April 18, 2025 • 44 mins
Jesus's words in Scripture capture who He was and what He was about. His last words on the cross, over two thousand years ago, offer Gospel hope for our spiritual journeys today. While pivoting history, Jesus graciously offers encouragement for Christians today and hope for seekers looking for significance in His death. Join Robert Nash and Janet to find historical truths about Jesus's love for the church in His death and resurrection.
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S1 (00:00):
Hi friends, thank you so much for downloading this podcast
and it is my sincere hope that you'll hear something
that will equip you, edify you, encourage you, enlighten you,
and then gently but consistently push you out into the
marketplace of ideas where you can let your light so
shine before men and go and tell them the good news.
Before you listen to this podcast, let me just tell
you about this month's truth tool. It's called The Jesus Book,
(00:20):
written by pastor Jack Graham. I love it because he
really does recognize the fact that biblical literacy is declining,
and that a lot of people think that the Bible
is too complicated, that it's written for pastors or for scholars.
And yet, in truth, Jesus is there from Genesis to Revelation.
And that book was written for every single one of us.
We just need a better way to know how to
study God's Word. And that's exactly what the Jesus Book
(00:42):
is all about. So when you give a gift of
any amount this month, I'm going to give you a
copy of the Jesus Book by doctor Jack Graham. Just
call 877 Janet 58. That's 877 Janet 58 or give
online to in the market with Janet Parshall. Also consider
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(01:03):
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In the Market with Janet Parshall. Scroll to the bottom
of the page. Thanks so much for letting me take
a moment of your time. And now please enjoy the broadcast.
(01:28):
Hi friends, this is Janet Parshall. Thanks so much for
choosing to spend the next hour with us. Today's program
is prerecorded so our phone lines are not open. But
thanks so much for being with us and enjoy the broadcast.
S2 (01:43):
Down here. Come on, pick up, pick up. Are you. Go. Good.
Keep up. Stop.
S3 (02:06):
Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!
S2 (02:12):
Ow ow ow! Ow!
S4 (02:24):
Forgive them. Father. I know not what they do.
S5 (02:36):
Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself. And. And us. Don't
you fear God? You receive the same sentence You did.
(03:00):
But he has done no wrong. Remember me? Jesus, when
you come as King.
S4 (03:11):
I promise you. Today you will be in Paradise with me.
S6 (03:20):
It was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness
came over all the land until the ninth hour. The
veil of the temple was torn right down the middle.
S4 (03:48):
Father! Into thy hands. I commit. My spirit.
S1 (04:06):
What must it have been like to be standing on
that hill outside the city of Jerusalem, with the wind blowing,
where they took condemned men to die? This slow, excruciating
death by crucifixion on the cross. And what must it
have been like to hear this, this Jesus of Nazareth,
who some people understood exactly who he was. Other thought
(04:26):
he was a rabble rouser and a troublemaker. Others had
been plotting his death for years, and others stood in
awe and recognized in the utterance of those last words
spoken on the cross, that Jesus is exactly who he
said he was. He was, after all, lifted up as
the unblemished Lamb of God who takes away the sins
(04:47):
of the world. That wasn't just an event outside the
city of Jerusalem thousands of years ago. Those words resonate today.
Not only did they rock, rattle and roll, open the
gates of hell, and issue a challenge that would ultimately
be a death sentence to the man who hates us,
to the spirit that hates us so much, the prince
(05:07):
of this world. But it would be the words that
would set the captive free forever. We're going to spend
this entire hour, put away everything else that's on your mind.
Don't think about anything else. I want you to just
focus on the last words that Jesus spoke on the cross.
I want to welcome you to In the Market with
Janet Parshall. And that's what we're going to talk about.
I like to put my mind on things above. I
am bound too tightly to this earth on more than
(05:29):
one occasion, but sometimes simply being still, remembering He is
God and what he's done for us gives me the
strength as I know it must you as well to
put one foot in front of the other. We're going
to spend the hour with Robert Nash. Robert, by the way,
currently serves as pastor of Sawyer Highlands Church in Southwest Michigan.
He has a heart for missions. He's traveled to several
(05:51):
countries for short term missions. He has a whole boatload
of kids, six of them. He loves teaching basketball and
soccer as well. He loves to teach other people, and
he loves to read and run and travel with his family.
And we're excited that this is his first book. It's
called Last Words seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ
on the cross. Robert, the warmest of welcomes. What a joy!
(06:11):
I'm so thankful we're finally able to have this conversation.
I got to ask you. You grew up, I've discovered,
in a family of doctors, and you thought that's exactly
where you were going to go. You decided to go
to Wheaton College, and while you were there, uh oh,
it wasn't going to be pre-med. Now you have a
heart for ministry. Tell me how that happened.
S7 (06:28):
Uh, you know, it's a journey. Like the Lord sometimes
puts us on a straight path. Mine's kind of circuitous. Uh,
you know, I grew up in a, uh, a town
of doctors, and it looks like a great thing. I
knew a number of wonderful, God fearing doctors and, uh,
went to study science and fell in love with ministry. Uh,
I was thinking missions because I knew some some doctors
(06:48):
that spent some time doing missions. And, uh, and then I, I, uh,
got involved in doing evangelism and youth ministry in college
and found my heart drawn to towards pastoral ministry and
moved back to Minnesota. The church I got, I got
saved in, grew up in and served there in youth ministry,
did a year of chaplaincy and worked on a master's
(07:10):
up in at Bethel College and Seminary up in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
And um, did some did some work with the church
plant and uh, eventually, after a number of years going
in and out of some business work, uh, with some
logistic companies, I found myself here in Southwest Michigan almost
eight years ago today, working full time as a pastor
(07:30):
here in Southwest Michigan.
S1 (07:32):
You know, it's interesting, Robert, that while you did not
become a doctor, you did serve as a chaplain, as
you noted earlier. So you were still, in some ways,
walking the halls of medicine nonetheless. Tell me about your
experiences being a chaplain.
S7 (07:46):
Oh, it was powerful. Um, one of the, you know,
the powerful things that that I had the privilege of
doing is emergency calls where, you know, in the middle
of the night. I have a pager. Back when they
had pagers and I'd get a call to go to
the hospital and meet with the grieving family, as they
have to deal with the loss of a loved one. Um,
or or stand beside a bedside of somebody who's, you know,
on a machine and to to help them breathe and
(08:09):
and praying with them and helping them, listening to them,
caring for them. It was, um, it was neat to
be able to be invited into people's, uh, pain and, and, and, uh,
trials and, uh, I just it was a privilege to,
to do that. And it was any kind of, uh,
circle back to where I grew up in, in a
(08:30):
town of doctors.
S1 (08:31):
Wow. That's fascinating. So when we come back, the first
question I want to ask you after the break, Robert,
is why? Because this is your first book. You could
have written about a myriad of topics. What drew you
to the foot of the cross, where you listened with
a new kind of intensity to exactly what our Savior
said while he was hanging there for us? I want
to find out what drew to that point in human
(08:53):
history and what your takeaways were as well. His book
is called Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of
Christ on the cross. We get to spend the entire
hour with Robert Nash, and I get to spend it
with you as well. I'm so glad we'll continue right
after this. The Bible wasn't meant to be studied by
(09:26):
pastors and scholars only. It was written for all of us.
That's why I've chosen the Jesus Book as this month's
Truth Tool. Learn to read, understand, and apply God's Word
in a new and powerful way. As for your copy
of the Jesus Book, when you give a gift of
any amount in the market, call eight 7758. That's 877
858 or go to in the market with Janet Parshall.
S8 (09:55):
When I survey. The wondrous. Cross. On which the prince.
(10:18):
Of glory died.
S1 (10:24):
And we are going to survey that cross this entire
hour with Robert Nash, whose new book is entitled Last
Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross.
And I want to start, Robert, if I may, with
what drew you to this topic in general?
S7 (10:39):
Yeah. So, you know, I worked as a chaplain, and
during that time, um, you hear people on their deathbed,
you see people pass away. And I think when you
only have a few moments or a few days when
you you see the end. People say things and there's
a profound importance to some of those things they say.
I went to a Good Friday service around that same time,
and I've never been to anything like that before and
(11:02):
begin to think, why do we call it good? And
as I started meditating on the last words of Christ,
I realized we understand who he is, who Jesus is,
what he was about, and what difference that makes for
our lives. And researching different resources out there. I hadn't
found a book that speaks about it or in a
way that's accessible to somebody, so I wanted to like
(11:23):
help that along by actually working on some messages for
my congregation here in Southwest Michigan.
S1 (11:30):
And so you really had to unpack these declarations and
you list the seven statements. But out of the seven statements,
you've gleaned seven powerful words in the first one. And
we heard it in that opening clip that I played,
was this concept of forgiveness. I really want to linger here, Robert.
We could do an hour on this, you know, and
you note this in your book as well, that forgiveness
does not come easily or naturally. Your words and I
(11:52):
couldn't agree with you more. It doesn't come easily or
naturally when you're standing on your own two feet, let
alone when you're dying. The most excruciating form of capital
punishment known to mankind to this day. So we hear
this idea that after he has been nailed to a
cross between two thieves, that he makes the declaration, father,
forgive them, for they know that what they do. And
(12:14):
here's where I think sometimes we default to just a
kind of a broad brush Sunday school approach. Well, it's Jesus,
of course he would say that. Wait a minute. He
was fully God and he was fully man. And there's
only so many words he's going to utter for the cross.
So I think it's a pretty safe takeaway that every
one of them was purposeful, selective, and powerfully important because
(12:35):
of what he didn't say as opposed to what he
did say. Talk to me about this concept of forgiveness.
First of all, it tells me something about the heart
of Jesus. I don't know if you're 100% innocent. And
he was. I'm not sure. Forgiveness is the first thing
that would come to my mind is a mortal. Talk
to me about this.
S7 (12:52):
Right. I think my natural inclination to is, you know,
fight or flight. And here his thoughts are towards those
who are seeking his death, mocking him and ridiculing him,
you know, and exacting this punishment on him that he
doesn't deserve at all. And so I think he models
for us, but he but he also offers us something
in this that is just incredible forgiveness. And I think
(13:14):
we all, if we're honest with ourselves, carry around a
measure of guilt and shame from past things that we
have that haunt us. And here his heart is one
of compassion towards his killers. It is it is remarkable
and exemplary. And, um, and so I think it's important
for us to to hear that, hear what he's saying
and hear it towards us as well.
S1 (13:37):
You point out that there's a verse in Luke where
it basically points out that he who is forgiven little
loves little. Why is that important?
S7 (13:47):
Well, it's it's important for us to understand how much
we're forgiven because it unlocks our ability to, to to
move into that forgiveness that he offers others and offers us. Um,
if we don't see ourselves as a forgiven people, it's
really easy to be bitter and angry and and vengeful. Uh,
but if we see the the debt has been paid for,
(14:11):
that he loves us to such a great extent, then
we can extend mercy and kindness to those who have
sinned against us. Um, there's that story. And in the
where Jesus tells about about the, um, the person who's
been forgiven, like the master who forgives this million dollar
debt to this, this servant. And, uh, he goes off
(14:34):
and finds a guy who owes them something, like just
a couple of bucks and extorts this, you know, penalty
of jail time for him, and he doesn't quite understand.
And then the the, the master hears of this and
sends the guy to jail. He didn't understand what he's
been forgiven, and I think it's important for us to
understand that. That the gift of grace and forgiveness that
(14:56):
he's offered to us, um, on the cross and through Christ.
S1 (15:01):
You make this simple but profound statement in the book.
He died to forgive. When you stop and ruminate on that,
that's really pretty powerful. Again, innocent, completely innocent. You know,
we talk a lot about justice in this country, and
there are whole movements founded on that word. So there
would be, from a mortal's perspective, again, absolutely nothing, just
about sending a totally innocent man to the cross. In fact,
(15:23):
that would be the very picture of injustice. And yet
that doesn't factor into any of this because he died
to forgive. Talk to me about that.
S7 (15:34):
Um, that's that's the that's one of the beautiful things
of the cross. I think one of the the one
of the wonderful things we can do is we can
look at it and say, this is how much he
loves us. Romans five eight God demonstrates his love for
us in that while we're still sinners, Christ died for us.
He demonstrates his mercy and grace in extending his arms
(15:54):
on that cross and thinking of us, and extending forgiveness
to us when we put our faith in him and
trust him as our Lord and Savior. Our sins are forgiven.
And as far as from the East and the West,
he removes them from us. It is just a wonderful
gift of for us that um, that I think again,
he's he's he's communicating forgiveness. That's one of the first
(16:17):
that's the first thing he says. It's amazing. You know, again,
I wouldn't be thinking that. But this is Jesus, our
savior on the cross.
S1 (16:27):
Yeah, absolutely. Just that concept of really forgiveness that the
ability to set ourselves free through the act of forgiveness.
At the end of each chapter, you offer a prayer
and you make us reflect on certain things that you've written.
And in this one, dealing with forgiveness, you remind us
to see our need. You remind us to see Jesus.
You tell us to go to God, but you also
(16:49):
tell us to go to others and see who we
need to ask forgiveness for. Let me take a break.
We're talking with Robert Nash, whose new book is called
Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ on
the cross. We continue after this.
S9 (17:32):
Thank you. For the cross. Thank you.
S1 (17:49):
We're visiting with Robert Nash. Robert has written the book
Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ on
the cross. Robert is serving currently as pastor at Sawyer
Highlands Church in Southwest Michigan. As a heart for missions.
And he's traveled to several countries on short term mission trips.
Let me go to again, a part of that very
first clip that I played where Jesus turns as these
(18:11):
thieves are conversing among themselves and talking at Jesus. I
think one was talking to Jesus. One was talking at Jesus.
And Jesus makes the declaration, truly I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise. First of all,
talk to me about, you know, the Bible didn't have
to include that. There was a dialogue. One could be
rather self-focused, understandably, going through this slow, excruciating extermination of life.
(18:39):
And yet there's this dialogue. Give me your pastor's heart
on this, Robert. Why is this interesting? Because again, God
didn't have to put this in the narrative, but it's
there for us, so it's there for a purpose.
S7 (18:50):
Yeah, I think it it reflects my heart. You know,
as a person, even you have two criminals there. One,
you know, I'm looking at it says, uh, are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and us. You played that
clip and the other one, uh, rails at the other
one saying, hey, you know, we're here because we did
something wrong. This man's done nothing wrong. And these two
(19:12):
criminals have done something wrong. They're there as an example.
This is a hill of death, as you mentioned earlier
in your show. And. And he recognizes the one criminal
says we've done nothing. This man's done nothing wrong. In
that statement, I think he's he's captured who Christ is.
He is the innocent Lamb of God slain to take
away the sin of the world. And then he turns
(19:33):
to Jesus, and he and he turns to Jesus, and
he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
S1 (19:39):
Mhm.
S7 (19:40):
You know that that statement is, is interesting. He doesn't
see this as the finality of Christ. He's not going
to be dead and done and in the grave. And
then that's the end of the story. He sees him
coming into his kingdom. There's an element of faith there.
This man doesn't have a track record. This isn't a
track record of giving alms to the poor. He doesn't
have a track record of baptism and conversion and walking
(20:02):
an aisle and some spiritual pathway that he's. He's gone
through that. He can look at himself and say, I've
done this. He's just asking for the mercy of the Lord.
And he sees him as an innocent and innocent. Innocent
one and one who's coming into his kingdom. So there's
this element of faith. I love that. And Christ says today,
(20:23):
truly I say to you, today you will be with
me in Paradise. Today, he doesn't have to jump through
some kind of some other hoops that he has to
go through. No, he's going to be there with them today.
And I love that.
S1 (20:35):
Robert, let me linger here a little bit because this
is a profound lesson in theology. One of the reasons,
and this is just my $0.02 in going through these
passages that I think we're allowed to hear to peer
into this narrative is because of what you just said.
Let me extrapolate it out just a little bit more,
that there is an added to or subtracted from this
(20:56):
thief's declaration of remember me? And Jesus says I will today.
What I love about that is, I believe strongly that
the enemy of our soul loves to tell us that
it's works that get us to the cross, or it's
works that keep us at the cross. This thief had
time to do zero works. It was recognition and acceptance,
(21:16):
recognizing that Jesus is who he said he was. Acceptance
of what was happening and the request to remember me
in Paradise that day. That again, it's incomprehensible because, Robert,
everything you do, everything I do, everything everybody does listening
to us, we're performance oriented. That's how you get the raise.
That's how you keep the job. That's how you get
the advance. But that's not the way it works in Christianity.
(21:38):
So I love the fact that God is reminding us
that it's what Jesus is doing as that thief is
observing him. That's going to allow his entrance into Paradise.
Not anything that thief has done at that moment or
in his past that's going to keep him out of Paradise.
S7 (21:53):
That's it's Ephesians 289. It's by grace. You've been saved
through faith, not, you know, not of ourselves. So we
can't boast. It's not works done by us, so we
can't boast. I love it, yeah.
S10 (22:04):
This is my. This is my favorite.
S7 (22:06):
You know, part here where we can look at our
own self and say what you know, look at our
sin and our baggage and the wrong we've done. And
look at the at Christ and ask for mercy and
find that mercy in him and him alone.
S1 (22:21):
Yes, that takes our breath away. Lydia, you've joined us
from Florida and I'm so glad you have. Thanks for calling. (877)Â 548-3675.
You have a thought. I'd love to hear it, please.
S11 (22:33):
Yes. Um, the, uh, what is Luke 747 In where
it says, um, but to whom little is forgiven. The
same loveth little. So we don't have to love him to, um,
(22:56):
to be forgiven. We are forgiven first. And because he
has forgiven us, we love him. And that that's what
the Scripture says.
S1 (23:11):
Robert. Your response?
S7 (23:13):
Oh, he loves us. You know, you know, before we've
done anything. Romans five eight while we were still sinners,
you know, God demonstrates his love for us. So I
would I would agree. Uh, John 316 For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only
one and only son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. And that his love was, uh,
(23:35):
done first. You know, he he demonstrates love to us, uh,
through dying on the cross for us.
S1 (23:41):
Yeah. While we were yet sinners. Takes our breath away.
Goes back to that works business, doesn't it? Robert. That
really and truly it has nothing to do for us.
We were still in our sinful state, and yet he
loved us. Lydia. Thank you. Appreciate your being a part
of the conversation. Robert Nash is with us for the
entire hour. We are talking about last words, the seven
sayings from the heart of Christ on the cross. We're
(24:03):
going to talk more about what Jesus said while he
paid the price for us when we returned.
S9 (24:09):
Thank you once. Again.
S1 (24:27):
Friends, this is Janet Parshall, and I want to take
a moment to remind you that today's program is prerecorded
so our phone lines aren't open. But I sure do
appreciate your spending the hour with us. And thanks so
much and enjoy the rest of the program. We live
in a culture that's infatuated with the latest fads, but
Ephesians 415 calls for us to be stable, no longer infants,
(24:50):
Paul said, tossed about by the waves and carried around
by every wind of teaching on in the market. We're
exposing current trends and finding our balance by standing on
the solid foundation of God's Word. To get exclusive behind
the scenes information and benefits, become a partial partner. Call
877 Janet, 58 or go online to in the market
with Janet Parshall.
S12 (25:13):
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas and
Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the
disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother.
S5 (25:29):
Woman, behold your son.
S12 (25:36):
Then he said to the disciple.
S5 (25:38):
Behold your mother.
S12 (25:46):
And from that hour that disciple took her to his
own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were
now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said.
S13 (25:58):
I thirst.
S12 (26:00):
Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there.
And they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it
on hyssop, and put it to his mouth. So when
Jesus had received the sour wine, he said.
S13 (26:15):
It is finished.
S12 (26:21):
And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
S1 (26:31):
This is our conversation today on In the Market with
Janet Parshall. You know, I think we do ourselves a
Of disservice as people who desire more than anything else,
to be conformed and transformed to the image of Christ.
To simply ruminate on what Jesus said on the cross
on one day a year that we call, paradoxically, Good Friday.
I love the fact that Robert Nash, who's the author
(26:52):
of the book Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart
of Christ on the cross, is really drawing us closer
to this conversation, really challenging us to think about what
Jesus said. It's difficult to talk when you're slowly dying
in the hot sun outside the city of Jerusalem, on
a hill designed for execution. So every single word that
(27:13):
Jesus utters obviously has purpose and significance. There's something God
wants us to hear as he's dictating through the power
of the Holy Spirit. Why did he want us to
hear these words? Some of them you read in Matthew,
some of them you read in Luke, some of them
you read in John. That passage we just heard comes
from John. And there are several of the last words
(27:34):
of Jesus in that passage. By the way, if you're
just joining us, you're going to want to have heard
what Robert had to say earlier about some of the
last words. And you can do that by going to
in the market with Janet Parshall. The left hand side,
two words past programs. Click it on and it will
let you download the podcast for this entire hour or
any of the two hours we do every day. Going
(27:55):
back a full year. Robert Nash is with us. Robert,
by the way, serves as pastor at Sawyer Highlands Church
in Southwest Michigan. He has been a hospital chaplain. He
loves to do short term missions. And this, by the way,
is his very first book, again entitled Last Words Seven
Sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross. This part, behold,
(28:15):
this is the word you want us to focus on. Robert,
in this particular passage that we just heard from John 19.
And for a lot of people, we read it. We
sort of infuse our own familial connections there, but it
is really much deeper than that theologically. Why does Jesus
say to his mother, behold your son, referring to John,
and then say to John, behold your mother. This was
(28:37):
more than look after her. Take care of her for
me in my absence. Why this dialogue? For many, they
might think this is almost a throwaway. A little housekeeping issue,
if you will, before Jesus leaves this earthly experience. But
it's so much more than that. Talk to me about this.
S7 (28:52):
Mary. You know, at a young age when when Jesus
was in the temple, this prophet Simeon gives this prophecy
to her that a sword will pierce her her soul,
her sword will pierce her. And this sword is seen
here at the cross. I can't think of anything more
excruciating than to see one of my kids suffer. And
(29:13):
then to have your child die in front of you
this way. I think she was suffering tremendously. And here again,
this is Jesus's third word. He's saying. He is dying
of asphyxiation. Not you know, we might think he's bleeding out, uh,
some kind of, uh, other way. He's dying, but he
has to push down on his on his feet and
pull down on his hands to be able to say anything.
(29:34):
And he looks and his mom with compassion and offers
her this word of compassion. Behold. Behold your son. Uh.
And then behold your mother, he says to John. John
is his disciple, the only disciple that we have recorded there. Um,
he has just betrayed Christ. Um, he fell asleep when
Jesus asked him three times, will you stay awake with
me for one hour and pray with me? And he's
(29:57):
he's contemplating this this his soon death. So, John, I imagine,
is feeling guilt. His mom is feeling this horrible pain
of seeing her son suffer this horrible death, this unjust death.
And Jesus offers, uh, a word of compassion to his mom.
And then he also also to this disciple. He's offering
(30:18):
a word of mission, and, I think reconciliation and forgiveness
to him. And so we see something that I think
in our hearts we need as well. We need God's
forgiveness and grace and mercy and compassion and love and
and we see that in both these beholds behold to
the mother, behold to the disciple. And the disciple moves
(30:39):
forward in faith, and he takes her into the home
that day. Jesus. You know, Mary has other children. There
are other children that we hear about in the Gospels,
but this is the one that's there who has faith,
who is, uh, who is, you know, watching this horrible
thing happen. And Jesus offers this word of compassion and reconciliation.
And it's and I think that's the profound, um, word
(31:03):
there for us today.
S1 (31:05):
You point out again in the reflective section at the
end of this particular chapter that one of the things
you're asking us to do is to go to others
and comfort those the way we ourselves have been comforted.
That concept, again, Robert comes right out of Scripture. Again,
we've talked about forgiveness from the cross, death in this
excruciating fashion. Forgiveness wouldn't be my first choice, but it's
(31:27):
the Savior's. And he makes that declaration from the cross.
Compassion John has drawn deeper into this inner circle. You know,
Jesus had siblings who thought, quite honestly, he had lost
his mind. John is an eyewitness to all of this.
Mary was to sitting there at the cross. There's going
to be a linkage between Mary and John, perhaps that
Mary might not have even had with her other children
(31:48):
because of what they had experienced together through the life
of Jesus. But I love this idea that you challenge
us to go and offer comfort to other people. Why
is that crucial?
S7 (31:57):
The reality is, how much God loves us is the
kind of love we're supposed to express to each other,
and to our neighbors and to the world. Um, if
we hold this all in, it's kind of like a
dead sea that just rots. We are poured into by
the Holy Spirit, giving us his love so that it
might go forward and people might know the love of Christ.
(32:18):
Jesus says in John 13, they will know my disciples.
You will know them by my. By his love. And
that's what marks the Christian is is this this categorically
different love? That's not a transactional love. It's a love
that is one based on just this overflow of grace
that we've received. And I love Second Corinthians. You know that.
S1 (32:37):
Yes.
S7 (32:38):
Second Corinthians three four. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies, the
God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction,
y so that we may be able to comfort those
who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which
we ourselves are comforted by God.
S10 (32:54):
That's the.
S7 (32:55):
Purpose. You know it's not to be held in ourselves
and hoarded. We're to give this out.
S1 (33:00):
I love that. So when we realize that God is
not only a compassionate God who loves us unconditionally, whose
tender mercies are renewed every morning, but he doesn't comfort
us just for us. He comforts us, thereby affording us
the opportunity to remember to tap into that experience and
offer it comfort to someone else. You know, the older
(33:20):
I get in the Lord, the more I realize that
he's multiplicity. It isn't. He can be linear if he
wants a to be. But more and more, I realize
that there are so many layers to the tutorials in
his classroom, and this is certainly one of them. May
I just, in deference to time, go to this idea
of thirst? It's such a human need out in the
hot sun, slow hours, hours for people to die on
(33:42):
the cross. This was not a quick execution by any
stretch of the imagination. And so again, one would think
the declaration I thirst to be oh so trivial, but
we have to contextualize it and say, wait a minute.
Out of all the words that God could have had
listed there, he could have taken that one out, but
he didn't. He put it there. So he wants us
to have a takeaway. Why is that I thirst so significant?
S7 (34:03):
I think it shows us his humanity. In Hebrews 415
it says he was tempted in every way, yet without sin.
He sympathizes with us, with our weakness. And so there's
this connection he has with us that he is fully human.
I think there's a sense sometimes we think, oh, you know,
this is he's God, and yes, he is God and
he can't. But then we can't connect to him. No,
(34:26):
he he understood us. He he took on the form. Um.
Philippians two, he emptied himself of his glory and became
one of us. And it's this thirst. There's a prophetic
element to it in Psalm 22. It talks about his
mouth being parched. Um, but there's also this reality that
he took on the form of man so that he
(34:48):
could die for us and be our substitutionary death, our
substitutionary death on our behalf so that we can be
fully forgiven and righteous before him.
S1 (34:57):
Robert, because he was this concept that quite honestly, this
side of glory, I don't think we'll ever fully embrace. But, um,
I believe help me in my unbelief, I think fits
in this perfectly. Here is this one individual who was,
and always will be, the only person who is only
fully God and fully man at the same time. All
of the nuances of that I'll get to learn at
his feet, and I'm glad I have an eternity to
(35:18):
get all of those questions answered. But I love the
declaration in his human state that he says I thirst
because what he's telling me in my human state is, Janet,
you're going to be thirsty, Robert. you're going to be thirsty.
And I can provide what will quench that thirst. I
am the living waters that you're searching for. So it
was his declaration. But at the same time, it was
(35:39):
the answer to my question. Wow. Let me take a
break and come right back. The book is called Last
Words seven sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross,
a conversation worth having every day of the year. Because why?
Because he did it for you. And he did it
for me. Back after this.
S9 (35:56):
Break. You apart. I go free when you are wounded
and rejected. And your mercy, I am here.
S14 (36:28):
Then they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.
S15 (36:37):
They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing
they cast lots.
S14 (36:43):
Sitting down they kept watch over him there. And they
put up over his head the accusation written against him.
This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Then two
robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and
another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed him,
wagging their heads.
S16 (37:03):
You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,
save yourself.
S17 (37:08):
If you are the Son of God, come down from
the cross.
S14 (37:13):
Likewise the chief priests, also mocking with the scribes and elders,
said he saved others. Himself he cannot save.
S18 (37:22):
If he is the king of Israel, let him now
come down from the cross and we will believe him.
S19 (37:29):
He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if
he will have him. For he said, I am the
Son of God.
S14 (37:38):
Even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him
with the same thing. Now, from the sixth hour until
the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a
(38:01):
loud voice.
S13 (38:03):
Hallo, lama sabachthani!
S14 (38:11):
That is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Some of those who stood there when they heard that said.
S20 (38:19):
This man is calling for Elijah.
S14 (38:22):
Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled
it with sour wine and put it on a reed
and offered it to him to drink.
S17 (38:30):
Let him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come
to save him.
S14 (38:35):
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice. And
yielded up his spirit.
S1 (38:46):
Mm. That's the story in the book of Matthew, of
the crucifixion of Christ. We are focusing in on the
last words that Jesus said from the cross. Robert Nash
has written the book Last Words Seven Sayings from the
Heart of Christ on the cross. A conversation, as I
noted earlier, worth having every day of the year. Not
on one day that we set aside calling it Good Friday,
(39:07):
but remembering what Jesus did for us every day and
in the midst of the chaos of this current world.
I don't know about you, but pulling over to the
side of the road and just sitting my mind on
things above is so refreshing, and I'm so glad we're
having this conversation. Robert is not only the author of
this book, but he also happens to be pastor at
Sawyer Highlands Church in Southwest Michigan. Robert, let me go
(39:29):
to this concept where Jesus cries out about his father
forsaking him. There are so many compelling moments. This is
the one where I catch my breath, because I remember
back in the garden when Jesus is praying and he
asks if it's possible if his father would remove the
cup from him. This cup that Jesus knew, this, this
excruciating pain, this experience physically that's almost incomprehensible. To say
(39:52):
nothing of what I think compels him to make this
statement about why have you forsaken me? This incomprehensible idea
of taking on the sins of the world, past, present,
and future. It's a holy God we serve. So this
heart cry and the way it's done in that particular
rendition of the scripture is just it comes from somewhere
deep inside. So the cup doesn't pass in obedience and
(40:15):
an abject submission. Jesus puts one foot in front of
the other and walks his way to the cross, where
he is able to say declaratively, it is finished. We'll
get to that in a moment. But talk to me
about this heart cry. Why have you forsaken me? Some
people would say, wait a minute. I don't get it.
He's fully man. He's fully God. What does this statement mean?
And what is the significance of that statement for me?
S7 (40:40):
Yeah, I think we have to look at what is
what is actually he's saying because they actually misinterpret him,
saying the man is calling Elijah. Uh, he's he's using
a quote from Psalm 22. So if we take Psalm
22 and we read it in its entirety, there's prophetic
fulfillment after prophetic fulfillment after prophetic fulfillment. He's calling to mind, remember,
(41:00):
this is their educational system is one of oral tradition
where they repeat these words, these this is memorized scripture
in his heart. And it's my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? And it's different than the father
he he calls to in the first thing he says
and the last thing he says, it's it's not. It's
a god. And there's this, there's this, um, penalty that's
(41:22):
being exacted on him, that's far greater. We think of
the cross as being this horrible, painful death than it
is it is. But there's something going on here spiritually
that is far more significant. What that is the substitutionary
death of Christ on our behalf, where he is bearing,
as you mentioned, the wrath for our sin. So that,
you know, the good news is we don't have to,
(41:43):
but it isn't something that that we take lightly. And
that's why this is a cry of agony as that
dramatic portrayal was. This is this is horrible beyond horrible.
We cannot imagine because it's not just my sin, it's
the whole world's sin. Those who trust in Christ as
their Lord and Savior, all their sins are paid for
in that moment on the cross right there, when God
(42:04):
is where this forsaken is happening, this mysterious, somehow wrath
bearing event is happening on the cross.
S1 (42:12):
Well, Robert, let me linger here, because in that the
way it's sung during the Messiah, behold, I show you
a mystery. If there ever a mystery in Scripture, this
would be it. At the forsaking, by the way, is temporary.
I want to point that out. That's so profoundly significant
because Jesus is not forever forsaken for his God. It's
in that substitutionary moment, your brilliant use of that word,
(42:33):
where he takes on all those sins that a holy God,
out of necessity, out of his nature, has to look
the other way. Um, that separation must be so profound.
If I turn that around, doesn't it say equally the
profundity of what it means to be close to God
if being separated from him creates that kind of a
deep cry?
S7 (42:54):
Wow. Yeah, I think you're right. There. There is in
the cross this expression of the how, how great our
sin is, right? The the cost is, is so great
that the that God would have to suffer this. But
then there's also the, the corollary, as you're talking about
this profound, profound reality that the the amount of love,
(43:18):
the expression of affection, the expression of care and and
desire to be with is so great as well. Simultaneously.
S1 (43:26):
Yeah. Wow. Let me. Only in deference to time. And
by the way, friends, there's more in the book, obviously,
than we can discuss. But as a quick capstone and
I've got 30s. Robert. The separation is temporary because Jesus
ends by committing his spirit to his father. 30s why
is that important for us?
S7 (43:45):
We have a long longing to be part to be
a children of God, and he offers that through his
death and resurrection and belief in him, so we can
become children of God. And that's where we see that
in his cry to the father.
S21 (43:59):
At the end. Wow.
S1 (44:01):
What a note to end it on. Robert, thank you
so much. Thank you for the winsome way that you
encourage us to remember what he's done for us, to
pray about it, to reflect and how it impacts our
relationship with other people, not only our walk with the Lord.
Thank you for that. The book is called Last Words
seven sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross.
Thank you Robert. Thank you friends. We'll see you next time.
Hi friends, thank you so much for downloading this podcast
and it is my sincere hope that you'll hear something
that will equip you, edify you, encourage you, enlighten you,
and then gently but consistently push you out into the
marketplace of ideas where you can let your light so
shine before men and go and tell them the good news.
Before you listen to this podcast, let me just tell
you about this month's truth tool. It's called The Jesus Book,
(00:20):
written by pastor Jack Graham. I love it because he
really does recognize the fact that biblical literacy is declining,
and that a lot of people think that the Bible
is too complicated, that it's written for pastors or for scholars.
And yet, in truth, Jesus is there from Genesis to Revelation.
And that book was written for every single one of us.
We just need a better way to know how to
study God's Word. And that's exactly what the Jesus Book
(00:42):
is all about. So when you give a gift of
any amount this month, I'm going to give you a
copy of the Jesus Book by doctor Jack Graham. Just
call 877 Janet 58. That's 877 Janet 58 or give
online to in the market with Janet Parshall. Also consider
becoming a partial partner. Partial partners always get the monthly
truth tool, but in addition, they get a weekly newsletter
(01:03):
that includes some of my writing and an audio piece
only from my partial partners. So whether you want to
give one time or you want to support the program
every single month, just call eight 7758 or online at
In the Market with Janet Parshall. Scroll to the bottom
of the page. Thanks so much for letting me take
a moment of your time. And now please enjoy the broadcast.
(01:28):
Hi friends, this is Janet Parshall. Thanks so much for
choosing to spend the next hour with us. Today's program
is prerecorded so our phone lines are not open. But
thanks so much for being with us and enjoy the broadcast.
S2 (01:43):
Down here. Come on, pick up, pick up. Are you. Go. Good.
Keep up. Stop.
S3 (02:06):
Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!
S2 (02:12):
Ow ow ow! Ow!
S4 (02:24):
Forgive them. Father. I know not what they do.
S5 (02:36):
Aren't you the Messiah? Save yourself. And. And us. Don't
you fear God? You receive the same sentence You did.
(03:00):
But he has done no wrong. Remember me? Jesus, when
you come as King.
S4 (03:11):
I promise you. Today you will be in Paradise with me.
S6 (03:20):
It was now about the sixth hour, and a darkness
came over all the land until the ninth hour. The
veil of the temple was torn right down the middle.
S4 (03:48):
Father! Into thy hands. I commit. My spirit.
S1 (04:06):
What must it have been like to be standing on
that hill outside the city of Jerusalem, with the wind blowing,
where they took condemned men to die? This slow, excruciating
death by crucifixion on the cross. And what must it
have been like to hear this, this Jesus of Nazareth,
who some people understood exactly who he was. Other thought
(04:26):
he was a rabble rouser and a troublemaker. Others had
been plotting his death for years, and others stood in
awe and recognized in the utterance of those last words
spoken on the cross, that Jesus is exactly who he
said he was. He was, after all, lifted up as
the unblemished Lamb of God who takes away the sins
(04:47):
of the world. That wasn't just an event outside the
city of Jerusalem thousands of years ago. Those words resonate today.
Not only did they rock, rattle and roll, open the
gates of hell, and issue a challenge that would ultimately
be a death sentence to the man who hates us,
to the spirit that hates us so much, the prince
(05:07):
of this world. But it would be the words that
would set the captive free forever. We're going to spend
this entire hour, put away everything else that's on your mind.
Don't think about anything else. I want you to just
focus on the last words that Jesus spoke on the cross.
I want to welcome you to In the Market with
Janet Parshall. And that's what we're going to talk about.
I like to put my mind on things above. I
am bound too tightly to this earth on more than
(05:29):
one occasion, but sometimes simply being still, remembering He is
God and what he's done for us gives me the
strength as I know it must you as well to
put one foot in front of the other. We're going
to spend the hour with Robert Nash. Robert, by the way,
currently serves as pastor of Sawyer Highlands Church in Southwest Michigan.
He has a heart for missions. He's traveled to several
(05:51):
countries for short term missions. He has a whole boatload
of kids, six of them. He loves teaching basketball and
soccer as well. He loves to teach other people, and
he loves to read and run and travel with his family.
And we're excited that this is his first book. It's
called Last Words seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ
on the cross. Robert, the warmest of welcomes. What a joy!
(06:11):
I'm so thankful we're finally able to have this conversation.
I got to ask you. You grew up, I've discovered,
in a family of doctors, and you thought that's exactly
where you were going to go. You decided to go
to Wheaton College, and while you were there, uh oh,
it wasn't going to be pre-med. Now you have a
heart for ministry. Tell me how that happened.
S7 (06:28):
Uh, you know, it's a journey. Like the Lord sometimes
puts us on a straight path. Mine's kind of circuitous. Uh,
you know, I grew up in a, uh, a town
of doctors, and it looks like a great thing. I
knew a number of wonderful, God fearing doctors and, uh,
went to study science and fell in love with ministry. Uh,
I was thinking missions because I knew some some doctors
(06:48):
that spent some time doing missions. And, uh, and then I, I, uh,
got involved in doing evangelism and youth ministry in college
and found my heart drawn to towards pastoral ministry and
moved back to Minnesota. The church I got, I got
saved in, grew up in and served there in youth ministry,
did a year of chaplaincy and worked on a master's
(07:10):
up in at Bethel College and Seminary up in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
And um, did some did some work with the church
plant and uh, eventually, after a number of years going
in and out of some business work, uh, with some
logistic companies, I found myself here in Southwest Michigan almost
eight years ago today, working full time as a pastor
(07:30):
here in Southwest Michigan.
S1 (07:32):
You know, it's interesting, Robert, that while you did not
become a doctor, you did serve as a chaplain, as
you noted earlier. So you were still, in some ways,
walking the halls of medicine nonetheless. Tell me about your
experiences being a chaplain.
S7 (07:46):
Oh, it was powerful. Um, one of the, you know,
the powerful things that that I had the privilege of
doing is emergency calls where, you know, in the middle
of the night. I have a pager. Back when they
had pagers and I'd get a call to go to
the hospital and meet with the grieving family, as they
have to deal with the loss of a loved one. Um,
or or stand beside a bedside of somebody who's, you know,
on a machine and to to help them breathe and
(08:09):
and praying with them and helping them, listening to them,
caring for them. It was, um, it was neat to
be able to be invited into people's, uh, pain and, and, and, uh,
trials and, uh, I just it was a privilege to,
to do that. And it was any kind of, uh,
circle back to where I grew up in, in a
(08:30):
town of doctors.
S1 (08:31):
Wow. That's fascinating. So when we come back, the first
question I want to ask you after the break, Robert,
is why? Because this is your first book. You could
have written about a myriad of topics. What drew you
to the foot of the cross, where you listened with
a new kind of intensity to exactly what our Savior
said while he was hanging there for us? I want
to find out what drew to that point in human
(08:53):
history and what your takeaways were as well. His book
is called Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of
Christ on the cross. We get to spend the entire
hour with Robert Nash, and I get to spend it
with you as well. I'm so glad we'll continue right
after this. The Bible wasn't meant to be studied by
(09:26):
pastors and scholars only. It was written for all of us.
That's why I've chosen the Jesus Book as this month's
Truth Tool. Learn to read, understand, and apply God's Word
in a new and powerful way. As for your copy
of the Jesus Book, when you give a gift of
any amount in the market, call eight 7758. That's 877
858 or go to in the market with Janet Parshall.
S8 (09:55):
When I survey. The wondrous. Cross. On which the prince.
(10:18):
Of glory died.
S1 (10:24):
And we are going to survey that cross this entire
hour with Robert Nash, whose new book is entitled Last
Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross.
And I want to start, Robert, if I may, with
what drew you to this topic in general?
S7 (10:39):
Yeah. So, you know, I worked as a chaplain, and
during that time, um, you hear people on their deathbed,
you see people pass away. And I think when you
only have a few moments or a few days when
you you see the end. People say things and there's
a profound importance to some of those things they say.
I went to a Good Friday service around that same time,
and I've never been to anything like that before and
(11:02):
begin to think, why do we call it good? And
as I started meditating on the last words of Christ,
I realized we understand who he is, who Jesus is,
what he was about, and what difference that makes for
our lives. And researching different resources out there. I hadn't
found a book that speaks about it or in a
way that's accessible to somebody, so I wanted to like
(11:23):
help that along by actually working on some messages for
my congregation here in Southwest Michigan.
S1 (11:30):
And so you really had to unpack these declarations and
you list the seven statements. But out of the seven statements,
you've gleaned seven powerful words in the first one. And
we heard it in that opening clip that I played,
was this concept of forgiveness. I really want to linger here, Robert.
We could do an hour on this, you know, and
you note this in your book as well, that forgiveness
does not come easily or naturally. Your words and I
(11:52):
couldn't agree with you more. It doesn't come easily or
naturally when you're standing on your own two feet, let
alone when you're dying. The most excruciating form of capital
punishment known to mankind to this day. So we hear
this idea that after he has been nailed to a
cross between two thieves, that he makes the declaration, father,
forgive them, for they know that what they do. And
(12:14):
here's where I think sometimes we default to just a
kind of a broad brush Sunday school approach. Well, it's Jesus,
of course he would say that. Wait a minute. He
was fully God and he was fully man. And there's
only so many words he's going to utter for the cross.
So I think it's a pretty safe takeaway that every
one of them was purposeful, selective, and powerfully important because
(12:35):
of what he didn't say as opposed to what he
did say. Talk to me about this concept of forgiveness.
First of all, it tells me something about the heart
of Jesus. I don't know if you're 100% innocent. And
he was. I'm not sure. Forgiveness is the first thing
that would come to my mind is a mortal. Talk
to me about this.
S7 (12:52):
Right. I think my natural inclination to is, you know,
fight or flight. And here his thoughts are towards those
who are seeking his death, mocking him and ridiculing him,
you know, and exacting this punishment on him that he
doesn't deserve at all. And so I think he models
for us, but he but he also offers us something
in this that is just incredible forgiveness. And I think
(13:14):
we all, if we're honest with ourselves, carry around a
measure of guilt and shame from past things that we
have that haunt us. And here his heart is one
of compassion towards his killers. It is it is remarkable
and exemplary. And, um, and so I think it's important
for us to to hear that, hear what he's saying
and hear it towards us as well.
S1 (13:37):
You point out that there's a verse in Luke where
it basically points out that he who is forgiven little
loves little. Why is that important?
S7 (13:47):
Well, it's it's important for us to understand how much
we're forgiven because it unlocks our ability to, to to
move into that forgiveness that he offers others and offers us. Um,
if we don't see ourselves as a forgiven people, it's
really easy to be bitter and angry and and vengeful. Uh,
but if we see the the debt has been paid for,
(14:11):
that he loves us to such a great extent, then
we can extend mercy and kindness to those who have
sinned against us. Um, there's that story. And in the
where Jesus tells about about the, um, the person who's
been forgiven, like the master who forgives this million dollar
debt to this, this servant. And, uh, he goes off
(14:34):
and finds a guy who owes them something, like just
a couple of bucks and extorts this, you know, penalty
of jail time for him, and he doesn't quite understand.
And then the the, the master hears of this and
sends the guy to jail. He didn't understand what he's
been forgiven, and I think it's important for us to
understand that. That the gift of grace and forgiveness that
(14:56):
he's offered to us, um, on the cross and through Christ.
S1 (15:01):
You make this simple but profound statement in the book.
He died to forgive. When you stop and ruminate on that,
that's really pretty powerful. Again, innocent, completely innocent. You know,
we talk a lot about justice in this country, and
there are whole movements founded on that word. So there
would be, from a mortal's perspective, again, absolutely nothing, just
about sending a totally innocent man to the cross. In fact,
(15:23):
that would be the very picture of injustice. And yet
that doesn't factor into any of this because he died
to forgive. Talk to me about that.
S7 (15:34):
Um, that's that's the that's one of the beautiful things
of the cross. I think one of the the one
of the wonderful things we can do is we can
look at it and say, this is how much he
loves us. Romans five eight God demonstrates his love for
us in that while we're still sinners, Christ died for us.
He demonstrates his mercy and grace in extending his arms
(15:54):
on that cross and thinking of us, and extending forgiveness
to us when we put our faith in him and
trust him as our Lord and Savior. Our sins are forgiven.
And as far as from the East and the West,
he removes them from us. It is just a wonderful
gift of for us that um, that I think again,
he's he's he's communicating forgiveness. That's one of the first
(16:17):
that's the first thing he says. It's amazing. You know, again,
I wouldn't be thinking that. But this is Jesus, our
savior on the cross.
S1 (16:27):
Yeah, absolutely. Just that concept of really forgiveness that the
ability to set ourselves free through the act of forgiveness.
At the end of each chapter, you offer a prayer
and you make us reflect on certain things that you've written.
And in this one, dealing with forgiveness, you remind us
to see our need. You remind us to see Jesus.
You tell us to go to God, but you also
(16:49):
tell us to go to others and see who we
need to ask forgiveness for. Let me take a break.
We're talking with Robert Nash, whose new book is called
Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ on
the cross. We continue after this.
S9 (17:32):
Thank you. For the cross. Thank you.
S1 (17:49):
We're visiting with Robert Nash. Robert has written the book
Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart of Christ on
the cross. Robert is serving currently as pastor at Sawyer
Highlands Church in Southwest Michigan. As a heart for missions.
And he's traveled to several countries on short term mission trips.
Let me go to again, a part of that very
first clip that I played where Jesus turns as these
(18:11):
thieves are conversing among themselves and talking at Jesus. I
think one was talking to Jesus. One was talking at Jesus.
And Jesus makes the declaration, truly I say to you,
today you will be with me in Paradise. First of all,
talk to me about, you know, the Bible didn't have
to include that. There was a dialogue. One could be
rather self-focused, understandably, going through this slow, excruciating extermination of life.
(18:39):
And yet there's this dialogue. Give me your pastor's heart
on this, Robert. Why is this interesting? Because again, God
didn't have to put this in the narrative, but it's
there for us, so it's there for a purpose.
S7 (18:50):
Yeah, I think it it reflects my heart. You know,
as a person, even you have two criminals there. One,
you know, I'm looking at it says, uh, are you
not the Christ? Save yourself and us. You played that
clip and the other one, uh, rails at the other
one saying, hey, you know, we're here because we did
something wrong. This man's done nothing wrong. And these two
(19:12):
criminals have done something wrong. They're there as an example.
This is a hill of death, as you mentioned earlier
in your show. And. And he recognizes the one criminal
says we've done nothing. This man's done nothing wrong. In
that statement, I think he's he's captured who Christ is.
He is the innocent Lamb of God slain to take
away the sin of the world. And then he turns
(19:33):
to Jesus, and he and he turns to Jesus, and
he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
S1 (19:39):
Mhm.
S7 (19:40):
You know that that statement is, is interesting. He doesn't
see this as the finality of Christ. He's not going
to be dead and done and in the grave. And
then that's the end of the story. He sees him
coming into his kingdom. There's an element of faith there.
This man doesn't have a track record. This isn't a
track record of giving alms to the poor. He doesn't
have a track record of baptism and conversion and walking
(20:02):
an aisle and some spiritual pathway that he's. He's gone
through that. He can look at himself and say, I've
done this. He's just asking for the mercy of the Lord.
And he sees him as an innocent and innocent. Innocent
one and one who's coming into his kingdom. So there's
this element of faith. I love that. And Christ says today,
(20:23):
truly I say to you, today you will be with
me in Paradise. Today, he doesn't have to jump through
some kind of some other hoops that he has to
go through. No, he's going to be there with them today.
And I love that.
S1 (20:35):
Robert, let me linger here a little bit because this
is a profound lesson in theology. One of the reasons,
and this is just my $0.02 in going through these
passages that I think we're allowed to hear to peer
into this narrative is because of what you just said.
Let me extrapolate it out just a little bit more,
that there is an added to or subtracted from this
(20:56):
thief's declaration of remember me? And Jesus says I will today.
What I love about that is, I believe strongly that
the enemy of our soul loves to tell us that
it's works that get us to the cross, or it's
works that keep us at the cross. This thief had
time to do zero works. It was recognition and acceptance,
(21:16):
recognizing that Jesus is who he said he was. Acceptance
of what was happening and the request to remember me
in Paradise that day. That again, it's incomprehensible because, Robert,
everything you do, everything I do, everything everybody does listening
to us, we're performance oriented. That's how you get the raise.
That's how you keep the job. That's how you get
the advance. But that's not the way it works in Christianity.
(21:38):
So I love the fact that God is reminding us
that it's what Jesus is doing as that thief is
observing him. That's going to allow his entrance into Paradise.
Not anything that thief has done at that moment or
in his past that's going to keep him out of Paradise.
S7 (21:53):
That's it's Ephesians 289. It's by grace. You've been saved
through faith, not, you know, not of ourselves. So we
can't boast. It's not works done by us, so we
can't boast. I love it, yeah.
S10 (22:04):
This is my. This is my favorite.
S7 (22:06):
You know, part here where we can look at our
own self and say what you know, look at our
sin and our baggage and the wrong we've done. And
look at the at Christ and ask for mercy and
find that mercy in him and him alone.
S1 (22:21):
Yes, that takes our breath away. Lydia, you've joined us
from Florida and I'm so glad you have. Thanks for calling. (877)Â 548-3675.
You have a thought. I'd love to hear it, please.
S11 (22:33):
Yes. Um, the, uh, what is Luke 747 In where
it says, um, but to whom little is forgiven. The
same loveth little. So we don't have to love him to, um,
(22:56):
to be forgiven. We are forgiven first. And because he
has forgiven us, we love him. And that that's what
the Scripture says.
S1 (23:11):
Robert. Your response?
S7 (23:13):
Oh, he loves us. You know, you know, before we've
done anything. Romans five eight while we were still sinners,
you know, God demonstrates his love for us. So I
would I would agree. Uh, John 316 For God so
loved the world that he gave his one and only
one and only son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have everlasting life. And that his love was, uh,
(23:35):
done first. You know, he he demonstrates love to us, uh,
through dying on the cross for us.
S1 (23:41):
Yeah. While we were yet sinners. Takes our breath away.
Goes back to that works business, doesn't it? Robert. That
really and truly it has nothing to do for us.
We were still in our sinful state, and yet he
loved us. Lydia. Thank you. Appreciate your being a part
of the conversation. Robert Nash is with us for the
entire hour. We are talking about last words, the seven
sayings from the heart of Christ on the cross. We're
(24:03):
going to talk more about what Jesus said while he
paid the price for us when we returned.
S9 (24:09):
Thank you once. Again.
S1 (24:27):
Friends, this is Janet Parshall, and I want to take
a moment to remind you that today's program is prerecorded
so our phone lines aren't open. But I sure do
appreciate your spending the hour with us. And thanks so
much and enjoy the rest of the program. We live
in a culture that's infatuated with the latest fads, but
Ephesians 415 calls for us to be stable, no longer infants,
(24:50):
Paul said, tossed about by the waves and carried around
by every wind of teaching on in the market. We're
exposing current trends and finding our balance by standing on
the solid foundation of God's Word. To get exclusive behind
the scenes information and benefits, become a partial partner. Call
877 Janet, 58 or go online to in the market
with Janet Parshall.
S12 (25:13):
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother
and his mother's sister, Mary, the wife of Clopas and
Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the
disciple whom he loved standing by, he said to his mother.
S5 (25:29):
Woman, behold your son.
S12 (25:36):
Then he said to the disciple.
S5 (25:38):
Behold your mother.
S12 (25:46):
And from that hour that disciple took her to his
own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were
now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said.
S13 (25:58):
I thirst.
S12 (26:00):
Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there.
And they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it
on hyssop, and put it to his mouth. So when
Jesus had received the sour wine, he said.
S13 (26:15):
It is finished.
S12 (26:21):
And bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.
S1 (26:31):
This is our conversation today on In the Market with
Janet Parshall. You know, I think we do ourselves a
Of disservice as people who desire more than anything else,
to be conformed and transformed to the image of Christ.
To simply ruminate on what Jesus said on the cross
on one day a year that we call, paradoxically, Good Friday.
I love the fact that Robert Nash, who's the author
(26:52):
of the book Last Words Seven Sayings from the Heart
of Christ on the cross, is really drawing us closer
to this conversation, really challenging us to think about what
Jesus said. It's difficult to talk when you're slowly dying
in the hot sun outside the city of Jerusalem, on
a hill designed for execution. So every single word that
(27:13):
Jesus utters obviously has purpose and significance. There's something God
wants us to hear as he's dictating through the power
of the Holy Spirit. Why did he want us to
hear these words? Some of them you read in Matthew,
some of them you read in Luke, some of them
you read in John. That passage we just heard comes
from John. And there are several of the last words
(27:34):
of Jesus in that passage. By the way, if you're
just joining us, you're going to want to have heard
what Robert had to say earlier about some of the
last words. And you can do that by going to
in the market with Janet Parshall. The left hand side,
two words past programs. Click it on and it will
let you download the podcast for this entire hour or
any of the two hours we do every day. Going
(27:55):
back a full year. Robert Nash is with us. Robert,
by the way, serves as pastor at Sawyer Highlands Church
in Southwest Michigan. He has been a hospital chaplain. He
loves to do short term missions. And this, by the way,
is his very first book, again entitled Last Words Seven
Sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross. This part, behold,
(28:15):
this is the word you want us to focus on. Robert,
in this particular passage that we just heard from John 19.
And for a lot of people, we read it. We
sort of infuse our own familial connections there, but it
is really much deeper than that theologically. Why does Jesus
say to his mother, behold your son, referring to John,
and then say to John, behold your mother. This was
(28:37):
more than look after her. Take care of her for
me in my absence. Why this dialogue? For many, they
might think this is almost a throwaway. A little housekeeping issue,
if you will, before Jesus leaves this earthly experience. But
it's so much more than that. Talk to me about this.
S7 (28:52):
Mary. You know, at a young age when when Jesus
was in the temple, this prophet Simeon gives this prophecy
to her that a sword will pierce her her soul,
her sword will pierce her. And this sword is seen
here at the cross. I can't think of anything more
excruciating than to see one of my kids suffer. And
(29:13):
then to have your child die in front of you
this way. I think she was suffering tremendously. And here again,
this is Jesus's third word. He's saying. He is dying
of asphyxiation. Not you know, we might think he's bleeding out, uh,
some kind of, uh, other way. He's dying, but he
has to push down on his on his feet and
pull down on his hands to be able to say anything.
(29:34):
And he looks and his mom with compassion and offers
her this word of compassion. Behold. Behold your son. Uh.
And then behold your mother, he says to John. John
is his disciple, the only disciple that we have recorded there. Um,
he has just betrayed Christ. Um, he fell asleep when
Jesus asked him three times, will you stay awake with
me for one hour and pray with me? And he's
(29:57):
he's contemplating this this his soon death. So, John, I imagine,
is feeling guilt. His mom is feeling this horrible pain
of seeing her son suffer this horrible death, this unjust death.
And Jesus offers, uh, a word of compassion to his mom.
And then he also also to this disciple. He's offering
(30:18):
a word of mission, and, I think reconciliation and forgiveness
to him. And so we see something that I think
in our hearts we need as well. We need God's
forgiveness and grace and mercy and compassion and love and
and we see that in both these beholds behold to
the mother, behold to the disciple. And the disciple moves
(30:39):
forward in faith, and he takes her into the home
that day. Jesus. You know, Mary has other children. There
are other children that we hear about in the Gospels,
but this is the one that's there who has faith,
who is, uh, who is, you know, watching this horrible
thing happen. And Jesus offers this word of compassion and reconciliation.
And it's and I think that's the profound, um, word
(31:03):
there for us today.
S1 (31:05):
You point out again in the reflective section at the
end of this particular chapter that one of the things
you're asking us to do is to go to others
and comfort those the way we ourselves have been comforted.
That concept, again, Robert comes right out of Scripture. Again,
we've talked about forgiveness from the cross, death in this
excruciating fashion. Forgiveness wouldn't be my first choice, but it's
(31:27):
the Savior's. And he makes that declaration from the cross.
Compassion John has drawn deeper into this inner circle. You know,
Jesus had siblings who thought, quite honestly, he had lost
his mind. John is an eyewitness to all of this.
Mary was to sitting there at the cross. There's going
to be a linkage between Mary and John, perhaps that
Mary might not have even had with her other children
(31:48):
because of what they had experienced together through the life
of Jesus. But I love this idea that you challenge
us to go and offer comfort to other people. Why
is that crucial?
S7 (31:57):
The reality is, how much God loves us is the
kind of love we're supposed to express to each other,
and to our neighbors and to the world. Um, if
we hold this all in, it's kind of like a
dead sea that just rots. We are poured into by
the Holy Spirit, giving us his love so that it
might go forward and people might know the love of Christ.
(32:18):
Jesus says in John 13, they will know my disciples.
You will know them by my. By his love. And
that's what marks the Christian is is this this categorically
different love? That's not a transactional love. It's a love
that is one based on just this overflow of grace
that we've received. And I love Second Corinthians. You know that.
S1 (32:37):
Yes.
S7 (32:38):
Second Corinthians three four. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of mercies, the
God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction,
y so that we may be able to comfort those
who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which
we ourselves are comforted by God.
S10 (32:54):
That's the.
S7 (32:55):
Purpose. You know it's not to be held in ourselves
and hoarded. We're to give this out.
S1 (33:00):
I love that. So when we realize that God is
not only a compassionate God who loves us unconditionally, whose
tender mercies are renewed every morning, but he doesn't comfort
us just for us. He comforts us, thereby affording us
the opportunity to remember to tap into that experience and
offer it comfort to someone else. You know, the older
(33:20):
I get in the Lord, the more I realize that
he's multiplicity. It isn't. He can be linear if he
wants a to be. But more and more, I realize
that there are so many layers to the tutorials in
his classroom, and this is certainly one of them. May
I just, in deference to time, go to this idea
of thirst? It's such a human need out in the
hot sun, slow hours, hours for people to die on
(33:42):
the cross. This was not a quick execution by any
stretch of the imagination. And so again, one would think
the declaration I thirst to be oh so trivial, but
we have to contextualize it and say, wait a minute.
Out of all the words that God could have had
listed there, he could have taken that one out, but
he didn't. He put it there. So he wants us
to have a takeaway. Why is that I thirst so significant?
S7 (34:03):
I think it shows us his humanity. In Hebrews 415
it says he was tempted in every way, yet without sin.
He sympathizes with us, with our weakness. And so there's
this connection he has with us that he is fully human.
I think there's a sense sometimes we think, oh, you know,
this is he's God, and yes, he is God and
he can't. But then we can't connect to him. No,
(34:26):
he he understood us. He he took on the form. Um.
Philippians two, he emptied himself of his glory and became
one of us. And it's this thirst. There's a prophetic
element to it in Psalm 22. It talks about his
mouth being parched. Um, but there's also this reality that
he took on the form of man so that he
(34:48):
could die for us and be our substitutionary death, our
substitutionary death on our behalf so that we can be
fully forgiven and righteous before him.
S1 (34:57):
Robert, because he was this concept that quite honestly, this
side of glory, I don't think we'll ever fully embrace. But, um,
I believe help me in my unbelief, I think fits
in this perfectly. Here is this one individual who was,
and always will be, the only person who is only
fully God and fully man at the same time. All
of the nuances of that I'll get to learn at
his feet, and I'm glad I have an eternity to
(35:18):
get all of those questions answered. But I love the
declaration in his human state that he says I thirst
because what he's telling me in my human state is, Janet,
you're going to be thirsty, Robert. you're going to be thirsty.
And I can provide what will quench that thirst. I
am the living waters that you're searching for. So it
was his declaration. But at the same time, it was
(35:39):
the answer to my question. Wow. Let me take a
break and come right back. The book is called Last
Words seven sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross,
a conversation worth having every day of the year. Because why?
Because he did it for you. And he did it
for me. Back after this.
S9 (35:56):
Break. You apart. I go free when you are wounded
and rejected. And your mercy, I am here.
S14 (36:28):
Then they crucified him and divided his garments, casting lots,
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.
S15 (36:37):
They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing
they cast lots.
S14 (36:43):
Sitting down they kept watch over him there. And they
put up over his head the accusation written against him.
This is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Then two
robbers were crucified with him, one on the right and
another on the left. And those who passed by blasphemed him,
wagging their heads.
S16 (37:03):
You who destroy the temple and build it in three days,
save yourself.
S17 (37:08):
If you are the Son of God, come down from
the cross.
S14 (37:13):
Likewise the chief priests, also mocking with the scribes and elders,
said he saved others. Himself he cannot save.
S18 (37:22):
If he is the king of Israel, let him now
come down from the cross and we will believe him.
S19 (37:29):
He trusted in God. Let him deliver him now, if
he will have him. For he said, I am the
Son of God.
S14 (37:38):
Even the robbers who were crucified with him reviled him
with the same thing. Now, from the sixth hour until
the ninth hour, there was darkness over all the land.
And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a
(38:01):
loud voice.
S13 (38:03):
Hallo, lama sabachthani!
S14 (38:11):
That is my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Some of those who stood there when they heard that said.
S20 (38:19):
This man is calling for Elijah.
S14 (38:22):
Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, filled
it with sour wine and put it on a reed
and offered it to him to drink.
S17 (38:30):
Let him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come
to save him.
S14 (38:35):
And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice. And
yielded up his spirit.
S1 (38:46):
Mm. That's the story in the book of Matthew, of
the crucifixion of Christ. We are focusing in on the
last words that Jesus said from the cross. Robert Nash
has written the book Last Words Seven Sayings from the
Heart of Christ on the cross. A conversation, as I
noted earlier, worth having every day of the year. Not
on one day that we set aside calling it Good Friday,
(39:07):
but remembering what Jesus did for us every day and
in the midst of the chaos of this current world.
I don't know about you, but pulling over to the
side of the road and just sitting my mind on
things above is so refreshing, and I'm so glad we're
having this conversation. Robert is not only the author of
this book, but he also happens to be pastor at
Sawyer Highlands Church in Southwest Michigan. Robert, let me go
(39:29):
to this concept where Jesus cries out about his father
forsaking him. There are so many compelling moments. This is
the one where I catch my breath, because I remember
back in the garden when Jesus is praying and he
asks if it's possible if his father would remove the
cup from him. This cup that Jesus knew, this, this
excruciating pain, this experience physically that's almost incomprehensible. To say
(39:52):
nothing of what I think compels him to make this
statement about why have you forsaken me? This incomprehensible idea
of taking on the sins of the world, past, present,
and future. It's a holy God we serve. So this
heart cry and the way it's done in that particular
rendition of the scripture is just it comes from somewhere
deep inside. So the cup doesn't pass in obedience and
(40:15):
an abject submission. Jesus puts one foot in front of
the other and walks his way to the cross, where
he is able to say declaratively, it is finished. We'll
get to that in a moment. But talk to me
about this heart cry. Why have you forsaken me? Some
people would say, wait a minute. I don't get it.
He's fully man. He's fully God. What does this statement mean?
And what is the significance of that statement for me?
S7 (40:40):
Yeah, I think we have to look at what is
what is actually he's saying because they actually misinterpret him,
saying the man is calling Elijah. Uh, he's he's using
a quote from Psalm 22. So if we take Psalm
22 and we read it in its entirety, there's prophetic
fulfillment after prophetic fulfillment after prophetic fulfillment. He's calling to mind, remember,
(41:00):
this is their educational system is one of oral tradition
where they repeat these words, these this is memorized scripture
in his heart. And it's my God, my God, why
have you forsaken me? And it's different than the father
he he calls to in the first thing he says
and the last thing he says, it's it's not. It's
a god. And there's this, there's this, um, penalty that's
(41:22):
being exacted on him, that's far greater. We think of
the cross as being this horrible, painful death than it
is it is. But there's something going on here spiritually
that is far more significant. What that is the substitutionary
death of Christ on our behalf, where he is bearing,
as you mentioned, the wrath for our sin. So that,
you know, the good news is we don't have to,
(41:43):
but it isn't something that that we take lightly. And
that's why this is a cry of agony as that
dramatic portrayal was. This is this is horrible beyond horrible.
We cannot imagine because it's not just my sin, it's
the whole world's sin. Those who trust in Christ as
their Lord and Savior, all their sins are paid for
in that moment on the cross right there, when God
(42:04):
is where this forsaken is happening, this mysterious, somehow wrath
bearing event is happening on the cross.
S1 (42:12):
Well, Robert, let me linger here, because in that the
way it's sung during the Messiah, behold, I show you
a mystery. If there ever a mystery in Scripture, this
would be it. At the forsaking, by the way, is temporary.
I want to point that out. That's so profoundly significant
because Jesus is not forever forsaken for his God. It's
in that substitutionary moment, your brilliant use of that word,
(42:33):
where he takes on all those sins that a holy God,
out of necessity, out of his nature, has to look
the other way. Um, that separation must be so profound.
If I turn that around, doesn't it say equally the
profundity of what it means to be close to God
if being separated from him creates that kind of a
deep cry?
S7 (42:54):
Wow. Yeah, I think you're right. There. There is in
the cross this expression of the how, how great our
sin is, right? The the cost is, is so great
that the that God would have to suffer this. But
then there's also the, the corollary, as you're talking about
this profound, profound reality that the the amount of love,
(43:18):
the expression of affection, the expression of care and and
desire to be with is so great as well. Simultaneously.
S1 (43:26):
Yeah. Wow. Let me. Only in deference to time. And
by the way, friends, there's more in the book, obviously,
than we can discuss. But as a quick capstone and
I've got 30s. Robert. The separation is temporary because Jesus
ends by committing his spirit to his father. 30s why
is that important for us?
S7 (43:45):
We have a long longing to be part to be
a children of God, and he offers that through his
death and resurrection and belief in him, so we can
become children of God. And that's where we see that
in his cry to the father.
S21 (43:59):
At the end. Wow.
S1 (44:01):
What a note to end it on. Robert, thank you
so much. Thank you for the winsome way that you
encourage us to remember what he's done for us, to
pray about it, to reflect and how it impacts our
relationship with other people, not only our walk with the Lord.
Thank you for that. The book is called Last Words
seven sayings from the Heart of Christ on the cross.
Thank you Robert. Thank you friends. We'll see you next time.
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!