What are the last seven words of Jesus spoken on the cross and what do they mean?

 

Here below are seven sayings that Jesus Christ spoke from the cross (in no particular order):

(1) Matthew 27:46 tells us about the ninth hour when Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" Which means, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” Here, Jesus was expressing his feeling of abandonment when God placed the sins of the world upon him—and because of this God had to “turn away” from Jesus. When Jesus felt the weight of sin, it was the only time since eternity that He had experienced separation from God. It was also the fulfillment of the prophesied statement of Psalm 22:1.

(2) “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:46). Those who crucified Jesus did not know, with full certainty, what they were doing, because they did not recognize Him as the Christ. Their ignorance of divine truth does not mean that they deserved forgiveness, and Christ's prayer in the midst of their mockery is an expression of the infinite mercy of divine grace.

(3) “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). In this statement, Jesus is assuring a criminal hanging on the cross that when he dies, he will be with Jesus in heaven. This happened because even at the moment of death, the criminal expressed his faith in Jesus by recognizing Him for who He was (Luke 23:42).

(4) “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Here, Jesus willingly submits his life to the Father, indicating that he is about to die and that God has accepted his sacrifice. “He offered himself without blemish before God through the eternal Spirit” (Hebrews 9:14).

(5) "O woman, look, this is your son!" and "This is your mother!" When Jesus saw the apostle John standing near the cross with his mother, whom he loved, he entrusted his mother to John's care. And from that moment on John took him into his home (John 19:26-27). In this verse Jesus, as the eternally compassionate Son, is making sure that His earthly mother is taken care of after death.

(6) “I thirst” (John 19:28). Jesus is here fulfilling the messianic prophecy found in Psalm 69:21: "They gave me spices to eat, and they gave me vinegar to drink to quench my thirst." By saying that he was thirsty, he induced the Roman guards to give him vinegar, which was customary to be given at the time of crucifixion, thus fulfilling the prophecy.

(7) "Done!" (John 19:30). The meaning of these last words of Jesus is that His suffering was complete and He had completed all the work given to Him by His Father, which included preaching the gospel, performing miracles, and being a savior for His people. The attainment of eternal salvation had been accomplished. The debt of sin was paid.