If you knew that you had less than a week to live, what would you spend your time doing?  With whom would you spend it?  Jesus obviously knew His time had come to fulfill His mission of becoming the sacrifice as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29 cf Jn. 13:1). He sent Peter and John into Jerusalem to find a “large, furnished upper room” where they could celebrate the Passover meal together (Lk. 22:7-14).  There Jesus would celebrate His final Passover on earth, instituting as He did, the Lord’s Supper or Communion Service before He became our “Passover (Lamb)” (I Cor. 5:7). John, in his gospel, recounts in detail the events in that upper room prior to Jesus’ going out to pray in the garden, being arrested, tried, beaten, scourged and crucified.  

      During the Passover meal Jesus arose and washed the disciples’ feet. He then revealed that one of them would betray Him, the one to whom He gave the morsel. At Eastern meals it was customary for the host to offer one of the guests a morsel of bread as a gesture of special friendship. By this Jesus was showing His love for the betrayer. At this point, Satan entered Judas, who “went out immediately and it was night” (Jn. 13:27-30). Jesus then spent time telling His disciples that He would be leaving, “going to prepare a place” for them (Jn. 14:3...most likely a reference to His work on the cross). Though He would be returning to His Father, He would come back to take them to heaven.  He spoke of how the Father would send “another Helper (the Holy Spirit) that He may be with you forever” (Jn. 14:16,17,26 cf 15:27; 16:13).  The Holy Spirit would enable them to do great works (Jn. 14:12),for He would indwell and empower them to take the Gospel world wide.  He emphasized the importance of their obedience (14: 21-24). 

     Before His arrest, Jesus went to the garden and prayed for Himself, His disciples and for us (Jn. 17).  From the cross He uttered seven final statements, both to fulfill prophecies,  to be sure that His mother would be cared for, to forgive the very ones who crucified Him, and to express the agony of bearing the wrath of God on our sins. Finally, “He cried out with a loud voice, ‘It is finished’ (Jn. 19:30), Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit. And having said this, He breathed His last” (Lk. 23:46). To His final breath, Jesus demonstrated His love for His disciples, His mother, for us (by His sacrifice on our behalf) and for His Father, having come to do His will in every detail (Jn. 5:19,30; 6:38,39; 8:28; 12:49; 14:10). 

     The final words of the first martyr of the early church, Stephen, were very similar to those of Christ from the cross. “And they went on stoning Stephen as he called upon the Lord and said, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!’ And falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them!’ And having said this, he fell asleep” (Acts 7:59,60). 

     The Apostle Paul, in his final letter to Timothy before being executed by Nero, wrote: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day…” (II Tim. 4:6-8). 

     In 1525, William Tyndale was the first to print a Bible in English. In 1536, he  was strangled and burned at the stake and his final words were: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!” (NOTE: God honored that prayer for the next king, Henry VIII, authorized an English Bible for usage in all the churches!).

     Throughout history we have the record of believers being put to death for their faith and their final words are those of praise to God. What a testimony of the power of the resurrected Christ who lives in us as believers.

      What a contrast are the final words of those who chose to not believe in God. Voltaire, the famous anti-Christian atheist, when informed by his physician that he was terminal, said: “I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months of life.” When told that this was not possible, he said, “Then I shall die and go to hell!”  His nurse said: “For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness.” 

      As followers of Jesus Christ, who paid in full for our sins so we could, through faith in Him, have eternal life (Jn. 3:16), we have endless hope (Ro. 15:13; Col. 1:27). Those who reject Christ as Savior have a hopeless end (Ro. 6:23a).  If you have yet to receive Christ, I exhort you to do so now, while there is yet time, for none of us knows how many days we have left. What would your “final words” be?

Forever His,

Pastor Dave N