75: Excruciating Grace (Luke 23:44-53)

Have you ever felt like you’ve gone too far to be forgiven? How far IS that exactly? Cause Jesus forgave people with all kinds of sin. In fact, if you think you have gone too far for God’s grace…your neighbor is going to give you some hope.

Tell your neighbor, ‘You might LOOK guilty, you might SMELL guilty, but you don’t have to BE guilty.’

And today we’re going to talk about WHY

… It’s because of Excruciating Grace. Excruciating comes from the Latin (excruciatus), meaning "out of the cross.” - a word coined to communicate inflicting intense pain.

And it’s on the cross that we see the grace of Jesus extended to the guilty in the most powerful way. Rather than bring judgment on those who put Him on the cross…Jesus TOOK their judgment on Himself! Look what the apostle Peter writes about this Excruciating Grace.

1 Peter 2:24–25 (NET)

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.25 For you were going astray like sheep but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Today we will see that Jesus’ death on the cross means…

BIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet GraceBIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet GraceBIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet GraceBIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet Grace

BIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet Grace

Kent Hughes writes of this Excruciating Grace demonstrated throughout Jesus’ journey to the cross.

Luke’s account of Jesus’ Passion sparkles with bursts of grace that detonated like fireworks in a night sky. On the way to the cross, grace flashed to Simon of Cyrene and then to the daughters of Jerusalem (23:26–31). On the cross grace burst over the Roman soldiers as Jesus forgave them (v. 34) and then cascaded over the repentant thief as he was promised Paradise (vv. 40–43). Jesus’ triumphant shout at the moment of his death, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (v. 46), was followed with bright beams of grace—grace to the Gentiles, grace to his own people, and grace to his followers (vv. 47–49).

And so we pick up our story in Luke 23:44 as Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree…

Luke 23:44 (NET)

44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon,45 because the sun’s light failed. The temple curtain was torn in two.

While jesus was on the cross the sun’s light failed, it got dark. Although the Greek word here is where we get our word ‘eclipse’, this was no mere eclipse.

First, the Passover was always held at full moon in which an eclipse is impossible.

Second, an eclipse would not last for three hours.

The Greek tells us this darkness happened from the ‘sixth hour’ to the ‘ninth hour’. I am thankful for translations that help us understand what the author meant - it was dark from noon until 3 in the afternoon If I were to tell you that it was dark all over Madison from noon till 3 you would know this was strange - probably a bad summer storm blowing through. We would run for cover and try to get out of the way of what was coming.

The OT often used darkness as cosmic imagery of God’s judgment & His enemies weeping as judgment fell on them, including His disobedient people. Amos the prophet spoke warned disobedient Israel around 750 B.C with these words:

Amos 8:9–10 (NET)

9 In that day,” says the sovereign Lord, “I will make the sun set at noon, and make the earth dark in the middle of the day. 10 I will turn your festivals into funerals, and all your songs into funeral dirges. I will make everyone wear funeral clothes and cause every head to be shaved bald. I will make you mourn as if you had lost your only son; when it ends it will indeed have been a bitter day.

Intriguing to me is that almost 800 years later God causes the sky to go dark in the middle of the day while HIS ONLY SON is dying for the disobedient.

While Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree The temple curtain was torn in two..

Of the 13 curtains in the temple, many scholars suppose this was largest and most grand curtain that separated every person from the Most Holy Place - where the Ark of the Covenant used to sit.

This curtain was very heavy with layer upon layer of folded fabric woven with expensive yarns from Babylon in blue, white, red, and purple with images of angels. According to Matthew 27:51 and Mark 15:38 it was torn top to bottom, as if slashed in two by a great sword of God. We can only theorize as the text doesn’t tell us WHY this happened.

First, it speaks to the future judgment of those who rejected the TRUE TEMPLE of God - the Messiah. The man-made temple & city would be destroyed in judgment .

Most importantly, the tearing of the curtain demonstrates the access that the death of Jesus gives to all who trust in Him. No longer does anyone need a high priest & an unblemished sacrifice as Jesus fulfills BOTH of those roles - forever!

After suffering for OUR sin and accomplishing His mission make the condemned clean, Jesus died.

Luke 23:46 46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And after he said this he breathed his last.

Jesus dies uttering words from a psalm of confidence, Psalm 31:5, Later this psalm was often used in Jewish evening prayer as a person trusted his/her life into God’s care during the night’s sleep - like we might pray:

‘Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray the Lord my soul to keep,

if I should die before I wake,

I pray the Lord my soul to take.’

King David prayed this: into your hands I commit my spirit while trusting God to deliver him FROM death; now Jesus prays that the Father will deliver Him THROUGH death, confident of His Father’s care.

His body had been killed, but His spirit was alive with the Father, the same that happens for those who die in Christ today. Body dies - spirit with the Father.

Look how the people respond when Jesus breathes His last.

Luke 23:47

47 Now when the centurion [the guy responsible for killing Jesus] saw what had happened,

That is…after experiencing 3 hours of darkness, watching Jesus’ behavior against his enemies (23:34), hearing his conversation with the criminal (23:43), and what Him utter His last words in prayer to the Father (23:46)…

he praised God and said, “Certainly this man was innocent!”

There it is again! Just as TJ taught so well, Luke focuses on the innocence of Jesus - and now we see the 4th declare Jesus innocent in the same chapter (Pilate, Herod, a criminal, and now a centurion). This man had likely seen MANY die on a cross…but he had never seen anyone die like Jesus - never any who died with such dignity & grace. By the time Jesus drew his last breath, this centurion was convinced that this man was innocent!

I wonder what that guy thought a few days later when word got out that Jesus was no longer in the tomb! I wonder if this man changed his tune from Caesar is Lord to Jesus is Lord! Luke’s sequel shows other men in the Roman military did just that - like the centurion named Cornelius in Acts 10. Jesus’ Excruciating Grace wasn’t just for Jews, but for Gentiles like us!

Now look at the response of the Jewish people, some who had likely given approval to his death.

Luke 23:48-49 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 those who knew Jesus stood at a distance, and the women who had followed him from Galilee saw these things.

It seems that others who saw all that had happened, like the centurion, changed their minds about Jesus. Beating their chests was a sign of mourning. Remember Luke 18:13 - the story Jesus told of the repentant tax collector who wouldn't lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his chest saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner"? Many people evidently went home with the thought, "What have we done?"

And just weeks later Luke’s sequel - Acts 2:23 tells of Peter confronting Jews in Jerusalem by saying, 'you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles (Acts 2:23 NET). At that, 3000 Jews repented and trusted Jesus!

Peter said THEY were accountable for handing Jesus over to be killed…but it STILL wasn’t too late for them!

What can we take away from this?

BIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet Grace

Maybe you have long stood against Jesus & the Scriptures…that’s what Cold Case Detective James Warner Wallace had done too…but then He examined the evidence.

James Warner Wallace Testimony ‘So I’m only a Christian today because it’s true.’

If you’re not convinced - Have you examined the evidence? Or MAYBE you have believed a long time ago…but you’ve been keeping it quiet. That’s the story of the next guy in the text.

Luke 23:50–51 (NET)

50 Now there was a man named Joseph who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man. 51 (He had not consented to their plan and action.) He was from the Judean town of Arimathea, and was looking forward to the kingdom of God.

Joseph was a member of the council - that is - the Sandhedrin. That's the same crew who judged Jesus guilty of blasphemy and sent Him to Pilate to be crucified. But Joseph wasn't part of that. In fact, up until this point, the apostle John writes that Joseph was a secret disciple of Jesus because of fear of the otherJewish leaders (John 19:38). But the day Jesus died was the day that Joseph went public with his faith. No longer would he be concerned with what his peers thought. The Excruciating Grace Jesus demonstrated from all the way to the cross - seeing Jesus beaten, flogged, mocked, & crucified drove Joseph to a tender & public confession of his love for Jesus.

Maybe Joseph felt guilty for hiding his faith in Jesus…but TODAY THAT WOULD ALL CHANGE. Today, he didn’t run. Today, he didn’t hide. Instead…

Luke 23:52-53 (NET)

52 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb cut out of the rock, where no one had yet been buried.

Joseph had been afraid to go public with his faith in Jesus. He was afraid of his peers - the guys to sent Jesus to His death. But something changed that day. Jesus - the man others considered an enemy - Joseph treats like HIS OWN FAMILY. His buries Jesus’ body in HIS FAMILY TOMB - a brand new one!

Maybe Joseph asked himself, “Why didn’t I go public sooner?” But after watching the Excruciating Grace of Jesus he knew…

BIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet Grace

Joseph was no longer a secret disciple. He didn't know Jesus would bust out of his wrappings in a few days, but he loved Jesus enough to go public - regardless of what it cost him.

In just a few days, Jesus would walk out of Joseph’s tomb and change the sign back to ‘Vacancy’.

Do you feel GUILTY today?

So regardless of whether you have made fun of Jesus like so many who watched Him die, or you haven’t followed Jesus in private but never gone PUBLIC…or maybe there is still a sin in your life…that you love more than you love Jesus.

You see it’s NOT ENOUGH to feel guilty…and…

BIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet Grace

And you know your GUILT had met His GRACE when you love Jesus more than your sin. And so we close today with the passage we started with and 2 brief quotes from those who appreciate what it says.

1 Peter 2:24–25 (NET)

Notice: cease from sin & living right.

John Piper teaches that "sin is what you do when you are not fully satisfied in God."

Anselm (a philosopher, monk, & theologian who A.D. 1033-1109)

O Lord our God,

grant us grace to desire you with our whole heart;

that so desiring, we may seek and find you;

and so finding, may love you;

and so loving, may hate those sins from which you have delivered us;

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

If you are a follower of Jesus, one who been the recipient of the Excruciating Grace of Jesus…then you’ve got to tell someone who thinks they’ve gone too far that…

BIG TRUTH: It’s not too late for Guilt to meet Grace

David Burton “It’s only good news if they hear it in time.”

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