Psalm 31:1-5
1In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me.
2Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.
3You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me; 4take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge.
5Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God.
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According to Luke’s account, the last words that Jesus spoke before dying were from this psalm: “Then Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last (Luke 23:46 and Psalm 3:5).”
On Holy Saturday we live with this truth: Jesus died. The theologian Chris E.W. Green jokes about how not long ago, someone asked him what he thought Jesus was doing while he was dead. “I knew what the questioner expected me to say,” Chris writes, “of course I knew the answer he wanted to hear. But the right answer is that Jesus wasn’t doing anything while he was dead. That’s what it means to say he was dead!”
“…he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried,” the Apostles’ Creed says plainly. Make no mistake, Jesus’s story ended on Good Friday. He is dead. His death was final, conclusive, definitive—as yours will be, and mine.
Is it possible that this is good news? Not only is Jesus for you but Jesus is before you. You are safe in Christ’s death your sins forgiven. But even more so, you will be safe in death because Christ had entered death. And even there—even there—Christ had hallowed out a place where he may be found.
Prayer: “Into your hands O Lord, I commend my life and my death. I am in your hands. Amen.”
–Pastor Mark Nelson