Read John 10:18, Psalm 31:5

“No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.” (John 10:18)

Since the earliest days, faithful Jewish parents have taught their children prayers to repeat at certain times of the day. Often, these prayers come directly from the book of Psalms. One such prayer is an evening prayer, from Psalm 31:5: “Into Thy hand I commit my spirit.” As the trusting Jew rests his head on his pillow, that prayer is on his lips, commending himself into God’s care during the night’s sleep.

Mary likely taught Jesus this prayer when He was young. Perhaps, He had said it throughout His childhood and teenaged years and could repeat it effortlessly. And so, naturally, those familiar words would be on His lips at this final hour of life, and how appropriate the tender words were! The end had come. He had finished the mission He had been given.

Make no mistake: Jesus was not murdered, nor did He die of exhaustion. He did not die involuntarily. He died because He deliberately chose to die.

It was the Lord of life who gave up His life. And in so doing, He committed Himself to the Father, calmly, quietly, confidently. In uttering the familiar words of this lovely Jewish prayer from the Psalms, He released His spirit as He breathed His last. Mercifully, the excruciating pain would cease. Death would come as a welcome, invited guest.

The Father’s hands are trustworthy. And what was it Jesus placed there? Not His body. That would remain on the cross a little while longer. It would be punctured by a soldier’s spear, and would later be taken down, prepared for burial, and placed in a tomb. It was His spirit—the innermost, most sacred part of His being—that He placed in the Father’s hands.

Hail! Thou once-despised Jesus!
Hail, Thou Galilean King!
Thou didst suffer to release us;
Thou didst free salvation bring.

Hail, Thou universal Saviour,
Who hast borne our sin and shame,
By Whose merits we find favour!
Life is given through Thy name.

Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,
All our sins on Thee were laid;
By almighty love anointed,
Thou has full atonement made.

Every sin may be forgiven
Through the virtue of Thy blood;
Open is the gate of heaven,
Peace is made ’twixt man and God.
—Author unknown, circa 1757

Adapted by Insight for Living staff from The Darkness and the Dawn by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com