The Father’s Hands Hold Us

In these final words we see the Father’s hand. Jesus said, “Father, into Your hand I commit My spirit.” God the Father and God the Son had a perfect relationship. Jesus had always walked in obedience to the heavenly Father. Even when bearing the weight of the world, crying out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” and experiencing separation from the Father due to our sin, now in His death that relationship is perfectly restored as Jesus commits Himself to the Father.
Many people struggle with the concept of God as Father because of fatherless America—so many have been abandoned or abused by their fathers. However, our God is not like any human father. We have a Father who will never abuse or abandon us, who will never forsake us. We are in Christ, and therefore we have this heavenly relationship. We are now in the Father’s hand.
This prayer Jesus prayed came from Psalm 31:5—an Old Testament prayer David prayed, which Jesus likely learned as a childhood bedtime prayer from His mother: “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” He had been in the hands of sinful men who beat Him, mocked Him, and crucified Him. But in His death, He is in the hands of His heavenly Father. No more in the hands of men, but in the hands of God.