Jesus’ Last Words – 7 Sayings on the Cross

If you had one hour left to live, what would you say? Jesus’ last words reveal a lot about His character and salvation. They also can transform our attitudes and practices today.

7 Sayings of Jesus on the Cross Podcast

7 Sayings of Jesus on the Cross and What They Mean for Us

If you had one hour to live, what would you say and who would you say it to? People often say that your last words are the most important you will ever speak. As we remember Jesus’ death and resurrection, we’ll be considering his last words — the seven things he said as he hung on the cross, the deep meaning behind each one, and what they mean for us today.

1. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34)

Can you imagine? Jesus had been betrayed by the people closest to him. He’d been beaten, mocked, spat on, a crown of thorns thrust onto his head, flogged with a whip, and mistreated by the very people he came to save. He was God in the flesh. He came to the world to heal people, do miracles for them, and teach them who God was. He never sinned. He was never rude or unkind a single time. And yet these people killed him. They committed the greatest sin in the history of the world — they literally murdered God. And what did Jesus say? “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

That was, in fact, the very reason Jesus was on the cross. He came to forgive. Not because we took the initiative to seek after him, not because anyone asked him to, but because he volunteered to give his life for us. He was willing to die for the very people who hated him and murdered him.

So what’s the implication for us? It’s amazing that God is willing to forgive — that he actually does forgive. No matter what sins you’ve committed in your past, if you confess and repent, God is ready to receive you, welcome you, and forgive you. And beyond that, we are also called to forgive, just as God has forgiven us. If there’s someone in your life you find it hard to forgive, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to give you that same spirit of forgiveness that Jesus had.

2. “Today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43)

You know the story. Two criminals were crucified alongside Jesus, one on each side. At first, both were mocking him. But then one of them turned on the other and said that Jesus was the real deal — the Christ — and had done nothing worthy of death. He turned to Jesus and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He was expressing faith that Jesus was the Messiah. And Jesus replied: “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

The message for us is this: forgiveness is available to you anytime and anywhere, no matter what you’ve done. This man was a criminal — perhaps a career criminal, crucified for his crimes. And yet he wasn’t too far gone. Right up to the moment of his death, he had an opportunity to believe. Jesus didn’t say, “You deserve this and I don’t.” He simply forgave and received him.

Now, we should be careful not to take the wrong lesson from this. Some people think: I’ll just enjoy my life, live however I want, and then receive Christ right before I die. I’ll have my cake and eat it too — enjoy this world and still go to heaven. That plan has several serious flaws.

First, you do not know when you will die. You cannot guarantee you’ll have an opportunity to believe at the end. I’ve known people who went to bed one night and didn’t wake up the next morning, with no forewarning at all. Second, this world is not actually better. The things it has to offer are not better than a life with Christ. Sin is not more enjoyable than a relationship with him. Jesus said, “I came that you may have life and have it abundantly” — and that abundant life is not just something waiting for us after death. It’s available right here and right now. Third, after years of rejecting Christ and telling yourself you’ll believe later, your heart can become hardened to the point where there’s no more repentance. And fourth, your life will be wasted. We only have one life, one chance to make an impact for eternity. Every day our time on earth grows shorter. The longer you wait to follow Jesus, the fewer opportunities you have to make a difference in people’s lives.

So will you be with Jesus in paradise? If so, we need to do what this criminal did — acknowledge that it’s through no good of our own, only through Christ, and place our faith in him.

3. “Woman, behold your son” (John 19:26–27)

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son,” and then to the disciple, “Behold your mother.” From that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

On the surface this might seem like one of the more mundane things Jesus said on the cross — just dealing with a family matter. But it carries deep significance. Jesus was being tortured, crucified, in excruciating pain, and yet he looked outside of himself. He was focused not on his own suffering but on making sure his mother would be cared for. That’s a powerful example. When we’re sick or struggling, it’s easy to get grumpy and want others to look after us. Jesus showed us that even in those moments, we can be focused on others.

This was also Jesus honoring his mother. Think about his first miracle — turning water to wine at Cana. Why did he do it? Because his mother asked him to. His very first miracle was an act of honor toward his mother. And then some of his very last words from the cross were also honoring her, making sure she would be looked after. The first commandment relating to how we treat other people is to honor your father and your mother. Jesus kept that commandment all the way to the end.

It’s worth noting that Jesus didn’t ask his brothers to care for Mary. John 7:5 tells us that his brothers did not believe in him at that point. Jesus cared more about his mother’s spiritual well-being than her biological connections, and he entrusted her to a member of his spiritual family. He made this point repeatedly during his ministry — that spiritual family runs deeper than physical family.

The implication for us is clear. Honor your parents. Focus on others even in your own difficulty and pain. And make sure you are connected to a spiritual family — a local church of Bible-believing, God-fearing followers of Jesus where you have real interaction and accountability.

4. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46)

About the ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” — that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

I don’t think Jesus is simply expressing how hard it is to sense God in a difficult moment, the way we sometimes say, “God, where are you?” when life gets hard. I believe this represents an actual spiritual reality — that God had truly forsaken him. Jesus took the sins of the world onto himself. He became sin for us so that we might be forgiven. And in that moment, God was pouring out his wrath on Jesus, who bore our sin. The fellowship between the Father and the Son — an intimate communion that had existed for all of eternity — was cut off.

When we think about Jesus’ suffering on the cross, we tend to picture the flogging, the thorns, the mocking, the nails. Those things alone would make any of us tremble. But I believe the spiritual dimension was far deeper and more intense than even the physical pain — the crushing weight of sin on his shoulders, and the separation from his Father.

There’s also more to the story. Psalm 22 is a psalm of David, widely considered a messianic psalm, and it opens with this exact phrase: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Work through Psalm 22 and you’ll find it maps onto the crucifixion in stunning detail. “I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people” — that’s what happened to Jesus. “All who see me mock me and wag their heads” — even one of the criminals on the cross mocked him, saying if he was really God, come down. “I am poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax melted within me, my strength is dried up, my tongue sticks to my jaws” — a vivid description of crucifixion. “They have pierced my hands and feet.” “They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” That last detail is remarkable — the soldiers gambling for his clothing at the foot of the cross, exactly as prophesied.

When Jesus cried out with those words, the Jewish people present would have recognized the opening line of Psalm 22 immediately. I believe Jesus was pointing them directly to it — saying, look at this psalm, I am its fulfillment. I am the Messiah. I am the Son of David. I am what this prophecy was pointing to.

And did God forsake Jesus? Yes, I believe he did. Why? He forsook Jesus so that he would never have to forsake any one of us. Elsewhere in scripture God says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Jesus took that abandonment — he took God’s forsaking — so that God would never have to forsake you. Meditate on that.

5. “I thirst” (John 19:28)

After this, Jesus — knowing that all was now finished — said, to fulfill the scripture, “I thirst.”

This appears simple enough. We all get thirsty. But this reminds us that Jesus was fully human. He wasn’t hanging on the cross like some kind of Superman, feeling nothing, deflecting the pain with his divine power. Yes, he was God — but he became fully human, and he went through the cross as our human representative, experiencing the pain, the exhaustion, and even the thirst that we would have felt in his place.

John notes that Jesus said this to fulfill scripture. Psalm 22 — the same messianic psalm Jesus had just pointed to — says, “My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws.” Isaiah 53 alludes to his suffering as well. Psalm 69:21 says, “For my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.” And that’s exactly what happened — after he said he was thirsty, they offered him sour wine. Which, honestly: if you’re extremely thirsty and someone hands you sour wine, that’s not exactly refreshing. Whether it was some kind of stimulant to keep him conscious and feeling the pain, a mild sedative, or just a cruel gesture, we’re not entirely sure. But Jesus, even in those final moments, was aware of the prophecies that needed to be fulfilled.

In fact, Jesus fulfilled roughly 20 prophecies in his final 24 hours alone. Many of those were things no human could control — being born in Bethlehem, having no bones broken. Others he could consciously fulfill, like this one. If even one of those prophecies had failed, he would not be the Messiah. Every single one came true.

The takeaway for us? Jesus was human. He experienced everything we do, yet without sin. Hebrews tells us that our high priest can sympathize with us because he went through these things himself. When you’re going through difficulty, remember that Jesus went through it too — and he did it so that one day, when you’re with him in heaven, all of those things will be wiped away forever.

6. “It is finished” (John 19:30)

When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

What was finished? His mission. And what was his mission? To make a way for you to come to the Father. Jesus told his disciples, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” We cannot come to the Father except through the cross. Jesus came to die as a substitute for our sins so that we could be reconciled to a holy God. Our sin is what keeps us from having a relationship with God, and Jesus is the mediator. At the moment he said these words, the temple curtain was torn in two from top to bottom — a sign that we no longer need a temple, no longer need a priest as a go-between. Every person can now come directly to God through Christ, and believers have become the temple of the Holy Spirit.

“It is finished” also means that Jesus didn’t do 80% or 90% of salvation and leave the rest to you. He didn’t say, “90% for me, 10% for Jason.” He did 100%. Ephesians 2:8–9 says we are saved by grace through faith — and then it adds, “not of yourselves, not a result of good works, so that no one may boast.” You cannot contribute to your salvation. It is not Jesus plus you. It is just Jesus.

Some people hear that and think: if Jesus did it all, then I can just believe in him and do whatever I want. No. Think of it this way. Imagine you’ve borrowed money from everyone you know and run up a debt of millions — billions — of dollars. You can never pay it back. Your life is collapsing. And then someone very wealthy comes along and says, “I’ll pay your entire debt. No strings attached. You can’t pay it off anyway, so I’m giving this to you as a gift.” You accept.

Now imagine that same person comes to your city a year later. What do you do? You roll out the red carpet. You welcome them into your home, treat them to dinner, do everything you can to bless them. Not to pay off the debt — you can’t, and they’re not asking you to. But out of gratitude. They loved you, so you love them back. They were kind to you, so you’re kind to them.

That’s the Christian life. Christ said “it is finished” — he paid for your salvation with his own blood, and you cannot add to it. But because he did that, because he loved us first, our natural response should be to live our lives for him. Gratitude, love, and service — not to earn anything, but because we have a wonderful Savior who gave his precious blood for us.

7. “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46)

Then Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” And having said this, he breathed his last. When the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” Mark records that the centurion’s conclusion was even more direct: “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”

This centurion had seen many people die. But he had never seen anyone die the way Jesus died, and he had never seen the signs that accompanied it. He knew death well — and the way Jesus gave up his spirit told him that something was entirely different here. His conclusion, from watching a crucifixion, was: this man is the Son of God.

Nobody took Jesus’ life. He gave it freely. He could have used his divine power to hang on that cross without dying. Instead, he chose to give up his spirit. He did it willingly, for us.

This saying also shows Jesus’ submission to the Father and his trust in him. Even at death, he was committing himself into the Father’s hands. And the Father received him — the resurrection being the Father’s answer to that act of trust.

The implication for us is about how we face death. A lot of people spend their final hours in terror. They don’t believe in God, or they know they haven’t lived a life pleasing to him. They’re afraid of what comes next. Interestingly, even many who claim to be atheists start believing as death approaches — because the reality of eternity is written into our hearts. They approach death with fear and anguish.

But look at Jesus — calm, at peace, assured that the Father would take care of what came next. He came so that we do not need to fear death. When we approach our last days, we too can say, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

What These Seven Sayings Mean for How We Live

Looking at these seven sayings together, I’m reminded not only of what Jesus’ sacrifice means for my eternity, but of how it should shape the way I live right now.

“Father, forgive them” — I should forgive others as Jesus forgave. We are commanded to in scripture. Is there someone you’re finding it hard to forgive? Let this be the encouragement to do it, even if they don’t deserve it.

“You will be with me in paradise” — We don’t have to go to heaven alone. We can invite others. Sharing the good news of salvation is the greatest impact we can make on another person’s life.

“Woman, behold your son” — Honor your parents, as Jesus did. And make sure you are connected to a spiritual family.

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” — Take comfort that God will never forsake you. No matter how desperate things get, he will never leave you — because Jesus already took that on your behalf.

“I thirst” — Jesus was human. He faced the same difficulties, the same urges, the same physical pain and hunger and thirst that we do — and he did it without sin. He can sympathize with whatever you’re going through.

“It is finished” — I hope that one day, at the end of my life, I too can say those words. That I lived my life well for Christ, and that it was finished.

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” — That calm assurance and trust that God is there, watching over us, that our eternal life is secure in him. So that when we approach our last days, we do so not with fear, but with hope, comfort, and peace.

I hope these seven sayings of Jesus on the cross encourage you this Holy Week — through Good Friday, through Resurrection Sunday, and whenever you come across them — to remember what Christ went through on our behalf.