Into your hands I commit my spirit!

Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.Jesus did not say this because his spirit was about to become some disembodied vapor leaving His body on it’s way to heaven. Ecclesiastes 9:5 is clear, “for the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing.” Jesus told Mary on Resurrection Sunday, three days after his death, in John 20:17 “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;” When Jesus declared “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” He was quoting the end of the traditional prayer the jewish people always prayed at sundown. For centuries this liturgical prayer was said by God’s people as they placed all of their hopes, dreams, and lives in the care of God.On Good Friday, as sunset drew near, Jesus connected himself to Israel’s story. Reassuring them that all of their prayers had finally come true. That “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) Without SONdown there can be no SONrise. Because of Jesus’ death on calvary, because of His sacrifice, as the prayer says, we "have been redeemed". Which means if we commit our spirit, our living breath, to Him nothing, (and I mean nothing) not even death, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39).