Good morning…
I woke to a short, intriguing email from my 22 year old son. He wrote: “Interesting 8 minute audio clip, ‘What’s the Last Thing You Would Tweet?’ Curious what you think about it, and what your final 140 character message might be.”
I touched on the link and read through John Piper’s thought process as he decided what final message he would tweet to the world. Then my mind went to an interesting place. Instead of thinking, “What would be my final tweet?” I thought, “Scripture has recorded Jesus Christ’s final seven ‘tweets’ from the cross. What did Jesus say with his final words?”
1) “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Jesus sees the Palm Sunday crowd turn on him quickly, “Halleluia” to hatred, cheers for the King to “Crucify him!” “Crucify him!” Unhindered by people’s fickle feelings, Jesus blankets all of us with the forgiveness of the Father, fully understanding we humans know not what we do.
2) “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Jesus, Immanuel (meaning “God with us”), comes to earth to be with us, fully human, fully God. When we live our lives in intimate union with him we experience paradise. Paradise, living God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, is enjoying life with Christ today and forevermore.
3) “Woman, here is your son. Here is your mother” (John 19:26-27). From the cross, Jesus blesses a bond between his mother and his beloved disciple John, planting a living seed of his care taking, collaborative love to multiply on earth as he ascended to heaven.
4) “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Quoting Psalm 22:1, a scripture verse he knew by heart, Jesus feels deeply God’s absence in the midst of excruciating pain. With these words he sits in solidarity with us during our excruciatingly painful, darkest dark moments when we feel completely abandoned by God.
5) “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Jesus knew his body was dying and he knew his spirit would live on forever. Quoting words familiar to him from Psalm 31:5, Jesus relinquishes his living spirit into the tender care of our Heavenly Father.
6) “I am thirsty” (John 19:28). Sometimes we forget that Jesus was fully human. His soft skin was painfully pierced when the angry mob crammed the crown of thorns upon his head, he winched with each nail pounding his hands and feet to the cross, and as he hung there, nearing death, his mouth was dry and his thirst was real.
7) “It is finish” (John 19:30). As he breathed his last breath, he knew he had accomplished the task for which his Father had sent him to earth. Becoming the unblemished, sacrificial lamb of all, Christ atoned for the sins of the entire world, freeing us from our accumulated burdens, offering us the gift of eternal life.
With Jesus’ final “tweets” from the cross, we get a vivid picture of the Savior offering us abundant, everlasting life. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows] (John 10:10b, AMP).
Maybe tomorrow my mind will focus in on the final message I would tweet to the world.
…Sue…
