The seven utterances of Jesus on the cross

By Charles Olowojoba

Jesus came for one single purpose: to pay the ultimate price for man’s redemption. This took the pain and horror of death on the Cross. We are very familiar with all of that.

Jesus made seven statements on the Cross that teach us more and give us examples to follow. A man who was that much brutalized; would only have been able to say very important things with his breath and little strength.

Here are the strong messages the Lord was trying to pass across to us:

1. Luke 23:34 “Father, forgive them” The cross teaches us forgiveness. It is the place where our sins are washed away. We must learn to forgive if we want to receive forgiveness. Walking in bitterness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. One minute of anger depresses your immune system for six hours.

2. Luke 23:43 “…To day shalt thou be with me…”.The second utterance is that of salvation. The thief on the cross was forgiven and promised a straight passage into paradise. Note however that forgiveness comes before salvation.

3. John 19:26, 27 “Woman, behold thy son!” He established a new order of relationship and fellowship stressing that His blood is more important than any other blood and that we are to value our relationships in Christ more than our natural relationships.

TBy Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

he Holy Week or Passion Week gives us an opportunity to reflect on the contradictions of human nature. Among the characters in the drama of the passion, the role of Judas attracts attention for reflection. He was an insider who played a major role in the arrest of his master, Jesus Christ. We could also reflect on the personality of Jesus and why the Jews rejected him even though he was not an alien. This confirms the teaching of Jesus that “a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household” (Matthew 10:36) and “a prophet is not honoured among his people” (Mark 6:4). Betrayal and intrafamily conflict is captured in the pre-historic narrative of the murder of Cain by Abel. Cain was not happy that the sacrifice of Abel was accepted by God while his own was rejected (Genesis 4). The response of Cain to God’s question, “where is your brother” still resounds in the world today: “Am I my brother’s keeper” (Genesis 4:9)? Catherynne M. Valente once said: “You are going to break your promise. I understand. And I hold my hands over the ears of my heart, so that I will not hate you” (https://www.goodreads.com).

During Passion Week, it is pertinent to ask: “What was the real offence of Jesus?” “Why did Judas betray him?” From the early history of the Israelites, the system of government was theocracy, a government where God govern the people through the prophets. God is good, gentle, patient, just, merciful and compassionate. It appeared that the people took these attributes of God to be weakness and therefore preferred a human king: They said to Samuel, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in

This is the whole essence: man must respond through repentance to receive forgiveness and be saved. If you have not, then take this opportunity and ask Jesus into your heart right now! He will then bring you into his family.

4. Matthew 27:46, “My God my God, why has thou forsaken me?”) The rejection of men did not trouble Him but the moment the father turned His back, He screamed, “My God my God, why has thou forsaken me?” We are to bother more about the divine presence than any other thing. Many are not bothered about what ‘He’ will think but about what ‘they’ will say. We should try to please God more than we try to please men. Because of our need for recognition, we often try very hard to impress men. We spend money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like. People compromise mostly because of the desire to please those in their circle. It is better to be rejected by men and be accepted by God than to be accepted by all men and be rejected by God.

His Father turned his back on him just to accept you. What great love!

Rejection is hard and painful. God can and will heal you and comfort you if you have been rejected by men. Who can you help today that is feeling rejected?

The love of God will never depart from your life. His presence will keep you and you will flourish; he will your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them (1 Samuel 8:5-7). In due course, to “Listen to the voice of the people” would give birth to democracy, the game of numbers and majority votes.

What led the people to make this demand was the bad behaviour of the sons of Samuel, Joel and Abijah whom he made judges over Israel. They were judges in Beersheba but they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice (1 Samuel 8:1). As insiders, the children of Samuel were not exemplary ambassadors of the family. They betrayed the integrity of their father. In the course of the monarchy in Israel, they started having problems with their kings. Sometimes they felt that God had abandoned them because of their sins. Defeat in battle and exile were considered as punishment for not keeping the commandments of God. The prophets promised them a messiah who would deliver them from the hands of their enemies. They understood that to mean a messiah who would be a warrior and a conqueror that would emerge from a royal family and from the majority divide of the nation.

One of the reasons Jesus was rejected by his people who handed him over to foreigners to be executed was the location of his origin. The conversation between Philip and give you joy and peace at all times, in Jesus name!!!

5. John 19:28 “I thirst” Jesus was not only just thirsty for water: He was thirsty for the divine presence. He was missing the fellowship He had with the Father. How thirsty are you for the things of God? Matthew 5:6 “6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” You gravitate in the direction of your strongest desires. Energy is released for the accomplishment of your dominant thoughts. What are you thirsty for? Beer, sex, money or righteousness? Jesus said I thirst. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness … this thirst is healthy. Those who hunger and thirst and ask get filled. Thoughts become reality. Do you see your emptiness or hunger or lack as an opportunity or a problem? Your emptiness does not mean God has forsaken or forgotten you or that it is over; it is an opportunity to get filled. At the wedding in Cana of Galilee, the wine finished, the pots were empty and they informed Jesus. He immediately told them to fill the water pots. Learn to present empty vessels before Him at all times and He will fill you up.

6. John 19:30 “It is finished” He finished the work of redemption. It is perfect! Nothing can be added or subtracted. Jesus did not say ‘I am finished.’ He said ‘it is finished’. He completed the task. It was painful but He finished. It stretched Him Nathanael points to this fact. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see” (John 1:45-46)! In Israel people were judged based on where they come from, whether from Judea, Samaria, or Galilee (Acts 2:7). Those from urbanized areas had more privileges than those from rural areas. Galilee was seen as remote and far from civilization compared to Jerusalem. Nazareth within Galilee was not recognized from the Jewish sources before the third century CE. Jesus grew up in Nazareth, a village with a population of not more than 500 people then. Nazareth was insignificant because it was far away from the Mediterranean Sea. For the educated and urban Jews, the Nazarenes were look upon as ignorant and simple-minded sinners. In the debate on the origin of Jesus, Nicodemus tried to defend Jesus requesting that Jesus should be allowed to defend himself because the Law does not judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he has done. They answered him, “You are not also from Galilee, are you? Search, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee” (John 7: 51-52).

Another reason why Jesus was rejected was that his simplicity, gentleness, compassion and love did not meet the requirements of the kind of messiah that the people were expecting. They expected a messiah warrior who would free them from the yoke of the Romans and the neighbouring enemies. We but He finished. God is looking for finishers. Many start but only a few finish. Apostle Paul finished. God is ready to invest anything on a finisher. Many people don’t wait long enough to finish.

The other implication is that He worked to His maximum potential as a man. Most people function below capacity. Most people are grossly under-utilised. They are not ready to be stretched. They easily settle for the easier way out. They want short cuts. The deeper you tap into your resources, the higher you rise. The more you stretch yourself, the farther you go. To rise higher than others, you must be prepared to do more than them.

Champions think deeper, wider and higher than most people; they work harder, and longer than others. One thing that distinguishes highly successful people is the knack for excellence. They are concerned about the quality of their work. They pay attention to details. How you finish is more important than how you start. Do everything in your power to finish. If you have to drag yourself across the finish line, do it!

Most people don’t finish because they have no goals; so they don’t know what they are aiming for. Goals are so important in sport that in Soccer for example, the goal post is clearly demarcated. The aim is to put the ball in the net. It doesn’t matter how well you are able to knock the ball around, if you cannot could recall that the people had rejected the leadership of God and demanded a human king. Jesus is the son of God and the second person of the Blessed Trinity yet he is rejected, tortured and crucified. They did not care about the future and the consequences. “When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” And all the people said, “Let his blood be upon us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:2425).

No conspiracy succeeds without an insider. Being a leader who came to serve and not to be served, it was difficult for the soldiers to identify Jesus in the group. Judas accepted to betray a person who trusted him so much that he made him the minister of finance (John 13:29). Did Judas want to play a “fast game”, hoping that Jesus would escape? It is clear from the Scriptures that Judas loved money. Jesus had identified him as a ‘devil’ (John 6:70-71) given that the love of money is the root of all evil. Judas valued reality only from monetary profit. He saw the oil used to anoint the feet of Jesus as a waste: “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief” (John 12:4-6). He went to the chief priests to negotiate the price for the betrayal: “What are you willing to give me to betray Him to you?” And they weighed out thirty pieces of silver to him. From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Jesus (Matthew 26:15). Judas was a fake. put it into the net you lose the match. I’m afan of a popular football club. They are swift on the ball. They play a very entertaining type of football. They can hold the ball and pass it to one another with vision. They are individually talented and they also play well as a team. But I got worried when they began to struggle to score goals. They just were not finding the net. And if you can’t find the net you are out! Effort not aimed at any definite pursuit is wasted. Make sure you are shooting at a definite target.

Receive the spirit of a finisher in Jesus name. From today you will no longer abandon projects in Jesus name. You will start and finish. The spirit that aborts dreams and destiny will become powerless over you. Your dreams will become reality. Things will no longer spoil in your hands.

7. Luke 23:46 “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit”. When He commended His spirit to the Father, He was teaching us that we will all return to our Maker from whom we came. We will spend eternity somewhere-heaven or hell. How prepared are you? He was sure the Father would receive Him. Are you sure of where you will spend eternity? The time to settle it is now.

Dr. Charles Olowojoba is the President of Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l and Bishop-Elect of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide, e-mail: dayspringcm2000@yahoo.com website: dayspringcmi.org He betrayed his master with a kiss but Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss” (Luke 22: 48). We should be wary of “Judas kiss”. He felt remorse and attempted to return the money without success (Matthew 27:3-4). His nemesis was suicide (Matthew 27:5; Acts 1:18)

Of all the things Jesus was accused of by his own people, the only one that convicted him was a political reason. “Are You the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27: 11)? This saga is similar to the picture of the world today but this is not new. The brothers of Joseph hated him so much that they planned to kill him but for the intervention of a good insider, Reuben who said to them, “Shed no blood” (Genesis 37:22). The option left was to sell him to stop his dreams but God raised him high in Egypt (Genesis 37:12-36). Those with capacity, who are called and chosen from the “Nazareth” of our society, still believe that leadership comes from God and no person can switch off destiny no matter how the tempest rages. Every traitor must not forget however that nemesis awaits those who think only of this world and their pockets. “What shall it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and lose his own soul (Mark 8:36)? If those who are betrayed often triumph what else shall we say? If God is for us, no one who is against us can extinguish our light and dream (Romans 8:31). We shall overcome and be free one day! After Good Friday comes the joy of Easter Sunday. HAPPY EASTER!

Fr. Prof. Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua is the Director of Mission and Dialogue of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Abuja and Consultor for the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims (C.R.R.M), Vatican City (omonokhuac@gmail.com).