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

Jesus’ life was a life of prayer. He prepared for his public ministry with forty days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness. Throughout his three years of ministry, prayer and work were never separated. Even his final words on the cross were a prayer: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” In this short prayer, we witness the most profound relationship a human being can have with God: a relationship of absolute trust, building a dynamic, mutual trust.

Absolute Trust: “Father!”

This single word, uttered by the crucified Jesus, reveals the deepest level of relationship, a connection that endures beyond all earthly circumstances. While we may not fully comprehend the significance of Jesus’ cry, calling God “Father” on the cross, it is certain that Jesus used this word daily. Whether expressing anguish or experiencing a transcendent state, Jesus consistently trusted God as “Father” and maintained this relationship of trust until the very end.

Nothing could sever Jesus from his absolute trust in the Father. Neither Satan’s tempting offer (“I will give you the world if you bow down to me”) nor Peter’s proposal (“Why not stay here? I will put up a shelter for you”) nor his beloved disciples’ persistent pleas to evade the cross created any doubt in his trust. Jesus’ absolute trust in God demonstrates that, in God’s presence, he was always a child of the Father.

“Unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!” What Jesus taught stemmed from what he lived: his absolute trust in God, whom he called “Abba, Father.” When was the last time we addressed God as a child would call a father or mother, who is everything to the child? Jesus’ cry of “Father” from the cross resonates with us as an invitation to maintain unwavering trust in God, even during hardships.

Dynamic, Mutual Trust: “Into your hands I commit my spirit.”

The greatest temptation Jesus faced was the demand for him to become a political messiah. The Jews of Jesus’ time had long awaited a messiah while enduring centuries of colonial rule. Their earnest anticipation led them to envision their own superhero who could defeat foreign oppressors and free them through miracles. However, as their yearnings grew stronger, they sought to use God for their own purposes instead of striving to follow God’s will.

The temptation to become a political messiah persisted throughout Jesus’ ministry, from Satan’s test in the wilderness to “turn stones into bread” to the crowd’s taunt at the cross, “Come down and save yourself.” Yet, Jesus triumphed over this temptation by taking up his cross and embracing death. In doing so, he fully obeyed God, becoming the ultimate “suffering servant.”

As God’s suffering servant, Jesus lived in solidarity with the sinners, the poor and the marginalized who were deemed forsaken by God, due to the mistaken belief that suffering was the result of hidden sin. But Jesus went to them, loved them, affirmed them as God’s beloved, and transformed them into a people called to serve others. Thank you, Jesus, for your faithfulness to God and for showing us the way of reconciliation and salvation.

“Into your hands, I commit my spirit!” This is Jesus’ call for us to resist temptation, discern God’s will, and follow it wholeheartedly. It is also a call to walk in his path, recognizing that true power for reconciliation and salvation lies not in dominance but in humility and self-giving love.

Jesus invites us to take the narrow gate that leads to life. As John Paul Lederach observed, true transformation comes through the “critical yeast,”¹ the small but committed few who fully respond to Christ’s invitation to change. These are the ones ready to pray, “Into your hands, I commit my life.” And in response to their trust, God entrusts them with the power to serve.

Rev. Jaehyoung Choi is an ordained elder and a member of the Philippines Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC). Currently, he is serving as a Missionary in Residence (MIR) at UMC’s Global Ministries headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Jay is a doctoral candidate in Church History at AGST-Philippines. He finds great joy in communicating with fellow missionaries who faithfully serve God and God’s people in different countries through diverse ministries.