Seven last words of Jesus Christ on the cross

Nothing that our Lord said was without a meaning, so you should listen carefully to the last words He ever spoke.

As reported by Jesus Daily, after Jesus was nailed to the cross, He spoke 7 short expressions. These statements are now commonly referred to as the “The Seven Last Words.” These words are recounted in Sacred Scripture and are found throughout the four Gospels.

1. "Father, forgive them because they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34).

Jesus dies forgiving those who did him wrong. But it was convenient to make explicit this forgiveness with clear, audible, forceful words, with an overwhelming emotional force and a definitive spiritual authority. In exclaiming "Father, forgive them ...", Jesus verbalizes the meaning of his coming into this world.

2. "Truly I say to you that today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).

Jesus died accompanied by two strangers. Probably, never before these two malefactors had crossed words with the Lord. The story is known: at death's door, one of them fears God and prays to Jesus: "Remember me when you come into your kingdom" (Luke 23:42). The answer is as immediate as clear.

3. "When Jesus saw his mother ... he said to the disciple (John): Here is your mother. And from that hour the disciple received her into his house" (John 19: 26-27).

It is very significant that the last words of concern and care for a human being that Jesus pronounces on this earth are for his mother. It is the final rubric of a life always thinking about others and how to serve them.

Jesus could not forget his mother in this hour of lacerating pain for her; Maria's heart was shattered by the agony of her son, devastated by such a tragic end. In addition, Maria almost certainly was a widow now, so it was in a situation of helplessness. This last loving act of Jesus reminds us that true spirituality makes us always more human.

4. "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?". (Mt 27:46)

Jesus, the only Son, the one whom the Father in the Jordan and the Tabor had called: "My only Son", "My Beloved", "My beloved", Jesus on the Cross feels abandoned by his Father.

The loneliness and the feeling of distance from the Father mark the greatest pain of Jesus. There is no greater hell than separation from God. Jesus knew that this moment was inevitable because the Father could not have contact with the sin that the Son was carrying in that vicarious act.

5. "I Thirst" (John.19,28)

Thirst was one of the most terrible torments of the crucified. The dehydration suffered, due to the loss of blood, was a very hard torment. And Jesus, for all we know, had not drunk since the previous afternoon. No wonder he was thirsty; the strange thing is that he said it.

Jesus was thirsting for everyone to receive the abundant life He had deserved. A thirst to manifest ourselves to His Father and to believe in His love.

6. "It is Finished" (John 19:30)

These words are not those of a finished man. They are not the words of someone who wanted to reach the end. They are the triumphant cry of the victor.

These words manifest the consciousness of having fulfilled until the end the work for which he was sent to the world: to give his life for the salvation of all men. Jesus has fulfilled all he had to do.

7. "Into Thy Hands, I Commend My Spirit" (Luke 23:46)

Every child of God can have this same attitude in the hour of death, the certainty that our spirit passes into the hands of the loving Father who will receive us with joy in his glory.

We have to live with the happy news that God is the Father who takes care of us. And, although sometimes their paths are incomprehensible, be sure that He knows better than we do what He does.