From a Lenten Sonnet Cycle

The sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called 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 both agree,
for the testimony of the walking dead
and darkened mid-day sky was plain to see.
Yes, God and man were finally reconciled;
the ancient, holy veil was torn in two.
But death was just a consequence of choice,
although he did what he was born to do.
For he alone decided to forfeit
the force that gave his broken body breath.
He could chose 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 hands.”