at His CRUCIFIXION, His last words after His RESURRECTION and His last words after His GLORIFICATION.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS AS HE WAS CRUCIFIED – Jesus spoke seven times while hanging on the Cross.
(1) He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34).
(2) He promised one of the criminals crucified with Him, “Today you shall be with Me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
(3) He remembered His mother, “Woman, behold Your Son!” and to John, “Behold, your mother!” (John 19:26-27).
(4) In agony “About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?”” (Mt. 27:46; Mark 15:34).
(5) “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said ‘I thirst.'” (John 19:28).
(6) He uttered His cry of victory – “When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” (Tetelestai – “Paid in Full!”) (John 19:30).
“Yes, indeed / Finished, ev’ry jot / Sinner, this is all you need / Tell me, is it not?” (Ira Sankey)
(7) “Father, INTO THY HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” And having said this, He breathed His last.” (Luke 23:46)
When our Savior cried out these FAMOUS LAST WORDS from the Cross “with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Behold, the VEIL of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” (Mt 27:50-51), the VEIL through which we now “have confidence (boldness) to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the (rent) VEIL, that is, His (rent) FLESH.” (Hebrews 10:19-20)
FAMOUS LAST WORDS AFTER HE WAS RESURRECTED – His last words to His disciples (which includes us beloved) were “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt 28:18-20) “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
FAMOUS LAST WORDS AFTER HE WAS GLORIFIED – Our glorified Redeemer spoke His last words in the last chapter of the last book of the Bible – “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end….Yes, I am coming quickly.” (Rev 22:12-13, 20)
To which we cry “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
An ancient legend says that in the early church a believer was about to be martyred for his faith in the Messiah and as they tied his hands to the stake, they asked if he had any LAST WORDS, to which he jubilantly shouted “HE IS RISEN!” Unknown to the authorities, in the surrounding hills, the followers of Christ had gathered to watch the execution. When they heard the martyr’s last words “He is risen,” they cried out with one voice “HE IS RISEN INDEED!”
HE IS RISEN INDEED!
Below are the powerful words of the great Phillip Bliss hymn “Halleljujah! What a Savior” (Sung by my home church, The Austin Stone)
Man of Sorrows! what a Name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
preceptaustin 