After being mocked and tortured on the cross, Jesus spoke his final words and took his last breath, fulfilling the purpose and promise of His Father. These final words continue to live on. But why do the matter? How does it affect your everyday life? This Easter, journey through each of Jesus’ seven statements spoken from the cross and meditate on what they reveal about who our Savior is—who died and uttered His last words specifically for you.Our Daily Bread
Day 1
Scripture: Luke 23:24
Grace to Forgive
Written by Nancy Gavilanes
Luke 23:34 says: Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
The kidnapping of nurse Alix Dorsainvil and her daughter in 2023 while they were living in Haiti made international headlines. Despite being held hostage for thirteen days, the New Hampshire native said she didn’t hold any grudges against her abductors and that her clinic doors would be open to them if they were ever sick or wounded. “I love you in Christ, and one day I hope to hug you in heaven,” she said.
While it’s astounding that Alix found the courage and strength to forgive her captors, we know that Jesus left us the best example of how we can find the grace to forgive those who hurt, offend, or mistreat us.
He didn’t just tell us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us, in Matthew 5:43-48; He modeled extreme forgiveness at the cross. Christ was beaten, mocked, and crucified for our sake even “while we were still his enemies,” as we read in Romans 5:10. But instead of pronouncing curses over His tormentors, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
While there’s no excuse for anyone to mistreat someone else, let’s ask God for the grace to release any anger or bitterness we may be feeling. Jesus wants us to live in a healthy relationship with Him and with others. Let’s forgive as we’ve been forgiven by God, according to Matthew 6:12—walking in love and following Christ’s example.
How can you become more forgiving? Who do you need to forgive?
Let’s pray.
Dear God, thank You for forgiving me. Please help me to be more forgiving.
Amen.
Day 2
Scripture: Luke 23:43
Too Bad? Too Late?
Written by Mike Wittmer
Luke 23:43 says:Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Christopher Hitchens was a famous atheist who enthusiastically debated believers in Christ. When he was dying of cancer, he announced that anyone who heard that he’d converted to Jesus on his deathbed should take that as proof that he’d lost his mind. After Christopher died, a debate opponent and friend noted that Hitchens had preemptively warned his followers because he knew that in the face of death, he might despair and turn to Christ. And who knows? He might have. A person can fight God his entire life and still be mercifully saved with seconds to spare. It’s happened before.
The thief on the cross had led a wicked life. He told his fellow criminal in Luke 23:41, “We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man [Jesus] hasn’t done anything wrong.” Now he was down to his final, excruciating hours, in which his physical agony threatened to distract from his greater spiritual need.
And he was wasting precious minutes. He initially joined the others who were mocking and yelling insults at Jesus, according to Mark 15:32. But as he hung on the cross, yearning for death, he turned and looked at his last chance. He said in Luke 23:42, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
God delights in saving people, including those who’ve run out of time. Instead of focusing on what we’ve done wrong, let’s look to Jesus.
What are your biggest regrets? Why might you think you’re unforgivable?
Let’s pray.
Dear Jesus, I’m looking at You and You alone, for only You can truly save me.
Amen.
Day 3
Scripture: John 19:26-27
A Word of Care
Written by Patricia Raybon
John 19:26-27 says: [Jesus] said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.”And to this disciple [John], “Here is your mother.”
When my dad passed away soon after my parents’ fortieth anniversary, my mother grieved deeply, but she also worried. Who would pay the bills? Would she have enough money? What if the house needed repairs? She soon learned that her worry was unneeded. My dad had painstakingly arranged, years ago, for her every financial need after his death. My sister and I committed to helping our mom with any other needs.
Caring for family like this takes on a special significance in some of Jesus’ final words. Despite hanging from the cross, Jesus looked upon His mother, Mary, and beloved disciple, John. Then He spoke these moving words: “Dear woman, here is your son,” and to John, “Here is your mother.”
Those are remarkable words of love shared at a gripping moment of grief. In Jewish culture, a dying son would commit his mother’s care to a male sibling, such as, in Jesus’ case, His brothers, according to Matthew 13:55, because Mary’s husband, Joseph, had probably already died. But Jesus’ brothers hadn’t yet accepted Him as the Christ, that is, the Messiah.
Focused on Mary’s well-being, Jesus appointed His disciple John as her caretaker. As we read in John 19:27, “From then on this disciple took her into his home.” What Christ did reflects the fact that all believers are members of a new family in God, establishing our caring bond at the foot of the cross.
How do you care for others? What does it mean for you to view believers as family?
Let’s pray.
Make me willing and ready, dear Jesus, to help fellow believers.
Amen.
Day 4
Scripture: Matthew 27:46
Never Forsaken
Written by Winn Collier
Matthew 27:46 says: At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”
When my grandfather was dying, I went to his care facility to say goodbye. The halls were empty, and his room was sterile: fluorescent lights, linoleum floor, one potted plant, one family picture. The whole place smelled of vinegar and lemon. I’d never seen a person die before, but I heard the death rattle in his breathing and saw his sunken eyes. I wanted to tell him goodbye. I wanted him to know (though I don’t think he was conscious) that even in this gloomy place, he wasn’t alone.
What could be worse than feeling alone in your darkest hour? Yet Jesus felt this very sorrow. From the cross, He cried: “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” He wasn’t only expressing His own dereliction, but He was also voicing the agony of the whole world. Christ wasn’t speaking off-the-cuff but evoking one of Israel’s prayers, according to Psalm 22:1. He echoed Israel’s dread that God might forsake them, and He was also praying with us, speaking the same dread each of us faces in our own moments of despair. When we lose a child or a marriage fails, we fear God’s absence.
However, it’s precisely Jesus on this lonely cross—and the resurrection soon to follow—that answers our distress. We may feel forsaken, but Jesus reveals the truth: God is always with us, even into death’s valley. We’re never forsaken.
Where have you felt forsaken? How has God met you in that forsaken place?
Let’s pray.
Dear God, I know what it is to feel forsaken. Because of You, I know I’m never alone.
Amen.
Day 5
Scripture: John 19:28
I Am Thirsty
Written by Lisa M. Samra
John 19:28 says: [Jesus] said, “I am thirsty.”
A family excitedly opened their door to a team of volunteers who’d traveled to their village in a rural region of Mexico to install a simple home water filter system. Demonstrating how the filter would provide safe water to quench their thirst, the team also told the family about “living water” that would satisfy their deepest need—peace with God.
The team members followed Christ’s example of explaining a spiritual reality by relating it to a person’s need to satisfy physical thirst. Weary from travel, Jesus sat down beside a well. After asking a woman there for water, He addressed her deeper need: “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again,” as we read in John 4:13 and 14. Jesus offered her soul refreshment through a relationship with God.
To offer this living water to all people, Christ had to go through the anguish of thirst again. As He hung on the cross, He cried out, “I am thirsty”—a sign that His life was ebbing away. He willingly suffered, enduring the pain of physical thirst, knowing that God would raise Him to life again. Like the woman at the well, we can have access to living water for our thirsty souls through faith in Jesus.
The volunteer team celebrated when the family enjoyed clean water and rejoiced when they also accepted the gift of living water Christ offers. It’s a gift available to anyone whose soul thirsts.
How does thirst for water relate to spiritual thirst? How have you responded to the offer of living water?
Let’s pray.
Jesus, my soul is satisfied in You.
Amen.
Day 6
Scripture: John 19:30
A Long-Standing Debt
Written by Marvin Williams
John 19:30 says: When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
In 2014, Britain announced that it was working to pay back a 2.6-billion-pound debt dating back to the eighteenth century. After a financial crash in 1720, something called the South Sea Bubble, the government undertook a bailout that resulted in several million pounds of debt. Now, due to low interest rates, the current government was ready to pay back various debts accrued over the years that had been passed on to future generations.
When Jesus cried, “It is finished,” He was announcing that the longest-standing debt of humanity—sin—had been paid in full. This sixth of the seven words Jesus spoke from the cross was a single Greek word—tetelestai. The word was used to describe taxes or debts being paid in full, servants completing tasks, and more. And it speaks of Jesus, the perfect Lamb of God, who, as He died, “knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture,” uttered this final word.
When Christ died on the cross, He fully met the righteous demands of the law, taking all the sins of the world upon Himself, according to 1 Peter 2:24. He not only covered sin but took “away the sin of the world,” as we read in John 1:29.
Because Jesus paid our debt, we can—by believing in His sacrificial death and resurrection—receive eternal life and enjoy life “to the full” today. The debt has been paid!
What does it mean for you to know your debt of sin is paid in full by Jesus? How will you thank Him today for His sacrificial death for you?
Let’s pray.
Dear Jesus, thank You for paying my debt completely.
Amen.
Day 7
Scripture: Luke 23:46
Last Words
Written by Mike Wittmer
Luke 23:46 says: “Then Jesus shouted, ‘Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!’ and with those words he breathed his last.”
As Martin Luther lay dying, a pastor roused him and asked, “Reverend father, will you die steadfast in Christ and the doctrines you have preached?” Luther replied, “Yes,” then fell asleep for the last time. What a way to go! I hope my last words are equally significant. I’d prefer not to die mid-sentence, ending my life on a throwaway line. I want to die like Luther, confidently affirming what matters most.
What about Jesus’ last words? The gospel of Mark 15:37 says, “Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last.” Matthew agrees, “Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit,” as we read in Matthew 27:50. What was this last, loud cry? Was it a shout of triumph or despair? Did it mark the lowest part of Jesus’ suffering or the start of His victory?
We don’t have to guess because Luke fills in the blank. In Luke 23:46, he writes, “Then Jesus shouted, ‘Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!’ And with those words he breathed his last.” John adds that Jesus also said, “‘It is finished!’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit,” as we read in John 19:30.
Jesus’ final cry was a painful shout of trust in God. And because His final words were infused with faith, they wouldn’t be His last. God raised Jesus—His precious Son—in triumph, as He will one day raise all who keep faith in Christ.
What would you like your last words to be? Write them down, so loved ones can read them after you’re gone. How might you reflect these last words today?
Let’s pray.
Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit—now and forever.
Amen.