Good morning to Cross Church and happy Palm Sunday to you. Turn to Luke 23 with me this morning. The universal symbol of Christianity is the cross, the old rugged cross. While the empty tomb is the foundation of Christianity, the cross is the focus of Christianity.
And while I cannot take all of you there today, I will bring down the Via Dolorosa, or the way of suffering. We are entering the very heart of Christianity by looking at the cross of Jesus. It is early in the morning on what is known as Good Friday. The cross of Jesus is a university where saints study. Here are three quick reasons why you should see rehearse the mournful narrative of our Lord’s grief carefully:
1) Seeing Jesus’ Sorrow Lightens My Pain
One cannot think long about Jesus’ agony without tears. I have personally have had to pause in reading about Jesus’ week of trials and pain because of excessive emotion. When you stop to consider what Jesus went through, your heart breaks. Yet, there is something so power in this for His grief dwarfs our grief. While I would not want to minimize your grief even for a moment, for there is substantial pain and hurt in our world today. Yet, His agony makes our pain into light affliction.
2) Seeing Jesus’ Sorrow Stimulates My Passion
Not only does our hearts break at the sight of Jesus’ pain, but the cross of Jesus stimulates a passion for Christ inside me. Though you are nearly crushed by the sight of Jesus, there’s within you a strong, resolute and fervent passion for Him that explodes forward. Nothing is too hard for us to attempt and nothing is too difficult to endure for the One who sacrificed Himself for us. And while we are grieved to consider that our best will be so little in comparison to what He did, we are resolved in this: He deserves nothing less than our best.
3) Seeing Jesus’ Sorrow Destroys My Carelessness
His shame makes my indifference unthinkable. When I see His sufferings, my careless heart is disturbed and disrupted. I am weaned from my love of sin by hearing about Jesus’ pain on my behalf. Invariably, men and women fall before the great bow of God when He dips His arrows in the blood of Jesus. The arrows that are armed with His agonies cause deep wounds which can never been healed other than by His nailed-pierced hands.
Today’s Scripture
Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!” 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” 38 There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”
39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. 47 Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” 48 And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. 49 And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things” (Luke 23:32-49).
It’s nine a.m. on Friday morning and Jesus is being led to Golgotha, the site of His execution. Today, we refer to this as Calvary, which comes from the Latin word for “skull.” With no sleep and being bounced from trial to trial, Jesus must endure even more torture. Tucked away in the midst of the agonizing story of Jesus’ death is the famous story of the dying thief. Here is an incredible story of the power of Christ to save and God’s abundant willingness to receive anyone who comes to Him.
Three Dying Men
Had you gone to Jerusalem that day so long ago, and had you gone just outside the wall to the north, out through the Damascus gate, there you would have seen a rocky hill. And on that hill, you would have seen three crosses, with three men on those crosses. These three men were impaled on those crosses; they were fastened to those crosses by bloody nails, squirming in agony and pain, like some kind of scarecrows erected up against the sky. You would have seen on that one cross to the left a thief. On the other cross to the right, was a thief. On that middle cross would have been the very Son of God. Someone has observed that Jesus did not die in a cathedral between two candles. He died on a cross between two nameless criminals. Three men died that day on a cross. One was a benefactor, one was a blasphemer, and one was a believer. One was a Savior, one was a sinner, and one was a saint. One man died for sin. Another man died in sin. The third man died to sin. And here, Luke presents for us, three dying men. Each of the three dying men have something to say to us. Watch the King between bandits for the next few moments.
1. The Man Who Missed It
“One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us” (Luke 23:39)! I’m calling him “The Man Who Missed It,” but he classically known as the impenitent thief. He says to Jesus in effect, “If you are God, then save yourself and us.” You don’t have to a religious person to understand this prayer. In fact, all of us have prayed this prayer at one time or another. We have all prayed this man’s prayer, “Lord, if you are up there… save me!” You are in the waiting room and you’re praying, “God… if there is a God, save my daughter,” or “Get me out of this!” We’ve all prayed the impenitent thief’s prayer. Here’s this man’s prayer in its essence: “Here’s how I know you’re God, if my life goes the way I know it needs to go.”
One of the reasons why a lot of people in this room don’t believe or don’t believe very well is because you’ve done the very same thing. At one point, you’ve turned to God at some really difficult time, and you’ve said, “If you’re there, if you’re God, here’s how you can show me. Get me out of this!” Here’s our test: “I know you are God if you agree with me.” But this isn’t a real test. When you pray like the first thief, you do not want God. Instead, you want a personal assistant. Jesus doesn’t say one recorded word to the impenitent thief. Jesus doesn’t say one recorded word to those who mock. It’s so easy to miss God.
2. The Man Who Got It
Both men were on the wrong side of Jesus but on man go one man got on the right side of Jesus. The way the dying thief that got on the right side of Jesus is the way same way you must get on the right side of Jesus as well. I want you to notice three steps of change to the dying thief.
2.1 He Came Around
This thief who was wonderfully saved was not so sympathetic to Jesus at first. In fact, Matthew records that at first he, too, was singing in the choir of the critics as they mocked and ridiculed the Lord Jesus: “And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way” (Matthew 27:44). In the beginning, this second thief ridiculed Jesus. He mocked Jesus just as the others did. But somewhere amidst the pain and the agony, a transformation took place. Derision turned into devotion. Laughter turned into love. Ridicule turned into reverence. We are not told precisely was precipitated the change in the dying thief. Was it the silence of Jesus who refused to answer His critics? Was it the words of forgiveness: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:44)? A radical change happened in a matter of minutes.
2.2 He Admitted His Sin
Notice the first words we hear from the mouth of the second thief: “But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation’” (Luke 23:40)? The first thing we notice is what he says about his sin. He admitted this openly and publically. He realized he sin nailed him to the cross. The reason he was saved is because he realized he was lost. He never asked Jesus to get him off the cross. Unlike the first thief, he didn’t come to Jesus to negotiate. “I’ll follow you if you agree with my terms.” The first thief is more concerned with saving his skin than his soul. While the second thief is more concerned with saving his soul than his skin.
2.3 He Asked for Forgiveness
The dying thief realized his sin nailed him to the cross. But he also realized that his sin nailed Jesus to the cross. “And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong” (Luke 23:41). Stop and think about it for a moment. When everyone else was mocking and ridiculing Jesus, this dying thief was the only one to treat Jesus as a king: And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). Jesus never looked less like a king than He did on the cross. He thought that there was a future for Jesus when no one else did. Did anyone else in the world think Jesus had a future at this point? The dying thief had the eyes of faith. Somehow he perceived that Jesus was the door to the kingdom of God. Again, he had eyes of faith.
3. And The Man Who Did It
3.1 Not an Accident, But an Appointment
Now the fact that a Holy Savior died between hopeless sinners was not just an accident. It was an appointment. This was a fulfillment of prophecy for Isaiah had said 750 years before about the Messiah: “…because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12b). Before this world was even created, God had made an appointment in His calendar for the Savior to meet these sinners and for these sinners to meet the Savior. For Jesus to say anything intelligent on the cross would have been difficult but for Jesus to say something life changing was a mind-boggling.
3.2 The Earth Goes Dark
Luke directs our attention away from the cross momentarily. “At noon, Luke tells us the sun goes dark: It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two” (Luke 23:44-45). Look above the cross into the noonday sky, for it is right there that the sun gives away. God Himself took the remote control of the universe to press mute on the sun’s light. The heavens were communicating God’s mood to the entire scene. Matthew adds that there was an earthquake when Jesus’ breathed His last. You may know where Jesus died and you may know when Jesus died. But to really experience life change, you must understand why Jesus died.
3.3 Jesus at His Lowest
When Jesus saved the dying thief, He was at His lowest. He was mocked, ridiculed, and dying in sheer, utter agony. Yet, here even in His lowest point, He could save. How much more can He save now that He has resurrected! How great is His mercy! If the Savior could save the dying thief while dying, how much more can He do with you now that He has ascended? The first person Jesus took to heaven with him was a murderous, cut-throat thief. When God saved the dying thief, this is God’s way of telling us, “I can save anyone at anytime.”
3.4 The Promise of Heaven
And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). I like is the word “today.” No purgatory, no soul-sleep, but simply absent from the body, present with the Lord. That man’s soul was in heaven before the undertaker heard he was dead.
Closing Statement
I need to ask you a serious question this morning, “Which side of Jesus are you on?” So many people come to God as the first thief, “God, if you are God, fix my life. Prove yourself by making my life go the way I think it should go.” But those who have been transformed, “I deserve what’s happening to me. And I don’t ask you to save my skin. Just save me.” They pray, “Remember me, Lord. I need your mercy.”
Copernicus was a Polish astronomer whose ideas changed the entire way we viewed this universe. When Copernicus lay dying, he prayed this prayer: “Lord, I do not ask the kindness that Thou didst show to Peter, and I dare not ask the grace that Thou didst grant to Paul. But Lord, the mercy that Thou didst show to the dying thief - that mercy show to me. I earnestly pray”
What kind of thief are you?
Closing Prayer
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.
The dying thief rejoiced to see,
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away
