“Into your hands I commit my Spirit”

March 20, 2008
Thursday

Luke 23:44-46

It’s Maundy Thursday, the day that we remember the Last Supper in the upper room. It’s the night that Jesus sat with the disciples, used the common elements of bread and wine, and called them to remember him through the act of breaking and sharing in that feast. They didn’t know what it meant, but Jesus did. He knew that they would need a way to remember the love God had shared with them, and with all of us, through Jesus.
While in Turkey, there were a few times when I had the chance to touch water, remember my baptism, and give thanks to God. One of those places was in the Church of St. Peter in Antioch. The church was carved out of the side of a hill and is where Barnabas and Paul, among others, came and preached to the early Christians. Over in the corner of the room was a pool that collected water that naturally ran through the rock. When there was a baptism in the church over the years, the collected water was used in the celebration. Touching the water that day, I remembered the sacrifice and love of Jesus for me, of the great cloud of witnesses who carried the message through the generations, and my commitment to follow God’s will. It was a remembering, much like in the breaking of bread and drinking of wine.
When Jesus said, “Into your hands I commit my Spirit” in the last moments of his life, I know without a doubt that he committed his life to be guided by the Spirit. On this night when Jesus died that we might live, are you willing to commit your life to be guided by the Spirit? Don’t be afraid for such a promise offers life, not death.