Committed and Submitted to Him

This is taken fro my LIFE Journal Reading on 2020-10-10

Luke 23:44–46 (NIV)

The Death of Jesus

23:44–49pp—Mt 27:45–56; Mk 15:33–41; Jn 19:29–30

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  When he had said this, he breathed his last.

45. The sun was darkened. Some have carelessly suggested that Luke here refers to an eclipse; however, an eclipse of the sun is impossible when the moon is full, as at the Passover season. The darkness was supernatural. Important textual evidence (cf. p. 146) in support of the reading “eclipsed” instead of “darkened” is obviously an attempt by a later hand to account for the darkness.

46. Father. For comment on Jesus’ use of this term see on Matt. 6:8. For God as “Father” in Jewish literature see on John 5:18.

Into thy hands. Jesus died with the words of Ps. 31:5 upon His lips. The attitude thus expressed brings to a sublime climax the spirit of humble submission to the will of the Father exemplified throughout Jesus’ life on earth. In the Garden of Gethsemane it was the same selfless spirit that had prompted Jesus’ words, “not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39). For comment on Christ’s perfect submissiveness to the Father see on Luke 2:49. Happy the man or woman who lives and dies in the “hands” of God! Our all is safe—in His hands.

 Nichol, F. D. (Ed.). (1980). The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary (Vol. 5, p. 878). Review and Herald Publishing Association.

Psalm 31:5 (NIV)

⁵ Into your hands I commit my spirit;

deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.

This submission to God, by Jesus, was a product of a lifetime of submission to Him. It came forth not because of the trial and pressure Jesus was under, but because it was part of who He was always, all the time. Jesus’ life was one of submission.

John 14:20–21 (NIV)

²⁰ On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

John 17:20–21 (NIV)

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Jesus submitted to His parents when he went home after the temple incident where he preached to the temple rulers. Jesus submitted to the Father when he was baptized, tempted in the wilderness and preached for 3.5 years. Jesus submitted to the Father in Gethsemane. He submits to the Father, here on the cross also. He commits his eternity to the Father here the cross. By quoting from Psalm 31:5, it seems as if he was also pleading to be delivered by the Faithful father as it says in the Psalm. Jesus’ life was one of unselfish submission to the Father.

No one says it was easy while in Gethsemane, no one says it was easy on the cross. Yet, certainly after 33 years of submission, this was a very normal act of faith and an act of Jesus’ life.

To have full submission in my life would be awesome. I’ve been a Christian for 46 years. What would life have been like if I had had that kind of submission all the time, all the way? In my remaining years, I want to be fully committed, fully submitted, and fully immersed in the Father.

Lord, I submit my life to you. This is my prayer for my wife. This is my prayer for my kids. This is my prayer for me. This is my prayer for my church. This is the prayer for my heart and ministry. Please take my life, Lord. I cannot give it. It is your property.