The Oda New Town District Minister of The Church of Pentecost, Pastor Samuel K. Oteng, has explained the power behind the seven statements Jesus uttered on the cross before His death.
According to him, before a person dies he/she may speak some parting words. Such statements, he noted, vary from one person to the other depending on the situation.
Pastor Oteng was speaking on the Good Friday at the Akim Oda Zone Easter Convention on the theme: “The Message of The Cross is The Power of God.”
“Jesus Christ spoke these words with meaning. These words are recorded in the Gospels (Bible). The words of Jesus is the power of God to us who are saved, but foolishness to the unsaved.
“According to St. Luke, Jesus fell three times to Golgotha, and then nailed to the cross all for our sake to forgive our sins and give us life. Two thieves were crucified with him as though He was a thief.
“Whilst on the cross Jesus saw the soldiers who tortured, mocked and nailed Him. He also remembered those who shouted, ‘crucify him.’ With all these, His words were: ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do.’
“In His ministry, Jesus taught that men should forgive and that was what He did. Today, anyone who believes in Jesus has been forgiven of his/her sin, and He commands us also to forgive others- Matthew 6:14-15,” he said.
The second word Jesus spoke on the cross, Pastor Oteng said, was, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” Luke 23:42-43.
According to him, Jesus was crucified between two thieves, one mocked Him but the other accepted their punishment as fair and then prayed Jesus to remember him in His kingdom. Jesus then assured him of a place in His kingdom.
The third word, he said, was uttered when Jesus saw Mary and John standing by. “Jesus said to Mary, ‘Behold, your son’ and to John He said, ‘Behold, your mother.’ That gave some hope to Mary because at that time she was helpless and hopeless,” he indicated.
Touching on the fourth word, he noted that Jesus said it when total darkness eclipsed the earth. “There was darkness for three hours. At the ninth hour (3pm), Jesus shouted, ‘Eli, Eli lema sabachthani,’ meaning, ‘My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?’”
Pastor Oteng explained that at that time all the sin of the world had been laid on Jesus. God therefore could not look on Jesus in that condition- 1 Peter 2:24.
“The fifth word was, ‘I thirst.’ The distance to Golgotha and the bleeding made Him weary and thirsty. In order to fulfill all scripture and prophecies, Jesus shouted, ‘I thirst.’
“The sacrifice of Jesus had abolished the ceremonial law, and that established grace to save mankind. So Jesus shouted, ‘It is finished’ as the sixth word on the cross. At that time Jesus had completed the salvation work for us, including our healing, deliverance, victory, etc.,” he explained.
The seventh and last word, Pastor Oteng disclosed, was, ‘Father into your hands I commit my spirit.’ He said at that word Jesus gave up the ghost, saying, “If we commit our lives totally to Him, He will protect us and give us victory.”
Attendance was 1,089, including Pastor T. A. Addo (Retd).
Report by: Isaac Obenu-Ganoh, Akim Oda.
