II  Triumph over death.

       Then Jesus shouted out again and he gave up his spirit.  Matt. (27:50)
       Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last.  When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died he exclaimed, “Truly this was the Son Of God”.  (Mk 15: 37&39)
       Then Jesus shouted, “Father I entrust my spirit into your hands”. When the captain of the Roman soldiers handling the execution saw what happened, he praised God and said, “Surely this man was innocent”. (Lk 23: 46,47)
      No one takes it (my life) from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down and to take it up again.  This command I received from my father.  (Jn 10:18)  (In John 10, Jesus says, “lay it down” 5 times)
      No one killed Jesus.  The Romans thought they had.  The Jewish leaders were congratulating themselves on arranging for His murder.  But they were all wrong.  If you think about it, the idea of being able to kill Jesus is an oxymoron.  It is preposterous.   Kill the author of Life?  You have got to be kidding. Jesus laid down his earthly life.  After an indeterminate period of time, Jesus took it back again.  He did this by committing His Spirit into the care of His Father.  His Father honored that commitment and received Jesus. Then Jesus left His body behind.  Then by the authority and power invested in Him by God the Father, Jesus took back his earthly life and lived here for awhile with an entirely different kind of body.
     The Roman officer had seen many die in battle and from crucifixion but had never seen anyone die like Jesus.  This was something very new.  So that battle scarred veteran had to conclude, “This was the Son of God”
      When Jesus gave up His Spirit, He “shouted” or  “gave a loud cry”. Jesus didn’t need to shout at His Father.  He knows God isn’t deaf.  He shouted in triumph so the people standing around could hear Him.
       People who are on the point of dying don’t shout.  They can’t.  Especially if you are dying of exhaustion, anoxia and heart failure from hanging by your arms on a cross, you can’t shout.
      “Pilate couldn’t believe Jesus was already dead”………”The Roman officer confirmed the fact….” (Mk 15:44,45)  Ordinarily it took a healthy man many hours or a few days to die of crucifixion.  That is partly what made crucifixion so cruel. Granted, Jesus was totally exhausted before He was ever tied and nailed to the cross.  Pilate was no fool. When Joseph asked for Jesus’ body, he suspected a trick.  “No” said the officer, “he is dead for sure but to reassure you this is no trick, I will make it very sure.”  Then they thrust a spear into Jesus left side so that blood from his heart and “water” (pleural edema) from His lungs, rushed out of the wound.
      Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (Jn 15:13)  Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Mesach and Abednigo.  He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him.  They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than sere or worship and god except their own God.” (Dan. 3:28)
        The early Christians knew this secret of dying.  They are recorded as also giving up their spirit.  As a result they could be incredibly brave when faced by purposely starved lions and horribly heated flames at the stake.  As a result, quite amazing things happened.  When Polycarp was burned at the stake, “Miraculously, as if to preserve his body, the blaze fails to incinerate him and his life is finally ended by the slash of a sword”  (The Christians, their first 2000 years. Vol. 2 pg. 58).  I suspect Polycarp wasn’t in his body at the time, but had committed his spirit to God who had already taken him home.
      Thus the Christian answer to persecution and euthanasia is the secret of following the example of their Lord.  In that last extremity, they have the privilege and responsibility of dying bravely and in the unusual manner of first giving their spirit into the keeping of their Lord the Author of Life and the triumphant Conqueror of Death.  Once your spirit is committed to Him, the Lord will decide when it is time for you to leave your battered body behind.
      This is a unique blessing for Christians.  It should give them great courage in life and death.  However if they live for the “flesh” which to this old psychiatrist means self inflicted narcissism, it will be hard to let go of their precious body and they will struggle in fear instead of shouting like their Lord.  So they better get used to the idea of committing their spirit with a healthy dose of God directed self discipline.  That will probably result in less eating, watching TV and passivity toward the murder of millions of God’s precious preborn babies and living in their spirit.
       It also means that when we go to the Sunrise Service on Sunday morning, we go with faithful expectation, not “will He arise from the dead” but “when will He be back”.
       Now as then.  When will you be back dear Lord?  We know you are coming and I believe You will be back soon.  Thank you so much for showing us how to die.  Thank you for this amazing blessing of being able to commit my spirit to you, when things get really tough and there is no way to keep living this earthly life.  I sure look forward to seeing you then.                                                              
                                                            Philip Ney MD             Pioneer Publishing