Last Breath

Last Breath

Luke 23:46 – Then Jesus cried out with a loud voice and said, “Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.” After he said this, he breathed his last.

Many years ago I used to work for an agency as a Nurse’s Aide. On one occasion I was assigned a patient who required 24hr supervision which meant I had to follow him everywhere. He was a heavy smoker dying from lung cancer. During the 16 hours I spent with him that day we happened to cross paths with his doctor in the elevator while we were on our way to the smoker’s lounge. His doctor was livid with him. “Smoking is killing you!!!” he screamed. The man just stared back at him without saying a word.

Three weeks later the agency sent me back to the same hospital to work in emergency. The same man was there again only this time he was on the verge of dying. He could no longer talk. Every ounce of his strength was spent in trying to breathe. His wife was with him and she was crying. I stayed with them through his final moments and watched as he breathed his last. It was my first and only time, so far, that I’ve ever witnessed the moment of death. At first I was in denial that he was dead. My first thought was that he was finally asleep and no longer laboring. But he was so still. I checked his vital signs. No pulse. No breathing. I went to his doctor (the one who had screamed at him) and told him “he’s not breathing.” The doctor told me to remain with his family, so I went back. After a few minutes the doctor arrived to give the official pronouncement of death.

There were no words to say. I stayed in the room until the family left and then I prepared to take the body to the morgue. I disconnected his oxygen and removed the cannula from his face, removed his wedding band from his left hand and moved his body onto a special stretcher that looked like a casket made of dark green fabric and took him to the morgue where I left him.

Spending a few moments at the cross this morning has brought this memory back to mind. It has also caused me to linger longer with Jesus to witness His agony and final moments when He breathed His last for you and me. Sin is killing us. Hear what God is crying out to us in Ezekiel 33:11 – Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?’

With all that Jesus has done for us, why should we die? Stay longer at the cross with Jesus and allow His cry to be our own. ‘Father, into your hands I entrust my spirit.’ Let’s trust Jesus with our lives, our future, our everything!