耶穌大聲喊着說，父阿，我將我的靈魂交在你手裡。說了這話，氣就斷了。（路3：46）
In this case Jesus was quoting Psalm 31, in which David asked God to save him from his enemies. It was an appropriate psalm for Jesus to use, because he too was attacked by enemies and wracked with physical pain, just like David. So he uttered David’s prayer: “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (Ps. 31:5).
Jesus used this prayer almost word for word, except that he made it more personal by calling God “Father.” This is an example for our own intercession. There are times in life when we feel God-forsaken, when we wonder whether God is even there. Jesus knows what this is like because he really was forsaken. Nevertheless, he trusted his Father in the darkness, as we should trust him whenever we are feeling desperate. Even when we cannot see the light and prayer seems like nothing more than a cry in the dark, we are called to trust the Father, as Jesus did. By faith we yield everything up to God, surrendering everything we are and have to him for all eternity.
This is not just the way for us to live, but also the way for us to die. When Jesus committed his spirit to the Father, there is a sense in which he was doing something that no other human being can ever do. He was surrendering his body to death by the free exercise of his own will. Remember what Jesus said before: “I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again” (John 10:17–18). Jesus exercised this authority by giving up his spirit (see John 19:30). Notice that his last prayer was uttered “with a loud voice” (Luke 23:46). Jesus was not yet at the feeble extremity of physical existence, but gave his life by the deliberate choice of his sovereign will. It is true that he was crucified by cruel men, in keeping with the will of God (see Acts 2:23, as well as Isa. 53:10). Yet it remains true that Jesus surrendered his body to death in a way that no one else has the authority to do.
Nevertheless, the last prayer that Jesus made before dying is still a good model for our own submission to God, especially at the time of death. In fact, many Christians have used these very words in their dying hour. Stephen used them when he was stoned by the Sanhedrin, except that instead of praying to the Father, he cried out to Jesus himself: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59). There have been many other examples throughout church history: Polycarp, who was martyred in the days of the early church; Bernard, who preached in the Middle Ages; Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, who led the Protestant Reformation—the list goes on and on. These very words were on the lips of the Czech reformer John Hus when he was burned at the stake.
This is the way for every believer to die well: by entrusting ourselves entirely to God, through faith in Jesus Christ. When Jesus put his spirit into the Father’s hands, he was expressing full confidence that death was not the end for him. He believed that there was life beyond the grave; his spirit would survive. Therefore, Jesus rested complete trust in his Father for death and for everything that would come afterwards. From the end of the cross he could see the light of the empty tomb. He knew the Father had always promised to raise his body from the grave, and that this would happen on the third day. In the meantime, he entrusted his soul to the Father. His last words in life were his first words for going home to the Father. So he said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”
This confidence was well placed, as we will see when we get to Luke 24 and look inside the empty tomb. Where is your confidence? Have you made the prayer that Jesus made? Are you able to say what the apostle Paul said: “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day” (2 Tim. 1:12 niv為這緣故，我也受這些苦難。然而我不以為恥。因為知道我所信的是誰，也深信他能保全我所交付他的，（或作他所交託我的）直到那日。). Do you know for sure that you are safe in God’s hands, that when you die you will go home to the Father?
We do not need to wait until death to have this confidence. We can submit our spirit to God right now, asking the Father to receive us for the sake of the Son, on the basis of his sacrifice for our sins. Like Jesus, we may entrust our lives to the Father for death and everything that comes afterwards. Then we can keep using the words of his last prayer every night at bedtime, or whenever we are anxious or afraid, or even for the last prayer we make before dying: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[1]
[1] Ryken, P. G. (2009). Luke. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (Vol. 2, pp. 616–619). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
