A Tale of Three Crosses
April 11, 2004
The Passion - Luke 23:39-43
Sunday AM
Intro: In reviewing the last hours of Jesus’ life, we often only see one cross dotting the Jerusalem skyline – but to the casual observer that day, the middle cross carried no special significance – just three men dying at the hands of Rome.
Insert: My question is what did the religious leaders hope to accomplish by having Jesus crucified b/w two thieves? Was it for additional humiliation? Was it to add to the shame to this horror? Or was it merely a coincidence?
I believe the Jewish leaders had Jesus crucified b/w two thieves b/c they wanted people to consider Him guilty by association. Yet their sinister plot played perfectly into God’s plan. Isaiah prophesied 700 years prior the Messiah would be “numbered w/ His transgressors.” (Is. 53:12). Little did the Jews know their plot to humiliate Jesus was God’s plan to save mankind.
Note: Jesus was there b/c of God’s perfect plan. He wanted to place His answer to man’s sin right b/w two sinners whose lives hung in the balance of eternity.
Scene: There on either side of Jesus were two dying hecklers – thieves joining in w/ the crowd hurling insults at Jesus. If it weren’t bad enough, the scum of the earth chimed in w/ a few insults of their own. Then something happened. We don’t know why or when, but one of them had a change of heart.
Trans: I can imagine the scene – the one on the left hurls an insult at Jesus fully expecting his friend to return the volley of venom – only this time, the other criminal has a change of heart and replies, “Don’t you fear God?” I can see it now – the solders stop their gambling to look up; The Pharisees paused their celebration to listen in; and Mary wipes her tears to raises her eyes.
Note: The criminal says, “We’re getting what we deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong.” We’re guilty – He’s innocent! We’re dirty – He’s pure! He is not on the cross for His sin. He is on the cross for our sin!
Note: Then he turns to Jesus and asks for forgiveness. Instantly, the blood- stained Savior forgave a sin-soaked criminal and hope was given to the hopeless.
Trans: Three men – three crosses. They all died the same painful death, yet how different the outcome for each. Let’s journey this AM to Mount Calvary.
The Cross of Rejection - Where one man died in sin
The Cross of Repentance - Where one man died to sin
The Cross of Redemption - Where one man died for sin.
I A Cross of REJECTION (The Man Who Died IN Sin)
Trans: We don’t know the names of the two criminals, so to distinguish b/w them, I’ll call the first one Eli and the second one Jake. (Common Jewish names)
Words: Luke calls them “robbers.” Mark uses a word meaning “murderer.” It’s safe to say that these weren’t good guys who happened to slip up as first offenders. These guys were hardened criminals – guilty of multiple offenses of violence.
Story: Yet as Eli hung there, he joined right in w/ the mob mentality. He heard them say, “If you are the Son of God save yourself.” So he parroted what he heard, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us.”
Note: Problem is, Eli didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah – he just wanted to be rescued so he could go and sin some more. Sound familiar? This is a vivid depiction of many people today. We call on God to take away our pain and suffering while were planning of next self-serving ambition. The only time many of us tip our hats towards God is when we’re in need of help.
Question: How can a man be so close to the Savior yet so far from the truth? How can he reject the grace of God in such a time of need?
Note: It amazes me how people can get so close to the truth and say “No.” It’s as if they are trying to figure out a way to not believe the truth.
Story: A man went to get his hair cut. He was enjoying a great exchange w/ the barber until they began to talk about God. The barber said, “I don’t believe God exists. The man asked “why?” The barber said, “All you have to do is go into the streets and look around. If God exists, why are people sick? Why are children abandoned? Why does God allow pain and suffering? Rather than get into an argument, the man backed down. Yet right after he walked out the door, he noticed a man w/ long hair who was dirty and unkempt. He promptly returned to the barber and said, “I’ve just decided I don’t believe barber’s exists. The barber bit, “That’s silly. I’m a barber and I just cut your hair. “If barbers existed, then why are there people who have long hair and beards.” The barber said, “B/c some people refuse to come.” The man replied, “Precisely. That is the point. God too exists. It’s just some people have just decided not to come.”
Note: I’ve concluded that Eli’s behavior isn’t the exception, it’s the rule.
Insert: I used to think when a crisis hit a person’s life they would turn to God. But I’ve since changed my mind. What I’ve learned is that when a person is facing a crisis, their heart tends to accelerate in the direction it’s already going.
Story: It did for Eli and it did for Timothy McVeigh. On June 11, 2001, McVeigh was executed by lethal injection for bombing the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In his final statement, he quoted the poem Invictus, by William Henley. “I thank whatever gods may be; for my unconquerable soul; my head is bloody but not bowed; it matters not how strait the gate; how charged w/ punishment the scroll; I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”
Note: Eli and McVeigh used their last words to make a point. “No person is going to tell me how to live my life.” They were unremorseful even at death’s door. Sadly, too many other people have chosen to do the same by rejecting Christ.
Verse: Jesus said, Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. Matthew. 7:13
Verse: Jesus said, I am the only way, the only truth, and the only life and no man can come into a relationship w/ the Father, unless he comes by Me. John 14:6
Note: For Eli, the gravity of the moment wasn’t enough to restrain his lips from spewing rebellion and rejection. And now, b/c of his hard-heart, he will carry in to eternal darkness to label of – “So you’re the one who died w/ the Savior of the World.” Eli is a man who died in his sin w/ the Savior right beside him.
II A Cross of REPENTANCE (The Man Who Died TO Sin)
Note: As Jake hung there writhing in agony, he shouted to Eli, “Don’t you fear God? We’re getting what we deserve, but this man is innocent!” Three point sermon.
A I AM GUILTY
Note: When it comes to sin, most of us are in denial. We don’t want to admit that we make mistakes and are sinful. We’ll try about anything to make our sin acceptable. Our favorite ploy is to compare our sin w/ the sin of others – then our sin doesn’t seem so bad. But other people aren’t the standard – God is.
Story: I recently heard a story about a man working on his family tree for a reunion who discovered that one of his great uncles was arrested and executed in the electric chair for murder. Embarrassed for himself and the family, the man made this entry concerning his uncle. “Uncle Harry occupied a chair of applied electricity at one of our important government institutions. He was attached to his position by the strongest of ties and his death came as a real shock.
Trans: It doesn’t matter how you try to cover it up – you’re guilty. Jake understood this reality. He didn’t try to cover it up – he admitted he deserved his punishment.
Verse: We are punished justly for we are getting what our deeds deserve.
Note: He didn’t gloss over, excuse, or rationalize his actions – there was no political spin. He came out and said, “I’m busted. I’m wrong. I deserve my punishment.
Reality: Until we come to the same conclusion as Jake - we can’t be saved. We’re guilty!
B JESUS, YOU ARE HOLY
Trans: Jake didn’t say those exact words, but that was the attitude of his heart. He told Eli, “This man has done nothing wrong.” He realized that Jesus was sinless.
Insert: We know from Matthew and Mark that both of the criminals were hurling insults, so what happened to cause Jake to have a change of heart?
Note: I believe as he watched Jesus suffer, he became convinced Jesus was the Son of God. As Jesus hung there w/ the people mocking and defiling Him, Jake couldn’t help but notice that Jesus returned their hatred and anger w/ love and forgiveness. He heard Jesus say, “Father forgive them…” When Jake witnessed the kind of unselfish love coming from Jesus – he had to admit there was something different about this man – and he repented.
Word: To repent is to change one’s mind and direction. Jake changed his mind about himself and about Jesus. He realized he was a sinner and that Jesus was sinless.
Insert: He hears the jests and insults and sees the man remain quiet. He sees the fresh blood on Jesus’ cheeks, the crown of thorns scraping His scalp and he hears the horse whisper, ‘Father, forgive them.’ Slowly the thief’s curiosity offsets the pain in his body. He momentarily forgets the nails rubbing against the raw bones of his wrists and the cramps in his calves. He begins to feel a peculiar warmth in his heart: he begins to care about this peaceful martyr. There is no anger in Jesus’ eyes, only tears. (Max Lucado, Six Hours One Friday)
C JESUS, I TRUST YOU WITH MY FUTURE
Verse: Jake asked Jesus, “Will you remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
Scene: While they were both just hours from death, Jake realized that death was not the end but the beginning. He understood that there was something beyond this life – and he believed that Jesus was the king of a kingdom beyond death’s doors.
Note: The ironic thing about Jake’s realization was that Jesus, despite having a sign above his head, never looked less like a king than while on the cross. His face was bloated and swollen from the beatings – His beard had been plucked from His face, and what hair remained was matted w/ the blood, sweat, and tears.
Note: If you saw the Passion movie, you have a glimpse of the horror, but the truth is, we really can’t imagine how hideous Jesus looked on the cross. Isaiah 52:14 tells is, “His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness”. Yet when Jake looked into His eyes, he said, “Jesus, I am trusting you w/ my future.”
Insert: And there on the cross – above Rome and religion – Jake received God’s grace and mercy by faith and was saved.
Note: Salvation is available but not automatic. It’s a pardon that must be received.
Verse: Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12
Story: In 1830 George Wilson was convicted of robbing the U.S. Mail and was sentenced to death. President Jackson issued a pardon for Wilson, but he refused it. The matter went to Chief Justice, who concluded that Wilson would have to be executed. He wrote, “A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.”
Note: Jesus has issued a pardon, but its value is determined only when it is accepted.
Insert: While Jake’s decision might have been a death bed confession – it was genuine. He humbled himself before the Lord and received God’s pardon.
Quote: There is one example of deathbed repentance in the Bible so that none may despair, but only one so that none may presume.
Insert: My friend, you are a fool if you are waiting until the last moment of your life to trust in Christ – b/c you never know when your last moment might come.
III A Cross of REDEMPTION (The Man Who Died FOR Sin)
Trans: There on the middle cross hung the God-man Jesus Christ. B/c he was fully human, He could reach down and take the hand of the repentant thief and b/c he was fully God, He could reach up into heaven and unite it w/ the hand of God.
Note: That is b/c through His death and through his blood, Jesus made it possible for sinful people to be reconciled w/ a holy God.
Verse: Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your mind b/c of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, w/out blemish and free from accusation.
Word: Reconcile – to be brought into agreement. When you balance your checkbook you are reconciling or agreeing that you and the bank have the same amount. That is what Jesus does for us when we receive Him by grace through faith. He brings us into agreement (a right standing) w/ God.
Note: Thus when Jake prayed His prayer of faith, Jesus responded w/ a three-fold promise. He told Jake, “Today, you will be w/ me in paradise.”
A TODAY: The Best Time
Note: Jesus didn’t say, “Tomorrow” or in “Three days” or in “Forty days.” It’s not after you’ve been baptized or gone through catechism – He told Jake – Today!
The great promise for those who have believed is that the moment we die, we go to be w/ the Lord – “To be absent from the body is to be present w/ the Lord.”
B WITH ME: The Best Company
Note: Home is Home Sweet Home not b/c of what’s there but b/c of who is there. If I’ve been away on a trip, I don’t come home to kiss my TV or hug the drapes. I come home and hug and kiss my wife and kids. Why? Home is where they are.
Trans: The same is true of heaven. What makes heaven, heaven is not the streets of gold, the gates of pearl, or the crystal sea – rather it’s the presence of God. And he told Jake just like He tells us – “That where I am there you may be also.”
C IN PARADISE: The Best Place
Note: Jesus told Jake that they would be together that day in paradise.
Word: Transliteration of Paradiso – enclosed garden. Persian origin. Referred to when a king wanted to honor a subject, he would take him as his companion on a walk through his garden.
Note: Paradise is a specific reference to the Garden of Eden and how God used to walk in perfect union w/ Adam b/c there was no sin to interrupt their relationship. In salvation, Jesus restores us into a perfect relationship w/ God.
Conclusion
Trans: The first man died in his sin b/c he refused the one who died for our sin – the second man died to his sin, b/c he received God’s only begotten Son. (Jn. 3:16)
Story: In the Canadian Rockies a sign reads, “The Great Divide.” It is the source of two great river systems. One flows west to the Pacific while the other flows east to the Atlantic. Two rain drops can literally fall side by side from heaven and yet end up in completely opposite directions.
Note: There on a hillside some 2000 years ago – two men hung on either side of the love of God – one rejected God’s gift while the other received it, and they ended up in completely opposite directions.
Point: Each one of us here today are faced w/ the same decision these two men were faced w/ long ago – we are going to either turn from Jesus or we are going to turn to Jesus.
Verse: Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12
Idea: Life has many choices. Eternity has but two. What will be your choice?
