Luke 23:32-47: Two Theives and a Cross (Easter 2024)

Scripture Reading

1 Peter 2:22–25 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Romans 4:25–5:1 [Jesus] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Intro

The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most monumental and important event in human history.

It didn’t just have an impact on the world… it impacted all of eternity and opened the door of salvation… eternal life… for everyone who believes.

But what about Jesus’ death makes it so special?

A man crucified on a cross nearly 2000 years ago…

Do you understand how many people were crucified?

It wasn’t an uncommon form of Roman Execution.

It happened all the time!

In fact, at the Fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Rome crucified so many people around the city that their number was so great… there was not enough room for the crosses… and not enough crosses for the bodies.

(Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 720.)

Even on the day of His crucifixion, Jesus was hanged between two thieves.

So what made Jesus’ death so different?

Why is His, out of all the others, the one we remember?

Because He’s the only one to rise from the dead!

Sermon Background

This question of what makes Jesus’ death so unique… so special… His crucifixion out of all the others… was born out of a conversation I had with my son.

You see every Gospel… goes out of its way… makes it a point to say that Jesus was crucified between two sinners… two common thieves on the cross (Luke 23:32, Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27, John 19:18).

One on His right and one on His left.

And one day we were in the car, and my son asked me, “Why were two other men crucified with Jesus?”

Why were two other people hung with Him?

And that’s a good question.

Why wouldn’t the spotlight all be on Him?… The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world?

If Jesus was delivered up by the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, why would God have Him crucified between two common criminals? (Acts 2:23).

And as I answered Owen’s question, I realized his question had massive… theological implications.

In it were so many wonderful and glorious truths of the gospel I had just never seen altogether, at once before.

And that’s what I want to look at this Easter Sunday.

The two thieves on the cross are not a curious or inconsequential detail.

They are loaded with theology.

Together they tell us about the work of Christ… what He accomplished for sinners on the cross.

And… they give us a picture… better than that… a promise for how you and I can be saved.

The Big Idea and the Gospel Promise I want us to remember and celebrate this Easter is this…

Jesus was numbered with the transgressors to make intercession for the transgressors.

He died a sinner’s death to bear sinners’ sins and reconcile us to God.

Let’s turn to Luke 23 where I want to look at the crucifixion narrative… the story of Jesus’ cross… and the two thieves that hung with Him there…

And then I want to come back and look at the cross and Jesus’ crucifixion theologically to see why on Easter we celebrate a day of life by remembering the day of our Savior’s death.

Crucifixion

Luke 23:32–34 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 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.

The night before, Jesus had been been betrayed, arrested and beaten.

All of His disciples had fled and abandoned Him and Jesus was handed over to the High Priest and the religious rulers of His day.

They held a sham trial under the cloak of night full of false witnesses… all illegal according to the Law…

And after they declared Jesus guilty, they blindfolded Him… beat Him… spit on Him… and ridiculed Him saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Matthew 26:67-68, Luke 22:63-65).

And in the morning, after they determined to kill Jesus, they took Him to Pilate…the Roman Governor of Jerusalem in Jesus’ day.

After speaking with Jesus Pilate sought to release Him saying I find no guilt in this man (John 19:12).

But the priests stirred up the people Away with this man!…Crucify Him! (Luke 23:18; Mark 15:13).

And Pilate asked Why? What evil has He done? and the people cried out all the more Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him! (Mark 15:13).

So Pilate had Him scourged and delivered Him over to be crucified (Mark 15:15).

You have to understand… crucifixion was reserved for slaves and the lowest of the low.

The people Rome wanted to use to terrorize and make an example out of.

It was grotesque and taboo to even mention the word “cross.”

Scourged

And when they crucified you they would often have you scourged.

They would take a criminal and tie Him naked to a post… arms out stretched so all the skin and muscles would be exposed…

And then multiple Roman soldiers… strong men… would take whips embedded with rocks, metal, and stone… and they would beat the victim.

They would reduce them to a bloody mess with a beating so vicious they would often lead to death.

As Isaiah said His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind…He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 52:14, 53:3).

But He was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

Cross

After being scourged and mocked by a battalion of Roman soldiers they laid a beam of rough timber on His back.

The wood digging into the wounds and made Christ carry His cross to the place of His death.

The place called The Skull… a symbol for death… where Christ would die to conquer death once and for all.

After that, they laid Him down… stretched out His arms… and drove nails through His hands and His feet.

And then they lifted Him up… dropped Him in the ground… and He hung there…

Beaten, bloodied, naked, all to spend His last few hours mocked… ridiculed… and struggling for breath.

That was the goal of crucifixion… asphyxiation…

You would bleed out or suffocate to death.

That’s why they’d stretch out your arms and nail you to the tree.

Hanging there would make it hard to breath and the only way to get a real breath would be to pull yourself up on the pain of the nails dragging your wounds against the wood of the cross to to just get one… more… breath…

Until you couldn’t, and you would suffocate and die.

Crucifixion is where we get our word excruciating to describe unbearable pain or agony.

One first-century eyewitness described it as “drawing the breath of life amid long-drawn-out agony” (Grudem, Systematic Theology, 572).

And that’s what Christ endured for us to bear the wrath of God on our behalf.

And as He hung there Jesus prayed…

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Their ignorance of crucifying the Lord of glory does not excuse their sin (1 Corinthians 2:8).

At the cross, you had Jesus rejected by Jew and Gentile together…the whole world rejecting Christ.

Mocking Him… Reviling Him… murdering Him…

But Christ in His mercy and grace did not hail down curses but prayed a prayer of forgiveness for His enemies…

For those who hated and despised Him.

The idea here is that God’s grace extends to the people who least deserve it which is the beauty and the good news of the gospel for everyone… for you and… for me…

Think of Paul to get a picture of this kind of grace.

1 Timothy 1:13–15 Though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.

That was all of us!

Enemies and haters of God hostile in mind unwilling and unable to come to Him.

But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

That’s the kind of grace Christ has for each and every one of us who repent and believe in His name.

Father, forgiven them…

The least of sinners who least of all deserve it.

That is the grace of Christ on the cross.

Verse 34…

Luke 23:34-38 And they cast lots to divide his garments. 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!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.”

When you talk about casting lots to divide up His garments and the Jews and Roman soldiers mocking Christ saying He saved others; let Him save Himself…

These are all fulfillments of Prophesy from Psalm 22 that get into all the pain and agony that Christ endured on the cross.

Garments

And they cast lots to divide His garments.

This is from Psalm 22:14–18 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

As the Psalm of the cross… all of this gives us a clear insight into His heart and mind as He hung on the cross.

I am poured out like water…

When you pour water out in a desert place it is gone… wasted… good for nothing.

In other words Jesus was utterly undone and laid to waste on the cross.

Every woe was laid on Him.

That’s why His heart melted like wax.

This describes the absolute terror and dread in the face of the wrath of the Lord.

Nahum 2:10 Desolate! Desolation and ruin! Hearts melt and knees tremble; anguish is in all loins; all faces grow pale!

Job 23:16 God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.

For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;

This is the Jews and the Romans mocking and ridiculing Christ and hundreds of years before they ever crucified Jesus it says they pierced my hands and my feet.

They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

This tells us that Christ was crucified naked which is utterly humiliating and an absolute insult to everything we think about human dignity.

To be naked is to be ashamed.

On the cross… Christ didn’t just bear the guilt of our sin and suffer the wrath of God on our behalf like we’ll soon see…

He also bore our shame.

Naked and Shame

Remember Adam and Eve?

When they sinned they tried to clothe themselves.

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves (Genesis 3:7).

This is in contrast to when God made Adam and Eve sinless and perfect and they were naked and unashamed (Genesis 2:25).

But because of sin Adam and Eve were filled with shame and they tried to cover their shame with loincloths.

But simple clothes cannot hide the shame of our sin.

Only Christ.

That’s why He was stripped naked.

He had to bear our shame and the full weight of it.

All the guilt and shame sin brings.

And He did so to cover us… to cloth us in His righteousness.

The Lord of glory who was clothed in glory and majesty before the foundation of the world was stripped naked at the cross that by His nakedness… by His sacrifice… we might be forgiven of our sin and clothed in His perfect righteousness.

Scoffing

They also scoffed at Him.

Psalm 22:6–8 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

When it says I am a worm and not a man… Christ was made lower than a man.

A worm…a grub…something grotesque and repugnant in the sight of God and men.

He made Him who knew no sin to become sin on our behalf (2 Corinthians 5:21).

At the cross… in His trial and crucifixion… Christ was made lower than the low and humiliated in all His offices as our Mediator (Mark Jones, Knowing God, 124).

He was Humiliated as our Prophet.

They blindfolded Him and beat Him saying Prophecy who hit you? (Luke 22:63-64, Matthew 26:67-68).

He was Humiliated as Priest.

While He was hanging and dying on the cross…

at the very moment He was offering His life as a sacrifice for our sins…the chief priests and the rulers mocked Him saying: He saved others; he cannot save himself (Matthew 27:42).

And He was Humiliated as King.

The Romans crowned Him with a crown of thorns and nailed an inscription over His head that said This is the King of the Jews.

In all of His offices, Christ was utterly, and absolutely humiliated.

He was whipped… Scourged… Stripped Naked and Beaten… Nailed to a cross to suffer and die between two lowly sinners.

Bleeding… Suffocating… Dying… mocked by His enemies.

No one was ever made lower than Christ.

And He was… for us.

To [redeem our] life from the pit [and] [crown us] with steadfast love and mercy (Psalm 103:5).

Sour Wine

And finally they offered Him sour wine to drink.

Now this doesn’t come from Psalm 22… it comes from Psalm 69.

Psalm 69:19–21 You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you. Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

Some have speculated that the wine might have been used as a pain killer or some form of mercy but in the context of the soldiers mocking Him and the Psalm… I think its offered more as a mockery and an insult.

Not something to quench His thirst but with the sour wine to compound the bitterness of His suffering.

Even at death Christ was robbed of any comfort or respite because He bore the full wrath of God on our behalf.

Not one bit of it was withheld or kept back.

But it was poured out in full strength (Revelation 14:9-10, Psalm 11:6).

Darkness

We see that even just a few verses later in verse 44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed (Luke 23:44-45).

This is when Jesus cried out… going back to Psalm 22… My God, My God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:45-47).

During those three hours of darkness, the Father imputed our sins to Him and poured out His wrath (Exodus 10:21-23, Joel 2:2, Amos 5:18-20, Zephaniah 1:15).

In some incomprehensible mystery Jesus was forsaken on our behalf.

Not in anyway that divided the Trinity… God is One.

But the Father looked on the Son and forsook Him… not as the Son, but as the Substitute… as the Mediator who laid down His life for our sins on our behalf (MacArthur, Biblical Doctrine, 303).

In perfect unity with the Father Christ offered Himself as a willing sacrifice and in doing so willed that He Himself would be forsaken for the sins of His people.

To suffer the outer darkness our sin deserves.

He was forsaken so that we never would be.

He suffered the Father’s wrath so that we would know His love.

And He drank the cup of God’s wrath down to the dregs so that we might know and enjoy the cup of His forgiveness (Psalm 75:8).

Summary

So here’s what we see.

On the cross, Jesus bore the full punishment for our sins.

He bore the shame of our sin.

He was crucified naked, humiliated, and ridiculed.

He bore the guilt and condemnation of our sin.

The wine and the darkness… the forsakenness… all point to the wrath of God poured out in full strength.

And with His physical suffering and death, Jesus died the death our sins deserved.

He became a curse for us and bore the penalty and curse of the Law on our behalf (Galatians 3:10, 13, Deuteronomy 27:26).

In other words, on the cross Christ bore our sins and was numbered with the transgressors.

Murdered between two thieves, He died a sinners death.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…(1 Peter 2:24).

Or as Isaiah said: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows...But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Christ, the eternal Son… and spotless Lamb of God bore our sins.

He died to give us eternal life.

And that takes us to the two thieves on the cross.

Where Luke’s Gospel alone gives us a wonderful picture of sin… faith… and the free and merciful… and the free and powerful grace of Christ.

Thieves

Luke 23:39–43 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

This man is all of us in our sin.

Condemned… doomed to die and perish in our sins… we hate God so much that left to ourselves… we would never worship Him.

Sinful Man in our fallen and natural state could literally be crucified next to the Savior… dying with Him… seeing His blood… hearing His gasping breaths…

And instead of believing in Him… and trusting in Him… we would spend our last breaths… our precious breaths hanging on a cross… cursing and reviling Him.

That is the wickedness in Fallen Man’s heart.

That is the hatred we all have for God in our sin.

But God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Verse 40…

But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

This is our problem.

None is righteous, no not one… no one seeks for God…

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one…

Why?

Because There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:10-18).

And like I said… we are all the two thieves… Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward for our deeds…

Deuteronomy 27:26 Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.

We are all justly condemned in our sin… worthy of God’s condemnation and wrath…

But in Christ, God gives us grace.

After rebuking his fellow thief, this man turned to Christ and said Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

With his last dying breaths this man… by the grace of God… turned from his sin and put his faith in Christ.

We see his repentance when he said to the thief we have been justly condemned in our sin.

And we see his faith when he said to Jesus… Jesus… remember me.

Its not insignificant that the man addresses Jesus by His name.

The name Jesus means Yahweh or the LORD… saves.

The angel said You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

And on the cross this man turns to Jesus and says, Jesus… will you save me?

And what did Jesus say?

The same thing He says to everyone who trusts in Him…

V erse 43…

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Paradise

The word Paradise is the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament for the Garden of Eden.

So not only is Paradise the place the believing soul goes the moment we die (2 Cor 5:8), but this Paradise theologically is the Garden of Eden restored.

The full forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God to dwell with God… and worship God… and walk with God in the cool of the day as Adam did before the Fall (Genesis 3:8-10).

Its salvation and eternal life (John 17:3).

Its all God promised in the covenants (Ephesians 2:12).

I will be your God and you will be my people.

And we shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6).

Truly

And notice what Jesus says… Truly, I say to you…

Truly is a word of full assurance.

Jesus will surely… truly… not forget His promise but remember everyone who comes to Him.

And Jesus’ promise is that everyone who comes to Him will surely… truly… be saved… reconciled to God… and with Him in Paradise.

The thief on the cross shows us two important things about the grace of Christ.

Free and Merciful Grace

Number 1… it is a Free and Merciful Grace.

The thief on the cross did nothing to deserve it.

He had lived his whole life in sin.

And in fact the other Gospels make it clear that he had joined the other thief in reviling Christ (Matthew 27:44, Mark 15:32).

And yet Christ… wonderful… merciful… gracious Christ… doesn’t shut him out of Heaven…

He doesn’t say, You really think I’m going to die for you?

He says, Today you will be with me in Paradise.

Whoever comes to me I will never [no never, not ever] cast out (John 6:37).

Free and Powerful Grace

And Number 2… its a Free and Powerful Grace.

He says, Today you will be with me in Paradise.

Could their be a greater reversal?

A greater change in station from the lowest of the low dying on the cross…

To with Christ in Paradise at the right hand of the Father?

A greater change in destiny or fortune?

This is Christ’s grace for all of us in the New Birth.

We were dead in our trespasses and sins… made alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:1, 5).

Children of the Devil adopted as beloved sons and daughters of God (John 8:44, 1:12-13).

Condemned in our sin… forgiven… justified… declared righteous in Christ!

We were blind now we see.

Lame… now we’re healed.

Slaves in the bondage of sin and death… free in Christ.

Lost… found.

Far off… near.

A great reversal for all of us by the free and powerful grace of Christ!

And the only way to receive this Free and Merciful… and Free and Powerful Grace of Christ is by Grace Alone through Faith Alone in Christ Alone.

God gives this grace as a free and gracious gift. Not the result of works so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Invitation

Like the thief on the cross… look to Christ.

Humble… repentant faith.

There hangs my sin.

He died for me.

He suffered the wrath and punishment my sins deserved.

Come to Christ and say God be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:13).

I am justly condemned and doomed to receive the full reward for all my deeds.

But will you save me?

Will you give me grace?

Will you cover me with your blood and forgive me of all my sins?

And do you know what Christ will say to you and all who come to Him?

Truly… I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.

Because when He died on the cross, He was numbered with the transgressors… the two thieves on the cross and all our sin with Him… and when He died, He made a full, once for all atonement for all our sins.

Verse 44…

Intercession

Luke 23:44–47 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.

This is the reconciliation with God.

The full forgiveness and the once for all atonement for all our sin.

The veil separated the Temple and the rest of the world from the Holy of Holies.

The place where God’s glory dwelt.

And sinners could not enter into the Holy of Holies on the pain of death.

Only the High Priest could enter in… and he only once a year when he would offer sacrifices on the Day of Atonement.

But with Christ, our Great High Priest, that veil is ripped in two.

Our sin has been paid and there is nothing separating us from God anymore because Christ has reconciled us to God and made peace by the blood of His cross.

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. Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”

In this verse is the key to why you and I are saved in Christ.

The centurion said Certainly this man was innocent!

In the other Gospels he adds Truly this was the Son of God! (Matthew 27:53, Mark 15:39).

The eternal Son of God became a man.

He took on human flesh and lived a perfect and sinless life that we failed to live.

He fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law on our behalf.

And on the cross He paid the penalty of the Law our sins deserved.

He was innocent… perfect… sinless…

The spotless Lamb of God who laid down His life to save us from our sins (1 Peter 1:19, John 1:29).

He was a pure and spotless sacrifice who died in our place for our sins.

And three days later… on Easter Sunday… He was declared to be the Son of God in power when God raised Him from the dead as a testimony to all nations that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God (Romans 1:4).

And that His sacrifice was accepted and atoned for our sins once and for all (Acts 2:24, 1 Corinthians 15:17, Romans 4:25).

The perfect… and innocent… and sinless Son of God died in our place and was numbered with the Transgressors.

He had no sin of His own and yet He died a sinner’s death crucified between two thieves on a cross.

And this goes back to our original question.

What makes Jesus’ death so special?

And why do the Gospels all take pains to make sure we know and tell us that Jesus was crucified between two thieves on a cross?

Because Jesus wasn’t just dying with sinners… He was dying for sinners.

The two thieves on the cross are the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophesy concerning Jesus in Isaiah 53, and in the context of Isaiah 53 shows us… in real time… the good news of the gospel and all that Christ accomplished for us on the cross.

Conclusion

For the last passage we are looking at today, go to…

Isaiah 53:10–12 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;…

These verses look forward to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He would make an offering for guilt… He would suffer anguish of His soul…

Everything we looked at from the cross and Psalm 22.

But He would see His offspring and out of the anguish of His soul we would see and be satisfied…

The will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand…

Christ’s death would bring life.

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

This is justification.

By His knowledge…

Whether that knowledge is the knowledge of acting acting wisely in 52:13 carrying out the Father’s plan humbling Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

Or that knowledge is His first hand experience of suffering and death…

Jesus died to make us accounted righteous.

Innocent… Not guilty… forgiven of all of our transgressions of the Law.

He shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,…

That’s salvation.

The spoils are eternal life purchased for us.

And then we come to the end…

The answer to our question…

Why was Jesus crucified between sinners on the cross?

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.

And we are right back at our Big Idea.

Jesus was numbered with the transgressors to make intercession for the transgressors.

He died a sinner’s death… to bear sinners’ sins and reconcile us to God.

All the promises of God are Yes and Amen! in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20).

Through the blood of Jesus we are all washed clean… our sins are washed away as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18).

It is finished!… they have all been paid in full (John 19:30).

He has removed them as far from us as east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

He has cast them all behind His back (Isaiah 38:17).

Trampled them underfoot…

And drowned them the depths of the sea… the infinite and boundless ocean of God’s merciful grace (Micah 7:19).

Through faith in Christ God has promised: I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more (Hebrews 8:12).

Because Christ laid down His life for us and was numbered with the transgressors to make intercession for the transgressors.

Let’s Pray