Luke 23:46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.

Jesus’ death was volitional. This was of particular interest to Luke as a physician, because such cases are rare indeed. Quite apart from suicide, sometimes people decide they have lived long enough, and they die. I really feel this was a major factor in my paternal grandmother’s death at age 80. However, even in such cases, there is not the direct connection that we see here. Jesus deliberately gave up His life as an atonement for our sins, having already acknowledged that His work was done. (John 19:30) Had this been suicidal, He would have done it much earlier, to avoid all the incredible pain of the scourging and crucifixion, but instead, He endured all that on our behalf. The soldiers, who had seen many people die and knew what they were looking at, were a bit surprised at the timing, and for good measure pierced His heart with a spear. (John 19:34) However, that didn’t change the fact that He was already dead, it just made His resurrection a touch more miraculous, if that is possible. As the Bible says in several places, Jesus actively gave His life for us. He Himself said that no one could take it from Him. (John 10:17-18) The more we meditate on this, the more we understand the depth and breadth and height of God’s love for us, though it is beyond knowing. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

I certainly can’t say I have meditated enough on God’s love, though every once and a while the awareness of it washes over me. I need to be conscious in recognizing and acknowledging that love, responding to it as He enables me to do so, because I have no strength or ability to do so in myself. As a minister of the Gospel, my commission is to communicate that love to all, and that again is beyond my personal ability. I need to rest, relax, and rejoice in that love, as He has been telling me, allowing it to flow over and through me and carry me along, so that I won’t get in the way of its accurate expression. We have trouble grasping and believing the love of God because we can’t generate such love ourselves, but He can and will manifest that love through us if we will allow Him to do so.

Father, words aren’t enough to thank You for Your love, expressed so magnificently in Christ Jesus my Lord. Help me respond with my whole being, keeping myself fully available to You for however You want to use me, so that as many as possible may repent of their blindness and rebellion and respond to Your love in faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!