The Last Word

The old man knew his last breath was very near.  Soon he would be a memory to his family.  What they would carry forward in their hearts and minds of him was his legacy to them and much more important than any material inheritance he could possibly provide.

He asked his children gather around his bed and he began to share with them the things most important to him and what it was that he most wanted them to take with them of himself throughout life - the old man offered them his last word on life.  He talked about honor and ethics, fairness and justice, honesty and trustworthiness.  He shared with them those things that made life truly rich and rewarding.  His legacy, that which he wish to pass on to his children was the very core of his being and philosophy for life.

In John 16, Jesus tells his disciples that he would soon be taken from him.  He knew that the hour of his death was coming very soon and wanted to prepare them.  He wished to impart to them a legacy as well, to pass on to them the core of his being and the foundation for everything he ever did: Love.

Knowing he was about to be crucified, Jesus offered his last word on life and he took this word to the Father to have it sealed for their future.  His final prayer for them, his last word for their life and his legacy was this: “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you e known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (Jn 17:25-26).

The Last Word, Christ's very legacy for his disciples is love.  Without this legacy, Paul said, "we are nothing" (1 Cor 13:2).  Love, Paul says is and ever will be, the last word for when everything else is passed, "these three remain: faith, hope and love.  But the greatest of these (the final word) is love" (1 Cor 13:13).  Jus' Say'n.