Seven Wondrous Words

Last words are precious words; how we cling to them, and let them gently stir through the memory and persist through the years. Men build about them great paeans and songs.

The last words of Jesus, matchless for pathos and forgiveness and trust, form a garland of seven flowers that shall never fade while the world lasts. There are three before the darkness; one during the darkness, and three after the darkness. The first is the word of intercession: "Father forgive them, they know not what they do." These hired soldiers, who are driving the nails and raising the cross, He would forgive them.

The second word is the world of hope beyond death, spoken to the young thief: "This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise." The third word is one of loving provision, "Woman, behold thy son." One of the tenderest acts in all history. Jesus did not forget His mother; He was a son as well as a Savior; a Son to the last. The fourth: "Why hast thou forsaken Me?" spoken in the awful darkness, we shall never understand. It is the word of loneliness. The first three were spoken for others: He cared for others before He thought of Himself. The great heart broke and He cried, "My God." He lost His sense of God for a moment but not His trust. As the darkness passes He speaks three more words; "I thirst!" "It is finished," the word of victory. The seventh word is the word of trust; "Father, into Thy hands." Father! A precious word for God. The word of supreme confidence, of assurance, of victory.
- A. E. Gregory ©