Christ on the Cross: Last Words

Here are thoughtful reflections on Jesus’ last words on the cross. They were written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on the New Kilpatrick Parish Church website.

Last Words

Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do

Here is love
caught between the powers of the world
and the breaking of heaven
on the long journey home
we do not know what it is we do
and the Last Word
forgives

Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise

Here is love
found between two thieves
crucified among the lost
and the Last Word turns
and promises paradise

Woman, behold your son. Son, behold your mother

Here is love
lonely on the cross
and with nothing left
the Last Word even now
brings together
mother and son

My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?

Here is love
some gargoyle of grace
abandoned by heaven
and the Last Word breaks
with loneliness

I thirst

Here is love
and in the last moments of life
seeks solace
and the Last Word
in the final moment
yet appeals to humanity

It is finished

Here is love
and here what it is like
when every hope
comes to an end
and the Last Word
is finished

Father, into our hands I commit my spirit

Here is love
clinging
to one last hope
that not everything is lost
and the last word
dies

~ written by Roddy Hamilton, and posted on the website of the New Kilpatrick Parish Church (Bearsden, Scotland). https://www.nkchurch.org.uk/