These last words brought the end – and a new beginning. With His last breath Jesus uttered a loud cry and then gave up His spirit. What followed was spectacular. The earth quaked. The curtain to the Holy of Holies, the most sacred place in the Temple of Jerusalem, tore from top to bottom. Roman soldiers were shocked; at least one is recorded to have said, “Clearly this was the Son of God!” The new age had begun.

Throughout the horrific ordeal of suffering and death Jesus taught us to have complete trust and hope in God. Jesus, with His human free will, chose to accept the worst imaginable death for Himself and turn it into eternal life for us.

Now it is our turn. We can have complete trust and hope in God, and, with our own free will, choose eternal life. Jesus has shown us it is possible. We simply have to have the faith to accept that fact.