From The Last Words, a sonnet cycle on the seven sayings from the cross.
For the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last. The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.”
Luke 23:45-47
He was a righteous man, the Son of God;
Centurion and evangelist agree.
For the testimony of the walking dead
and darkened midday sky was plain to see.
God and man were finally reconciled,
the ancient, holy veil was torn in two.
But his death was a consequence of choice,
he freely did what he was born to do.
For he alone decided to forfeit
the force that gave his broken body breath;
He could choose to live or not to live—
For my good, and yours, he chose this death.
He paid the price his Father could demand,
then said “I commit my spirit to your hand.”
©2001, Wally Metts
the daysman 