Jesus’ last words: A Contradiction?

 

An image circulating on social media says Jesus’s last words are a contradiction.

John 19:30 says “It is finished”.

Luke 23:46 says “Father into your hands I commend my spirit”.

Matthew 27:46-50 “My God why have you forsaken me”.

Some people believe that these words, followed by the phrase “he gave up the ghost” simply mean that he died seconds after each word as stated by each evangelist, but this is not derived from the text, the text does not say that as soon as Jesus said these words, he died, having not uttered other words.

Only John was present when Jesus died, and his death was attended by a complete eclipse of the sun. So, the other writers (Matthew and Luke) are borrowing from eyewitnesses.

Jesus’s final words should not be seen as a stumbling block in the gospel because all three authors confirm that Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again after three days. The timing of his death does not take away from these central truths that make up the gospel.

Supplementation is a term that means that one person can describe a detail of an event and later add more details that may appear to be contradicting the initial story but are an addition. If I go to church and people have a sad sermon where people weep, and later have a fellowship meal where they rejoice over the gospel and catch up on their lives if people report these two events, one might think that the story does not make sense, in the same event people were crying, and in the same event they were weeping, but when you consider the principle of supplementation, one sees that there is no contradiction.

Matthew, Luke, and John report that Jesus said some words and died, these words do not suggest that he died exactly seconds after Jesus died, the writing makes room for the possibility that he may have said other words.

What were Jesus’ exact last words on the cross?

Jesus spoke seven words on the cross, all of them were his final words. Being able to know without a doubt Jesus’ last words would serve what purpose exactly? More burning questions affect salvation, and this is not one of them.

There is no contradiction once one realizes that the varying details are about supplementation and that no writer set off to narrate Jesus’ exact last words for us.