Do you know the very last thing that Jesus said to his disciples? While the Bible doesn’t record the exact words, we get the gist of it in Luke chapter 24: “While [Jesus] was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven” (verse 51).

Don’t you love the word while? While Jesus was in the very act of blessing them, of promising them something good in God’s name, he was taken back up to heaven. His final words were not, “Don’t you boys make me come back down here!” Nor were they, “Peter? Peter, are you listening? I am keeping my eye on you.” Instead of warnings or threats, Jesus’ final words were a blessing. Grace got the last word.

That is how God operates. Yes, his Word is filled with plenty of warnings regarding sin and the reality of hell. But for the disciples of Jesus, for those of us who have been brought to saving faith in our Lord, the last word is grace. Our Savior may have to call us out for some pattern of behavior, but his last word is mercy. The devotion or sermon or conversation might convict, but the last word is love. Our Father might discipline his beloved children with a rebuke, but that’s never where the conversation ends.

Because Jesus didn’t leave us with a curse. He left us with a blessing. Grace gets the last word!