Famous Last Words

I often wonder what will be the last words that I speak before I die. Hmmm….not just my last words but the words that I’ve spoken in life that people remember. Clearly the verdict is out, everyone dies, no one will escape this fate. Unless of course you believe in the Rapture the (catching away of Christians), which is another discussion for a different day.

However, this morning I was finishing up Mark’s Gospel and John Mark gives to us the words that Jesus speaks right before he takes his final breath. Mark15:34“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” And of course you have to look at this statement in light of everything else the scripture teaches us about Jesus. But just for a minute listen to this statement as you read these words aloud and you’ll get the sense that Jesus life was consumed with pleasing his Father. I guess it would make sense for me to put this statement into context so that you can feel what I’m feeling. Jesus had spent the last three plus years teaching and preaching about the Kingdom being at a hand. In short, he is living out his Fathers will. For those of you paying attention, Jesus was following the Fathers plan for his life, and wouldn’t you know it. God’s plan for Jesus took him to a brutal cross. And that cross cost Jesus his life, literally.

But if you’ve read the rest of the story, you know that it doesn’t end there. Jesus essentially rises from the grave and God’s plan for him, though it seemed unbearable at the time, turned out to be the best thing that could have ever happened. And so now we get to the end of Mark’s Gospel and Jesus gives to us his second last words after his resurrection Mark16:15-16 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.”

Ok then we can all agree that the last words you speak are certainly very reflective as to what was important to you in life and what’s important now that death is staring you in the face. Now with that lets look for a minute at the last words of a few famous folks; Elizabeth I, Quean of England 1602 All my possessions for a moment of time; Winston Churchill, 1965 I'm bored with it all; Georges Clemenceau, French premier 1929 This time it will be a long one. Joan Crawford, actress, 1977 Damn it . . . Don't you dare ask God to help me. The last one Charles Darwin said I am not the least afraid to die.

There is enough here to spend the rest of the day reflecting. Jesus last words definitely taught us that nothing was more important to him than finishing the plan that God had given him. I wonder what will you’re last words be. There is no way that we can fake what the heart speaks when we are facing the end of our life. I have lived long enough and seen enough death to know that when you face death how you lived will matter. So start living out you’re last words today remember Jesus dd.